Reasons to be Cheerful

This week I thought I would join in Penny’s Reasons to be cheerful. As a few of you may know my week hasn’t been all that great as I have been struck down by Labrynthitis – a hideous infection of the inner ear that results in dizziness as a result I have been off work all week, as I get the dizziness as soon as I do anything. It’s been torture as I am not one to just sit and watch TV! I therefore felt there I should share my reasons to be cheerful, as I have had a great week all things considered!

As most of you know I held my CRAFTfest stall last weekend. It was such a great experience and so easy to do with no hassle of carting stuff to and from a fair! So my first reason to be cheerful is that I sold 5 items from my stall! Admittedly 3 of those were to friends however 2 other people bought a scarf and a vintage bookmark. I was so chuffed that people really liked my things enough to buy them! so heres my first item ready to be posted

My next reason is that I received my advent swap parcel on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to open all my presents! Emma has put a lot of thought and effort into making the presents, even down to doing some potato stamping on the brown wrapping paper of my Christmas Day present. She has numbered each present for advent, therefore less decisions for me to make in the morning as to what to open!

Despite my dizziness I went to Vicky Sowerby’s Frock swap last night. Me and Nic had planned to go for sometime, and as Vicky was raising money for a very worthwhile cancer charity, it was nice to support something so very close to her heart. The idea of the swap was that you took up to 5 items and then picked from all the other clothes that people had brought to take home 5 new items. Nic drove us to Oldham, as I didn’t think my head would cope with the driving, and after an adventurous journey taking in many road works and sights of Oldham we gave in our swaps and browsed some of the stalls that were set up. I couldn’t resist buying this cute owl purse and fabric pack from Woodchip Boutique.

I am so pleased with the things I brought home, especially as you had to have pointy elbows to get into the rails at first!

My next reason is that me and my husband are taking a day trip on the train to York tomorrow to see the christmas markets. The trip was planned ages ago and I am a little worried it will make my dizziness worse, but wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the markets, plus a few fabric and button shops along the way! Since its my birthday next week, I’m hoping to find a few things to treat myself to. I will let you know what I buy!

My last reason to be cheerful is that I have had the very fortunate opportunity to be involved in some filming of the Make and Do studio for the BBC! They are doing a short video to be put online as they are trying to promote the usefulness of learning online and through the internet. I am very nervous about it all but very excited and grateful that Maeri has let me be a part of it. I will be a student in a mock-up workshop, my most biggest dilemma is…what to wear?!

So there we have it, I think I might have gone over the limit of numbers of reasons to be cheerful! However despite a horrible start to the week with my dizziness, there is always a bright side to everything. My week has also shown that sometimes you may not be feeling all that great, but there are people who are worse off than yourself and if you look hard enough there’s always a bright side to everything. Please go check out Penny’s blog and see how everyone has been getting on with their reasons to be cheerful.

Sarah x

CRAFTfest is coming!

As many of you know, I have been preparing for selling on the online craft fair CRAFTfest. The weekend has crept up on me and with only 3 days to go till CRAFTfest goes live I am busily preparing my new folksy site. If you are not aware of how CRAFTfest works, here’s a bit of a summary! There are over 150 stalls, all online and hosted on the Creative Connections website. You can browse the stalls from the comfort of your own sofa, all stalls are categorised so it’s easy to search for what you are looking for. If you see something you like, you can then click on a link which will take you to where the item is being sold, such as on Folksy etc.

Most of the items I am selling are things that I have made from trying new projects. As I do my crafting/sewing in my spare time, the thought of selling things scared me a little! However I decided I needed an identity to make me and my stall stand out, so I bought a banner through a shop on the Etsy site.

Now my Folksy site is complete all I have to do is sit nervously and see if  anyone buys anything!

I thought I would just mention a few other people who I have got to know through CRAFTfest, please take a look at their site and stall and if you like what you see buy something unusual and support handmade!

Jeeberellas Craft Castle

Natasha makes lovely personalised items from bunting to wine bottle labels.She is my group leader for CRAFTfest and has put up with my endless ‘help’ emails!

Fusion Glass art by Penni Simpson

Penni and I follow each other on Twitter. She sells gorgeous glassware which I absolutely adore. I will definitely be buying some for christmas presents!

Uniquely yours

Linda has kinda featured me on her blog and so I want to return the favour and promote her lovely items. I have been searching for a knitted/crocheted headband to keep my ears warm in the cold, she has some gorgeous lacey ones which I might treat myself too!

Raven’s Stained Glass

Beautiful stained glass – I love the misletoe!!

Please can you all pass the word around to your friends and family about CRAFTfest, and make sure you just spend a bit of time at the weekend browsing the stalls. I have already got a list of things I am going to buy!

Sarah x

Handmade Monday 41

Welcome to another handmade Monday! This week I have been again catching up on swap making. I have finished my makes for the decoration swap, and I am just waiting on getting some material from Cotton Patch to finish off some bits for the advent swap. Not long till I have to send off my boxes of goodies, which also means it’s not long till CRAFTfest opens! So after buying some jewelry from the vintage fair last weekend, I set to making some fab bookmarks following a tutorial I found on Pinterest.

