First Craft Fair!!

I've finally done it! I've been to my first craft fair today and sold some of my handmade items to people who genuinely seemed to like the things I took. Yay! How exciting!! After being extremely nervous about going it actually went ok. DD and DH came to help and provide morale support which was lovely. And everyone there was really nice. It was only a little fair - only about ten stalls - but it's a start. And I sold things. And I also had a lot of nice comments about my table too, which was lovely. 

I'd had a practice at setting everything up at home so I could judge where to put everything. So this is the finished table today .......

I think it looked ok. 

Roll on my next craft fair in October! 

I'd been inspired to do some painting yesterday by this fabulous sunflower which appeared in our garden ....

This is what I came up with ....

My tiny sunflower .....

And tomorrow is another day off work - Bank Holiday Monday for us. Time to sort out the van ready for going away again - hoovering, sorting, packing. 

And hopefully some more crafting ........ 

 

Mid-week Meltdown

The beginning of each week is usually a bit of a blur. With working, housework, line dancing, and walking Oscar, by the time it gets to Wednesday I'm getting ready for another weekend. This week particularly I'm ready for the extra day off work over the Bank Holiday weekend. I had a bit of a mini meltdown at work this morning you see. I'm normally ok at work and just get on with my job. But just today it got too much. I don't know why. But I just felt like I couldn't keep calm on the phone or carry on like I normally do. And although I was kept off the phones for the afternoon, I was glad to get home and go in my little craft room. 

And my crafting today? I made a tiny snowman! He's just less than 4cm tall! 

(Well, when I say made, I mean painted and decorated of course). Isnt he cute?! I also used my glow in the dark paint on a mushroom to see how it looked ........ So this is in normal light ....

.... and this is in the dark .... 

I love it! Even DD thinks it looks good! And here's another tiny mushroom with a little welcome door... 

It was so good to be able to chill out in my room. I've still so many ideas to try. 

I wonder if I'll ever have the time to get them all done! 

Wasps!!

We discovered we had a wasps nest last week. Not in the garden though. In the house. In the tube of the extractor fan in our bathroom. I found out about it while I was having a shower on Thursday morning. I saw a couple of wasps flying round and found a spray to get rid of them. As I did that, I watched as a couple more wasps came out of the grill over the fan and in to the bathroom!!! To say I was terrified is a understatement. I really, really, don't like wasps with a vengeance. And to find out they'd decided to make their home over my bathroom was not a good start to the day. When I looked outside there were loads of wasps flying round near the outside grill, a sure sign they'd made a nest. Thankfully DH was heading home on Thursday, so when he got back he taped up the grill inside, so that at least the wasps couldn't get in that way. 

Wasp lady came on Friday and dealt with the nest very quickly. Thankfully. So now hopefully we'll be ok. 

I seem to have spent most of the weekend in my little craft room, finishing things off and pricing things ready for next weekend. I've been trying to make sure I have enough bags and packaging for the things I'm taking - no good taking stuff and not having a bag to put it in if somebody buys something! 

I've managed to finish off a few more wooden shapes .... 

......and I've also done some more standing snowmen and hanging tree decorations. 

I'll try and set up a practice stall at home later this week and see what it looks like. Exciting! (And terrifying at the same time..) 

Mid week crafting

Sadly I was back at the day job today. After having almost a week off, back to normal today. While being off work I've managed, since Saturday's walk, to get quite a bit of things made for this craft fair coming up ......

 

.....this hanging plaque comes with chalk so you can do the countdown to Christmas.....

.....a bit of fun and a small Christmassy/winter ornament......

....and of course, some hanging snowmen. I've also done some hanging trees and snowflakes to see how they go. So quite a productive few days. 

Then yesterday I went to Manchester with DD to meet up with her Auntie. We don't go to Manchester very often, and we don't see DDs Auntie very often, so it was lovely to meet up and catch up with what's been happening.  We had a bit of a mooch round and did a little bit of shopping before getting the very busy train home. 

And then today was back to the normal routine of the day job. Although I did manage to drop a tub of paint on the floor before I left home. One that I was supposed to be returning as it was the wrong colour. One that once dropped decided to leak paint as the seal broke. Which meant I couldn't then return it. So we're now thinking where we can use this unwanted paint.....We're thinking the downstairs cloakroom would be ok.....

On a brighter note today, I found time to go in my craft room and get on with some bracelets. I managed to finish one and start wiring beads for another. I've made another rainbow bracelet .....

.....and then wired some beads for the next one. I wonder if you can tell what time of year it's aimed at ......

 

Journey to the centre of the UK.

Yesterday was a day for getting jobs done and then worrying about DD as she headed off to drive to her boyfriends on her own for the first time. It's the first time she's driven so far on her own, no passenger to ask for help. Even more worrying was when she seemed to stay on the motorway for much longer than her route said! After one junction missed we expected her to ring and say she was panicking. Not DD. Many junctions later, and way off the original route, she rang to ask why she seemed to be seeing signs for London when she was heading for Leicester!! It seemed that her SatNav had just sent her a slightly different way, making her journey time ever so slightly quicker, and to her credit DD had stuck to the SatNav directions and arrived safe and sound from a different route. So well done to DD for making it on her own. 

This morning, with rucksacks packed, we headed off to the Trough of Bowland to do a walk DH had found. However, we hit our first obstacle at the first gate - No Dogs - Access Land Restrictions. So we went back to the van to think of Plan B, which we didn't have. 

Eventually, after being quite downhearted at the dismal weather despite the good weather forecast, we parked up in Dunsop Bridge. So an hour later than originally planned we set off towards Brennand Fell. The first couple of miles take you along a road by the river, but then a track takes you past Brennand Farm on off up the hill towards a shooting lodge. 

