Fabric Competiton

There is a Fantastic Competition over on Fabric Rehab's Facebook Page 
Go over there now and share their post and you could win this lovely lot :-)

worth over £100 ..... Wow

Craft Book Club

I was going to try and join in this Crafty Book Club this Month

Book Club

but there is no one signed up :-(

I think I would choose the Ring Book or maybe the Sewing one as 

they are both Crafts I would like to do more of but never get round too. So maybe this would make me give it a go.
It would be lovely if someone else were to join in with me :-)
Also the web site is great. Lots of information and a lovely Magazine. Online subscription is 3 for £1 !!!
There are lots of projects there too
Projects
Pop along and have a look :-)

Bzzzz giveaway

Yay I'm an active bzz Agent again :-)
Have you heard of them?? If not then have a little look here
I have been a Member for Years but have also been inactive for a few years too.
You join a campaign and get sent samples or Coupons to use and then Bzz about them, this means talk really, to Friends, Family, your Hairdresser, whoever. I'm hoping it will be a lot easier this time round what with Facebook, Twitter and my Blog.
Previously I did a nice one for Gillette and got sent a super duper razor to use. This time I'm buzzing about John Frieda Full Repair

I've been sent a Full size Shampoo and Conditioner and Three Trial Size ones too :-)
On first impression, I love it. The Bottles look so sophisticated and I love Red but I haven't tried it as yet. I just washed my Hair last night and it is fine and Flyaway lol so will be a few days before I can try it but I will be back with my opinions :-)

So is there anyone out there reading my Blog??? I hope so because I am giving away one of my Trial size bottles of Shampoo and Conditioner to one of my readers :-) All you have to do is leave a comment and share my give away please. Leave a link back to where you shared it too. Can be your own Blog, Your Twitter or even Facebook. For each share I will put your name in to the draw. So you could have Three entries :-)

Huge £500 Giveaway from personalised gift shop

Wow, Wow, Wow. If you want a fabulous Christmas this year, You must go over to Personalised gift Shop  and enter their amazing Competition.
They are giving away a £500 Voucher and have everything on their site that you could possibly want.
Enter here on Facebook or click the link above and go via their Website. You can also Tweet, Pin or G+ any Gift you like and if you win they will send you that as well :-) I did it all as I love Twitter, Pinterest and although I don't get G+ It is so easy to do I did that as well ha ha.
I chose this as my gift
For my Grandson Jackson. It is his first Christmas this year and I have been looking everywhere for the right Tree ornament. This is just what I was looking for. (So if I don't win I will most probably buy it but not before I try to make it :-)

Christmas Cards

Helllooo... Been a while but again I have not been idle.  I have loads to Blog but just haven't got round to it!! Sooo today I am sharing with you.... My Christmas Cards.... Yes I am that organised :-)Card Making is where my Crafting first started and I am very please to have got back into it. I used to sell quite a few of my Cards in the Shop but when it closed I stopped. 

So me and my Mum popped to the Range the other week to see a friend demo for Trimcraft. She was so good she got me spending!!! I bought the lovely new 12 x 12 Christmas Paper Stocking Fillers

and the 8 x 8 Special delivery paper pack and Decoupage pack along with a few other bits :-) I thought the Two paper packs went well together.

I wanted to make a few different simple designs that can be easily made and kept to a good price as Cards in Shops these days re so cheap and this is the Range I came up with.
I made a little Folder for them to go in and I think they make a fabulous gift. I m going to make a mixed everyday pack next.
For details of the full range click here :-)

What I have found this week .......

I like a good bargain, In fact I love it.
I am always on the search for the cheapest version of anything. Whether a large appliance, a box of Cornflakes or a way to make something. The latter is my demon. I will see something and think ..." I can make that" then I will spend forever resourcing the products needed for the cheapest possible amount before I even start on making it. 
I also love a freebie :-) but most are rubbish sample products that take forever to fill in your details just to receive something unusable.
Another thing I love doing is finding good Craft idea's that I plan to make but instead normally pin them to my Pinterest and look at them every once in a while haha.
Anyway I found this today. They are FREE yes FREE :-) just click on the link for details.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/promotions/9537754/free-cath-kidston-make-sew-booklets.html#
How fab is that!!! all you have to do is buy the papers Saturday 29th Sept and Sunday 30th and the booklets are inside. So I thought I must share this :-)
Like making Jewellery?? Well have a little lookie what I have found here :-)
http://www.jewelrymakingdaily.com/content/Free-eBooks.aspx
Lots and lots of FREE ebooks :-) For resin, Wire, Bezel settings and much more. Just click and download.

