Calm...

After all the drama at the weekend the doctors have told us that Hubby's heart is fine, just 'one of those things' , an irregular heartbeat which can happen occasionally. He's been taking it easy and hopefully be all back to normal soon. Meanwhile I've been trying to get things made and feel like I'm getting nowhere fast! I have some projects on the go but can't get any of them finished until payday, when I can get the bits I need! I did however manage to finish another little bag tonight, lovely spotty handbag.....pictures tomorrow if it's sunny!

As we woke up to snowy mountain tops again this morning I thought I would share these pictures with you all, taken a couple of weeks ago, just up on the Fell behind our house. We are so fortunate to live in a beautiful area of the UK and sometimes it takes a breathtaking view to remind us just how fortunate!!

    Looking down over our nearest town, yes,those mountains are real....don't they look just like a backdrop in a film!!?

Dumpty dump de diddy de dump.....

That was the sound my poor hubbys heart was making this afternoon! Not quite the usual steady thumping sound so after persuading him that he really couldn't go and help out at our local church tonight as planned we packed the kids in the car and headed for the local hospital! Fortunately there was only one other person in the A & E dept so he got seen straight way and put through a barrage of tests before being transferred to the larger hospital in Lancaster (about 20 miles from us). They are keeping him in for 'observation' tonight and we will wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Just had a call from him and he's feeling a bit better but has to have the nurses take him to the loo....poor soul!!  

Day after My Birthday Day!

As we were busy yesterday, today was my 'Birthday Day' instead. After being ousted out of my bed far too early and told to get ready we were off. I had no idea where we were heading! So I thought I would share today with you all.....

First stop was Farfield Mill over at Sedbergh, I've mentioned it before on the blog so sorry if it's a bit of a repeat. This is an old woollen mill which has been converted into exhibition and studio space for local artists and craftspeople, with quite a few different businesses in there, from Green woodworking to weaving to rag rugging to jewellery.....so many pretty things to look at!! We chatted for a little while with one of the artists, a lady called Mary Taylor who does Embroidered Textiles and Jewellery (see her work here). She was lovely and showed us how she builds up her embroidery pictures...wow I never realised it took so much work! Amazing!

After having a refreshing coffee and cake we then headed out to The WoolClip, a shop for all things woollen which is a co-operative of 15 members who show and sell their work here. More pretty things to look at!!  Hubby succeeded in chatting up the ladies in the shop to get some information about weaving which he is hoping to take up... can't leave him alone for a second!!  Soup and coffee next then off for a drive to the coast
for driftwood searching!

Did lots of driving across the beautiful Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria, listening to Narnia as we went (mainly to keep the kids happy!) and have had a lovely day seeing loads of inspiring and gorgeous work and scenery!! A great 'day after Birthday day'!!




AND.....just to make it even better I got a very Pretty Lavender Keyring in the post this morning from Debs at DinkyDaisy  after winning her Blog Giveaway. I chose the Cupcake one hiding at the back and it's gorgeous!! Thanks Debsxx

Chocolate Cake Heaven.......Folksy Friday

Today is my birthday and in celebration of my favourite cake ,which is of course....chocolate with buttercream icing, here is my Folksy Friday all about it!!

   Chocolate Cake Coin Purse - DinkyDaisy 

Slice of Chocolate Cake - Woolly Wotnots 

Chocolate Orange Cake Neckace - LightBlue Square Design 

Black Chcolate Voodoo Cake Dubble Bubble Bar - Posh Brats Bath & Body Boutique 

 Rocky Road Cupcake Candle - Purple Sparkle Crafts

 Super-Duper Cupcake - Treaclezoo 

I can hear that chocolate cake calling....................

Sewing Dunce!!

You know when you have an idea running around your head, you can see it in your minds eye but just can't figure out how to do it??

