second post in the same month! I must be ill!!

I think I am having a fit of blogitus. This will be the second post within the same month. Someone take my temperature please! And pick those stunned people up off the floor.

Anyway, among other things, I am blogging about the cat I made, here she is (shh, she is asleep):

To give you an idea of size, she is lying on an A4 sized box.

and here is a close up of her face and front paws, hand embroidered by me none the less!!!

She is only my second machine sewn project and I can tell you that her tail was a pain to turn the right way and just as bad to stuff, thank God for rubber tipped pencils is all I can say!!

I did enjoy making her though and my daughter; who has adopted her, loves her. She is made from an old pair of my trousers and I used a torn piece of floral fabric to make her collar and tied it into a bow.

I ventured into town yesterday, telling Tony that I wanted to have a scout around the charity shops, I was on the lookout for a sewing box. Well, after looking in 3 charity shops and finding nothing I popped into our local British Heart Foundation furniture shop and found this lovely old looking sewing box. It is high enough to use as a small table to put bits on when I am sewing. The inside of the lid has a huge pin cushion attached to it. The actual storage part is 7 1/2" high and 12 1/2" square. The whole thing is only slightly lower than my craft desk, so no bending down. The best bit was it only cost me a tenner :) It needs tarting up, so when I get a spare half hour I will probably paint it cream and do something crafty with the sides and top. Any ideas gladly welcome!

I also found this moose? in another charity shop. She looked so sad sitting all alone on the shelf there that I just had to buy her. She is wearing a green gingham dress with a matching bow in her hair and a green cardigan over the top of her dress. How cute is she! When stood up she is about 12" tall, but she prefers to sit! I have called her myrtle (hoping she is a moose).

I have had the day from hell today, probably to make up for the fun times I have had over Christmas. I woke up this morning and realised that I only have 2 weeks left in order to get my university assignment done. This is the assignment from hell and I have had doubts about my ability to get it done today, but I have finished for the night now and feel a bit better about it. I have managed to get loads done for it, including sorting out all the rough data into some sort of order and have made rough drafts of the graphs and tables needed. Thats the worst bit done. I just need to get it all down on paper now in an even better order. I will have a go at starting that task tomorrow, but I know it won't get me a good mark this time! Oh well, anything over 40% is a pass, so I am hoping for 41%.

Well, it's now 20 past midnight and my craft room is a complete mess, but I will blissfully ignore it all until tomorrow, I will just step over it all and go to bed now, safe in the knowledge that I have broken the back of that bloody assignment.

Goodnight all. x

Belated Christmas wishes!

OK, so I didnt get to blog before Christmas, but in my defense I was rather busy, much like the rest of the country, ney the world really!!

Anyway, things have been good here in tinsel-less town. I am calling my home town by that name as the Christmas decorations that the council have decided to bestow upon us this year are in a word - Pathetic. Some hastily thrown up real trees with a few equally hastily thrown together decorations hanging from them, Lovely (not). That's enough about my lovely home town, now lets get onto the 'me' part of this blog entry.

Craig is home from University and will be here until the 10th Jan when he goes back for his second term. He is doing really well and loves it, even learning to fend for himself!

As it is Christmas I thought I would blog about my presents that I received from Santa.

To start with I got this:

It is my new sewing machine; a Janome. Nice eh! Notice that I even managed to thread it correctly and what's more I even made something with it! Scary that!

This is what I made, his name is Marvin and he is the cutest little monster and not bad for my first attempt at machine sewing in absolute years.

I also got some sewing books for Christmas, the 'How to Sew' is a set of little books that cover everything from the basics to how to sew sashiko (whatever that is!)
The other book is a quilting book; which I am going to attempt, wish me luck, I think I will need it!

Tony bought me this Cath kidston sew! book, he bought it from WHS, but believe me it's a lot cheaper on Amazon, half the price in fact. It's a great book and includes not only all the full size patterns for everything in the book, but also the material to make the bag pictured on the front of the book.

