Sunday, May 31, 2009

so where were you?

If you make it, they will come...

Well, not when it's boiling hot and all they want to do is be in the park.  The market was a bit of a wash out really.  I met some nice people, I sold a few things (including a hulder print which made me happy) and got lots of nice comments but ended up making less than I did at the last market which was hailed as the quietest market of all time.  And just look how smashing our stall looked!
Annoyingly, I've come home with lots of chocolatey things that will either have to be eaten or binned.  I guess it's not the weather for chocolate cravings.  The edible buttons were oohed at but not bought by many.  The sure fire winners from last time (button cards and moustaches) were total losers this time.  I don't understand the fickle craft buying (or just looking or not looking at all) public!
It was a good day all in all.  I got to hang out with my friend and have some food and a drink and make (a teeny bit of) money at the same time.  Here's a wee behind the scenes shot of my half pint of cider that I had to accompany my big bowl of spicy chips.  Yum.  

I'm just a bit downhearted about it all because I thought it was going to be great and in four weeks time I'll be out of a job.  I really hoped I might be able to make a go of the whole crafting thing (with something else on the side) but now I'm not so sure, and it's a lot of time and effort for an out and out hobby...

I guess I just need to try again or maybe set up an online shop and see how that goes?  Onwards and upwards (via the job centre)! 

come and see!

If you are in Glasgow today, why not drop by and visit us at the craft market?  I am just getting the last few bits and pieces together now and am a bit stressed but quite excited.  Will my edible buttons and chocolate moustaches withstand the heat or will the city centre be swamped by a sweet but sticky mess?  Either way, it will be worth seeing, I'm sure!

As well as sweet treats, I'll be selling Eastenders notecards and samplers; gocco prints/cards (the hulder print and the new design which is still top secret for the moment...  you will have to visit the market for an exclusive preview!); Big Daddy lino prints; zip brooches; vintage buttons on cards, earrings and hairclips...

We will be at Mono (on King's Court) from 1-6 this afternoon.  Hope to see you there!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

postal delights!

My letterbox is my new best friend.  Not only did it bring me my tickets for Jarvis Cocker and various crafty bits I'd been keeping my fingers crossed for, it also delivered a brilliant surprise package from Emily.  I had seen a picture of this coaster on Emily's flickr and instantly commented how lovely it was, little knowing that it was already in the post and on its way to live with me!  This is going to be my personal craft room coaster... once I've cleared enough space on my desk for it - ha!
Emily also sent this little handmade whale, designed to hold the earphones for my ipod and stop them getting tangled.  He is practical as well as adorable!  His mouth is pink on the inside.  At the moment I'm having to keep him well away from Lola who wants to adopt him as her latest baby.  Every time I turn my back, he ends up being carried away in her mouth.  He was very tricky to photograph (especially since the cats are sunbathing in the only part of my flat light enough to take photos) but you can see a better photo of him here.
Just before I got in to discover the parcel, I had been telling Graham how I wanted to make a little display of old buttons on cards.  I've found a few nice sets lately plus I got those lovely ones from my sister for my birthday.  So it was a fabulous surprise to find four vintage button cards tucked away in the parcel too.  Yippee!  I love the design of the cards.

The parcel wasn't finished there either.  I got lots of cute kawaii-esque stickers and papers, a badge, a very entertaining old postcard sent in 1961 and some yarn beautiful enough to make me consider coming out of my knitting retirement already...  I knew it wouldn't last, especially since I have a book of super cute hat patterns to tempt me.  My photos of these things didn't turn out so well, unfortunately, so you will just have to use your imagination.  You can do it!

I love getting mail and this was the best parcel I've had in ages.  I will have to make a parcel to send back now, of course, as this parcel was in return for the hulder print I sent to Emily but that was in return for gocco instructions she sent to me...  We're caught in a vicious circle of thanking for thank yous now but such a stash of wondrous loot really must be responded to!

In other news, I have had a slightly less productive than I would have liked morning but I did manage to package my edible buttons.
Ta da!

Again, not the greatest picture.  I really seem to have lost my camera mojo lately.  I might make another batch of buttons later.  I would totally buy these if I saw them at a craft market so I'm hoping other people will feel the same.  I do have A LOT to do though, so I may not get round to it.  Oh well, back to the happy grindstone :)

Friday, May 29, 2009

friday night chez laura


Originally uploaded by Amanda *Bake It Pretty*

Now, I totally meant to photograph what I was actually doing but I got so carried away doing it that I didn't realise it had got dark and I have had to resort to flickr photo theft yet again. Sigh... I have so much to blog about (oh, the charity shops and the post fairies have been so good to me this week, not to mention all the crafty business I've been up to) that this mini post couldn't possibly wait until tomorrow... 

