A bit of what you fancy does you good!

Today has been a wierd old day. I have not gotten into the sewing room yet - but instead have become enraptured by twitter, and done some baking!!! 

The kind butcher sorted me out when he asked what I was after, and I replied "Tea for 2 for £5.56" as that was all I had in my purse - managed to aquire mince, potatoes and eggs - the eggs have gone into a fruit loaf, the potatoes and mince will be transformed by Mr Juicy later on.

Baby Fig has the night off work - she is working in the Whalley Arms pub, and has developed a nasty throat infection - although I thought she might have drunk enough alcohol to kill any bugs etc!

My first ever PURCHASED ACEO arrived from Estonia this morning - photo's to follow soon - in the mean time here are two more ACEO's I have been busy creating! 

ACEO me-o

Have you heard about ACEO's? I am completely obsessed with them at the moment - the title had me all curious at first, so after some investigation I found out they are tiny pieces of art work that can be traded and collected, they can be in any medium so long as the dimensions are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" 

Mostly they are in what I would call 'ART' mediums like pencil, paints etc - but anything goes!

And here is my very first attempt at an ACEO - you never know, it could be worth millions if I ever become famous! 

for the wiki definition click here

ACEO: Art Card, Editions and Originals

 I have been buying more buttons this week after the two brooches I made for the craft fair sold straight away - I LOVE these, and fully intend to buy even more - to check out the shop click on the photo, she is so lovely to deal with as well! 

And now...The Craft Fair...what a strange day! and what an odd bunch of people these stall holders are! The lady on the stall next to me was very upset about so many things, most of which hadn't even crossed my mind, and another would not let me take any photo's of her work in case her designs were stolen, I explained I only wanted to blog about them, put a link to her shop etc, but no, she ended up shooting odd looks at me for the rest of the day.

Overall I had quite  good day, I took more money than I expected, but that was due to quite a lot of sales to friends and family!

So here is just a couple of shot - the bottom stall was soooo gorgeous, I love how she has taken a theme and used it so inventively, I wanted the rug, and the bags, and the brooches (one of which will be coming home with me at the next fair!) please check her Folksy shop out - again another REALLY nice down to earth Lancashire lass.

Next Fair!!! 19th March HERE! Pop along if you are in the area - I would love to meet y'all!

 

Treasure Island - with cute animals.

The sun has been fighting through a thick haze all day, making it look warmer than it is! After spending most of it chained to my sewing room, on my last sewing day before Saturdays Craft Fair (tomorrow is labeling and final titivating day!) Mr Juicy and I went for a swift walk to blow some cobwebs out of the old noggin!

Jemmy was extremely pleased to be out for a second time, and Stitch came along for part of the way

He insisted on walking over the snow drops I was trying to get a shot of. Too cute to be told to bugger off though! 

This little guy was born a few nights ago in the field opposite - his mum had kept us awake shouting for an epidural the night before.

This season should be re-named 'the time of cute baby animals'

Thanks for your comments on my last post - I am in the process of inventing the perfect island paradise - in true sci-fi manner, once imagined - anything is possible! 

so far there is a small hamlet of warm stone cottages, large gardens with soil perfect for growing veg.  Trees, fields, streams, hills and valleys - but it all fits onto a few square miles! the children can run round barefoot, and the village shop will not be tesco's, but a lovely co-operative that also stocks the fruits of out crafty labours for the odd tourist who makes it there. Now then, men... Strong, outdoor types with rugged good looks, and they can have an old barn on the hill to do bonding type things like building fires etc. when there is a good period drama on TV!

oh well, will keep working on that plan.

So, before I say ta ta for now, here are two pickie of a couple of brooches and some key rings I have been slaving away over - ready for Saturday!!!! 

you wait for 1 craft fair, then 3 come along at once!

It has been CRAZY here at Juicy Towers this past few weeks. After getting hitched up mentally to the possibility that lady Golfers may be from another planet and not appreciate my hand made earth items, and being set right by some of you good readers, I have signed up to 2 more craft fairs BEFORE the golf club fair.

 I have always suffered from 'What the heck, give it a go' syndrome. This in the past has seen me come away from various meetings with a new role. For example, when Taryn was a tiny figlet, I ended up as chairperson of her play school committee, then after attending a meeting to re-energise the local horticultural society, and sitting listening to 2 old gents argue about weather to alter the entrance fee from 15p to 20p for half an hour - I left as Chairperson - again. When some parents wanted to start a 'Rainbow' unit in the village, I came out of the meeting running the 'new' unit - then there was no knit and natter group,  the African drumming class, the list goes on and on - it got so bad that my husband threatened to cut my arm off to stop me raising my hand at the crucial 'do we have any volunteers?' moment - now I just avoid going to meetings - but a tempting e-mail...well, sometimes you do just have to throw caution to the wind and sign up! 

