I'm On Softies Central!!!!!!

I am so excited, I got a message from LucyKate Crafts to tell me she had spotted the both of us on Softies Central (how funny is that, the both of us on there together?!)

Have a look..... here

I also got a fab parcel in the post today from pinkpetal but I'm going to bask in my Softies Central glory today and blog that over the weekend :D

Kawaii Goodies!!!!!!

My friend the postman came today (as he does most days) and tried to trick me into thinking I got a boring load of junk mail, a letter from Grace's school, Leo's 2yr review letter and a special delivery letter for Warren.......he then produced a little parcel out of his bag with a 'oh, there's this little thing as well'. Posty, you do make me laugh (but hide my precious post from me again, Buster, and I'll rip your head off!). I recognised the writing straight away, and the pretty japanese tape on the back.........was it from Sarah? Was it Cram Cream tape????? Let us have a look................


.....Hiding in the layers of paper was a really Fun Guy (sorry, Sarah, I had to use your naff joke!)some very cute plasters (perfect - I poked my finger with a needle last night and needed a plaster)



.....and a lovely stack of Cram Cream tape...which doubles as a set of blocks to make towers with!

Thank you Sarah for my lovely tape, and for my little extras too xxx


So if you haven't already, get yourself off to Sarah's website and buy some tape. Blimey, I need to do that link thing again...here goes......
Sarah's Website and and blog

The Weekly Challenge Update (plus....

...the quest for an apron continues...see previous post, and thank you for the help so far folks!)


A Basket Of Christmas Decorations and Lavender Hearts

Some Lavender Hearts (there were more, but Grace has nicked a few) £3 Each

Painted Wooden Hearts and Stars with Buttons (£2 Each)
Fabric Padded Heart Christmas Decorations £1.50 Each

Felt and Fabric YoYo Brooches £2 Each, Big Fabric Flower Brooches £5 Each

If anyone is interested in anything, please email me.

I also made the 2 bags for Grace and Poppy and a horse this week - now I have taken pics of it all I realise I have had a really productive week. Next week won't be so good, I'm sure! So, for the next week I have 3 pink and green horses to make for someone in the States, 2 pink rabbits for one of Grace's school friends and a present for Leo's 2nd birthday. If I get a chance I'd like to make some bunting too so I can decorate my stall at the craft fair I am doing in a couple of weeks (haven't done any before so I don't know how I'll get on, but it can't be that hard, can it?!). Tomorrow I am getting my sewing machine out and actually going to sit and fiddle with it for a bit, I need to get to grips with it and start to use it a bit more often (although not on my toys, I like hand sewing those)
I think I'm going to have a lie down now....this week the house has been a tip and nothing has got done. I need to get a grip :-D

Apron Quest......HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I need some help because I am useless on the sewing machine, and although I can always turn to etsy I thought I'd try some of you lot first. One of my friends would like a very pink, Cath Kidston/shabby chic type half apron with frill round and a pocket on the front. Do you know what I mean? The sort of thing I can imagine an American housewife in the 1950s wearing. Does anyone know where I can find one, or do any of you make them yourselves? Not a big long one, but a shortish one, to the knee.

Over to you.....fingers crossed!!!!!

Thanks in advance, Katy x

My First Ever Bag - Part 2

My first ever bag has now become my first ever BAGS as I managed to finish Poppy's last night so Grace could give it to her today. She was very happy with her new bag, Grace pointed out the subtle differences between them so they wouldn't get them mixed up ('Y'see, Pops, mine has a small hole with a butterfly patch on the back and my flower is in the middle, and yours has a small hole with a plain pink patch on the front and your flower is a bit to the side....because your mummy said she liked it like that!)

Phew, two happy 8 year olds!!!

Night night, I'm going to give my poor aching hand a rest this evening and not do anything too difficult. Have fun, whatever you are doing xxx

My First Ever Bag!!!! (part 1)

I'm very sorry about the photos, I just couldn't wait until the morning when the light would be better!!!