Tonight I have been making these beautiful edible buttons. How cute? I got the mould from Bake It Pretty (who this photo belongs to) months ago but my colourful candy melts only arrived this week.* 

Oh my, my buttons are looking so good! I got off to a bit of a shaky start but once I realised I was putting too much of the melted candy in, it all got much easier and the buttons got much cuter. Now they are turning out perfectly. Yay! I have made them in five different colours (including the two shown here) and intend to package them up for the craft fair on Sunday. I've even designed a cute vintage looking label for that extra va va voom. I'll try to take a photo of them all packaged up over the weekend. 

*Because I only ordered them (from a UK based supplier, and not even Bake It Pretty) last week. I realise now that made it sound like they just took months to get here. Sorry...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

sleepy spoon dweller


Originally uploaded by MuxOriginals

It's a kitten sleeping in a teaspoon! I love the fact there's so much cute stuff on flickr to post about when you are just too darn weary to come up with anything of your own :)

Monday, May 25, 2009

jarvis!

I've been listening to (and loving) Jarvis Cocker's new album today. I was loving it so 
much that I just got tickets for Graham and I to go and see him in a couple of weeks 
time. Yippee! I can hardly wait - I have loved Jarvis for a very long time...  
I hope you enjoy this little video :)

the printer's lair... sounds spooky!

I've spent the morning huddled away with my gocco.  Fun fun fun!  This is a picture of my lair, which built up around me as I printed more and more and more...  The tiny bit of carpet in the middle is where I sat all bunched up, getting very stiff knees.  It wasn't easy to escape to take this picture.

This was my first time re-using a screen which I was a bit worried about but it worked pretty well.  There are a few early prints with a blue tinge to the red but I quite like the way they turned out so it's all good.  When I printed on Saturday I didn't think the screen had worked that well (maybe too many big expanses of burned bits?) but it was printing much better today and I now think it was the ink that was causing the problems.  When I did the hulder print, I found the black ink very oily and a bit hard to manage compared to the green.  The ink I used on Saturday was a very dark blue (despite coming from a turquoise tube - grrr!) so I wonder if the very dark colours are a bit hard going?  Or it could have been something I did!  Ha!  More than likely...

I have signed up to a gocco swap which I'm really excited about.  I can't wait to get goccoed goods in the mail.  Yay!  The theme (which can be taken as flexibly as you wish by the looks of it) is 'one' which put me off to begin with (lack of inspiration on my part) but I have it covered now, I think.  The deadline to sign up for it is today/tomorrow and the prints have to be sent out (to 10-12 people) by June 19th.  If you fancy signing up, all the details are here at clothpaperstring.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

One minute it's a random knitted blob/blanket gone wrong and the next...

Surprise!
It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman baby surprise jacket.  It just took a fold and a quick straight seam et voila!  Oh yeah, and the months of knitting... and not knitting...  This really shouldn't have taken me as long as it did.  It'll be nearly two months late by the time Ruth gets it.  I bought the pattern (ages and ages ago, meaning to knit it for Angus) here but couldn't have done it without the free explanatory notes by Dawn Adcock (apparently no longer available).  They were such a lifesaver.
Do you like my spangly button?
I think this jumper would be much easier second time around.  It was pretty straightforward but I kept doubting myself because I just couldn't see how it was going to go together and I had the wrong number of stitches most of the time.  I had heard the advice that you should just trust the pattern and go with it but it was hard.  Next time (never!) I will be much more relaxed.
Here is the back view just in case you're interested...

I think I have now officially retired from knitting.

I've been having a generally productive weekend.  As well as finishing the knitting, I goccoed (yay! I'll share that soon, even though it wasn't without hitches) and went to Bernie's last night for some pre-market crafting.  I went button crazy so am well-stocked in that department.  I would like to get some more Dots and Pats sewn (especially following this sweet nudge) and am still waiting to be struck by the lightning bolt of inspiration for an extra je ne sais quoi...  For those of you who might be interested, the market will be in Mono (King's Court) on Sunday afternoon (May 31st).  I'll share more info nearer the time.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

they all have mail

Have you heard about these mysterious letters?  Hurry up, please, Lenka and Michael!  I can't wait to receive mine!

