I know man flu is a deadly strain of virus that can cause almost certain death unless the man suffering lays on the sofa croacking and calling for sustenance.
But I feel iiiiiiilll!
I made some chocolate chip biscuits today. I ate 6.
Leigh from the sewing Diva challenged me to a sew off. I have a top pattern and fabric and I've had it for months. Leigh has some fabric and some palazzo pants up her sleeve (metaphorically speaking). We set ourselves a week. The week ends this Saturday...um.....ok then!
I had hoped that it would take my mind off my deadly strain of woman flu and help me to relax now this week. I cut it all out the first couple of days and have sewn most of it up til today. I'm just putting off putting the zip in....I even did the hemming despite my hatred of it!
I'm blaming the hemming on my waking up without much of a voice today. Poor old Dus has put on a brave face though and insisted my not having a voice won't affect him too much today. How kind of him! :P
Anyway....so Leigh, I promise I'll have it finished by Saturday!! *scurries off for some more 'non drowsy' cold medicine which makes me feel sleepy*
But I feel iiiiiiilll!
I made some chocolate chip biscuits today. I ate 6.
Leigh from the sewing Diva challenged me to a sew off. I have a top pattern and fabric and I've had it for months. Leigh has some fabric and some palazzo pants up her sleeve (metaphorically speaking). We set ourselves a week. The week ends this Saturday...um.....ok then!
I had hoped that it would take my mind off my deadly strain of woman flu and help me to relax now this week. I cut it all out the first couple of days and have sewn most of it up til today. I'm just putting off putting the zip in....I even did the hemming despite my hatred of it!
I'm blaming the hemming on my waking up without much of a voice today. Poor old Dus has put on a brave face though and insisted my not having a voice won't affect him too much today. How kind of him! :P
Anyway....so Leigh, I promise I'll have it finished by Saturday!! *scurries off for some more 'non drowsy' cold medicine which makes me feel sleepy*
Anyway, here it is.
I may have to find a new photographer. Either he sits down and my hips look massive or he stands up and I look short. Nothing to do with my hips actually being massive or my actually being short. It's obviously his fault. Also, I did wear daps on my feet, I didn't just go in bright pink & black socks.
Anyway, so.....that's not all.
See, I put my sad face on to show you how I was feeling?
We were in church and I came over all funny. A bit woozy and shivery cold and just not right. Dus brought me home and I immediately put my pj's on. We all know that pj's have to be applied to feel better.
I spent the rest of the afternoon cuddled on the sofa with a blankie and a hot water bottle despite it being quite warm outside (according to Dusband).
This morning I don't feel as bad but still not quite right. I suspect that now all our clubs etc are over my body is trying to take some time out to recover from the stress & activity and I just need to rest a while.
Anyway, here are the top trumps scores for the day.
Comfort: 10/10 (can't get any comfier than jammies!)
Attractiveness: 6/10 (could have done with an ironing)
Warmth: 4/10 (hence hot water bottle)
Effort: 1/10. (no comment in brackets needed...oh....gah!)
We were discussing the new dress saying not sure how it'll look so he made a mock up.
[19:11:09] Benny says:
It'll look better if you don't wear your other clothes underneath it
He is the cutest! Thanks Ben x
[19:11:09] Benny says:
It'll look better if you don't wear your other clothes underneath it
He is the cutest! Thanks Ben x
Obviously it's logical to wear clothes, that's not what this is about.
So...picture the scene.
Me, hauling some big bags of cast offs down the stairs, Dussy watching with bemused face.
Dusband: Baybee, what are you doing taking those bags of clothes downstairs?
Me: I'm getting them ready to take to the charity shop.
Dusband: So why have you just spent £50 on new clothes? Couldn't you just wear those clothes?
Me: Hmmm *walks off to find consolidation in a bar of galaxy*
See a theme here? Anyway, to me it's perfectly logical. Just cos I have a wardrobe full of clothes doesn't mean THOSE are the clothes I want to wear. Dur!
(Also they were in the Matalan £1 sale. I bought 9 items. Not sure how comes I'm paying £50 but a sale is a sale!)
Wonder if any of the trousers will fit me....might have to get to learning to hem one of these days!
P.s. I've just worked out how comes I'm not paying £9....must stick to £1 items in future!
So...picture the scene.
Me, hauling some big bags of cast offs down the stairs, Dussy watching with bemused face.
Dusband: Baybee, what are you doing taking those bags of clothes downstairs?
Me: I'm getting them ready to take to the charity shop.
Dusband: So why have you just spent £50 on new clothes? Couldn't you just wear those clothes?
Me: Hmmm *walks off to find consolidation in a bar of galaxy*
See a theme here? Anyway, to me it's perfectly logical. Just cos I have a wardrobe full of clothes doesn't mean THOSE are the clothes I want to wear. Dur!
Dress £7, Matalan Sale |
(Also they were in the Matalan £1 sale. I bought 9 items. Not sure how comes I'm paying £50 but a sale is a sale!)
Cardi, £7, Matalan Sale |
Wonder if any of the trousers will fit me....might have to get to learning to hem one of these days!
Trousers, £7, Matalan Sale |
A conversation overheard in the Hussey household today:
Dusband: Baybeeee, what are you doing?
Me: I'm deep cleaning the bathroom hunky trunks.