Now, I love Rag dolls, always have and always will. I used to have the whole set of Holly Hobby rag dolls, years ago, but stupidly got rid of them during a tidying up frenzy (also years ago, have learnt my lesson since then, never throw anything away!) Anyway, I have tried and failed to buy myself at least one Holly Hobby doll on Ebay, but have always been outbid at the last minute :(. I was moaning to Tony just before Christmas about the HH dolls during our last minute Christmas shopping dash in town. He was nodding and making the usual 'I'm not listening, but will make out I am' noises when we popped into BHS. Well, my heart skipped a beat when I saw these lovely rag dolls and Tony's heart skipped a beat when he saw they were knocked down to half price. He bought me all three of them and now they sit in various areas in my craft room.

How sweet is she!

I have tried uploading pics of the other two, but blogger is being a pain at the moment! The other two have different coloured hair, one being black, the other being ginger, they all have the same style of dress, but in different colours, the one pictured has cherries sewn at the bottom of the dress, the other two have a strawberry and a daisy sewn to the bottom of their dresses.

I also got crafty stuff from the kids, the Just dance Wii game, Ministry of sound 'One' album, a huge bundle of material to make things with, bath smellies, slipper sox, scrapbooking kit, a lovely purple winter hat and various other stuff that escapes my memory at the moment.

Speaking of memory, or the lack of it, I must tell you what happened the other day. It started with Tony coming home from getting the weekly shopping, while he was trying to calm our stupid dog down I put the shopping away. Well, Tony comes into the kitchen and starts to tell me that he bought my favourite washing machine liqitabs and opens the cupboard where they are kept, thinking I had put them away already. Not there! He asks me where I had put them, my answer "no idea, haven't seen them". After he stopped swearing about losing them he opened the fridge to get the milk out to make a coffee and guess what was sitting on the shelf? Yep, the liqitabs!! I swear I didn't put them there, I am sure I didn't put them there. Oh I must be over tired! It can't be my age, I'm not old enough to be forgetting things yet!!!

Anyway I must go and check where I put the mince pies!!!!

Happy New Year to you all. x x x

Back in the land of the living!

WOW, I didn't realise just how long I had been away!

Life just moves so fast when you get to my age and every day counts.

Loads has happened since my last post, some good, some not so good.

The good:)

I passed my first year at university with distinction marks (they don't count though as I am doing a 3 year BSc).

I have started my 2nd year and I am totally loving it.

I started in a new class with new teacher, but the same lovely kids.

My son started at Univeristy in Hertfordshire and is loving it.

My daughter started 6th form at school.

UKS held a CC and I loved it.

The bad :(

Had to deal with the worry of looming redundancies at work and had the added stress of the outcome being delayed.

My son starting at university. I know, I know, it's on my Good list as well, this is one of those good and bad things in life!!

Depression hitting me once more, but the meds are helping me cope.

My dog bit my husband's hand (totally hubbies fault and he soon realised that it was his fault).

My current university assignment is causing nothing but trouble at work, apparently I don;t have the time to do it and have to make it up! Bit hard to do really and plus I am not paying £3500 to learn how to cheat and make up data!!!

I think I had better stop listing the bad things otherwise I will be here all night, but you get the jist, Right? More bad than good, but the good things are really good, the bad things I am having to deal with and cope with!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the stuff I made during the UKS CC :)

I loved these classes and will definetely be making another of the frame/books that was designed by Voodoo Vixen. I decorated the front of mine with a metal MM heart plaque and a 10 of hearts miniture card as I am going to fill the inside with photo's of my brothers and sisters as well as me. There are 10 of us and our family name is Hart, so the 10 of hearts is very apt!!

Anyway, I had better think about going to bed now, work again tomorrow and a ton of uni stuff to get done, wish me luck. X X

I won candy :-)

This is a really quick post as it's 1.20am, yes that's right, its 20 past 1 in the morning and I am still awake!!
I entered craftfairy's blog candy comp with a chance to win some gorgeous prima flowers and I won, YIPPEE! Thank you so much Lisa for picking me, I am so excited, this is the first blog candy I have won. It really has made my week :)
Now I better get to bed.
Night all. x

Yummy CANDY.