(found via tummyache)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I did have something to blog about!


Looky look! I am the guest picker over at Super Cute Kawaii today. Go and visit to see five things I have officially classified as cute. Yippee!


p.s. I still don't really know what kawaii is... but I do suspect that its indefinability is an essential part of its nature... 

hello sailor (I wish)


Originally uploaded by dwelldeep

I wanted to buy this nautical gocco print from etsy (for a bargainous $5!) but it turns out it can't be shipped to the UK. Bummer. I'm in a buy buy buy sort of a mood I think so maybe it's just as well fate is standing in my way a bit. 

I just ordered a whole load of candy melts to make some exciting sweet treats for the next craft market. I could class it as a necessary purchase since I haven't yet made anything else to sell and the market is just over a week away. And I planned to be so organised this time around... I have got some Saturday night crafting planned though. Yay!

Apologies for the numerous flickr-y posts lately. There's only so much I could really tell you about all the accidental naps I've taken and the rubbish telly I've been watching! I've got a long weekend coming up which I hope will recharge my batteries a bit and then I'll be back on top of the blogging world :)

Monday, May 18, 2009

antmusic


Originally uploaded by hine

I think my personality may be starting to come across more in my teaching style. Last week I did (a variation on) the dance from the Prince Charming Adam and the Ants video to teach a maths group the rule of the double negative. I was greeted by blank stares. I'm wasted on such a young audience, I tell you...

How cute is this drumming ant by Hine? Pa rum pa rum pum!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

gocco here we go (again)


Originally uploaded by jezburrows

I really like this gocco print by Jez Burrows. We were at a wedding last night and Graham's friend Marc (a gocco owner) was there. He says he has spare screens and bulbs that I can use and replace later so I might be able to have a new gocco print or two before the next craft market. That would be good and I'm really thrilled at the thought of using the gocco again. I can't wait to see the first print appear! I just need to pluck up the courage to phone Marc to arrange things (I'm notoriously bad at making phonecalls) and then get my long planned design looking like it does in my slightly murky and inaccessible imagination... Hmmm... Does anybody else have brilliant ideas that get clouded over when you actually try to pursue them? It happens to me all the time but sometimes I manage to get past it. I wonder if the ideas are really there at all or if I just imagine they are. As those musical nuns say, how do you catch a cloud and pin it down? I think the hulder print turned out looking nearly like I imagined it would but not until I'd fiddled with it for a good few months. I've got two weeks to get this next one just right. Pressure!

Friday, May 15, 2009

those were the days

It's been another hectic week but I thought I'd pop in with this photo of Poppy and Lola as kittens - taken on the very first day they arrived to live with us - since they turned three this week.  So cute and fluffy then and so grown up now.  Happy birthday to them!   I'll try to post about something un-cat-related over the weekend...

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Muff, the lovely cat

We had some sad news last night.  Graham's mum's cat, Muff, went out on Friday night and hasn't come back.  She was very old (as you can see from this photo taken a few months ago) and it doesn't look as though she will be coming home.  Poor Muff.  She was such a lovely cat.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

a (not exactly typical) day in the life of me

The very first time I get asked to participate in A Day In The Life and the date picked just happens to be my birthday.  What are the chances?  So here (in pedantic detail - sorry!) is what I did on Saturday 9th May 2009...

6.15am - wake up when Graham is getting up for work but put the radio on and manage to snooze for a couple of hours.

8.45am - decide I've definitely woken up but stay in bed and read my book (The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir) for a bit while I listen to Brian Mathew's Sounds of the Sixties on Radio Two.

9.45am - give in to the urge to go to the toilet.  While I am up, I feed the cats and open the cards that arrived yesterday.  There's one from my mum and dad, one from Graham's mum and dad (with £10 and a ticket for the previous night's Euromillions draw) and one from my friend, Julia.  Slightly disappointed not to have any parcels yet, I go back to bed with a cup of coffee and read for a bit longer.

10.15am - Graham gets home from work and discovers a note from the postie saying he couldn't deliver FOUR parcels because I was out, even though I was in.  This is what our postie always does but this time he actually crept in, opening the letterbox silently.  I get mad and want to cry (I always get emotional on birthdays) but Graham goes into super-boyfriend mode and says he will go out on his bike to pick the parcels up for me.  Yay!