Dusband: Oh, so you're moving things to clean rather than just cleaning around them?
Me: Hmmmm *walks off seeking consolation in a bar of galaxy*
So, yes, there we go. I've moved things to clean around them. Actually I've done the usual bathroom cleaning of sink, bath, toilet, floor, windowsills etc. But I've also wiped down the walls (they seem to gather dust which is odd), cleaned the tile grout, taken everything out of our set of drawers, cleaned them and puteverything most things back in neatly. I've also taken the shower hose off the electric shower unit and cleaned it. It seems to gather black slime in those coily rib things on the hose that wiping just doesn't get off.
So...step one, turn off shower power supply. Probably didn't need to do this but better safe than sorry.
Step two, unscrew shower hose and shower head
Step three, dish soap + hot water + shower hose & shower head
As you can see I'd already done some scrubbing and that's what all of those grossy black bits are floating around at the bottom of the sink!
I kinda forgot to take pics before I put it in the sink but you can use your imagination.
Step four, get your cleaning toothbrush (note, not husband's current toothbrush) and brush the shower hose. I found brushing up and down the dip in each ridge worked better than side by side along the hose.
Step five, rinse with clean water and take photo for blog
Step 6, screw back onto shower and feel smug.
Good job done! Well done us!
Dusband: Baybeeee, what are you doing?
Me: I'm deep cleaning the bathroom hunky trunks.
Dusband: Oh, so you're moving things to clean rather than just cleaning around them?
Me: Hmmmm *walks off seeking consolation in a bar of galaxy*
So, yes, there we go. I've moved things to clean around them. Actually I've done the usual bathroom cleaning of sink, bath, toilet, floor, windowsills etc. But I've also wiped down the walls (they seem to gather dust which is odd), cleaned the tile grout, taken everything out of our set of drawers, cleaned them and put
So...step one, turn off shower power supply. Probably didn't need to do this but better safe than sorry.
Step two, unscrew shower hose and shower head
Step three, dish soap + hot water + shower hose & shower head
As you can see I'd already done some scrubbing and that's what all of those grossy black bits are floating around at the bottom of the sink!
I kinda forgot to take pics before I put it in the sink but you can use your imagination.
Step four, get your cleaning toothbrush (note, not husband's current toothbrush) and brush the shower hose. I found brushing up and down the dip in each ridge worked better than side by side along the hose.
Step 6, screw back onto shower and feel smug.
Good job done! Well done us!
Today's one of those days where I want to post, in fact I have tons to say to anyone who'll listen, but I just can't think of a good topic to begin.
I figured I'd do like all great writers (ha!) and just start and see where we end up.
It's the end of term party at kids club tonight. I think it's Kidz Club actually cos that's KOOL! Anyway, we're having fancy dress. I am very pleased that I can get my afro wig out and my dragon hat and my leprechaun hat and....yeah, you get the idea!
Then tomorrow we've got a treasure hunt for our youth group. Interesting.....then Friday off then Saturday is my little sister's birthday. She'll be 26. Urm....eek! We're all getting so old!
I'm sure this is meant to be summer, but actually it feels distinctly autumnal! Considering the schools have not even broken up yet (yes, we're a lot later than our American friends) it feels like it's the run up to Christmas. There have been various comments on facebook such as "I love summer in the UK, it's my favourite day of the year" or "the forecast is for a super hot summer; this year it'll be on a Wednesday".
Seriously though....a little bit of sun wouldn't go amiss! I'm sure we're all seriously deficient in Vitamin D!
Anyway, so my plans for the next few weeks are to get my own shop up and running so I can offer y'all some discount codes, get my house back in order after last week's fair (it seems to have infiltrated every area of our house!) and I'm pondering a revisit to the 21 day challenge. But maybe with some of my own areas thrown in for those that I don't have. To make it more useful to me. As much as I don't mind tidying my medicines...I only have three.
So...that's me. I've got a tutorial on how to clean brass door handles (church) ready to get typed up and one on rag rug weaving. It's just getting a round tuit...!
I figured I'd do like all great writers (ha!) and just start and see where we end up.
It's the end of term party at kids club tonight. I think it's Kidz Club actually cos that's KOOL! Anyway, we're having fancy dress. I am very pleased that I can get my afro wig out and my dragon hat and my leprechaun hat and....yeah, you get the idea!
Then tomorrow we've got a treasure hunt for our youth group. Interesting.....then Friday off then Saturday is my little sister's birthday. She'll be 26. Urm....eek! We're all getting so old!
I'm sure this is meant to be summer, but actually it feels distinctly autumnal! Considering the schools have not even broken up yet (yes, we're a lot later than our American friends) it feels like it's the run up to Christmas. There have been various comments on facebook such as "I love summer in the UK, it's my favourite day of the year" or "the forecast is for a super hot summer; this year it'll be on a Wednesday".
Seriously though....a little bit of sun wouldn't go amiss! I'm sure we're all seriously deficient in Vitamin D!
Anyway, so my plans for the next few weeks are to get my own shop up and running so I can offer y'all some discount codes, get my house back in order after last week's fair (it seems to have infiltrated every area of our house!) and I'm pondering a revisit to the 21 day challenge. But maybe with some of my own areas thrown in for those that I don't have. To make it more useful to me. As much as I don't mind tidying my medicines...I only have three.
