Last one

Here's the last birthday card for June - this one is for my nephew. June is the busiest month for birthdays so I'm glad I've made them all and I've got them all done on time ;-).

Spent some time yesterday doing the road playmat - while spending the rest of the time being harrassed by ds3 as I'm not doing it quick enough.

The other playmat was well received so I'm very pleased.

Ginger cordial

Got the house to myself for an hour so I've stitched the tableclothes for my sister (made from an old cotton sheet) and I've made this ginger cordial (recipe found at Hip and Sloe). I don't really like the mint one I made but I love ginger cordial so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is going to be good.

Love, love, loving the sewing machine

After tea I sat down to play with my sister's sewing machine while the kids were watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - oh I do miss mine. I made the playmat which matches the toy bag and I made the pink bag as well. The playmat measures 110cm square (probably a little big but never mind). I'll show you the bag once the recipient has received it.

For those of you who wonder how I manage to fit everything in - I do the bare minimum of housework, and I make sure that I have crafty time otherwise I would go mad (well madder than I am already ;-) ).

I've got a fair few jobs that I can do now I've got a machine - finish the road playmat, make my san pro pads, alter the curtains, hem some table clothes for my sister (I should have done these tonight as that was one of the conditions of me borrowing the machine, whoops), make the bed storage pockets...........going to stop there.

Busy busy

Finished the bag for toys on Tuesday and delivered it yesterday. Going to make a matching playmat as well (got that pinned, tacked and ready to go for later). Also got another order for a bag - this one is rather urgent so I started that last night. Really need to spend a couple of hours updating the shops as well as some of the stuff has been sold, but privately.

I've also borrowed my sisters sewing machine (yipee) so hopefully I'll get a few things done a bit quicker. Really need to get mine sorted but something else always comes up that needs the cash. Need to prioritise better :-).

Also put in my first order to Suma, so I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives next week.

Right off to get busy.

Loads

The Father's Day card I made for my Dad. Things seem to be going ok with him at the moment so lets keep our fingers crossed.

These are the items we received in the GP season swap - a gorgeous foxglove fairy and a dog rose fairy. They are both absolutely beautiful. We also received a display card with the lifecycle of the ladybird on it. Thank you very much.

This was part of the swap I sent out. It's a crocheted sun bowl. I also made a felt butterfly and a lavendar wand but forgot to photograph them.

My Father-in-law fetched some more beeswax from the car boot sale at York racecourse on Saturday. It's surprising how different the colours are compared to the other wax I have. This morning I made 2 candles with them. I think the wicks are had left are actually too thin but I'll give them a go ;-).

My Mother-in-Law brought some fabric square panels that are usually used for patchwork cushions. She's given me 4 and ordered 2 bags from me with the other 2.

I've not done much on the ordered bag this week so I sat and did a bit more last night. Going to try and do a little bit this afternoon while peeping at Wimbledon :-).

A decision is made

A lovely thought came to me last night regarding Mum's ashes tub - so this morning I felt strong enough to rinse out the remaining ashes and water my apple tree I got for my birthday last year. Although I believe that the body is just a shell and her spirit is roaming free I just couldn't bring myself to part with it. This way there is a tiny part of her in my garden (she loved gardening) and the tub is in the recycling box ;-). I feel lighter today.

Up and down sort of week

After Monday's bereavement counselling session, Tuesday was definitely a down. Wednesday was up with the Suma catalogue and the food boxes. Thursday was the dentist so that was definitely a down. Friday was a bit of both (above cards are for my Sister-in-law and Nephew's birthdays) and today is definitely a down. Stressed about lots of things as well as the counselling - can't quite put my finger on them all yet. I still have the tub that my Mum's ashes were in, can't bring myself to get rid of it. If it wasn't in the house I don't think I would be bothered about it - we scattered Mum's ashes on her birthday 3 years ago - but it's sat on my wardrobe opposite the bed. I know I should recycle it (she liked to recycle) but something stops me. Think I'm clinging again.

Needed to make something for me so I made these liners for our old fruit basket. I'm going to use it to display some of the smaller items I make.

Just realised it's Father's Day tomorrow and I haven't made a card yet.

I'm so excited......

....about my weekly veg and salad box from Woodlands Organic Farm at Boston in Lincs,

a surprise gift from Hubby's work - a huge hamper full of goodies, but most of all

I've just set up my Suma account and am currently going through the catalogue writing my list. Woooohooooooooooooo - up yours supermarkets :-).

More birthdays

The card I made for Father-in-law's birthday.

A tin I have made for my neice. It's not actually her birthday until beginning of July but I couldn't resist making these now (that's far too organised for me ;-) ). She loves cows so we have the tin and the card. The cow on the front of the card is actually a badge (thanks for the tip if you've managed to find my blog Sis). I love this so I'll be making some more for the shops.

Thank you

I just want to thank all those people who left comments for me regarding the bereavement counselling. I'm so thankful that I can let my feelings out somewhere where it helps me but also saves me from shouting at those close to me. So thank you all so much and know that your love, thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.

And thank you to anyone who has ever left a comment for me - I do try and reply sometimes but there isn't always the time.

Love and hugs to you all.

