Books

Following the blog of the lovely Pippa, here's some of our books. The above 2 piccies are from my craft shelves in the bedroom - some of our magazines, my crafty books and some of my most precious books.

Here are JJ's books in his bedroom. He's got stacks more in the living room!

These three pictures are our living room wall. There's allsorts of books here, covering a huge
array of subjects, plus all the fiction books too. So many of these have come from library sales, charity shops and bootsales. I'd hate to think how much money we have actually spent on books - worth every penny though.

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I can't actually take a picture of Aaron and Nathan's books because we've just had to box them up so the builders can get in their room next week - suffice to say there are many, many boxes now residing in the loft.

Zzzzzzzzz

Lavender and hops bags finished.....feeling very calm now ;-).

Off the list

Very excited about the Suma shopping delivery today as it included coconut oil - one more thing off the list for making my own soap.




Instead of putting said shopping delivery away I decided to take another thing 'off the list' - hops and lavender bags filled and ready for the tops to be hand-stitched.

Heart to Heart

More hearts for the shop.

Stuff

I can't believe it's beens so long since I was on here. We had no heating from Monday to Thursday - I just couldn't concentrate on doing much at all, let alone any sewing or knitting. I made up for it last night though, firstly finishing the scarf I was knitting with the Twilleys freedom wool. It's single rib, so it took a while, as well as 5 balls of wool until I got the length I wanted. Then I made Hubby's new phone pouch as he's been needing one for ages. Pure wool felt with a rocket on the front. Next came the 2 hearts, while watching QI. Felt much better doing something.

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Today, I got the sewing machine out and finished the gift/party bags I started last week. Off to put some things in the shop now.

Done

Red cotton bag decorated with cotton doily. Lined with red and white cotton fabric.

Must stop going in charity shops!!

Now I distinctly remember saying I didn't need any more fabric - I should just use up what I have! But how can anyone resist such bargains when they come up like that?! Both the quilt covers are reversible so I actually get 4 different fabrics, not just 2. Does that make it justifiable? The red fabric I got off ebay with my earnings as I couldn't find any red/white flowered fabric in the charity shops (my reason for being in them) to finish a red/white bag that has been sat waiting for a while. Anyway, off to finish said bag.

Mad times!

Everything is just mad at the minute - we have the builders in (finally) putting an extra bedroom on the back of the house. I've also started the next 10 week course at our local children's centre - Hands on Health. We are learning basic massage techniques including hand, arm, shoulders, tiny bit of reflexology, and 3 weeks devoted to the full indian head massage (can't wait for that one). I've also been completing an order for the shop, plus doing other bits to put in the shop - it's just mad around here (well, madder than usual anyway ;-) ).

Because of the extension, money is rather tight, so I'm only allowed to buy crafty things when I've earned some cash from my shop (I'm pants with money so this way I am limiting myself). I have plenty of stuff on my shelves for the general things I make, the only thing I'm really eager to have a go at is the soap. I'm slowly building up the basics I need, so that, hopefully, sometime soon, I'll be able to show you some homemade soap.

Finally!

JJ's cloak - finished ;-)

Made with blue velour, then I stitched a length of bias on the inside so I could thread some elastic through. I've stitched a button on one side and a loop on the other side for the fastening.

Thinking again ;-)

I've been thinking more about resolutions/hopes for this year. We seem to have fallen down slightly through 2009 with regards how environmentally aware we are, how careful we choose to be, and that needs to change. It's only little things but in the overall picture they do make a difference - to me anyway. So we shall be giving ourselves a little kick up the preverbial backside and doing more (or less) depending on what it is. Last year I also had high hopes for a handmade Christmas, but this was also a disappointment for me - I just didn't have the confidence when it came to it. This year (I know it's a long way off!!!!!) we will be having a handmade Christmas.

Right, the pictures. I actually had an hour to myself in the charity shops yesterday while I waited for a dentist appointment. I got 3 pairs of trousers for JJ which is an absolute rarity for age 3 stuff, some books and the above table cloth (to make small bags with), 7mm knitting needles and an old tea cup which I shall use to make a candle. I also went in the chemist on the off chance of finding caustic soda for making soap, and to my suprise they had some. One step closer to making my own soap.

I've not done much crafting this week either, and today I realised why - I needed to knit not sew. I've sat (and stood while chatting to the in-laws) and made 2 dishclothes. Might do some more knitting later.

Happy New Year - 2010

Happy New Year everyone. Lets hope that this year brings more joy and happiness - I have a good feeling, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and being positive. The above picture is all the baubles from the tree. I do love vintage glass baubles - I have managed to find quite a few on car boot sales and in charity shops, plus we have a few new ones too. They are all now packed away safely into boxes and are residing back in the loft. Time for other things.

I have been thinking about resolutions, or hopes, as we have decided to call them on the GP Forum, for this year. Last year (in fact the last 4 years) brought alot of sadness, through death and illnesses in the family and with friends. But in a funny sort of way, it also brought about alot of good - we have met family we haven't seen since I married 12 years ago, and we have resolved to stay in touch. We have resolved to 'do' more as a family with hubby's VW club and make more of an effort with friends. We have also resolved to end relationships with the people who cause us anger and sadness. I wasn't going to do resolutions but those last ones are all resolutions :-). Anyway, my hopes for the coming year are:-

* to do more as a family.
* to stay as calm as possible while the long awaited extension is built.
* to be calmer generally - I don't want to shout as much as I do any more.
* to continue to look at alternative/complementery medicines.
* to continue with handmadehaven.co.uk and hope that it remains a joy.
* to continue with my crafting.



And on that final note, here's a new bag for the shop.