So...that's me. I've got a tutorial on how to clean brass door handles (church) ready to get typed up and one on rag rug weaving. It's just getting a round tuit...!
Source |
Yes, yes, I know I'm two days late. Blame it on...urm....ok, just blame it on my laziness!
So, here it is.
As you can see I finally managed to purchase some new trousers. These ones are Dorothy Perkins Petite (via British Heart Foundation £4.30).
Lizzie and I went to the retail park, town centre, charity shops AND supermarkets and these and a jumper is all we managed to find that we liked or fitted. Maybe we're both out of fashion!
Anyway, BHF don't have somewhere you can try things on so them being a size 8 and looking about the right length was enough for me so I brought them home, tried them on, accepted them and washed them. I obviously then had to iron a super sharp crease down the front with my spray starch even though you can't really see it in this pic.
It's only while I was at church praising that I realised they were actually a bit big and whilst they wouldn't fall down (my hips are a whopping 10cm bigger than my waist) they just didn't hug me in the places they should.
They're not terrible but it would be nice to finally find some trousers that fit. Back to the drawing board!
Also, the obligatory top and cardigan complete the outfit. I love cardigans. I think if I had to choose one item of clothing I couldn't do without...it'd be that.
Still pondering what to do with my hair...I'm bored with it and that's a dangerous position to be in with your hair...it generally leads to cutting it all off into a gorgeous bob and then having to spend half hour every day blow drying it back into shape.
p.s. This pic proves my sister doesn't HAVE to pull a face every time she's being photographed.
p.p.s. I've only just realised how much of a resemblance there is with us and our lovely Uncle Joe.
Anyway...whilst looking for that pic of my hair in a bob I've come across a pic of my sisters and I in our wedding finery (mum's wedding May 2010) and animal masks we found in the park's shop where we had the photos.
What is rather impressive is that Amanda actually seems to be attempting to eat the tree as a giraffe would do. Is there no end to this woman's talents? I was of course the heffalump and Lizzie the monkey. She does a very good monkey noise.
So, here it is.
As you can see I finally managed to purchase some new trousers. These ones are Dorothy Perkins Petite (via British Heart Foundation £4.30).
Lizzie and I went to the retail park, town centre, charity shops AND supermarkets and these and a jumper is all we managed to find that we liked or fitted. Maybe we're both out of fashion!
Anyway, BHF don't have somewhere you can try things on so them being a size 8 and looking about the right length was enough for me so I brought them home, tried them on, accepted them and washed them. I obviously then had to iron a super sharp crease down the front with my spray starch even though you can't really see it in this pic.
It's only while I was at church praising that I realised they were actually a bit big and whilst they wouldn't fall down (my hips are a whopping 10cm bigger than my waist) they just didn't hug me in the places they should.
They're not terrible but it would be nice to finally find some trousers that fit. Back to the drawing board!
Also, the obligatory top and cardigan complete the outfit. I love cardigans. I think if I had to choose one item of clothing I couldn't do without...it'd be that.
Still pondering what to do with my hair...I'm bored with it and that's a dangerous position to be in with your hair...it generally leads to cutting it all off into a gorgeous bob and then having to spend half hour every day blow drying it back into shape.
p.s. This pic proves my sister doesn't HAVE to pull a face every time she's being photographed.
p.p.s. I've only just realised how much of a resemblance there is with us and our lovely Uncle Joe.
Anyway...whilst looking for that pic of my hair in a bob I've come across a pic of my sisters and I in our wedding finery (mum's wedding May 2010) and animal masks we found in the park's shop where we had the photos.
What is rather impressive is that Amanda actually seems to be attempting to eat the tree as a giraffe would do. Is there no end to this woman's talents? I was of course the heffalump and Lizzie the monkey. She does a very good monkey noise.
So picture the scene. It's Friday night. Your crocheting sister Loopy Lizzie has arrived. You've already been told to calm down and not panic by craft fair aficionado Leigh the Sewing Diva and the corner of your usually immaculate (but dated....hey, we're saving up!) living room looks like this.
So now you're in the zone of where we were when we saw the weather forecast for the following day's enormous amount of rain. Um. Yup. Great.
Ok, so THE BIG DAY has dawned and it's raining. 6am and we were kind of blurry eyed but up and awake and dressed in our setting up clothes. My BFF Stacey arrives and we load up both of our cars withstuff important things and head on down to Caerleon. Lizzie and Stacey get there first and when offered a pitch directly next to the info tent at the entrance OR right up round the corner they chose next to the info tent. Good call girls! Until a blacksmith arrived and parked his whopping van and tent in the centre of that area blocking us off from people. Ah well, never mind eh?
Anyway, so my first reaction to the festival was 'oh, it's smaller than I had thought'. But as it was hammering down and we only had an hour and half to set up we got right to it with the gazebo. With sides. That when the wind blew brought in a wave of rain water. The roof of the gazebo was leaking, the sides were leaking, it was muddy underneath and we were all pretty soaked.
We ended up leaving 80% of our stock in the car as it was just so wet that it was pointless putting it out to get ruined. People just didn't wanna see wet and muddy things! But then...a few prayers later by 11am the rain slowly stopped and patches of blue sky were reported. I was fairly convinced it was a rumour but then I saw them myself...hurrah!
