Friday 29 July 2011

Who you gonna call.....? Stashbusters!


Thinking about joining in with this for August ... another interesting way of busting your stash?
If you are interested, head over to her blog and sign up between 1st & 3rd August!

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Lucky

I have been very lucky of late ... and today more so than others!

Recently Carrie posted some of her fantastic polymer clay beads and pendants and this little guy caught my eye. Imagine my delight when an unexpected padded enveloped revealed this inside!



I've included a photo of the rear as well as Carrie has fantastic attention to detail even when it won't be seen!



So I need to get me some pretty ribbon as this is going to be all MINE! ;D

Also in the mail was the bracelet from the Operation: Tackle That Bead Stash Swap.  Someone has definitely being paying attention as I recently mentioned a love of all things Coccinellidae when I was a child, and Piper does too (which menas I still get to love them without feeling a tube!)  And look what slithered out the next unexpected envelope!

You can't look, I've taken the pictures away as O:TTBS want it kept under wraps til the reveal so if you saw it already .... shhhhhh! ;) Thank you mystery swappage person! And I still haven't found what I wanted to make - so better get my skates on!
The final envelope in the mail today brought what I was expecting, well, some of it!  I managed to foul up an order thinking 2.5 cm was 2.5 inches, but that's easily overcome! :) So a sneak preview of the next bag on the sewing table!



That's all for today folks, enjoy the sunshine, but remember to wear ...

Sunday 24 July 2011

Feeling fruity!

What a brilliantly sunny day today... was thinking of something to do outside today so took the children to West Craigie Fruit Farm near Edinburgh (not far from the airport!) . . . It must have been an omen that the sat nav sent us the wrong place at first.  Oh dear, that sounds like we didn't have a good time, but we did ...



Piper loved getting chugged around on the tractor in the play area ... but the fruit fields weren't in the best of shapes with nettles, thistles and other less nefarious weeds growing through the straberry plants rather prolifically!



We picked nearly two kilos in half an hour though, so some for eating, some for freezing and some for jamming and some for making strawberry sekt! Sounds okay doesn it?  They are all hulled now, and the blast freezing is taking place.  We also got stung on the cost of ice cream - 2 quid for a scoop in a tiny cone?  Saw us coming, (and the rest of the people - it was hoaching, with folks with terrible manners it would seem)!  Sadly, if they saw us coming they didn't call in more staff, and ran out of vanilla ice cream (they had a couple of new tubs in but they were not softened ready enough to serve, and we were told it would take half an hour...erm, why not have had them out earlier then? they could tell it was busy, not to mention a scorcher (nsfw)!)

We took the scenic route home and sung songs in the car... but we're now bushed, and don't feel like eating ... Boys are out playing with their friends and Piper is playing guitar and watching Peppa Pig .... :D

Next week, we'll go en famille to Cairnie Fruit Farms in Coupar .... it is a far better fruit farm and they might even have decent raspberries ( mmmmm my favourite!)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! xx

Monday 18 July 2011

love you long tiem!

It's been a while, and no, nothing became of my Pimms cupcakes...time slipped away and holidays intervened.  Since then I've been keeping my head below the parapet, in case Lady Luck or Fate catch me with a stray bullet again!

We had a lovely holiday break in the Trossachs... staying here ...


We were swimming daily (sometimes more than once) and played tennis instead of watching it on the telly! A couple of days out to the Doune and Dunblane Highland Games and also a visit to Inchmaholme Priory on Lake of Mentieth...

It was exactly the break we all needed, though the wheel snapping at the busy roundabout in Stirling on day two didn't help! We did overcome it, and Piper had a lovely birthday with her Granny, Grandpa and Uncle Stevie all making the trip up the road to see her on the day and take us out for dinner!



My first point of order (apart from the drudgery of work) on my return was to make a start on a bag for Lynn Davy.  I had an idea in my head of what sort of bag Lynn wanted, but wasn't entirely sure how to best approach it.  Suffice to say yesterday, after clearing my crafting table so I could at least see the wood and move my sewing machine to the fore, I set about making a mock-up bag. 



And the results are thus.  I've sent Lynn a message to see if this ticks the requirement boxes and am keeping my fingers crossed.

I was also recently asked by Catherine to make a fascinator, with the prerequisite that it have beetle wings, and perhaps some peacock feathers... It was a bit of a rush order, and I had the desire to use a vintage dress clip as a sparkling accent.  I didn't take any photos, but Catherine did.  I'm delighted to say she liked it and it almost survived the transport of Royal Mail unscathed ...

To keep me on my toes, I've entred a bracelet swapsie on Operation:Tackle That Bead Stash so have that on the 'to do' list as well.  Sadly, into each crafty life some rain must fall, I was disappointed lately that I was unable to repair a friend at work's ring ... it is of great sentimental value but one of the claws in the setting has lost that vital piece that secures the stone.  I'm many things, but lack the skills or knowledge to do anything about this particular issue.

But bouyed by my successes, I have ordered a couple of books, and intend to use up not only my bead stash but also my fabric hoard!

Nice to see you again  xx