I hope this may become a permanent Blog, Maybe sharing a few good sites I find and love and a few offers that cant be resisted. I'll see what happens.

Competitons

I like a good Competition but don't have as much time or inclination  to enter as some. Although I think I do get on my Facebook Friends nerves with the Competition posts I share haha
I do however believe that I am very lucky as over the past few months I have done just a little bit of winning.
My first lushus win was through Facebook and The Daily Express Page where I won the Marion Keyes Book - Saved by Cake, along with a lovely assortment of Cooking items. Tins, Ingredients, Decorations, all sorts including my absolute favourite mixing bowl and Purple scraper. 

An absolutely fabulous first win and has come to be my all time favourite cook Book. The Recipes all seem to turn out just perfect and the writing is just so amusing. I really do love this Book. I use the Vanilla Cupcake Recipe all the time for my Cupcakes.

My next win was just the other day and also links with my new hobby Cake making. I really love making Cupcakes and really wanted to have a go at a large Cake as it is my Grandson's Christening on Sunday and would love to make his Cake but as I have never baked a successful large Cake before, Let alone iced and Decorated one I thought it was a bit of a lost cause. Then I saw a Competition running through Good to know website. I have regular updates via Email from them and it is a very informative website. They are Celebrating their 5th Birthday and were asking for people to bake them a Cake. So I did. In the style of what Catherine would like for Jackons Christening Cake. We were going for Blocks on a simple white Cake.

I was so chuffed with it!!! It was huge and ended up giving most of it away as I just couldn't get through it all. Anyway I emailed the Pictures over and guess what??? I came a runner up and won this Fab Cook Book :-)

Here is a link to the Gallery of entrants, with my Picture on the front page :-)

And now for my main reason for this post.

I HAVE JUST WON A YEARS SUBSCRIPTION TO PAUL BRADFORDS SUGARCRAFT SCHOOL!!!!!

How cool is that. I am sooooo excited. I have been looking at this page nearly every day for weeks but decided I really couldn't afford a subscription just yet. Then I somehow found this lovely Blog http://hoosierhomemade.com/ and it had a Competition to win a Subscription to the site. So of course I entered and then I won :-) 

I am so so so excited and can't wait to start learning. Here is a link to the Page. If you sign up there are loads of Free Classes to watch.

Paul Bradford Sugarcraft School.

Ripple Blanket and Jackson

Motivation around the House has been slow of late. I have had no want or need to do much except rest and pin things on my Pinterest boards :-)
The last few days however I have had a bit of something going on in my head. Possible Blog posts have been floating around, Finishing of Crochet items, a little bit of Cake making and so here I am with a Blog ha ha
I remembered a few Posts ago here, That I gave a sneaky peek of a Ripple Blanket I was making for my Grandson. He was not born when I started it and I was worried I wouldn't get it finished as I do have a tendency to have an awful lot of unfinished projects lying around :-S
Anyway I forgot to show the finished Blanket, So here it is :-)

It has had quite a bit of use :-) Here is Jackson just a few minutes old with his Blanket 

and one day old :-)

It has since got a little warm for this Blanket as it was made from Aran Yarn. So I have started making him a new, lighter weight Blanket :-) This time I decided to do a Granny Square as we have noticed that Jackson likes to hold things close to his head whilst going to sleep and also like me he has a need to put his Fingers and Toes through holey Blankets. I found this out a few Months ago. Whilst I was looking after him he was getting tired and it was getting a little chilly so I sorted through the airing cupboard and found Catherine's Baby Blanket that my Nan had knitted her. I was so chuffed as my Nan is no longer with us it gave Jackson a little bit of her. Look at these beautiful Pictures I got of him.

This was taken the end of June, Jackson is nearly 5 Months old here.

So gorgeous

I so love this photo.

