To do list

More of a 'I would like to do these things this week but some definitely have to be done' list. Most of the stuff has been sorted for 'The Exciting Thing' and it's just a matter of waiting until Sunday :) Hence the list as I want to keep busy :)

In no particular order * denotes something that has to be done.

Make a card for a party we are going to this evening*
Wrap presents for said party*
Continue embroidering the cute little animals for the eventual quilt
Make a start on another mixed media piece
Sort out what sold from the craft fair at the weekend and restock my Etsy and Folksy shops
Move the bags of stuff for the charity shops out of the kitchen into the dining room*
Put away the mountain of washing in our bedroom*
Change our sheets*
Sort out some sewing to take to the party tonight so I can sew and chat while the kids play*
Sort out the recycling*
Do at least 2 posts a day for Cuteable this week*
Write an article for an online magazine*
Move boxes of stock back up to the craft room*
Go through Flickr and look at what hasn't been listed yet - this is always on my to do list!
Empty the dishwasher*
Sort the stuff that I made for the fair that hasn't been photographed yet and get it photographed
Sort at least one more black bag of stuff for the charity shop

Plus lots more I'm sure I haven't thought of yet!

These tags are 1 of the new things that need listing in my shops!

You know when you just don't have time to think.....

.......well that is me today and most probably for the rest of the week!! Mad rushing around and on the phone and email to very many people! It's to do with the exciting thing but I don't want to say what it is yet. It's definitely ours but we can't get our grubby (and very eager hands) on to it until Sunday. I might crack and show you photo's earlier than Sunday but I am trying to resist! I can't even show you a sneaky peek as all the photo's reveal exactly what it is :) Anyway, that rambling bit was all to say that I neglected Cuteable last week and can't do that again this week so this blog may well be neglected instead - along with my shop. Please bear with me and things should be back to normal soon!

This is us (and our nephew Tom) on the Aladin themed ride at Disney!

Good morning!

I'm sure that if you pretend to be cheerful and awake then you can become cheerful and awake so I'm trying this morning :) We were late to bed last night due to something VERY exciting (more to come when it is finally confirmed!!!) and some last minute craft fair prep. 6 hours later I am awake again! I'm at Piccadilly Gardens, Scotforth, Lancaster LA1 5AA today so if you would like to come along and see me then feel free - and excuse me if I look a bit tired :) Here are a couple of new things that I am taking with me.

Some new cigarette card gift tags

Some vintage buttons on cards

And some new recycled notebooks - this is my favourite of the new batch!

So if you are in Lancashire today then feel free to come and visit and make sure to say hello - just don't tell me how tired I look :)

It's hard being 2

Especially when you have to go to a craft meeting with Mummy and your big sister (who was off school because it becomes a polling station) and then run around and play in every mocked up room at Ikea.

She fell asleep in the car so I carried her in and popped her on the trampoline where our collection of blankets normally lives. She was ever so cosy :) And at least it beats the time she fell asleep here!

Be still my beating heart!

No trip to France is complete without a trip (or 3) to a brocante which is basically like a junk shop but with a huge variety of goods. Luckily there is a very good one just 6km from Nic and Johns house which I just have to go to every time we visit. The guy who runs it has odd opening hours though so you have to keep popping back just to check if he is open or not - suits me fine! Not all the goodies are from this one shop - the first picture is from a different brocante.

I spotted these in a brocante that we haven't been to before but luckily I now know where it is! The large one now holds my fruity tea bags and the smaller one just looks pretty next to it! These were 3 euros for the pair.

Matt spotted this Arthur Wood dog money box and I'm so glad he did. It cost 2 euros and Tara adores it and keeps stroking him!

These 2 lots of linen were bundled into a bag. I think the top ones were used on the edge of a shelf and I'm not sure about the bottom one. I will come up with a way of using both of them though!

This beautiful ledger just screamed to me when I saw it. I was thrilled that it was battered and broken already as I won't now feel guilty at using it! It is from the 19th century, 1866 was the first entry. I haven't had chance to look at it properly and see what it was a ledger for but I'm sure I will investigate soon. The last picture of the bunch also shows some letters that were tucked away at the back.

This crochet book is so cute - someone has taken the time to write down instructions for different types of crochet they have made. Pity I don't crochet (yet) and pity it's all in French! I'm sure I'll find some use for it soon though :)

The 'local' brocante always has lots of postcards in it and I love (time permitting) to search through them all to see what I can find. I favour ones with people on rather than views.

At at the bottom of one of the poatcard boxes was this miniature photograph (about the size of a passport photograph) This French soldier will be used in some artwork soon.

These books all have pages missing/writing in them and I think the guy in the brocante was pleased to see them go! The Dick Bruna one will stay as a book as the girls think it is hilarious when I read to them in French!

And this is what made me say out loud 'Be Still My Beating Heart'!! I did mutter it so i don't think anyone else heard me - there were more gasps when I opened it!

Lots of fabulous paint for me to experiment with :) I'm not a painter by any means but I do like experimenting!

And the best bit was that the paint set, the ledger, the books, postcards and the linen came in at 10 euros!!! And I was good and resisted a box of vintage buttons :)

Hot in France

The best thing to do in France when it's hot is to paddle a bit in the paddling pool.

And get your cousin to hose you down

or splash you

And then to cool you down even further you need to have an ice lolly!

This was one of the moments when I managed to nip out to the Brocante with Nic and John but it was closed :( We did get there in the end though and I have taken photographs so you will see them tomorrow.

Mini park

This park is in Autun in France and is next to the main car park, a carousel and numerous cafes. It only has a slide and a seesaw but it kept the kids entertained for a while!

Phew - we are back!

And I've just noticed that the videos I posted are slightly too big for the blog template I use - oh well! I'll just have to do lots of posts to ensure they drop down the list!

We had a lovely time in France this past week but by goodness, it was hot! We have an annual pass to Disneyland Paris so spent 2 days there on the way down to my sister in law's house and it was 33/34 degrees - too hot for the little ones and me too actually! It's great having the annual pass as we don't have to queue to get tickets to get in and we don't feel like we have to spend all day there to get our moneys worth - well worth it when it's too hot to queue and go on the rides! We got the paddling pool out when we got to Nic and Johns house and the girl spent a lot of time in there cooling down and I popped in on occasion to cool my legs down.

I made lots of gift tags for the fair that is on Saturday (how did that creep round so quickly?) and I will show them to you once I get the photographs off Matts camera. I'm not sure in the mass of bags where exactly the camera is so that's why this is a picture free post! I'll be back soon hopefully with some pictures to show you. I've also got to sort and photograph the goodies I found at the local Brocante (junk shop/secondhand shop). Expect some exciting posts soon :)

Norway Eurovision

And the song that won - it's good but not the best in my opinion!

Germany Eurovision

I quite like this - and you've got to love a man in shiny leggings!