Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very happy New Year...... here's to a cracking 2011!

My New Years resolution = to be a better blogger!!!

Join me on Sunday for the first Show & Tell of the New Year...... What are your hopes & dreams for 2011???

Have a great evening 

 

Snowy Christmas

My, my I've been away for a while..... sorry about that. 

Last Friday saw the first of the snow for sunny Devon & it hasn't gone away. On Monday the heavens opened for 3 whole hours...wow I love snow!!!! What I don't love is ice which is what we have now :(

What big feet you have Nanny!!!

So last Sunday I thought I better make the effort to get a bit christmassy, I had a sinking cold (yet another joy of retail!!!) but I think it came out pretty well....

Only a few decorations this year as I was feeling too poorly to go to the loft but I did treat myself to a fake Christmas tree...

I don't normally like fake trees but I thought this had a real retro feel & it was such a bargain I couldn't say no! 

I was working in Bristol last week & it would be rude not to pop to Cath!!

Back in November I brought this lovely biscuit tin from M&S.....

Looking forward to cracking these open on the big day!!!

 

It's been my day off today & with the ice being so bad we've had a lazy day in..... watching TV & playing games. I need to make the most of my 2 days off!
The scene is now set..... tree lights on, Silver Bells burning on the mantle piece & some homemade brownies.......

So my friends it's Merry Christmas from me.......

and here's to a crafty 2011!

A Christmas List....

Hello everyone..... good weekend?

I had a good time in the big city & my back held up. On the way back to the station we stopped off for coffee in one of my favourite pubs..... check out this amazing fire place...

I saw this Christmas list on Floss's blog & I thought it would be fun..... here goes....

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider? 
Hot chocolate at home - Cider in the pub!!!
 
2. Turkey or Ham?
Can I have both? I love turkey it's my favourite roast but OH hates it so we only have it once a year.... the best thing about Christmas ... that & bread sauce :)
 
3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
I love real trees, I try to get a potted one so it can go in the garden. I don't always have a tree so it's a bit hit & miss..... I've found a lovely retro fake tree this year!

 
4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
ooohhh yes please! OH won't let me :( My parents always have lights in the garden, it makes me smile.
 
5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
Sledding..... I'll use anything....bin bags, trays.... I'm not fussy!

6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
I don't like shopping!
 
7. Favorite Christmas song?
ooohh I love them all..... I have been known to reindeer dance to the Phil Spector Christmas CD!

 
8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
Love 'em
 
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
Never.... if you know me you'll know I like a nice sing song to Christmas tunes. I drive everyone mad at work!
 
10. Stockings before or after presents?
Before
 
11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
I don't go anywhere...... for the last 20 years me & OH have spent it alone, I like it that way. In fact I don't get out my PJ's! It's the same every year....turkey, bottle of real coke & then a nap with my pussy cats.... bliss!!
 
12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
mmmm nope.... sorry :( 
 
13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
Sleep!!!
 
14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
Christmas trees.... I also love the smell of Yankee candles silver bells
 
15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
Can I watch ice skating??? Don't like doing it but rather watch then shop!
 
16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
Christmas day....... Christmas eve is just wrong!
 
17. Favorite Christmas memory?
Waking up early when I was very young to find Father Christmas had left me & my sisters a monkey hanging from the end of our beds..... you should have heard the screams!!!

 
18. Favorite Part about winter?
Jack Frost, Christmas music, jumpers, hats, porridge..... I like winter :)
 
19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe? 
Now that would be telling!!!!!!!

If you've enjoyed reading my Christmas list why not give it ago.... here's the questions if you want to cut & paste

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider?
2. Turkey or Ham?
3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
7. Favorite Christmas song?
8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
10. Stockings before or after presents?
11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
17. Favorite Christmas memory?
18. Favorite Part about winter?
19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?

Fancy seeing Nanny in his ribbon corsage...

Check out my Folksy Christmas shop for the special offer.... be quick last orders Sunday 19th December.

I'll be back later this week.

It's coming around fast.......

Hello everyone, well the days are ticking away..... are you nearly ready?
I've been so busy I haven't really thought about the big day! I only need to get a few presents but I'm leaving it til the last minute which is not a good thing!

So Friday saw me head off to the local pre school Christmas fair..... it was cold, icy & raining..... not a good combo when you're asking people to come out to spend some dosh!

