My Creative Space

My aim for today is to tidy up my desk so that I feel a little more inspired and less overwhelmed by piles of stuff!

My desk from the other day - it's a little better now but not much!

However seeing as it is 11am and I am still on the computer I'm not sure it will be finished today!

Check out Kootoyoo for other inspiring (and not messy at all) creative spaces.

Some vital statistics

Well not really vital but interesting to me anyway!

1. Matt and I have moved 574 National Geographic magazines down two flights of stairs as they are going to a new home. More space for books!

This photo represents less than half of them!

2. I have sewn 196 business cards whilst 'tidying up' the craft room. I want to have at least 400 on hand as I am trying to get organised for Saltaire.

3. I have sewn the last remaining bits of a pair of Next curtains (badly torn) onto some cards to make pretty greetings card sets. The bits have been languishing in my craft room for about 2 years and I made 35 cards.

4. I have uploaded 229 photographs to Flickr since the start of March and only 34 of them are visible to everyone. The one below is one of those visible.

Large Swedish Chef badge that sold at a fair.

5. I have lost 1 stone 1lb in weight (15lbs) since the start of the year. Slow going but I want the weight to stay off :) I still have a fair way to go before I am no longer overweight but I'm content at the moment.

6. I am finally taking the recommended amount of exercise per week for the first time in my life and I must say that walking is fun!

7. It is now 10.31pm on Tuesday evening and I am going to schedule this post for 6.15am Wednesday morning. Bye!

Tired girl!

Tara had a cold last week and had been getting up very early (5.30-5.45) so when I sent her upstairs for a wee before breakfast she decided that the bathroom floor was the perfect place for a nap :)

She stayed asleep for about 20 mins - the floor is warm but not that comfortable! Bless :)

Be warned - extreme mess ahead and a pledge!

If you follow me on Twitter you will have seen me tweeting about tidying the craft room. However I'm not just tidying it, I am using up stuff instead of just putting it away - so cardboard is being punched into tags shapes rather than being piled up and fabric is being made into chicken shapes or business cards rather than being added to the scrap pile or being put on the shelves. If I had tidied up conventionally then it would have been tidier a lot quicker but this is what still waits me this morning.

My Desk

The other desk which hasn't been used for a while as it is piled high with stuff!

View from my door

Note you can't actually get in the door easily!

Big pile of stuff that has been moved from the stairs

Don't judge me!! So I have come to the conclusion that I have far too much stuff (Matt laughed and said had I only just realised that?) so I am not going to buy any craft stuff for two months. No buttons, no fabric, no pretty things! I am allowing myself some exemptions though.

1. I have been looking for a new sewing machine for a while - if I finally get round to sorting out what I want and find one then I am allowed to buy it.

2. I am excluding things like glue, thread, needles, sellotape etc as they are essentials. Buttons do not count as essentials!

3. I am allowed 1 thing a month - so if I see a roll of vintage fabric for 20p or a tin of buttons for 10p then I am allowed to buy it but I must use it/them (or part of) before the two months are up. BUT if I waste my 1 exception on vintage fabric and then see something else, tough!

Personally I think I could easily go for longer but we will see how I go with two months. Anyone else fancy joining me?

Raffle winner!

Eeeeek - I've been out at a kids party and forgot that I had said midday for the drawing of the raffle. Anyway without further ado the winner of all the goodies above is..........

Is number 6 NoodleBubble! I will be in touch to get your address :) Thanks to all of you who entered :)

I'm going for a walk - do you fancy coming?

Those were the words muttered to my friend Susan on Thursday morning :) She said yes which I *think* she may have lived to regret later!

