Giveaway winner!

And the winner is.........................................


Jenny from Jennyflower! Well done Jenny. If you are cross that you didn't win then shout at the random number generator that picked number 4!

Well done Jenny :)

Can you believe..

... that my big girl is old enough to leave nursery now?? How did that happen so quickly? She'll be starting Reception in September and is very excited about it as long as she has a Charlie and Lola lunchbox! Anyway back to the saga of the teachers presents. The glue did indeed set but when I went to put them into the binding machine they wouldn't fit in it!! The one I made last week fit in but these ones wouldn't fit in at all - so after much cursing, I came up with another plan! And this is what I made for the teachers.

Each teacher got a card with a fantastic topper from Ruth of course and every teacher got a tin full of jellybeans which I covered with some jellybean paper. And the 3 special teachers got a magnetic shopping list to go onto their fridge. The one in the photo above is the one that actually fit into the binding machine and the others are below - I used a bulldog clip for those and I actually think I prefer them as it means the paper can be filled up again when it's run out.

And of course we had to say who has made them (with a little help from Mummy!)

I love that she has gotten her name backwards in the middle one - it always mystified me as a teacher when children did that but it's just a part of learning.

Here's a close up of the paper underneath the writing paper. You can see what I needed to rip all those bits of paper up for now can't you?



And here they are in their bags waiting to go up to nursery - with chicken tags naturally!

I haven't forgotten the giveaway so I will be back later to let you know who has won!

Eeeeeek!

Bloody stupid children's craft glue - it's rubbish! I mixed it last night with the same amount of water as I usually use with a different pva and happily made the things I was making. It came to this morning and I went to put them into the binding machine and half the bloody paper fell off! It wouldn't be a problem except that they are teachers presents and need to be given out tomorrow as it is Anya's last day at nursery - bugger! I've been scouring my Etsy shop just in case the new layer of pva doesn't work either. Luckily I have some things that will do as presents but I'm a little annoyed to say the least!

Anyway, hopefully I will be back tomorrow with a lovely post complete with pictures of the presents for Anya's teachers.

Meanwhile here's a picture of me for Clever Nettle and this post here.

Charity shop goodies!

I found a wonderful pair of curtains in Oxfam in the town where my mum lives - as soon as I spotted them I ran over and grabbed them! Aren't they gorgeous?



I'd like to hang these but they don't really match anything in the house - I think they are destined to become chickens instead!

I also got a fabulous book that tells you in great detail all the different embroidery stitches that you could possibly ever need - can you tell that I might be picking up a new craft soon!




The pictures are wonderful and I really want that apple pillow. I'll stick to learning how to sew straight though I think first!

I also got a couple of old sewing magazines that feature clothes that I would actually wear (I know that doesn't really suprise any of you!) and an applique quilting book which will come in handy for making Thomas's quilt - if I get round to it this year!

So bargains all round!

Kissing

This isn't what the post was going to be about but I need to edit photos to get the colours right and I can't be bothered so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see the fab things I got from the charity shop on Monday!

Instead I have some photo's of my girls being cute!

Right Mummy asked us to kiss so here we go

That's it Tara, lean towards me

Come on Tara - I'll just grab your top and pull you round

That's it now!

Oh and a big hug and kiss from us goes to my friend Alex and her little boy Nathaniel who has been in hospital - big kisses from this side of Burnley to your side of Burnley :)

Don't you just hate it when.....

......your trousers spilt when putting salt into the dishwasher - which is a pleasurable experience in itself! Although I did bend and stretch further to see how far the split would go!! I will be back with a post later on but I just had to update you with the exciting happenings over here at Swirlyarts :) Oh I'm off to tidy up my house as I have an important visitor coming over later and I can't let her know that I am a Messy Bessy!

Quick one...

...cos it's nearly my bedtime. We've had a busy weekend as we were out yesterday and then we have been out in the garden all day - 3 trips to the tip and a great big wheelie bin full of garden stuff and my driveway and top bed are looking better! So that's why I'm off to bed early as I am knackered! Hopefully back Tuesday (out all day Monday) with some more things to add.

Bye!

Glittery Giveaway!

As I was tidying up yesterday I cam across some things that I haven't used in the two years that I have had them and they probably won't get used either so I'm going to give them away to one lucky reader of my blog! Here are the goodies although as I sort more stuff out there may well be more to come - I'll edit the post to add stuff on if there is.

Some Ikea ribbon - 9m on each reel. There's a close up of the detail below.

And some tinsel ribbon stuff also from Ikea.

So some glittery goodies for someone - I'll leave the competition open until Wednesday 16th July so it should give everyone ample opportunity to enter. Just leave a comment to enter!

