busy Christmas making!

bambi pom-pom wreath

deer pom-pom wreath

watch the birdy bauble

snowy gnome wreath

glittery angel bauble

cute russian doll clips

frosty the snowman clip

fruity clips!

sorry i've been neglecting my blog lately but i'm busy making stock to fill my shop for Christmas :)

revamped vintage baubles

recycled linens/doileys to new tote bags :)

there are more photo's and info on my shop's facebook page 

The-MaGpiEs-Nest

i'd love it if you'd "like" my page and share it with friends please

Merry Christmas everyone 

x xXx x

"Commotion in the Ocean"

 So here is my first attempt at a fascinator!

I was approached by a Mum from school about making her a hat for a fancy dress party, she sent me a photo of a crazy sea themed fascinator and asked if i could make something similar for her. Admitting i was rather nervous to take it on having never done anything like it before we emailed a few times and met up to discuss it further. 

I decided that yes i could do it and got my teeth thoroughly into the project!

here is the start

 and here is the end result

 i made a little corsage to go with it too

 it's not easy taking photo's of yourself!

i used loads of beads and shells all stitched on individually

and some long curly dried grasses to represent seaweed, 

the original photo sent to me had long grasses sticking straight up from the hat 

but i decided sideways was better and less chance of getting caught up in lampshades!

here is a photo of the party girl herself 

wearing my first ever fascinator!

Louise added some fish to the veil.

I think it definitely fitted the theme

"Commotion in the Ocean"

I loved making this fascinator, so i bought a bunch of millinery supplies and already have my next order from my daughter, who is by the way 18 years old on Wednesday, now how the hell did that happen?!

Autumnal Wreath

my new autumn wreath in the window 

with the beautiful autumn sun shining on it.

I love this time of year

i'm looking forward to lighting the fire 

and snuggling up under my lap quilt

watching movies with my boy :)

Teignmouth Re-cycled Sculptures

 

this is a wishing tree

you selected a strip of fabric

and made your wish as you tied it on

it reminded me of the tree at Aphrodite's Rock in Cyprus.

 

 

I had a special wish to make. 

The wishing tree was made by

 AmyOrangeJuice

 

 

loved this pyramid

 

no doubt you can see what i especially liked about this piece!

 

the boy's favourite side

 

 

I love going to have a look at the re-cycled sculptures at Teignmouth

when we go on our summer holiday to Dawlish.
{click on the photo's to see them better}


the MaGpiE's Nest

 finally decided on a name!

perfect description of my mind!

I'm in my new shop and it's changing by the day!

I'm like a little kid playing at shops - i'm so pleased to finally have my own space - i can leave my stuff all over the place - buy new stock and have an excuse - and best of all play with buttons for several hours a day!!!

Since i took these photo's "the man" very kindly bought me a gert big worktable so i'm just waiting for my sewing machine to come back from the menders and i'll be ready to "make"!!!

Come and visit me :)

first steps in world domination!

Hello sorry i've been so quiet lately but i have been planning my first steps in world domination!
I have applied and been accepted to take on a shop unit in my local market - i'm really excited and just cannot wait to get started! I take over the unit in early July so am now trying to source suitable furniture and fittings to make my shop pretty :)

Here is a link to the markets facebook page Bideford Pannier Market please go and have a look and maybe like the page if you do. There are lots of brilliant small businesses in the Market building,  potters and woodcarvers, a stained glass workshop, a sweet shop, a mini art gallery and lots of shops and stalls selling "lovely things" :)

Here is a photo of the market during the Jubilee celebrations, it was really lovely up there and there were lots of childrens craft workshops there, me and my son went to Golden-Bear-Belts amazing studio and made leather crown shaped pendants. If you have ever seen French and Saunders sketch of middle class mummys trying to do crafting with their children you will understand why Louise the owner suggested i make my own ;)

    My unit is in the main market hall and is quite a little shop - i wonder how much stuff i can squeeeeeze in to it?!

  I will be opening in early July and will be keeping you updated with developments {probably boring the pants off you} i'm sooooo excited!!!!