For a chance to win some gorgeous candy go to Glitter me silly, It's a fantastic blog with loads of great inspiration.

More candy!

Do you like candy? do you really like candy?? If so, hop along to Fluttabyz Crafty Haven where she has a set of Gorguss girl stamps to give away as well as some great inspiration, I am keeping my fingers well and truely crossed for this candy :-) Good luck everyone, x


For another chance to win some more lovely candy visit Layin' rubber ink, she also has a great blog that needs a leisurely wander through, so grab a coffee, sit down and go blopping for the chance to win some candy :-)

candy, candy, candy!!

Check this blog out for some gorgeous candy to celebrate their 1 month blogerversary. A lovely blog to visit for any reason not just the candy :-)

Also, while you are there, check this gorgeous candy out :-)

oooh blog candy

Just a quick post tonight, I want to tell you about Craftfairy who has some gorgeous candy to give away, prima flowers no less :-) My favourite embellishment to use.
Please go and have a look, her blog is great with some lovely cards to help inspire you and what's more she has posted about her new craft room on there with photo's of each stage of readiness and the turmoils that go with trying to decorate a new craft room when you have a pile of stash to try to keep under some sort of control!
take care, xx

Christmas is getting near!!

So I decided to start christmas card making! I am pleased with the ones I have made so far and will probably use the same layout for the others I need to make. (if it works, why change it!).
Here are the cards I have made so far, I have made 5 of each card...

I have also made some birthday and general cards, I made 2 of each of them,they are here...

These are the first crafty things I have made for what seems like ages, even though I have had the last 6 weeks off work (gotta love the summer holidays). The main reasons for not getting much crafting done are the worrying that has been going on in this house whilst C was waiting for his A level results, then the panic about him getting into the uni of his choice, luckily it has all worked out great for him. Now we are busy making lists of what he needs to take with him and just how much it will cost us!!

B got her GCSE results yesterday and she did really well, we are so very proud of her, she has Aspergers and learning difficulties and she hasn't had a good time at secondary, all the way through it she was bullied, both physically and mentally, so her results are all the more impressive to us. So, tomorrow evening we are taking C and B out for a celebration meal and drinks :-) Love you both xx.

I have finished my first year at Uni, just waiting for my marks now, I was hoping to get an idea of how well I had done before the second year starts, but it looks like I won't find out until I go back in September!! I am just hoping that I have passed!

I am sitting here at my desk looking out of the window and can see the clouds in the sky and the wind blowing the trees, oh how I love this time of year, fresher during the day and cooler in the evenings, but not cold enough to have the quilt back on the bed yet (Dear Husband thinks it is though!). I am hot enough already, the quilt will just make me feel like a jacket potato wrapped in bacofoil and sitting in the oven!!! How old do you have to be before you can start to entertain the idea of single beds I wonder!!

Anyway, I am going to go and make myself a nice cup of tea before I start an epic card making session again.

Thanks for reading xx.

Life is good

It's been ages sinece I last posted here but as the title states, life in my world is good at the moment. Since my last and quite depressing entry, I have got better. The meds are working now and I feel more like my old self. I still have bad days when I don't know what to do, but they aren't every day anymore.
I have finished my first year at University and will be back in September for year 2, I can't wait :)
My darling son C is off to university on the 26th September, he got the A level results needed for his course in Astrophysics, Space Science and Cosmology at Hertfordshire Uni. I am so very proud of him. It is going to be great for him, going to Uni and I am sure he will be fine and make loads of new friends, but I am so going to miss him, we are really close and have a great laugh together, we usually spend an hour late at night, every night just sitting and chatting about usually random stuff :)
We have made a list of all the stuff he will need and By God, it's a very long list which is going to cost me and T a fortune. We have already sent off the first terms payment for his room at Uni, not a small sum either!!

Not a lot else has happened over the summer holidays, took the kids to Chessington, they loved it and B made C go on the rides with her (no way would I go on any, I preferred the zoo), I have made some cards, also made C a recipe book to take to uni with him, I will post pics here when I have taken photos of them!