Stuff

I should really think up better titles for things really! I'm not in a very inspired mood today though - too much tidying of the craft room. Sarah (my sister) and Graeme (her boyfriend) took the girls out for me this afternoon so that I could crack on with getting the craft room tidied - yes again!! They were out for about an hour and a half and it went from having to climb over stuff to be able to sit on the sofa in there with space on the floor! i even managed to sort out 4 bags of stuff that had come up from downstairs - an hour and a half well spent I think! It means now that when I get the crafting bug I can head upstairs and get on with it rather than having to hunt around for lots of things that are strewn across the house.

This is what we had for our tea last night - spinach and ricotta pasta bake.

Sarah and Graeme are vegetarian and I must admit it's nice to have some veggies meals a week and this one is dead easy to make too so thumbs up all round!

I do finally have something crafty to show you - a journal I made for Anya's friend Emily. She was 5 the other day and really enjoys writing so I thought I'd make her a pink, glittery book to write in. She hasn't got it yet as when it was her party, the glue was still drying so I'm hopefully going to pop it over tomorrow!


So she got a Charlie and Lola book about recycling (C and L books are a must for any little girl) and this journal - hopefully she will like it!

P.S. After yesterday's post about sitting watching the rain, Sarah and I decided at 10 o'clock last night when it was chucking it down, to stand and watch the rain. Naturally we were wrapped in crocheted blankets!

Thunder storms

When me and my sister were little and we were visiting my Nana we used to pester her to let us sit on her back doorstep and watch the rain. She gave us a blanket to keep us warm and some crisps (sometimes) to keep us happy - although me and my sister were happy enough just snuggling, chatting and watching the rain. So when the thunder storms were on this weekend I knew the perfect thing to keep the girls entertained.


They sat there for at least half an hour while I made tea and they enjoyed it. Tara started getting bored after that period of time but Anya would have sat there for ages I'm sure. I see evenings of doing this as the girls get older - as long as I can squeeze in too!

And more press!

And this post was going to be something different but that can wait until tomorrow as I have been featured on the Eco Etsy blog with my recycled postage stamp journal!!

Don't you just love getting mentioned!!

Yeah - more press!

Now I knew I was going to be featured on this blog as I did the interview a few weeks ago but it's always nice to see your name up in print! And the interview was really nice to do so thanks Rekindled!

You can see the whole interview here and it features lots of nice photographs of my work!

Anyway I'm off now but might be back later!

This is......

....my most treasured childhood possession. Pink Ted! He was (sorry that should be is) a much loved teddy bear and now my girls like him too - in fact Tara was carrying him around today giving him drinks as he was her 'pink baby'. Pink Ted has had quite an adventurous life - he came on the log flume with me at Blackpool Pleasure Beach when I was about 4 - he liked it more than I did!

And even though he is pink you can definitely tell he is a boy - well I think so anyway!

Thanks to Three Buttons for the 'This is' idea and to Teacups on Treetops for the theme.

I'm back!

Well I'm back home because the doctors couldn't find anything wrong as the x-ray and ultrasound found nothing untoward. I do have to take it easy for the next couple of days though and hopefully it won't come back - it may do but fingers crossed that it doesn't! I didn't sleep or read all the time though and I have some new ACEO's made and I will show them off soon.

Thanks for all your well wishes :)

Hospital Update

Well - so far, there is still no news from the hospital.

Lynsey has had an X-ray and an ultrasound, and the only thing that indicates any progress is that she is now allowed to eat (having been nil by mouth until 2pm today, poor thing!). She is still waiting to see a doctor since the scan, but the person doing the scan said that they couldn't see anything with her appendix or anywhere else, so we wait to see.

The registrar last night said they would want 24 to 48 hours of observation, but if they don't know what is wrong, heaven only knows what they will do then.

In the meantime, the girls are driving me daft :)

MrSwirl

Might not be around for a while...

.....off into hospital this evening for observation as my GP thinks I may have acute appendicitis. So if I'm not around for a while then that is where I am!

Well I suppose I should write something..

..but I can't figure out what! I got lots of nice things in the charity shops on London but can't be bothered to get off my bum and photograph them and ditto the fab fabric and goodies I got from my local scrapstore early last week. I'm starting on the teachers presents for everyone at Anya's nursery this afternoon so tomorrow I should have some work in progress photo's at least. Oh - I did list some new badges on Etsy last night so I can show you the pictures of them at least!



These New Zealand butterfly ones are my favourite and I have lots more pretty postage stamps I can turn into badges.

I quite like these two badges as well but wouldn't wear them myself - thought they would be perfect for my Etsy shop though!

Right better go and get making!