I hot footed it back to the carpark to bring out some more stock while Dusband (nicknamed our health and safety officer as we may have died from falling equipment if it hadn't been for him!) pegged the gazebo, did the guy ropes etc, etc.
Here's our tent with it all set out. Still less than we'd planned and things not quite 100% but better.
It was super windy and our gazebo took off at one point! Lucky we found some extra pegs to secure it.
Our lovely outfits meanwhile were left abandoned in the car and we stayed in our jeans and wellies for most of the day. Never mind, wellies go with everything right?
Lizzie got to crocheting and after a while I got my t shirts out to start making tarn (T shirt yarn) ready to weave myself a rag rug on the hula hoop. I forgot to take pics of me starting so the tutorial will have to wait until I finish so I can re start for the pics!
Lizzie obviously spent too long in this position (ignore the face, she's usually very attractive) as her sunburnt arms had little white creases at the elbows where they didn't get any sun!
Maybe she's incapable of not grimacing when a camera comes out?
If we were to do another outdoor event we'd both start crafting earlier and sit outside the entrance. People didn't seem to want to come into the gazebo if we were sat in to one side but they were happy to go in past us and have a browse knowing we wouldn't be breathing down their necks giving them the hard sell.
We sold a couple of items but over all it was a disappointing affair. From our vantage point near the entrance/exit we didn't see many people carrying bags or purchases. We spotted about 6 or 7 people carrying sock monkeys and a few people carrying frames so the sock monkey and art stalls obviously did ok.
Leigh was around the corner and further along slightly than us and said that she'd noticed the same that there wasn't much money changing hands. I guess most people just didn't see anything they wanted to buy or were the 'day out' crew.
We met some lovely people and had some great chats with some customers. Hopefully some of them have found their way here so...helloooooo!!!
The fair started at 10am and finished at 6pm and we were a little disappointed that the organiser didn't find the time to just pop round and ask how we were getting on considering it was our first fair or even to have a look at our stall. It seemed unusual but maybe I'm too much of a control freak that I'd have to go see what everyone's selling!
By the time we got home at 8pm ish we were all so tired that we sat and grunted at each other for an hour (following a dinner of breakfast cereal) before climbing the mountainous staircase to bed. I was totally looking forward to my 8am lie in this morning.....Sunday mornings have never been so fabulous!
Anyone else have a disappointing experience on their first fair?
So now you're in the zone of where we were when we saw the weather forecast for the following day's enormous amount of rain. Um. Yup. Great.
Ok, so THE BIG DAY has dawned and it's raining. 6am and we were kind of blurry eyed but up and awake and dressed in our setting up clothes. My BFF Stacey arrives and we load up both of our cars with
Anyway, so my first reaction to the festival was 'oh, it's smaller than I had thought'. But as it was hammering down and we only had an hour and half to set up we got right to it with the gazebo. With sides. That when the wind blew brought in a wave of rain water. The roof of the gazebo was leaking, the sides were leaking, it was muddy underneath and we were all pretty soaked.
We ended up leaving 80% of our stock in the car as it was just so wet that it was pointless putting it out to get ruined. People just didn't wanna see wet and muddy things! But then...a few prayers later by 11am the rain slowly stopped and patches of blue sky were reported. I was fairly convinced it was a rumour but then I saw them myself...hurrah!
I hot footed it back to the carpark to bring out some more stock while Dusband (nicknamed our health and safety officer as we may have died from falling equipment if it hadn't been for him!) pegged the gazebo, did the guy ropes etc, etc.
Here's our tent with it all set out. Still less than we'd planned and things not quite 100% but better.
It was super windy and our gazebo took off at one point! Lucky we found some extra pegs to secure it.
Our lovely outfits meanwhile were left abandoned in the car and we stayed in our jeans and wellies for most of the day. Never mind, wellies go with everything right?
Lizzie got to crocheting and after a while I got my t shirts out to start making tarn (T shirt yarn) ready to weave myself a rag rug on the hula hoop. I forgot to take pics of me starting so the tutorial will have to wait until I finish so I can re start for the pics!
Lizzie obviously spent too long in this position (ignore the face, she's usually very attractive) as her sunburnt arms had little white creases at the elbows where they didn't get any sun!
Maybe she's incapable of not grimacing when a camera comes out?
If we were to do another outdoor event we'd both start crafting earlier and sit outside the entrance. People didn't seem to want to come into the gazebo if we were sat in to one side but they were happy to go in past us and have a browse knowing we wouldn't be breathing down their necks giving them the hard sell.
We sold a couple of items but over all it was a disappointing affair. From our vantage point near the entrance/exit we didn't see many people carrying bags or purchases. We spotted about 6 or 7 people carrying sock monkeys and a few people carrying frames so the sock monkey and art stalls obviously did ok.
Leigh was around the corner and further along slightly than us and said that she'd noticed the same that there wasn't much money changing hands. I guess most people just didn't see anything they wanted to buy or were the 'day out' crew.
We met some lovely people and had some great chats with some customers. Hopefully some of them have found their way here so...helloooooo!!!
The fair started at 10am and finished at 6pm and we were a little disappointed that the organiser didn't find the time to just pop round and ask how we were getting on considering it was our first fair or even to have a look at our stall. It seemed unusual but maybe I'm too much of a control freak that I'd have to go see what everyone's selling!