We walked up to this reservoir which is about a mile from Susan's house and one which I go to regularly. We had a nice walk round it and were on our way home when I mentioned that there was another way home and it would be more picturesque than walking along the road. Admitted I didn't know exactly whereabouts this route came out but I had walked it once before many years ago. So we set off on this path and eventually found the road we wanted. However to get back to Susan's house we would have had to walk up quite a big hill so I suggested that we try and go across the fields. A lady walking her dogs was very helpful at this point and said yes there was a path that way that would bring us out near the golf club which was roughly where we wanted to be. She also said that it wasn't much of a path but you could get along it (Susan stop laughing now!)

Me on 'the path' - the first part anyway. 'The path' is in inverted commas as that is how Susan kept referring to it!

'The path' was so good that it had lots of signs next to it suggesting that you might like to take care as there were steep drops and slopes. All was going well on 'the path' until we walked across a field that lead to the golf course. Then this happened.

Whilst crossing a particular boggy piece of grass I stepped on what looked like a lump of grass and indeed it was a lump of grass but it was perched quite nicely over a bog rather than on solid ground! Luckily as I stepped into the bog I landed on a hefty piece of grass that supported my weight.

Mmmmmmmm mud mixed with what smelt like cow muck! Mmmmmmm :)

I got some stares with that leg when we got back to the main road I can tell you! And please note that Susan took photographs of me in the bog before coming to help (she is a photographer after all) She also laughed but then so did I as it was bloody funny. Especially when only a few minutes before I had been talking about someone else I know who had fallen into a 3 foot hole that her husband had dug in the garden (he neglected to tell her and she was bringing in the washing in the dark!)

 I'm taking Susan and another friend walking on Monday but I have promised to stick to paths rather than 'paths' :)

P.S. Don't forget that my raffle for Japan ends at 12 midday GMT tomorrow so get in before then if you want to get your hands on lots of Swirlyarts goodies!

Car boot finds

A couple of weeks ago I went to a car boot fair by myself (!) and bought a few things. Here they are!

This woolly deer top cost me 20p and will be perfect to chuck on over a long sleeved top in this gorgeous Spring weather we are having!

A nice bright red coat (I won't wear it with the red trousers though!) which cost me 50p. Again nice for Spring :)

And my favourite find - a pot of pencils. I actually just wanted the pot (it spins!) for my desk but she wouldn't sell them separately. However the pencils will come in handy so I'm not complaining :) I got these for £5.50 - she wanted £8 but I bartered her down.

I love car boot sales!

Clitheroe craft fair and new chicken packaging!

This is what my stall looked like! There were only 10 stalls in the church as we were in the room at the front. There were cups of tea and cakes too which were yummy!

The chicken pincushions and badges. I normally have more chickens than this but they have sold really well recently and I haven't had much chance to make more!

More goodies on the stall

The bowl full of mini buttons - these were rummaged through quite a bit :) Kids were also attracted to them and it worked at keeping them amused while parents looked at my other goodies!

And here is the new chicken packaging - lots more people looked at the chickens this time and could easily see what they were. People also liked picking up Terence the display chicken which is good. Next time I need a bigger price tag (or to move it) as people kept asking how much they were :)

I didn't make my stall money back BUT it was the first fair that 'made it' had done in Clitheroe AND footfall was very good so I will try at least one more with them. It's so close to home too which is always a bonus. Lots of people were asking when the next fair was too. I also handed out about 100 business cards so I need to make more this week!

Come and see me!

I am at the United Reform Church in Clitheroe today for a craft fair. Pop by if you are in the area :)

Clitheroe is a beauitful little town that has lots to see including a castle and lots of charity shops filled with good quality stuff! The church is located opposite the castle entrance at the junction of Moor Lane, Castle Street and Parson Lane.

Pop by if you get chance :)

P.S. I didn't blog yesterday to support this cause for Japan.