Everywhere I go people seem to be making bags, and I was getting a little bit jealous. Sooooooo, I thought I'd have a go using a pair of Grace's old jeans (after reading what LucyKate was up to). The lining is pink bunny toile by Michael Miller, and I made a big floppy flower corsage out of the same toile and some gingham too. I actually handstitched the whole thing, and got cramp after a while. Foolishly I agreed to make one for Grace's friend too....so My First Bag part 2 will be coming soon (with much better photos!)

Have a good evening - think of me with my crampy hand, lol! ps has that link worked? Did I finally do it???? Fingers crossed (eyes clamped shut and fingers tightly crossed, please, please, please work!!!)

Weekly Challenge Update...& Christmas Shopping

Is that an OWL amongst the horses (or a cat amongst the pigeons???)



.....oh, it's Hootle McTootle, the owl that keeps me up all night hooting outside my bedroom window. Hello Hootle!



Christmas shopping (plus a little something for moi!)

Each week I am challenging myself to get organised for Christmas, because I have orders to do for different people (super organised people that have thought 3mths ahead - and I thought I was bad!!!!). Last week I aimed to have 4 horses, 2 cats and some Christmas decorations made by yesterday. Well, I kind of fell short by not doing any Christmas decorations (this week they will get finished!), 3 horses, 2 cats (that have already been mailed out and received by the happy new owner - thanks Claire!), and an owl (because I was going crazy with the horses and wanted an evening off!). I like owls, I like birds in general and quite often bore hubby and kids with my bird spotting (there's a wren in the garden as I type...little cutey!)
The mint green and the red horse both have removable rosettes/brooches/corsages - whatever you want to call them. I am rather pleased with them. My plan was, you could have the brooch and give the horse to your child (yes...YOU!!!!!). Two gifts for the price of one!

And the last pic of today's post is from Sarah at pink-petal-designs (again!!!!) I ordered these pencil rolls for Grace and her friend, Poppy. I also ordered a covered notebook for Grace too (and want another one for Poppy!) and when I got the parcel this morning there was another little surprise in there - a cute little card purse which is perfect for my Moo cards when I am important business lady and hawk my wares (ok, when I am the craft fair in the rain more like!). Thank you Sarah....I want more things please :) (and do you think you could a little crayon roll for the baby monkey? hmmmm,there's an idea for you!)

Everyone this year is getting homemade something from somewhere. I am preparing my list so I don't get too excited and buy too much! Warren (darling husband) says he doesn't want anything homemade (not even cake??????? - surely not!) but I have been on a mission to track down something very lovely for him that he will love...it's Decole and cute, and it's not homemade but I decided to get it anyway. It's on it's way from Japan thanks to the lovely Eri at www.nuno-plus.com (and it's not even fabric related, they just did it as a favour - how gorgeous are they????!!!!) So keep your eyes peeled for it!

Right, I'm off to decide what my mission for this week is. Christmas decorations I think...and lots of them.

See you soon xxx

I Love The Weekend (and the Postman too!)

Samanda The Merrylegs Cat Twins
Rufus The Ladykiller
Amazing Buttons From My friend Claudia
Gorgeous Fabric Art from Picciolo
I won a Freebie from Pink-Petal-designs!!!

Right, I still haven't got the link thing down (despite having a tutorial from my friend Sarah!). I'll get there eventually. I promise that by next week I'll be linking all day long, but I am (at the moment) still a complete idiot, ha ha ha! I am over 30 - I shouldn't be expected to know how to use a computer let along do fancy links! :D

Sooooooo, yesterday the lovely posty came to visit me (as he does most days) and he brought me 2 little parcels, one was a present for my friend for Christmas that I got from;

www.picciolo.etsy.com

(I'm starting early with the present buying so I don't get a huge bill in January from Mr Visa!). It is even more gorgeous in the flesh and my photography doesn't do it justice at all! The other one was some hand embroidered buttons from a friend of mine in Holland. She has a shop on etsy too -

www.deepindigo.etsy.com

She sells some really lovely things. My fave are her buttons though, I have a thing about buttons.

