Look at what I won!

We went to Izzy's pre school summer fair on Saturday and it was really lovely. Really sunny day, lots of stalls including cakes and plants (it doesn't get any better than that in my world!). Donkeys, bouncy castle, ice creams etc etc. I entered the Tombolla eyeing up the many bottles of wine on offer as prizes and crossed my fingers as Izzy picked out 3 tickets. We won not ONE but TWO prizes. What a result I thought. Until they were handed to me..........................

A bottle of diet coke and some tinned squid!!! Could the prizes be more rubbish??? Who gives a tin of squid as a raffle prize? How many times has it been given to a raffle by someone who has won it in a previous raffle? It was ok tho as my lovely friend Debi invited us round for a BBQ that evening so as guests we thought it only right and proper that we take something with us for the hosts!

p.s Well done Andy Murray - bring it on!

pps All very sad about Michael Jackson but enough already.

Stumble it!

My other half has been going on about a website called Stumble Upon http://www.stumbleupon.com/ for a while now but I didnt really take much notice until yesterday. Now I am completely addicted. Basically you register your details and tell it your interests (I put in craft and gardening) and it trawls the web for you and finds websites that might be of interest. You get a little toolbar on your computer and click the 'stumble' button to get different sites. You can then give them the thumbs up or down depending on whether you like them or not. Its great. I have found lots of random craft websites that are really interesting and found great craft tutorials for making crayons, turning junk mail into gift bags and putting zips in things! Also found a great gardening site called http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html where people plant up scruffy city centres under the cover of darkness! A fellow folksy seller also mentioned in a forum that its good to get your own websites and blogs on Stumble. People interested in the things you tag may then get to randomly see your website. I think it also helps with raising the profile of your website generally in search engines?? (Don't quote me on that tho - I kind of go a bit fuzzy when people talk to me about computers!) Its also great for wasting hours of your time when you should be doing something more constructive instead!!

My sewing machine hates me!

I'm scared of my sewing machine. Seriously. Last year I traded in the trusty machine that I had used since I was 14 and upgraded to a new fancy pants one. My other half wanted to buy himself a Wii games console (apparently because our 3 year old daughter would like it?!) and so decided that maybe I should have a new sewing machine to keep me quiet. Its lovely but I'm not used to it yet and it really scares me. Its got too many buttons and gadgets that I can't work out how to use. I snapped the needle the second time I used it and it made a HORRIBLE noise. I'm terrified of breaking it because it was quite expensive and already I can't get the needle threader thing to work. I know that it can do lots of fancy things but I'm not sure I'm up to its high standards. Its a thoroughbred racehorse and I'm a learner rider and thats why it hates me. Does anyone else have this problem?







My mum is very clever and has just made this beautiful cot bed quilt to put in my folksy shop. Its absolutely gorgeous and I really want to keep it for my daughter but I know that she is having a special one made just for her so we can't keep it. The fabric on this one is really pretty and very 'shabby chic' and its got really soft fleece on the back. Theres a little bit of fabric left over and my mum can't decide whether to make a cushion cover or a little drawstring pyjama bag to go with it. What do you think?

Doctors and Nurses!

I was browsing the Folksy forums as you do when you are supposed to be doing something more useful when I came across a post from Handcrafted. She is making little Fimo doctor and nurse badges and donating £1 from every badge she sells to Great Ormand Street hospital. She will even personalise them for you! What a lovely idea. Considering my recent stay in the Childrens hospital I thought I would buy one for my lovely nurse friend Kate to show her how much I appreciate what she does (She works weekend nights in A&E at the Bristol Royal Infirmary - could you get a more stressful job???) Its also a great cause and I know people whose children have been cared for at Great Ormond Street. So if you know any doctors and nurses who might appreciate a badge heres the link: http://www.folksy.com/shops/Handcrafted

Who's the daddy?

Want to post about Jon (my other half) on Fathers Day. He's a brilliant hands on dad and I couldnt do it without him. I'm often very grumpy to him so just want to say that really I think he's great! Will he be able to resist looking at the blog now when I tell him there are photos of him on it?? We're off to a donkey derby tomorrow - should be interesting!! In case you're wondering what we're feeding our 10 month old - its his first jelly lovingly made by his great grandma. Not sure Annabel Karmel would approve but he loved it!

