In Memory

In memory of my niece Baby Freya

22nd May 2010 - 31st May 2010

Aged just 9 days old

Sleep well little angel

xxxx

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Oh I do like to be beside the sea

Oh I do like to stroll along the prom, prom, prom

When one of my best friends buys a funky beach hut !!

OK, so the last bit doesn't rhyme, but it's true !!

My very good friend Amanda has decided to buy a beach hut at lovely Frinton on Sea on the Essex Coast

and asked me to go along and "view" the beach huts with her.

This was our favourite - it's called Uncle Albert's. It needs a little bit of tarting up, but when it's done, oh my, how lovely it will be ! We already decided that it will have bunting and lots of wooden seaside themed stuff (think East of India goodies) to make it look lovely. How exciting !

We went back to the Estate Agents to put in the offer only to be told that the current owners were away on holiday until the 29th May. Never mind, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that no-one else looks at it in the meantime.

Ok, as promised last time ... this is a craft blog so it's about time that I showed you some crafty stuff.

Mrs J, my tutorial lady has come up with a fab idea. A felt ball coaster ! How cool is that ?! After a couple of attempts, she managed to come up with the perfect design and has even written down a set of instructions to go with it.

If you fancy having a go yourself, click here to be magically transported to the Tutorials section on my website where you will be able to download a pdf of the tutorial.

AND DON'T FORGET - I WANT TO SEE PHOTOS OF YOUR FINISHED PRODUCTS !!

People are being a little bit slow in coming forward with their wonderful creations lately. Maybe it's because I've been a little bit slow in updating the gallery section on my website, but worry not, it is all in hand and I'm hoping to have lots of lovely new photos of customer creations to show you very soon !

Just a quickie on the restock front - a had a rather large felty delivery the other day so the 10x10 inch squares and also wool roving are now completely restocked. I am also now holding small supplies of 1 metre square 4mm thick felt sheets in the same colours as the 10x10 inch squares. All 3-4mm thick, 100% wool and completely handmade - priced at £18 per square metre. Just give me a few days to get them loaded onto the site.

See you soon !

Sarah x

7 hours 13 minutes ..

is how long it took us to walk our 26.2 miles through the streets of London on Saturday night !

This is us before we started

and sadly I don't have a picture of us at the end. I was just so exhausted as well as cold that I couldn't be bothered to find my phone to take the final photo. Having said that, it wasn't a pretty sight and you probably wouldn't have wanted to see the state of us anyway !!

But, well done not only to the rest of my team, but to everyone who took part in the Moonwalk. From the walkers, the Marshalls (who were absolutely fantastic and cheered us on the whole way), the entertainers in the giant marquee before we started, the guys who kept the portaloos stocked with toilet paper, the volunteers handing out bottles of water and fruit, the press who were taking photos at various points around the course and of course the organisers. It was a brilliant event and very satisfying knowing that we did it for charity.

Having said that, I WILL NOT be doing it again. I'm afraid I am just so tired and am feeling so sore and achey (I've been having to go up and down the stairs on my hands and knees), that I just cannot find it in myself to do another marathon (even though it was just walking). 2 Moonwalks in my life is enough. Maybe next year I'll find a local Race for Life that I can take part in with the kids, but I won't be doing the Moonwalk again. It has made me feel my age, and I just don't like that feeling - sorry.

Thank you to everyone who left lovely wishes about my Dad on my last post - it's great to know so many people care.

Next time I'll definitely have some crafty photos to show you. After all, this is supposed to be a craft blog !!

Sarah xx

Sometimes life doesn't quite go to plan

No. Sadly it doesn't.

There you are, going along happily in your day to day life, in your normal routine when suddenly BANG - something happens that you have absolutely no control over. You start to panic, immediately think the worst, even try and prepare yourself for the worst and pray hard, like you've never prayed before, that everything will be ok. You have to put your entire trust in someone you've never met before and hope that they will do their very best to make everything ok.

And fortunately, all of your praying pays off and the person you've never met before performs what seems like a miracle and does make everything ok again. And slowly, everything does get back to normal. Well, sort of. Whilst you carry on as normal, in the back of your mind is the reminder that you should never ever take anything for granted. Stop worrying about the silly little things in life that really don't matter and concentrate on the things that really do matter.


We're so glad you're on the mend Dad xx

B is for ...

Big Butterfly Beads !!

Now available on the website

xx

Moonwalking !

No, not the Michael Jackson moonwalk - the Moonwalk in aid of Breast Cancer.

As I did a couple of years ago, I will again be taking part in this very worthwhile event on the 15th May.

I'm part of a small team of mums from Sam's class who will be walking the 26 miles through the streets of London through the night - although having said that, 2 of the mums are currently stranded in different parts of the world awaiting flights back to the UK after being delayed because of the volcano eruption, so we're really hoping they'll be back in time !

We have been training hard since just before Christmas and are hoping to complete the marathon in around 7 hours. We did a 23 mile walk just before Easter and managed that in 5.5 hours which included a half hour break for lunch, so we're hoping that we'll be on course for our estimated time (loo stops permitting of course !)

It would be really wonderful if you could spare a few pennies to support me and the Breast Cancer Campaign. If you can, then there's a link over there on the right hand side which will take you to my online sponsorship page, or you can click this link here

I know I've left it really really late to ask for sponsorship as the event is only 3 weeks away, but do hope that I can get somewhere near the £500 target I have set myself. Please help if you can.

Thank you xx

Deliveries !

2 very exciting deliveries arrived last week.

The first was FELT MAKING KITS !

I'm am VERY excited about these particular kits. They're all designed by a lovely lady named Gillian Harris of Gilliangladrag. All beautifully packaged

(which makes them even more exciting I think !) these kits come in a number of different designs.

You can choose from tea cosies

corsages

bags

and bunting (which is my absolute favourite)

Each kit contains all the wool and instructions that you need to complete each project. They make beautiful gifts and are already proving extremely popular, so be quick as, at the moment, I only have limited supplies of each design.

Also available are SIGNED COPIES of Gillian's book "Complete Feltmaking", and basic feltmaking kits which come in great canvas bags.

Another delivery which arrived and I had completely forgotten that I'd ordered, was some fantastic new Matroyshka ribbon. Available in 2 colourways - white & red, the ribbon measures an inch wide so it's super special and will really make a statement on all of your projects.

I have been manically busy this past week trying to catch up with all of the orders that came in whilst I was away. It was really lovely to be able to hide myself away in my new studio and catch up with everything. Of course, the kids are STILL on half term holiday and even though Sam had lots of sporty courses to attend, Gracie was at home with me. It was lovely having her helping me out, especially when her cheeky little face appeared at the door and she was holding her little tea set and a wooden flower on a tray and she announced that as I had been working so hard she thought I deserved a little treat. Ahh, bless her.

See you soon x