Well they didn't come :( Last year this fair was so good I decided this would be the only one I would do....... I'm wondering if people are getting fed up with craft fairs? About 18 months ago you couldn't find a good fair anywhere in Exeter but how times have changed! They're popping up everywhere & I think shoppers are thinking if they miss this one it doesn't matter. 

What's your thoughts on this?

I was lucky as I did sell somethings.... other people didn't have a customer all night & started packing up after an hour.

This is still my best seller after all this time..... they've been selling really well on Folksy too :)

These have also been popular.....

So I've been a busy bee re stocking :)

Last night was the Make, Do and Mend Christmas party....

I came so close to cancelling as my back has been playing up over the last week but with the help of some good friends & lovely Make, doers it went ahead.....

and what a great time we had :)

Every month we seem to get busier & busier..... I can't tell you how happy it makes me! I'm getting lovely feedback saying how good it is & how it's inspired people to make all their presents...... I feel like a proud parent :)

Last night we had a mini fair so people could purchase presents.... I was very happy with my take but it all passed in a blur as I was drugged up on pain killers.....
at least I was smiling!!!!

Thanks to everyone who came :)

Friday sees me heading off to the big smoke to see The Men They Couldn't Hang....

I'm very excited!!!! This will be their last gig at The 100 club in Oxford St as it's closing in the new year..... have you ever been? I love it, it's like stepping back in time..... so sad it's closing :(

I'm trying to keep up blogging but it's getting hard..... please bear with me & I'll be back when I can :)

November

Blimey that was quick!!!! I didn't even get time to draw breath in November & I've just noticed that I only did 4 posts!!!

I've been so busy in the last few weeks, not only did I organize the Children In Need event a couple of weeks ago but I've also been working hard on Habitat's Christmas Shopping evening for tomorrow night. 

That's on top of making stock for the local school fair I'm doing on Friday & replenishing stock that I've sold through Folksy! I'm also arranging the Make, Do and Mend Christmas party for next week...... 

The list goes on so you can see why I haven't been blogging so much!

Normal service will resume soon..... I hope!!!

I hope you're keeping warm...... it's been very chilly here but no snow :(

They forecast it tonight from 9pm..... that's not fair I'll be asleep!!!

Promise to come back soon & start leaving comments again. Off to make Christmas stockings decorations..... only another 6 to make!!!

Hello......

Another week is over & I've noticed I haven't done a post in that time..... I just wanted to let you know I'm still here!!!

Anyone watching I'm a Celeb????
I'm not liking Gillian..... what's going on with her back?

On Saturday we arranged our first charity event at work and what a great day it was..... we raised £240 in about 4 hours!!!

I was really happy (worn out!) with that..... just think if I can do that for Children In Need imagine what I could do for kittens!! I feel a PDSA event coming on.... I wonder if our customer would be so generous????

Hope you all have a good week....any plans????

Little Treats

Hello everyone..... good week??

I've had a funny week & haven't been feeling very happy...... I guess it's the weather & the fact it's dark when I leave & when I get home :(

It's going to be a long winter unless I give myself a kick up the back side!!!

On Wednesday I went to Otter Nurseries for the tea dance.... no photo's this year as no one dressed up but you can read about last year here. 

On Thursday I managed to escape from work to dash to the Cathedral for the 11am service & today I've enjoyed watching the BBC coverage.

It's amazing isn't it? How does it run so smoothly?

So I've been treating myself, first up my lovely new deer's that my friend Claire found in Otto Retro..... thanks Claire!

This is the photo she sent me from the shop asking if I like.... well silly question really!!!

I need to clean them up & try to fit them on the deer shelf :)

I then spotted this on Folksy....

I don't really wear jewellery but I really like this, I may change the velvet ribbon to red!

You can find more like this here

Then today I was opening my Internet & Jayne's shop came up, I've had something in mind for weeks but couldn't decided if I should buy..... I then had a panic, what if she sold them at the fair on the 28th.... well I had to buy..

Lovely :)

Hopefully my goodies will cheer me up!

This also made me smile while waiting for the bus...

A lovely frosty morning, much better then the horrible rain.

I was trying out a new app on my phone & I remembered I haven't shown you this when I was talking about needlepoint etc

I made him years ago, he's a little dusty now :) mmm nice slippers in the corner!

Hope next week is better at work.... if I remember rightly I felt like this before but what I wouldn't give to leave & knit all day!!!