By the time we got home at 8pm ish we were all so tired that we sat and grunted at each other for an hour (following a dinner of breakfast cereal) before climbing the mountainous staircase to bed. I was totally looking forward to my 8am lie in this morning.....Sunday mornings have never been so fabulous!
Anyone else have a disappointing experience on their first fair?
Yeah, so, I need to work on my blog titles...
Anyway, this one's for you Polly.
Gather your supplies:
So, in short, cans, paint, lace & glue.
Good. Ready?
1) Look at can of primer and ask husband if he thinks you really need to prime tin cans first. He will probably answer in the negative. Put primer back in un-shed. (Or shed if you have a real shed.)
2) Spray paint your cans. Yes....thin coats are better....the blue can I used thick coats and it's run.
3) Pick cans up from the inside to photograph them for your blog remembering to collect some tiny paper cut type cuts to torture you for the entire next day. Check!
4) Wait impatiently for it to dry. I suggest painting just before Kidz club so that by the time you get home from Kidz club you're too tired to think about decorating them and end up leaving them to dry overnight in the un-shed.
5) Hot glue around the top of the inside of the can because you've now discovered the tiny cuts that the sharp insides have given you. Decide it looks a bit pre-school and stick beads into just warm glue. Alternatively you could stick a bit of ribbon around it in a wonky fashion as I did on the second can. (I forgot to take a pic, you can imagine this step).
6) Get your piece of lace ready to glue and lay your can down 'stabilised' by something either side. As it happened my lace was exactly the size of my cans....dunno how but it wasn't planned!
7) Run a line of hot glue around the top and stick your lace on. I think I must have been reading too much agaagg....I rarely use my glue gun usually...honest!
8) When you get to the end, trim your lace to just slightly overlap and glue it down. I also glued down the side of the over flap (?) to stop it flapping around like a ...urm...flappy thing.
9) Add every single mature pen you have and take photos for you to admire at a later date! (Or share on your blog)
These will be stepping in as 'pen holder' and 'crochet hook holder' at our craft fair in Caerleon on Saturday...I'll take pics of them in situ!
Anyway, this one's for you Polly.
Gather your supplies:
- Empty & Clean tin cans (careful for sharp edges!)
- Can of primer that you won't need but it's in the pics
- Small can of spray paint
- Some lace or something purdy
- Hot glue, normal glue or....ok, just glue.
Ignore the tub behind which has precisely 2 dwarf lavender plants inside and approximately 1 gazillion weeds! |
So, in short, cans, paint, lace & glue.
Good. Ready?
1) Look at can of primer and ask husband if he thinks you really need to prime tin cans first. He will probably answer in the negative. Put primer back in un-shed. (Or shed if you have a real shed.)
2) Spray paint your cans. Yes....thin coats are better....the blue can I used thick coats and it's run.
3) Pick cans up from the inside to photograph them for your blog remembering to collect some tiny paper cut type cuts to torture you for the entire next day. Check!
See, told you it had run |
5) Hot glue around the top of the inside of the can because you've now discovered the tiny cuts that the sharp insides have given you. Decide it looks a bit pre-school and stick beads into just warm glue. Alternatively you could stick a bit of ribbon around it in a wonky fashion as I did on the second can. (I forgot to take a pic, you can imagine this step).
6) Get your piece of lace ready to glue and lay your can down 'stabilised' by something either side. As it happened my lace was exactly the size of my cans....dunno how but it wasn't planned!
7) Run a line of hot glue around the top and stick your lace on. I think I must have been reading too much agaagg....I rarely use my glue gun usually...honest!
8) When you get to the end, trim your lace to just slightly overlap and glue it down. I also glued down the side of the over flap (?) to stop it flapping around like a ...urm...flappy thing.
9) Add every single mature pen you have and take photos for you to admire at a later date! (Or share on your blog)
These will be stepping in as 'pen holder' and 'crochet hook holder' at our craft fair in Caerleon on Saturday...I'll take pics of them in situ!
So, there we were feeling really proud that we could already see recognisable bunches of broccoli on our chunky little stems in our tiny, weeny garden.
Then they started to flower. Um.....is that right? Bright yellow flowers. As pretty as they were we were still waiting for the broccoli to grow into those fat bunches you get in the supermarket.
Turns out that when you leave your broccoli too long or it's bolted then the little green thingys which you eat (buds maybe?) flower and you're too late. You snooze, you lose!
So I cut the stalks off and stuck them in a glass of water instead.
Lovely!
This is the top of our little dvd cabinet...the only surface in our living room that could pass for a mantle! The pic above it is satin which has been folded and stitched...One day I might try to recreate it in something else!
Funnily enough though, everytime I was passing these walking out of the living room I was thinking to myself...hmm, something smells a bit funky around here....I'm sure it wasn't THAT long ago that I washed the floors down....(I am a bit behind with housework what with the fair and all but I only cleaned last week...)
I suddenly realised it's cos the 'flowers' smell like broccoli! Oops!
They're still there though, can't bear to throw them away lol
Then they started to flower. Um.....is that right? Bright yellow flowers. As pretty as they were we were still waiting for the broccoli to grow into those fat bunches you get in the supermarket.
Turns out that when you leave your broccoli too long or it's bolted then the little green thingys which you eat (buds maybe?) flower and you're too late. You snooze, you lose!
