The kind of blog post where brain vomit comes out :)

Brain vomit 1 - So today we went to look at a new house. We aren't looking to move but I'm one of those people who is always wondering if the grass is greener on the other side so when I saw that this house was up for sale and only needed some modernisation and it was within budget and had a great garden etc etc. Well when the agent said *some* modernisation she actually meant new roof as this one pours water in, new floorboards as the old ones have been ripped up by thieves looking for copper pipes which they found, dry rot, wet rot, completely new plumbing and wiring system needed, walls knocking down, 100's of skips to get rid of the vast amount of crap in the house, new plaster as this lot is damp - you get the picture but hey, it had double glazing and a lift (was a care home!) Anyway, if we had the money I would have taken it on like a shot but it would need about £100,000 spending on it to get it done and we can't afford it!

So I came home from there and spent the next hour looking online at other houses in our area that are for sale and getting depressed as we couldn't afford the ones I liked and then I thought 'WTF are you doing Lynsey' You live in a very nice, big, Victorian house which backs onto a park, where the girls have a room each and you have a studio and Matt has a study. Why are you looking for something else?? So I kind of had a kick up the arse moment then to appreciate what I've got!

My garden - the green railings in the back is where the park starts.

Brain vomit 2 - I'm thinking that this looking for other houses/locations to live etc is just apart of this feeling of restlessness I have been having recently. Not sure why and it's a feeling that has been steadily growing but I have no idea what to do about it other than stop looking at houses online! I have suffered with depression in the past (post-natal with both girls and then a bit afterwards too) and I don't want to get into that mindset again. Not sure (and I really don't think it is) if the restless feeling is gearing up to depression again but I don't really want to take the chance.

Brain vomit 3 - I need to spend less time on the internet and yes I do realise the irony of saying that while writing a blog post but...... While I was on the computer earlier (looking at houses) the girls were playing outside and asked if I would come and see their shop. A whole hour passed before I actually went out and then I came back in as I wanted to look at the last 25 pages of houses. That needs to stop happening quite as much. Tricky when you run two businesses that rely on the internet but I'm sure I can figure something out.

Brain vomit 4 - I need to say yes much more especially to the girls. At the moment I am always finding excuse for why they can't do this and can't do that so I am going to say yes more.

Brain vomit 5 - Is anyone else annoyed at the 'perfect' bloggers - the ones who have children dressed in handmade clothes being fed granola that was cooked in the oven that morning with things harvested from the garden which grows in front of their perfect home. And what is more annoying when they say 'oh I'm not perfect' and show you a room that is clean and tidy but has one shoe out of place and that is their messy. Maybe I should stop reading them but I can't - they are like bloggy heroin! Messy is the pile of wet bedding at the top of the stairs because your youngest wet the bed, the piles of clothes on the bedroom floor, the plates left in the front room from last night and the recycling piled into the corner because you can't be bothered to open the door to the cellar and put it in the boxes (don't judge me!)

Brain vomit 6 - whoa - just read this back and it's all a bit woe is me isn't it? It's not meant to be but I'm trying (badly) to articulate what is swooshing around in my brain at the moment.

Brain vomit 7 - I think my new motto may be 'Fuck It'

:D

P.S. I have decided to have the summer off from blogging so I will see you again in September and yes, I know I said that a few months ago and promptly wrote a few more posts but I mean it this time :) Maybe my brain vomit will have straightened itself out by then and become proper thoughts and ideas!

Target reached :)

Whoot! 100 items in my Folksy shop.

And 100 items in my Etsy shop.

I would have reached the target earlier but I've sold three things today - not complaining though :)

Vote for me please!

Pretty please :)

I've entered the Great British Makers competition over at Seek and Adore. All you have to do is pop over to the page here and scroll down until you see Lynsey Searle (you will spot the chickens!) Then just click on the FB like button to vote for me. You don't even need to be a member of Facebook to vote for me although if you share it with your friends then they might vote for me too :)

As an aside, this is quite a professional sounding competition that I wouldn't normally enter but when I saw there was a section for sustainability then I knew I should give it a shot! They can only say no after all!

