Decadence is.......

..........having children in bed by 6.30 and being in your own pajama's too with a cup of fruity tea by your side (a new indulgence!) reading blogs! Perfect :) I hasten to add that blog reading is work for me of course (searching out new things for Cuteable) just so you all don't think I'm slacking! And speaking of slacking I haven't done any crafting at all today. We have been out in the garden all afternoon because the weather has just been perfect. The girls played in the sandpit.

I have turned this very top heavy hedge

into this (don't look at the shrubs on the right!)

And removed these little blighters from the guttering at the back of the house.

I also got 1 and a bit loads of washing dry - fabulous! I love it when it's nice outside although I have caught the sun today and my forehead is a bit sore.

Oh and in other news I received a lovely card yesterday from Crafty Jan on the forum to say thank you for the swirls I sent to her. I love how she has used the swirls here.

Don't you just love Freecycle?

I do because you can get rid of the things you don't need that are too big to go to the charity shops and you can look out for things that people are getting rid of that will be perfect for you! I went to pick up some things this morning that a lady advertised - knitting needles and wool (which are for a friend) and some crochet hooks and buttons for me! Here's the box of buttons.

And these teal ones (they are teal I promise - the light here is terrible today!) are perfect for my current sewing project.

And I bet you can't guess what these are going to become??

And before I forget here is the website for Freecycle - see if there is one in your area and you can stop needless things going to the tip/landfill.

Blurgh!

I think I have been doing too much today as I am sat here exhausted - the craft room and my kitchen are looking much better though and there is less craft stuff all over the house! So I'm having a relaxing evening of blog reading and writing. I've been promising the button brooches for a while and here they are - and I have plans to make many more. They are fairly quick to make and can be picked up and put down at a moments notice - which is helpful when crafting with young children running around!


One is called Coffee and Cream and the other is Chocolate Buttons! I also made one with black buttons but I've kept that one for myself :) They will be listed in my Etsy shop soon.

And I haven't forgotten the ATC competition. I got Matt to shout out a number between 1 and 11 and he shouted out number 7 so it goes to Karen of Crystal Velvet. Well done!! I will contact you shortly :) And sorry Fearful Penguin - you were too late!

I'm still here!

And I haven't forgotten about showing you the button brooches I have been making either - just a bit busy! I'm going out for lunch to a play area with my friend Nicola and her little boy so that's why this is a short post - I've got to try and get another Cuteable post done before I go!

In other news I have joined the Gardening 365 group on Flickr - it's meant to be able to motivate me to do something with my gardens. Hmmmm we will see! Here's a piccie of my garden last September - it has been tidied up a bit but I quite like this overgrown look!


Be back later!

Oh - nearly forgot!

Weekly weigh-in this week was 12 st 4 so the same as last week! I'm sure if I had more time to put into it then I would loose weight quicker but it's going well so far!

Fame!!

So I know I was going to post about my button brooches but I'm going to write about some publicity that I have been receiving lately. The first bit of publicity was from Muddle Jewellery who featured me in a Treasury she made over on Etsy. I think Chicken Pox fitted right in!!

There he is cosying up to the green and white spotty bag on the second to bottom row. Thanks Muddle!

And imagine my surprise when I logged onto Dawanda this morning to look for things for Cuteable and there were my recycled chicken gift tags staring back at me! And in the top row too!

Right, that's it from me today as I have just put Tara down for a snooze so Anya is going to help me tidy the craft room :)

Giveaway!!

I was hoping to get the giveaway done in the 201st post and today the weather has been beautiful and sunny so I could get the photographs taken. I said I had been making ATC's and here they are. They aren't up to the standard of Jenny Flower's but I like them all the same! I have shown them to people outside the family and they have been well received (if not being laughed at is well received!)

First the Cheeky Chicken ones - snorkelling!


Buying a new house!

Going sailing

At the beach

Swimming in the lake!

And in the countryside.

And next up the alien disco ones!

So what do you think? A little naive I think but then again I'm not the worlds best artist! So the giveaway - leave a comment saying which 2 ATC's you like best and then I will draw a winner on Saturday 26th April and you will win your favourites ATC's!

I've also been button brooch making but you'll have to wait until another day for that!!

200th post!

Gosh I talk a lot!! So this is the 200th post but I'm afraid there won't be a giveaway until the 201st or 202nd post as I haven't got any pictures of what I will be giving away! Hope that made sense?

Anyway, I haven't been here for a few days as we have been away at the in-laws for the weekend helping to organise the quiz to raise money for the church in their village. P and O seem to get the short straw and organise most things to do with the church where they live but they also enjoy participating in the quiz. Dilemma until Matt states that he will run the quiz and I went along as a helper/scorer. I got to sit and make some things while I was there too - mainly ATC's. I don't have any photo's yet of them or of the button brooches I have been making but I'm sure some will come soon.

I do have photographs of my organised magazine piles though (and my craft room is slowly getting there!)

And some of the fancy labels :)



Anyway - it's bedtime so I'd best be off! Night night x

How much do I need this!!

Some clever straps that turn your magazine pile into an impromptu stool!!!! Wonder if it work for piles of magazine pages?

198!

For want of a better title! I can't believe that I am nearly up to 200 posts!! I think I talk too much! Well not a lot to say really other than I am busy sewing more business cards as we are away this weekend and finishing them off is something I can do while sitting chatting to everyone - good multi tasker me! I've also got some new things up in my Etsy shop - you have seen the button brooch already so I'll not bore you with that again but I have a new chicken doorstop up too. She's called Gertrude as 'red, black and white chicken' just didn't have that nice ring to it!!

