Spare Change anyone?.....Plus Exciting news!!

I'm joking really....I'm sure the shipping for some loose change will be more than the change is worth!
So this morning I was taking no distractions! I got up and pulled out my sewing things straight away! Taking a few pictures of some finished up things from yesterday

Finished project for the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap

Then I pinned the zippers to the coin purses started earlier in the week

Then went off to start my usual day routine. Moving quickly so I could come back to sew those purses and get them finished.

There was a casualty when sewing these purses! They broke 2 of my needles..one old one and a new one! I was not amused...a few short words were said before these went safely into the bin.

The ends of the culprits!!

The finished articles all nicely pressed....which may have been a bad idea

They were a pain to stuff the lining inside....my zippers also didn't turn out the way I hoped. I'll take a picture tomorrow in the morning (these were taken this evening with the light on)

I'm not sure if I'll sell them as you'll see tomorrow the zips aren't as they should be and I don't really expect anyone to buy them as they are. It's too late to do anything else with them now......The insides are fine it's just those darned zips!!!

At least they are done now! 

OHHHHH I have some exciting news. My BFF called me today and said there is a JOB going at her workplace!! We were on the phone for ages talking as she was filling me in on like all the details of the company! I start on MONDAY!! for a week trial, then we'll see what happens from there. She said it's covering maternity leave so it'll maybe only be for a year, (unless the lady doesn't return to work after said time) but it's still something for the time being! It's a data entry job for a company that deals with electrical goods so maybe I can get some discount on some appliances we need...like a new cooker!! plus a hoover! 

So I'll be down to sewing in the spare hours I get and at the weekends. I'll still be opening my Etsy shop, just maybe a bit later than planned.....I still need to order labels and sort pricing so the possible end of September to start of October....

Tonight I'm linking up with 

Show off Friday- Pieceful Life

TGIFF-Missy Mac Creations

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Cinnabon anybody?

I have some to share...OK well maybe they wont reach to you but I do have some!

Whilst waiting for my order to arrive I got on with some sewing. Pulling out all my solid and odd shaped scraps, I laid them out on my sewing area (read bed) as well as some newspaper squares cut to charms and 8.5" to make up some scrappy log cabin blocks.

Sarah-Lou suggested I make up some coin purses for my shop, so as I have a load of scraps, I thought best you use those up for something fun. I worked on the charm blocks first and have a few more to go in different colourways

During the sewing time Mother dithered about making some Cinnabons eventually she decided to and called me in to help...(she weighed the ingredients I did all the hard grafting and pulled my left elbow somehow in the process..)

How yummy do they look! I must say eating one now they taste even better. We didn't start them till after 4 so by dinner time they were done and ready. It's after 11 now, I like to have a late before midnight snack.

So I'm off to enjoy the rest of my cinnabon and a soya yoghurt

Siya'll tomorrow =D

One step closer!

Today I was out with the child lol! Seriously only one child showed up for gardening today, most of the others are probably enjoying fun sunny holidays abroad! We expanded the area of soil, before F (the new volunteer from the start of the week) came out to help us. We did most of the work I must say whilst the child kept wanting to take breaks or play around in the soil. Tomorrow is the last day for the Activities and no seeds have been bought as yet!!!! We mentioned to the Chairman that we needed some from last week and still nothing! Will be a shame to have dug up all that area for nothing! The manager said she'll have to run out and get some if the Chair doesn't get some by err tomorrow!
I think G was jealous that he had to stay indoors, doing some coursework stuff and miss out on all the gardening fun! He'll be out there tomorrow...so he hopes. We all had a laugh back inside whilst the child had lunch. (men can be really mean and tell thee worst jokes ever!)
I actually love gardening. There's something rather fun about being outdoors digging up soil ready to plant your own produce. Here at home we have a vegetable patch that I was sad to miss out on helping with due to volunteering.
There was some paper work and such to sort once the child had left. There were some missing forms that needed to be filled out..only with most of the children on holiday it may be a bit tricky to get them done!
F left early and I stayed to help sort out the paperwork and a few other bits and pieces. They seem to be happy enough to have me there as I think I've been rather helpful. I'm still looking for a proper job though....

Back home was continuation of my secret project....I guess you may be wondering why it's secret? I wasn't sure if it would work when I first started it as it came from an idea I saw and then adapted it to my own style. I had a task cutting and sorting making sure everything matched up right so I could make a decent tutorial at the end. I then hit a minor bump, as I forgot about one major aspect of the project and had to do some speedy calculations and searching for the missing part. I found it eventually after a few hours of looking.

