I missed the end of October and I don't know what happened to the begining of November!!

So how have I done, well didn't lose the 8lb, but managed 6, so that's not bad! I am in the midst of sewing and sashing Lauren's quilt, and will start on Georgie's soon.  I have a day off work on the 28th and I will be spending it with my friend Julia and our sewing machines!

Here it is just laid out to see where the blocks should go.

What else have we done.. I took Logan to the Harry Potter studio tour, and spend to some time with my friend Sue, we had a blast! and I have promised her that I will scrap some of these photos!

Paul and I did our first craft fair, and whilst we did not sell loads we did cover our costs and bit more.  We are planning to do another on the 9th December.

I also had my hair cut short, well short for me!  I cant smile and take a photo at the same time :)

I didn't get any cards done, and am not sure if I will, but I do plan to finish a scarf that I started to knit back this time last year, in time for Christmas!!

well how did I do this month.....not bad, weight loss has slowed but as I have now lost 25lb I guess that is to be expected!  I went shopping for the first time since I started to lose weight and found that I fit into a size 14 jeans which was a huge surprise!!  I have managed ok with the organisation, but I keep forgetting to take photos before :)  but here are the few that I did remember!

And after :)

And before

 And after

I have to say there was a lot of out of date and un needed stuff  which I guess was part of the reason for getting it done :)

So the kitchen is done and the pantry the conservatory has been cleared and the loft has a third less crammed into it.

I have almost caught up with my quilting, there are a couple of squares missing but this gives you an idea of what it will  be like come christmas.

So what am I planning for the next month, I am going to set a target of losing a further 8lb by the end of October, carry on with the quilting and keep on track with the organising.  I also want to start with this planner to see if christmas can be cheaper and calmer this year as I don't think that the Girls will be in the country next year I want this one to be fun.

a couple of blocks more to follow!

I do find it quite amazing that I so much time has passed since I last posted but it has and there have been a few changes around here, but perhaps not as many as I would like, so I am going to use my blog as a diary to help me manage the changes and challenges between now and Christmas.

I really do need to find a way of managing my work life balance, because for the last few years I really have not had a good one, I really should as my job should not be as all encompassing as it is, I know it is a cliche, but I am really not paid enough to carry the amount of stress that I do.

I also want to declutter my house, we simply have too much stuff that means that I struggle to find things and periodically hate my home as it is mainly open plan, so I am going to join this group in September which I am really looking forward to.

I am almost up to date with my quilt, I hope to finish my July block today and maybe even watch the August tutorial, everything crossed!

I want to show the crafting that I have focused on so when I have done the above i will lay all the blocks out and post a picture to remind me.

I have made cup cakes for a wedding and done a cup cake to kids course which I really enjoyed, along with my beginners embroidery course, which was a good day up at Princetown, back in April.

So challenges for August,

 keep loosing weight, really pleased with what I have done, but need to keep going.

Finish blocks up to August

Get clothes that no longer fit on Ebay

Start to get rid of stuff that I no longer need or want.

start to prepare for the new term at school so that Logan has everything he needs without the mad rush on the last day.

Do at least one type of challenge, probably a jingles bells that always makes me feel a bit better.

Jingle belles look at me go again!

Well I have had  productive few weeks, and will be back to post about what I have learned, but this morning I just wanted to quickly post this card that I am really pleased with for the Jingles Belles stick with us challenge.

TaDaa!! the Joy Train, I have used basic Grey paper, stampin up trainline stamp and Basill stickers, thrilled with it!

February is moving on.

The last few weeks have been rather strange, lots to do and think about, but we took the time to go to Bramford Speke for a walk today, and enjoy the fresh air. Logan and Paul skimmed stones into the river, and really enjoyed that.  Logan fell out of a tree and really hurt his thigh, which was not so good.  I really do feel sorry for him, it is very nasty.

 Her leg is now stuffed and on!

