Cushion Craze!

I have finally got round to finishing my grass cushions off, not finally in that it was a chore because they were great to make maybe a little too great because now i am having dreams about felting loads of different designs on to different material, more textured cushions, etc, etc, But where am i going to put them all? I love how the first grassy cushion turned out i decided to make a long one as well it is amazing what you can do with a little bit of roving and some leftover material & now i have my sewing machine up & running i can see a whole lot off cushions appearing all over my house! I know cushions is a bit off the mark from my usual felt jewellery but it is good to have a change now & again. The whole cushion idea came about due to my recent change in colour scheme for my living room which i might add is now green & will be green forever more unless i win the lottery & can pay someone else to do the decorating for me. Anyway i had been looking around the shops for green cushions but all the ones in my price range were all plain & i wanted something with a bit off texture & color to it, so that's when the idea came to me, i love felt have plenty old material lying about that i always say i'm going to do something with but never get round to it so why not add them together to come up with my own special textured colourful cushions at a fraction of the price. One of my friends has recently got Engaged so i thought i would make them a special cushion i know it is not the usual engagement present but they already have the usual kitchen appliances & enough towels to start their own Spa, plus i got to experiment with another idea so hopefully once i get it sewn up they will like it even if it just gets chucked in a corner somewhere i will be happy. Other than decorating, recovering from a bad back & chest infection i have been planning my next experiment i am starting to sound like a mad scientist but there is that much different things i want to try out. I am just waiting on some candle making supplies coming so hopefully by the next time i blog i will have attempted to make my first candle, fingers are itching to get back to the cushions so i will leave it their for the night, sleep tight!

"FUN"

I was checking up my last post their & had to have a wee giggle to myself about my title Calm (ha ha) got that wrong their anyway we have all been laid up for the last 2 weeks with a so called 24 hour bug, so the first week or so of the Easter holidays has not been the best but i did manage to get sun burnt believe it or not after deciding to pull myself to my front garden & fell asleep. I know not one of my clever moments which i might add are very few & far between at the moment but anyway it was good to see the sun. Now it is gone, of course every year it does disappear when the the Links Market in Kirkcaldy arrives everyone in Fife has to pull out their Winter woollies & pretend to enjoy getting our butts frozen as we drag the kids for a mile up the links to be completely skint by the time we reach the other end but at least you can see the kids enjoying themselves. I never managed to get hardly any photos off them because they never stood still long enough. I am totally turning in to an old grouch i just moaned all the time we were their about people bangin into us, i thought if we went down for it opening it would not be as busy but as usual i was wrong. I spent most the time holding on to them, i am surprised they have not got bruises i was so worried they were going to get lost or worse. I don't know if it because i am on my own with them & panicking that something bad is going to happen all the time or do i have some sort of obsessive problem? Hollie is starting to get to that age that she wants to try out the fast & far too high rides but i feel sick just watching them the fact that she wants to go on them just fills me with pure terror. I never used to be like this a few years ago you would have found me first in line to go on everything now i am a paranoid wreck at the thought of my babies growing up & going on these things. I think next year i will have to stay at home and just let them go with their Dad, i can sit at home worried sick wondering if they are going to make it home in one piece & they can to go & have "fun" as they call it.

After that huge moan i forgot to tell you about the photo at the top it is my finished project i have been working on & off for weeks, thanks to my wonderful kids giving me a glue gun for Mothers Day i finally managed to get the copper heart stuck down. Once i manage to work it properly without making so much mess i might be able to start making thins that don't have glue showing where it shouldn't be but until that day comes this is as best i have got hope you like it.

