ouch - skewered yarn ball!

so i'm still on a cross-stitch designing mission!

here's the latest crafty character

yarn ball

:D

this photo makes me laugh as he looks like he's parping <3

he he he!

poor yarn ball

>.<

that can't be comfortable!

> ouch <

i made this into a card for my knitting mad best friend

i hope she got her post before she sees this post!

Happy belated birthday Lisa

i miss you

BIG TIME

xXx

ooh get me i commissioned a piece of jewellery

Do you remember how i won a customised ring
in a blog giveaway last year?

http://maximumrabbitdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/06/hand-made-goodies-in-post.html

here it is below i LOVE it and wear it everyday

i think it is a great example of how blog giveaways work as a selling tool
because i liked it so much that i ordered one for my cousins 18th birthday
then my daughter liked my cousins so much i ordered one for her!
My cousin ordered one for her friend and my daughters friend also has one on her wish list!
it's like a domino effect!!!

*******
Anyway down to business!
it was my 40th birthday in July
and i wanted something special to commemorate it
so i looked on Etsy at silver stacker rings and found loads of pretty ones
i decided i wanted a stack of rings with three gem set ones
i researched birthstones
a ruby for me and my partner
an opal for my daughter
and a turquoise for my son
so then i got in touch with Nic of Murano Silver,
it was fun having a little rally of emails sorting out the details

Nic sent me photo's of gemstones she had in stock

when she had set the stones in bezels she sent me another photo
showing me a choice of ring bands with the stone blue tacked on

i had a choice of hammered or bark texture for the stone set rings

"bark"

"hammered"

i decided on hammered for the gem set and bark for the spacer rings

and then i waited

and today they arrived!


ooh twinkly!

and sparkly!

all together

or just the trio

i can't stop looking at them!

what i great experience from start to finish

thanks so much to Nicola for making me
exactly what i wanted

and a huge thank-you to Derek
for buying them for me :D xxx


http://www.muranosilver.com/

Dawlish holiday

We've just got home from our family summer holiday in Dawlish in South Devon,
we are very lucky to get to stay for free in the father out of laws house,
last year we were really lucky and had amazingly good weather
we were not so lucky this time
but to be honest there is so much to do locally it wasn't a problem

if you click on this photo you can see a steam train coming into Dawlish

it was a bit wet but the beach huts still look pretty!

the go-carts at Dawlish Warren

i've meaning to get this design stitched up for ages
i knew the evenings would involve a fair bit of *yawn* tv
so i took along all my cross stitch gear

my son had good fun trying on all the helmets at Torquay Museums summer exhibition

my daughter with i think a Celt
the exhibition had props from loads of films including Gladiator
it's a really lovely Museum and very child friendly

my brave children going for a dip!

we had a lovely but tiring day at Paignton Zoo
six hours of walking!

finished my spool strip tease!!!

this was taken at the play area in Teignmouth
luckily Grandad warned us about the water play!
Wish our local park was as good as this one, it was really fantastic.

Wednesday was the worst weather day
forcasted torrential rain all day
so we headed off to the BIG CITY of Exeter on the train
my credit card got a battering!!!

here are my lovely new shoes
{i'm a croc addict!}
perfect for rock pooling!

'tis serious business!

my partner found these star fish
i've never found one before
they were so sweet

loved the hermit crab too!

Grandad found a fish - my son picked up loads of shell fish
it was a lovely day :)
and a lovely {if soggy} holiday
so nice to spend time together without the distrations of home.

school's out for summer!

"proud artist"

I can't believe my little boy has finished
his first school year already!

"teacher gift"

thanks to his lovely teacher
he has really enjoyed school, he got a great school report, a scrapbook full of lovely and interesting observations and his speech has come on briliantly infact i'd go so far as to say it was as good as the rest of his classmates
:o)

"cute writing"

Don't you just love the way they get their letters
flipped round when they're learning?
At the beach the other day he wrote his name in the sand upside down and mirrored at the same time, i doubt he could've if he'd been trying too!

The canvas painting of his teacher was my sons own idea, he had decorated her a tote bag for christmas and he was very proud when she told him how much she liked it and used it for her "show and tell" :o)

i managed to summon up a little bit of crafty-ness and made her a mother-of-pearl button bracelet, which she was wearing and thanked me for when i collected him :o)

doesn't time just fly by?
oh yeah
*whispers*
i was forty nearly two weeks ago

*
omg
*

thrifty kitschy owls!

i found these owls this weekend


now some people think they're cute

and some people think they're creepy


i myself think they sooo cute they're almost creepy!

and look they're not just decorative but funtional too!

and off they go to my etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50827443/kitschy-vintage-owl-salt-and-pepper

oh and they are unused and come in their original
but rather tatty packaging
which i thought was rather nice too

Meridian Ariel's primitive dolls

"Eleanor"

my friend MeridianAriel has recently started making these primitive style monster dolls
i think they are great
i love the "grungified" treatment she gives them
and if you head over to her blog you can read their stories too

"Claudette and Lisette"

"Oona"

i think they are getting better with each monster doll she makes
i love Oona and her pretty doily dress
here's a bit of her story
"Oona likes spinning tales and lies spill from her mouth like wildflower honey . . . . ."

go to Meri's blog to read more

http://meridianariel.blogspot.com/

hoopla

i seem to be stockpiling embroidery hoops
which is hardly surprising when you see
how many fantastically varied
works of art you can frame in them!
to see these photo's bigger and linked to their creators click the link to my flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26594226@N04/4714859087/

the Alice legs going down the rabbit hole make me smile everytime!!!