pleased to announce.....

The market stall is mine!!!
Well I'm hoping it will be soon...I have won one on fleabay tonight.
Christmas shopping is well under way :)
I'm thinking they both need grocers pinnies - yes?? And proper brown paper bags to put their produce in.....I'm excited - I shall have a fab Christmas playing shops lol!!

Thank You all for looking out for me and all your ideas...blogland is great x

the end of the month

Thank You to everyone who has offered to help me in my quest to find the little boys Christmas pressie... I am still a hunting and hopeful ebay will come up with the goods before long!!

I really haven't had the greatest of weeks, lack of sleep and discovering the baby has more food allergies than we first thought means I'm feeling really sorry for myself....so I'm sulking and eating too much, not the best idea when I want to lose a stone before my 'honeymoon' in NY in just a few weeks...about 6 I think?? (I've been preoccupied with Christmas forgetting our trip comes first).

Anyway I won't focus on the crap.....I have a few pics of what I have been up to......

tidying the workroom.....the shelves and drawers anyway, the fabric cupboard will have to wait.....

machine sewing the advent calendar...not quite there but it will be done before Christmas I have shocked myself!!!

Making and gathering some pretties for a charity auction for KIN over at SCC.

Winning a charity auction for KIN (lovingly put together by Mary Poppins) - oh what a delight this parcel was this morning..I wish you could smell it :) Mary's lavender smells more lavendery than mine!!!

Lovely fabrics for me to make lovelies with - my fave Cowboys (Mary also gave me some cowboy ribbon - will be treasured x) and my new fave green paisley.

lovely vintage postcards....need a changearound on my holders I think....

Thank You for a gorgeous and generous lot of pretties. xx

A bit of retail therapy, new boots, a new dress, a couple of cardies (although its been really hot here and so my new autumn winter wardrobe hasn't had much of an outing yet!!).

And this

lovely beach hut - lovingly and expertly made by elaine...who can be found here.....very fitting for my seaside home :)

I have done another swap....Lesley sent me some fab crocheted flowers that I wanted for a project...and I can not crochet :( - lucky for me Lesley can....she has blogged here about the swap.

(I also got a fab crochet brooch that I photographed then deleted somehow....)

I have received the latest Cath catalogue...yes another!!...and have started making my Christmas list lol!!!

love this jumper and as my hair is the same colour I know it will suit me lol!! The £75 price tag exceeds my what I will pay for a jumper limit though!!!!

still love this dress carrier -

and really love the london charm bracelet...I love the cowboy one too......

Also I was thrilled to hear that the new Sew! book will be out at the beginning of October rather than the end...mine has been on pre order and Amazon tell me it is due to despatch on the 2nd...however I have heard that someone (you know who you are....) has got hers today...here's hoping mine comes tomorrow!!!

Back soon with a WIP and to do list...have decided its the only way i'll get anything finished!!!

X

a request and a suggestion....

I need a bit of a favour but first of all can I tell you about a fab swap being organised over at Contended, a paper bag swap......all the details are over there but basically, you send 2 FQ's of fabric, trim, thread etc and your partner will make something lovely with it for you.

I'm looking forward to it.

Now the favour...see this.....

I need one!!!!

This is what I want to get the 2 small boys for christmas. And ELC in their 'wisdom' have discontinued it and replaced it with a bit of plastic.......

I lost out on a couple on ebay at the weekend...am watching another but I wondered if any bloggers, or bloggers friends had one that they would be willing to sell....

Also a request that those of you who are regulars at car boots could keep their beady eyes out for me...obviously I would organise delivery/couriers etc and make sure nobody was out of pocket xxxxx

Sorry for a 'wanty' kind of post, but there are only 92 sleeps and I'm getting a bit panicky lol!!!!!