10.30am - I answer the phone to the dulcet tones of my mum and dad singing happy birthday to me.  I get back into bed and chat to both of them for a while.  Graham comes through with a cup of tea for me while I do.  After I get off the phone, I read for a bit longer while Graham braves the horrible weather (the first time I can remember it not being sunny on my birthday) to collect my parcels.  Go, Graham, go!

11.10am - get a nice birthday text from my friend, Lorna, who lives in London.  I reply then keep reading, wondering why I am enjoying this book so much...

11.20am - Graham gets back from the parcel place and I open them up.  I think (materialistic as it seems) presents are the best thing about birthdays to me.  They are the only thing to do with birthdays that never make me want to cry.  There were two parcels from my sister, one from my parents and one from my old school friend, Jennifer, who also lives in London now.

Here are some of the present highlights:
The most amazing (and HEAVY) French button cards from my sister.  These will be going on the wall somewhere and I can't actually tell you how much I love them.  They are gorgeous and old and French and covered in buttons!
Again from my sister, lovely fabric and supercute old children's dominos.
A selection of creative type books.  The button book and the 52 projects books were from my sister and the amigurami book was from my mum and dad.  I'm so excited at the thought of trying amigurami and this book is lovely!
(Edit: hopefully I am more successful at doing amigurumi than I seem to be at spelling it...)
These hankies from my mum and dad made me laugh!  They also got me a little bottle of sweet smelling perfume in the shape of a nautically dressed Japanese girl (v cute again) but I seem to have missed it from my photo shoot.
Jennifer gave me this elephant post-it notes fridge magnet, which I love, along with some black cat pencil toppers.

11.45am - while Graham showers I check for birthday emails.  I only have one email and it's from Ebay telling me to get ready for the barbecue season.  While I'm on the net I also check my Euromillions ticket.  I was only one number away from winning a prize.  So close and yet so far...

11.55am - Graham makes coffee and croissants with butter and blueberry jam.  They might be the most delicious coffee and croissants I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  Yum.

12.10 - I open my presents from Graham.  More presents!  Yay!
You may think it's strange to give your vegetarian girlfriend a tin of tuna for her birthday, but I'd been eyeing up this lovely packaging for ages.  I'm going to hang this tin on my wall of many wonders.

Continuing the edible theme, he also gave me a block of delicious blue cheese which is too far eaten to be photographed.  Yummy!
I might summon the necessary cruel spirit to eat this cute chocolate ladybird one day...
And here is the piece de resistance!  It's an owl by Donna Wilson so that I can start my very own knitted forest world!  What a lovely present :)

12.15pm - While drinking more coffee, I hear a strange quacking sound.  I realise it's Lola, and find her locked in the bathroom.  When I release her she goes into super affectionate mode and then entertains us by throwing her toys around and generally being crazy.

12.45 - I play with the cats and laugh at Graham trying to book cinema tickets through an automated phoneline.  When he puts on a silly voice, the machine malfunctions.  We decide to have dinner in the Lansdowne but they're not answering the phone to take our booking.

1.00pm - It's so darn cold, wet and wintery that we have to put the heating on.  This is unheard of at this time of year but it makes the cats happy (and cute).
1.30pm - We have some tomato soup and ciabattas.  Fail to get through to the Lansdowne again.

2.00pm - Graham goes to bed for a nap and I mooch about a bit, replying to a couple of text messages and trying to phone my sister who is not in.  Fail to get through to the Lansdowne again.

3.00pm - do some knitting, coming perilously close to finishing Ruth's cardigan but not quite making it.

3.45pm - finally manage to book a booth (no less!) at the Lansdowne.  Sorted.

4.00pm - Lola overheats and finally gets off the radiator to lie around on the floor, panting in undignified positions.  
4.15pm - I finally accept I'll have to get out of my pyjamas at some point and get in the shower.

4.40pm - The phone rings and Kim, my niece, sings me happy birthday and tells me about her new sandals.  I also chat to Kerry for a while and thank her for the top presents.  Her triple child house sounds crazy.

4.55pm - wake Graham up and dry my hair, rub Lola's tummy and decide what to wear.

5.30pm - I'm just putting on my tights before heading out the door for dinner when the phone rings.  It is the Lansdowne to tell us that they have no electricity and are only serving cold food in the silent darkness.  They suggest we might want to eat somewhere else.