Craftsy block of the month

I have been sewing, doing my block of the month and I have made a couple of little mice, they are so cute.  It has been an interesting thing, doing something that I am learning from.  The best way to explain is that if I can't do something I generally adapt it to suit me, where as Paul is very practice practice practice until it is right.  With the first mouse there is loads that I would do differently, so I am trying another one to see if I can get better!! time will tell ;)

Busy but not posted

I wanted to increase the number of posts, not decrease!  but I have been busy of the last 2 weeks, I have made a birthday card for a friend, it was made from a goody bag that was given to me by another lovely friend with whom I do an advent swap each year.  The set is made by a company call Craftwork cards and I was really pleased, the photo was not so great, but I was in a rush to get it in the envelope and delivered!!  The dress in the card reminded my of my friends stylish way of dressing :)

I have also been carrying on with the quilts, I have done 4 asterisk stars in total now, and really need to move on to the next 4 wonky pound signs, but I like the asterisk's and want to play with making them a bit more union jacky so that I can use them to make some patriotic flags!!!!


I need to go a get myself some lovely seville oranges, so that I can make marmalade, we ate the last jar of last years making last week, and I really hate the idea of buying it from a shop!! now that reminds me of a bit in the film "Gosford Park" when Helen Mirrens character asks one of the visiting maids, "will she mind shop bought?" to which the maid shrugs!!  I want to have a go a a couple of challenges this week, I have enjoyed Jingles Bells challenges, and was thrilled to see that  Linda's cards won :) and I want to have a go at a valentine themed challenge, now depending on how quick I am I will try out  the Just Tracy's challenge!!

Jingle Belles again

I have completed my card for the Jingle Belles challenge this week, here is the
sketch that we were given

And here is my take, I used some old papers, and a couple of stamps that i have had for years, so no extra purchasing required!! it was fun to follow and inspiring to see what the other ladies had done.  I am working on the premise that the more I do the better I will get, in this picture the sentiment looks wonky......... hmmmm and I used my stampamajig..... back to have another go ;)

What a good weekend.

I must have been feeling super creative this weekend, when I got home on Friday evening Georgie and I were looking through a load of Country Living magazines, cutting out what we felt we would like to keep. whist doing this I had a sudden urge to make a coffee cake, so, I just did, and it was so quick, it did make me wonder why I didn't do spontaneous things more often!!

Saturday I lite some yankee candle wax tarts that I had already been using over christmas, and used the wax to make some small smelly candles.



I then went on to do a job I had been wanting to do for ages.  Our sofa is a very old sofa that my brother gave me about 5 years ago.  The feather cushions had become so flat, I wanted to make them smaller but firmer, so I made new ticking bags for them, and then made new covers from some fabric I bought about 10 years ago to cover the old sofa.....hoarder me? don't know what you mean!  anyway the end result was quite good!

Finally I thought I would treat myself to do something that I wanted to do.  Now I can sew but have never made a quilt, even though I love them, really because I want instant gratification, and I couldn't see a way to have that with a quilt.  however I saw a block of the month class which is free on craftsy, so I thought I would give it a go.  The first one is call a slashed asterix, and here is my first attempt, now there are faults and if you are a quilter it may be awful, but to me I felt quite proud of how it turned out.

Well it's only January!

I thought that I would try to do some crafting every night, well okay three times a week, well I am busy, so best be at the weekend.  Procrastinate, me what do you mean?

I was bought a book for Christmas called where women create, and the continuing theme is that your craft space should be somewhere that inspires you, so really it's hardly my fault, I mean if I could redecorate the room, then refurnish it, then I could create fantastic stuff..............

Ok so I confess, I just hadn't got around to it, but I knew what I wanted to do.  I was reading Linda's blog and saw her christmas cards, I followed the link   and decided to have a go!

The brief was to use wrapping paper, so I stuck the wrapping paper to card, cut it out sanded the edges a bit to disguise my slightly wobbly cutting!  I then punched the snow flake from the wrapping paper, then 3d stuck both to paper from DCWV christmas printed paper pack which is really old, so I should get a bonus point for using up stash!! :) finally good old SU sentiment

I do feel good,  it was worth making the time.

Happy new year

Well what happened! I managed to do some crafting in Nov and Dec, but didn't post, and I was thinking about why that was, I think it was taking the photos and uploading, I pop online every day, so I really have not excuse.   I think that I will perhaps try keeping the usb and lead plugged in the computer all the time, that way I can use my phone to take a snap an post!

I managed to make about 30 cards to give and then a further 20 which I sold, some Paul's mum took to a craft fayre and some at my Macmillan event in December.

I also made Jam, pickle, marmalade, fabric bags and bunting. 

Yesterday I wanted to do something crafty, and made these

Lauren and Paul prefer the empty pickup, but I like the one with the dogs!!