A Festival Of Green

When I put together the Merrylegs I'd made this week, I noticed a running theme - they are all green! (That's not me, that's what I was asked to do!)

Green is my fave colour, so it makes me happy too!!!!

Anyway, here are some pics of the green and pink Horse triplets (off to Pennsylvania in a week or two - HI DEB!!!! XXX), and Amelie the green Emu, an order for someone I know from blog land and also another site, Shirley (Hello Shirley!!!!).

I promised Deb and Shirley some pics of their new babies, so here they are. I hope you're happy with them! And, also, the pics are a bit rubbish - I can't get any good light in my house at the minute (ooh, it's like playing cricket - BAD LIGHT, STOP PLAY!)

And can you see who else has popped in to say hello again? It's Pol, from Clang Clang.(see, even she is wearing green!!!)
And they are all sat on my bed, by some green cushions, and my bedding is green too. Good Gosh, that wasn't even planned, it was the best lit place in the house!!!! lol.



The Green Gang


The Triplets


Amelie (she is wearing leg warmers, in case it's cold up there in Scotland)


Gossiping Girls

WARNING - SERIOUSLY CUTE PICS TO FOLLOW!!!

Don't look if you have a hard heart, but if you are as soft as me then I'm really sorry, but they're mine, you can't have them!!!! (but are very welcome to pop round for a little stroke if you are passing, I'll put the kettle on and get a cake or two in!!!)


We have one cat already (Noo Noo), who is a British Shorthair Cream, but Warren decided Grace could have another one for her birthday, and we have finally picked him up from a breeder in Newark (which is a complete pain to get to from ours, but actually a really nice town).

Boo Boo is a British Shorthair Blue (like the cat on the Sheba advert), and you are not mistaken - there's 2 of them in one the pics below. He is Boo Boo's brother (no name yet!!!) and is going to live with my mum (I really hope she's not reading this), as an early surprise Christmas present. My mum has had a bit of a crappy year, my Grandad passed away in March (thanks, Pop, you chose my birthday!!!!) and my Nan has been going downhill since then, going into hospital, coming home, going back in and now finally in a nursing home (which is lovely, but not the same as her own home). Although my Mum has said before she didn't want to get another cat after her last one was knocked over, I know full well she's not telling the truth and decided to get her one as a surprise!!! hehehe! I can't wait to see her face on Saturday when we turn up with him!!! (My family live down in Suffolk, and I am in Yorkshire - so we have a fun fun fun 3 hour journey in the car with a scaredy kitten, as well as the two kids!)



Grace and her new baby


the boys (trying to have a bit of rest after being chased by Leo)



I got a lovely parcel this week for Rowan at Clang-Clang. Remember my pink horse from last week that is off to Macclesfield? Well, meet Pol, her more than beautiful replacement!!!! She is gorgeous, and has caused Grace and me to have a few fights over who she belongs to (I win - horrid, cruel Mummy!!!). So Pol is now living in my bedroom, on the chair next to my bed (although she does also sometimes sit on my chest of drawers too - further away from grubby monkey hands!)

Thank you Rowan, I love her!!! Unfortunately, as we speak, Horse has not yet arrived in Macclesfield and I posted her last Monday, so I am really hoping she hasn't found some Gypsy Horse on the way and has chosen a life on the road. Mind you, the post at the minute is all over the place, so my fingers are crossed she'll turn up safe and sound tomorrow.....PLEASE!!!



Look at that face, isn't she lovely?

Plush Team Halloween Contest

The etsy plush team (of which I am a member) are having a contest on their blog and need votes!!!!
Go there, (here it is).and you can see my 'cat dressed as a girl carrying a pumpkin' (I know, slightly long winded name!)and vote for which softie you like best.

VOTE VOTE VOTE - Go on, purlease, pretty please...........thank you xxx (they've got my blooming name wrong though - GINGER not GINER, I despair! lol!)

Off She Trots...To Her New Home

Hello Horse, where are you off to?


'Macclesfield'


Oh, why?


'I have a new home, with a lovely lady and 2 children


That's nice. Will you be warm enough?


'Definitely - I have my scarf on. I've heard their house is FREEZING!!!!'


And I see you have a bag with you - what's in there?


'Would you like to look?'


Yes please.






'Hang on, I'll get my things out'





'There's some stickers and a badge for the little boy, and some crocheted flowers and a bit of flowery trim for my new mum'


How lovely. You take care now, won't you?