Crafter...oo Magazine - issue 3 - OUT NOW!!!

follow the link below to find out how to buy

ISSUE 3

http://www.crafteroo.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,8757.0.html

there are 18 great projects in issue 3

plus lots of great features

also a recipe for

"tangerine sweet rolls"

which look delicious

you've got me all at sea

you've-got-me-all-at-sea-necklace-etsy shop

here is a new altered vintage map pendant

{available in my Etsy shop} 

this is an altered art microscope slide necklace.
I have used two pieces of vintage cloth backed map and added text and embroidery

 i have then sandwiched a piece of lace between the two map pieces and glass slides

 which have then been placed in a metal frame.

i've also reduced the price of the two others i have in my shop

so they are all at the same price now

$16.50

or around ten english pounds dependant on conversion rate :)

hApPy eAsTeR eVeRyBoDy

hope y'all have

a very

hApPy eAsTeR

xxx

goodbye Spike x

Spike checking out his new house - april 2011

A year ago we welcomed Spike the Hedgehog to live in our garden,

i thought this would be a great idea as i had wanted to get a hedgehog to eat up

all our slugs and snails, we have a walled garden and there are so many hiding places

for the slimy pests! {apparently slugs are only a tiny part of their diet}

So i got in touch with a local wildlife sanctuary and when the hedgehogs were out of hibernation,

i got a home visit to check my garden was suitable and that i had a home for the hedgehog,

we had to do a little more work to hedgehog proof the garden.

We were very excited when the day came for our hedgehog to arrive :)

It was lovely to have such close contact with a native wild animal

but i was expecting the rescue hedgehog to have some sort of disability,

something that would mean being released back into the wild would not be possible.

It turned out that Spike was a fit and healthy hog.

Ok i thought, he will be safe in our garden, he will be fed and watered,

we may even be lucky enough to see him occasionally.

This arrangement went well for a few months,

Spike would be seen occasionally,

one summer night he even came in the house without anyone knowing

and got locked in the utility overnight!

Then in September we realised we'd not seen Spike for sometime

we were still leaving out food which he wasn't eating

and it unfortunately attracted a rat *skin crawls*,

so we stopped leaving out the food and got rid of the rat problem.

After consulting with the Wildlife Sanctuary

we decided Spike was either hibernating or had died :(

I felt awful and worried Spike may have gotten stuck behind a shed or something

or bitten by the rat and died :'(

BUT

Spike wasn't dead!

He came back out of hibernation and i was so happy :D

BUT

unfortunately our new dog Max is an avid hunter

and every single night without fail he would hunt poor old Spike down :(

So we came to the decision that the territory was just not big enough for the both of them.

Luckily for us {and Spike} my Uncle and Aunt own some woodland

just the perfect place - away from roads and pesky dogs - to release a hedgehog.

a last "cuddle" with Spike

one of the reasons Spike needed a new enviroment!

beautiful Spike

Spike's new home.

I hope he will be happy in his new home,

I hope he will meet a lady hog and make beautiful baby Spikes.

ooh . . . .

new fabrics

loving the lime

and the spots

bought from the lovely Julia @ Gone to Earth

http://www.gonetoearth.co.uk/

for sewing in the sunshine :)

here be pirates!!!

For my day job i am a childminder.

Some of the kids i mind are in the same year as my son,

their topic this half term has been pirates and

one of the girls asked if we could have a pirates day :)

Why not i thought!

for their snack i made them orange jelly pirate ships

when we got home from school

the children drew this fantastic pirate map

mermaids - treasure map - footprints

you can click on the photo's to see more details

they also did a pirate colouring sheet that i printed off from the internet

then they made compasses

we used cheese spread trinangles boxes

and used a paper fastener/brad to make a moving pointer.

I'd also gathered up kitchen & wrapping paper tubes to make moving telescopes

the tutorial said it was suitable for 6yrs+ but to be honest it was too hard

so i was in charge of telescopes!

yummy!

Today the children went on a short trip to a tiny local beach/cove

i went along to help, some of the children dressed up as pirates, some of the TA's did too

here is my son all ready for his adventure!

At the beach the children had a picture treasure hunt,

next they made natural sculptures,

my son made a lovely pirate boat but unfortunately my camera doesn't show this!

For some reason whatever setting i choose it cannot cope with sun and sand!

Finally the children hunted for the lost pirates treasure

and found a treasure chest full of chocolate!

great fun!!!

"arrrrrrrr Jim Lad!"