Thank You everybody :)

starting the week

Last week autumn was well and truly here for us on the east coast, the uggs came out from hibernation, there was a definate nip in the air.....by Friday we were getting caught out - chilly mornings and glorious sun by lunchtime...same today.....so in order to make the most of the sun and to stop small boys destroying the house.... we walked to the post office and came home the pretty way.Its a long time since I shared pics of where I live and I do tend to take it for granted. This pretty church is right next to the primary school where C will go in January, about 3 streets away from home.Below shows the spire from my big boys velux window.....

I have lived in my house for 4 years and only the other week started walking through the churchyard....lovely husband says that many moons ago as a teenager it was THE place to meet of an evening. It is well used and well cared for and I can't believe I haven't been walking this way home before now.Mum is moving in a week or so, and her new house is on the circuit between us and the post office so I can see us using this route more often. In fact there are many pretty walks nearby that I don't take advantage of, perhaps now my house is begin to be whipped into some kind of order I will make the effort to get out there more often.

Hmm....speaking of which!! I have had a good week or so getting organised in the home. The playroom is ready for Christmas, broken or never played with toys have been recycled, I am just about on top of the housework....its not perfect but I no longer circle cleaning companies in the local paper and tell A that the house is too big for me to manage ;)

Except one room....my work - slash - spare room.....It is an out of control tip.

I don't even know what I have anymore.
There is no order, no system and its beginning to drive me mad!!
These drawers contain some cardmaking stuff that mum gave me and I don't like cardmaking, so have decided will keep the blanks I have (I like bondawebbing felt and fabric to make the occasional card!) and get rid of the rest.....

The red case was thrifted and is on the to do list that remains in my head. I actually went upstairs to make a list of started projects, projects that have had special fabric bought to make and potential projects...but couldn't work out where anything was so...that is this weeks job when I get a child free moment....then I can get a list together, and get going!!

One project I have been doing is the advent calendar....here's how far I have got.... I now have to just bondaweb a couple of bits on and machine stitch the pockets to the backing fabric. Its not perfect but I am pleased with it, just hope I can stitch the pockets on without a disaster!!

I think I want to make another now I have recovered from the cutting and ironing of 24

small bits of linen!! But I have lots of other Christmas ideas, not to mention the pressies I want to make.....

So I'll be back once that workroom is straight...see you in a month lol!!

A brooch for a boat...

Gem and I recently had a little swap, she had her eye on one of my hanging boats and I really needed a brooch for my winter coat.

I left the fabric choice up to Gem and her great taste...and I wasn't disappointed :)

I'm still looking for the perfect winter coat...it has to be grey but the right shade of grey!! But my new brooch looks fabulous on my autumn coat!!!Excuse the poor quality - I took it in the mirror and the light was rubbish in my hallway...

Here's the hanging boat for my side of the swap.

(sorry Lesley hope you got my email xxxx)
I have some more boats cut out waiting to be sewn...but I keep getting sidetracked...really must make a list so I don't have so many half finished projects!!

Bibs 'n' Bunting

I have made a few more items for ginger pudding.......


Cath Kidston fabric baby and toddler bibs

Non Cath bibs too....... Perhaps a bit too nice for splodges of carrot but great for parties!!!!

Stars and Stripes Bunting for a little boys room


Vintage embroidered bunting....dresser sized!!

Crafty Corner

Finally we sanded and waxed the old school desk I won on ebay back in May - you may have gathered there is nothing rushed around here :)

I have wanted an old school desk for a long time. Specifically a double one. Last June, I missed out on a beautifully restored double desk that was local to me, when it went for £54.....I was on holiday and this was over my maximum bid.....not by much I have to say.....I did like it a lot...but what was I thinking!!

Since then I have had a saved search in ebay and nothing else came up that was local enough or nice enough. This one was not too far, and had a very low start price......because it was in a bad way...it had been well loved by the ladies 3 children and was full of biro, paint and stickers.....Its not as old as I would have liked probably only 1980's but its a double desk and the eighties are vintage now anyway lol!!

I forgot to take before pics as the sanding was a kind of spur of the moment thing...but trust me it had been very well loved!!