Been really rubbish at making stuff over the last few weeks. Been distracted by hospital visits obviously but also the garden and especially the computer!! Next week I'm back to it. Often I just dont know where to start because I have so many ideas so I'm going to do something simple that I've been meaning to try for a while. Going to try and make some cute hair clips. How do other people find the time/motivate themselves to make stuff? particularly those with kids?

The comfort of strangers

I haven't really told anyone I know in my day to day life about my blog. Only 2 close friends know about it and one of those lives in Australia. Is that weird? I'm quite happy to ramble on when I dont think anyone I know is reading but the thought of people I actually know following the blog really freaks me out. My other half has been sworn to secrecy about it and even my parents dont know. I'm not sure why this is? I think I'm actually quite shy although I dont think people who know me would particularly agree (particularly after a few glasses of wine!). I guess I will never know if you guys choose not to read a post or roll your eyes at my inane wittering but people I know would have to pretend to like it and I would never know what they really thought! I'm really interested to know if anyone else feels like this???

Whats even stranger to me is that my other half has never read my blog. Its not that he isn't interested in what I do - hes just not into craft or blogging and so not really bothered about reading it. I could NEVER do that. If it were the other way round I would not be able to rest until I had found the link and checked out what he was saying! Going to blog about him on fathers day tho and tell him and see if I can make him crack!

Take That and Party!

First of all thanks to everybody who left lovely messages on the post about Sam being in hospital. It was lovely to read them all. He is MUCH MUCH better now and back to his usual happy self which is great.

After much umming and aahing about leaving Sam for the evening I was finally persuaded to go and see TAKE THAT last night! Luckily Sam was much perkier and Cardiff is only an hour away so I met up with my sister in law Liz and 65,000 other middle aged woman (and a few shifty looking men) to see them. It was brilliant! Just what I needed after a really stressful couple of days - a few warm beers and a bit of a dance to get rid of the pent up stress levels. They were great - did all the old classics (including some hilarious camp dancing from the early days - see picture below to get the idea) and some great new ones. I have also switched my affections from Mark to ............Howard. Now thats a surprise!

I've aged 10 Years.....

Horrible start to the week as my little 10 month old Sam has been in hospital for 2 days. Went to the GP as he was a bit wheezy and they made me go straight to the Bristol childrens hospital where he has been on oxygen, steroids and a nebuliser since yesterday morning. Poor little thing. We have just got him home and he seems much better now although I have to use an inhaler on him ever four hours for the next few days. He hates it so its not going to be much fun! A BIG BIG thanks to all the lovely staff at the hospital who looked after my Sammy for me and to my parents for looking after Izzy last night at very short notice. Its a bloody worry this children malarky. I need a drink!

From couch potato to Paula Radcliffe!

I did it!!! I finished the 5k Race For Life and I ran ALL the way!! My other half is sick of hearing about it already as I am pretty proud of myself and haven't stopped talking about it since. I've raised £205 for cancer research so far with a few more donations to come. It was an amazing day. I was running in memory of my mother in law Cath Stewart who very sadly died last year of ovarian cancer aged 61 just 4 weeks after my son was born so it was very emotional. I was also thinking about my 2 aunties (Carol and Beryl) who are fighting cancer at the moment. I am now feeling very motivated and inspired tho and am even considering a 10k race. It must be the endorphins! I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get one of those shiny silver foil blanket things to put round me at the end but I did get a medal! Well worth doing even if I can't walk today cos my legs hurt so much! See my before and after shots!

BIG thanks to Leanne at Seethewoods who has designed and edited the most brilliant promotional magazine for sellers of all things handmade on Folksy. Its called Go Handmade. Check out issue 1 here http://issuu.com/seethewoods/docs/go_handmade_issue_1

I'm on the cover too - how exciting is that? Please feel free to add to your blogs or print out and distribute. Its good for all sellers on Folksy if we can get the Folksy brand out there

Open publication - Free publishing - More sewing

Talking of folksy and buying handmade. I bought this a couple of days ago from Haptree. Its a wristlet and bead kit and is completely gorgeous. Its for a present but I want it for myself and I wish I had made it. Lovely! http://www.folksy.com/items/40577-Bead-kit-and-Wristlet-Green-Matryoshka-large-pencil-case-size-?shop=yes

Last but not least I sent off the prize from my giveaway to Madam Salami. A VW Camper Van tooth fairy cushion for her son Toby. I got a bit carried away and also made a little name thing for him too. I hope he likes it!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged!! I am very excited as I've never been tagged before. So thanks to Leanne at Seethewoods for choosing me.

