Lazy Days and Giveaways !!

What a lovely day I've had !!

This morning was spent sitting in the hairdressers being pampered, followed by a little bit of retail therapy (well, buying Sam new school shorts & trousers from M&S in their "Back to School" promotion - I wouldn't mind, but he hasn't even broken up for the holidays yet !!).

This afternoon I sat here

and watched this

whilst doing this !!

Ahhhhh - bliss :o)

Now, back to business - Monday sees me teaching my first needle felting workshop. I've had a last minute flurry of people registering so am now panicking that the room I've hired isn't actually going to be big enough. But never mind, at least we'll all get to know one another !

To celebrate the fact that people do actually want to learn how to needle felt (and to also show off my new line in fabric coveredness (??) ), I've decided to have a little freebie giveaway.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post sometime this week and all of the comments will be put into a random number generator next Sunday and a winner will be picked.

And the prize ??

A pair of fabric covered strawberry button earrings. These earrings have been made by me (of course) and measure 24mm in diameter. The posts and butterflies are silver-plated and have been attached with a very strong glue, so there's no danger of you using losing these lovelies !!

Apologies for the fuzzy photos - that's what you get when you buy a £200 camera !! Buy cheap I say - they're so much better !!

And now I must go and prepare for Monday's workshop and pack up the rather large number of orders that have appeared through my website today.

I won't be posting on this blog again until next Sunday because I've got a very busy weekend next week - 2 fairs - so the pressure is on to produce lots more pairs of earrings !!

Enjoy your week and I'll look forward to seeing your comments.

Sarah x

They came !!!!

YES !!!!!! Finally, my new needle felting kits came. I am soooooooooo excited about these kits. They are absolutely fantastic and even better in real life than I was expecting. And even more exciting is the fact that I am the only UK stockist of these kits !!

They're all priced at either £9 or £10 - actually, I think it's just the Hummingbird kit that is £10. You get everything you need in the cute little box, including full colour photographic instructions. The only thing you don't get is a felting sponge, but you can quite easily pop one of these in your shopping cart at the same time when you're purchasing your kit ! Each kit is graded easy or intermediate, but with the fantastic instructions, you won't have any trouble creating the animals whether you've needle felted before or not.

Also, my other fabric arrived and this is fantastic too !!

So far I've made up just a few buttons, all of which are available for sale on the website.

I am manically removing the shanks off some of the blank buttons so that I can make up some other lovelies for you - make sure you check back next time for a chance to win one of my new creations !

Sleepless nights and fancy fabric

Sadly the time has come for my baby to grow up and go into a big bed !! Great excitement (on Gracie's part) and sadness on mine, that the cot that has been slept in by both of my babies is now surplus to requirements.

The big bed arrived, a gorgeous white bed with a lovely heart shape on the head and footboards. The new duvet set was purchased, a beautiful white set, embroidered with a lovely fairy watering her plants from a spotty teapot !!

7pm arrived, Gracie snuggled down into her bed with her blankie and said how excited she was.

7.15pm, Gracie is out of the bed saying she doesn't like it and wants to get into our bed !

7.30pm she's back in bed

7.35pm she's screaming the place down

7.45pm she's back in bed

7.50pm she's down in the lounge asking me (very matter of factly) what we're having for our tea !

7.55pm she's being chased up the stairs by Daddy

8pm, she's screaming the place down again

8.10pm she's back downstairs with a very quick turnaround time and back on her way upstairs.

8.15pm daddy checks on her, only to find the bed empty and Sam's bed containing 2 bodies.

8.30pm - silence.

************************

1.15am - our bedroom door flies open and a little voice shouts "I need a wee".

1.20am - refusing to get back into bed

1.25am - a very tired Mummy climbs into Gracie's bed along with Gracie

1.30am - Gracie attempts to have a conversation with me.

1.45am - Gracie is out of bed

1.50am - Gracie announces she needs a drink

2am - Gracie attempts to have another conversation with me

2.15am - Gracie's jumping up and down on the bed

2.30am - Gracie's jumping up and down on my HEAD

2.45am - Gracie's on the potty .... again

3am - Gracie loses blankie and all hell breaks loose

3.15am - Mummy is in tears

3.30am - Gracie is singing nursery rhymes

3.45am - the birds start singing, but Gracie has FINALLY fallen asleep.

Maybe the cot isn't surplus to requirements just yet !!

Mr Postman bought me this fantastic Japanese fabric today

and I'm hoping that soon he will bring me the gorgous fabric I purchased from Dawanda a couple of evenings ago. If you haven't purchased anything from Dawanda yet, you really should give it a go. Especially as lots of the sellers are taking part in an 11% off promotion whilst Euro 2008 football matches are taking place. Basically, as soon as the game has kicked off, the participating sellers have their items reduced automatically by 11% for the duration of the game. Now, how can you turn an offer like that down ?!

Enjoy your weekend !

Christmas is coming !!

Oh yes it is !! I've booked my first Christmas Craft Fair. I can't believe that you have to book them in June, but apparently I'm one of the last to get a table at this particular fair on the 1st November - everyone else booked at the actual event last year !!!

So, I've had to turn my thoughts to Christmas stock. I've got a few ideas in my head and need to scribble them down on paper because otherwise I'm bound to forget them.

But back to summery things !