Ally Pally is on the weekend that we take C up to Uni so I will miss that, I was going to go with my sister and it would have been my first time there, oh well, I will get there next year, hopefully!

Back at work next week, in a class with the same kids, but a different teacher, a newly qualified teacher at that, that's gonna be fun! Luckily I know him and he will make a great teacher, LOL.

Anyway, best get on with making more cards, C wants me to make him some so he can take them with him and use them to send out for birthdays!! Being a poor student won't allow him to buy birthday cards will it!! I can see me having to supply the stamps as well!!!

Thanks for reading, xx

Had enough!

I have had enough of feeling like this, had enough of not wanting to do anything, had enough of being so very tired, had enough of it all.
I thought that I would be feeling better by now, I went to the doctors and was prescribed tablets for my depression and have been on them for 3 weeks now, but the feelings won't go away. I am sick of pretending that I feel ok, sick of having to pretend to people that I feel fine, because they just doesn't understand why I feel so shite, to be honest I don't understand why I feel like this, but I can't stop it, I try to fight it, I try to think positively, but the feelings of hopelessness come back and I just can't shake them. I am so tired, but can't sleep, I lie awake worrying about things that I know I can't change, my mind is buzzing with dark thoughts, if only I could sleep!
I have the doctors again next week, I so hope she will tell me I will be ok soon, I need to find me again, the old me where I was happy and content.

I am hoping that the next time I write here I will be feeling better, but for now I will stop.

life is crap.

crap, crap, crap.

I have done some crafting, finally!

After not having any time to do any crafting for what feels like ages, I spent all afternoon and most of this evening making crafty stuff for a work colleague who is leaving on Friday.
I made a note book for Big notes, a post it note book for small notes and decorated a gift bag for them to go in.
The top picture is the gift bag, next is the inside of the post it note holder, then the outside of the holder, next is the inside of the big note book and finally the outside of the note book. I used my new cricut cart, home decor for the birds, papermania papers, prima flowers and some cheap blossoms. I am really pleased with the gifts and hope that the recipetent likes them as well!

promarker blog :-)

I have just found a blog that is dedicated to promarkers and wow it is great. The blog is called passion for promarkers. If you are interested in promarkers please go and have a looksie. they are also giving away candy:)

I have given myself the weekend off from anything related to university and will be finishing off a leaving gift nd card for a work colleague. I will put pics of them here when Iahev finished them.
For now, I am going to give myself an early night, so goodnight all.x

What a wonderful day.

It so was a great day today. My sister called and asked if I would like to go to a craft vilage in Billericky called Barleylands with her, of course I said yes!

Well, what a lovely place, full of fantastic crafts. We went into Pinnacle crafts to start with and OH, what a lovelky shop full of gorgeous stash. This is what I bought there:

Grungeboard, fiskars punch, cricut cart, 3 sets of Kars stamps, Kelly panachi clock stamps

handmade paper.

2 cuttlebug embossing borders, 2 large Cuttlebug embossing folders, 4 small folders. and a cut and emboss set.

Prima 6x6 papers.

We then went into a little shop called Primitive Treasure, My God, I had a field day in there:) There was tons of lovely stuff everywhere you looked. I was looking for lovely bits to go in my craft room and I found loads in this little shop.

Here is everything I bought in there:

I just love these plaques and they will be going in my craft room. I also bought some decorative bits to have in my craft room. The owner also gave me a turning display stand that is about 14" high and an acrylic 2 tiered stand (2 of my new plaques are siting on it and it is about 12" long) that I will have in my craft room to display thing.

I couldn't resist this coffee mug! I will be taking this to uni with me on monday:)

We then popped in Sugar and Spice and I bought a tim holtz mini mask, a papercraft magazine, another Fiskars border punch and some Jenny Bowlin bingo cards:)

We then went to Ikea where I bought some more lovely bits for my craft room including a cushion, a little red patterned bag, a set of three red fabric boxes, a red leather effect desk tidy and 2 sets of metal filing drawers.

All in all I spent a fortune, but had the best day. I will be sorting my craft room out tomorrow and making it look lovely with all my new stuff:)

Big Thanks to my sister Kath for taking me :-)