Is it that long since I last posted??????

Inside Crochet issue 17 is out, with more lovely pictures of my alphabet. I didn't make these ones, they did. Can't wait to see what they come up with for next month.

And, I have won an award! Do you remember my A-Z of Chatteris in Photos"? The Cambridgeshire Association for Local History" has given me an award for it. I have to tart up all posh and go and collect it on June 4th at Denby Abbey.

I am still crocheting hard, working on patterns for both the site and Inside Crochet. I officially went self employed on April 1st. I have never bothered before as I have always spent loads more than I earned on hooks, yarn and thread. But, with the work I am doing for IC, I am going to be in the black this year.

So, as part of all this, I have set up a Facebook page.

I only joined Facebook originally because the family nagged me. I haven't been on there much but last weekend a lady emailed me to tell me that somebody has been using my pictures to advertise that they are selling items made from my patterns.

I contacted them about it, they apologised and took them down. The silly thing is, if they had asked first, I would have given them permission. When I told them this, the excuse was that they were new to it all.

New to what? Didn't their mother teach them manners???????

Anyway, all this brought me to the realisation that Facebook is a great (and free) tool for reaching potential customers and interacting with them.

Very steep Facebook learning curve coming up!

Any help appreciated.

And, to help me get lots of "Likes" for my page I am having a prize draw of a £5 Paypal voucher when I get to 500 and a £10 Paypal voucher when I get to 1000. You will be able to spend these on my site, my Etsy shop or my Folksy shop.

All you have to do is put a link to my Facebook page and this post on your blog, then leave a comment to let me know where the links are.

When I get to 500 I will draw for the £5 and when I get to 1000 I will draw for the £10.

The vouchers can be used for patterns or finished items and if you are entered into the first draw, you will also be entered into the second draw.

I am in the Paper!

This is from my book signing on Saturday.

I may not have sold many books but at least I got in the local rag! I had to use the one with Julie in it as she nagged me to send it to them. The other people are a lovely couple who spent ages chatting to me and looking at the scrapbook, then kindly agreed to pose for the photo

Look what I have got!

Books! Lots of them! Yes, my books have finally arrived and I have 3 boxes full to sell.

I did have 5 but one was all pre-ordered so it didn't take long to get those sorted out and the other 4 fitted into 3 with a few left over.

I have taken some to the Library and will be taking some to the florists later. I will be taking more to the Museum later on in the week.

Now I can get back to what I do best ~ crocheting.

My Clematis now has over 200 leaves on it. There are still quite a few to be made but I am getting there. I was hoping to have them all done and sewn on by the end of the month but I think I may have been over optimistic.

I really need to get started on the flowers soon, otherwise it will not be done in time.

Print Ready!

I am all excited!

My book is finally print ready. I just have to wait for the person dealing with it to go back to work after his hols to get things in motion to send it to print.

So, what started out as a personal photography project in January 2008 is finally going to be a book.

And more good news, I have managed to sell some to the local schools with payment in advance which means no more scrimping and saving to afford the publishing!

I was able to download a free trial of InDesign which, with just a little bit of cussing, I have learned to use just enough to produce a print ready version pdf to send to the publisher.

That program does some wonderful things and would be amazing for digital scrapbooking but £699 is a little out of my range for it.

Clematis Leaves

After taking a short break to finish off some items I found in the attic, I have got back to the Clematis.

Here is the first batch of leaves on the blocking board. It holds 38 and I am going to have the fill the board up a few more times before I have enough to finish. I have started sewing some on but just 12 don't look very impressive so you are going to have to wait until I have sewn a few more on before I take a photo.

I have been working hard on the book as well.

I have had it proof read and they found loads of mistakes. As it is all still on the computer it isn't major hassle to change them.

Just time consuming!

I now need to do all the technical stuff to get it "print ready". I am not looking forward to that as I have to learn to use a new program.

It should be going to print on June 28th - barring any major problems.

