Daisyley

Happy Birthday Bunting

2012-03-05T08:00:00.000Z

I am very happy as I had some lovely comments on my post on Friday. Far too shy to mention it when I was out for dinner on Saturday but, as I had a glass of champagne, I did silently raise a glass to myself :-)

But back to today's post .... I have updated and changed my Happy Birthday Bunting as it really needed more choices and a bit of a facelift. As this was my first product on notonthehighstreet it felt a bit odd taking off the photos that I had once been so proud of but it needed to be done.

So now it is available as just Happy Birthday or personalised to say Happy Birthday {Name} with a number of colours and font choices.

I need to take some more photos of examples but the sun just didn't shine yesterday so hopefully it will today.

Happy Notonthehighstreet Birthday To Me

2012-03-02T08:00:00.000Z

Yesterday was my Daisyley birthday as one year ago I finally went "live" with my notonthehighstreet shop.

On 2nd March 2011 at 16:27 I was beyond excited to receive my very first order and I had accepted the order by 16:29. The first order appropriately enough was for a birthday banner and I proudly posted if off the next day.

Yesterday saw my one thousand and ninety third order ... yes 1,093 people have ordered from me. I can hardly believe it.The furthest I've sent bunting to is New Zealand and the nearest was a couple of miles up the road (the only package I've hand delivered!).

I didn't always get it right in the beginning and had a couple of bad reviews but I took it onboard, learnt, changed things and moved on. Thankfully I've had lots of really lovely reviews. One this week said

"The product, service and delivery was excellent. It arrived the next day and was beautifully packed. I'd have no hesitation in ordering many more!!!"

It is my aim for all my customers to have that sort of reaction and that comment was just a perfect ending to a great year. To make me even happier I've had my busiest week since beginning of December :-)
I also went into the Venture group of notonthehighstreet sellers which won't mean anything to anyone who isn't a fellow seller, but it is the group I've been aiming for all year and now I've set my sights on the enterprise group {that is a big challenge!}.

Of course, I wish I knew then all the things I know now about customers/retail/selling .... but I'll probably think that this time next year... in fact I know I will as I still have SO much to learn. And that's the great thing I'm learning things all the time, I've met some great people and I'm sure it can still keep growing. It gives me huge satisfaction to say I really enjoy what I do and I still get a thrill when an order pings through.

So today at 16:27 I shall think very fondly of my first customer and think of all the lovely customers I've sent packages off to.

Happy Birthday Daisyley and thank you notonthehighstreet.

What colour is hessian and dark gold?

2012-02-29T08:00:00.000Z

I often often get requests for different colours and it's normally pretty straightforward. It is fantastic when the customer asks for something like Cadbury purple because then I know exactly what they are after. Of course, I still had to go and buy a bar of Cadbury's chocolate to make sure but that was purely for research.

This week however I've had requests for hessian and dark gold which is a little bit trickier. Luckily I managed to get it right first time but I had to have a bit of a think about what colour hessian really was. Is it brown or cream? And is dark gold more yellow or brown?

If you are wondering .... dark gold is top right and hessian is bottom right and the two lots of bunting looked lovely. I particularly liked the hessian.

Mother's Day

2012-02-27T08:00:00.000Z

Not long until Mother's Day (18th March if you need reminding). I've designed these Mother's Day Door Hangers for Mother's Day in the style of hotel breakfast menus but with a few little extras. As well as whether you'd like brown or white toast you can also specify whether you will allow jumping on the bed and what time you'd like to be left in peace.

I've also got these Mother's Day Tokens that can be personalised with anything you like.

The Perfect Mug

2012-02-24T08:00:00.000Z

When I saw the blog post from Becky of Dots and Spots about her new mugs, I just had to put an order in. I had seen them at Top Drawer and, as I'm very particular about the type of mug I like to drink my tea from, I knew these were "the right ones".

It has quickly become my mug of choice. It's perfect you see because it's not too thick (fine bone china you know) and big. My Orla Kiely mugs are nearly right but not always big enough but this one is just right and so gorgeous.

The other bonus is that I no longer have to use the "I'd Rather Be Playing Rugby" mug .... because frankly I wouldn't.

So thank you Becky and thank you Stubbs mugs for providing me with the perfect mug. What I'd really like to do is get rid of all my other mugs and fill the cupboard with Dots and Spots mugs.

Whooops was that the sound of breaking china, how on earth did that happen?

Shrove Tuesday

2012-02-22T08:00:00.000Z

We love Shrove Tuesday and we love pancakes. I thought I'd missed it last week when a friend started telling me what her children had given up for Lent but after some diary checking she realised her mistake. She reckons her children can cope with an extra week and I promised not to tell them!

On a whim in Waitrose yesterday I bought some chocolate syrup (yes chocolate syrup!) to go with the pancakes. Not sure why I did it really. I was in a rush and I suppose for a moment I thought it would be nice for the boys to have a change, but it was plain foolish. They did try it but honestly all you need is caster sugar and lemon. Some simple things are just meant to be and there is nothing better than lemon and sugar on your pancake. Lesson learned.

Branding Masterclass Mood Board Homework

2012-02-20T08:00:00.000Z

I do love a mood board homework! Found this quite hard though as it was about choosing things that I wanted my brand to represent rather than just selecting pretty pictures that I like.

I got seriously sidetracked colour coordinating and making it look pretty whilst listening to the Archers rather than focussing on what I should have been doing but I'm happy with the end result.

It is supposed to convey Party / Tasteful / Bespoke .... did I manage to convey that?

Week two of the Branding Masterclass has been a bit of a challenge with orders, half term and a sickness bug but I think I'm still on track. I am finding it really, really inspiring and it is certainly an eye opener. Can't wait to see what we learn in Week 3.

I knew the day would come

2012-02-17T08:00:00.000Z

Oscar asked me if he could sell his toy tractors.

He started his collection when he was very little and each year he would get more specific about exactly which model he would like and the collection got bigger and bigger. His Aunty Christy even built him a scaled down shed exactly like hers. He played with them for hours and hours and hours.

A few years ago if I'd said one day he would want to sell his collection he'd have laughed his socks off at such a foolish idea .... but time moves on and now he thinks they are too childish and he's worried that if any of his friends come round and see them they will laugh at him.

"Are you sure?" I say.
"Yes and I've got a spreadsheet to work out how much I might make from selling them." he says.

I say "What if your friend Rory comes round? I bet he still plays with tractors."
"He probably won't" he says.

I know he's right and it is time to move on but I feel a bit sad. Thank goodness Archie won't be getting rid of his lego collection just yet.

Matchboxes

2012-02-15T08:00:00.000Z

I rediscovered Lobster & Swan's blog a few weeks ago and whilst browsing through the pages I found a bit about Kim Welling and her gorgeous little boxes. I had also enjoyed Sue's (The Quince Tree) post about A Multitude of Small Delights.

It was therefore a lovely surprise to see Lobster & Swan's Matchboxaday challenge and inevitable that I would love it. I haven't been able to do one every day but here are the ones I have done, not a patch on Jeska's which are just beautiful little works of art, but it is great fun and I love seeing how everyone interprets the theme.

the water one

the recipe one

the gold one

the love one

I bought some more matchboxes today so hope to do a few more before the month is out.

Just Engaged Bunting

2012-02-13T08:00:00.000Z

As it's Valentine's Day tomorrow I wonder if there will be an influx of orders for Just Engaged bunting later in the week?

I hope so but feel a bit sorry for today's potential proposers. These days the poor suitors seem to have to work harder to come up with a unique proposal. There seems to be a trend for flashmob proposing ... ... and I thought they must be made up because I couldn't see how you could get it to work. But then I saw a tweet the other day asking people to join a facebook group for someone who was setting one up and from the responses on the page it seems people really do volunteer.

Can't really decide if I think it is cringeworthy or romantic. As ever I'm very glad I got engaged/married before the days of the internet!

