Monday, 8 March 2010

Bodiam Castle & brass monkeys!

Sunday we decided to take a trip to Bodiam Castle ~ we go there quite often as it's not far away; we usually walk, but not this time ~ far too cold!


It's one of my favourite places ~ I have a 'thing' about castles and this one has a great feeling about it. Don't let the blue skies and sunshine fool you ~ it was freezing!
We didn't have our usual cream tea this time ~ it's a National Trust property and while the fresh cream and scones are all very nice, they are a bit pricey.
We'll be rejoining the National Trust and English Heritage as it's well worth it ~ with free entry or discounts to loads of places; we have a great time trying to see how many places we can cram into one day!




Sunday, 7 March 2010

Three Sunshine Awards! Wow!

In the past week or so I've been nominated for no less than three Sunshine Awards ~ my thanks go to:
Ali at Ali's Craft Studio, Tracy at Cinnamon Jewellery and Emma at Urban Sophistication ~ thank you all so much! I'm really chuffed!

The sunshine award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blogging world!

The rules for accepting the award are -

Place the logo within your blog or post

Pass the award on to 12 bloggers

Link the nominees within the post

Let the nominees know they have received the award by commenting on their blog

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award

Now for three awards I need to pick out 36 other blogs I enjoy ~ just as well I follow loads!

My nominees, in no particular order, are:




Phew ~ check out some great blogs!




Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Spring has sprung & over the garden fence!

Has spring finally sprung!? March has started well ~ loads of sunshine even though it's still cold.  Not much is stirring in the garden; the daffodils seem to be later this year.  Had a scoot round this morning, all I could find was a single lonely crocus and my Christmas Rose has finally bloomed!





What's happening over the garden fence? ~ all the sheep have had their bottoms shaved as we'll soon be greeting the new arrivals!


I've been working on some more earrings for my website


I also sold my first item on Folksy, but for some reason the buyer didn't pay; I had to relist it which is a bit disappointing ~ why do people do that?

My amarylis has finally bloomed!


And granny squares are coming along ~ thanks to the arrival of the Ladybird book! Whoopee!

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

And the winner is!

A big thank you to everyone who entered my jewellery findings giveaway ~ sorry I'm a couple of days late in announcing the winner.  Work has kept me away from blogging : (

The random number thingy picked Shary as the winner ~ well done to Shary! The goodies will be on their way to you shortly.  My next giveaway will be towards the end of March ~ I haven't picked a theme yet, but please watch this space.

Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Wax Melts & Jane Austen

Spending ban over ~ I've been stocking up on lots of crafting goodies and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the postman. Meanwhile I've been using up what's left of my wax and making some more melts.

I love this Ikea silicone heart mould ~ makes loads of lovely little hearts, that look a bit like butts from certain angles!
I'm awaiting delivery of some new fragrances to try out and I've finally bought the packaging materials ~ the finished melts should be appearing in my Misi shop early next week.
I expect you're wondering what has Jane Austen got to do with wax melts? Absolutely nothing!

I've been tracing my family tree for years and it can be quite addictive. Some years ago a lady emailed me through a family history forum and told me I was in some way related to Jane Austen (yes, that one).

 As she couldn't provide me with any conclusive proof I didn't take it that seriously; after all, most people who take up this genealogy game hope that they're related to someone famous or, at least, interesting.

Family history is one of those things that I do on and off, sometimes not looking at it for months at a time as I'm easily distracted by other 'stuff'.

My subscription to genesreunited is coming to an end and I was umming and arring about renewing, when I got the reminder email it made me look through my genealogy stuff again and has perked my interest in trying to find out if the Jane Austen link is actually true.

After some digging around, it actually looks promising ~ I have a distant GGGGG... Grandmother, Elizabeth Austen from Horsmonden in Kent.  Now I just have to figure out who her parents were and if they fit in with Jane's Horsmonden ancestors! Not as easy as it sounds, but I like a challenge!

Sunday, 21 February 2010

Don't laugh at my granny square!

I've been wrestling with a crochet hook and wool for a couple of weeks now and after countless false starts this is my first attempt at a granny square! The only one I've managed to finish. Now I know it's, well what can I say, um; oh, alright then have a chuckle.


Feeling better for that? Good. Right, I could do these when I was a kid, my Mum taught me with the help of a really good Ladybird book; but I haven't touched a crochet hook in years.  After seeing all the lovely crochetted flowers, hats and all those gorgeous amigurumi whatsnames thingys, I thought I can crochet. Armed with various books I sat down and quickly discovered that actually, no; I can't crochet at all.

I've watched videos on youtube (really good by the way), read books, magazines and picked my Mum's brain (she's forgotten as well) I came to the conclusion there seem to be lots of different ways to actually make a granny square.  I've got this far and the thing I can't figure out is what you do when you get to the end of each round ~ if I could work that out I think I might be able to crack it! But then I've got to think about changing colour on each round. Now that's opening up another can of worms! I WON'T GIVE UP!

Saturday, 20 February 2010

February Jewellery Making Giveaway

I'm doing my first giveaway, the plan is to do a regular giveaway each month and have a different, but craft related prize, each time.  I wasn't sure what to do, but as one of my first loves is making jewellery I decided to choose some findings.  I've been having a root around in my boxes and have come up with a few things.

All findings in this giveaway are silver plated and includes everything in the picture ~ some adjustable charm rings with one, three and eight loops, some clip on earring backs, a charm bracelet, some bead caps, a pack of ten trigger clasps, twenty pairs of earring hooks and a pack of twenty 8mm czech glass purple heart beads.

To win this giveaway all you have to do is say hello in the comments section and next Saturday (27th Feb), I'll pick the winner using the random number thingy. Best of luck!

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