Raffle for Japan

You are bidding for this group of Swirlyarts handmade goodies. There is a buttontastic doorstop chicken, a pincushion/paperweight chicken, three sets of recycled envelopes, four blank cards and eight sets of gift tags. In total this set of goodies is worth £50. (see below for more detailed photographs)

Bids are to be made in GB£ and each raffle entry must be a donation of £5. To enter, go to Global Giving and make a £5 donation, when you have done it come back to this post and leave a comment with your receipt number and you must also leave a valid email address. You can write the address in the format of mymailname ‘at’ hotmail ‘dot’ com. You may enter as many times as you like but each time you need a new receipt number. If you wish to donate £10 then donate two lots of £5 and enter the raffle twice! For help with the donation you can refer to this post http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-donation.html

Raffle closes at 12.00pm GMT 26th March. If you make a mistake or forget to add you email address please delete the first comment and re-write it. Winner will be drawn randomly. I will ship internationally so feel free to enter wherever you live!

The giveaway / raffle / auction is being held on this blog, in cooperation with a Bit of This and a Bit of That. We are in no way affiliated with global giving, that's just our chosen method of getting funds safely to the affected area.

Lots of sets of gift tags including Richard Scarry, chickens and recycled story books.

Set of four blank cards made from upcycled catalogues and magazines.

Charlie Brown, French and English dictionary recycled envelopes.

The chickens!

Good Luck and lets see how much we can raise :)

The big quilt ta-da moment!

I know you've all been waiting for it and if you follow me on Twitter you will be pleased that this will probably be the last you hear of it!

Some close up's now

I love the contrast between the machine stitching, my hand sewing and the big quilting stitches!

The quilting is straight on the front and wonky on the back as I don't use a quilting frame when hand quilting. Perhaps I should? These last three images are shown for scale although remember that the girls are quite small for their age (4 and 7)

The girls are quite enamoured with this quilt so I'm hoping that their faces at Christmas time when I give them their own quilts* will be just as good :)


*I have yet to start chopping up their old clothes for the said quilts but I have a plan if that helps?

Birthday gifts from Alex

And yes I do know I am very late in posting these to the blog (my birthday was in January) But hey they only got their photographs taken on Sunday!

I got one of her very pretty aprons - but only a half apron as I am not a fan of  full aprons. I also got a mini pencil case (handbag size!), some pencils and a notebook. She knows me well! Close up photographs below.

The presents were all wrapped up in gold tissue paper which has now been claimed by the girls for their crafty drawers and they were delivered in this pretty wire box. Alex included it for me as she thought I would be able to use it in some crafty way. I have an idea but I'm not sure if it will work - I will let you know!

Pretty Spring colours - I might wear it later this week when I attempt to make lemon cheese. Yummy! It's also quite fitting that I am posting this on Alex's birthday - pop over and wish her many happy returns!

A few things

1. When I get out of the habit of blogging everyday it is very tricky to get back into it - does anyone else feel like that? It's not that I have nothing to talk about but I just can't seem to find the time! I will try to find the time this week but I am attending a fair on Saturday (more later) and need to get organised for that. Also point number 4 might get in the way of that too!

2. I have bought the binding for the baby quilt and only have two more squares to quilt before I can start attaching it. I don't think it is going to be ready for Monday as it will need washing and drying before it is gifted but hopefully this week.

3. I have loads of stock ready photographed to list but again it is all about finding the time! I have lots of chickens, hundreds of badges (and I'm not exaggerating - Matt is speedy on the ol' badge machine!) a few stickers and some gift tags. Oh and a bag full of stock that has come back from a stockist that I need to go through and see if I have photographs before listing it all!

4. I am taking part in the Quake Appeal for Japan that is being organised by Jo. I'm not sure yet if I am going to do a raffle or an auction and as yet I am not sure what exactly I will be donating but more on that later in the week. There are some good crafty names involved so far and if you want to join up then Jo would be ever so grateful I'm sure. Just get in touch but be aware that she is in Japan and they are being urged to conserve energy so it might take a little while for her to get back to you.

5. Anya woke me up at 6.05am this morning (on a Sunday too!) but I am going to take the extra time given and get on with our day. We might go to a local car boot sale but I will see if we get organised enough. We haven't had breakfast yet......

6. That is all!