Monthly Photo 2012

2012-02-10T08:00:00.001Z

I remembered to take a photo. Just hope I keep it up because I already like this idea and I've only done two!

Fun and frolics in the snow

2012-02-08T08:00:00.001Z

I hate snow ..... apart from on Sundays when I don't have to go anywhere. Good job the snow started on Saturday night then and, as I'd already invited some friends over for lunch on Sunday (who live in the village), we could just relax and enjoy the snow.

In the morning I walked around the garden taking pictures.

Oscar tried snowboarding on an old skateboard.

Archie just slid around.

And tried to creep on his brother with a large snowball.

Then after lunch we went out to a bigger hill ...

where the adults had as much fun as the children and Jake the dog.

Branding Masterclass

2012-02-06T08:00:00.001Z

Today I'm staring a Branding Masterclass with Flourish Studios and as I've changed brand image three times since I started Daisyley back in March 2011 I think it is not a moment too soon.

I've heard wonderful things about Fiona Humberstone and her team and I'm really looking forward to going back to 'school' for a bit albeit online.

I wonder what I will learn in the next few weeks and whether you will notice any changes?

Mum .... Yes .... Can I ....

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000Z

Sue of The Quince Tree made me laugh out loud with her recent post FAQs where she told us that the most frequently asked question directed to her is What's for tea?

I get asked What's for tea? What can I have to eat? Where is my ....? continually but the one thing that really gets on my nerves is why oh why do my boys have to say "Mum" to which I have to reply (wherever I happen to be in the house) "Yes" and then they ask the question.

Why can't they start with "Mum where is ...?" "Mum can I ...?" without me having to say in a tetchy irritated way "Yes". They would say it's because they need to make sure I'm listening .... but of course I always listen and give them my full attention ..... mmmmm maybe they have a point.

To add insult to injury last night at 2am Archie shouted out "Mum Mum". I have to admit I didn't answer as I hoped he was sleep talking (he was) but I then lay awake listening in case there really was something wrong. I really hope that won't happen again ....

I know that one day I shall miss the constant Mum, Mum, Mum so shouldn't complain but honestly sometimes I say Yes about a million times in one day!

No New Clothes Challenge Month 1

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000Z

First month of my no new clothes challenge. Have I been tempted ... yes. Have I succumbed ... no.

I seem to be able to look without buying at the moment although when I see anything clothes related (website or catalogue) I am hoping with fingers crossed there aren't any lovely white tops. It seems the only thing I'm worried about is finding that elusive perfect white top.

The real bonus is that going shopping is so much quicker. I can pop into our local town and do all my jobs in under an hour because I'm not "just popping into" any clothes shops.

When I went up to London the other day I was tempted to go and have a browse round Liberty and Anthropologie but I was too scared so stayed on the tube. I wish the people around me could have heard my internal struggles as I was deciding whether to get off the tube or not! I really was having an argument inside my head,

"Don't you'll just get tempted."
"But I'll only look I won't buy."
"Yes but if you get off you'll be late back."
"But I won't be long, I promise I'll be really quick."

On and on it went until eventually I had gone too many stops along so it was pointless arguing with myself any longer!

Love Tokens

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000Z

Somewhat belatedly I had a good idea for a new Valentine's Day product. Am pleased to report that the orders have been a lot more original than any I could think of and some of them quite saucy ....

I get so excited every time I see an order pop up because I can't wait to read what people are putting on them. Most of them make me say "ahhhhh", some just "oh" and quite a few "gosh" {with raised eyebrows}.

Listed as Personalised Love Tokens on my notonthehighstreet page.

Chocolate Crunch

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000Z

Reading Silverpebble's blog post about Cosiness and Comfort, I thought I would share the easiest most cosy and comfortable pudding ever as part of Silverpebble's & Thrifty Household's Making Winter.

Family story is that some of my cousins (all now in their 50s and maybe even 60s!) kept coming home from primary school and telling my lovely Scottish Aunt, who happens to be an extremely good cook, that they had had the most delicious pudding at school. The dinner lady was asked for the recipe and eventually relented and undaunted by the fact that it was for 96 portions my Aunt was able to serve it up to my cousins at home. We must have liked it too and so mum asked for the recipe and we had it often. It is definitely my "oh my goodness look at the time what are we going to have for pudding" fall back. It helps that it is just as yummy cold as it is hot.

It has to be the quickest pudding ever and is real winter comfort food.

Be warned - it is very sweet!

175g (6oz) marg (I actually use butter)
175g (6oz) sugar
15g (¾oz) cocoa
1 egg

210g (7½oz) self-raising flour
vanilla

Melt the margarine, add vanilla, sugar, cocoa, flour and egg.

Press into greased tin. Brush with water and sprinke with sugar. Bake at 375/190 for 20 minutes.

Serve with chocolate custard and cream.

Top Drawer

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000Z

I went to Top Drawer last Tuesday as it features in my one day I'm going to exhibit there plans. So I went for a gander, a lookabout, a recce. I also hoped to meet Dots and Spots, The Green Gal, Snapdragon and What Katie Did Next (bonus to meet SewSister). Over the past year that I have been blogging and tweeting, I have followed and read their blogs and admired what they have achieved.

Bearing in mind this is a trade show and I went on the last day I wouldn't have been at all surprised if they had had enough of chatting, I wouldn't have been surprised if they wondered why this strange woman was talking to them as if she knew them and I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd decided to keep their little trade/show secrets to themselves.

Well not one bit of it. They were all charming. All generous in their time chatting to me. All far lovelier than I had thought they even would be.

http://dotsandspotsdesign.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-drawer-2012.html

http://www.thegreengal.co.uk/2012/01/top-drawer-preparations.html

http://snapdragongarden.typepad.com/snapdragons_garden/2012/01/and-we-are-off-.html

http://www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk/blog/what-katie-did-next-was-top-drawer-at-earls-court-2012

Thank you Becky, Gabrielle, Jane and Katie for taking the time to stop and have a little chat, it was really lovely to meet you all.

Would you like that in Large, Medium or Small

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000Z

I have been a busy, busy bee. I've revamped a lot of my nothonthehighstreet products so that I can offer bunting in small, medium and large.

I've got lots and lots more photos to take and upload but I'm getting there and hopefully by the end of the week most of my products will be available in three different sizes, five different fonts and ten different colours!

Weekday Tea and Wearing Me Down Slowly

2012-01-20T08:00:00.001Z

Every day, week day tea. I find it hard to come up with something that pleases everyone and pretty much fail every night. This week I've tried Sweet & Sour chicken "OK but why does it have celery and peppers in it" and Fish Pie "I hate fish" "Why did you put the peas in it" ..... grrrrr. Actually the noodles and stir-fry on Wednesday went down OK but last night I decided to just give in completely. So it was Sausage + Mash + Baked Beans - Any Vegetables = Happy Children.

As we are on an economy drive I've also stopped buying puddings/biscuits so now have to make something every night. This is way more exciting and successful. Trifle, jelly, Angel Delight (OK not exactly making) and last night gooey chocolate pudding. If only we could live off pudding alone.

Project :: Sky 365

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000Z

Annie from Knitsofacto has started a great project called Project :: Sky 365. I won't go into lengthy explanations here go read it first hand to get all the information (suffice to say I love it).

There is a road that I drive on at least twice a day (if not three times four times) which is just absolutely beautiful for sky spotting. The boys and I often say "wow look at that sky" so this project is perfect for us.

Coincidentally I had already started my own little sky/landscape project and am going to try and take a photo every month from the same place at the same time. This is January at about 8am, the strange glow on the bottom right hand side is because I'm stopping and quickly taking a photo by the side of the car and it was so dark the lights are on!

I hope I remember each month and the plan is that it will be a log of the changing seasons. I'll let you know how I get on but back to the Project :: Sky 365, here are three photos one taken by Archie, one by Oscar (with his phone) and one by me.