So I cut the stalks off and stuck them in a glass of water instead.
Lovely!
This is the top of our little dvd cabinet...the only surface in our living room that could pass for a mantle! The pic above it is satin which has been folded and stitched...One day I might try to recreate it in something else!
Funnily enough though, everytime I was passing these walking out of the living room I was thinking to myself...hmm, something smells a bit funky around here....I'm sure it wasn't THAT long ago that I washed the floors down....(I am a bit behind with housework what with the fair and all but I only cleaned last week...)
I suddenly realised it's cos the 'flowers' smell like broccoli! Oops!
They're still there though, can't bear to throw them away lol
Ok, so you know I said we wanted a pop up shop type affair....well mum bought us a gazebo with two sides but we didn't want to spend out on tables that we would only use the once.
Sure, pasting tables are only £10 but they're pretty flimsy. This was confirmed when we went to the carnival the week before last and saw a man trying to hold his table down in the slight breeze whilst not push it too hard and go through the middle!
So, we shopped our houses and came up with baskets, shelves more shelves and...yup...some more shelves!
I'll show you what I mean. Here's our stall in all it's glory.
Yoodle = yarn doodle.....more to tell you about those!
I bought a mirror new specially for this fair because
a) People will be drawn to it as all humans are slightly vain whether they know it or not.
b) Handbag purchasers will want to see what bags look like on
c) Putting it at the back of the stall will make it appear bigger and brighter
d) I really, really, really wanted a full length mirror for myself
e) It was only £9.99 in home bargains! That really is what I call a bargain!
Ok, so as you can see the long white cotton fabric covered shelves can be our table & till point and can provide extra storage.
The small wicker shelves fold up and can be hidden away when we run out of stock to go on them.
The tall steel shelves were £8.16 each from Ikea and look really good....can't wait to have to find a home for my set after the fair! (Already have a few places...)
Ready for the details?
Ok, so on the left as you enter our stall we'll have some of my handbags hanging and maybe perched on baskets on the floor. I hate having things on the floor, people don't like to bend down, plus it might be raining. It just looked a bit bare with nothing there so if it's fine then they'll start out there.
We had our helper (Dusband) string up some net curtain wire across the two side poles to hang things on sort of like a shopping type washing line and have used decorated pegs to hang these things. This is fairly flexible storage right here as you can increase the spacing as things sell so you don't look empty.
Underneath the hanging lines we've got the covered shelves which hold some covered cushions and a really old battered suitcase. I found it at the tip in one of the containers and (after asking permission) brought it home, cleaned it up and it makes fab storage for my brooches & hairslides on cards.
One of the tips we found was that people love a space for completing transactions. Somewhere to put their handbag down to rummage for their purse or to fill out mailing list sheets or order forms etc so we've tried to leave one end of the shelves fairly empty for that purpose.
We've got paper carrier bags to go into this basket ready for people's purchases. They're not pricey at around 11p per small bag and I think it really adds to the experience. Who wants to cart their handmade cushion around in an old bin bag?!
We've pegged up our price lists or receipt cards and when we've got our custom order forms printed (Lizzie's in charge of those) then we'll hang some there too. That way it's a go to area for us or any helpers for people who want information.
So on our first set of steel shelves we have Blizzard Yoodle on the top shelf (Can't remember the price...about £80 I think...contact loopylizziedesigns at hotmail.co.uk for more info), a bow pleat bag (I LOVE THIS BAG!) and a few clutch bags.
On the bottom shelf we have some beginner crochet kits...well we will when we get the labels and instructions printed up. The hooks will be in a pretty vintage mugif when we find one. Lizzie will be giving 15 minute lessons for beginners in the stall so we've got a couple of chairs set up for that.
TIP: If you have chairs but you're not sitting in them. Put them away! We've seen all over the web that crafters who take chairs and leave them out inevitably end up with a 'customer' who doesn't buy anything but wants to sit there to rest for half hour and ends up telling you their life story.
Obviously if you have an elderly customer who looks like they could do with a rest then feel free to offer them a seat, but beware you don't get sucked into when they made a quilt for little flossie and the intervening years tale since. It will distract you from selling and your other customers who genuinely do need to talk to you.
This is a super exciting photo of...urm...what's not there lol. These wicker shelves though I had from freecycle a couple of years ago and when I upgraded my bookshelves from these to some big fat wooden types I kept them thinking they'd come in handy. I'm so glad I did because they fold out and you slot the shelves in. Easy! We've decided not to use the middle shelf so on each set the cushions can go on the bottom yet still be seen.
Here is our 'other corner' with mine and Lizzie's work combined. I seriously can't believe she made those yoodles....I wouldn't know where to begin! Then again, she says something similar about sewing!
I realised last weekend that although I have a nice amount of tissue pouches they're all a bit girly! I'd better whip up some less girly ones soon!!
Next to this on the right is where we will have our couple of chairs when Lizzie is crochetting with customers. I have a tarn rug to make with a hula hoop (tutorial to come all being well) for quiet times so that's our area for crafting.
I know some craft show people think it's important to stand near the entrance to your shop and be there poised for people to ask questions but I am of the opinion that customers want to be able to come in and have a browse and not be scared to pick things up to look at them. As long as they can see you're around and know where to ask for help (name badges!) then that's enough. Yes, strike up conversations but don't pounce...that's just not cool! (This is where having everything price labelled clearly comes in as well.)