I have been face booking the events, twittering the events, sticking up posters, handing out fliers, and busy busy making items I just hope the buying public will love so much they need to part with their cash to own it! 

In the mean time I have been watching programmes like Hugh's fish fight, The peoples supermarket, country file amongst others and feeling quite confused and torn up about being a part of the whole 'problem'  - I have resolved to buy unusual fish, shop at the fishmongers, and keep an eye out for mackerel on local chip shop menu's (although I can't remember the last time I went to the chippy!) I am trying to shop at Tesco (or the others) as little as possible, but as a child of the 70's I have grown up with large supermarkets and no local grocery shops - so it is taking me some time to get my head around how I shop - getting there though! And country files report on affordable housing for local people in rural locations hit a real chord - this has been a gripe of mine for 20 years! I was brought up in a house my parents bought from my great grandfather, and they still live their - however when me and baby fig moved out almost 20 years ago, I could not afford to buy or rent a property in the village, so had to move to the next village where much of the housing was council housing or mill terraces, and over that 20 year period the prices of houses in Whalley has become obscene! a small 2 up 2 down will set you back up to £250K! The village is growing and growing with new housing - about 10 years ago a huge old 'mental hospital' was closed down apart from a small secure unit - then hundreds of new houses were built around the site, almost doubling the village population - and now plans for another 2-3 hundred houses are being made. All on green fields. They are even considering building a new school - please don't let them knock down the 200 year old school we already have! 

I am feeling less and less like a 'local' I hardly know anyone in the streets and shops, and while walking down a country lane the other week had some 'newcomer' in their 4x4 blast there horn at me to move then call me a 'yokel' as they tore past! 

Give me an Island, with a sewing machine and a stack of fabric - nice weather, Internet connection, and a husband who can catch our food.

Call for Lady Golfers!

Well, the van has gone - Sold!!! I had just posted it on e-bay when a lovely local chap knocked on the door - he had recognised where I had taken the picture, and came straight over to offer me cash! 

All my lovely drums are scattered about now, My brother is looking after about 15 for me, mum and dad have about 10 of them, and we managed to get away with only storing about 4! so still in business for the odd drum circle or class. - I just hope I do see the van around town looking good and being used. 

I have been asked to have a stall at an open day event at Gt Harwood Golf course. I have no idea at all would appeal to lady golfers, Taryn said to make golf club cosies. I said NO! and anyway, I would have no idea what shape to make them etc...I am hoping they are like normal human beings and like other things besides golf...

So - I have been trying to come up with more ideas - so far I have managed some notebook covers! then run out of ideas again... 

Who would have thought creativity was soooo difficult?

Oh yeah - I made some shoe sweeteners in case they get smelly golf shoes!!! That's er..lateral thinking? well, something like that!

These ones smell of Baby Powder. - Do women admit to smelly feet? 

My Van is DEAD!!!!

New on Folksy

Hello My Bloggy friends!  

What a miserable couple of weeks! the weather has been rotten, the days speed past so fast I feel dizzy! and the house work is just never ending.

My Van had to go for it's MOT this week, and has failed miserably - I cannot afford to get the welding done to get it through the MOT, so have decided to cut my losses and get rid of it. It has been a real star for me, a good work horse getting my mountain of Djembe's, Douns, Kpanlogo, Apentema etc all over the North West of England, from schools to youth clubs, corporate knee's ups, African Drum classes and Community drum circles - but the work has diminished over the past couple of years and I have been left with gigs for very young children who just don't get anything out of it!

I am selling all but a few of my drums, and Valda the Van will end up being sold or scrapped.

The End of an ERA for me. and I must admit, I have cried quite a bit over it.

I have been very busy moving the sewing room round as well, now I can manage the leek better, and it did need a good sorting out! I managed to free cycle a huge bag of fabric, though you can't tell, and another bag to the charity shop full of t-shirts that were going to become a rag rug, but that could be anytime n the next 20 years! there is only so much I can store for those 'just in case' moments! 

Finally I got around to some more items to sell on Folksy in my newly tidied and re-arranged room!

 A friend asked me to make a heart for her sister who had just had her bedroom decorated in black/white/grey - I made one for her, and one for the shop - she was so pleased with it! there is nothing like instant positive feedback!