Friday was Sam's first ever school sports day and what an event that was. I have NEVER been to a sports day like it ! We rocked up at 12.oo, in time for the sandwich lunch at 12.20 which the school was laying on for both parents and children, only to find that the rest of the parents had beaten us to it and had apparently been setting up their gazebos, tables and chairs at 8.30 (yes, you read right, 8.30 in the morning!) So consequently we ended up at the start line, rather than the finish. But never mind, we got out our picnic rug and little picnic that I'd packed in case Gracie turned her nose up at the one the school had laid on. How embarrassing - our lunch consisted of spanish omlette (which I'd made, I hasten to add), crusty rolls and pate, and some fresh fruit. When I looked around me, the majority of the other parents had got proper tables and chairs (with tablecloths !) and were sitting there eating platters of M&S party food, fresh strawberries and cream, and drinking bottles of champagne !!! OMG !!! It's another world ! But next year we shall know and I will be there the night before laying out my towel on the sun-lounger !!

Sam did soooooooooo well, he was in 5 races, the egg & spoon, the sack race, sprint, put the teddy to bed and came 3rd, 3rd, 3rd and 1st and then unfortunately his team came last in the relay race. But he did manage to make up a whole leg, before passing the baton over, so we were really really proud of him. He had a whale of a time and it was one of the nicest afternoons I've had in a long time. The older children were fantastic, helping the littlies with their sacks etc and high-fiving them before cheering madly as the whistle went and a bunch of 5 year olds made their way down the track.

During the awards ceremony Gracie decided that she didn't want to wear her trousers anymore and to my horror pulled them down, along with her knickers, and showed off her little bottom to the crowd of parents standing behind her !! I'm sure she's not really my daughter and they gave me the wrong child in the hospital !

Yesterday was spent cutting the grass, spying these beautiful water lillies in the pond, and admiring the roses along our front fence.

And to prove that I have actually been a little bit crafty this week, I made up some more fabric covered buttons - I'm still hooked !!

Ooooh - while I think of it - the blank cover buttons are now available for sale on my website. They can be bought individually, in sets of 5 and sets of 10. At the moment, I have 2 sizes available, but next weekend, the half inch buttons are arriving, so they'll be available for sale then, along with the fantastic new needle felting kits. They're worth waiting for ... I promise !!!

Byeee x

Everything in the garden's looking rosy !!

Yes - everything in the garden is indeed looking rosy (I think that's the phrase??)

These are the roses on the arbour that leads from the pool to the pumphouse and the garages. Don't they look beautiful - and they smell absolutely gorgeous as well. They're really lovely old english roses and seem to get better and better every year (well, the last 2 years that we've been here anyway !)

Today, my button supplies finally arrived from the US. They had unfortunately got held up by customs and I had to pay a whopping £14.95 in charges. But they are fab and I can't wait to list them on the website and to start covering them myself. All being well, they'll be on the website tomorrow evening (or Wednesday at the latest).

I've also had some lovely fabric arrive from the US

As well as these - bracelets which I've yet to decide what to do with, and also earrings. Me thinks felt balls will be making an appearance.

I did my monthly craft fair on Saturday - very sloooooooow on the customer and sales front, but very positive on the needle felting workshop and also on a local village fete, which I have been struggling to get a table at due to 2 other local "felty people" already beating me to it.

One of the felty ladies came and introduced herself at the craft fair and was very complimentary about my goodies and said she would speak to the organisers of the fete and recommend that I had a table. The other person, I think I know, but their stuff is completely different to mine, both in style and price, so not really competition.

Another lady then came and introduced herself and asked whether I would be at the fete, I explained that sadly I was unable to secure a pitch, and she said that she had been told about me, which was why she was at the craft fair, and that her hubby was on the fete planning committee so she would try to get me a pitch. It's quite a prestigious event (in a very affluent area) and the craft tent has nearly 40 stands. She was also keen on attending my workshop as she teaches special needs children and was hoping to be able to go back to the school and pass on her newly acquired skills to the pupils.

So today, I first of all get a phonecall from one of the organisers of the village fete saying that they can now offer me a pitch - YAY !! And I then get a phonecall from the 2nd lady that I mentioned above, who booked 2 places on my needlefelting workshop !!

AND .... my Mum has just called from the US and says that my new range of needle felting kits have just been delivered to her, and she'll be bringing them back to the UK in 2 weeks !! I am VERY excited.

Hooray - so not only has today been a lovely day weatherwise, it has also been great on the business front !

I'm a happy bunny !!

Sarah x

It's Booked

No sign of my button supplies yet, so I decided it was time to do something about the needle felting workshop I have been thinking about organising.

After trying to book various venues, it became apparent that Joe Jingles, Yoga, Photography & Council Meetings take priority over little old me. Unable to book either of my first 2 choices of venue, I had to settle on a much smaller hall, well, room really. But worry not - the lady from the Parish Council was very kind and encouraging and has offered not to take a deposit from me for another 2 weeks, until I've had time to see if anyone actually wants to learn how to needle felt !

So I put together the flier below (apologies for the poor quality photo - my scanner has packed up ... again) and it has been posted on all of the Parish Noticeboards in the village where I'm holding the event, as well as surrounding villages. In the local Craft Centre, at Sainsburys, Tescos, in the village library, the village hall and I'll also have it displayed at the craft fair I'm doing on Saturday. Fingers crossed I'll get a few takers.

Hopefully the button supplies will arrive tomorrow and I can get some sets made up for the craft fair on Saturday.

Sarah x