Car booty

Well we did it. Somehow we pulled off the impossible. We all managed to get up, ready and down to a car boot sale for an 8am start on Saturday. Wow. I just really wanted to go and nosey as I haven't been to one, not that I can remember anyway. I had been looking for some vintage- style photo frames for our new bedroom - sadly I didn't find any, but I did find these cute little polka dot planters for £1 and a similar cream one with a handle for 30p. So cute!





Gareth wasn't too impressed, until he found a stall with a few CDs and records he liked but didn't have in his 600-strong collection. Yet. But at 50p each I wasn't going to moan. And we also found these gorgeous little Mini Mode wellies for Alex, brand new for £1. He has been wearing them proudly for most of the day, bless him!




So what else have we done today? Gosh, what haven't we done?! Feeling all motivated by being up and out so early, we came home, made a cooked breakfast, tidied the kitchen, tidied the garden, made trips to the local household recycling centre, mowed the lawn, swept the driveway, tidied and hoovered out both cars, washed both cars, washed the windows and front door and now Gareth is running his parents to a Proms in the Park event. And we had time for a little play too. Phew! I was exhausted.

And this weekend I'll be doing it all again, except I'll be getting up even earlier to go sell at a car boot sale. I have been inspired by Gareth's cousin doing so well selling at one last weekend and because our house contains so much old stuff we just don't use, need or even want. So it's all going - if I can drag myself out of bed at 4.30am on Sunday, yes, 4.30am!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Busy week... as always!

It has been a busy ol' week! Phew!

First off, the baby show went off ok, we met lots of lovely babies and children, and sold a couple of sessions to some lovely new parents, so it was worth all the hard work and stress leading up to and on the day. And it was quite cool, if not totally weird, to check out my old high school 12 years after I last graced it with my presence.

(I'm the one in the middle, black cardigan, standing in front of our big tv!)

Then last Sunday I sent the husband and kids packing, off to the in-laws for the day, so I could get on with stripping... wallpaper that is. I finally managed to be off with the old and on with the new in our bedroom, and later said husband came home and put the new bed up, yay! In fact, the whole room is nearly done now, it just needs a little paint touching up (still), the blinds hanging (actually I need to finish the second one tonight) and for me to pick up my new dressing table stool on Sunday. I can't wait. Thank flip the end is in sight now after so long! Pictures to follow very soon :)

What else? Ooooh, we went to see Toy Story 3 on Wednesday, just me, hubby and Harry while a friend sat Alex. I think I was the most excited out of the three of us, and I wasn't disappointed. It was fantastic! Although a little dark at times, the toys spent the entire movie, it seemed, wandering from one peril straight into the path of another (I won't give too much away though because you have to go see it for yourselves, kids or no kids!)

I also managed to whip up two knitted mug cosies for Harry's teacher and teaching assistant, which I then filled with chocolates, wrapped with cellophane and finished with a pretty ribbon, to say thank you for helping him so much during his first year in school. But did I remember or even have time to take any photos? No, don't be daft! So I'm afraid this blog post is going to have to remain photoless today, sorry, I know it has been a week-long wait too.

Anyways, I am off now to get creative, I am feeling the urge! So hopefully I might be back with something that will satsify a little better tomorrow! Fingers crossed ;)

N xXx

Twit twoo

Just popping on to share a photo of this cute little fell that I have somehow managed to knit up in an evening-and-a-bit.

His name is... erm, well actually he doesn't have a name yet. I'm not feeling very inspired today. Anyone wanna help me?! If you have anything at all please leave me a comment. :)

Or if you'd like to make your own little owl (and it is a really quick and easy pattern with lots of photos and step-by-step instructions, so ideal for beginners) you can buy and download the Ravelry pattern here.

So, tomorrow is the baby fair, which means I really must get off here and sort out the final preparations, despite feeling totally and utterly rubbish today. I have no energy and could only just manage sewing up my owl.  Hmmm, this could take a while!

And in case you were wondering, no, I'm not much further on the bedroom decorating front. I was meant to be wallpaper stripping and papering today, but, well it didn't happen. I have done a few little odd jobs here and there, which is about all that can be done with my two boys under my feet. Oh well, maybe in another lifetime it might actually get finished and then my ghost can share some photos with you. Sigh.

From crap... to scrap

It has been a crap, trying day. Harry is being an absolute nightmare at the moment and today he excelled himself. Our house is a mess because for every room I tidy he trashes at least two more. Every time I turn my back he is rifling through, moving or ruining something else of mine, like my jewellery, my cosmetics (and never the cheap stuff) and today my baby box of irreplaceable memories. And Alex, because he idolises him so much, joins right in. I could just swing for him right now.

But seeing as we had such a good day yesterday for Gareth and his dad's birthdays (yes, they share the same birthday, this is both a blessing and a curse, actually, just a curse!) and to try and cheer me up on this rubbish day I sat down for some much needed scrapping while Gareth watched the boring football, yawn, zzzzz. And I finally got some Hipstamatic photos scrapped, hurrah!

























I had been wondering how to use those cherry papers for ages!