The rules are:
1. respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own (don't feel obliged as it's quite long already!)
2. tag eight other people

So here goes…………

What is your current obsession?
Paulo Nutini (see last post!) No seriously I’m a bit obsessed with fabric and plants at the moment. They are my two favourite things. Most women I know seem obsessed with bags and shoes. Not me I spend all my time and money in garden centres or fabric shops. I am so rock n roll!

What is your greatest achievement?
My two gorgeous children Isabella and Sam. They are completely the best thing I have EVER done. (sounded like Lola from Charlie and Lola then!)

Coffee or Tea?
Got to be tea. I hate coffee. Even the smell of it makes me feel sick. I like a nice mug of builders tea with one sugar. I drink a lot of tea!

What’s for dinner?
Pasta I think. I hate cooking. My other half does most of the cooking although I did make a Spanish Tortilla thing yesterday which wasn’t too bad.

What have you just made?
Just made some more coloured pencil rolls and little girls activity bags.

What are you listening to right now?
The Optimist by Turin Brakes. One of my all time favourite albums. Check them out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrspFnwMehc

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Not a massive ice cream fan and I don’t like chocolate either – is that weird?

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?
Leanne from SeeTheWoods is amazing. Not only does she make lovely things but she is a computer whiz! She made my shop banner for me because she is very kind and thoughtful. She is also sorting out a promotional magazine for folksy as well as writing her blogs. I don’t know when she sleeps!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Bali – just to lie on the beach with a cocktail

Which language do you want to learn?
I’m a bit hopeless at languages but it would be great to speak French. My niece and nephew are bilingual and it would be great to be able to speak French with them.

What’s your favorite quote (for now)?
'Have a good time, all the time’ from the film Spinal Tap. Very funny!

What is your favorite colour?
Blue but it changes all the time

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I love a good pair of jeans. I’m at my happiest in jeans!

What is your dream job?
Paulo Nutinis backing singer/wife!

What is your worst habit?
Impatience. I am very impatient and I can see that my daughter has inherited the same trait!

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
Agree with SeeTheWoods that some of Sweetpea4Kids summer dresses would be on the list along with some Kitschy Coo clothes for my daughter.

Do you admire any one’s style?
Not really. Like people who dont try too hard. Actually used to think Monica in Friends always looked great.

Describe your personal style?
Scruffy chic! I’m a White Stuff/Fat Face kind of girl. Not sure I have any style to be honest!

What are you going to do after this?
Have my tea and watch Brothers and Sisters. I am addicted to Brothers and Sisters.

What is your favorite fruit?
Strawberries

What inspires you?
Gorgeous fabrics, flowers, cottage gardens, my children

Your favorite book?
I used to read loads but don’t get the time anymore. I loved The Othe Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory as I love that part of history.

Do you collect something?
CD’s. We have hundreds! I love music

What is your favorite smell?
Freshly baked bread

What are you most proud of?
My children - Isabella and Sam.

How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?
I am a real night bird. Never go to bed before midnight. I’m terrible in the morning tho. However a 10 month old baby makes you get up before you have chance to press the snooze button.

Cats or dogs?
Tricky. Love both. Have a cat though so have to say cat.

What’s your biggest fashion mistake?
Too many to mention. Ra ra skirts, legwarmers over jeans, spiral perm, blue eyeshadow. I was a child of the 80’s!

Complete the following:
Love is… seeing your children for the first time

What would you like to make next?
Have a million ideas on the go - fabric noughts and crosses set, fabric fishing game, more bags and purses, hair clips, bibs, baby shoes. Never enough time in the day.

Thats all folks.....I've randomly chosen 8 people to tag. Hope you dont mind!