Part of the track was quite steep, but we carried on and eventually arrived at the lodge ....

.........and what a view for lunch.....!

It made a nice change to have somewhere to shelter from the breeze, even if we couldn't get in! 

Just before we got to the lodge we'd seen this sign ....

Just coincidentally I'd been reading a book which mentioned that the central point of the UK is found at the Whitendale Hanging Stones. Well, it seemed almost wrong not to go there while we were so close! So off we went over the wet, peat fell. 

We reached the Brennand Hanging Stones first....

.....and then carried on to the Centre of the UK ....

....the Whitendale Hanging Stones. How cool to know we've been there! 

But then we had to find our way down. Not an easy task as there are no paths up there - only lots of peat and bog. So, with no path to guide us we opted to stay close to a fence which would take us back down to a marked path. Easier said than done. It was tough going, with me sinking in parts that were very wet, and making our way down a near vertical section, only to find no way out apart from climbing over a fence!! 

Maybe not such a good idea to go somewhere with no path. The views were fabulous though, and we were soon back on a good path and heading back. 

And then we saw this sign at the bottom of the final very steep descent ......

This sign also has a warning next to it stating that the walk involves very steep sections and to only attempt if very capable!!! It was a bit late to see the warning when we'd just done it all! And yes, it was very steep!!

The rest of the walk was fine, if fairly hard going due to the number of miles we'd walked. What started out as being probably 6 or 7 miles, ended up being 11 1/2!!!

But we did it, and survived, and we even made it back to Dunsop Bridge in time to get a well deserved ice-cream from the shop. 

Time flies ……..

Time flies at a different speed when you use the computer - it becomes a different time zone, as those who use computers will tell you. I've found out that the same applies to time spent in my new craft room - suddenly 2 or 3 hours have gone by and I was only supposed to be in there for about an hour! Oops. 

After going line dancing on Monday night, I've been trying to find time to go in my 'craft room' as much as I can. I have to say it's a lovely room to work in, and means I don't have to worry about tidying everything away so that we can eat. And if means we've got our dining room table back too! This is the room before I started filling it with my craft boxes ......

It doesn't look like that now. I've moved all my craft boxes in and realised I need a lot more storage units. So another shopping trip soon .....

This week I've been trying to finish off lots of pieces so that they're ready for the craft fair. So I've got a few plaques, snowmen and wooden cats to take with me, along with the jewellery. 

And as I'm now off work until next Wednesday, hopefully I'll get lots done by then. Fingers crossed!  

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Weekend whizzing by .......

So the weekend is halfway gone already. And what a half! It's been fabulous so far. 

The weather forecast gave it a better day today than tomorrow, so we decided to head up to the Lakes and get some walking done. We don't seem to have done much lately, so we headed off to Grasmere. 

We managed to get a fairly decent start in glorious sunshine, heading off up Tongue Gill, towards Grisedale Hause, with the goal being Grisedale Tarn. This would be our third attempt. A couple of years ago we set out on the same walk and had to cut it short due to icy cold weather and lack of daylight. We then attempted it from Patterdale end earlier this year and had to stop due to snowy weather and lack of daylight. Today however, we were lucky enough to have sunshine and time on our side. 

It was a tough walk, but well worth the effort when we finally reached our goal - Grisedale Tarn ......

It was an amazing view, looking across to Ullswater and surrounding fells. Such a fabulous place. And, of course, a good spot for lunch! 

Then back down the hill ......

....and back to the van for a nice cup of tea. 

All this after spending yesterday doing lots of painting for my craft fair......

And look what DH had made for me ...

Isn't it just fab!!!!! I love it!!! 

Half-way there ……

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?! 

Since Sunday I've been trying to spend as much time as I can trying to get some more jewellery made ready for the craft fair at the end of the month. After making a few more bag/purse charms, I've finally been able to make some earrings as the hooks came today - yay! I've sorted out some packaging for them, and I've got some little price tags to fasten on, so it's all coming together slowly. 

I didn't get any crafting time on Monday as I went line dancing for the first time in over a month. Thankfully I remembered most of the dances! I just need to keep going for a few weeks to make sure I keep up with everyone. 

Then last night I was busy wiring up more beads and planning a few bracelets. I just need to get it all organised now.......

And then there's the question - how early do you put out the, dare I say it? Christmas things at a craft fair? If anyone has any suggests, feel free to let me know.......

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DIY Weekend!

No walking this weekend for us. After having my craft boxes taking over the dining room for months, it's time to tackle the smallest room in the house and make it my craft room. This has meant keeping the cats out of what has been their room and has been quite hard - they've had the run of the room for a long time now. Time for them to get in to a new routine. 

So, yesterday, while I returned some clothes to the shops as they didn't fit, DH took up the carpet. Then off to the shop for filler and paint. Then it was the job of taking down the shelf and filling in the holes, leaving the filler to dry, sanding it down, and wiping all the walls ready for painting. 

DH then sealed the floor, leaving it to dry before getting on with stage two today. 

Painting. 

I haven't done any decorating for a few years but it doesn't take long to get back in to the swing of using a roller. One coat later all round and a couple of hours to leave it to dry. Then coat number two and it's done! Once the walls were done DH was going to paint the skirting boards. Slight problem there - we'd managed to get grey instead of white gloss! Oops. Never mind. DH did the flooring instead! 

And while all this has been going on I've managed to sign up for my first craft fair at the end of August. So panic stations now to get enough bits together to take! So this was our dining room table last night ......

......and this is what I've got made up so far .....

I've got lots of earrings planned but no hooks yet. I realised I'd run out when I started getting everything together. Hence the need to get organised in one room soon. 

It's all very exciting. I can't wait to move in to my little craft room.