I've still been working hard on it and shockingly have no other projects on the go! This has been a main getting all the major leg work sorted so I only have the final part to finish once my order comes through.
After that I can get to work on my sorting things for my Etsy shop! I still have to come up with:

• A cool and catchy name
• A logo
• Prices - thinking of doing a survey for ideas 
• Shipping costs-can go to the post office to get that sorted
• I need to get packaging and such for the items some are small and others are quilts or cushions- I think Father can get some envelopes for the smaller items...may have to look online for bulk boxes.....
• Getting some business cards printed after step one and two
• Taking pictures of each item and then uploading and editing them
• Organising the pictures in the shop
• The grand opening and crossing fingers that all goes well! 

I'm sure I'm missing something there, I'll add it in If I think of anything else....

More pinning to go, which is going faster than expected. I'm onto step 5 now. 

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Free goodies fellow UK bloggers?

Yes that's right. Last week the Mother ordered herself a Graze box and got some coupons to share with friends for a free first box. The bad news is it's a UK only site. The good news is that you get some free treats!
Her code is RN5F35LD and if you want another box my link is here so check it out and bag yourself and your friends a free box of healthy snacks. You can only use each code once. 
She's ordered 2 already and has been really pleased with her selections.  You don't have to eat all the contents on the some day. Going by the name you just Graze when you feel a bit peckish.  Though she recommends you eat the bread (if you order any) on the same day. The box comes with a leaflet to tell you more about the products and each box you order comes with 4 coupons to hand out to your friends. If they use your code you get £1 off your next box.

(disclaimer. You can not use your own code. Also I can not be held responsible for you getting hooked and ordering more boxes after you try one...)

Yesterday was a fun cooking session! We made vegetarian pizzas and fruit smoothies using soya milk. The children really had fun getting stuck in and being able to knead the dough themselves. They each made 3 small pizzas and ate one for lunch before washing them down with a few cups of smoothies. We had pineapple, banana and strawberry variations! 
Today was Gardening, Guy went out with the children, which were a new set as some just wanted to do the gardening (or maybe didn't realise how awesome cooking was). I watched them as they ate lunch, and boy were they crazy! I had to play detective to solve the who stole who's food! I joined them for a while outside and ended up covered in cobwebs and the odd spider!!! 
Afterwards I had a random interview for a job I don't even recall applying for, but hey. I was there for 5 minutes! I was not amused! They said they would call later If I was successful for the second round of interviews on Friday. I haven't heard back and now its after 11 so I guess not....

Upon getting home I'm glad to report the washing machine is fixed! The pipes were clogged with colour catchers, there were a good few in the pipe the Giants said. 
I was happy to be able to put my washing in.
I even got some sewing done today after reportedly doing none yesterday. I really wasn't in the mood to do any so I watched a lot of TV instead.

More progress on the secret project part 2. I had to cut some more strips as some colours ran out before others had, that I needed....I think now I have enough and there will be some leftover strips...

See that pile in the second picture? That's my stock for future shop...the blue item is a WIP quilt, that area had the most space for it not to be crushed after I had basted it..

I'm off to order me a free Graze box 

Siya'll tomorrow =D

A little help please......

So I've been doing a lot of blog reading in the past few months. Seeing various handmade items. The one that has baffled me the most is quilts.
When I read up the quilt stats and what the person intends to use it for that's when I get confused. As I haven't made many I have no idea on what the quilt sizes should be. I see some making baby quilts which range anywhere from 30"-60" which to me seems a little large for a baby, unless its a size for them to grow up into?
Square quilts also seem strange to me as most beds and such are rectangles. So two different inch sizes seem better to me.
Another one that baffles my mind are mini quilts/wall hangings. I imagine a mini quilt being something like 12" - possibly 16 at the largest. So when I read that someone has made it 18 - 30" to me that size range seems large to be putting up on a wall. Even when I was reading about doll quilts they too seemed large and I wondered how big is the doll?!

I'm sure the UK and USA metric/imperial sizing besides clothing works out the same right? or am I wrong as in the USA you use yards were we have metres....

So If any of you out there could give me some sizes what you consider to fall into the categories of mini quilts, baby quilts, lap quilts and the bed size quilts that would be really helpful.

So today I went to my besties birthday party...(though not official till the 30th)...the usual suspects were there. Which is funny as most seem to forget that I see them like every year at her party! Her Father even went as far as to ask if I was married yet. Like yeah right! Me? Married? As if!!
We ate, chatted, laughed it was a fun event as always!

In sewing news. I am going on an official as from today going on a fabric ban! I have been buying too much lately, even if it was to better my stash. My money is going down and I can no longer afford those purchases. I may even take down my swaps for a while until I can save up a bit more money.
Come this August/September I'll be sorting out my sewing things/fabric and the stock I have been making up, to open my own Etsy shop! I just have to take pictures and put together a banner, think of a name and sort pricing/shipping costs then it'll be underway.

I will leave you with some further sneaks to my next project.

Siya'll tomorrow!

One of those days....

You know the day when you really don't feel like doing anything, but you muddle on anyway in hopes the day will improve?