Archie and I have completely missed the whole point of the project by including trees in our photos. We just find it tricky not to because it just makes the sky look so biiiiiiig.

A big thank you to Annie for starting this. We are really enjoying it and loving the excuse to put some of our photos into a project.

The Name is Purple, Cadbury Purple

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000Z

Well tango tangerine may be the "colour" for 2012 but brides seem to be favouring purple and my new Cadbury Purple to be exact.

However, hen party planners favour Princess Pink.

The question is, are these two selling the best because these are the ones the customer loves the best or is it because I've put them as the main image? Ahhhh if only I knew ..... ?

You were only supposed to blow the ....

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000Z

Back in September I told you about this fantastic Letterpress course I went on. What I couldn't show you was the poster I made because it was a Christmas present. Well here it is ...

Sorry about the bad photo - it is very tricky taking photos of framed things.

As is obvious one of our favourite family films is The Italian Job, I only add this because I have been surprised how many people don't know where this saying comes from and would hate any reader to think I'm just plain rude!

If you are interested in seeing other letterpress work then have a look at the Flickr photostream where you will also my poster going through the various stages.

Channel your inner tango ... tangerine is back

2012-01-11T08:00:00.001Z

Well who would have thought I'd be ahead of the fashions? According to myPANTONE the colour of 2012 is Tangerine Tango. In this blog post Orange back in January 2011 I expressed my love of orange so does this mean I am way ahead of the trends or does it mean I'm painfully out of fashion because I liked it in 2011 as opposed to 2012?

New Year Revamp

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000Z

One of my new year resolutions was to review my nothinthehighstreet shopfront. I've not exactly completed this but I've made a start. It was all getting a bit messy so now my wedding bunting has changed to Just Married Bunting and includes this rather nice purple or "cadbury purple" as described by the customer who ordered it.

I get lots of requests to make bespoke bunting so have now {rather obviously} added Bespoke Personalised Large Card Bunting which is only a tiny bit more expensive than my Personalised Bunting but you get exactly what you want.

So I'm going to tackle the rest of the shopfront this week .... and tidy my workspace .... unless of course something more interesting comes up.

I spent about two hours chatting to the vicar on Friday morning instead of working, I'm so easily distracted. Decided it must be quite nice to be a vicar because he was "working" whilst chatting but then again you do have to work on Sundays and you do have to be lovely and kind ALL the time so perhaps not.

Feel the lurve ...

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000Z

So you've packed away the Christmas things, so obviously it is time to think about the next celebration! Only five and half weeks to Valentine's Day ....

Valentine's Day Bunting

Personalised Valentine's Day Gift Box

Bunting and boxes available through notonthehighstreet.

A New Family Hobby?

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000Z

We went Geocaching and we just may have found a new family hobby. It's such a simple but great idea and I really enjoyed the excitement of it but then again as my mother (yet again) pointed out to me I am very easily pleased.

I realise we are very late to catch on to this activity but for those of you as unfamiliar about Geocaching as we were until Boxing Day it is "a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location."

It is a great way to encourage the boys to go for a walk and they are keen to go and "do another one". Not only did we get to find some "treasure" but we also visited a beautiful church, abbey ruins, watermill and very well hidden World War II pill box.We are already planning our next Geocaching adventure.

New Year Resolutions

2012-01-02T08:00:00.001Z

Last year my resolutions were a bit vague - I think I managed about three. So this year I will be more specific.

Tidy up my workspace and become more organised.
Do an online branding course.
Sort out my noths shop and make it more cohesive.
Take up belly dancing.
Approach local shop about selling Daisyley product (v scary).

Oh and I suppose I should add a few family ones too.

Don't shout so much - try counting to ten.
Don't get annoyed with the boys when I cook something and they won't try it.
Don't get annoyed when Ed goes out on a Friday night just when we are about to have tea.

I give the three above about three days ... max.

I really enjoyed 2011.

Setting up Daisyley has been time consuming but I feel I've learnt so much and I'm excited about making it grow in 2012. I've got lots of ideas and I can't wait to get back to work.

Going on a family holiday for the first time in years was a major highlight and we all loved it, if only we could do it every year.

I can not wait to see what 2012 has to offer ....

Sadly a lot of our friends had a less than happy year and 2011 was difficult for so many, so I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2012.

Christmas Parties ... rash promises

2011-12-29T14:26:00.000Z

I love parties. I really, really love parties but perhaps I should stop going to them as I seem to have developed this strangely rash habit of saying I will do or not do things in front of lots of people.

At the beginning of December I stupidly bet a friend that we wouldn't turn the heating on (at that point we hadn't succumbed). Why? I have no idea. Luckily, as I had stubbornly taken to wearing gloves in bed Ed put us all out of our misery and put the heating on ... so I didn't technically lose because I didn't flick the switch!

Then at a party this week I agreed to not buy any new clothes for a whole year. I was drinking lemonade for goodness sake (lovely pink lemonade by the way) so can't even put it down to alcohol.

I could/should have just kept quiet about it and hoped that the other two people who agreed would forget (they weren't drinking pink lemonade so have an excuse) but then I thought it might be interesting to see if I can do it.

So I hereby declare that from 27th December 2011* until 27th December 2012 I will try not to buy any new clothes. Accessories/shoes are OK and I can buy second-hand clothes.

What have I let myself in for .... ? I'll keep you posted as to whether I "fall off the wagon". At the moment I'm thinking to myself if I don't actually go shopping how tricky can it be?

* I thought I would do it from 1st Jan but thinking ahead it might be good to be able to buy a new outfit for New Years Eve next year.

Advent Calendar - Day 25

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000Z

*** Happy Christmas ***

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas
and best wishes for a happy New Year.

Advent Calendar - Day 24

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000Z

Hang up your stocking.

You may remember me mentioning that I went into school to help the children make Christmas stockings, well here are some of them. I apologise for the revolting curtains {why do ALL schools have these yukky curtains?}. I think they did really well though and I loved them all.

Here is Archie's stocking.

Advent Calendar - Day 23

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000Z

Watch a Christmas dvd.

If it is cold and dark outside then it has to be one of the best bits of Christmas holidays that you can snuggle up on the sofa in front of the fire and watch a Christmas film. Even better if you can get your duvet and have some hot chocolate too.

Advent Calendar - Day 22

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000Z

Make some popcorn.

We love popcorn and use these very nifty microwave packs.

The only problem is that it's just too easy. In fact it is so easy to make (even Oscar can manage it) and you can easily make more .... and more .... and more ....

Advent Calendar - Day 21

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000Z

Make some mince pies.

Yes don't they look delicious. Did you make them yourself you ask.

Sorry I didn't quite catch that? Were you asking if I made them? ... What me? ... Myself?

Ummmmm no I didn't.

These are just one of the batches that have found there way from my Mum's kitchen to our house. We are very appreciative.

Advent Calendar - Day 20

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000Z

Sing or listen to some carols.

We have been singing carols a lot this week. Although singing is probably stretching the description a bit far and actually even with Granny here the other day there was still quite a lot of "la la la la" when we forgot the words!We also went to the village Christmas service on Sunday when my boys totally humiliated me by singing the wrong words to "We Three Kings".

This was the only carol they sang loudly.
This was the only carol they sang with joy.
This was the only carol they did not fidget or squirm through.

[Added 21/12/11] For those of you who don't know the words .... We Three Kings of Orient are, One in a taxi one in a car, one on a scooter picking his hooter smoking a fat cigar, Oooooo star of wonder star of light sit in a box of dynamite, light the fuse and off we go all the way to Mexico.

I sometimes ask myself what I did to deserve two boys ;-) I suspect their father was encouraging them, I also suspect that the people behind them wondered if they could be hearing correctly.