I also made these lovely gift vouchers this week for Saturday's baby fair - really looking forward to that. It's at my old high school though, and I haven't been back in 12 years (and I couldn't wait to get away back then lol!). Yikes!













Right, I've had enough of today, bedtime me thinks. Back soon.

xXx

And on, and on...

Project bedroom continues. Yeah yeah, I know, this is getting pretty boring now, yawn, and I'm just as annoyed it's not yet finished. Nowhere near in fact. One child-free day is all it would take me, but where the hell do I find me one of those?! I guess the slow progress is my own fault for wanting to make so many of the contents!






Anyway, that leads me on to this picture, my gorgeous new fabric, which I have already sewn into a Roman blind for the room. One down, one to go. I love it, it's just the right colour, the roses match the bedding I bought and it was only £13 for the two metres I needed, plus a couple more pounds for the wooden dowels, hooks and string, hurrah!

I also had a whizz round a fab trade place about five minutes from my home called Country Baskets this week. It sells everything from fake flowers and decorative home items to gifts and some craft stuff. It was heaving - thanks to a coach load of pensioners arriving just before me (how did they all become card holders?! Lol!) - and i was nearly late for collecting Harry from school, but it was worth it as I got these all for between £2 and £3.






Wooden 'Love' word to hang.





Ceramic heart to match my other purchases.






And this gorgeous plaque, which just hits the nail on the head with the sort of look I'm trying to achieve.

I also got a fab duo coat hook with little crystal ends but forgot to take a photo. But then I hope to be showing you pictures of the finished room soon anyway (that'll be the day, eh?!)

Back soon with pictures of some pretty gift vouchers I've handmade for next week's baby fair. :)

xXx

Sneak preview

I don't often make cards any more (I just don't have time to, sigh) but this was a special occasion that deserved a special card. Alex's childminder passed her driving test at the weekend, on her, erm, well I'm not entirely sure how many attempts it took her as she stopped telling me after the third, bless. So a huge congratulations to her and I hoped she liked her card, which I kinda cobbled together late last night.

Still chipping away at the bedroom refurb, slowly. It is taking forever with just little bits being done here and there when time, and funds, allow. I was starting to run out of enthusiasm for it, but then I spotted the price tag on this lovely wire mannequin jewellery holder in the window of a PDSA shop near my mum's house. I had seen it a couple of weeks back and decided to wait until I had more spare cash, and today it was down to half price! So I just had to snap it up to match the larger version I have hanging on the back of my door (see my earlier post).

And here a few more of the little details that will feature in the finished room.

  

These are sooooo cute! From Wilkinson.

Another Wilkinson purchase. It was white but I painted it using the same paint I'll be using on the woodwork, a lovely metallic pinky cream.

These were a random find in Morrisons, tealight holders to match the little birdies.

These (I got two) lovely faux orchids (I'm not allowed real flowers in our bedroom because Gareth's hayfever is so bad, booooo) were an Ikea special - oh! I think there's a sale on, I might have to go back!

These are cut out silhouettes of Harry (top) and Alex (bottom), which we had done on separate occasions in Walt Disney World, Florida, at the same little stall in the Old Town area. They have been stored since we got them (Harry's about three years ago and Alex's in February) and finally I have found the perfect place where they match the decor, next to the new mirrored wardrobes (did I mention those took six hours to construct?! Yikes!) My mum has the replica copy of each (you get two - the other is a mirror image, which we also had framed), as well as ones of me and my sisters and my niece on her landing. So they remind me of my mum's home. Here they are close up.

Harry

Alex

It's amazing how true a likeness they are! I wish I was that talented - the staff members who can whip those up in less than five minutes are amazing.

Right. Off to continue sorting out afore mentioned bedroom - there's still clothes and junk that need sorting/storing and I really really need to start on the wallpaper stripping and hanging. Gah.

Back soon!

N xXx

Show and tell

Today has been a show and tell kinda day, as my lovely friend Rachel said - and I agree. We haven't seen each other in a while so had lots to show and tell each other. I saw her lovely crocheted blankets and cute knitted toys (you can see these on her blog - link on the right -------> ) and I showed my knitted bed runner so far. It's really coming along and I got a bit more done while there, although my hangover from a long awaited and much needed night out didnt fill me with enthusiasm. Bad Natalie. And then she helped me sew my fab Cath Kidston fabric bag project that cane with the fab Sew book. Thank goodness she did too otherwise I would have made a right pig's ear of it! But it looks good and I love it lots :)



















So what next? Hmmm, well Rachel's toys got me to thinking I could really do with a couple of cute toys for the baby fair I'll be doing in a fortnight. Although I'm leaning more towards making them in fabric for speed and ease, but on the other hand I have seen some gorgeous knitted patterns too. Decisions decisions! Considering I have so much on lately I know which I should probably go for!

xXx

Grab a cuppa!

Hello bloggers, and a very special welcome if you've hopped across here from my lovely friend Rachel's blog *waves hello frantically!* I hope you like what you see enough to follow/bookmark me, and then I'd love to come nosy at your own blog (I love blog hopping, but then who doesn't?!)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop on quickly and a) say hello and b) share with you a couple of quick creations I have made for a group birthday surprise swap (hmmm, I hope my recipient doesn't read this!)