Of course there were the jokes about what is black, white and red all over? The new Swirlyarts chicken of course! I prefer a sunburnt zebra as the punchline but Gertrude was having none of it!

One of those days - and weigh in!

You know it's going to turn out to be one of those days when you are woken at 2.30am by your elder daughter climbing into bed and she proceeds to wriggle for another hour after that! After a severe telling off she went back to sleep but then her sister started!! Anyway I woke up with a massive headache which I'm positive is a migraine as my teeth and face hurt too which tends to mean (with me anyway) that it's a migraine. Anyway, enough of the woes! I weighted myself and I'm down to 12st 4 which is down on last week. It's not a great deal over the past 3 (?) weeks I have been doing it and I'm sure I could loose more each week but to be honest doing it like this is working well for me!

I had a lovely surprise through the post yesterday - an ATC from the lovely Jennyflower. She was one of the ladies I sent my swirls too and she re-payed me with this little beauty. Isn't it fabulous?
Once my craft room is sorted (it's slowly getting there) then it will have pride of place on one of my shelves. And I finally finished one of the felt brooches yesterday and I'm pleased with how it's come out. What do you think??

I was nearly finished with the magazines in the front room but guess what I found upstairs this afternoon? Yep, another box of magazines waiting to be turned into envelopes! At least these ones have mostly been trimmed so they only need putting into the correct boxes!

Busy day!

I have a busy day planned today - we are going to a local play centre with some friends to have a big run around and a play and hopefully I will get some sewing done! I'm not planning on staying long after lunch as the magazine pages are nearly all done and I would like to get a photograph to show you the before and after pictures! I also got a lovely white linen skirt at the charity shop yesterday and I'm going to make it a bit brighter and more colourful so I might get something done towards that today - if I can find the fabric I want in all the mess upstairs!! Oh and the craft room still needs finishing off!!
See you later!

Oooopps!

I'd not realised that it had been quite so long since I last posted - sorry! I have been busy but just not sorting the craft room! It's still a tip although time has been put aside this week to get it finished. It would be simple if I was just tidying it but I'm going through each and every item and checking to see if I am going to use it again and whether it will be going to friends or end up being sold. And as you can see by the previous photo's there is an awful lot of stuff to get through!! I have also undertaken the mammoth task of rearranging this little lot into useable piles!

In case you are wondering what it is (!) it's my pile of magazine pages waiting to be turned into envelopes. It used to be a nightmare to wade through if a customer asked for a particular type of magazine i.e. comic or wedding. I'm now sorting them into the appropriate piles and then trimming the edges so they are ready and waiting to be turned into envelopes. However as there are about 1,000 pages there it is taking a while. I'm about 80% of the way through and it's looking a lot better - and I've got pretty coloured boxes to put them all in with fancy labels to go on the front!

I'm also working on some new brooch ideas that was inspired by a trip to the scrapstore a couple of weeks ago. They had these fab felt circles that are the perfect size for brooches and they will be 'blinged' up with buttons. I'm hoping to get one sewn tomorrow while we are at my mums so hopefully pics soon!

Business cards - finally!

Phew they are finally here - the photo's aren't terrific as the light wasn't good and I was going to re-take them in the light box but then the camera battery died on me! So the slightly dark ones will have to do. You'll get the gist anyway and if you fancy one then you will just have to buy something from me :)

And these are some that are wip - they will be finished soon!!


Right that's it for tonight as I'm busy sorting magazines for envelopes and it's taking a lot longer than I thought!

Wednesday weigh in!

Well I haven't lost any weight this week but I haven't put any on so I am still 12 st 5. Not bad seeing as I haven't been trying this week at all!

I'm slowly sorting out the craft room and actually managed to get into the eaves storage yesterday to go through all my old teaching things and sort them out into 2 piles - one for Anya's school to have a look through and one for the tip! We also got rid of a load of Matt's old training manuals that he hasn't looked at in 2 years - and it's stuff that goes out of date easily. So last night was spent by me tearing off the front covers which can't be recycled and ripping out the spiral binding - ditto. I was watching Project Catwalk on You Tube though as I was doing it - I've got the last one to watch tonight so I will see who wins!! So exciting!!

For those of you who wanted to see business cards I have been making some today but the light was terrible here so I haven't taken any photographs yet. I do however have a photograph of the gorgeous coin purse made for me which I am going to use as a business card holder.


It's by Sarah from Saysie and it's perfect for what I need! It came super quickly too and is very beautifully made. Sarah also makes jewellery too as Hope Jewellery. Gotta give you a plug Sarah!

Right well I will be back tomorrow hopefully with photographs of the business cards and if not then takes of how the tidying has gone tomorrow - we will have all day doing it!

Views of my craft room!

WARNING - it's not pretty!!! This is before the tidy up and sort out. Please note that the tidy up and sort out hasn't officially started yet although it will do soon! First images of my desk.


This last one shows the desk and the doorway leading out to the corridor - which can be seen below!

Next up the sofa - which you can't really see under all the stuff piled on it!!

Next up the shelves which really do need a serious clean up and sort out!!

So I have a bit of work cut out for me over the next two weeks! Plus this doesn't show the boxes of finished items in the utility room (left since my last fair before Christmas!) and the bags of things at the bottom of both sets of stairs waiting to come up. Oh and the two boxes of papers ready to be made into envelopes in the front room along with about 4 other bags of things - and the sewing machine and other bits in the dining room!

Better get off here and get to work!! The photo's with accompanying notes will be going up on my Flickr later - in case you want to leave nice messages about how it's really not that messy :)