To finish on something good though here is a random but rather lovely photo taken from my bedroom window that Archie took yesterday morning ....

Advent Calendar - Day 19

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000Z

Draw a picture of a Christmas Tree.

We found this picture recently. It had an accompanying message:

"To Fath Chritmas

Thankyou for the presents you have given me.

Please can your elf make me a wee and the new John Deere and a trailer and a red speed carbon wee game.

From Oscar

PS I believe in you Fath Chritmas. I believe your elf can make enething. Your randereera can go ene were. Fath Chritma you are wond ful."

Advent Calendar - Day 18

2011-12-18T08:00:00.000Z

Take a Christmas photo.

Archie appeared in his school production this week. Slightly poignant as this might be the last primary school Christmas play I go to.

Some of my favourite memories are from school shows. I only have to say to one sister about a giant star and she will be back at my eldest nephew's school many years ago watching a play that featured a child as a giant star that couldn't quite walk in a straight line. And my mum (and a lot of friends/teachers) are guaranteed to have the fit of giggles at the thought of Oscar a few years ago doing a a Scottish dance in a kilt that kept falling down. I've loved every single one so I'll just have to go over to Australia to see the two youngest members of the family in a play to get my primary school fix.

Archie and his class gave us a very professional performance and it was great. We will have fond memories of A Christmas Carol aka Humbug forever!

Advent Calendar - Day 17

2011-12-17T08:00:00.000Z

Go to the pantomime.

The Young Farmers panto is unlike any other! The very few "proper professional" pantos I have been to in the past I hated and funnily enough so did the boys. I can't bear the innuendo and girly nature of them.

Thankfully a few years ago the young farmers put on a panto to raise funds and it was such a resounding success that they continue to do them every year. The boys love it.

We went last night with Granny and my sister & brother-in-law Christy and Charlie and had the most fantastic time. Archie has worked out that if you go up on stage you get sweets for suffering a few moments of public humiliation and heh it works.

It made us all feel very Christmassy so I think later today we should definitely go to The Christmas Tree Farm to get a tree before they sell out.

Advent Calendar - Day 16

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000Z

Draw a picture of a star.

Not exactly a drawing of a star but I made this star decoration for our local village news so I thought I'd share it here too.

OK it is more a flower but it is supposed to be Christmassy so just go with it.

Advent Calendar - Day 15

2011-12-15T08:00:00.001Z

Play charades.

Playing charades is easy now because you can get an app for everything these days! Soon the youth of today won't have to think about anything - they will just download an app for whatever they need to do.

This app though is brilliant and saves having to think about book and film titles AND it keeps score AND it times you .... amazing .... I am easily pleased.

Advent Calendar - Day 14

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000Z

Make paperchains.

Another satisfyingly therapeutic activity. I've been rushing around like a wild thing and it was so relaxing to sit down and make paper chains with Archie. We've decided that as we enjoyed it so much we are going to make some more tomorrow!

Advent Calendar - Day 13

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000Z

Wrap some presents.

When I did some posts recently about ideas for wrapping Christmas presents I had some "comments" ;-) that I was only showing an easy to wrap plain box. So to prove that I can wrap awkward shapes too here are some more ideas.

Advent Calendar - Day 12

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000Z

Draw a picture of a snowman.

After my last attempt to get the boys to draw pictures for me, I've decided not to do that again and just go back to the archives for some!

Advent Calendar - Day 11

2011-12-11T08:00:00.001Z

Put up a wreath.

My wreath has actually been hanging on the door since last Tuesday because I made it myself! Well I say made it myself, I actually had a lot of help from the lovely Sam Cotterrell of Violets and Velvet because Sam had a bit of a masterclass.

It was really good fun and Sam is such a wonderful teacher. It is always surprising how you all start with the same things and everyone produces something different and unique.

This is Sam's example

and this is how they all turned out.

Aren't they fantastic? I had such a lovely evening with amongst others Kate Fletcher who has also blogged about the wreath making course here.

Advent Calendar - Day 10

2011-12-10T08:00:00.000Z

Buy or pick some holly or ivy.

We don't have to walk far to pick some holly, so it was easy to go out and get some. Makes the house start to look quite Christmassy in a laid back old-fashioned kind of a way. Maybe one year I won't put up any garish decorations just have natural holly, ivy and mistletoe. One year perhaps but not this year!

Next time I go to Great Slamseys Christmas Tree Farm I shall get some mistletoe, if they have any left but .... shhhh .... if they don't have any it doesn't matter because I've got a fake bunch.

Mistletoe at Great Slamseys

Advent Calendar - Day 9

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000Z

Make Christmas Biscuits.

Archie and I loved doing this. I've got a set of biscuits cutters (bought in a Cox & Cox sale a couple of years ago) shaped like stars in all different sizes so that you can create a star tree. It is fantastic. Of course there is always a fight over who gets the top and the bottom!

Advent Calendar - Day 8

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000Z

Read a Christmas story.

We will read Father Christmas's Last Present because the story and the illustrations are just wonderful and I even love the feel of the book (it's printed on really good quality paper). This is a story I've read to the boys since they started to have "doubts" about Father Christmas and as the "doubts" are getting more like "we knows" I think this story will be even better this year.

I will also read A Christmas Carol to the boys because it is such a wonderful story to read aloud. Archie knows the story because he's covered this in class as part of their Victorian Christmas and he really loves it so I'm hoping that Oscar will love it too.

I suspect some people may consider it a bit odd that my boys (aged 10 and 12) still have a story read to them at night but quite frankly we don't give a fig ... we love it :-)

Advent Calendar - Day 7

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000Z

Write a letter to Father Christmas.

The boys have already done this. Archie's is pretty much all the lego in the world, all the army stuff in the world and a scooter. Oscar's is a bit more selective but can also be summed up as things for his bike.

So here is my wish list to Father Christmas, but I'm not sure if I have been good enough? I did get an email from a sister {hint hint other sisters and husband} yesterday asking what I would like for Christmas so perhaps this will help her ....

Not Another Bill subscription.

Necklace and bracelet from Rose & Aster.

Daisy by Marc Jacobs

Ipad (OK this is very unlikely but it is supposed to be a Christmas Wish List)

Books, any books.

Ring from Lazy Giraffe Jewellery

Advent Calendar - Day 6

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000Z

Make a Christmas Card.

Mum always makes her Christmas cards and she has a lot of friends and acquaintances that she sends them to. She spends evenings getting them ready and lovingly preparing them. Here are some of my favourites from past years.

Ed and I did once spend a long time making our Christmas cards. This was in that time called 'before children'.

I am going to make my Christmas cards this year and I plan to send them postcard style so that I don't have to write a thing. Lazy - yes; missing the Christmas spirit - probably; saving me time - priceless.

Advent Calendar - Day 5

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000Z

Draw a picture of Father Christmas.

The boys did draw a picture of Father Christmas but declared that their pictures weren't good enough for publication, so instead I thought I would just embarrass them. Fair don't you think?

Advent Calendar - Day 4

2011-12-04T08:00:00.000Z

Make some hot chocolate.

At our rugby club they serve wonderful hot chocolate with marshmallows, squirty cream and sprinkles so, of course, we now have to do this at home too. Mind you ours are superior because they are made with milk.

I often wonder if Oscar likes milk because when I was pregnant with him I would have a hot chocolate after supper every night, in one of these gorgeous cups which are huge. I bought these cups years ago in the South of France and only ever use them for hot chocolate - not sure why I don't use them for a nice cup of tea?!?

Oh by the way do pop over to my blog friend Dottycookie who is also doing a blog advent calendar.

Advent Calendar - Day 3

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000Z

Go ice skating.

Ummmm I'd love to go ice skating but we won't get round to it today so here is a pretty picture instead.

When I was little it would sometimes be cold enough for us to ice skate on our pond. Dad would be sent on as 'chief tester' to see if it was strong enough to hold us and if it was, then on we'd go slipping and sliding and landing on our bottoms.

