(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Watching the torch together - they love each other very much :)

Olympic torch

In the UK most people are going mad about the Olympics (I'm personally not fussed) but when we found out that the torch was coming to Burnley, we knew we had to go and see it. And we did - twice!

This is Matt and the girls waiting for the torch to come through the town centre.

And here it is being carried by a 13 year old but I can't remember her name!

And there it is going past us. There was lots of cheering and very nice policemen who were riding by on their motorbikes giving high fives to all the kids :)

This picture is much closer to home and we came up here after we had been in town. The torch bearers etc had lunch at the local theatre and then carried on with the route from there.

And here is the torch bearer (a different one this time) I don't think she was very sporty although I down't blame her for walking as Manchester Road is fairly steep in places!

Mini tidy up

This was the studio at 12pm

And this was an hour and a half later :) I also sorted out a whole load of magazines - I've taken out the tutorials that I will use and snipped the pretty pics out to go into my inspiration book.

And while tidying up I found these pretty buttons that were given to me by a lovely lady called Karen :)

Lost my mojo

Has anyone seen my mojo? I have lost all enthusiasm for blogging and making at the moment so it's making this space a little boring. And full of thrifty things which is no bad thing but you know, it's meant to be a craft blog :) I've been ill and the house is chaotic (we have a dining room full of things that belong in Taz and lots of other crap!) So I am going to leave this space well alone for now and concentrate on getting some of the house sorted and then maybe I will want to make some new things :)

This is what we did yesterday - had Tara's fairy party. There is ballerina fairy Tara getting a big hug from pirate A :) She had a brilliant time and so did we. There are some photos floating around somewhere of me and Matt wearing wigs and big clown pants, catching balls :) I'll post them when I see them.

Sorting

Our kitchen has had a mini revamp and we got some new drawers in there. In the process of sorting I organised a whole load of envelopes.

I use my handmade envelopes to send out parcels and they needed new labels on them. Exciting huh??

More thrifty finds

I know this is meant to be a craft blog but I am still finishing off the stickers etc from yesterday and will probably be a while doing that so thrifty finds it is! These were all found in a YMCA shop next to Sainsburys (which is opposite Ikea) in Manchester. The shop shut on Saturday though (boo) but they are hoping for new premises soon.

This cushion was £1 and I couldn't leave it behind. I'm going to change the bottom fabric to something more exciting but I'm not sure what yet.

This scarf was only £1 too and though it's not really appropriate for the June weather here, I couldn't leave it behind. Although the weather here has been shocking lately!

I also bought this handmade bowler hat for £3.99. It was made by Christys' of London and I don't know if that is good or not but it's fab to wear. I am wary of looking a bit like an extra from Cabaret though so I might have to do something with it. Maybe a Liberty covered bowler hat?? I might have to ask Chrissie from Hat Therapy for advice :)

We also got a present for someone and a Barbie aeroplane for the girls for £3.99 which despite missing the tail fin was in much better condition that the one we had seen a couple of months ago for £15! So all in all a good day out!

What I'm working on today

This is my temporary desk today - I had to wait in for the washing machine man to come so couldn't be in the studio as our doorbell doesn't work! After clearing it of all the kids stuff (it is meant to be their table!) I filled it with mine :)

Lots of stuff! I'm trying to get all those little itty bits and pieces finished off. I have lots of piles of half finished stuff around the house and want it all away really. Especially as Tara is having a family birthday party in a couple of weeks!

Stickers waiting for their packaging and pieces of paper waiting to be turned into stickers!

Images from magazines waiting to be put into my inspiration book.

This book is waiting to be chopped up - it has some pages missing hence why I am getting scissor happy!

Teeny tiny envelopes waiting to be folded and stuck together.

Oh and these two bags need to be sorted as there is unfinished wok in both of them!

Fixing my cowichan :)

I bought a lovely thick cardigan* in the charity shop a couple of years ago for about £5 (I think) Earlier this year I was reading a vintage blog (can't remember which one) and she was raving about cowichans and how hard they are to find and when you do, how expensive they are. I'm not sure if mine is a genuine cowichan sweater but it looks like one :)

Anyhow, my cardigan has a hole in the lining so I have written tomorrow's Cuteable post already and I am going to sew this baby up tonight whilst re-watching ER.