'I will, I'll call you. Byeeeeeeee!!!'


And off she goes, to Macclesfield to live with Clang Clang. (Who makes the most gorgeous dolls and is doing a swap with me - hoorah!!!!!!)

Ikea, 2 Sarahs, and a couple of grumpy children

Yesterday was the last day of school, before half term. Grace was off sick after being up all night with an upset stomach. So we spent the whole day sat on the sofa, under a duvet, eating chocolate and drinking Mars milk (which I think is disgusting, but she says makes her better when she is poorly!)
I'm hoping that it doesn't mean I am going to have a nightmare half term with a bunch of misery guts, because I have been really looking forward to this week. The weather is nice and bright, it's Autumn at last and we can go off for walks and lots of fun (she is still grumpy today, and not poorly any more). Obviously, being a man, Warren had to get into the poorly action, and he is feeling sick, stomach achey, generally unwell.

Ribbons Galore
Festive Friends

Jungle Animals - It Was The Bird That Got Me! And Something That Reminds Me Of The Moomins


On a cheerier note! I got a parcel this week from my friend Sarah (who most of you know already) at Pink-Petal-Designs. She had a few too many bits of ribbon lying about and sent some to me, in a lovely little bag. (they were rolled up nicely when they arrived, but I got over excited and had to play with them!)
so, thank you Sarah, you are far too lovely to me :)

I am lucky to have another friend called Sarah (and you'll know her too! paper-and-string) who is also incredibly lovely and generous. When my felt order arrived this time, there was this little Monkey hiding in the parcel too. I'm not sure whether he had stowed away and was just being the little Monkey that he is, but he is a very welcome addition to the family. It looks like he has made himself at home already with Hootle and the Dino, Raawr, and they have got themselves tangled in my new christmas lights from Ikea (£1.59, battery operated - perfect for craft fair stall, methinks - actually my friend Gill told me about them, and I have stolen her idea...ooops, sorry Gill!!!) Whilst I was at Ikea I found some rather lovely fabric for Leo's room (he needs some new bedding). Obviously that means the sewing machine has to come out, which makes me very grumpy (can I hand stitch a duvet cover??? Probably not!)

Have a great weekend everyone! Good luck to England tonight for those of you that support Rugby (or South Africa if you prefer, I don't really mind to be honest, but don't tell Warren!)

Cup of tea and a Bacon Sarnie, Please Ian.....

...Well, I am a market trader now, so maybe I can get a stall at Albert Square? :)

Please excuse the photos, they are a bit small and a bit blurry, and this is just my practise set up at home (I forgot to take the camera to the fair/market on Sunday....but you get the general idea!)

SO, I did my very first craft market on sunday in Leeds, and I had a great day. I was absolutely petrified of going, was sure no one would buy anything and I'd come home really upset - but I shouldn't have worried because it was really good. I didn't take a fortune, but I did really well, definately worth the effort and definately something I will do on a regular basis (the market is once a month, and I am booked for the next 2 up to Christmas). I also made a few other bits and bobs to fill the table up, so there wasn't just the Merrylegs - which was a wise move as I only sold 3 toys. The fabric corsages, lavender bags and baby bibs and vests were really popular, so I know what I will making more of next time! It was good to be able to see what other people had, and what they were selling. Quite a few of the other stall holders were complaining they had had a really bad day, and the woman opposite me didn't sell a single thing - she looked devastated (her stall had cards and things like that). Next time I will be wearing a big warm jacket, because I was more than a little nippy in my cardi!!!

More Dinosaur Raawr, and an Emu goes......

......Squawk? I don't really know what noise an Emu makes, and the Rod Hull one didn't make any noise at all, did he? (Poor Rod Hull, I do miss him, Emu and Grotbags) - for those of you not in the UK or too young to remember, Rod Hull and Emu was a kids TV show in the 80s that was FAB. Grotbags was a big fat scary green witch. What was the crocodile called???? Can anyone remember?

Anyway, I digress.........