I seem to remember that we would strap cushions to our bottoms and would often take a chair on to the ice to hold onto. As the cushions and chairs no doubt portray we were not very good at it.

I suspect that going to a public ice rink with a cushion strapped to my bottom might look a bit odd so it is probably best if I don't go.

Advent Calendar - Day 2

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000Z

Make a snowflake decoration.

Making snowflake decorations is strangely therapeutic and I highly recommend it.

Fortuitously Archie had learnt in class about making these decorations and proudly showed Oscar and I how to do it. Apparently some in his class did very elaborate ones .... well we were happy with ours!

Have a look at How About Orange blog for a really good tutorial.

Advent Calendar - Day 1

2011-12-01T08:05:00.000Z

Draw a picture of an angel.

OK, I'm already cheating and it's only day one because this isn't a drawing and it's not an angel. It is a Snow Queen, I love it, it's angel-ish and I just wanted an excuse to have this picture on my blog again.

The postcard is stuck up just behind my computer screen so I can look up at her all the time. I love her snowflake belly button the best ;-)

Postcard bought from ISAK.

Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T08:00:00.001Z

As today is the 1st December and we will be starting our advent calendar I thought I would try and do an advent blog every day until Christmas Day.

Let the countdown begin ....

Christmas Wrapping Ideas - Part Three

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000Z

All you need to do is cut some washi tape and bend it over the bakers twine and simply cut the end in the shape of upside down V.

Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

Bespoke Bunting

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000Z

This is a photo that quite the nicest customer sent to me at the weekend. I did some bespoke bunting for her, very much to her design, and was intrigued to know what it would all look like. I made the bunting that hangs in front of the table and you may also just be able to spot some little signs on cocktail sticks. There was lots of other bunting too.

She was a pleasure to work with and I think it looks amazing and was just thrilled that she sent me a photo. I only wish all my customers would do that!

Lovely customer - lovely job - lovely photo.

Another Walk

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000Z

Another Sunday and another Sunday walk. I'm loving these warm, mellow, sunny and dry November days and so does Jake the dog.

The light was fantastic on Sunday afternoon and the trees looked absolutely beautiful silhouetted against the sky.

Archie found some balloons in a field and so, as we like to pick up litter and it was Oscar's birthday, we took them home with us!

Christmas Wrapping Ideas - Part Two

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000Z

All you need to do is thread the bakers twine through the leaves and it creates a gorgeous smelling decoration. I wonder how long this would last?

If you didn't fancy using bakers twine, although why anyone wouldn't I can't imagine ;-), then I think this would look just as good with leaves stuck down with double-sided sticky tape. And because you're using sticky tape you'd also get to pretend to be Valerie Singleton or whoever your Blue Peter idol is.

Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

Oscar's Birthday Weekend

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000Z

It was Oscar's birthday yesterday but he managed to stretch his birthday out for the entire weekend! It started straight from rugby training on Friday with a sleepover and then it was off to the skatepark early on Saturday morning.

His birthday/Christmas present was a new bike and it had to be tried out ... of course. He was one happy boy.

We are really lucky to live close to an excellent skatepark which was deserted early on Saturday morning mainly because, although it was a gorgeous sunny day, it was damp. This made it very slippy and they all fell off at least one. He scared me half to death when he decided he had to have a go "in the bowl".

Then on Sunday it was pancakes for breakfast, rugby match and steak and chips for lunch/tea.

It was pretty much his perfect weekend really. Happy Birthday Oscar x

When I should have been working ...

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000Z

On Saturday morning the boys and I went to our local village Sale of Work. We came home with lots of cakes and sweets and also a couple of other things.

Love this Ladybird Weather Book.

And even if the boys don't use it I shall look at this history book.

The doily was 20p, only 20p! And I loved this little mouse, which will live in my kitchen and will hopefully frighten off all the real live mice that seem to so love my kitchen.

When I got home, I should've done some work ... but I couldn't because Archie and I had to go and buy some batteries for the best thing ever. On Friday night I got given a Kandela which we have had so so so much fun with. EVERYONE should own one.

When I got home, I should've done some work ... but some friends popped in for a cup of tea .... which then led to wine ... then another friend turned up and, well, it was the end of Saturday.

On Sunday I really I should've done some work ... but I had to go and take 24 pints of milk and about 400 bread rolls to the rugby club so that was Sunday morning and most of the afternoon.

I did do a few hours work on Sunday afternoon ... but then the boys decided they wanted to cook tea and so I had to loiter in the kitchen to sort of help. Oscar made some soup, Archie did the veg and yorkshire puddings and Ed cooked the meat, luckily I had made jelly the day before so it was a real family effort. The boys set the table, had a menu and a seating plan!

Lucky we had some pretend money - v expensive restaurant.
I was mightily impressed with the name - my boys have good aspirations!

Christmas Wrapping Idea

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000Z

I discovered that you can use a normal stamp pad and stamp to make your own customised ribbon. I bought the cotton tape from Hobbycraft ages ago so can't remember how much it cost but I don't think it is expensive.

I used a long stamp for this but I've also done this with a small flower one too which looked really good. If you happen to have a snowflake or star you could make lovely christmassy ribbon.

Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

If you like this post please leave a comment and I'll do some more wrapping ideas. Thank you.

New - Small Personalised Gift Tags

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000Z

If you found my personalised gift tags - large* just too big for your presents, then don't worry because I now have personalised gift tags - small. These are the same design but just a little smaller for those presents that contain something a little more delicate.

* By the way, this now has a five star rating on nothonthehighstreet which I'm very pleased about :-)

Happy Birthday Abi

2011-11-11T08:00:00.005Z

It is my niece Abi's birthday today, which is obviously blogworthy in its own right, but today is extra extra special because today my gorgeous Abi is 11.

Yup that's right she is 11 on 11.11.11. How cool is that?

So in honour of Abi at eleven minutes past eleven I shall have elevenses. Shame she's in Australia and I can't go and see her in person but I hope she has a wonderful camping trip to Pittwater.

I also thought I'd try and think of eleven things I wish I'd known age 11.

1. That working hard at school is useful later on.
2. That it's OK to still be a child - don't try and grow up too fast.
3. If you don't have the latest hairstyle/shoes/clothes it really doesn't matter.
4. Not everyone can be your friend but look after the ones that are.
5. Most of what you worry about now doesn't really matter.
6. Be yourself - don't try to be an imitation of anyone else.
7. Be the person who doesn't gossip about others.
8. Say yes more than no.
9. Enjoy time with your family.
10. Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself.
11. Enjoy eleven years old and be happy :-)

I really should think things through

2011-11-09T08:00:00.000Z

All links can be found on my Pinterest page here

I seem to have volunteered to go into school to help make Victorian Christmas Stockings.

Five things tell me this is a bad idea:

1. The teacher asked them to bring in velvet.
2. We looked at the needles they had. Tapestry.
3. Their teacher would like them to sew on buttons.
4. She'd also like them to do a Christmas shape using different stitches on the stocking.
5. They will be allowed to express themselves.

Oh I'm sure it will be fine. I'm certain they'll be much better behaved than the last time I did sewing with this class about three years ago, when I felt like Joyce Grenfell as I kept having to say to one particular little girl, (names changed to protect the guilty)

"Isabella, please don't dig the needle into Sophia like that. She doesn't like it."

It will be fun won't it? I mean, what can possibly go wrong?

Has anyone got any advice on helping a class of 10 year olds make Christmas Stockings from velvet {apart from don't do it}?

I'm always up for a challenge

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000Z

A customer recently asked if I could do a wonderfully long quote for her in my personalised bunting but she wanted very specific colours. After a couple of emails back and forth and a few photos we finally settled on the colours she liked and it went off in the post on Friday.

I really hope she likes it.

