Wednesday 31 August 2011

what I wore, burnside nurserys

The other day was my lovely fellows birthday, he wanted to get an ornament for his fish tank so off we went on our bus ride to an aquarium he had found on the net, this is me with a silly look on my face because me youngest two was making me laugh whilst trying to be serious having my photo taken, I'm dressed in cardie and velvet scarf from charity shops, the vests from a shop in town and I made the skirt and underskirt, my floral doc martins are off ebay, arm cuff also made by me.

 well to my surprise the aquarium was situated at the back of a garden nursery which had an amazing craft section, I was in my element especially when I saw a most coveted cricut, I couldn't believe it wasn't that far away from our house and I had never been before.
Just look at the precious books, I love the covering, it reminds me of my room as a child
you know I love chickens and this tea cosy was awesome, they also had cats, pigs and houses, I may borrow this idea and make myself one as soon as I get some time too
look at this display, ohhs and arghhs a plenty coming from my lips I tell you, all sorts of lovelies for the kitchen, there was also a cafe area and lots of plants, gift section and an outdoor area with gnomes etc for the garden. We had a lovely time browsing but alas my fellow didn't find a suitable ornament. So we decided to go and get some more chickens, these are quite far away and we would have to get 2 more buses, it was OK as we had an all day ticket but we then got on the wrong bus (my fault) and ended up further away, we waited for ages for the next bus only to realise the stop was out of action because of road works, so we went to the nearest in service stop and just missed the bus!, by this time it was too late to get chicken so we went home, the boys whinged and argued all the way how bored they were and how its so boring looking at craft things/garden centers/blah blah. Not a good ending to a promising start after all!

Sunday 28 August 2011

Back to school

As you are aware if your a regular reader I'm a home school mum and its that time of year again when I see other mums rushing around the shops, spending crazy amounts on prison uniforms, oops I mean school uniforms, the little darlings in tow demanding new bags/shoes/pencil cases etc all because they have been off school 6 weeks, I find it crazy that the shoes they had in July can't be worn in September because its a new school year, fair enough if they don't fit but really it's madness, a friend of mine told me the other day how much money she had spent on school blazers - oh my god, that's a weeks food shopping in our house! The radio presenter they other morning declared how happy and relieved all the mums and dads will be because its time for the children to go back to school so the parents can have some peace - erm excuse me but who decided to bring these children into the world - yep mums and dads, can they not cope with Jack or Lucy being at home more than a few weeks?, the other thing that astounds me is parents at the beginning of the holidays complaining " I don't know what I'm going to do with them for SIX WHOLE WEEKS! I am not against good schools in anyway at all, I'm not against parents who choose to send the darlings off to school (I was one of those parents a few years ago) but now I have stepped outside the school norm and I'm on the outside looking in so to speak I can see the craziness of it all.
We miss out on all this so whilst in town the other day we saw all the back to school stationary aisle, my youngest thought it was all so great having a whole aisle of things for drawing that's not usually there, he really liked a robot pencil set and I told him about the whole going back to school thing, he was amazed by it, so I said he could choose a not going back set for a treat, he was delighted at this and promptly chose the robot set, I was pretty amazed myself that for less than £2 he was over the moon at something so simple and something most children expect at this time of year. He was rather proud and showed his brothers when we got home, maybe there is something to be said for the madness after all!
A couple of great sites I use all the time for worksheets are:
http://www.math-drills.com/
http://bogglesworldesl.com/creativewriting.htm
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/index.htm

Tuesday 16 August 2011

I love crafty talent!

I was having a look at poppytalkhandmade and swooning over theses gorgeous items, I love the original designs and how cute they are
especially this I heart nerds design, it is so awesome it makes me want to go back to college just so I have a valid excuse to buy it!, Not that I need one really, have a look at the designers website too, its such fun. On poppytalk handmade  they say "Welcome to the World of Kukubee. We create adorable (and sometimes creepy!) zipper pouches, bags, purses and notebooks with our original artwork. We are inspired by all things cute and slightly odd!" I agree they are adorable!