Isn't this just adorable 

It is so canny. It is just what I do even now as an adult.

And so the "yet another Crochet Project" has begun although hopefully it will not take too long as it is for my very special boy :-) 

Cake making

Oooo dear. I have found yet another Crafty love.
Cake decorating!! I have always been interested in making cakes since I was very young. I wasn't very good but my Family always gave me great reviews for what I made. I have never been able to successfully make a Cake or Cupcakes, So as I enjoy it so much I started using Tesco value mix and then tried to decorate them. This again wasn't very successful. So I gave up lol that was until the beginning of this year when I decided to have another go. I had no faith what so ever in my Cake making ability so used a mix. I so enjoyed decorating them that it seemed a shame to not make my own Cakes. I was lucky enough to win Marian Keyes new book, Saved by Cake with a lot of fabulous Cake making ingredients and bakewear. 

This Book is fab it is really witty and the Cupcake receipe is  absolutely no fail. I use it every time and my Cupcakes come out the exactly the same each time,

Here are a few of my makes :-)

and then tonight I have just made this Cupcake Bouquet. I love it and am so happy with this new Craft.

Find it here :-)

Things I have made :-)

I am taking all my saved Favourites from Internet Explorer and adding them to my Pinterest. I am also making a made by me pin board to show things I have made. To do this I need a place to pin from and hope adding them to my Blog will be this place.
So here goes :-)

Retweet with #PGTwelay & follow to be in with a chance of winning our Venus ProSkin Set!

Retweet with #PGTwelay & follow to be in with a chance of winning our Venus ProSkin Set!: Retweet with #PGTwelay & follow to be in with a chance of winning our Venus ProSkin Set!

Well the Blanket I was working on got to 4 Squares lol and has now been abandoned but I do think of it often :-)
I have however in my absence been Crafting and here is a little of what I have done :-)

Lot's of Card Bunting has been made and listed in my Etsy Shop :-) 

I have been on my Cricut even more messing with designs;

I made this for my Grandson and love it :-)

Beautiful cut Butterflies

Which I stuck to my wardrobe, Don't they look lovely

I've been baking ha ha

and making (Yummy Bunny Tails for Easter :-)

Designing

and also a little bit of Jewellery making but the Pictures of that are awful :-(

So although I am not Blogging I am in fact doing something :-)

Afghan update and wool review

Well I have kept at it..... My Afghan that is. So far I have 3 Squares done and still enjoying it.

This is Square Two in progress and was quite annoying.... I did have a few cross words with it lol, It called for a Shell pattern like you use on Granny Squares except I had to chain one after every Treble and I kept forgetting arghhhh but I got there in the end and went onto Square Three;

This I am having a lovely time with. It is so nice to put stitches together that I have known for ages and get these lovely squares. Just hope I don't get bored before it's finished.

I am using my favourite wool here, it is Cygnet Grousemoor Chunky and is 75% Acrylic and 25% Wool which is just enough Wool to make it Special... as in soft and cuddly but not too much to have to be careful with washing. My kind of Wool :-) and I just love a Chunky as it Crochets up so neat and quick. 

The Colours I am using are 

A) Fushia

B) Rose

C) Thistle

D) Grey

E) Cream

I used the same wool here in a little project I whipped up in time for my Grandson

A separate Post to come but a little taster for you 

:-) 

Celebrity Crush and Crochet Heart Bunting oh and Blocking ;-)

I have always had a problem choosing a Celebrity Crush. I did used to have a crush on Anthony Edwards on ER and then his Character died :-( 
but I have just finished watching Dancing on Ice and wow and Corr, Watching Matthew from Emmerdale dance to Nightfever..... Gave me a Fever, Watch this 
http://www.itv.com/dancingonice/contestants/matthew-wolfenden-nina-ulanova/show-three-matthew-nina


So yay I have a new Celebrity Crush

(I've just watched this clip again and oh wow it is soooo good, He is so slick )

I have had a few things craftwise on the go and one of those that I haven't got round to Blogging about is my Heart bunting. It was a start and get to the end finished project!!! and takes pride of place at the top of my bed :-) 

It was a pretty simple project and made in an Evening but I did have to block it as the Hearts turned up at the ends. I don't often Block much so I took a few pictures to show how it's done.