First up is this cute coffee cup cosy, which I first intended to make for Harry's teacher as her end of year gift - and I still will, but for now, this one is for the birthday girl (actually, it's her half birthday as her actual birthday is Christmas Day!)

I made it with ties at the top and bottom and a button and buttonhole through the handle to make it nice and secure and fitting well. I'm so pleased with it as I didn't follow a pattern, I just adapted it to fit the shape of the cup as I went along. I probably should have written it down though. I bet I won't be able to do another now! But then I guess there's no 'one size fits all' pattern when it comes to knitting a cup cosy as all cups are different.

I also made her a little rose headband too as I know how much she loves her headwear - so I hope this goes down well too.

If you like that, you can see and buy similar but much better hair accessories in Rachel's shop, which I'm very bad for not mentioning yet! Check it out, her things are really lovely and very reasonably priced too.

I'm also now on with my best friend's bridal shrug for her wedding in October, I'd like to complete it in plenty of time so I can make sure it fits when I see her (which isn't often enough as we live too far apart) and alter it if necessary. I'm also still motoring away with my bed runner blanket thingymabobby. And I really MUST get on with that wedding bunting as that big day is now just 5 weeks away, yikes! Then my next project will definitely be one for me, and is inspired by Rachel (as I very often am!). A couple of weeks back she blogged about a new purchase, Cath Kidston's Sew book, which comes with everything you need to make a gorgeous shoulder bag in her beautiful floral fabric. I saw her finished bag and I was straight on Amazon snapping up my own bargain copy. I really can't wait to start, and finish, because the bag (pictured on the front cover below) is just so pretty and perfect for summer.

Right, I really must dash, the new bedroom wardrobes are finally being delivered tomorrow and because of the heat and work commitments we have got absolutely no further with the decorating. So guess what I'll be doing today?!

Back soon :)

xXx

Baby Talk

No, not me, seriously, just no! But I have been scrapbooking babies again, yay! This time a beautiful days-old baby boy called Taylor. Isn't he gorgeous?!

Ok, so I know what you're thinking. Why is she scrapbooking random babies? Ah, well there's a good reason for that, which I can now reveal. This layout, and the baby girl layout I scrapped a week or so back, with maybe a few others that I've yet to do, will go into frames and on display at a baby fair I'm standing with the portrait photography business I work for and will be offered to clients as a product to buy after their session. The portrait side of the business is still gaining momentum and so I don't think I will be inundated with requests any time soon, but it's something a little different to offer our customers - stunning photographs from a 2010 award-winning portrait photographer (that's my mummy by the way!) captured in a beautiful hand-crafted layout, framed and ready to adorn a nursery or living room wall. I don't know of any other photographer able to offer that, not in Yorkshire anyway.

Actually, this reminds me, I really need to get some recent photos of Alex and Harry scrapped and buy a few extra frames to get my favourite layouts of them on the walls.

So, what else is new? I am taking a very short break from knitting my bed runner blanket to knit a cute pink coffee cup cosy for Harry's teacher as a thank you present for taking care of him during his first year in big school. And she really has looked out for him. So with the end of term fast approaching, plus the fact that he also has three teaching assistants as well, I thought I better make a start on their gifts. I figured cup cosies would be handy as I bet teachers are always being interrupted during their cup of tea or coffee, and these will help keep them hot a bit longer. Must make myself one while I'm at it I think!

Back real soon :)

xXx

Goodies

Hello Bloggerland. I said I would be back today to share details and photos of the goodies I picked up at Woolfest. So here I am, reporting for duty. There's not much as I'm watching the pennies thanks to the bedroom refurbish and also because I have so much yarn already to use. But here goes.



First up is this lovely King Cole bamboo cotton yarn in fab bright colours. It feels so lush. I think this will make something for Alex, possibly a hat and scarf for winter, I'm not sure yet!



These I was happy to find as I needed smaller needles to knit a baby jacket that's on my to do list and I'm always in need of extra cables. And I was even happier that they came from the online store where I always buy my needles, which had a little stand there, yay! It's www.p2tog.com (or possibly .co.uk) - check it out as they are the best value with very reasonable p&p.



I also bought a yard of this pretty bargain fabric, which has a lovely subtle shine to it and will no doubt find it's way into a bedroom project shortly. And yeah, I know what you're thinking, fabric? At Woolfest?! That's exactly what I thought too, but hey, I ain't complaining!


And these pretty little stitch markers I just couldn't resist, they're just too cute! Not to mention useful - I have the other two on my bed runner, which is coming along very nicely, in fact I think it doubled in size yesterday with all the coach knitting. Still a long way to go though.

So what has everyone been doing today? Did you watch the big game? Hmmm, probably the less said about that the better huh? I didn't watch it, instead I made the most of the peace and quiet outside to sit in the sunshine with my knitting and a nice cold drink. It was bliss! We've had a good afternoon in the garden with the boys playing on the bouncy castle. It looked a lot like this:












And then came the footie, groan!


Oh well, at least we can all go back to having a life again now. Sigh.

xXx