TOADSTOOLS!

My toadstool swap package arrived from Claire :-)

You have no idea how much self restraint I had to use to stop me ripping this open before finding my camera!

I love the colours of the packaging and the lemon card is so cute ::

Inside was ALL THIS!!

Toadstool coasters ::

cute bee fabric which I love ::

a toadstool pin cushion for my wrist (which I'm still wearing, even though I'm typing, not sewing!) AND two toadstools!!

my favourite is the toadstool dude, I can't resist a happy face !!

THANK YOU Claire, I absolutely love everything! You've completely spoiled me and put a massive grin on my face....yay for toadstool swaps!

***IN NON-TOADSTOOL NEWS :THIS MONTHS FREEBIE HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT THURSDAY***

mushroom making

The deadline for Lucy's toadstool swap is fast approaching, so last night I got to work ::

I followed the instructions and have made my first Toadstool ::

I even put some pretty beads on the top ::

and now inspiration has struck and I know just what I'm going to make!

So don't worry Claire, I haven't ruined the surprise :-)

sick bed shopping :: part one

I found that THE BEST medicine is shopping.

It cheered me up and raised my spirits and let my imagination go into overdrive, whilst I was unable to make a thing!

Today my first installment of medicine arrived from KittyCraft ::

lots of lovely fabric and some new stationery ::

the super-cute paper bags are the same kind of shape as pick n mix bags and will be being used in this months freebie, which is on Thursday :-)

back to work

I went back to work on Friday & Saturday, I still felt a little rough but I was better (well, I was determined to be better, whether I was or not!)
I didn't do a lot yesterday cos I'm still low on energy, but today was my first day without painkillers and I felt O.K. !
I have been sewing boxes ::

oh, and I've been busy buying on Etsy...nothing has arrived yet but it's on it's way!
hurrah! Etsy is good medicine :-)
Thank you for all your kind get well soon messages, they really cheered me up :-)

bugs

It seems that when I had the lurgy, just a few days ago, it was just a warm up!

I have been confined to my bed, alternating between boiling hot and sweaty and freezing cold and shivering, most of the weekend...I just about managed to work my way through Saturday and today I ventured out for a trip to the doctor. Twice.
I had to give the doctor a sample but I just couldn't go...so in the end I came back home, drank a couple of pints of water, and I was back in business. SO after two walks to the doctor I officially have the flu. The doc thought that first of all but wanted to check, and as there has been no phone call it means I'm in the clear...although feeling pretty low. My voice has gone *almost* I'm using A LOT of tissues and I am sleeping loads, this afternoon I napped for 3 hours!!

I've organised cover for work again tomorrow so I expect I'll be doing a lot more napping and resting....keep well peeps, this man flu I've got is AWFUL ;-)

too sunny for photos?

So I got home from work picked up my bag of parcels and visited the Post Office. Afterwards I went into the garden to take some nice sunny photos of what I made last night.

The sun was shining, the sky was a bright blue...what could go wrong?

This::

I'm not sure what went wrong but something did! ...ah, well...

I cut all my scraps into circles with my pinking shears

put nice colours together

and sewed the layers together when adding the button

much prettier than a pile of scraps!

Christmas in May

As I said yesterday, I have been working on a new range of goodies for Christmas at Mr and Mrs House and today I spent ALL day sewing them....finished off with a quick photo shoot in the garden...I used the rhododendron bush in place of a Christmas tree and it worked OK!

All the Christmas samples are packed and ready to be posted tomorrow so I have started my next project, involving a pile of scrap felt:

and my pinking shears

I'll show you the results tomorrow!

batteries are full

I have had a BUSY day! The news is plastered with gloom and doom on the high street but the Gentlemen's shop I manage is thriving! I feel like I haven't stopped all day...it's great :-)

In my own shops felt sales have dipped slightly but I think it could be the weather...people spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine instead of curled on the sofa sewing!

Plus I myself haven't spent so much time on the computer .... one day I'll find the perfect balance of work and fun!

I have received details of my swap partner for the toadstool swap------------->look over here for the button, and it's Claire! one of my felt customers! YAY!

At the mo I am spending my sewing time working on Christmas and Easter designs for Mr and Mrs House....I'll show you when I can, but right now they are tip-top secret!

quick as a flash

hey! where did Sunday go?

I managed to make 3 needle cases, decorated with the massive wooden buttons!

Just a quick photo though...the batteries only lasted for one picture!!

But they are on charge so I'm sure I'll take better pictures tomorrow.

supplies for the weekend

I have lots of new supplies to keep me busy this weekend, my new felt delivery arrived ::

a parcel arrived from my friend Nia containing some softie making supplies ::

my friend Becky bought me these from a charity shop ::

and I got these from my local fabric store, charcoal grey binding and HUGE buttons! ::

I'm working tomorrow but I am looking forward to getting my hands on these goodies on Sunday :-)

a day that didn't (quite) go as planned!

This morning I started to tidy my wardrobe...all my clothes that I don't wear, either because they are old OR because they no longer fit were hanging neatly in my wardrobe, untouched, whilst all my good clothes that I wear all the time were slung all over a chair in our bedroom.

Two hours, one bin bag and FOUR big boxes later and it's all sorted and WOW is my wardrobe tidy!

You may remember I did this a few weeks ago with my bookcases?

I now have a HUGE pile of unwanted belongings queueing up to look for new homes, John and I have decided to do a car boot sale on the Sunday of the next Bank Holiday, hopefully we can turn unwanted goodies into something useful!