So we gave it a go...we said if it didn't come up well we would paint it (something else on the 'to paint' list so I did cross my fingers!!) and, its not perfect but we are very pleased with it.......

add a shelf we had bought an age ago and forgot about (too small imo but it'll do!!)

a hanging rail and plastic cups from Ikea (also bought in May!!)

and voila - a crafty corner for 2 little boys.

Not bad for £5!!!!

I lined the insides with some polka dot wallpaper - badly as you can see!

And that is phase 1 of sort the playroom complete...phases 2, 3 and 4 to follow, mostly involving toy chucking so has to be done during a child free hour or two!!

The home organising is going well, the house still feels clean and tidy and I am finding just as much time for crafting too...

Speaking of which, another advent calendar update...

Pockets now hemmed at the top and positioned how I want them so just embellishing to do now then stitch them on, which will be done on the machine.I hemmed the pockets with a running stitch in metallic gold thread...its horrible thread to use so doubt I will be using it in the machine, the metallic fibres kind of separated from the thread, meaning I had to start again a few times..

This message was waiting for me when I walked through the dining room last night.....from my eldest son.....Are todays kids really so dense that they ask for permission to do all the things we did behind our parents backs...I'm waiting for the mum I love you can I go binge drinking message lol!!!

Much as I am pleased the blackboards are used for lovely messages and enjoyed getting all those kisses...I still said no!!!

great advice

Whilst blog hopping aka wasting valuble minutes and hours of my life that could be spent decluttering my home, I found this great website,

As a lot of us are decluttering at the minute - doing the back to school countdown to christmas preparations - the latest post on there is very good advice indeed!!

I have realised that as long as I stay off the computer, stuff gets done. I know - genius - who'd have thought it lol!!

I spent a child free 3 hours yesterday cleaning and my bathroom shines and I no longer have last years pine needles under the rug in the lounge...wow thats a confession is anyone else as minging as me!!!

Advent calendar progress update.....

19 pockets pressed - will to live went at that point so hoping to finish later today!!

I've started reading my Christmas books for crafting/decorating ideas and I have found this calendar in this fab book(available via marketplace too).......well I have 4 boys, they surely need a calendar each??? But considering I didn't get one made last year I'll be very surprised if 2 or even 4 are!!

a good start

Well I was all inspired by my own post the other day. We have spent the weekend having a good sort out - still a long way to go but feels less chaotic already.....

A has put some of our cd's onto itunes, still a box to go but have 2 boxes to sell and 1 box to store in the loft somewhere. Regretting the deal we made him of 20p per disc...he has made himself £18.40 this weekend!!!

We moved this shelf unit from the dining room into the kitchen and I have sorted out the stuff that had accumulated on it..
I've wanted to have my chilli lights somewhere useable for ages and they are perfect here, we left them on last night and it felt all Christmassy in the kitchen! I've only got 1 shelf of CK china..much as I love it, the rest has gone in the cupboard as all in one place it looks a bit much!! Can you spy a flour dredger?? (middle right!!) It really is lovely and well worth the money..

This is the dresser top I got off ebay last christmas time, I think it only cost me £5...or could have been £20...can't remember...either way it looks perfect in the kitchen, I planned to paint it but glad I got it put up out of the way as living with it has made us keep it in its natural state (its not as orange as the pic!!).

I am never happy with how it looks though..I may put my cookbooks on the bottom shelf..but then I'll have to get rid of the blue and white china I have aquired and I don't really want to!!

So then this freecycled 14months ago dresser came out of its corner in the playroom and into what will be its final resting place in the dining room...lovely husband sanded it yesterday so all I need to do is get the undercoat out...the plan being that whilst it stands all dingy in the already too dark dining room ..it will annoy me and I'll be more inclined to paint it....watch this space!!

Its going to be a pale appley green.

I bougfht this dig for victory metal sign from TK Maxx over a month ago...it cost about £7 and has shamefully just been cluttering up the kitchen worktop ever since, whilst I decided where to put it!! So its now on the shed door...