I do occasionally venture into the world of sewing but haven't done any for a little while so when my big idea of making some Mini Tote Bags from my stash of upholstery material came down to action my brain went into overload!! Ok... I know all you sewing bods out there are probably saying ....'Tote Bags...Easy!!' ...well I'm a bit rusty to say the least. I spent forever trying to figure out how to attach the lining to the main part and have the handles in the right place when I pulled it all through. My brain ached!! How could something so simple be so baffling?! The sad thing is I've made these before a few times so I really should know by now....DOH!

I finally figured it out after and managed to complete the bag but will I remember it for next time?.......probably not!! I think the only thing I can do is keep making them for now and eventually it will go in!! The bag turned out lovely, (well I think so) and hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow so I can get some pictures done.

There's still time.....

......to get your Easter presents!!

That was a huge hint that I have some lovely Easter goodies in my Folksy shop....
http://www.folksy.com/shops/gnomead!!

Subtle aren't I!!

Two days ago I had to sort out my 'craft cupboard' as I neede to squeeze even more stuff into it. I managed to sort through all my bits of fabric and fit in the new load I've just been given by a local upholsterer. All their lovely, lovely offcuts of upholstery fabrics which were destined for the bin...fantastic! With that and my two boxes of felted wool offcuts, which I was given by a Scottish mill we sometimes do piece work for, I have stacks of material to use.! My brain was busy whirring away while sorting and I've now started to wade my way through it all to make good use of all these beautiful materials. Now, I'm not the greatest sewer (don't tell anyone!) but after a disastrous first attempt I came up with these little 'nests' or bowls....

The insides are lined with repurposed wool from the mill so make a great little tray for precious jewellery...but for now they are 'nests' for some felted Easter Eggs...

The next lot will soon to be made into a little bag as the material was just crying out to be used!!

Stumpy's Friends

Last week seems to have been a bit manic, I haven't really had much time or energy to make anything but did manage to get some fun Sheepy magnets done! In honour of my funny little avator sheep 'Stumpy'.

On Saturday we had another Felting workshop at our local church. Although not many people turned up we had loads of space and time to get on with some projects which would never have got finished at home. Hubby and friend were busy making a felt wall hanging for the church to hang up at Easter, they had already completed one and were just working on the second. This is the work in progress.....

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I will try to get some photos once they are up, they look great at the moment, we have one hung in our living room while waiting for Easter!!

Computer Friday....

Well, today is Folksy Friday again and while trying to think of a theme, I was reminded of a conversation I'd had with someone earlier in the week. Their daughter is busy doing a Silversmithing course at University and makes some beautiful jewellery and as part of her studies she was writing an essay on recycling materials. Her dad works with computers so she is trying to combine the two...computers and jewellery!! All those boxes of spare parts he has sitting at home could be put to very good use!! (just gone to look and found her on here, so she's first on my list!!)

Sooooo I had a quick mooch around Folksy and I've come up with some similar ideas and some a bit more obscure!! Not being a great computer geek myself I didn't think this would be particularily interesting but I think you'll agree it's quite intriguing to see what can be done. For all you computer nerds....enjoy!!

Computer Pod Necklace - ERA Timeless Jewellery

 

Computer Key Ring in Black - Ladygeek...

21st Century Fossil - computer mouse - KB Sculptures

 

A striking wooden memory stick 2GB - Tree Gems

 

3.5" Floppy Disk Notepad - ReturnVoid Geekware

Circuit Board Twist Pen - Sovereign Pens UK

Woolly Finds...

I haven't been up to much the last couple of days, been busy and really, really tired.

After a cancellation of plans for today we decided to have a drive up to our favourite little charity shop in Shap. This is one of the very few charity shops in our area which hasn't been hit by 'Tourist Fever'  (in other words...tourist prices!!) It's run by some little old ladies who sit around, drink tea and catch up on all the village gossip with their mates! It's quite amusing to listen too at times! They are lovely and they charge peanuts (compared to other charity shops) so we always make a special effort to take our bits up there when we need to and of course have a good rummage around too. Then we went on up to Penrith for lunch and charity shop hunting there. Just in the last shop we were just about to walk out of the door when I spotted a basket full of wool. There were loads of really unusual colours and almost whole packs so of course we just had to buy the whole lot!! Not sure what we are going to do with it all but as my hubby always says 'it will come in handy one day'!! So a successful day after all.