This week I have also been introduced to a new word Chrismukkah.

I had no idea that selling through notonthehighstreet would become an education in different religious holidays. According to the customer there is even a website dedicated to Chrismukkah!

I don't think ;-) there will be a big demand for Happy Chrismukkah bunting but if you do know anyone who wants any then they can order it as if they were ordering my normal Happy Christmas bunting just with a note to me that it should be Chrismukkah.

Anyway the point of this post is to say that I'm happy to try/learn anything.

Half Term Happiness

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000Z

It was half term last week and Oscar was in dire need of a week off and it seems to have done the trick. The grumpy, sulky, teenager-like boy has disappeared.

We had a relaxing first half of the week. Oscar went on a sleepover and Archie got to visit Bluewater for the first time ... he loved it!

Going with Archie to Bluewater I visited shops that I've never so much as glanced at before - Lego shop, gadget shop etc etc and I was most certainly NOT allowed anywhere near any girlie clothes shop no no no. We did find one shop that we both loved though and that was Paperchase. I bought some wonderful cards.

1 and 4 Paperchase sticker postcard; 2 and 3 Alison Hardcastle;

Isak

And I also bought some sparkly silver bits and bobs!

The rest of the week the boys attended a rugby camp (like they don't play enough rugby as it is).

Oh and we went to see Johnny English Reborn which was really good apart from, dare I say it, me thinking that Rowan Atkinson is just too old even to be playing a spoof James Bond.

Good week off - shame it was only a week.

Mellow, Autumnal Colours

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000Z

Autumn is not my favourite season by a long shot but this year I've started to see why other people love it. Everywhere is just a riot of colour.

Everywhere I go there seem to be golden avenues of hedges and trees.

Is it because we haven't had any wind or rain that the leaves have stayed on longer? Or is it just that I've never really looked before? Perhaps it is because it has been so warm?

Well, whatever it is I am definitely coming round to the idea of liking Autumn but if it gets cold and rainy and miserable I reserve the right to start disliking it again.

Lovely customers

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000Z

As I'm home based and don't get to see my customers face to face my only feedback is through Feefo (notonthehighstreet feedback system) or emails people kindly send me. I'm always thrilled when anyone does leave feedback but even more so if they write a comment. I had a lovely comment from a customer the other day.

"Absolutely loved this idea! Gave it to my Dad who appreciates things that are just a bit different and he loved it (I believe the bunting is now adorning his desk at work!). It was a lovely touch and great alternative to a birthday card. Thanks!"

Autumn Walk/Scoot/Skate

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000+01:00

It was such a lovely day last Sunday that after lunch my mum, the boys and I had to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warm Autumn day. We could have had a lovely relaxing walk alongside the rolling fields, letting the dog off the lead and sauntering along farm tracks.

But no ... the boys insisted on taking a skateboard and scooter on the "walk" so we had to go on the road. Oscar in fact did very very little walking and spent most of the time getting pulled along by Granny.

Whilst Archie got the poor dog to pull him along.

But it was still a lovely walk.

And we all enjoyed it.

Quite nice to hold the hand of your 11 and 10 year old even if it is only because they want you to pull them along ... such a rare occurrence these days .... still lovely.

I'm not a flower arranger

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

Blogging Your Way homework seemed so simple. Go out and buy some flowers.

Then simply arrange them to look beautifully styled ...

Why do I have the feeling that my fellow students will have done a lot better than me? Perhaps I should have got my flowers from the market or at least Waitrose instead of Tesco!

Another excuse for a mood board

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001+01:00

So perhaps I was just looking for an excuse to do another one or perhaps I really thought it might be interesting? Either way I decided to do a mood board about how I came up with my favourite product at the moment, which also happens to be my best seller (funny that it should be my favourite), the Personalised Gift Tags.

Most of the pictures can be linked back via here and here. The others were taken from an old Country Living magazine in a diy feature.

So that is where I got my ideas from to come up with this.

Teasing with a Teasel

2011-10-21T08:38:00.000+01:00

Every day I have to drive Oscar up the road to be dropped off and every day I drive past not one but two patches of teasels. Every single morning I think to myself "tomorrow I'll bring the camera and take a photo of them and then I'll pick them". Every single morning I think this and then promptly forget. So it has been a bit like my own personal ground-hog day, day after day after day.

I did finally remember though much to the huge annoyance of my passenger, Oscar.

Conversation between us went like this, Me: "I'm going to stop and pick some teasels, do you want to help" Him: "Why on earth would I want to do that?" Me: "Well I was just asking" Him:"Well don't ask."

Ah the joys of an 11 year old towards the end of their first half term at secondary school.

The reason I wanted to pick them was so I could spray-paint them silver. I saw this blog post by Snapdragon (I know they are seedheads but if you look through this blog you'll see why it reminded me) and also because I remembered my mum doing this. So I feel it is a bit retro 70s and before any of my sisters say it, yes I do feel it's as pointless as when mum did it and I will save them for Christmas.

Garden in October

2011-10-19T08:00:00.001+01:00

Chilly, chilly and so I'll be spending even less time in the garden. I did venture outside though as it looked invitingly sunny but alas it was cold and my fingers and feet are frozen now.

There are still some glimpses of yellow and we've got masses of grapes this year. What do I do with them?

And there is lots of red of course all very autumnal.

Blogging Your Way

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

I'm an avid reader of http://decor8blog.com/ and http://acreativemint.typepad.com/ and after hearing some really good things about the Blogging Your Way e-course they run I decided to sign up.

I've just completed the first week and I am really enjoying it and am feeling very inspired. I can't promise that my blog will suddenly become slick, professional and have beautiful photography but I hope that it will improve a little bit?

This is part of my extended homework .... inspiration board.

The e-course has certainly made me think about why I like the blogs I like and why I'm blogging and how I would like to blog in the future.

I really enjoyed the mood board task and have decided they are slightly addictive. Good job really as I've got to do it all again today if I want to keep it because Archie inadvertently knocked it and ooops it landed all over the floor. He did pick all the bits up but didn't quite put everything back where it should be! I'll stick it down this time.

Update: This is the revised, stuck down version!

Cider Day

2011-10-14T08:00:00.008+01:00

Did you all say Cider Day in a Somerset accent? I can't help myself ....

Sunday was Cider Day at Great Slamseys Farm. This is becoming a regular event in the family diary and we all gathered at my sister's to help with the cutting, pulverising and juicing of their apples. If we take some of our own apples and a container we even get to have some juice to take home.

There seemed to be more of us this year and it was done in double quick time and then we all sat down with a glass of last year's cider and enjoyed delicious casserole. I rather feel that the amount of effort that the boys and I put in didn't quite warrant the returns we received as we had a lovely afternoon and a scrummy tea and we've enjoyed the apple juice every morning. Not tried the cider yet - saving it for a special occasion or at least for a night in with X Factor.

{At this point I was going to put in a lovely picture of said bottle of cider but ... incandescent with rage ... it has disappeared! Apparently drunk in solitary company but a certain husband - I'm very cross - I didn't even get to try it grrrrrrr.}

Book Club - September 2011

2011-10-12T08:00:00.035+01:00

Our book for September was Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant. As I had read this way back in August (on holiday) and really enjoyed it I volunteered to "lead" the discussion and what an easy task it was this month. For the first time ever we had a unanimous like from every Book Club member.

The story is set in a convent following the story of the young Seraphina sent to the convent under duress and Zuana who has been in the convent for a number of years. To start with the story and descriptions are a bit slow but after a while I loved the detail and complexity of the relationships and politics of convent life.

If you haven't read it but decide to, then really do stick with it as it does take a while "to get going" but by the end you won't be able to turn the pages quick enough. Oh and if you are put off by the potential religious nature of the book - don't be because in a funny way it's not actually that religious even though it's about nuns!

Only minor disagreement we had at Book Club was that some liked the ending some not.