I’m going to tag
Emily Pickle
Nifty Thrifty
Kitty Noir
Dinky Daisy
Madam Salami
Arty waxworks
Jewellery My Design
Christals Creations

The two new men in my life!

Inspired by a post on the very funny Kitschy Coo blog http://kitschycoo.blogspot.com/ I thought I would share with you my new completely inappropriate crush on a younger man (boy even!). I am slightly in love with Paolo Nutini. He's an amazing scottish singer/songwriter who is no 1 in the album charts at the moment. I saw him on Jools Holland a couple of weeks ago and he was amazing (and very easy on the eye!). He's only 22 tho!!!! I am old enough to be his mother! Well almost. How depressing.

Check him out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54_eJValfAs

My other slightly more embarrassing crush is on Christopher Dean (of Torvill and Dean fame) How wrong is that?? I had a dream about him the other day which I wont go into but lets just say its made me look at him in a very different way!! Also is it me or does Jane Torvill look much younger now than she did 20 years ago?? Whats her secret?!

Anybody else have any embarrassing crushes?

Need a holiday?

Anybody looking for a holiday cottage? Friends of ours have a holiday house in New Quay, West Wales which they rent out during the summer. They've got some free weeks left and have offered it with a 10% discount to anyone who books via my blog. I've been several times and its a really gorgeous house which is VERY baby and child friendly. It sleeps upto 8 and is only 5 mins walk to a gorgeous blue flag beach (see above). Check out the website if you are interested and just mention my blog for a discount! Weeks still available - 13 June, 20 June, 4 July, 29 August and most of September.
http://parcina.moonfruit.com/

Did two of my favourite things today. Went plant shopping and ate cake....at the same place! If anybody is local to Bristol you must check out the Food Hut cafe at Golden Acres Nursery in Tickenham. Its fab! Its a big wooden hut covered in fairy lights inside with tables outside placed under lovely trees so you can eat your food in the shade. Gorgeous! The food is fab and they do fantastic cakes. Lemon drizzle cake for me today. You get a proper mug of tea made with tea leaves (no tea bags here!). The nursery is fab too. A bit ramshackle and frayed round the edges (which is why I like it!) but full of unusual and interesting plants and a really sweet little farm shop. Apparently there is a pick your own fruit farm next door too. What a way to spend the afternoon!


http://www.thefoodhut.co.uk/

Running scared!

OH MY GOD!!! - its only a week until the Race for Life and I've trained exactly 4 times since (stupidly) agreeing to enter it a few months ago. What was I thinking? This week I meant to run at least 3 times and managed.....zero! My only excuse is that I have been ill with a horrible sickness bug. So I only have 5 days left to train and the last time I went running was embarrassing as I had to walk half the way and that was only 3k. Oh well I suppose as long as I finish thats the most important thing and it doesn't matter if I walk on the day. If I ever mention running or race again please shoot me!

Caught up with my Australian friend Tam today as she was over visiting from Perth for a family wedding. We used to be work buddies and drinking buddies in the days before we had babies and then first time mums together. She moved back to Perth several years ago. She was laughing about the fact I have a blog so to surprise her (shut her up!) when she gets home I'm going to post a picture of her and talk about 5 funny things I remember about our time together.....

1. Her throwing up in my garden and being carried home by her husband (we had both just been made redundant and celebrated with a glass of wine or 2!)
2. The night she tried to drunkenly reinact the video to 'Dirty' by Christina Aguilera in a dodgy Bristol nightclub. It was not a pleasant sight and is etched in my memory FOREVER.
3. Days of sitting in my garden with our new babies trying to think up money making schemes so we didnt have to go back to work. Yes we did actually try and buy a chocolate fountain business!
4. The fact that on my first date with my now partner I sat on my phone by mistake and without realising automatically dialled her home number meaning that she had about 3 hours of our late night first date conversation on her home answerphone.
5. Her willingness to confront anybody she saw doing something dishonest or wrong i.e people shoplifting or trying to steal cars despite my constant reminders that she would get herself killed. Must be an Australian thing.

I miss her!!

Blue is the colour...