Back to getting it print ready!

Nearly there!

I am really excited!!!!! I am finally going to see my book in print. It has been a while coming because I have had to save my pennies to afford it.

And, of course, the reduced work hours meant a huge chunk out of what I could manage to save. Now I need to decide how many. The prices I have had mean that if I order 150 I can sell them for £8.95 each, 200 = £8.50 each and 250 = £7.95 each.

I have enough to get 150 and, with a little more saving, might be able to afford 200. Unfortunately, 250 is a bit out of my budget range. I also need to do a bit of market research to find out how many I could sell.

So, if you would be interested in buying one, please use the "Ask me, I might" button on the left to contact me and let me know. They will be £8.95 at the most. If I manage to sell them cheaper, I will give you a refund when the book is sent.

I am hoping to go to print before the end of the month which means they will be on sale by the end of July. I will keep you posted on any developments.

Need a Hand?

I do! And I don't mean some help.

I need a "hand" to "model" my puppets. I need to spend ages taking photos of all of the ones I have finished revising so that I finish these patterns off and sell the finished puppets. Another bag full out of the way.

Last time I asked Benjamin for help to model some he was in a very bad mood because he wanted to be off doing other things and was very uncooperative!!!!!!

I was looking at those wooden ones on eBay but when I saw them in a shop, the thumb didn't go where I needed it to. Anyway, Mark helped me make this. He bent the garden wire and I covered it in the no longer needed tube bandaging and stuffed it.

It works like a dream! Of course, if the finished puppets sell well, I may make some more. To be honest, I don't want to spend my time crocheting to sell but I am trying really hard to save up to get my A-Z published - which isn't easy with the reduced hours and a 12 year old son who always needs something new.

So far I have made about £17 on ebay with all the stash. Not as much as I was hoping for but better than nothing and also saving just either throwing or giving everything away. I also found the gorgeous green chenile I knew was up there. No way am I getting rid of that. I have been dreaming for years about what I am going to make from it!

And in the wardrobe, I found the bag of chunky I was saving to make myself a cardigan. Some of my nice warm woolies are getting a bit past their "use-by" date. The elbows are getting thin and stringy and the cuffs are starting to unravel. And there was no way I was going to buy any new ones when I knew all that stuff was in the attic just waiting to be used.

And about that Clematis. I haven't given up. I ordered some of the sagey green thread to make the leaves from. It have arrived and is ready and waiting for me to use it but I have a long list of things which need to be done first. Besides, small cotton leaves are definately a summer project as I can't be making chunky cardigans then!

Its December!

And I am on time for once with the desktop calender. This is one of the photos I took on the weekend. There were loads of people there. The switching on of the lights is a very popular even in Chatteris. I was lucky enough to have permission to go up into the top floor of a building opposite to get these photos.

All I need to do now is to find some time to go out in the dark and take more photos of the lights and my X will be finished for my A-Z. Again, I have been ever so nice and made a wide screen version as well. I use a wide screen in work and have to admith that I hate the way it distorts everything. And while we are on the subject of December, the Advent Calendar is now active.

Go and see what treat is in store for you today!

I have been good!

Not only have I done the calendar for October, I have even done it 4 days early! The photo is part of one I took yesterday at Emmanuel church of their Harvest display. I love the rich colours of the fruit and flowers.

Originally for my "H is for Harvest" I was planning on taking some photo of various vegetables being harvested around Chatteris. I already have some wheat being harvested on a friends farm for the first page. However, due to lack of transport and the slim possibility of actually catching them at the right time, I decided to take up the suggestion of somebody else and use the Harvest Festival displays at the Churches.

As you can see, this has worked very well. Also, with both churches celebrating Harvest on the same weekend, I was able to get all the photos done in one go - and finish up my pages today. I have made a stocking lantern. No pics yet as it needs blocking. I am going to have to find something the right size the put inside to dry it as I cannot pin it to a board.

And to answer some questions............

