"Dawlish"

we went to Dawlish in South Devon to test out my {not quite} father-in-laws holiday let

we had a great time despite the weather - which was no where near as bad as the forcast

these first two photo's were of the model village at Babbington, my son really enjoyed it the was loads to look at including a big train layout and a room of models of film characters, there was also a 4-D theatre which was fun! There were quite a lot of the model houses still under snow from the christmas display and as soon as you walked into that part you felt freezing!

after that we went to the Riviera Center in Torquay, my sons favourite thing to do is go swimming and there is a lovely pool there with a wave machine and a huge water slide, unfortunately(perhaps!) he is just a little too young to be allowed on it but he had a great time anyway.

***

Sunday was a lovely sunny day so we went down to the beach to build some sandcastles and collect shells,

i even found some sea glass.

my daft dog loves to jump in the sea - even in January!


it's a really pretty beach - in fact Dawlish is lovely.


we all had fun on the beach then went back to pack and then my son came down with a temperature , he slept on the way home and was off school monday/tuesday with i guess a virus - i controlled it with nurofen and kept my fingers crossed it wasn't an ear infection.
He was NOT happy to miss school and was quite cross with me!
on wednesday he was fine again and back to school with just a bit of a snuffle.
There seems to be more nasty than usual viruses about this year.

***
"watch the birdy"



i made this new brooch about a week ago but forgot to show it off!
i really like it so i'm keeping this one but may well make one for the shop too!


***
well i'm SO addicted to making felt brooches at the moment i even took some to sew in the evenings in Dawlish too - here's a couple i finished and i also finished off another but it's TOP SECRET for a swap - i love it and can't wait to post a picture!

felt toadstool brooch tutorial

i have posted a tutorial for my felt toadstool brooch over on cutoutandkeep.net

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/felt_toadstool_brooch

i love the site as it has so many great projects on it - my robot brooch tutorial was on the front page as the featured project the other day, i was really proud!

i also made this vintage haberdashery hair-clip a few days ago

i think i have a felt addiction ,

yesterday i made a flower brooch and a super cute owl brooch and today i've so far made two felt oranges and have started on a plum! i'm running out of felt so may have to go shopping for some new supplies!

i've had allsorts of ideas for felt brooches and bought some fab new sizzix dies for super fast cutting! I wish i could design my own dies though . . . .

ONE WHOLE YEAR OF BLOGGING!!!!

***** hApPy NeW yEaR *****

so i've gone felt brooch cRaZy!

they take me ages to make so i don't know if i'll be trying to sell them or not

these first two were quite quick but the later styles take quite a lot of sewing

i'm finding them quite therapeutic to make though!

christmas present for my aunty

christmas present for my artist uncle

i'm still loving the toadstools!

close up!

i found a great website called cut out and keep

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/

where people post tutorials and show off their new projects - it's well worth a look - so far i have made this cute tape measure brooch and helped my daughter make the no sew tu-tu for her new years costume.

i also added a tutorial for these new robot brooches

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/robot_felt_brooch

my daughter was feeling left out so requested a robot - which was great as i wanted to make one anyhow!

"push my buttons!"

"hello!"


so i realised i've been blogging for over a year already!


i've really enjoyed it and have made so many new friends since i started reading blogs and joining forums and doing crafty swaps. Thank-you to everyone who follows my blog and makes time to comment on my posts and my photo's on Flickr - i love to read what you think about my stuff!

i had some bad computer problems at the end of last year and now it's all sorted out and working so much better - luckily nothing was lost BUT i can't get into my flickr account which is driving me nuts especially as i have christmas money to go "pro" - hoping to get this resolved very soon as i really want to make a compilation picture of all the things i made this year.

ps. i told my Mum about the bauble tragedy and i'm still alive to tell the tale

merry christmas and a happily crafty new year!

sizzix dictionary snowflakes

we had a lovely Christmas break - i hope you all did too - just posting a few festive photo's today - my computer has come back from the brink of doom i thought i was going to lose it and everything on it - scary - there are still some things i can't get back to normal including FLICKR which is driving me crazy as i have christmas money to go "pro" and stacks of photo's to upload.

do you see these gorgeous vintage glass baubles?

i begged my mum to lend them to me

i lovingly hung them on my tree

they look beautiful .

do you see my mum's other lovely vintage glass baubles?

my loving partner decided i was taking too long putting up the christmas decorations

he decided to put them away

at the same time as he was carrying lots of other things

we have a tiled hallway

guess what?

they don't bounce

GRRRRRR

lucky for him i was looking after pre-schoolers that day

but i nearly cried

and i haven't told my mum yet

yep - i live with DR WHO

i spent the time left between cooking dinner, eating sweets and unwrapping presents

making this adipose felt brooch for my Mum

here's me and DR WHO out for a walk on christmas day walking off our HUGE dinner!

******third prize******

thank-you to everyone who voted for my christmas tree

i came third which i am really proud of :0)

the cute angels won - they were very sweet - i voted for them myself!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17778320

still available to buy on etsy!!!

vote vote vote!!!

ooohhh look my vintage button christmas tree got featured on Shirley at BeadBag's blog

http://beadbag.blogspot.com/

Shirley's blog is really interesting and full of colour and inspiration

it's well worth a look

i entered my christmas tree in the craftjuice christmas competition and it is doing really well

BUT i need more votes!

so if you love it please vote for it !

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=vintage_haberdashery_christmas_trees-2

the competition runs intil the 19th of December

but look here

there are loads of other really great entries in the competition

here are my favourites - in no particular order!

pennydog's glittery fawn

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Snowy_Reindeer_resin_pendant

claire p's fat robin!

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Rolley_Robin

majito's cute angels

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Etsy

_o1keeshagirls gorgeous porcelain angels

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Etsy__keeshagirl4__German_porcelian_doll_ornament

leah's winning stockings from the crafter...oo competition

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Christmas_Wall_Hanging__Stockings

and Jezzabell's soft and snuggly mittens

http://www.craftjuice.com/story.php?title=Etsy__jezzabell13__Frosted_Crochet_Mitten

so get voting people!


please!

crafter..oo

have you all checked out the crafter..oo forum yet?

it's a great place to

- make friends - get advice - get inspired - show off your crafting -

you can also add your shops and blogs to your signature so it's free advertising as well

i've made loads of great new friends over there

hope to see you over there soon!

http://www.crafteroo.co.uk/