And finally on the last pole as you're leaving our stall is a parasol hook I found for 50p brand new and unopened in the Ty Hafan charity shop that is ideal for hanging a couple of extra bags on!
Excuse the poor quality of my photos, it was by strip light in the hall and I forgot my camera so was using my phone.
Lizzie took a pic of me being faster than the speed of light....would you like to see it? I know you would....
A couple of other crafters who will be at the fair are the lovely Leigh from 'The Sewing Diva (and her reluctant models)' who introduced me to the Caerleon Arts festival and the lovely Shepherds Moon who's facebook event I seem to have invaded. Oops!
Enough links in that paragraph for you?
Anyway, any hints, tips, feedback, all appreciated! xx
Sure, pasting tables are only £10 but they're pretty flimsy. This was confirmed when we went to the carnival the week before last and saw a man trying to hold his table down in the slight breeze whilst not push it too hard and go through the middle!
So, we shopped our houses and came up with baskets, shelves more shelves and...yup...some more shelves!
I'll show you what I mean. Here's our stall in all it's glory.
Yoodle = yarn doodle.....more to tell you about those!
I bought a mirror new specially for this fair because
a) People will be drawn to it as all humans are slightly vain whether they know it or not.
b) Handbag purchasers will want to see what bags look like on
c) Putting it at the back of the stall will make it appear bigger and brighter
d) I really, really, really wanted a full length mirror for myself
e) It was only £9.99 in home bargains! That really is what I call a bargain!
Ok, so as you can see the long white cotton fabric covered shelves can be our table & till point and can provide extra storage.
The small wicker shelves fold up and can be hidden away when we run out of stock to go on them.
The tall steel shelves were £8.16 each from Ikea and look really good....can't wait to have to find a home for my set after the fair! (Already have a few places...)
Ready for the details?
Ok, so on the left as you enter our stall we'll have some of my handbags hanging and maybe perched on baskets on the floor. I hate having things on the floor, people don't like to bend down, plus it might be raining. It just looked a bit bare with nothing there so if it's fine then they'll start out there.
We had our helper (Dusband) string up some net curtain wire across the two side poles to hang things on sort of like a shopping type washing line and have used decorated pegs to hang these things. This is fairly flexible storage right here as you can increase the spacing as things sell so you don't look empty.
Underneath the hanging lines we've got the covered shelves which hold some covered cushions and a really old battered suitcase. I found it at the tip in one of the containers and (after asking permission) brought it home, cleaned it up and it makes fab storage for my brooches & hairslides on cards.
One of the tips we found was that people love a space for completing transactions. Somewhere to put their handbag down to rummage for their purse or to fill out mailing list sheets or order forms etc so we've tried to leave one end of the shelves fairly empty for that purpose.
We've got paper carrier bags to go into this basket ready for people's purchases. They're not pricey at around 11p per small bag and I think it really adds to the experience. Who wants to cart their handmade cushion around in an old bin bag?!
We've pegged up our price lists or receipt cards and when we've got our custom order forms printed (Lizzie's in charge of those) then we'll hang some there too. That way it's a go to area for us or any helpers for people who want information.
So on our first set of steel shelves we have Blizzard Yoodle on the top shelf (Can't remember the price...about £80 I think...contact loopylizziedesigns at hotmail.co.uk for more info), a bow pleat bag (I LOVE THIS BAG!) and a few clutch bags.
On the bottom shelf we have some beginner crochet kits...well we will when we get the labels and instructions printed up. The hooks will be in a pretty vintage mug
TIP: If you have chairs but you're not sitting in them. Put them away! We've seen all over the web that crafters who take chairs and leave them out inevitably end up with a 'customer' who doesn't buy anything but wants to sit there to rest for half hour and ends up telling you their life story.
Obviously if you have an elderly customer who looks like they could do with a rest then feel free to offer them a seat, but beware you don't get sucked into when they made a quilt for little flossie and the intervening years tale since. It will distract you from selling and your other customers who genuinely do need to talk to you.
This is a super exciting photo of...urm...what's not there lol. These wicker shelves though I had from freecycle a couple of years ago and when I upgraded my bookshelves from these to some big fat wooden types I kept them thinking they'd come in handy. I'm so glad I did because they fold out and you slot the shelves in. Easy! We've decided not to use the middle shelf so on each set the cushions can go on the bottom yet still be seen.
Here is our 'other corner' with mine and Lizzie's work combined. I seriously can't believe she made those yoodles....I wouldn't know where to begin! Then again, she says something similar about sewing!
I realised last weekend that although I have a nice amount of tissue pouches they're all a bit girly! I'd better whip up some less girly ones soon!!
Next to this on the right is where we will have our couple of chairs when Lizzie is crochetting with customers. I have a tarn rug to make with a hula hoop (tutorial to come all being well) for quiet times so that's our area for crafting.
I know some craft show people think it's important to stand near the entrance to your shop and be there poised for people to ask questions but I am of the opinion that customers want to be able to come in and have a browse and not be scared to pick things up to look at them. As long as they can see you're around and know where to ask for help (name badges!) then that's enough. Yes, strike up conversations but don't pounce...that's just not cool! (This is where having everything price labelled clearly comes in as well.)