Last night I went out for dinner for Grace's best friend's 8th birthday. Grace stayed over at her house last night, and then went bowling for the day with her and her dad, so the rest of us have had a lovely peaceful day (sorry Gracie - we love you really!!!!). We went for lunch and I had a gorgeous lamb stew pie (yes, it does sound strange - it was a bowl of stew with a pastry lid on basically!). I wish winter would hurry up and I could eat things like that all the time, I'm bored of the fake Summer we have had and trying to have BBQs in the drizzle!

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you about today's offering from the postman. Not only did he bring Grace's winter wardrobe from the Mini Boden catalogue (in 2 boxes and I am still waiting for a load more - did I over order as usual???!!!) he also brought me a fab felt covered diary from;

www.pink-petal-designs.blogspot.com

I won it in a giveaway. It's really lovely and I have a sneaky suspicion Grace will try and steal it when she comes home (so I have hidden it safely in my bag). I am hoping it will make me more organised and remember to write things down. I have a diary i use at home but it's no good for me when I am out and about (when I need it!) This little purple one is perfect and may well save my life (it really is THAT good!!!!) Sarah has a shop on ebay as well as etsy (check out her blog and follow the links). It is full of things for Grace and her friends for Christmas.

And for the rest of today I have been listing new cats and horses on etsy. I am rather fond of Samantha and Amanda the cat twins ('Samanda' - did anyone watch Big Brother?). They have brooches on them that can be worn by you (if you buy one, not if you don't!!!!). I am also very keen on Rufus the Ladykiller stallion, I hope he goes to a loving home! There are quite a few new friends in my shop, go and have a little peek and read all about them.

I've really gone on today, haven't I?! Oops - sorry! I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you do. And I shall practise my links for next time!

Anniversary, Cats and Sleeping Angels

Hello again!!!!!


Some new kitty cats (I will get round to putting some in the shop at some point soon)

A new pink horse (suggestions please for names)


Same card....different birdy, how bizarre is that?!

My baby girl, sleeping (with a shoe box house I made for her toys!!)


Today is my wedding anniversary - 9 whole years! It doesn't feel that long, we are still very loved up (which is a bit sickening I suppose!). Warren took the day off today so we could spend the day together and go for some lunch. It was lovely. We really do know each other far too well, of all the cards in all the shops we both chose the same set - I bought him a card with a yellow birdy and he got me the purple one. Freaky!!! I also got a rather special handbag as a present, with a jingly bell on it and covered in buttons. I was going to take a pic but I'm afraid one of you will track me down to steal it...it is soooooooo gorgeous (and the real reason is, I couldn't take a decent pic, it looked fuzzy and blurry. My camera is not behaving at the minute!)

I have been busy sewing (oh, that makes a change) and have 3 new cats and a pink horse with no name to show you (sorry about the pics - aforementioned camera again). I am rather fond of the cats, they are all sitting on the piano at the minute in my dining room and are so cute, I don't want to sell them. But I have to I suppose, otherwise every time I made something I would want to keep it and then I would have no money and no room for anything. It's my friend's mum's birthday at the weekend and she wants a cat to sit in her kitchen in Spain. So one of them (the one with red legs) is going on a plane next week with her. I hope she is ok over there, every cat I have seen in Spain looks malnourished and a bit streetwise, my cats are pampered and a bit wussy.

The last pic I have to share with you today is my baby (she's 8 so hardly a baby). Last night she went out to the theatre with her auntie (to see High School Musical, it was fab apparently) and didn't go to sleep until 10.30 (and on a school night!). She looks so happy when she is sleeping, she always has a sneaky little smile on her face, I'd love to know what she dreams about.

That's it for today! I'll leave you with my little angel sleeping (shame she's not such an angel when she is awake, lol!)

And this week I have been mostly.....sewing.......(again!)

This weeks acheivements...




