Palm Sunday

Ride on, ride on in Majesty................

Love and blessing in Christ
Elaine
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Chopsticks and Fabric

If anyone has been reading Shabby Chic Cafe recently,

or seen me around Facebook,
you will know by now I have been painting chopsticks,
I've even speckled my chopsticks!!!
(actually the should have been spotty
but speckles were easier)
So just for those who have been wondering,
here are the chopsticks,
painted and speckled!

And this is what I need them for!


I shall put some of these lovelies in my blogshop soon.



On Wednesday I received a lovely parcel through the post,
not a complete surprise, but very, very welcome.
It was from Little Gem.
We had organised for her to get me
some lovely gingham fabric,
but Gem, bless her heart, has gone the extra mile
and sent me some extra too.

Thank you sweetie xxx

So today I am a happy bunny
(even though my hand/wrist is bandaged.....that's another story! Let's just say washing up is dangerous even when I don't get cut or scalded!!!)

With love and blessings in Christ
Elaine
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Look at my lovely "Mystery"

Last week I was lucky enough to be picked out of the hat for a mystery give-away.
It was MrD who picked my name (thank you kind sir)
and "mystery" because the giver wasn't really sure what I would get!!!
But I am really chuffed!!! REALLY chuffed!!!
I got a little book on composting, which will be passed to DH
(been trying to convince him we need to compost for ages)
and a postcard full of beautiful photographs of the "giver's" home town.
And the very best bit, 2 wonderfully hand-knitted cloths.


I am so chuffed, they are so scrummy,
but I'm not going to use the cloths just yet,
I want to enjoy them as they are for a while.
So I want to say a really big "THANK YOU" to Sandie at
Dancing on a Blade of Grass


(and you'll be pleased to know you've given me the KUTB I needed
and I've bought some cotton yarn)

Love and Blessings in Christ
Elaine
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Stocked the blogshop!!!!!!!!

I have a few goodies in my blogshop at last YAY!!!

Hope you enjoy looking at them.

Love and blessings in Christ
Elaine
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Cockadoodledooo!!!!!!!!!

Hello Blogland !!!

OK, so that's a hen not a cockeral but as you might be able to tell,
I'm quite upbeat this morning.
The sun is shining again and it looks like it's going to be another lovely day.
We had a sale at the church hall yesterday, and it was brill!
We opened for 3 hours and there was someone there for every minute.
We didn't make loadsamoney, it's obvious that people are
really feeling the pinch, but the atmosphere was really good,
very friendly and we did sell some of our newer stuff.

We decided we needed to make things that are lower cost
(because of the credit crunch) and it worked.
Claudia made a whole batch of new earrings to sell for under £3 (most under 2) and sold 14 pairs!!!!!!


My DH has been beavering away making wooden items for us,
and he was chuffed when I told him we sold something of his.
And I sold a chicken!!! Not even one of the brighter ones either,
and a set of scissors, so together with all the other little bits and bobs
we were quite busy.
Thankfully, we still have lots of goodies left which means
I'll be able to stock the blogshop soon.

We're doing a coffee morning next Saturday, just one table, much easier,
and we're looking forward to that.
And in the meantime I have an order for cards too.
So all in all lots to be positive about and thankful for.

For our next "big" sale we've decided to ask the church if
we can run a full craft fair.
The church will get the rent from the tables, and probably have the usual cakes stall etc. And this is where my lovely blog friends come in.
I have organised several fetes etc, but never a craft fair.
Can anyone offer any advice please? Obviously there will be the usual advertising, but I'm wondering how widely I should advertise?
What sort of radius? 5miles? 10? How far would people travel for a craft fair?
And what about hired stalls? Should I stick to just handmade?
Or would vintage work too?
I don't really want just jumble-type stalls, I've been to those and where there's jumble people want to pay jumble prices for the crafts too.
Should I ask what people make and aim for a variety?
or just take the rent and not worry?

I know, so many questions so early in the morning, so I'll stop there. But seriously, I will appreciate any advice, so get your thinking caps on, please.

With love and blessings in Christ
Elaine
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Bright and Breezy

The title sums up how I'm feeling today, and possibly the weather too.

At the moment the sun is shining and the day is looking good.

I'm hopeful that I'm on course for finishing most of the new goodies
I planned to make before next Saturday.
It's our first Sale this year, hopefully the first of many.
There's just a couple of new things I want to try,
but the designs are still in my head atm,
and some cards to make.
Not many cards though, there's seems to be so many card makers out there,
really lovely cards, so I'm concentrating more on my sewing.

I thought I'd give you a sneeky-peek at some of the things
that will be appearing on my other blog soon,
then I'll have to dash off.
Hair to dry, teeth to brush, etc.
A woman's work is never done :D

With love and blessings in Christ
Elaine
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Crochet, cushions and chickens

Hello there, I thought it was time I posted some new photos.

The light still isn't good indoors so forgive the quality
(not that I'm that good anyway LOL)
But at least you get to see my new blanket.
I love it.
It is so snuggly and warm on a chilly night.
I'm not to keen on the edging, a bit of a quick bodge job,
but the nice thing with crochet is that at least
it's easy to undo when I have the time
(and inclination *blush*) to redo it.
I got around to doing some new cushion covers too,
and now I'm on the lookout for more fabric for some larger ones.
The green check fabric was a real bargain,
75p for 4 napkins from a charity shop,
and I've made 3 covers from them
by adding some stash fabric (that was free!)
I made 2 small cushions from teatowels,
they were a snip from home bargains,
part of a pack working out at 75p each.
The other fabrics were a little bit more,
bought by the metre, but still came out
very cost effective, so I'm well pleased.

Over the last few days I've been making other goodies too,
like these lovelies from the Springtime crafting book.More to come too. They are lovely to make,
though I did change a few things
here and there to make them "mine".
Hopefully, within the next few weeks I'll be putting
some of my new makes in my blogshop.

I'll post a link when I have. I've been thorough spoilt this week, receiving 2 swap parcels.
The first is from Debbie, for the January swap at the
Shabby Chic Cafe. Lots of loveliness and yumminess,
especially her famous bunting.
It's wonderfully well made.
And, I believe, it's available for sale.
If you pop along to her blog
I'm sure there's a link where you can buy some.

The next parcel I got was from Elliweb,
for the February swap.
Again such generosity.Lots of lovely goodies,
including a beautifully handmade fabric bowl.
I love receiving and sending swaps,
it's such a "feel good" moment in life.

So there we have it. My photos. Enjoy.
With love and blessings in Christ,
Elaine
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