I was very glad that we have a member who studies Italian to tell us how to correctly pronounce all the names - and what beautiful names - Seraphina, Zuana, Magdalena, Chiara (by the way if you know how to say chianti then you know how to pronouce Chiara).

So a resounding success. I'd really like to go back and read it again one day.

For anyone who is interested here are my questions for the evening although I hardly needed to lead the discussion because we all had so much to talk about (not always the case):

Did we like it?
Would you prefer to go into a convent or be married off?
Do you think convents are that political?
Did you like the ending?
Did you think Zuana should have kept the secret?
Did you feel sorry for the Abbess?
Did you get much sense that it was set in 1570 or was it timeless?
Was it a shame that Zuana was there - would she have been happier "outside"?

Christmas Advent Calendar

2011-10-10T08:00:00.031+01:00

Busy busy busy.

My personalised boxed advent calendar bunting is in the Notonthehighstreet winter catalogue which came out at the end of last week. I wonder if you've seen the catalogue? There are some lovely things in it. If you'd like to see the virtual catalogue click here - page 32 bottom left!

Have this awful feeling that by the time 25th December comes I'll be Christmassed out. Hope it won't happen though because I do rather like Christmas ....

Conkers

2011-10-07T08:00:00.008+01:00

If you are a ten year old boy then going conker hunting is not just a treat it is an absolute life necessity. You're not really that interested in your mum telling you how beautiful they are, or holding them in your hand admiring them and appreciating the gloss and shine.

No, you just want to get as many as you possibly can, get that hole drilled and string attached. Then you want to stuff them in your pockets and go get the opposition ...

It is a constant disappointment to me that conkers don't retain their glossy shininess.

I own a colour called Daisyley Blue!

2011-10-05T08:00:00.014+01:00

It's not often you can say you own a colour but I do and it's called Daisyley Blue!

Unicef and Dulux have created this wonderful website where you can buy your own colour for a donation to Unicef. In my eyes it's a win win situation, I get a colour I can call Daisyley Blue and I get to donate to Unicef .... what is there not to like?

Have you bought a colour? Please let me know what it is ...

Happy Halloween

2011-10-03T08:00:00.011+01:00

Yet again, and yes I know this is a regular refrain of mine, a lovely customer from notonthehighstreet has suggested a new product and so I've added a Happy Hallowe'en bunting.

She really is the perfect customer. She loved the Trick or Treat bunting I sent her, asked for Happy Halloween bunting and said she'd be back for some Christmas bunting.

She wrote me a lovely note too: "Thank you SO much again for making this for me. I am so pleased :) So much so, that I have 'liked' it, or whatever the term is!, on my Facebook page. Very best wishes and a Happy Hallowe'en!". To be honest I wasn't sure what she meant about the 'liked' it bit but then someone on twitter drew my attention to the Like button on the product page. Very pleased to note that the Happy Halloween bunting has 16 likes.

Jail Break

2011-09-30T08:00:00.018+01:00

Oscar took part in a Jailbreak at the weekend, thankfully involving Scouts not police and prison officers. The idea is that they get dropped off at Point A and then have 24 hours to get to Point B without getting "caught".

He walked about 28 miles, didn't really eat, slept in a ditch and ..... had a fantastic time. I, on the other hand, walked round the house, went out for dinner, didn't sleep much and .... am glad he had a fantastic time.

I was a bit hacked off that he didn't eat the Pot Noodle that I had emptied through a sieve (to get rid of the seasoning) and had picked through to make sure there were no mushrooms and onions in. I also stole from the local wine bar (mind you now it could be borrowed as I could give them back) three sachets of tomato ketchup {it's OK I did confess and I do know the owner} for his meal so the fact that they didn't eat was annoying but then more fool me for sifting and stealing I suppose.

It was a bloomin' long way and I'm very proud of how nonchalantly he goes off and does these things. Archie would like to do it next year and I almost {only almost} feel I may as well go with them as I'll definitely not sleep at all if they are both out in the dark wandering around the countryside evading capture and sleeping in ditches! {This thought will soon pass ... as I would be far too worried about the loo arrangements to go hiking with a load of scouts!}

Origin

2011-09-28T08:00:00.067+01:00

Where do I start? On Friday I went to Origin the Contemporary Craft Fair which was just amazing. So many fantastic designers that it seems harsh to single out a few but here are my top ten favourites.

1. Glass Cathedrals happened to be right at the very beginning of our visit and it was great to stand and have a chat with Lisa about her life in San Francisco and her gorgeous, gorgeous boxes. They just tickle me and I'm so pleased that a friend of mine is buying one :)

2. Funnily enough my next favourite also included tiny little figures but in a completely different way. I can't decide if I loved the Helen Noakes swimming pieces or the nuns the best but I know that I would really like to own one. Again Helen was just charming to talk to and we had a great time on her stand looking and trying on everything trying to decide which was our favourite.

3. Cissy Cook Designs were just simple beauty and I fell in love with the box of dots.

4. Anna Wales - my favourite things were the rings, with tiny balls of felt that looked like an expensive jewel.

5. Uoldbag - as I said to the designer I'd love to have a reason to own one of these and as she quite rightly pointed out to me, they are practical, beautiful to look at and a piece of art!

6. Ella Robinson had some amazing pieces displayed but my favourite (no photo but she told me there would be soon on her website) was a collection of plastic junk displayed by colour - OK sounds horrible but was actually amazing.

7. Jennifer Collier is so very clever and her pieces are unbelievably detailed.

8. Linda Bloomfield stand looked so pretty and I loved the colours of her porcelain.

9. Abbott and Ellwood had another very pretty stand. Seeing all the pieces together they look wonderful.

10. I loved Lilana Guerreiro pieces but, as they didn't speak very good English and my Portuguese is non-existent, I can't tell you much about them and I can't find the rings I loved on the website ... oh well that's some money saved then!

So that's my top ten but there were loads of other talented people we stood and chatted to whilst admiring their work. In fact by the end you feel exhausted because it is sensory overload (in a good way!).

Personalised Gift Tags

2011-09-26T08:00:00.015+01:00

Ok, ok I know you don't want to know about Christmas yet but someone has already ordered one of my personalised Happy Christmas bunting. Yes already, in fact it was last week. How organised is that customer?

In anticipation of the fact that some customers are way more organised than is natural or right I've finally uploaded my personalised gift tags. It took a long time to work out how to get the personalisation ordering bit right so I hope {fingers crossed} that I've made it logical and simple to order?

I'm stupidly rather proud of these and I hope that lots of people will like them. A friend also suggested I should do some with a picture on the front and personalisation on the back so I will be adding them soon.

Quince & Apple Stall

2011-09-23T08:00:00.023+01:00

Have since dropped our prices as we decided it was a bit ambitious.

Oscar has seen stalls set up by the side of the road in our village and whilst we were out for a walk last Sunday we got talking to a lovely gentlemen taking his wares in for the night. Oscar's ears pricked up when he heard how much could made from selling fruit by the side of the road and decided that he too would like a "piece of the action" and so he's raiding the garden for anything he can sell.

I would describe it as a slow but steady trade but he's taking it very seriously and leaves his younger brother to put the stall out in the morning (will be given 25% of the proceeds) and replenishes and counts the proceeds when he gets home from school.

For my part I'm just glad to see the fruit going to someone who will use it and all those lovely quinces are getting used.

Quince

2011-09-21T08:00:00.015+01:00

We've got masses of beautiful quince this year. They are so gorgeous on the tree looking like jewels hanging in the green foliage.

Inspired by The Quince Tree {well who else really} I decided to try making some quince cheese, even though I've tried it before and it was .... ummm ... interesting.

This sounded relatively easy though so how could I go wrong {with my cooking skills - easily}. First I boiled my quince.

Then I all I had to do was make it into a paste, which I thought I'd done OK until I started stirring it and realised it was a bit lumpy - ooops.

