Swapped

Remember my post about fabric swapping?

well it worked because this lovely parcel arrived today

Containing this gorgeous fabric

A Tufted Tweets fabric (Avian Therapy in Grass) and this gorgeous handmade fabric card which I love just as much

Thanks Jane. I'm so pleased. Mine is being posted today so this

should arrive tomorrow full of this

I hope you like it!

Fame at last and a dilema

Arrangements for the craft market at the Kite Festival are going well. We are pretty much booked up now in the craft market for the entire week-end and we got featured in the Bristol Evening Post yesterday which is great publicity. You can read the article here if you like! I'm sewing like a mad women trying to get my stock together and I am just praying that it doesn't rain over the week end. Rain is my worst nightmare. Its a really well established event and if the weather is good there will be thousands of people there but if it rains.......   so think positive thoughts for me!

I've had a bit of a dilema recently. I have started to get approached by various PR companies asking me to review products on my blog. I seem to remember a while ago writing a comment on someone elses blog saying that I didn't like people reviewing things or doing sponsored posts blah blah and that I wouldn't do it on my blog. Then someone wrote asking me if I wanted to test some washing powder and I was ridiculously over excited by the fact that a) someone was going to send me something free and b) someone actually wanted my opinion on something. I decided that it wasn't for me until I noticed  that you also got a rather lovely spotty peg bag with the washing powder. Lets just say my principles aren't quite as strong as they used to be as that peg bag is now hanging in my utility room next to the washing machine!

I've since had quite a few offers. Some don't appeal at all but some do and I've been agonizing about what to do with them. I came to a conclusion yesterday when I got asked to review a sewing book. I should just do whatever I like. Its my blog and I didn't think that anyone would read it when I started it. Its been a really interesting journey with fantastic adventures along the way with swaps and present challenges and stalking famous people and so if someone asks me to review something that really interests me (sewing book) or is relevant to my life (washing powder!) then I'm going to do it. If it doesn't interest me I won't. I have decided though that I won't accept money for reviewing things - I want blogging to be fun and not a job.

What do other people think? Anyone else have this dilema?

Also  I need your help. Can someone please tell me how to stop people commenting on my blog with messages like these...愛，拆開來是心和受兩個字。用心去. It keeps happening and I'm not sure why but its really annoying. I know you can block people but only if they follow you. Not sure how you block random people who leave comments.

Pretty in pink

Today Sam discovered Izzy's old pink fairy wings. He was seriously excited when he put them on and spent a good hour prancing around squealing with excitement. He seemed to like being a fairy quite a lot. He's definately in touch with his feminine side...now I just need to find the matching tutu and the look will be complete!!!

Swap Shop!

I bought some new fabric recently and while I love most of the fabric I ordered, one of the fabrics 'Week-ends by Erin McMorris' just doesn't really do it for me.

Its a gorgeous fabric but I bought it thinking I might make a little dress for Izzy and the colours in real life just don't feel very child like if that makes sense? The background is  a pale grey and the flowers more lilac and purple than I imagined. Such a shame as I bought a metre of it. I was going to put it in my fabric stash but it feels like such a waste. I know that I am never going to use it and I don't love it enough to just want to keep it to look at! So what to do?

Swop it with someone thats what! I was taken back to my youth and the days of Noel Edmonds Multi Coloured Swap Shop. There must be someone out there who loves this fabric and has a metre of their own unloved fabric that they want to swap it for. So is anyone up for swapping? If you are interested please leave a message with the name of your fabric (if known) and in the event of there being several choices I will pick the one I love the most. We can then each pay the postage and voila we will (hopefully) have a metre of fabric we both love. The people who don't swap with me can then do their own swapping post on their blogs maybe and we can start a swapping revolution!!

What do you think? Are you up for it?

How long will I love you?

Before I had children I was massively into music. I worked in a record shop, bought hundreds of CD's and saw lots and lots of live bands. My ideal afternoon was spent browsing a record shop or fair looking for some obscure 7 inch single or 12 inch remix and evenings were spent going to gigs. I loved lots of bands but the band I always loved the most were The Waterboys.

My favourite ever album has always been 'This is the sea' by The Waterboys. I have played it a million times during my life. I love every song on it from the start to the finish and will never tire of listening to it.

In my younger days I followed the band around for a while having mad adventures with fellow Waterboys fans in the UK and Ireland. I danced on stage with them once (must have been very drunk!) and spent many hours debating the genius that is Mike Scott with friends. I soaked up his influences discovering Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones through him. His music made me fall in love with the mandolin and fiddle and trumpet. I loved the way that he kept reinventing himself and the fact that he never sold out preferring to make the music he chose.

As I've got older and had children the influence of music has waned slightly. We play music in the house all the time but I no longer spend hours in record shops (more soft play areas) and I'm not so easily impressed with a romantic song lyric anymore (is that sad?). Gigs are a rarity now although I did go and see The Waterboys when they played in Bristol a couple of years ago. (It was fantastic but I was pleased I had a seat and it was very loud!!). Today however I feel like I'm 20 again. I am VERY excited. Why? Because in a moment of madness I tweeted Mike Scott to tell him that one of his songs had played at a wedding reception I went to at the week-end and how fab it had sounded and you know what? He only went and tweeted back!! Only two words granted but two words direct from the man himself.

I love modern technology and Mike Scott you have made my day....now I just need to you to leave a comment on my blog!!

I just couldn't help myself!

I went and looked at the Fabric Rehab website. I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself. They were doing free postage so I actually saved money! Todays lovely parcel included

Sorry Mr Bank Manager!

Cake!

My little Sam is 2 this week so we had a little party for him at the week-end.

Jon and I both got a bit carried away with the whole cake decorating thing for his party. Jon made a fantastic dinosaur cake complete with streams and volcanoes! It tasted amazing.

I'm still slightly obsessed with my new cupcake stand so I made some cupcakes with the childrens names on. Well actually Jon made the cupcakes and I just decorated them!! How I cursed the parents whose children have names more than 3 letters long!!

Izzy was a very helpful big sister and very pleased with her new dress. A bargain from a car boot sale the day before at 50p. Its a completely gorgeous brand new Next party dress. I couldn't believe it was only 50p and tried to haggle upwards!!

Izzy absolutely loves it especially as it has a net petticoat underneath. Jon is horrified as he hates car boot sales and the very idea of second hand clothes. Is it a men/women thing? I don't know of any men who like car boot sales/charity shops whereas lots of women I know love a good rummage and finding a bargain. I don't often buy clothes at car boot sales but sometimes it would just be rude not too!