I'm planning an event on Saturday 20th as we have the annual Christmas parade....with real reindeer's!!!.... they pass the shop about 11.30ish & we're planning to have competitions, treats & a raffle for children in need..... so if you're in Exeter next weekend please pop in & say hello...... I'll be the stressed one in the corner as the store manager is taking the weekend off!!!

Have a good week

'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning

We will remember them'

We're all going to the zoo!!!!

Hope you've all had a good week.

Today should be show & tell Sunday but as October has gone so fast I hadn't planned anything ..... so I'm doing my own show & tell...... the zoo!!!

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Dartmoor Zoo with my friend Charlie & family....and what a fantastic day out it was!!!

Now I know some people aren't keen on zoos but I thought it was great & would recommend it to anyone. Although it was half term it was very quite & unlike many zoo they didn't seem keen to get you to spend money while there! Luckily we had taken a picnic as there wasn't much food for sale, it was lovely sat in the autumn sunshine eating our pack up with a flask of tea!

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know I love animals, my favourites are of course cats but I do have a soft spot for deers...any deer will do!!!

I was lucky they're both there...... not many monkeys but that suits me just fine, not that keen!!!

So I'm saving the best til last....

As we headed up the hill I saw him sat on the rock & my heart skipped a beat..... I couldn't believe how close we got.

Just before 2pm we went back to see them being fed, this only happens every other day so we were very glad it was tiger day. As we waited a man came out & asked if anyone wanted to go in the tiger house!!!! ooohhhhh me please!!!!

There was only 6 places so I quickly signed up.... it wasn't cheap but it's something I've always wanted to do

Look how close I was....

They were pacing up & down so much I couldn't take photo's :( but the memory will stay forever....as will the smell!!!!!

It was such a good day out....... if you don't know the story of the zoo pop over to the web site here...... there's also a book & a film will be coming soon!!!

It's a lovely story, there was a documentary on TV about 3 years ago called 'Ben's Zoo'...did you see it? I did but it's taken 3 years to get there!

Do visit they need all the help they can get :)

Have a good week

October

Well another month is over & the Christmas rush has began!!

October has been a funny month for me, after being ill for most of it I feel it's gone by in a flash!

But all in all a good month - a great Make, Do and Mend at the beginning with a record number of people, then meeting Cath & receiving my new book, 4 sales on Folksy & Etsy & to top it off an amazing visit to the zoo last week!!!

I'll show you the zoo photo's very soon - if we're friends on Facebook you may have already seen them.

Just to remind you all the Innocent hats are now in the shops...... don't forget to look out for ours!!!

Off for a nap now..... stock take day yesterday so it was a 15 hour day....10 hours with no break & getting home at 1am!!!! Very sleepy now :(

Back soon

Happy Halloween

Enjoy your day whatever you're doing :)

Folksy

Hello everyone..... hope you're all having a good half term :)

Today I thought we'd talk about Folksy..... now I'm sure you've all taken a look at some point but have you brought?

There's loads of things & some times it can be a bit over whelming so I though I'd share a few of my favourite things...

Firstly.....

Remembrance day is just around the corner so go on treat yourself!

I love this shop....so many lovely things :)

Another favourite shop

I'll be buying some of these for Christmas

I can just see this little fellow on my hand bag

I think I'll be buying most of my presents from here this year..... much nicer then the high street shops.

And if you're looking maybe you could pop over to my shop...

I had a fantastic day out yesterday which I'll be telling you about another time

Crafty Week

I hope you've all had a great week & you're looking forward to half term next week.

I can't believe it's back to work for me tomorrow..... it's been 2 weeks :(

As you know I was off this week & I stayed at home nearly everyday as I just didn't feel well enough to veture out. On Friday I had to visit London for work & I found it very draining.

But I've had a really good week....... I've been really crafty so I thought I'd take part in Crafty Sunday to show you what I've done...

Do you want to see????

So what do you think??? Told you I've been busy!

I've been listing daily on Folksy.... I've taken part in the October Folk Fest so my shop has been filling up nicely.

Go & take a peep here

And the good news is it seems to be working as I've had 2 sales this week.... 1 from Folksy & 1 from Etsy so I'm very happy.

This is what I sold....

So I'm now knitting more tea cosies as I recieved an email from someone who wants to stock them in her shop :)

Last week I told you about my purchases from Cath.... want to see what I brought?

I'm loving this print at the moment. I went to the Kings Road store on Friday to get my salt & pepper pots.... guess what??? They'd sold out :(

So I came home & went online to order..... they're sold out there too!
Will I ever get them? :(

Hope you all have a good week