I even bit the bullet last night and cut out the linen for the advent calendar I planned to make last year....and whilst I was at it, pinned one of the pockets as a trial, which in turn led to me embroidering the numbers and stitching on the heart....1 down 23 to go!!!I'm going to keep it reds and whites on the natural linen, I plan to embroider some motifs and embellish with buttons and bells and perhaps some sequins too!!

I've also found some time for sewing the past few days. Completed a few swap items and made this for myself (he's guarding my wine!!)

The pattern was from Sew Hip - the summer edition.. I enjoyed it as there was a fair bit of hand sewing which can be done in front of the telly box, means I'm sociable when lovely husband is home!!!
Finally, Floss recommended this book when she commented on my last post...it came this morning so I am looking forward to reading it.....if I got this lot done this weekend without, I can't begin to imagine how organised I shall become...................................

Happy New Year!!!

It seems that there are a lot of us who look upon September as being the start of the New Year. Its full of promises of that elusive thing called 'time' once the little treasures are back at school....
I sent 2 out of 4 boys back to school today.
A starts Year 10. GCSE's start this year. His carefully (aided by parents a little!!) chosen subjects will begin to be taught, he is very excited to be doing graphic design, not on the Year9 curriculum! We have had a chat about the importance of the next 2 years, thankfully all talk of joining the infantry has ended....and he knows that everything is riding on good results in the next 2 years.
(Nothing against the British Army, I have no problem with him joining the forces actually, but I do object to a straight A student going in the infantry to be sent to Afghanistan 16 weeks after signing the papers....)
W started Year 7 today. Now I know in most parts of the country he would be starting senior school but here in darkest Suffolk we still (for the next couple of years anyway) have the 3 tier - primary, middle and high - sysyem of schooling.
He has actually started a new school purely because he was going to an out of catchment school involving 20 miles of travel by car a day. The start times were going to clash with C's new school in January and we had also had several incidents in Year 6 ranging from petty to not so petty that the school totally mishandled. He chose to change schools, so the brave boy went off today as the only Year 7 newbie. I am a bit anxious and looking forward to 3.15.
He will be walking home with his big brother, another 1st for him. Its still out of catchment (my catchment middle is pants to say the least!!) but its walk/bike able!!
I still have C off kindergarten until Tuesday - I refused the school nursery place as his pre school is excellent, more flexible than school, and C is happy - he starts full time after Christmas (yes that was me jumping up and down with joy :)!!!)
So on Tuesday, with just my baby boy at home, my new year will begin.
I love September. Today is proper back to school weather...its windy, a little cold and a little bit rainy - real Autumn :) September means its nearly Christmas and I think we have determined how much I love that ;)
Floss has talked about New Years Resolutions on her blog today (she is having a giveaway over there too)
I have been making mine all through August!!
I shall become more organised.....this will include the making and purchasing of new storage to ensure everything has its own home, and people will be educated in keeping it in its new home!
This will also mean I will sort out the 2 drawers and 2 cupboards in the kitchen that contain all kinds of junk - one drawer is full of cut out recipes - these must be filed or thrown away!
I will utilise my time better. Making sure there is a fair balance of housework, laptop time, play with small children and sewing and crafting.
I will paint the dresser I got off freecycle 14 months ago. Once this is done I will sort out the eclectic mix of pretties I have and be ruthless and get rid of those that do not have a home...well at least put in a box in the loft anyway!!!
I will get all our cd's put on the ipod we bought in April...thinking A may like to earn some money doing this... then I can take the huge cd shelf off the dining room wall.
I will print out the photos on the computer, I think its sad that we have so few printed out to hold in our hands and look at.
I will make sure all the boys get a little quality 1:1 time with me. This will be the biggest challenge.

I think I may also make a list of house and crafting projects I want to do and try and see if writing them down helps them to get done!
I'm hoping I can stick to these resolutions...they are not rocket science and are probably things that a less slovenly housewife achieves all the time.
Here's hoping that by Christmas I have a house that is shipshape and a me that is contented....