And finally on the last pole as you're leaving our stall is a parasol hook I found for 50p brand new and unopened in the Ty Hafan charity shop that is ideal for hanging a couple of extra bags on!
Excuse the poor quality of my photos, it was by strip light in the hall and I forgot my camera so was using my phone.
Lizzie took a pic of me being faster than the speed of light....would you like to see it? I know you would....
A couple of other crafters who will be at the fair are the lovely Leigh from 'The Sewing Diva (and her reluctant models)' who introduced me to the Caerleon Arts festival and the lovely Shepherds Moon who's facebook event I seem to have invaded. Oops!
Enough links in that paragraph for you?
Anyway, any hints, tips, feedback, all appreciated! xx
Ok, so I've mentioned this a few times already but now here is the full details.
So, myself and my sister Loopy Lizzie (her real name is Lizzie not loopy Lizzie) have decided to take a stall at the Caerleon Arts & Crafts festival this year.
The festival runs from 8th July - 17th July 2011 and artists and craftspeople are invited to exhibit and sell their work during the final weekend of the festival which this year is 16th and 17th July.
Lizzie and myself have decided to take an outside space for the Saturday and are going to trade our way to happiness. (Hopefully!)
In this week I'll obviously become a bit of a craft fair bore so bear with me. This is our first craft fair and it's set to be a big & popular one so we're understandably excited!
Here's my top ten tips that I've scoured from around the web for doing craft fairs such as these.
#1 Book early. It just makes sense!
#2 Think about how you're going to display your items so that you have enough time to purchase display stands etc to make the most out of them.
#3 Try to spend as little as possible to achieve the most expensive/luxurious stall as possible
#4 Check this list by Sunshine Glass and from it write your own list of things to take. This will help you to gather your bits together.
#5 Shop your house when looking for ways to dress your stall
#6 Label EVERYTHING! People can be too embarrassed to ask for prices in case they can't afford things.
#7 Use your height to it's best advantage. Eye level for what you want to show off most.
#8 Do a mock up of your stall the week before so you've a chance to change things around or pick up extra supplies
#9 Have a very handy patient husband/friend who can do any structural engineering (stringing wires, hanging banners, building shelves etc) to free you up for the fannying around making things look nice.
#10 Be as organised as you can. Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail.
Anyway, I'll tell you more as the week goes on and share some of the goodies Lizzie and I have prepared and our stall. We've modelled it on a pop up shop and have a few extra tips for you.
So, myself and my sister Loopy Lizzie (her real name is Lizzie not loopy Lizzie) have decided to take a stall at the Caerleon Arts & Crafts festival this year.
The festival runs from 8th July - 17th July 2011 and artists and craftspeople are invited to exhibit and sell their work during the final weekend of the festival which this year is 16th and 17th July.
Lizzie and myself have decided to take an outside space for the Saturday and are going to trade our way to happiness. (Hopefully!)
In this week I'll obviously become a bit of a craft fair bore so bear with me. This is our first craft fair and it's set to be a big & popular one so we're understandably excited!
Here's my top ten tips that I've scoured from around the web for doing craft fairs such as these.
#1 Book early. It just makes sense!
#2 Think about how you're going to display your items so that you have enough time to purchase display stands etc to make the most out of them.
#3 Try to spend as little as possible to achieve the most expensive/luxurious stall as possible
#4 Check this list by Sunshine Glass and from it write your own list of things to take. This will help you to gather your bits together.
#5 Shop your house when looking for ways to dress your stall
#6 Label EVERYTHING! People can be too embarrassed to ask for prices in case they can't afford things.
#7 Use your height to it's best advantage. Eye level for what you want to show off most.
#8 Do a mock up of your stall the week before so you've a chance to change things around or pick up extra supplies
#9 Have a very handy patient husband/friend who can do any structural engineering (stringing wires, hanging banners, building shelves etc) to free you up for the fannying around making things look nice.
#10 Be as organised as you can. Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail.
Anyway, I'll tell you more as the week goes on and share some of the goodies Lizzie and I have prepared and our stall. We've modelled it on a pop up shop and have a few extra tips for you.
Here it is...go crazy with your opinions...
Ignore my daps kicked off to the side there....I was lazy when I came home yesterday and didn't put them away properly!
Ok, so the details
Anyone else think I need other leg solutions than jeans? I love wearing skirts but wax my legs so can only really wear them half the month. I'm still trying to decide whether those two weeks of super smooth legs is worth the two weeks of growing it again. Maybe this is too much info right here but hey, who needs shame?
Anyway, yes, so I need more trousers for summer when I can't wear skirts. Skirts with tights would also be a solution but maybe I need to see about getting some lighter coloured pattern tights as other tights are a bit too heavy for summer no matter how cold it is!
Anyway, opinions please?
p.s. I think this cardigan is one of my faves even if it is see through!
Ignore my daps kicked off to the side there....I was lazy when I came home yesterday and didn't put them away properly!
Ok, so the details
Cardi by Principles (via eBay) |
Flip flops from George at Asda £5 |
Anyway, yes, so I need more trousers for summer when I can't wear skirts. Skirts with tights would also be a solution but maybe I need to see about getting some lighter coloured pattern tights as other tights are a bit too heavy for summer no matter how cold it is!
Anyway, opinions please?
p.s. I think this cardigan is one of my faves even if it is see through!