5.38pm - we eat some oatcakes and birthday blue cheese while trying to think of somewhere else to eat.  We settle on AdLib in town.  We book a table and potter about until its time to go (Graham draws bad portraits of me, I visit some blogs, I listen to Francoise Hardy, I play with the cats, I help Graham choose what to wear...)

6.35pm - We leave (running late) and decide to be naughty and get a potato fritter from the Philadelphia en route to the underground but when we get there they have none left.  I start to get the birthday jinx feeling but get on the underground nonetheless.

7.00pm - we arrive at Ad Lib.  Despite fancying the spicy chickpea burger and a beer, I order tomato and pepper risotto and wine, confident that the risotto will win me over when it arrives.  Graham orders a Spansih fish stew.  When the food arrives, my risotto is really disappointing which is extra disappointing because I am never disappointed in Ad Lib's food and I KNOW how good that burger would have been.  Grrr.  Graham's fish stew is apparently very nice and he shares his bread and butter with me.

8.35pm - We go to Dino's for coffee and cake.  Graham has white chocolate cheesecake and I have amaretto cake.  It is delicious.

8.55pm - We arrive at the cinema and, seeing the queue, are glad Graham went through the trauma of booking tickets over the phone!  We are seeing Coraline in 3D, my first ever 3D film.  Exciting! 
The leg fell off Graham's glasses before the trailers even started but he managed to do a pretty good repair job.  The 3D trailers freaked me out but Coraline was a bit more subtle.  It was really good but hard to concentrate on because the world's noisiest and most annoying men were sitting right in front of us.  There were some other noisy people in the cinema too - a group of young neds, maybe about 14 years old?  Half an hour into the film, someone went out and complained about them.  The man from the cinema came in and told them that if they didn't stop messing about they would be asked to leave.  A nasal reply echoed around the cinema: "Ahm five months pregnant, you stupid wee guy!"  It was a classic Glasgow moment.  Ten minutes later they actually did get kicked out, causing spontaneous applause from a section of the audience.

11.05pm - We arrive at the bus stop.

11.10pm - the streamline thing tells us the bus won't be there for 17 minutes so we decide to walk.

11.11pm - our bus passes us.  Aaaargh!

11.15pm - we admit defeat and get the underground.

11.25pm - we get some chips and a fritter from Philadelphia and eat it on the way up the road.

11.35pm - Back in the flat, we open a bottle of wine but have to admit our rock and roll days are behind us as we plod tiredly to bed after just one glass.

And there it is, a day in my life which just so happened to be my birthday.  I saved all the cleaning up of cat sick for today so I wouldn't have to shatter my glamorous image by mentioning it...  Anyone still with me?  No, I don't blame you - this was long!

Friday, May 8, 2009

actually, I quite like runny eggs

I made this strange looking girl as part of my teacher training, though I added the fried egg once I got home in a flash of 'inspired genius'.  I did art as my optional extra subject and it was brilliant!  Yes, brilliant!  Most of teacher training wasn't as much fun as the art part...  I haven't done nearly as much art with my own class as I had hoped and planned to.  Boo.

We've had the inspectors in school this week and it has been hard work and stressful but it has given me a little burst of renewed enthusiasm for teaching.  It's been strangely rewarding to be so dedicated to my 'real' job (at the expense of crafting unfortunately) and to put so much effort into lessons, and it was fun to see my class being so enthusiastic about what they were doing.  I don't think I could keep this up all day every day but I'm going to try to keep it up to some degree.  I only have seven weeks of my job left so I will try and make then a good seven weeks.  I really don't want to leave :(  I also don't want to have to find another job :(  Boo again.

It feels so funny to be blogging about work.  As a general rule I try not to but this week really has been nothing but work and sleep, and not enough sleep either.  I am truly pooped!  In fact, I have been so busy with work that I have totally neglected to organise anything for my birthday tomorrow.  Fortunately, Graham has managed to get the day off and says he will keep me company thus stopping me looking like a poor old lonely soul!  I'm actually quite glad I'll be having a quiet-ish day.  Just what the doctor ordered :)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

bitty bug pincushion


Originally uploaded by goody-goody :: Lauren Brandy

The tutorial for this supercute bug pincushion is available here.  It looks pretty straightforward.  I will definitely be adding it to my list of things I hope to get round to making!  My brain is actually melting tonight. I'm so impressed I can still blog... and sound reasonably cheerful while I'm at it!  Yay for kind people who put lovely things on the internet for me to blog about when I'm too pooped to come up with my own ideas :)

(Edit: I forgot to mention that I came across this via the ever worth looking at WhipUp.)

