All Easter-ed out..

Good morning!

I can now put these photos on as all the family have had their Easter goodies..
These are the cards I made - I'm only just getting re-acquainted with my sewing machine, but on the whole I was quite pleased with how they turned out - and I know what I'd do differently another time!

Then I made some of the egg cosy bunnies from the Debbie Bliss book I borrowed from the library..



And it's not just me being creative either.. Graeham has been having a cooking bonanza so here are the lovely hot cross buns he made...

and the super Simnel cake - what with that and the wine and chocolate egg for Easter it's a good thing I'm off to badminton this morning!

On the work front I've finished another set of teachers' notes so I've just got to find a biography for the last one on my list.. I've been trawling bookshops and have started looking online, but I think there might be a gap in the market here!

Oh and I did my craft fair... it was a bit quiet, but I didn't come away at a loss - and everyone was so nice.  It was a bit of a celebration too as the local community radio station (who were running the fair as a fudraiser) have just found out that they can broadcast full time, not just during our festival and special events..  I can't do the next one (it's Exeter City's final home game), but have booked in for June when the festival will be on - and it's the Jubilee weekend too so there should be plenty of people in town.....

Finally, City managed a win - not by one goal either - by three.. so all in all it's been a good Easter...

Now where was I..?

I know, it's been a while, but the time just seems to woosh by - don't know when I had time for a 'normal' job now!!

I'll not go into all the stuff I've been up to - just one or two highlights I guess...

Right, I needed a card or two quickly so I decided to use my newly learnt skills at feltmaking!  I also had some ceramic buttons I made last summer to finish them off.. I was quite pleased ..

I might get brave and do a tutorial on how to make these!

Then I had a great trip up to Surrey for Mothering Sunday and stayed with my sister.. 
Of course it meant I could play with my niece's new shoes..
(Luckily for her they were too big - and I'd never have balanced on them long enough to walk!)

When we settled down for our meal my other the other niece's husband produced this zuggarat of a chocolate cake - just captured on film before Jenny tried to kidnap it!

The following day I spent in the garden with my sister and mum tidying and chatting before another nice meal together...

I got some more writing work - teachers' notes on three more books - so I've settled down to that since I've been back.. then I rediscovered crochet.. hooray!

I'm still battling with corners rather than going round and round, but it's very soothing...

Oh and I had a finishing off session with some beads..

and some knitted brooches!

So that's me just about up to date..

Craft Fair this Saturday - if all goes well it could be a monthly event so fingers crossed...

Will report back with photos next week..

Have a good one - and enjoy Easter...

Lofts, Creatures and Egg Cosies!

It's been busy here as usual, with plenty getting done I'm happy to say!
With an Easter craft fair booked I thought I'd better do something Easter-y so I've been in mass production mode with egg cosies and egg decorations - here are the egg cosies - the eggs are waiting to be stuffed/felted/decorated - well finished really!

We spent some time at the beginning of the week getting the conifers alongside the fence all mulched up to look a bit tidier.  It wasn't long before the first cat visitor found out and decided to sun herself on the nice soft surface - this was the best photo I could get. 

She wasn't the only one either - the word seems to have gone out on the local cat network - they all seem to approve.

Mind you, once the sun comes out we do tend to gather visitors - this one turned up not long ago on the front doorstep....

He sat there quite happily on the ledge of the door and seemed to quite like the motion every time the door opened and shut, swinging gently on the ledge for quite some time!

We've also sorted out the top border a bit - we're trying to put in a number of shrubs and ground cover - it not only makes life easier, but it seems to look better for longer..  This is one of the borders we did over the last few years to disguise the fence...

The border we've been doing lately has a bit further to go to catch up - especially with the ground cover being put in at this size!

I've also finished the teachers' notes I was working on and sent them off - that was the end of the work on my desk, but before I had a chance to worry I had a phone call with three more to do - so I'm not unemployed yet, phew!

And then came Wednesday - I had one of those sorting out days.. in the loft.  I decided to go to town and get organised up there so I've thrown and repacked and tidied and I now know exactly what's up there, what's for the Boot Sale and not only where the Craft Sale stuff is, but know that it's all priced up and ready to go with table decorations, banners etc.

That's me happy - so it's back to the computer as I want to get ahead before my trip up to Surrey for Mothering Sunday, stay with my sister and then go on to my old school to catch up there... not to mention football tomorrow - the Grecians truly need some good luck - it's been a difficult time at Exeter City with injuries and results so fingers crossed, eh!

How come it's March already?

It's happened again - another month has just vanished!

Still, can't complain as I seem to be managing to get things done....

Remember that jumper that drove me crazy?  Well here it is all finished with a much longer body, better fitting sleeves and generally a much more wearable item - apologies for the photo as usual!

I've also been working on some of the pieces from the Debbie Bliss book.. here's some flowerpot covers...

an ipod/iphone sock..

and a lavender bag!

I also had a great time at feltmaking last Tuesday and was even pleased with the bag I made.. here it is



 and this is it with the flap open so you can see the colour inside

what I love about it is that when the flap is closed it actually looks like the pattern on the front is designed to meet up like that.. I'll let you into a secret - it was sheer fluke, but I'm chuffed with it anyway!