A mini challenge

In a bid to get the stock that is sitting around and not in my shops, into my shops, I am setting myself a mini challenge. By the end of the weekend I will have at least 100 items in my Folksy and Etsy shops.

My Etsy shop should be easy as I only need one more thing in there to take it up to 100.

And my Folksy shop needs 7 more things in it to get up to 100. So 8 things over the next few days - it should be do-able shouldn't it? Unless you all buy things and then I will have work that bit harder!

Lucky girl, that's me!

Why, you ask? Because I have won two giveaways in the past few weeks :) I didn't even realise I was included in the first from Laura at Dropstitch. She reached her 4th blogeversary the other week and rather than holding an actual giveaway, she decided to send some things out to 4 of her readers. And guess what? I was one of them which was a very nice surprise!

It's a very cool emergency sewing kit :) I love it and can't decide if it's going in my bag or Taz the campervan!

It's upcycled from a paint chip card.

And the contents. It will prove to be very useful :) Thanks Laura!

The second giveaway is one that I knew I had entered! I had to guess how many bowls there were in a picture on Facebook from Dove Street Pottery and I guessed near the amount :)

The colour is much better than this photograph shows - a subtle green shows through and the colour is much more vibrant.

And the stamp to show that David made it :) I love it!

Uh oh - I've learnt a new craft!

When I was at the Vintage Fair on Saturday teaching my upcycling workshop Christine was also there teaching people to make toothbrush rugs (so called as they were made years ago using old toothbrushes*) I hovered for a little bit and then asked her to teach me too.

The orange and the blue are the bits I did in the workshop and the mustard, pink and white are old clothes that I have used since Saturday. It's already 37cms! Cool eh?

Once you've got the hang of it, it is very easy - so much so that Anya was helping me with it yesterday. Just look for toothbrush rug on You Tube. And it has come at the perfect time as I was going to start a plaited rug this week which would have been much more time consuming. I'm still getting the hang of it so this will be my practice rug and then I will be making one for the girls from their old clothes!

*the toothbrushes had holes at one end and the bristle end was snapped off and the end filed to resemble a large needle :)

Saturday

I will be at this fabulous looking event on Saturday. I will be browsing later in the afternoon but in the morning I will be running an upcycled workshop where I will teach you how to make gift tags out of things you have lying around the home. Cool huh? I will have blank book pages if you want to doodle some tags but also some old books if you don't fancy drawing. It will cost you 50p (to cover my costs) but you can make as many as you like for that - get stocked up for Christmas! I will be there from 10am until 12.30 so make sure you get there in time :)

And if you don't fancy making tags then pop down anyway to visit the vintage fashion and homewares - just don't buy all the nice things before I get to browse please!

New things in the shop

Yeah - all the chickens I made on Sunday have finally made it up into the shops :) I'm better at making than listing quickly it seems!

Meet Decka the doorstop chicken.

And Decka the pincushion/paperweight.

Meet mother and daughter Gardenia.

And mother and daughter Sweetie. All of the chickens are in both my Etsy and Folksy shops except Sweetie the doorstop as she is a one off :)

And I also listed these two notebooks in my Folksy shop :)

Hebden Bridge Rag Market

I went to the Rag Market in Hebden Bridge last year and found some good bargains so I thought I would try it again this year. It didn't disappoint!

This fabric is a scrap but quite a big one!

Mmmmmm - pretty vintage :)

More vintage - this time 1960's towelling.

Anya got this bag of fabric scraps for 50p - she is going to use them for collage.

And guess what? I arrived back with the fabric at 12.30 and at 1.30 I was sewing with it - that almost never happens :) I made some chickens!

Meet Sweetie and her mum :)

Gardenia and her mum :)

Decka and his mum.

Cute eh? They will be in the shop(s) soon but shout if you want one asap.