Monday, May 4, 2009

g-g-g-g-g-giveaway


Originally uploaded by mooosh ♥ miso funky

Why am I stuttering? Well, I was just sitting in the living room minding my own business when the ceiling rose fell down from a great height, ripping down lampshade, bulb and all; sweeping everything off the coffee table; landing only a metre or two away from where I was actually sitting. Very frightening. Our ceilings have collapsed twice in the last four years (quite traumatically) so I get understandably edgy when anything falls from on high... Thank goodness I'd just put my knitting down for the evening - that would have brought new and tragic meaning to the name of dropstitch! Anyway, the real reason I'm blogging is to say, "Hop on over to Miso Funky's blog for your chance to win some fabulous robot goodies!" 

Disclaimer: if you win and I don't, you will be officially banned from visiting this blog! :)

diana dors


Originally uploaded by screaming lulu

Have you seen Screaming Lulu's embroidery on flickr? This is a portrait of Diana Dors from her recent series of tragic women portraits. As well as using an embroidery machine, she also sews pictures freehand on her sewing machine. It was her portrait of Dusty Springfield that first inspired me to stitch Dot Cotton.  Yes, she is to blame for that little obsession... I recommend you go and visit her flickr today to be amused and inspired.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

we did it!

Well, here is our stall at our very first market.  Out of focus but pretty cute.  That's Bernie in the picture, by the way.  After staying up late and getting up early, we still managed to be running late and had to fling everything on the table (which was smaller than we'd imagined - we ended up having made loads) quick stylee.  The market was incredibly quiet but our wee stall was still pretty successful and it was nice to be able to just hang out for a while anyway.  My biggest sellers by far were the button cards and the chocolate moustache lollipops, both small budget items but they really did go like hot cakes in the few minutes that there were customers!  Here is Poppy modeling one of the post-market leftovers.  A cunning disguise indeed!
I swapped some buttons for the cutest little knitted owl brooch from Carrot Coriander but my camera battery has died so you will have to wait for pictures/trust me when I say it is incredibly cute.  I had been eyeing it up all day so was delighted to swap for it.

Even though we are by no means rich (ha!) and parts of the day did drag a bit, I'm really glad we did the market.  We have even signed up to do another market at the end of the month and have been promised that it will be at least, oh, ten times busier!  I can hardly wait!  I'm going to try to make lots of new stuff and will definitely try to come up with some more pocket money type ideas...  Hmmm...  Thinking thinking thinking...

Graham and I are going to head out for a bite to eat now.  I feel I have earned it!  Happy me!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

cute as a button

I think I mentioned my evil button plan a while ago?  Well, here it is!  I lovingly designed button cards, attached vintage buttons to them and finished them off with a little ribbon at the top.  I know, pure evil...  Please don't tell the man in Oxfam what I have done!

The reason I have been spurred into action is.... that I'm doing my very first craft market tomorrow!  Yippee!  I'm so excited.  It couldn't have come at a much worse time (I have been having the most hectic time ever at work) but I have managed to get some stuff together and will try to make more of everything tonight.  The market is on tomorrow (Sunday) from 12-5 in Nude which is upstairs at the end of Ashton Lane (just by the cinema).  It was my fairy godmother, Claire, who suggested I might like to try having a little stall of my own and I just couldn't resist despite the fact I had nothing to sell and no time to make anything - just a  minor setback!   My friend, Bernie, is going to share the stall with me.  She also has next to nothing to sell but promises she will have something by tomorrow and I'll be glad of the moral support either way.  She came round last night for some Friday night wine and communal crafting so we have made a start.  Sort of...

I made some Dot and Pat notecard sets but they are in very limited supply.  By that I mean that they're exclusive, of course, dahlinks!

I have also managed to make a few (three to be precise) Eastenders embroideries but might try to make more tonight.  I'm still a very slow sewer though so I won't get my hopes up too much for that.
I forced myself to prop my bleary eyes open and make some zip brooches in the evenings this week.  I think I'm going to keep this little one.  There is something a bit extra special about it.  I will start wearing it and become a walking advert for myself.  This new mercenary streak in me is quite exciting - I'll be on Dragon's Den before you know it.

I'll also have some books that I made years ago and, if the chocolate sets, some moustache lollipops and... anything else I've made over the years that I can find lying about.  If you are in Glasgow, please come by and say hi or maybe even buy something.  I promise to cut you a good deal if you do!