As you can see I have a new past time I am at the moment addicted to needle felting. This is one of the first things I have made using my felted beads, I think it has turned out not bad. I love felting it is so therapeutic except for the hundred holes in my fingers, the amount of plasters I have used is unbelievable but all the same it is great if you have a lot of built up tension just think of something (or someone ) that has upset you & you will have a perfectly felted ball in minutes The only down side except for the sore fingers is I don't want to get on with my other stuff I need to get done like making a light box so I can post some new stuff on Etsy. We had our fist proper snow fall yesterday & the kids were all excited Dylan is not that keen on it he says it is to cold! I could not get Hollie to come in all day today except when she went rushing to her room to get changed then she was off out again. The snow is nearly all gone again but I hope there is more soon as I promised to take the kids sledging, we never seem to have much snow here anymore, the last few years there has been very little, I can remember getting a week of of school nearly every Winter & my Mum panicking that we were going to run out of food as we were snowed in & it was a long walk in the snow to get any thing from the shop. I miss those cold snowy Winters!

Handmade Pledge

............................ Grace's new shoes.............................

......Dylan's Pirate Monkey...................................................... Hollie's Rose Monkey.......

These are just some of the presents I have gave as gifts this year as I took the Handmade pledge everyone got at least one thing Handmade which I thought to start of with was going to be a little complicated but everyone was really happy with there gifts. Don't get me wrong I was still trailing the shops hunting for Transformers & a specific computer game thing! It would have been mayhem in my house if all they got was handmade toys, I don't think they would have been very happy with Santa if that was the case, Do you?, but they were over the moon with there new Monkeys. Dylan has never went to bed without Pirate Monkey, he has not got a very good imagination when it comes to names yet!. I think Hollie is happy with hers if she could just pull herself away from playing her game thing & listening to her music, Rose is sitting on her bed so I take it she does like her. Hollie has turned seven but I swear she is getting more like a teenager every day!. The gorgeous Monkeys were from a very talented seller on Etsy who sells the cutest rag dolls, cats, monkeys & if you are talented with a needle & thread she also sells the patterns for them so you could have a go at making them yourself, just click on this link to go to her shop http://bitofwhimsyprims.etsy.com/ . I also bought a really cute pair of baby shoes for my little niece Grace, who has the smallest feet I have ever seen!. They are so soft & cozy, my sister says they fit perfect so that was good because she has trouble trying to find shoes to fit her properly that look like little girl shoes. They were also from another talented seller on Etsy who has a beautiful selection of needle felted (my new past time) items from gorgeous baby shoes to Jewellery & Accessories. At the moment in her shop there is a beautiful pair of baby shoes that would be ideal for the spring so if you are looking for something special for yourself or your baby please click on this link & give her a little visit http://plumpuddingbyjenn/ . I better finish this of here as it is starting to look a bit like a novel, as my New Year resolution (one of them) is to keep up to date with my Blog I promise I will try to keep it & try to post at least 3 times a week, so I will be back to tell you about more of my purchases & about my new past time.

This is my entry for EAST's Winter challenge, as you can read from my blog I love being outside so when I was told that the challenge was going to be Winter Wonderland I insistently thought of walking in the woods with my children & being surrounded with trees all sparkling with snow & ice. I love when you go for a walk when everything is frosted & glittery, so I came up with the idea of a wind chime because to me Winter is a magical season ,where everything in the woods looks completely different & magical!. I have made the leaves of my Magical Winter Wonderland Wind chime out of polymer clay & covered them in beautiful iridescent glitter, to make them look like leaves touched by the frost , I think they have worked out well & the added bonus of this wind chime is that there will never be another one like it as each leave is different which is the way that Nature intended. I still have not picked a pic yet to post onto flikr as you cant get the whole effect of the wind chime into just one photo so I am a bit stuck so I think I will post a selection onto my Flikr page & see which one gets any views before I post it to the challenge page so if you like you could pop over to my flikr page & see which one you like best, just click on the flikr icon at the side of my blog & it will take you wright there. I suppose I better go & get on I will try and post back later with my new buys!.

Shopping Rant!

After my experience of shopping today I swear I will not put another foot in my local town center until after this Christmas shopping mayhem is finished !. It was completely mad I was getting shoved in every direction & the amount of times I have been ran into with a buggy is ridicules, I really think there is a group of people with buggy's meeting up every weekend discussing how many people they can upset by running into them, nipping their heals & blocking isles so no one can get passed! don't get me wrong I am a mother of two so I do know how difficult shopping with your kids in buggy's are but I did try and have respect for my fellow shoppers & if I did accidentally run into someone I apologised!. I lost count today of how many buggy's got shoved in the backs of my poor ankles and not one person apologised so as you you have probably read I am not a happy bunny!. Well that is my rant over with just had to let of some steam before I went and maxed out my credit card shopping on line so I will be back tomorrow with an update of my night time shopping!.