Birthday cards

I made my middle son's birthday last night (it's his birthday today), loved it so much I made another one as well. I'll make some more of these, I think, as they are quite simple to do and look lovely. I've also added the new keyrings to backing cards and priced them so I'll be sticking them in my shops. Oh, I got an order today for another bag, and a fabric covered tin for my niece's birthday. I also need to make another card, preferably tonight, as it's my father in laws birthday tomorrow ;-).

I seem quite calm at the moment and enjoying things again so I'll try and get alot done over the weekend before Monday comes round again.

Settled enough for...

...a couple of hours of crafting Yay. Hubby took our youngest out with him after tea so I was able to do a bit of catching up on the internet and then I set to and made these for the shop. It's been a bit neglected of late but hopefully that will change as I get to grips with my grieving. There's so many things that I've got buzzing round my head, and there are things that people suggest (thank you Claire) that there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. I think I need to set aside some time specifically for shop crafting. I can but hope ;-).

More cheerful

After I finished the last post I thought I'd go and do some crafting as I haven't been in the mood to do any since my brother's birthday card. Anyway, thought I'd do something quick so I made the kids another can for their bits and bobs - now they've got no excuses (although I'm sure they will think of some) for losing the scissors, or their pens or anything else that should be in the tin ;-).

I also remembered to take a picture of the candle dyes - after reading it again it's actually one stick to 2 kg of wax not 1kg. Might have a go with my beeswax later - I do love the colour of beeswax but it's nice to play isn't it?

Bereavement counselling

I attend group bereavement counselling on a Monday evening after being referred by my doctor. I never realised how much I had kept hidden away - mainly about the hospital/nurses/doctors and the actual illness which she had (lung cancer). I always thought of lung cancer as a 'dirty' disease - the government/nhs have a very good way of portraying this with their ads and campaigns against smoking. Well, my Mum probably smoked a year through her entire life (firstly when she finally left my Dad, and secondly when her 2nd marriage broke down as her husband had an affair) so for me to find out that it was lung cancer was a hard thing to accept. The final diagnosis of what was actually wrong with her happened so close to her actual death (6 days) that I don't think any of us had to chance to 'get used' to the reality of the situation. I had a run in with one of the nurses over the standard of care my Mum was receiving so I find that difficult as well.

The course is for 2 hours per week over 8 weeks - I have been to 3. The last 2 weeks I have felt awful for the couple of days following the meeting. I have been thinking about things that I have kept hidden away for the last 3.5 years so you'll forgive me if I take about this over the coming weeks. Hopefully, if I write some of it down it will help me to move forward with the couple of things that I'm still struggling with. Thank you.

A bit of all sorts

Here's the snuggly I made for Claire's bump (thanks for the piccie) - I left it simple so there were no bits that babe could choke on. The velour is very soft and makes you want to stroke it (or is that just me!)



I crocheted this last night - a dishcloth. I also made another one tonight as they are so quick to make and much better than shop bought cloths. We do reuse old fabrics for cloths as well, but these last much longer and seem to wash the pots better too. The dishcloth cotton came from a charity shop a few years back - I think there was 7 balls for £2.00.

It's my brother and sister's birthday tomorrow (they're not twins, just born on the same day) so here's the card for my brother. He's really into Metallica and this is from one of their albums, I think, so hopefully he'll like it. My sister is getting one of the stitched fairy cards as I love them, and hope she will too.

Another bargain I got in the charity shop the other day, and forgot to tell you about, was some candle wax dye for 50p. There are 5 different colours which you then add to 1kg of wax or I supppose you could cut them down if you had less wax. Anyway, I'll try and remember to get a picture to show you what I'm waffling on about :-).

Catch up

Cor blimey - I've got buttons swimming before my eyes!! I've spent the last three evenings sorting out that bag of buttons and integrating it into the household collections. There were so many that the kids button shoebox is almost full, and I've re-arranged mine too. I was in the charity shops again yesterday looking for jars to put them in and found three - perfect - and they only cost me £1.30 too. I already had the 2 old yankee candle jars so now I've sorted mine out by colour.

I also finished the baby snuggly for Claire, but in my haste to get it in the post, I forgot to take a piccie :-(. Never mind. Same for the holly fairy too, which was for Joxy. My mind is working so fast these last few weeks that I seem to be getting ahead of myself, only to realise later on that something has been forgotten (sigh).

Other piccies are my new book, which was ordered at the same time as the others, but they were awaiting stock, and the summer Living crafts magazine. Haven't had a chance to look at these yet because of aforementioned buttons, but hopefully later. Lastly is more alpacca wool from a lovely GP mama. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Lastly, we spent a lovely hour today picking more elderflowers for more cordial as we seem to be drinking it at an alarming rate ;-).

Can't be bothered to think of a title!

Bottled up the elderflower cordial this morning - there's actually 7 bottles but I'm pants at taking pictures so you can't see them all. Me and JJ have nearly finished one already (we do add water!)



This is the 'pencil crayons' tin that I made last night after I got in from my bereavement counselling group. I decided not to do one for the paint brushes as it will just get ruined by wet brushes.

And finally, father-in-law has been to an antiques fair today and stopped here on the way home with a carrier bag half-filled with buttons - it is sooo heavy. So this evening will be spent sorting buttons and doing some sewing (hopefully)