Tuesday 29 November 2011

crafty catch up

Been super busy crafting, homeschooling, trying to keep warm and sleeping lately, each day whizzes by and before you know it it's bedtime again, I have tons of fairs coming up over the next few weeks so have been neglecting my blogs, so sorry readers for that normal service shall resume soon!,

This week we did a photoshoot for our local newspaper, its for ladies pamper night on 15th December in Blackpool at Cafe Dolce on Abingdon street, 7pm - 9pm if you live locally and dare brave the seaside weather pop down, the lady on the left, Anne does angel (oracle) cards and readings, me in the middle will be selling my sewn items and Fran the one on the right does amazing vintage clothes, there will be other stalls too and lots of cake :)



Hope to see you there xx

Sunday 20 November 2011

Super Duper fair

On Saturday I attended as a stall holder Blackpool's Super duper fair, it was awesome, 60 stalls all selling lovely handmade items and gifts, there were so truly talented folks around




 Here I am making a finger puppet for the children of watamu with Aunty socials pop up workshop


some lovely photos of my things by Mrs marmalade who sells gorgeous peg doll fairys, check out her folksy page, I met her at a fair in the summer and she is one of those ladies who I have been lucky enough to meet that makes me smile and is a truly lovely person.
I also met a lady who has the soapure website (great name isn't it), she hand makes soaps and lots of other lovely smelling things for your body and bath, all her products are totally chemical free and pure, I bought some things of her for presents but can't say what they are in case family members sneek a peek!, all I can say is the smell heavenly.
I finally got to meet cool crafting, if you haven't heard of them before they run crafty workshops and make lovely sewn items, I got some great buttons and ribbon of them.

Friday 4 November 2011

what has been going on?

twas Halloween and all the zombies came out to play, well actually it was just me going to our home school party, I was the only adult who had gone the whole hog and each time I smiled and talked to small children I forgot I had this look so was surprised they didn't like me!, the children had fun though, well other people's children that is, my boys wouldn't wear there costumes and didn't take part in any games, it's an awkward age being 12 and 14, our group is full of small ones and then a big gap until my two, sometimes other older boys come and they have a good time. We are trying to organise some inside activities seen as though the colder weather is upon us, in the summer everyone played outside the building as it leads straight onto the park which was great. We are slowly building up a bigger group now which is good, I did take photos of the day but I have lost my camera lead so unfortunately can't share them .

We got two new chickens this week, they are lovely girls, we have called them Alice and Dorothy, they will start to lay in about a month and are black tails, they cry a lot and haven't got the hang of going to bed yet at night but are very loving and lovely to watch. We are going to extend the chicken enclosure to stop them digging up my veg patch - naughty girls!! Photo's to follow soon.

I am also preparing for 5 craft fairs - 5 all in the space of 2 months, it's crazy but I'm sure I will enjoy them. I have had a burrow feeling lately where I have lit the coal fire and got snugly under a blanket to watch TV, I normally knit or sew but haven't felt like it even though I have all these fairs to sew for. I'm feeling like it's a time for reading and feasting and snuggling under the duvet, though there is no chance of that with the new chickens at the moment.

Hope your all keeping warm x

Tuesday 1 November 2011

All about teeth

Today a friend said how she was suffering with toothache on facebook, I commented and told her about some natural things to do, my comment sparked a lot of interest so I have done a page on my shops blog (where I write about natural health) to send to people if they ask for info, I thought I would share my thoughts on here aswell in case my lovely readers don't know any of this stuff either, feel free to comment and ask questions x

Having suffered myself with tooth problems and researched about alternatives to the dentists chair, I have found some great sites with helpful info that actually works. I have tried remedies from these sites on natural healing and oil pulling and I will tell you - THEY WORK!. Hop over and have a look at them:http://www.healingteethnaturally.com/ and http://www.oilpulling.com/index.htm



Have you heard of the effects of fluoride on your health?, we are led to believe fluoride is good for our teeth, many famous toothpaste brands boast about how great it is, how it is essential for children's teeth, all those posters in the dentist about why you need it blah blah. I'm afraid it is not true at all, if you haven't heard be ready for a shock - fluoride is very bad, it can cause brain damage, affects your thyroid, kidney damage, leads to bone disease plus a lot more. Children are especially vulnerable as they are still developing and fluoride can lead to fluorosis.

I use Sarakan a natural toothpaste with no fluoride or and other chemicals in it. It may surprise you to know what is in your toothpaste and what you put into your mouth twice a day, everyday all your life.

Take one leading toothpaste brand and look at the ingredients, in no particular order of awfulness - sweeteners - are used to alter the taste of a product, sweeteners used in this toothpaste are sodium saccharin and sorbitol. Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar - hang on are we not meant to be cleaning teeth?, sorbitol can cause irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - one of the main effects of sodium lauryl sulfate is to mimic the activity of the hormone Oestrogen. This has many health implications and may be responsible for a variety of health problems from PMS and Menopausal symptoms to dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where oestrogen levels are known to be involved. There also have thickeners, binders, colours and preservatives in them. All in all not something I would be happy or letting my children put into their bodies.

There are natural alternatives to toothpaste too like bicarb and peppermint oil or miswak sticks .