 These are a new idea for me, and I have been working with a lovely woman who makes scented candles and soaps to get something to scent my items with that won't fade too fast or stain the fabric - these are for stinky trainers and smell of chocolate! I am going to do a few different 'flavors' and some more manly ones - because they have smellier feet!

and a couple more needle cases - I love this linen fabric from my new favorite e-bay shop

Shopping with Mother

I have no idea how I managed to work full time and do every thing else I either wanted to do or had to do, House work etc, Since I stopped working, I have never been so busy! The house work NEVER ENDS! And I don't even do certain things, like IRONING! It is a real struggle to find time to be inspired to sew and knit, and list things on Etsy and Folksy and E-bay, and tweeting and facebooking...the list is endless.

I have just been to tesco for about the fourth time this week also. BUT today I forgot my bags and saw the new Tesco charity shopping bag. I um-ed and ah-ed over the £4 price tag I couldn't really afford, but caved in eventually and had to have one of the new Orla Kiely designs (I could certainly not afford one form her shop, and it is for charity!)

It was lovely and sunny today as well, Clitheroe was Packed with shoppers, and the charity shops were like sardines packed in a tin with tomato juice!

so baby fig Taryn (who has just started her own blog and Etsy shop) took her old mum to Jimmy Citheroe's market cafe for coffee, pie, peas and gravy. We were playing around with my camera while waiting for the food

I love these shots, but then she is my favorite model!

Thank you everyone for your advice and commiserations regarding the roof - I am sure we will get it sorted out before it lands on us! 

Before Christmas our Dryer broke, after freezing solid in our shed, then the ice breaking the fan - so all radiators have been permanently covered in washing - Today Mr Juicy finally dragged it out into the yard and we found the broken part, a quick trip to the local appliance shop and it is all mended, I envisage none stop washing for about a week now to catch up with the back log!

I have been busy avoiding My Juicy while repair were being seen to - and made a few bits for folksy...

My Mum dropped by earlier and commented on my domesticated 'look' 

this involved me wearing an apron (a shock for her no doubt!) and as I pointed out to her my lancashire house wife's clogs!

right, back to scaling the dizzying heights of the washing mountain!

Tiny stitches

Thank you for all your comments regarding the roof - every spare penny is being saved for it at the moment, then we just have to find an honest roofer (having already paid 3 different roofers to go up their and do nothing!)

The 'dummy' turned out to be the good type! but as daughter Taryn acquired it, she is now keeping it in her already overcrowded bedroom. She has started her own blog this week, and put photo's of 'Pertunia' up Pertunia the plus size model

Still away from the sewing room, I have been doing a little bit of embroidery as well, Taryn bought me a book for Christmas with some really pretty idea's for cross stitch - not thinking too much about fabric and hole sizes etc I set forth on a couple of little samples - my eye's were nearly bleeding when I finished! Me thinks some bigger fabric might be in order!

I also signed up to Twitter this week - what on earth is that about? I kept thinking it was crucial because everyone is tweeting - but I just don't get it! still, it is keeping me both perplexed and amused for the moment.

Right - I am off to Culcheth near Warrington today - double visit as always, Black Sheep Wools first, then into Warrington to visit Grandma.

Wet and Miserable.

 What a HORRIBLE couple of weather days we have had in the North West. Not only has the rain hardly stopped, it hasn't allowed much sunlight through, so the days have not ever really been 'light'

 We have known for a while that our roof is in need of some MAJOR work, most of the beams supporting it are rotting and need repairs or completely replacing, but as neither Mr Juicy or myself are currently in full time work, and only just managing to pay the bills, it has been put on hold until we have the money! 

Yesterday the rain seamed to be coming in from the East, hitting the front of the house, and pouring into my beloved sewing room above the window. I have rescued my hand made blind, and moved most of the items on my workbench (in front of the window) - there are two large pans catching the water, about 4" during the night.

 I just didn't have the heart to sit in their and work around the water yesterday, so to try and cheer myself up, and inspired by the cushion I received in the swap I have dug out my own granny's garden quilt project, now in it's 20th year, and sat down stairs in the gloom, sewing until my fingers hurt!

The hexagons sides are just 1" long, and it contains bits of fabrics from most of my projects over the past 20 years, and still fits in the first Octagon box I ever made!

 Even Bodkin was in a funk about the weather (I had to get him to open his eyes to focus the camera on him!) 

While Stitch is having a wonderful time asking to be let out into the rain, then returning 5 minutes later for a good rub down with a towel and a purr, then asking to go out again!