I'm so excited. I've been featured again on one of the gorgeous rainbow treasuries on the Jewellery My Design blog. Today is Blue...Mine is the tooth fairy cushion with the pink roses on. I have to say that it is one of my favourites. I absolutely love the fabric.




http://jewellerymydesign.blogspot.com/

Talking of fabric. I've recently come accross some great websites selling some really cool fabrics.

http://www.gagafabrics.co.uk/

http://www.saintsandpinners.co.uk/

If anybody has any other recomendations I'd love to hear about them. A girl can never have enough fabric!

Taking the Handmade Pledge!

I took the handmade pledge today. Going to really try and buy cool handmade stuff for presents for family and friends from now on. Check out the website if you haven't already (I'm usually months behind everyone else tho!) http://www.buyhandmade.org/ I even managed to get the handmade badge onto my blog. I am soooooo impressed with my computer skills. Thought I would make a start and show some things I'm thinking of buying for some birthdays which are coming up....

For the men who have everything (i.e my brother and other half ) this amazing wine bottle holder....

I've got this already for my other halves fathers day present from Izzy and Sam and it is amazing. Its really lovely reclaimed wood and it works but i dont know how it possibly can??? Have to also give a bottle of wine to go with it obviously!

http://www.misi.co.uk/gifts/796/GRAVITY_DEFYING_WINE_BOTTLE_HOLDERS.html

For the sister in law - one of these gorgeous sunglass cases from plain jane textiles - not sure which colour tho. Which one would you guys go for?

http://www.folksy.com/items/38974-Hand-printed-glasses-sunglasses-case-in-red-scarlet?shop=yes

For my 9 year old niece - these gorgeous friendship bracelets from More Cake Designs so she can have one and give one to her best friend!

http://www.folksy.com/items/21067-Me-My-Silk-and-Sterling-Silver-friendship-bracelets-by-More-Cake-?shop=yes

Have also found lots of really lovely stuff I want to buy for myself and Izzy and Sam but thats another post! Very excited to sell one of my coloured pencil rolls last night. Posted it off today so hope they like it! Starting to feel a bit better after a week of being ill so hoping to finish a fabric nought and crosses set i've been trying to make tonight. I'll post a picture when I do so I can get some feeedback!

Inhale the web!!!

Somebody sent me the link to this great website today http://addictomatic.com/
You can use it to find out what is being said online about virtually anything including yourself!
It pulls in results via rss from the best news and search sites on the web including Google, Yahoo, Technorati, Ask, YouTube, Truveo, Flickr, Blinkx, Ice Rocket, Digg, Topix, Newsvine and Tweetscan. Have a go searching your shop name and see what happens...I found out that I had been tweeted about today!! Its a bit addictive tho so be careful...

After 2 days of sick children I have finally succombed to the dreaded lurgy and feel dreadful! Big thanks go to my lovely other half and my parents who between them entertained both children all day while I lay in bed feeling sorry for myself. Heres hoping its a 24 hour thing!!

And the winner is............

The lucky winner of my tooth fairy giveaway in honour of Sam's first tooth (actually he now has two!!) is Madam Salami

The lucky winner was picked randomly by Isabella. The winner can either choose a tooth fairy cushion from my folksy/misi shop or I can make a brand spanking new personalised one for you if you let me have the childs name and dont mind waiting a few days. Please can you email me your details - louisehorler@blueyonder.co.uk

Just as I was about to post I found out I was a winner too....what are the chances! I won some creme eggs from the lovely and hilariously named jelly belly jelly brain (very apt description of me at the moment actually!) Check out her blog

http://wwwjellybelly-jellybrain.blogspot.com/

Actually its been a good week - I have been featured on a blog too - how exciting!! One of my crayon rolls features on the Jewellery My Design blog. Fiona is doing some gorgeous colour themed treasury type things. Lots of lovely stuff for sale on Folksy. Check it out....

http://jewellerymydesign.blogspot.com/

If you have a minute check out the giveaway on the Emily Pickle Material Addict blog too. A gorgeous set of kitsch postcards designed by Kate are yours for the taking. I have some postcards already and they are super cool!

http://emilypickle.blogspot.com/2009/05/kitsch-colour-boutique-give-away.html

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