Yeah I had that day. These quiet days aren't suited to me. I like to be busy or doing something that is interesting and absorbs some time. When I was home I could spend hours with Jano sewing like crazy, taking the odd break when my Brother reminded me to.
Now I'm leaving the house and getting hardly any sewing done. I sew when I get back in, but it's not the same, I liked the fact it was so engrossing and seeing how many things I could get done. I really want to sew now, but the motivation of time isn't there. When I get in I'm usually quite tired....or really hungry!

I made more progress on the Hoop wall hanging today however

I've added another row of rainbow stitches halfway round in smaller sections. You cant not love that Perle cotton! I might put in another row of stitches in the top curve of the 'C' to make it stand out a bit better. Then it will be done and I can make the pincushion. The needle book still needs the pages sewn in not sure how I'll do that yet, but it'll be done soon.

I also came up with a plan for when my placement finishes of how to organise my sewing time better so I can get more things made up for my future Etsy shop.

-Quilts one finished a month- I'm not huge on making them and I think this will be manageable for me
-Mini quilts 18" or 16"- 2 per month. A better size and I can still get some good patterns in even with the size being smaller
-Spend at least 1 or 2 days per month making up binding- Using my solid colours in a scrappy style.
-Make at least four pillow/cushion covers per week.
-4 zippy/snap pouches per week- Either small or large
-Use the weekend to cut fabrics/wadding/etc for projects being made that week

When I think of more things to add I'll put them on the list. This is just a start to know what kind of things I want to be selling in my shop and will give me better direction to keep my time occupied.

A funny thing to end my evening. I heard the TV up still really loud and suspected Father had fallen asleep watching it. So I went down to investigate. Sure enough he was out like a light. I had to shake him a few times to wake him up and question why the TV was up so loud. So what does he reach for first.....his phone! After venturing back upstairs I heard the volume go down and him getting up from the sofa to go to bed! This was just after 11 he usually comes up the stairs around 9-10. Crazy old man!

Until then...

Siya'll tomorrow =D

P.S Tomorrow is the Older Giants Birthday! He turns 24! Funny how the years fly!

The Sneak peak reveal!

Yesterday I showed you this sneak peak

However in the mail I got this awesome package courtesy of the ALFALC Swap from Deanna a great selection of fabrics, zippers, buttons and Candy!! =D

Now I can show you the reveal! 4 more zippered pouches! I had fun making these and will probably make more later in the year! My shop stock is coming along nicely. I may open before Christmas so people can possibly purchase some handmade items from me.

When I get some more labels I'll fuse them to the inside of the pouches...I need to get a few different ones for various items..anyone know any good places to get custom labels?

I finally decided to tackle the things on my WIP pile, starting with the blocks for the circular pillows Father suggested I make.

I had enough HSTs to make 4 of them , one I showed previously (but you can see it here with the others)

I think I'll start making some bags next! I have a magazine with some marked pages, so watch this space --->                         <------- HAH!

Siya'll tomorrow =D

It's Carnival time!!

OK maybe not quite yet..It's actually not until July....Mother came into my room and told me about it. She said I should make some things and sell them at a stall with Father dearest...He'll be making some cakes and such for his side of our potential stall
We just have to find out all the details...how much the stall costs, dates etc, but hey it's not a bad idea.
Just thinking what will I make.....Any idea's ladies and gents...my quilts are for the future business....though I could make some alternate ones.... I'd mainly be making a few things to see what sells the best. Idea's for prices. Help and suggestions would be fantastic! I'm over in the UK just to let you know....

So this morning I set out early to go to the Hairdressers.....8.30am early....I got there just after 9...another girl turned up there too-My hairdresser styles from her house- she went before me as she was supposed to be there at 8!! So I waited patiently for 2 hours! During that time another lady showed up. Luckily she wasn't getting anything fancy done so our hair could be alternated, washing, conditioning....she left and I was still there...I was there until just after 4!!! Yes you are reading correctly!
All I can say is Cane/corn rows hurt!!!!

The top

Right side..the clip is loose to ease the pain!

The left side

From the front...yes that's me!

When I got home there was a parcel waiting for me!! It was full, well not full... in fact the envelope was rather big compared to what was in it....however it will come in handy real soon! Back to the contents....these pictures will show you better =D BUTTONS!!!!

I know all you button lovers out there may be sitting with your jaws dropped right now! I got these from craft superstore..some may be sold out sorry ladies! =D

I also got this ribbon from the site too £1.00 for a 3m roll

These were the more quirky buttons in each bag Mother even came to have a nose...was fun picking them out

 My button box got a little full....

But my younger giant brought me a new container.

I finished the 2nd row and started on the 3rd..had I not have been called for dinner I would have finished that off!..no sewing after dinner..just blogging and reading

Well ladies and gents that was my day..=D