I bought some ribbon clasps and some jump rings from The Ribbon and Bead shop and after less than 10 minutes I had turned the bits of jewelery into bookmarks!

After a busy day I ended up having to take the photos in the dark, so they’re not great pics, made worse as the light bulb fell out of the light fitting whilst taking the photos! After moving to another room to try to get better light, the cat followed me, She always has to be where I am!!

I will be adding the bookmarks to my CRAFTfest stall. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the other things I will be selling.

Please help me and the other stall holders by telling your friends and family about the event – 26th and 27th November, all stalls are online therefore it’s so easy to complete your christmas shopping from the comfort of your own sofa, whilst supporting handmade products!

Whilst we’re talking about supporting good causes, I just wanted to mention Team Hannah which I read about on Penny’s blog. Please take the time to go and read about Hannah and what she is going through and ways in which to help her raise the money she needs for her operation.

If you want to top up on your craft fix for this week, pop over the Wendy’s blog and see what everyone else has been up to for Handmade Monday.

Sarah x

Reasons to be Cheerful…

It feels like ages since I last posted! I have been so busy with various bits and pieces and sadly missed the last handmade Monday, mainly as all the things I am making at the moment are for the advent and decoration swaps, so I have to keep it all secret! After reading Penny’s blog over at Planet Penny, I thought I would join in on her linky – Reasons to be cheerful!

I am writing this on my second day of being off work, definitely one of my reasons to be cheerful! I took yesterday off to learn how to knit over at The Make and Do Studio. My friend Nic had also signed up, so at least I can pester her when I forget all the different stitches! I found that the memories of knitting as a child came flooding back, however I think  I did make up some stitches all of my own! I finished the day off with a lovely walk with Nic and her 2 springer spaniels and then met my mum and dad for a lovely Pub dinner out at the Glasfryn in Mold, North Wales – I would highly recommend it, the food was yummy!

My second reason is that with being off work today, i have been able to catch up on a bit of crafting, making more swap gifts and catching up on taking photos for my CRAFTfest stall. I really wish every day was like this!! I have also been able to catch up on reading some blogs. One I particularly want to mention is Sewabee. Vicky is currently nearing the end of a year challenge of not buying any clothes, bags, shoes etc and each month she donates money to a charity close to her heart  - Oldham Cancer Support Centre. She is celebrating finishing her challenge by organising a Frock swap in December, I am hoping to go and take some of my things in the hope of swapping for somebody elses! If you live in the Northwest why don’t you get a ticket (only £10 each!) and come and join the fun!

My last reason for being cheerful is that me and Nic are going to Judy’s affordable vintage fair in Manchester on Sunday. I am beyond excited about going and can’t wait to see what bargains I can find! I am hoping to pick up some bits of china, maybe a dress or 2 and some things for my advent swap.

Please pop by Planet Penny and see what everyone else has been up to, it’s so nice to see that as it’s getting colder and darker there are still reasons to be cheerful!

Sarah x

Handmade Monday 38

Welcome to another Handmade Monday and the last of my projects for my 30 day challenge, where has that time gone?! As I mentioned in last weeks post, my last project is taking longer than I thought so I can only show you where I am up to so far. I have been following a tutorial from Moda Bake shop on how to make a Floor cushion using a jelly roll. I have adapted the instructions slightly as I only had 20 strips in my roll to use, after cutting them diagonally in half I am slowly piecing them all together and have done about a 1/4 of the cushion so far.

Two weeks ago joined the Liverpool Sewing Club, giving me the chance to meet other lovely sewers and also have 3 hours of uninterrupted sewing time. I have therefore decided my Jelly roll cushion can be my take along project. I think if it wasnt brown and in more interesting colours I would enjoy doing it a little bit more!

In other news I have been busy creating lots of lovely things for my Christmas swaps. I have almost finished getting things together for the decoration swap with Amy and I have made 7 out of 12 things for the advent swap with Emma. I am going to pop along to the affordable vintage fair with Nic at the end of the month and hope to get a few more bits and pieces then. Would love to share with you all the things that I have been making for the swaps but as it’s all a secret you’ll have to wait till they both open all their parcels in December! i have also been busy making bits for my stall for CRAFTfest at the end of November. I hope to get some bits onto my Folksy page soon!

Why don’t you go and see what everyone else has been up to for handmade Monday over at Wendy’s blog.

Sarah x

CRAFTfest

Another very short post just to tell you that I am featured on Jeeberella’s Craft Castle blog. As Natasha is our leader for our group she is blogging about everyone who is selling at CRAFTfest. Please go check her post out http://jeeberellascraftcastle.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-lovely-pink-group-craftfest-peeps.html

Also remember to keep 26th and 27th November in your diaries and go visit all the lovely stalls for CRAFTfest. There are still some stalls available if you fancy selling too!

Sarah x

CRAFTFest

So today I signed up for CRAFTFest – a virtual craft fair running on the 26th and 27th November. This was quite a decision  for me to make as I as yet don’t sell any of the things I make. I therefore felt it would give me the push I need to start getting some things online and create my Folksy page! Plus I now have even more of an excuse to do more sewing!

Please put the date in your diary, and remember to pop by the CRAFTfest site and have a browse through all the virtual stalls, perfect in time for Christmas shopping!

Sarah x