.......here are some dinosaurs, but what is that lurking at the back?........
It's a BIRDY! (an Emu to be precise)
He has needlecord nose and legs (as do the dinos) and is going to the craft fair with me, and his brother, another Emu that I can't take a pic of coz my camera has been dropped and is now not focusing :(


Actually, these pics are a bit fuzzy - it had been dropped once and then dropped again, this time from a greater height (thanks Warren, you are a wonderful husband but so damn clumsy!!!!!!). Hopefully I will be able to borrow a camera from someone because I have so much to show you all.
Tomorrow is the craft fair and I am trying to get organised, but am distracting myself with this blog and in a minute I will find something else to distract myself with (because I am getting all nervous and scaredy cat like, because I am a WUSS!!!!!). I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow - wish me luck!!!

ps. If anyone is interested in either a dinosaur or an emu (or anything really!!!) just email me. They are £12 each and available to order in all sorts of colours (whatever you want....within reason of course!!!!) Thank you :)

RAAAWR!!!!

Leo's Birthday Dinosaur
3 Dino Works In Progress


So here it is - a pic of Leo's merrylegs dinosaur, 'Raawr' that I made for his birthday. It does look suspiciously like one of my horses....because it is the basic horse shape, with a different nose and a tail and spikes(I'm not 100% happy with the nose, but have tweaked it for the 3 others and have got a better shape). When the dinos don't have noses or spikes I think they look like birds - so that's the next project (maybe for next week, I'm flat out this week trying to get organised for a craft fair on Sunday).

So, now you've seen him in the flesh.....what do you think?

Decole Teapots and The Nicest People in all Japan

My extra special teapots and 3 FREE FQs!!!




My husband, Warren, has been nagging me to get him a teapot, just for him. I had seen these on flickr and couldn't find one for sale ANYWHERE :( so, after emailing everyone I could think of to see if they had one hiding away somewhere, I tried my fave fabric shop Nuno+ and thought maybe they'd know of somewhere, or (and I was a bit cheeky here) could they get me one from somewhere in Japan. I was soooo sure they'd tell me to bugger off, but instead they found me 2 and posted them to me. Not only were they so blooming lovely to do that, when I opened my parcel they had also sent me 3 fat quarters of super cute Japanese fabric, for no reason other than they are the nicest people in all of Japan!!!! Thank you Miki and Eri - you are my super heroes!!!! And they also said, if anyone I know ever needs anything to give them a shout and they will do their best to help you. How nice is that?

I said a few days ago I would link to my friend, Claudia's shop on etsy. She sells hand embroidered buttons (those of you that won the pots of supplies will be getting a couple in your pots) and other lovely things. She is well worth a look, so please go and take a little look here, DEEPINDIGO

I was going to put a photo of Leo's dino on today, but it seems Warren has taken the computer to work with him, so I will have to do it later on today or tomorrow - it's coming, I promise!!!!!! :)

Have a lovely monday everyone! (is it wet and rainy and nasty where you are? I think I'll stay in all day and hide!)

Giveaway Results!!!

The birthday boy (holding his new dinosaur made by Mummy - doesn't look that impressed though, does he?!

We had a great time for Leo's birthday, I don't think he really understood what was going on, but he liked the presents!

Ok, today was lucky draw day and I can't believe how many names I had to write out - 26 in total, wow! I was expecting 10 or so!
So the winners are as follows (I did take pics of the paper as I drew the names out of the hat, but they came out so badly you can't see the names anyway!)

Pink Horse goes to;

Tantehilde

Pots of Supplies go to;

Dottycookie and Pink Petal Designs

And the Christmas Decorations go to;

VVVQV

Send me an email with your addresses please, and congratulations!!!!

Thank you everyone for taking part!

Freebie Week!

I can't believe it is almost a month since I started this blog, and the one month anniversary happens to fall on my little monkey's 2nd birthday - this Friday, October 5th. So what better excuse for a giveaway?! There will be 3 (or maybe 4 prizes), and names will be picked from a hat (or some alternative should a hat not be close to hand!) on Sunday evening, any comment posted on the blog from today until then is in for a chance!



first up is one of my horses (in pink - the most popular colour!)
the next 2 names out of the hat each get a little pot (painted by Grace) and filled with bits and bobs for crafting....fabric yoyos, ribbon, trim, buttons, and a very special embroidered button from my friend Claudia (who has a shop on etsy....I'll link to it in a bit - promise!)

and last (but not least) is a set of 3 fabric heart christmas decorations

So, good luck everyone and thank you for watching me, reading about what I get up to, taking the time to post comments and for generally making me feel welcome in the land of Blog. You're all fab :)