The lights I use are LED tea lights.

They are wonderful!

You can get them quite easily on eBay but mine were actually bought in Wilkinsons. If you don't have one near you (I had never heard of them until I moved to the Fens) try your local £1 shop. They are battery powered and the batteries are replaceable.

They don't get hot, drip wax, smell, cause soot or any of the other things real candles do. This means you can use them in a whole load more situations.

I discovered them last year and used them for the residents "Candlelight Carols" in paper lanterns. No risk assessments to do and no telling residents that they were not allowed to touch them.

I haven't even thought about prices yet but they will be for sale on my site when ready.

I shouldn't be here!

I should be doing about 50,000 other things.

But........

I really wanted to show you these. I really have this ATC bug - and I am loving it! I am hosting a Digi/Hybrid ATC swap on UKS and after some thought, decided to go away from the crochet theme and go for the A-Z instead. I was going to do some stamping on them and it was suggested that embossing looks great.

The problem is that I don't have the stuff required to emboss so the very nice lady who suggested it sent me some embossing powder in the post.

Now I am hooked!

The embossing didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but, after trying on on plain card and it working perfectly, I have decided it must be the photo paper that is at fault.

Now I had better go and do those 50,000 other things!

How Time Flies.

Is it really that long since I was last here???????????

I don't know where the time has gone.

Still, I have been busy, very busy.

First of all, I have been working on my A-Z. It sort of grew. Now it is an emormous scrapbook with a double layout for each letter. And it weighs a ton!!! I still haven't finished all the letters but I only have 2 more to think of, another 2 more that need to wait until the right time of year to finish and the final one will be X for Xmas lights. I may even get it published as I am being nagged to, but not sure about that.

I also have made a whole load of ATCs. These are not the ones I have made but some of the ones I have received in exchange. My small collection is growing. I joined an "ATC Trail" on UKS so now can take part in regular swaps whenever I want to, with no pressure if I am a bit busy.

And, of course, I have been crocheting. Well, to be exact, crotating. Its a form of tatting that is done with a crochet hook and combines crochet in with it. I have been working on some beaced crotat jewellery and some scrapping motifs.

I promise pics soon.

Which brings me to the final thing, Rainbow Valley.

We have decided to get a Sky package for the TV, phone and internet. Of course, this means a whole new website as my current one is with out current ISP. I ended up opting for a Mr Site package.

I changed my domain name over to them and was surprised at how quickly everything got sorted out. The new site is up and running but there are a few minor blips to sort out.

Crochet & Scrapping

I know I haven't been on here much recently but I have been doing lots of scrapping.

I am in the process of putting together an 8" album to display some of my crocheted embellishments. Hopefully, if people see them used they will buy more! Some are new LOs, some are older digi ones that I have printed off without the crochet bits and added the "real" versions instead. This is a "real" one with crocheted daisiesfrom the scrapping pattern on Rainbow Valley. I have used brads in the centre of them.

And this is another using crocheted doodling which is a free pattern on my site. I am not entirely happy about the flower in the corner, I may change it for something else. The little bee stamp I got on eBay. And, of course, I did get the second set of letters from Tesco. And have made good use of them!

I have also been working on my A-Z photo journal. I know the idea was to get it all done last year but the time ran away with me!

I have started scrapping the letters. I am doing double layouts for each letter and three different versions - a digi 12", a digi A4 and a real 12".

The reason for the digi A4 is so that I can take them into work and get them printed off for the residents to look at. As many of them are local, it may help them remember things.

The digi 12" is partly for planning but also for printing off to give my family an 8" version of it.

And the "real" 12" is for me. I deserve it after all the hard work going into it.

D is for Dragons!

I did want "Damsels and Dragons" but I didn't see any Damselflies! As Chatteris is in the middle of the Fens, it is surrounded by waterways so there are always plenty of Dragonflies around. Last week I went to Welches Dam. It is a local RSPB bird reserve not far from Chatteris. The Ouse Washes cut across the Fens with a long, straight stretch of wetland between artificial channels. Tens of thousands of ducks are attracted to this remote location in winter, as well as the largest concentration of Bewick's and whooper swans anywhere in the UK.