Also on the same online market I found Katy Endle,
she has really bright fun designs which made me happy when I saw them
this turtle magnet is so lovely, I imagine him made up into a toy, it would look fabby and I adore this owl (I love owls ya know!) its an original artwork piece but I think it would also make a lovely cushion design
I am always in awe of how creative we all are and how different too, that's what makes us all so special. I had a meeting the other night with Aunti Social and there is so many crafty things coming up over the next few months, it's rather really great because its something Blackpool is missing, I can't wait to do felt making, it's something I have always wanted to have a go at. What do you think of my new header and background?, Ive been wanting a change, they do say a change is as good as a rest, talking of that I'm off to bed now, I'm shattered, night all x

Monday 15 August 2011

Introducing Runty and Gretchen....

 stars of the coop, our youngest chickens have started to lay, they are exactly 18 weeks old and they made such a noise yesterday they seemed so proud (or frightened), the eggs are tiny compared to our big girls, look at the gorgeous blue/green colour they are, to our suprise the first one we cracked open was a double yolker!
Bring on the cakes!!

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Flickr and finances :(

A lot of you are probably already on Flickr, but I have only just joined up, Im behind everyone in these things so forgive me, Im hoping to get more exposure ( not in that way cheeky!), for my crafted items, at the moment my partner and I are really finding things difficult and as we both are at home, doing homeschool, he is self employed and Im trying to get some extra money from my sewn/painted items, it is financially hard. We have been in talks about whether it would be a good idea to both get full time jobs working for the man and seeing if we are any better off. I don't want the boys to go back to school so we would have to work around that too and that is going to be tricky, I love our lives at home but now the eldest has left college and is trying (not very hard) to find himself a job, things are difficult. So I really want to be able to sell my things and make a living that way. I need to sort out my website, its ok but I do have a super one ready with music, moving things etc, trouble is I have to buy a domain name and hosting for it (money again you see), Im always posting on FB and attending craft fairs when I can, the last one I did on sunday was naff for me, my friend bought some things off me, so I was only a £1 down after paying for the table, it's so disheartening when you have put in a lot of effort and been up at 6am not to make any sales. Have you any ideas on how to improve my chances of becoming more successful?, I don't mind harsh words and suggestions, so feel free x

Wednesday 3 August 2011

OMG August already!!




Howdy all, what a month, busy as a bumble bee Ive been, we had the grand opening of Aunti social, a local craft group, we all decorated and made it look tip top for the grand opening, the two ladies who thought up the fab idea are the ones who run our knitting club

I was rather proud my art work was featred on the walls (thats me stood next to one of my paintings)

some brill folks went yarnbombing the bike racks, brightened up a bleak Blackpool corner, we had a lovely evening and it was a shame when a few days later the council shut the shop down (some legal conflict)how rubbish, this shop is due to be demolished in november and will now stand empty until then, it always seems no matter how hard you try there is always some red tape and council prat standing in the way. Have you heard the latest ridiculous thing, in Scotland you are not allowed to have bagpipes playing loudly from shops - seriously who the f**k comes up with this s**t. Im sure some tw*t sits in an office and has a plan for the day of pis***g as many people off as possible. Every day I hear of some joke law that Im sure Jeremy Beadle is behind sorry for the anger and virtual swearing but it makes me so mad and Im too tired to be eliquent and think up other non swearing words.
 Anyway on a more cheery note Im doing a craft fair on sunday at Lytham, it was a suprise thing as my friend got a table and told me about it, I have been busy making owls and bags and bags with owls on!, Im hoping it goes well and I make a few good sales, fingers crossed please! Whilst trawling the net looking for craft stall set up ideas (I think mine is too fussy) I came across a flicker group just for stall set ups, I loved looking at other peoples stall, also I found ideas for a craft stall check list if your new at it, in fact even if you have done it before it makes sense to keep fresh about the whole thing.
My dad died a few years ago of cancer and I wished I knew then, what I know now, I want to share this awesome page with you in case you or someone else s affected by cancer, it doesn't have to be the end, you don't have to say goodbye like I did, there are ways of curing it, please have a look, have a great week and don't forget to check out my other blog which showcases the very best of Lancashires crafty ladies x