I've also had a ruthless look at my wardrobe - and then put everything back again -I'm rubbish at throwing stuff away.  I am going to try, however, to thin it all out.  I reckon I'm going to wear everything once.  If it doesn't fit or looks dreadful or I just can't face wearing it then it can go.  I think it could be at least a year before I get back to the beginning again, either that or I really will be making progress with decluttering it all. At the very least I'll be developing my thrifty gene and not buying anything new with so much stored away in there!

Right, what else was there to tell?  Ah yes, I've investigated a new monthly craft fair down in town - it's on the first Saturday morning of each month so I've signed up for next month to see how it goes!

Phew!  Will have to dash off now - I put a whole heap of stuff on Ebay that had been hanging about in the loft and amazingly it sold so I need to make it to the Post Office.  The cash from all of it will do nicely to pay for my (much needed) hair cut on Thursday and begin to contribute to the car's service and MOT....

Until next time.. Have fun.

Now where was I..?

Apologies for going AWOL... went up to visit Mum and Juds on Monday, came home feeling rough and the rest of the week disappeared!  So how have you been?

Here's what I've been up to (in shortened form!!)

Firstly there was the second part of my feltmaking course.. 3D needlefelting.. meet my bird!

Tomorrow night we start work on scarves.. can't wait to see what happens with those!

Then I finally got to finish some of the knitted items from the Debbie Bliss book I borrowed from the library..

I made a box..

a hat...

and a brooch..

Then, as I said, there was the trip up to Surrey to see Mum and Juds, now I'm not naming names, but someone had an enormormous banoffee pie..

while Juds and I had coffees.... say no more!  But we did have a good meal and a relaxing afternoon...

I then got a couple of trains over to Kent to meet up with Graeham at his brother and sister-in-law's for the night.. I got to Waterloo at the same time as Jenny, my niece, but just missed her as she went to catch her train home.. better luck next time..

Roz, my sister-in-law, makes super natural soaps and was at a Farmer's Market in Hildenborough on Tuesday so we popped in on our way home to have a look.  We now have a lovely rose oil diffuser scenting the lounge and bought some great homemade chocolates too - I'd show you a picture of the latter, but somehow they didn't last long enough to get to the camera.

The rest of the week disappeared in a round of cancelled stuff due to my hacking cough, but I did manage to get some work finished... so it can't be all bad

even if one of the things I missed was five goals at St James' Park and a win for City.. grrrr....

So now it's back on track.. I'm doing a book called 'Roman Chronicles' this week... just the thing to exercise my lost classical muscles..  I've been enjoying a book myself called 'The Hemlock Cup' that my sister bought me for Christmas in 2010 and that I've only just awarded myself enough time to sit and read properly.. all about Socrates and Athens.

It's amazing isn't it - the thought has only just occurred to me over the last two or three matches that it's quite a coincidence for someone who decided to study for a Classics degree should end up supporting a football team called 'the Grecians'!!!

Until next week.. Have fun!



Grrr.. where does the time go?

It was all going so well.. and then I ended up with a burst blood vessel in one eye.. that not only slowed up work, but also put paid to the pressie for my friend as I was doing it in cross stitch and close work was a bit off the list while my eye got better!  So this is as far as it got..

I then managed to catch a streaming cold which meant I couldn't go to the party anyway.. still that gives me a few days before I see her to finish it now so not all is lost!

It sounds like a bad week, from the above, but it wasn't at all...

Tuesday (before I got my cold) I started a feltmaking course at the local community college and it was splendid.  I made a triffid.. well, when the instructor said we were going to start by making flowers I thought they'd be sort of brooch/corsage size.. they were huge!

See..

It fills the window sill and is about 10 inches wide - I kid you not!

This week we're doing needle felting - something involving chickens I think...

I have been playing with the camera as I challenged myself to - and with the help of the other half I've now managed to upload some photos onto my Etsy shop and work on the banner a bit.  It's not perfect, but it's a start.  See what you think here http://www.etsy.com/shop/InnaSpin...

I've also got started with Twitter.. I thought I didn't have enough hours in the day as it was - there's even less now!

Right, just got to phone to book a place at Zumba then I can relax....

Getting there....

Well, I have been practising with the camera - making sure I set up a clear background and so on, but I'm not there yet by any means!

Here's my latest creation ....

Aha - amazing what putting things on a sheet of white paper will do!

This was for a friend's birthday - I've had these bits and pieces of silk for ages and wanted to use them for something nice - hence my friend's brooch/corsage..  The little green button was one I made before Christmas when another friend taught me how to make decorations and buttons from porcelain clay, then wax resist, paint and glaze them.  It was very therapeutic spending time at the pottery creating away...

I'm going to try and spend some time making some more of these corsages once I've had another go at my (lack of) photographic skills so that I can add them to my new project.. an Etsy shop.

I've opened one now, but it's boring and the images aren't too good so that's the target for the next couple of weeks - to beautify my shop and start to fill it with good looking wares.  I've got some handspun scarves and beaded bangles all ready to go, they just need the right photos!  Then I might feel confident enough to put a link to it here and stop hiding it away in embarassment..

Mind you - it's another friend's party this coming weekend and I haven't finished her house warming card/present yet.. I'll pop a picture on here when I'm done.

Oh yes, and I suppose a spot of work wouldn't come amiss either so it's back to the computer to get on with a teaching resource for Julian, Secret Agent by Ann Cameron....