I am a certified hoarder and if you're not I'm sure you'd have laughed at my indecision over a few old favourites :: it doesn't fit :: it looks worn out :: nothing goes with it anymore :: BUT maybe I'll keep it????

I was annoying myself! LOL

After lunch I packed some orders...the world of web amazes me...today I posted a rainbow of felt to Chile! who'd have thought someone in Chile would find little old me and buy some goodies??

Amazing, isn't it?

Then I ordered some more felt because I am running low on a couple of colours, sewed a few tortoises, as you do, then added a few items to my ebay and etsy shops.

I've just got home from the Post Office and after Dinner I'm going to start work on a new project for a friend of mine, who very kindly gave me a much needed kick up the bum today :-)

[haha and no, thank goodness, Worthing beach doesn't look like that!!]

Before I go another Thank You, this time to Fibrespace, who very kindly awarded my blog with an award!

tweet

I've made some more little birds ::

It's my day off tomorrow and I have some sewing planned and maybe a little website tinkering...we'll see how I get on!

back to the little things

Having spent the day on the sewing machine yesterday, then a quick couple of drinks at the pub with our friends, I decided to make a few small felt cuties last night.

Polka dot felt mushrooms

I don't know why i didn't think of using the dotty felt before, they look cute!

cupcake cushion

phew-eeee it's hot here today!

I'm not good at being hot. It makes me grumpy!

Today I've had all the windows and doors flung open and got the sewing machine out so I could play with the new fabric I showed yesterday.
I've been in and out of the garden, hanging up washing, eating lunch, having a coffee, but only for 15 minutes or so at a time, otherwise I think I'd have melted!

The sun has moved now which means there's a shady spot with my name on it...perfect for reading, which is what I shall be doing when I get off the computer :-)

The photos are all of my cupcake cushion...I made it today, I also made the actual cushion bit too, because not a lot of place sell cupcake shaped cushion insides!

I enjoyed making this....it's the first bit of machine sewing I've enjoyed doing for a long while.

medical breakthrough

Firstly a great BIG thank you for all your get well wishes
:-) Blog readers really are the sweetest bunch of people! I was reading Kitty's blog yesterday where she perfectly described the way that people she'd never met had become friends, through comments and emails and I have to agree with Kitty...my little corner of the world wide web is a really friendly place to be, and you know what? I LOVE it!!

I am feeling WAY better now but still quite worn out! I still was well enough to go to work (I just don't 'do' phoning in sick!) and yesterday and today were really busy, we were run off our feet!

Yesterday when I got home there was a parcel waiting for me and it contained just the medicine I needed ::

It started life as a Jelly Roll, but I could not stop myself folding it all neatly ;-p

Such lovely bright summery colours, available from Buttonberry, a lovely fabric shop-well worth a visit if you haven't already.
Tonight I'm going to catch up on the housework and do the grocery shopping so tomorrow I can sew sew sew :-)
PS freebie winners, your prizes will be posted on Monday, sorry for the delay xx

I've got the lurgy

Yuck. I have the lurgy. A strange stomach ache, like when I was a kiddie, and I still want to curl up in a ball and say 'my tummy hurts' !!
My work colleague has had it too and she says it only lasted a day and a bit so by rights I will be fine today! (fingers crossed) T'was weird yesterday, I kept getting goose-bumps and feeling shivery and feeling rather sick, bleeeuurrrgghhh
And the worst bit is I think the lurgy wipes out your mojo!
I didn't sew at all yesterday, and as you know, that's just not like me, firm proof I'm under the weather!
Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon......

Toadstool Swap

I'm sure you've all seen this gorgeous Toadstool all over the web recently?

Not only has LucyKateCrafts generously shared a tutorial for these she's now organised a swap!

I've signed up and instructions to join in the fun are here.

gnome winners announced

What a great Bank Holiday!

On Sunday John and I went to my sisters house and met up with Mum, Dad and Nan, my sister, her husband and my niece. We went out for a nice lunch and chatted a lot and played a lot too!

Then on Monday I did a little sewing then decided to tackle our back garden...the weeds and dead-heads were taking over. John joined in too and FIVE hours later our garden is tidy and weed free :-) we felt we deserved a drink so met up with a couple of couples and had a fun night in the pub. Which is why I forgot to do the freebie yesterday!

So now to announce the winners :: Picked by John, who is now an official gnome-namer ::

Gnome one :: Finwinkle Hedwyn Pilwicket III is 190 years old, very wise and could live in the old oak at the bottom of my garden. My dog Toby Tea Cosy would ward cats and birds away from him, he'd be very very happy there! named by Crafty Daffodil

Gnome two :: Hamish McGnomish for me (pet name = Twig). I have no clue why! named by dottycookie

Gnome three :: I would call it Ella, because if I had a little happy tree I'd hang it in my car. My car is called Flo, so together they would make Floella! (which is my car's full name, but I only call her that if she's misbehaving) I think I need a lie down, I've been in work for 19 minutes and so far all I have done is think of a name for the happy tree gnome lookalike! named by peggyprints

Thanks for taking part...John and I had fun doing this one :-)

With or with out sprinkles?

is the name of the treasury I'm in!

created by papertreats

you can never have too many cupcakes!

May freebie day

Hello there and welcome to freebie day...today I had a nice surprise ::

my Happy Tree Gnome Disguises made it onto Cuteable!

So now they are officially cute - hurrah!

In honour of Cuteable this months freebie will be Happy Trees complete with gnome disguises!

To win, tell me what you would name your tree/gnome and John and I will pick our favourite three as winners. Winners will be picked on Monday....what will you name yours??