         

I literally finished Crocheting all 6 Hearts and got a very Hard Pillow ( I used my Memory Foam one ) I clipped a Bath towel around it then pinned each Heart to the Towel So they were stretched out to the same shape. I then lightly sprayed them with water and left to dry :-) I think it helped as they don't seem to roll up any more but unless I do one without blocking it I wont really know. Anyway I felt very professional doing it he he 

Afghan Fear overcome ... maybe

I have always had a fear of large Crocheted items... not the items.... of making them. I always get bored with repetitive things so make small easy items like Flowers and Hats.
I may however have just overcome that!!
Here look at this;

I think I may be in love, So much so that I have pinned this to my Pinterest and.... wait for it. Started making it!!! Woo hooo, Want to see??

Here you go 

The first Square in the making and being thoroughly enjoyed, Let's see how long this lasts then eh :-)

An Outspoken view of mine.

I don't normally Post or have an outspoken view on things to do with other people. I don't like to judge or show my views in case I upset or anger anyone. (saying the wrong thing is a real issue I have, although the wrong thing does often escape from my mouth without me having a choice lol ) but it is so sad about Whitney Houston. She taught me an awful lot through her Music about being a strong and independent Woman. I was just listening to "it's not right but it's ok"  and the line "I'd rather be alone than unhappy" rang out. She seemed to stay so long in her marriage addicted to  drugs (So it seems through media, I don't know her personally and dont like to judge ;-)  )  but if all that is true why sing all these independent and strong songs yet yourself stay in an unhappy and wreck your life Marriage???

Just a thought that came in my Mind whilst listening and thought I would share it :-)
My absolute all time favourite Whitney Song and also the one I learnt the most best piece of advice from is "The Greatest Love of all"

Rip Whitney. xx

A few of my Favourite things :-)

A Collage of a few of my makes :-) 

Can Covers

So as a run on from my previous post Saleable, I am Crocheting Can covers and thoroughly enjoying it.  I thought I would go basic as I am going to meetings to get me back to full strength and on our first visit I was classed as reckless!!.... me reckless I couldn't believe it but on thinking and talking this through I decided I quite like being reckless.... maybe this is for another post lol as i have gone off the point... what I was trying to say was for my first Can Cover I decided to just go with a different Colour for two stripes in Double Crochet...... Yes being reckless lol I wanted to change this and do a row of Treble here and maybe 3 rows of double instead of two but persevere I did and got a lovely creation :-) and then was able to go on and be reckless, putting together different stitch combinations ;-)
My Colour inspiration was our living room the main Colour lime Green, I wanted a stripy random look but also I do like Colour coding my rooms for some reason so need to keep with that theme too. So thought I would just add a lot more green to various other colours,

Look what I my first two rows were though, 

This if you don't know is Nigeria's Colours and the only reason I know this is I was very fortunate a while a go to meet a very hmmmm lovely Nigerian Gentleman and ohhh he was so lovely :-) So this Crochet for me project has not only helped me Craft for me and become less reckless lol it has brought back sweet memories of a time that seems a million years ago and what sweet, sweet memories they are :-) 

and do you also know what? I have actually finished a few...

Not a brilliant Picture but a finished product no less :-)
Little update on Jackson - He is still adorable and content and just beautiful, Here have a peek at this little beauty.

He is just about an hour old here :-)
Gosh I seem to have so much to say today but the last thing is this;

I joined Laalaa's  travelling box this Year and I received the Box on Monday last week, What happens is this - there is a huge list of people on the Box list and I was 2nd. We receive the box and take out anything we like. I received the box from a lovely lady who's Blog is  The Snail Garden and also this lovely Gift from her. 

Thank you so much for this. 
I took out a Magazine, Some Fabric and some Beads. Not sure if I was too greedy but I did put back one of each item I took and a few extra bits. I have lots of left overs from my Craft Shop so I am thinking about starting a Box myself, if anyone is interested let me know :-)









So I am just about to send this off to the next lucky Person on the list. 
 I had a mass response on Facebook to my last post, Really overwhelming, Thank you so much to everyone who commented on this, It really is lovely to know what People think of my Blog.