I'm trying to get some sheepy things made at the moment but they seem to be taking forever as I just can't get the oomph to do much in the evenings, hopefully my energy will return very soon!!

'By The Seaside' Wall Frieze - now listed!!!

It's done, it's finished...at last!! Just listed in my Folksy shop......

Three hand hooked pictures made with 100% recycled materials on lovely driftwood hangers. Very Happy!!

Beach Day.

We had Mothers Day early today as we are all busy, busy, busy tomorrow so we decided on a day at the Seaside. It's a bit of a drive from where we are to the coast but it's through beautiful scenery most of the way so well worth the effort!! So we packed up the buckets, spades, picnic, coats, hats and kids! and headed off to St. Bee's (NW coast).

















We stopped on the way over Hardknott Pass, which is a very narrow, very windy, very steep road over the mountains in the Lake District, to have a look at a Roman Fort right at the top. This is a beautiful area but very wild and in the middle of nowhere, I'm sure the Romans stationed there must have done something very wrong to be left there!!



Then onto St. Bee's and a happy hour or so beach-combing and sand-castle building before heading back for a lovely tea out. Aaaah bliss!

Those of you who read my Twitter or Facebook probably know I've been whinging about a sore hand and wrist, so for those of you who don't I'll whinge here too!!! After spending a lot of days working on my next Folksy item, which is a hand hooked Seaside wall frieze, my hands were sore, this seems to have developed into something a bit worse in one of my hands. I have a feeling it's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and it is VERY painful at times, got to go to the Doctor's this week and see what he thinks but obviously this means I can't do any crafty things at the moment which is extremely frustrating. I spent most of today with my arm in a sling (on orders from Hubby!!) so we'll see if it just magically goes but it doesn't seem to be yet. GRRR!

 

Friday again......

Well, it's Friday again and we have spent a fantastic day at our Home Ed group doing Digital Arts. A local Arts charity brought in loads of amazing digital applications, one being a music mixer where you can mix you own music on the computer. Don't know all the technical terms but this could be another way you could spend hours on the computer!! I WANT ONE!!

Anyway...... it's Friday..... so that means it's Folksy Friday and keeping with the theme of seaside and because we spent a lovely day last week on the beach looking for all those treasures you can find, I thought I would look for some Driftwood items. WOW!!! What gorgeous stuff! Here's just a few of my very favourite's, it was really hard to decide and I WANT ALL OF THESE TOO!!!  

Driftwood Chair - by Julius Driftwood Furniture

Driftwood Boat - by Driftwood Boat Builders

Story Telling Chair - by Free Range Designs

Slate and Driftwood Shelf - by Driftwood Designs

Driftwood Heart - by Kirsty Elson Designs

Driftwood Clock - by Artiology

Aren't they just beautiful!?

Catching up.....

Hurrah!!! At last I have a lovely new (to us!) computer and it is sooo fast!! I knew our last one was on a go slow but never realised just how slow until now!! What a difference.....so now I can catch up with all those computer jobs I've been putting off, catching up with the Link Love on Facebook and posting some new photos here.....

At the moment I have very sore fingers and hands from Hand Hooking quite a lot over the last week, one item was for the Folksy Treasure Hunt which I am part off (shhh, don't tell anyone!) and another is a Seaside Wall Frieze which I have just finished tonight, Yay! Really pleased with them both but only got pictures of the  first so here you are, you could win this along with loads of other gorgeous goodies if you join in with the Treasure Hunt, get hunting!!

We spent a lovely day last week on the North West Coast collecting driftwood and lots of other lovely treasures. One of my favourite pastimes is beach-combing, I should really be a hermit on a Scottish Island somewhere!! 

Anyone up for a Treasure Hunt?

Come and join in a fantastic Treasure Hunt from the comfort of your computer chair!! You could be the winner of some gorgeous prizes too...

Get ready, it starts tomorrow!!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.......