So now I have to leave it for a bit.

I'm hoping it will do justice to the quince and be edible?

BOO

2011-09-19T08:00:00.015+01:00

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/daisyley/product/halloween-bunting

Tasteful Halloween decorations .... well as tasteful as I think it is possible to be. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, too American for my taste, but I know some people really get into the the spirit {excuse the pun} so here are my "tasteful" Halloween decorations.

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/daisyley/product/hallowen-bunting-trick-or-treat

I'm particularly delighted to be able to do bunting that uses orange - love it!

Letterpress One Day Course

2011-09-16T08:00:00.001+01:00

What a fantastic day I had on Wednesday.

A few months ago I decided I'd like to try letterpressing and googled it to see if there were any courses. Fortuitously there happened to be one right on my doorstep (well only a 20 min drive away) and I managed to convince my mum she'd like it too so off we both went.

Typoreteum offer one day and two day courses and I would strongly recommend them.

We arrived at the workshop in Coggeshall to be met by Justin, his wife Cecilia, the joint teacher John (JMG Studio) and other attendee Pat. Then we got started, well I say started we had a lot of information to take in before we got going and it was all a lot more technical than I imagined .... really a lot more technical. After deciding what we would like to do we then started to set out our projects. It was about now that I discovered I can't add up to 66. Then it was lunch time and we sat down to a simply delicious lunch made by Cecilia {worth attending just for the lunch}.

Mum's Block

Then it was back to the workshop to crack on with our projects. A lot more toing and froing to get funny shaped bits of wood, sorry furniture. A lot of strange terms in letterpressing! Then finally we were ready to do the best bit - yes - the printing. Now I can't show you my finished project because I plan to frame it and give it as a Christmas present but here are the other masterpieces ....

It was a wonderful day and fascinating to see a proper letterpress workshop and to chat to Justin and John who were so knowledgeable and willing to share their expertise. It has certainly made me love letterpress even more and coming back to work looking at letters printed out on the computer everything seems far too perfect, far too neat, with no texture. It is a skill that I'm so glad is really getting a resurgence of appreciation.

Oh and how could I forget the gorgeous little visitor to the workshop, baby Jemima and hope that Freya is feeling much better. It was a wonderful day - thank you - just get that course sorted out where I just do the final setting out and printing and I'll be back like a shot ;-)

September Memories

2011-09-14T08:00:00.009+01:00

I'm quite sure that the earliest memory I have is in September, having a picnic lunch, in the Autumn sunshine, with my parents, by the side of a hedge, whilst Dad took a break from ploughing.

What I wonder though is this a real memory or something I've dreamt up? It could be my first memory as it would be before I went to school and those pesky older sisters of mine would've gone back to school. I was probably very glad to get rid of them and after the boisterous summer it was probably a real treat for me to have some undivided attention AND a picnic which is probably why it's etched in my memory.

No trouble remembering what happened to these apples. Lovely apple crumble and I even made lovely proper custard.

Back to School

2011-09-12T08:00:00.015+01:00

It doesn't feel like just the boys have gone back to school it feels like I have too. Back to routines and back to doing a full day's work instead of frantically trying to get orders done before going off out somewhere.

Much as I love the school holidays I'm rather enjoying just me at home with only the dog and Radio 4 for company. Oh how I've missed Radio 4.

So what have I been working on, well, Christmas things actually. Here is a little taster of what I'm up to.

Advent Calendar Bunting

Christmas Tags

It seems weird to be worrying about Christmas already but I need to get these photographed and finalised really soon. It's already nearly halfway through September, good grief, how did that happen so quickly.

Letterpress

2011-09-09T08:00:00.001+01:00

Next week I'm going on a one day letterpress course and I'm really, really looking forward to. To get some inspiration I've "collected" a few sayings but I'd quite like to come up with something of my own and maybe I need a bit more than just a saying?? These are a good start though.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61481578/a-clean-house-wasted-life-art

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/05/you-gotta-see-this_27.html

http://weheartit.com/entry/7600109

I keep finding more and have put them on my Pinterest board but time is running out for me to think up something original.

I also really like old farm sale posters so perhaps I can try and do something based on something like this.

http://www.townmill.org.uk/pages/historyofmill.htm

The possibilities are endless .... how on earth will I decide what to do?

Book Club - August 2011

2011-09-07T08:00:00.036+01:00

I have been going to our village book club since it's inception and we have read some great books, some OK books and some I've not even bothered to finish!

I've decided I will start adding my thoughts (very minimal) on our books here on the blog as we go along. I never seem to be able to think of anything very insightful when I'm at the meetings so maybe jotting it down before I go will help .... ?

Our book for August was One Day by David Nichols.

I really enjoyed this, probably in part because the previous month we had read The Children's Book by A S Byatt, well I say "we had read" I never finished it. Too many characters, too convoluted, too everything. So One Day came along and it was just two characters, a love story, set in an era I remember so it was already looking better than the previous month. I also found the characters engaging and "real".

I normally find this diary format way of writing really annoying and feel it is a bit of a "cop out" but surprisingly this didn't annoy me. Perhaps it was because the reader had to imagine/fill in the past twelve months or because the way it was written it was relatively easy to piece together what had happened in the intervening months?

And there is a film which some of our book club members have already seen, so it will be interesting to hear their review. I've heard that apparently tissues are in order as it's a real tear jerker and you have to ignore the accents (or lack of). Think I'll go and see it soon {any excuse to go out & love going to the pictures}.

Summer Holidays - Week 6

2011-09-05T08:00:00.023+01:00

Well, that's it, another summer holidays over. We've had a wonderful time though and, although it's gone too quickly, we've had a lot of fun.

We finished with a flourish and went off to Go Ape for the day. I've been waiting for Archie to be old enough for years (you have to be 10) and finally the day had come when we could all go and we loved it :-)

We then had a picnic and went for a walk. Walking along one of the tracks was slightly unnerving though, as it was all a bit spooky. Reminded us of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and we felt like the trees were reflected in mirrors ... weird.

The rest of the week has been Oscar at school hockey practice, last minute visits from/to friends and a visit to Granny. Today we're off the to the beach hut, hope it will be sunny.

We've had a great Summer 2011 but feel ready to get back to routine {bet I won't be thinking that when the alarm goes off}.

Tomorrow is a big day for Oscar as he starts secondary school and it's the last time Archie will be starting a new school year at primary school. Time moves on .....

France - Part 5

2011-09-02T08:00:00.015+01:00

One of the best days out was a visit to Brantome. A very pretty town that you can canoe around. Perfect. The boys got to canoe and Ed and I got to see the town. The only problem was that I kept having to shout "slow down I want to look" so we just went round twice!

We had to canoe over this!

I got told to "stop taking picture of signs" but how can you not take pictures of French signs .... ?

That's it no more posts on our holiday in France I promise. We had a great time and loved every minute and by blogging about it for a week I feel I've extended the holiday a bit :-)

France - Part 4

2011-09-01T08:00:00.013+01:00

We had some lovely days out, though the boys were reluctant to leave "home", and even managed to get them to go for a walk. Have to admit we didn't really give them a choice, didn't let on how far it was and did sort of promise a waterfall. But heh it worked they walked down, looked at the rocks and water and walked back without moaning too much!

France - Part 3

2011-08-31T08:00:00.018+01:00

The reason we chose the property that we stayed in last week was mainly because Archie didn't want to share a pool, with anyone, no not one single person. Thankfully they made full use of it and even swam at night.

It also had fishing nearby. Something the boys (big and small) were very happy about.

We also went to the local Municipal lake that was great to swim in and had a sandy beach (!) and even had a sandy volleyball court. {Apparently I'm the worst player ... ever ... although I reckon I was the only one who could actually serve properly}.

Ed doesn't 'do' sandcastles he does sea creatures disappearing into the water.