So I set myself a challenge this week of at least 4 toys, and some christmas decorations (to be finished by this coming tuesday) and I think I have done quite well, especially as the baby monkey was poorly most of the week so I didn't have much time to sew. I feel quite chuffed with myself!!!! Two of the kittens just need finishing off, one needs a collar and bell and the other one needs her legs sewing on properly as they are just tacked at the minute. I appliqued some shapes onto vests and bibs, I don't really know why but I was a bit bored and thought I may as well. I think they look quite cute, although I'm not sure what to do with them now as they won't fit the baby monkey!

I also cut out some of the lovely felt that Sarah from Paper and String sent me and that is next week's challenge. And I hope to finish off the christmas decorations I started (well, I painted a few shapes) when my christmassy buttons arrive (I found some eventually after searching the world over for just the right size and colours....who'd have thought it would be SO hard to find red, green and white buttons???!!!)

Today I went into Leeds (my local town) to have a look at the craft market I will be doing in October, November and December and was really pleased with it. Gill from www.easilysuede.etsy.com told me about it, she sells her really lovely belts there. (for far less than they are worth!) There was a fab stall selling bunting for just £3! I had to rein myself in as I don't really have any need for bunting. She also had some toy boxes painted with blackboard paint for next to nothing too. Hubby had to steer me away so I didn't get a chance to catch her name or ask her if she sold online. Hopefully she'll be there next month and I can blow any of the money I make with her!!!! ha ha ha! The bigger monkey bought herself a tin of knitted hot dog sausages that I was a little concerned looked like willies (maybe I just have a dirty mind!) and a bracelet that looked spikey and sharp but was actually soft and rubbery. My daughter can shop, she's learning from the master and I am very proud :)

Baby monkey has just woken up from a nap and is calling me so I'm off to be a proper mummy. Have a lovely sunday evening, see you later!!!!!!

Moo to you!

Today was a very exciting day. The postman brought me a selection of goodies, one of which was wrapped in gorgeous pink paper and orange ric rac. I was giddy as a kipper unwrapping it.....it was felt from paper and string!!!! (www.paper-and-string.blogspot.com) The very lovely Sarah also sent me a little card with a sock monkey on and some of her Moo cards.......






....which was a rather super coincidence because the postman brought me some Moo cards of my very own. So I can now send these out with my orders and they have all my details on.

The baby monkey was poorly again today so we played with his cars and his precious cow (a plastic one) and I didn't get a chance to do much sewing :(
I will try and get something done tomorrow because he is going to Nursery (whether he likes it or not!) and then I can post a pic of it (to prove I do actually do something all day other than buy felt and Moo cards!)

And maybe I can figure out how to do a link next time too. Hmmmm, possibly that is far, far too complicated for the likes of me but I'll try!!!!

Day One...finally a blogger!

Merrylegs...what I do!

Christmas Decorations - A work in Progress (and part of today's acheivements!)










Ok, bear with me whilst I get to grips with this....I'm learning and so far I'm not too good at figuring out how to make my posts look nice. Hopefully things will improve as time goes by!
I'm very confused by the photos, if someone can help me load a photo and put it further down in the post than where these ones are I'd really appreciate it!!!!!

Anyway......today was the first day of a new school year, so I had the day to myself as the oldest baby monkey was back at School. Little baby monkey was supposed to be in Nursery, but he was sent home poorly at lunch time :(

I still managed to get quite a few things done though, as Dora the Explorer and a biscuit kept him entertained for a while this afternoon!

Today I made 2 horses and a cat and started on some christmas decorations. All of which are for a craft market I am doing next month. My etsy shop is a bit neglected at the minute as I have a big order of 12 toys to finish as well as trying to get loads made up for the market. I'll keep you posted with my progress!

Unfortunately I tend to get distracted by the internet and the lure of new materials. Today I have been on a mission to find the perfect Christmassy coloured buttons. I am still looking!!!!

So there you go, my first post. Not a very exciting one I'm afraid but I assure you that by next time I will have slayed the pesky Dragon that keeps pooing on my lawn and hand reared a couple of orphan birds.....honest!