Calm

What a few weeks it's been so hectic at home with trips to hospital, school plays, special book days at nursery & spring cleaning going on everywhere i really just want to curl up in to a little ball & sleep for a few days but no time for that, as for tomorrow the school Spring break starts & all time for relaxation fly out the window along with peace & quiet. Hopefully the weather will stay good like it has been the last few days, I actually have sun burn cant believe it i really didn't think it was that hot but their you go i should have been more careful luckily Dylan was stuck to his DS in the living room so he never got burnt but i am starting to worry about him playing his DS all the time he has hardly put it down since he got his new game. I have managed to fit in a little bit of jewellery making in over the last few weeks but it has been mostly beads as i have not had time to felt but i love the
eclectic mix of the beads in my new necklaces i have one listed on Etsy & i managed to finally take some pics of my new bracelet/bangle i love the marled colours of the felt beads & the pale wood cones which make it look really Summery. It reminds me of driftwood. The picture of the felt flower was my first ever attempt to make a wet felted flower i could not find any instructions on how to make them so just improvised & came up with this one it is not great but i like it, i am going to keep it as a guide to try to help perfect some more when i ever get round to doing it again that is. Since everything has calmed down at home now & the holidays are upon us i think i will be going for some walks through the woods which the kids like & hopefully get some inspiration for new designs i will just have to make sure Dylan does not climb any trees or it will be back to hospital again. Hollie is talking about swimming lessons so i see a few trips to the pool coming up, i hate going to the public swimming pools, standing freezing wondering if we will catch a verruca & all my wobbly bits on display for all to see, not fun or pretty!I hope everyone has a good Spring break & the weather stays great.

DAY TRIP

Lately when I have been siting at my workbench in my little kitchen my mind has been completely blank so when my Mum asked if I wanted to go to the SECC in Glasgow for the Hobby Craft show with her i thought OK what the hell maybe get some ideas to get me out of this blank hole i am in. Two hours on the bus there & back were defiantly worth it, not only have I seen some beautiful work, met some amazing artists, got some great ideas & decided to broaden my crafts, I am now completely skint, But it was worth it all. I have also found a few sites where i can buy new supplies, I have been using knitted wire that i had got when i was studding jewellery design & have never found anywhere that had a big selection on colours & widths. Plus i was running low so i was over the moon when i saw The Crazy Wire Company with there huge selection of different wires & great ideas to use there products. Will defiantly be a returning costumer. this is where you can find there products http://www.crazywireco.co.uk/ Another of my favorite stalls had to be Homespun Hearts which has loads of primitive style bits & pieces like rusty cutout hearts, stars & willow shapes that I did have to buy. You will fall in love with their products here http://www.homespunhearts.com/ Other than these 2 great stalls were http://www.thesouthamptonbeadshop.co.uk/where everyone who is a bead addict should defiantly pop in & have a look at their fabulous collection of beads. I met a fantastic woman called Ewa Kuniczak who is a textile artist who also had a stall their. Ewa like myself works from her kitchen I was surprised at everything she has managed to do in a tiny little space like that so that has defiantly inspired me to be more adventurous with my felt. The art work Ewa has produced over her years is amazing, she has also writing books on felt making, holds work shops & has exhibitions ongoing & upcoming, truly a amazing artist. Eva also sells these fantastic dry felting needles which are the BEST i have used i can go through at least 2 needles a night especially if i am tired which is often, i tried theses ones out over a solid 4 hours last night & never broke 1 so that is a record for me. Eva is the only outlet in the UK that sells the "Super" needle so defiantly a place to visit is http://www.feltheadtotoe.co.uk/ to find out more about this wonder woman, have a look at her work find out about her workshops, buy felting kits & of course buy the Super felting needle. I hope some of these links will be handy for someone now I am away back to my new project.

Unbranded

Well that is it the EXs name is finally gone for good. No more getting out of bed and seeing his name first thing in the morning. No more looking at my foot & thinking what a numpty getting branded like that well I can honestly say I wont be doing that EVER EVER AGAIN! Thanks to the wonderful tattoo artist SKULL at Tattoo Krazy in Leslie Fife the constant reminder of a not so happy time has been erased & replaced with a new design of Holly, Oak & Ivy leaves which are the leaves of my kids Birth Tree's & a little reminder of my Auntie Nell (a wonderful woman) all rolled in too one. A truly beautiful Tattoo which I am more than happy to show off at ever opportunity, I can now wear flip flops & my heel's again without having to hide my feet all the time. Roll on the Summer :)