It's Folksy Friday time again and as I seem to have a little bit of an obsession with anything Seaside'y I thought I would dream of Summer and find lots of gorgeous Seaside things to drool over. I grew up by the sea and spent many happy summer days on the beach and even though I moved away many years ago (not saying how many!)  I still miss it and feel so at peace when I go back to a beach with the waves rolling in.

Some of these Folksy people are quite new and haven't had many sales, so please take a look and give them a bit of a boost at the same time!!

'I do like to be beside the Seaside'

Tweedmatters Seaside Collage Card

Mosaic Lighthouse Picture

Stained Glass and Driftwood Boats 

 

 Sealife - Silver Starfish Necklace 

  

Wooden Boats 

Now back to my own Seaside Hand Hooked pictures, nearly finished now....

Please leave a comment as I'm feeling a little bit dejected and would love to hear what you think!!

Stroll along the prom....

Today was another beautiful sunny day so we packed the bikes and headed off for Grange-Over-Sands. A lovely Edwardian resort near to us with a nice long and flat Promenade, ideal for learning to ride! We spent the morning hunting down some more Geocaches, (managed to find two) and then onto the bikes. Before today, our two cherubs were unable to stay upright on a bike so this was going to be a challenge, but after getting to the stage where we would really love to go cycling but they are far to big to take on Tag-Alongs we thought we'd better get this cracked!! We could'nt believe it....after spending some time free-wheeling down a long grassy slope they were off, so we decided to try them out on the flat and they never looked back......literally....we had to run to keep up with the littlest hobo at one point!! Alright it wasn't all plain sailing with daughter falling off and then going all wobbly and not wanting to get back on but they DID IT!! So chuffed, we've spent ages putting it off because we thought it would be a nightmare trying to get them to ride and as neither of our backs are particularily good it just never happened, but after a bit more practice we'll be able to go into the forests cycling...can't wait!! Mind you, it's been so long since I rode my bike they may have to teach me!!

Crafty wise I am trying to get a set of three Seaside Hooked Pictures completed, seems to be taking ages and my fingers are sore but I'll get there. Nearly finished the third one and then I'll need to finish them off and find some way of hanging them.... 

Fears and Frustrations....

I am not a particularily confident person, some people would say I was quite shy so Folksy has been a great way for me to get 'out there' without having to put myself up in front of anyone. I opened up my shop last year and plonked a few bits on there, mainly because I had made them and thought maybe they would sell?! There was also an ulterior motive in that, as we Home Educate our two children, one of us (hubby or me) needs to be at home. The only real way we could achieve this was to be Self-Employed, so that I wouldn't be hounded to go for job interviews etc...probably not a particularily good motive for starting a craft business but that's how it was!! I drifted through the last year, making bits and bobs and with no real oomph behind me. However, after selling a few items, I thought I really need to take this a bit more seriously and get going.

BUT.....After spending more and more time on Forums, looking at other peoples blogs, finding all these amazing craftspeople and artists who make such amazing things I am having what is commonly known as a confidence crisis!! Is my work really any good, am I making anything anybody wants, maybe I should just go back to pootling along, oblivious to what anyone else is doing!! Those are my FEARS...

Now my FRUSTRATIONS......I have so many ideas buzzing around my head at the moment but there always seems to be something in the way, broken sewing machine, no funds to buy what I need, really painfully slow computer which needs replacing, no room, no time...blah de blah de blah!!!

Now the thing is, do I carry on regardless, making what I can from what I have and give myself a boot up the backside  to move things along? Do I head towards the things I really want to do, a direction I really want my shop to take rather than sitting back and carrying on with bits of this and bits of that?...........Obviously the answer to all of those is YES!! I feel I really need to focus on what I  want to make and stick to it but to achieve this I need some of my frustrations sorted out!!! AAARGH!!

For the moment, I guess I will just keep going, heading towards where I really want to be in the future. I'm sure many people have been in the same place I have and I'm certainly not looking for any sympathy (!) but needed to get it off my chest....sorry!!