Last Week

The last few weeks have been really slow, I have not had a sale in weeks but never mind it has giving me time to get on with other stuff like breaking my computer! I have been without an Internet connection for 3 days now, I have just got it going again this morning! Nightmare! While I have been down I thought someone might have jumped at my Free Shipping to the UK but no, I think everyone is in the same boat with the holidays coming up.!. My beautiful Capricorn moon from cade.etsy.com came on Wedensday & she is even more beautiful than when I saw her on Flikr , What a talented woman her maker is. Other than making the necklace for Capricorn Moon I have been concentrating on making my entry for EAST winter challenge, I thought i would steer away from jewellery this time so I have been working on something a little different for me still with beads but I have also been using polymer clay, I don't want to give it away yet so I won't say anything else just yet. I think the challenge theme Winter Wonderland is perfect their is that many different ways it can be interpreted from walking in the woods where the trees are covered in snow to sitting buy a nice warm fire drinking Mulled wine with friends & family. What is your Winter Wonderland?.

FREE POSTAGE (13 th Nov - 16th Dec)

I don't know about you but the thought of Christmas only being a few weeks away is really scaring me, I am starting to go in to demented Mother mode already! My kids have already started their list to Santa & it dose not seem to be ending. I just worry like any other Mother does at this time of year about, will I be able to get everything on their list? well definitely not everything some things are imposable to buy , Dylan wants a real full size working tractor & a motorbike & Hollie wants a horse, they will just have to do with toy ones unless my lottery numbers come up between now & Christmas Eve. Also if I can't get what they have on their list's ,will they like what I have got them?, At least this year I don't have the worry of over cooking the turkey & making sure everyone is enjoying themselves because we are going to my Mum & Dad's for our Christmas dinner this year which will be a nice change as I have had everyone at mine for the last 5 years, so I am really looking forward to it. As for all my family & friends presents they are going to be getting something from Etsy because I want to get them something that I know they will like & they won't get from anyone else. If you are shopping for your presents on Etsy come in to my shop & I will make it a little easier on your pockets as of from today until noon on Sunday the 16th of December all postage & packaging is free to anyone in the UK. Wherever you decide to shop I hope you get what you are looking for & it is as stress free as it can be at this time of year, Happy shopping everyone & I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas when it comes!.

My busy week

Well it has been a busy week last week with Halloween being my daughters 7th birthday, Halloween party's at school & play group, plus trying to get organized for a jewellery party on Saturday night. With all that going on my little shop on Etsy has been a little neglected so has my blogs this one & my newer one on indie public, so this week I am definitely going to be working harder to keep up with everything. Last week might have been busy but it was good fun too especially when I got a convo on Etsy from Cade who was wanting to do a swap as I had all ready fallen in love with her Capricorn Moon it was a easy decision to make so now my milliefiori Christmas decorations are on their way to a new home & Capricorn moon is on it's way to me, I have been a fan of Cade ever since I joined Etsy her moon's & sun's are beautiful you should pop in & see her wonderful work for your self, you will find her here http://www.cade.etsy.com/ . Last week I also bought a gorgeous wallet, which I did buy for a Christmas present but it has managed to find its way into my bag , I have posted a photo of it so you could understand how I really could not part with it, you can find more gorgeous wallets here http://www.thisgalissewcrazy.etsy.com/ I also bought a set of natural bath & beauty products from Tamara at http://tamarasherbes.etsy.com/
in the set was the most delicious smelling products I have came across yet especially the brown sugar body scrub which makes your skin so smooth, as you could properly guess they were meant to be for presents too but I had to try them & all I can say is I am glad I did & Tamara if you ever see this thank you for converting me, from now on I will not be buying any more body products from the supermarkets. The bath tea is also great so relaxing. I gave a little pouch of the bath tea in my hostess goodie bag along with a little bottle of wine, one of my hand made decorations, a lovely smelling votive candle & a bundle of business cards from some of the wonderful people on Etsy who sent me their cards. The party went well & I got a lot of sales, everyone was really nice & interested in my jewellery. It is always a bit scary wondering what people will think of your work but I suppose everyone worries that their stuff might not be liked & when it comes down to it you cant please everyone, can you!