Ideas no time to make

hello everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting. Martha's health decided to deteriorate again and so Martha and i spent Easter Sunday night in hospital with her attached to a drip, which had an alarm that went off hourly. However she seems to be on the mend and i have just come back from taking my mum and both children out to lunch which was great fun. Although Oliver's toilet humour (he is 5) got a tad loud, and Martha emptied the contents of my mums purse on the floor and threw it at my coffee. But anyway.

Although it has been a stressful time with Martha (when isn't it??) I have managed to read some fantastic blogs so i thought i would point to them

marmadaisy - the creative queen is now making knickers and they are so much fun
Suzanne - don't just read the article i am pointing to, keep reading through them all and you will understand the new banner in my side bar which i keep meaning to write about but life takes over
Ali - just fab
There are many more but these are the ones that i have really enjoyed whilst i have been going through the past few weeks with Martha. they have kept me sane and Susanne keeps my brain active.

So what am i up to, well i have finished a basket bag and sold it. Photos in next post. I am working on the ring tutorial and am about to cut out some fab t-towels i got in Paperchase to make a glasses case for the craft fair.

I have also just purchased Complete Guide to Knitting and Crochet. It is a superbly written well illustrated book that i would highly recommend. it has beautiful patterns for headbands and hats that i feel i really must make. so off i went in search of crochet hooks and more wool only to come home and find it completely impossible to do anything apart from the initial chains. Can anybody help, it is driving me insane.

Ring mad

So i have made another beaded ring which i am really really happy with. Not sure whether to put it in my etsy shop or to wait for the craft fair. I am also working on a basket order which is in such fantastic fabric it will be a shame to see it go.

Not only that but I have just finished painting the chimney breast in the living room. We had a new fire place put in a few months ago and i have only jsut got round to decorating the wall. I was inspired to do it after buying a fantastically mad lamp and a fluffy bean bag. When the room is finished i will post pictures.

I also want to try my hand at fabric covered canvases so that i have something original for the wall. I bought two blank ones for my children the other week and they had such fun painting them to put on their walls. I thought it would be a funky idea to buy some designer fat quarters off Ebay in maybe a Martin miller fabric (s) and cover four small canvases and put them on the wall as a whole piece of art, in an Andy Warholesque fashion. I have just been reading up on it in the MArch edition of Sewing World and it looks a really exciting thing to do. Although i need a staple gun!!! Even though andrew works for a design company apparently they dont own one that i can borrow, so ebay here we come.

Anyway here are some photos of the ring.

Sorry about the last photo an experiment on photoshop that went wrong. Anyway if anybody likes my rings i was thinking of writing a tutorial on how i make them. Obviously not difficult as i wouldnt be able to do it. I will give away the finished ring to a random person who comments on that particular post. Anyway let me know

Happy Easter

Ever though you would utter the words

Sometimes being a mother means you say the strangest things. I have just uttered the words

" yes you can go in the light box but dont eat your doughnut in there"!!!!!!!!!

Family life eh!!

Four Things I'd.....

I have been tagged by Anna (congrats by the way on the Amy Butler competition Anna) with a four things Meme which sounds like fun so here we go

Four Films I would watch over and over

Last of the Mohicans
Die hard (sorry just love them to bits)
Unbearable Lightness of Being
The English Patient

Four Places I have lived

St Albans (Hertfordshire)
Leatherhead (surrey)
London
Toddington (beds)

Four Shows I watch

House
Ashes to Ashes
Master Chef
Spooks

Four Places I have been

Barcelona
Mexico City
Vienna
Pompeii

Four People who email me

My mum
Liz (friend in the village)
Book Groups (friends in the village)
danielle (cousin)

Four things i Love to eat

dark Chocolate
Organic Peanut Butter
Avocados
Crisp and dip (although i dont really due to waistline but would if i could)

Four Places I'd rather be

In the pub with friends for a lazy lunch sans enfants
Starbucks reading and drinking americano with whipped cream
On holiday with family
In the bath reading with a glass of wine

Four things i have to look forward to this year

Holiday in france with family and Liz's family
New Kitchen
Making more things
Childrens' exploits

I now have to tag four people so i choose but i am feeling lazy so can i leave it open for anybody to do please. Especially those new to blogging as it nice to find things out about people.

Happy Easter

Photoshop Play

So with a few tips from my friend Cath and finding the close up button on my camera (doh) I have been having a go at taking my own photos and then playing with them in photoshop, following the directions from Lisa in Craft boom and it has to be said i am quite pleased with the results. It was supposed to have a similar coloured scarf behind it but i didnt have the ring close enough to it, so when i came to the crop crop crop cropping bit it needed to go really. I am really chuffed with the white background i have achieved and with the way the colours of the ring have come out.This is how the photo looked orginally

As you can tell i am having a ring frenzy at the moment and this one is for my mum to go with an orange jacket she has. Once again the beads are threaded on using a complimenting colour jewellery wire. I have put a couple in my etsy shop but the rest i am saving for the craft fair. This weekend though i shall be making friends with my sewing machine again and taking it out of its short hibernation.

I must be mad because this evening after school instead of just taking oliver to his swim lesson i am taking martha in as well. A large G&T at the ready please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oo look another one

Latest Ring

So i have finished the beaded ring as i mentioned before and although i had several attempts at photographing it they were all useless so thankfully Cath has put her expertise onto it and look at the result

The beads are sewn on using jewellery wire. I did try thread but it just doesnt keep the shape and then you have the worry that it might break. cath is busily taking a photo of another ring i have made using beads whilst i am trying to get my act together to make more hairslides and oven mitts. peg bags and pin cushions for the craft fair in a few weeks.

Oliver was 5 last week and was desperate for a T-Rex cake so who was i to refuse. Not a bad effort eh??

Partners in craft

Cor how naff a title is that. So after having a nightmare of a Friday and Saturday in the hospital with Martha who has been really poorly and had her first febrile convulsion on Friday, I have been really excited today by the photos my friend Cath has taken of my handmade jewellery. As i mentioned before i have been really impressed by marmadaisy's stuff and thought i would have a go myself in readiness for the Spring Craft fair in Toddington. However, I am so so so useless at taking photos - something i am sure you have gathered by now. Cath however is extremely talented in this area, just look here She makes fantastic calenders and cards, which sell really quickly in the village. Anyway she has made my little efforts look brilliant. So i am off to make some more beaded rings which involve sewing them in. I had my first attempt last night but the wire snapped so will be trying again today with tougher stuff

This is a hairslide using three daisy pendants

Another hairslide using leopard print yo yos with matching yellow buttons

An assortment of rings using buttons as the decoration.

Since starting this post i have finished a ring which has the beads hand sewn with jewellery wire and it looks fantastic. I will have a go at taking a photo myself but may well pass it on to cath for her expertise. I would really like to know your opinion on my efforts so far.

Happy Mothers day

This is to all mums out there for attempting the toughest yet most rewarding job of all. (and this is from me who spent the weekend in hospital with a poorly daughter). Enjoy your day mums