I knew this would be my best chance of getting photos of them. Did you know that the species is over 300 million years old? That is twice as old as birds. There are approximately 3,600 known species of dragonfly in the world. In the British Isles there are 27 species of dragonfly and 16 species of damselfly.

Dragonflies can reach 30mph in full flight. They are a voracious hunter from the time it first hatches as aquatic larvae to its peak as a flying adult.

The adult dragonfly has the biggest eyes in the insect world and they are capable of detecting movement up to 15m away! Male dragonflies have their own territory; they guard their particular stretch of water seeking prey, females and chasing off rivals.

Of course, there are loads of other things to see there and its well worth a visit if you have the chance.

I have been scrapping!

"Real" Scrapping as well!

Unfortunately, they are not quite finished so you are going to have to wait to see them!

But you can see the digi ones I was sorting out my photos to send off for printing for my A-Z album, when I decided to digi scrap A. Part of the reason is to use the digi versions to "plan" the real versions. And part of it is because I want a digi album to share as well. I can put it on to a cd or online and it will look so much nicer than photos of the real one.

I have also used the journalling blocks from this and added them to the photos to be printed so that I can use them in the real one. This is A for Abbey. There were loads of photos and info for it that I ended up with a double one. The "Real" scrapping is for my Silk Album. I was going to wait until I sent off the other photo to do it but changed my mind.

Sorting out the photos gave me the urge to scrap so I printed them off myself. Besides, I wanted some of them bigger than 6x4 so I couldn't use the free ones anyway.

I have crocheted the bits I need for the embellies and am in the process of making the beaded embellies. I decided to stitch them on to the paper, rather than making wired ones for the rainbows.

I think I will be making a wired Snowdrop one though.

If all goes to plan I will have the Rainbow ones finished very soon and get the photos taken.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do the Snowdrops as I don't have any green handmade paper.

Also, until I start this job, I don't have any money to get some.

They are going to have to wait!

I am pleased to announce........

That I have finally finished my Puppets pattern!

You have already met the individual puppets so I won't bore you with that. I am off to add the pattern to Rainbow Valley When all that is done, I can carry on with my A-Z. I am sorting out the photos I want printed so that I can send them off. I need to decide how big I want them all first and any smaller than 6x4 can be added to one print.

I would nornally print them myself but I had an offer of free prints through from Snap fish and the postage is only 99p for up ro 50 and £1.49 for up to 500. Also, if I refer people and they sign up (don't need to actually buy and no card details needed) we both get an additional 20 prints free.

If anybody is interested, use the "Ask me, I might" button on the left to email me.

Are you sitting down?

I have done some scrapping!!!!!!!

I took it into my head yesterday to have a go at the weekly on UKS And this is the result. Its a digi LO from some of the pics I took when we spent the afternoon at a friends farm. The pics are for my A-Z Photo journal of Chatteris and I do plan on a scrapbook for the complete collection. So I will be re-doing this one "properly"!

I used a photo of the corn in the field for the background and slightly lightened and desaturated the centre. Then I used different photos of the combine with a black and while border in the middle.

The Corn is from my "Flowers and Friends" Scrapbooking pattern and the Bow is a free pattern on my msn group. If you can't crochet, I can supply the "real" versions.

Puppets and Zion

I was going to be ever so good and try to blog at least every other day. Look how long that lasted!!!!!

Still, I have been busy with other things.

First of all, I listed my Halloween Baskets pattern on Etsy. This isn't a new pattern, I wrote it some years ago but I still love it. I was debating about putting it on eBay as well but with the new rules about ebooks (and the new listing prices) I decided not to. Etsy is so much cheaper to sell from when you are dealing with handicrafts.