Once all the healing is finished I will be able to get a better photo because this one does no justice to the Tattoo or to the Artist. You can see some of Skull's amazing work & opening times here http://www,tattookrazy.co.uk

Happy New Year

Well it is a new year, new start & nearly the big 30 in a couple of days so I have really been looking at where my life is going & what the future can hold for me & the kids. A lot of siting thinking about what has been and what can be. So this is it 2009 is going to be the year I am going to sort out where my Life & Jewelry is going, is it worth while just getting the odd sale on Etsy or should I branch out & start my own web site? Must admit had my first sale on Etsy on the 3rd so that was a good start to the year & November through to December was really steady for me so I am happy with Etsy over the last couple of months but with this credit crunch will it last? As for the my life I am making the final step to remove my ex from my life I know I can not remove him completely because of the kids but that is it there will be no more climbing out of bed, slipping on my bafays & seeing the tattoo of his name every morning on my foot because I have my first appointment at the tattooist tomorrow to discuss what will be the correct way to go about erasing the last reminder of the last few years of my life. I have a few ideas of what I would like but this time I am doing it right I have had my idea for over 2 years so it wont be something I have thought about lightly either will it be some mans name, Always listens to your Mum, Dad, friend Grandparents whoever says never get your lover/ partners name tattooed on your body as most of the time the tattoo will be their a lot longer the the relationship will unfortunately for myself I never listened! So if you are reading this & considering making a statement of your undying love to your beloved DO NOT get their name inked forever on your body because you never know where the relationship will be in a couple of years. I will keep you updated with the progress. As you can see my last promise was to keep my blog updated regularly and I never kept it so I made that one of my New Year resolutions as well as keep on top of all my other Trinket Tree related pages on the world wide web I have that many things I joined up to last year I cant keep count of them so I think I will be getting rid of a few that I am never on & just leaving the main ones to give me more time to spend on my blog, shop etc. As well as Tattoo's & updating everything I have been working on new felt brooches I really like how they are turning out but unfortunately not had a minute to take any photos yet but I will post them here when I get the camera out I just hope it is working better than it was over Christmas or will be having to close up shop until get some cash together for a new one fingers crossed it will be fine. Blethering away now so I will leave it there for the now.
Happy New Year everyone!

Money Money Money!

Well since i promised to update my blog frequently I thought I better stick to it, I am absolutely knackered suffering from insomnia for over a week now it is driving me mad, cant get to sleep for hours and then when I do i have to get up again to sort out the kids & the cats. I think it could have something to do with money like everyone I am feeling the pinch right now with everything in the shop's going up, loads & loads of bill's not being paid & worrying about what I am going to do about my daughter's birthday she is going to be 8 she act's more like a teenager but let her off with that as i love her to bit's and she has been through a lot over the last year. Now she wants a party like all her friends I am trying to convince her that a big party in one off those extortionate places is not a good idea & having one at home with a couple of her good friends will be better for her. wish me luck with that one! Also the cats got booked in last Wednesday for there op (castration) but Rory the big one got hit by a car on Tuesday night he is at the moment stuck in a cage in the living room as he will be there for the next few weeks due to his pelvis being the bit that got the most damage thought he was a goner his legs were completely buckled underneath him but luckily the nice vet managed to fix him he has got a check up on wed so hopefully he wont have to go for another op cause I really cant afford another one, cant even afford the one he has just had but the nice vet is letting me pay it up weakly I wish I got the pet insurance offer when we got them. He got castrated when he had his op this one went fine but Toby the little one had problem's went in to pick them up & the receptionist said he has a collar on I asked if he was OK and she asked if I knew that only one of his testicles had dropped so they had to go in to take it out. I mean really do you check to see if your male cat has got 2 ball's or is it just me who thinks that is just wrong! As you could tell by all the problem's with the cats & Hollie's party problem money could well be the reason behind my insomnia let's just hope that all the prices on everything in the shop's start coming down soon or there will be a lot more people out there with the dreaded insomnia!
I did manage to get some bracelet's made they will be posted up in my Etsy shop hopefully sometime this week!