The exciting life I lead hey? I may even make up some more teeny tiny envelopes if I have extra time:)

*And yes, I do wear it despite the odd looks it gets. But hey I got odd looks today for daring to wear a blue spotty dress with red striped shoes and a flowery cardigan!

Cake

Yum!

Two Victoria sponges with Matt's orange curd as filling, covered with marscapone and icing sugar frosting topped with blueberries :)

It will have to be eaten quickly as the blueberries might go off.......

Holibobs

As you may have guessed from the last post we have been away for part of the week in the campervan :) The week started off beautifully but then the rain came!! Here are some pics from the trip (we went to coastal Cumbria)

A being delightful in a local eatery!

Breakfast time!

Girl on a pig!

T loving the view out of the train window. The view on this stretch of the railway (Workington/Maryport/Whitehaven/Ravenglass) is gorgeous!

And then we went on a different kind of railway - a steam railway :) The Ravenglass and Eskdake railway to be precise!

The views are lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed it. A handy tip once you are at the top is to turn left out of the station and then left again towards the village of Boot (only about half a mile) Go all the way through the village (it's tiny so it's not far) and over the bridge and you will see Eskdale Mill on the right - it is well worth a look round and there are lots of things for the kids to look at and do. The girls were taken by a mangle (note to self - look for one at the auction so they can do the washing!) and loved being told how the mill worked by a very generous host. There are lots of funny touches for the adults too so keep an eye out for them!

So all in all we had a great holiday and Matt and I are looking forward to going away again in Taz when he is refitted :)

A tour of Taz

In case you don't know, Taz is our beloved VW campervan. At the moment the layout really doesn't work for us but he is going in to have all his inside ripped out next week and replaced with new fittings :) Here is a before video of what Taz looks like so we can remember. Guest appearance by Anya :)



If that doesn't work then you can access the video on You Tube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ltQpDG7iMo

And of course there will be a new video once Taz is back from Toby's workshop!

More bargains but charity shops this time!

It's turning into thrifty week here over at Swirlyarts isn't it?

So when I went to Shipley to drop stock off at Junc, it seemed rude not to visit the charity shops dotted around the central square :)

These placemats are destined to become chicken doorstops :) They will be limited to only 4 due to the amount of fabric I have!

This is a jersey skirt that comes to calf length and has funny flick out bits just under the knee. It is destined to become an on the knee skirt for me :) I LOVE leopard print - I think I'm channelling Bet Lynch :)

On the way back from Shipley I have to pass through Saltaire and would you believe it, there was a parking space :)

I got these shoes :)

And this very cool Marks and Spencer London bus biscuit tin!

The queen and the pigeon are my favourite characters!

I tried another shop on the way back but my thrifting luck had run out by then!

More auction finds

So as well as the wardrobe from yesterday we found some other things at the auction. At the end of our bed there was a bedding chest that held Matt's jumpers but it was really too small (he has lots of nice thick jumpers!) and it opened from the top meaning that all the crap that gets piled up on top of it falls off when he needs a jumper! Enter a new piece of furniture bought from the auction.

This piece is actually a cut down set of Victorian mahogany drawers but it is perfect for the space - Matt's jumpers now all fit in one of the drawers and he is going to use the other one for his ever growing pile of t-shirts!

And this is the lining paper - it's well glued in so we are leaving it :) And the bedding box has been moved to another part of our bedroom and will eventually hold my tights/leggings/stuff!

We also got a painting at the auction - for me it was love at first sight and while Matt had to be persuaded, I think he now loves her! Meet Emily-Rose - the girls named her!

She won't be staying at that height but I haven't sorted out where the picture framing stuff is in the cellar yet so she will stay there until I sort out her hanging bits on the back!

And this is taken from the doorway to give you an idea of quite how big this painting is!

She was a bargain at £24 + commission and was the most expensive thing we bought :) Yay for bargains!

Narnia has nothing on me!

If you follow me on Twitter you will have seen me bleating about finding a fab new wardrobe* at the auction. So now you get to see pretty pictures of it. Exciting huh? :)

Nothing too fancy so far....

Getting better with pretty details.....

Oh but what is this - shelves and drawers?

WITH LABELS!!!!! Sorry, got all excited there!! I don't have many collars but I'm sure I will think of something to put in there :)

And it was mine for the princely sum of £12 + commission. Not bad eh?

*my old wardrobe is one of those canvas ones and it is so old that it is starting to lean over! A replacement was needed pronto!