Here are some of the puppets I have been working on. Meet Petula Parrot,

Sidney Snake,

and Arnold Aligator. These are the "Jungle Puppets". As always, made from 100% machine washable acrylic so you don't have to worry about them getting dirty. I have listed them all for sale on Etsy. The pattern will be on there just as soon as it is finished.

During the crash a whole pile of my photos got corrupted. Fortunately, some of them were from my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris which means they are relatively easy to replace. I decided to go out to the bank and Co-op yesterday and replace some of the photos. I went to the bank first then started taking some pics.

Wouldn't you know it - it started to rain! So I went to the Co-op to get what I needed only to find I hadn't put my purse in!!!! At least by the time I got back to the town centre it wasn't raining any more and I managed to replace some of the pics from Jubilee Gardens. I actually think they are a little better than before. The dark sky wasn't such a contrast against the black clock. But yesterday wasn't a complete disaster! In the evening I left the boys playing on the Wii and went out - complete with purse!

And I managed a new letter - Z This is the Zion Hall. I haven't been able to find out much info about it apart from this little bit I found online. Another such church (non-conformist) in Park Street was founded in 1819. In 1851 the congregation numbered 485.

However, the sign says 1839. I think a trip to the local museum is in order. And I still need to finish sorting out those Harvest ones.

R is for Rapeseed

The latest in my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris.

At this time of year you can't but help noticing the bright yellow fields all around you. The growing of Rape is big business

Rapeseed is grown for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, and biodiesel. Rapeseed is a heavy nectar producer, and honeybees produce a light colored, but peppery honey from it.

Rapeseed Oil can be used in much the same way as olive oil. It is a recognised fact that olive oil has a reputation as a healthy oil. Up to now, what has not been widely known is that cold pressed rapeseed oil is substantially healthier than olive oil. It has the added benefit of being locally grown, without the need to be globally transported, therefore saving on "food miles" as well. Rapeseed Oil has only half the undesirable saturated fat content of olive oil. Whilst having twice as much of the desirable omega 6 and about ten times the amount of the desirable Omega 3. The sodium (salt) content is zero.

Rapeseed oil is produced locally by L & A.E. Munns & Son. Westmoor Farm is part of the Cambridgeshire County Farm Estate and is situated in the heart of The Fens, 1.5 miles west of the market town of Chatteris. The Munns family has farmed there since October 1959 when they took on the tenancy of a 21 acre smallholding from the then Isle of Ely County Council. Funding was provided from a £100 pools win and extended credit from suppliers.

Catching Up!

It has been a busy couple of days. On Friday we went out with a friend and her daughter to HGL for brekkie. They had a BOGOF on so we decided to take advantage of it. It was scrummy! And I was stuffed!!!! Afterwards the children played for a bit then we had a look around. I very nearly bought some "Chocolate Mint". It was only £1.59 and smelled just like "After Eights"!

While there, I also got a couple of pictures for the UKS Photo competition. Joanne suggested this one when I explained what I was doing.

The brekkie offer runs for another 2 weeks and I have a spare token so we are going again - when the kids are in school! I think I am going to get that mint as well.

That afternoon we went to Skylark Garden Centre. Joanne didn't realise there was one there. She hasn't lived in the area long and has only just passed her driving test, so I was telling her about some of the local stuff. The kids had a great time playing outside, even though the bouncy castle wasn't up!

I also managed to get the picture I needed to finish off another letter in my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris.

I just need to sort out the pics before I post them.

After seeing all the excitment about a LO in Scrapbook Inspirations which used one of my crocheted Rainbows, I thought I would do one myself. I checked out this weeks challenge for inspiration and this is what I came up with. And, while on the subject, keep an eye on SI because I might be in it soon! I emailed them concerning my Rainbow and got a lovely email back.

I am really excited about this! It might be just what I need to get people to my site. If I can sell a decent amount of crochet each week, I wouldn't need a job!

And if that does happen, best you get your orders in before the rush!