Bloomin Lovely!

Well, after the "Pattern Fiasco" I decided I had had enough on the puter and went out into the garden.

My trough is looking beautiful! It is full of flowers and loads of buds. I was especially pleased to see some buds on the Icelandic Poppy. It is delicate like the Field poppies but comes up in a variety of colours. Monday, one of the buds opened and another looked as if it was about to.

But Monday tea time I looked out to find that all of the buds, except the original one, had disappeared. There was also hollows in the gravel on the top and stones all over the floor. Cats had been in my trough!!!!! There will be more buds later so it isn't a total disaster. Just really disappointing.

This is Sisyrinchium "Californian Skies". Most of the plants in the trough are Alpines because it is in full sun at the hottest part of the day. And now it has been moved, its in the sun for even longer.

This was only very small last year. Mam was after a cutting but I wouldn't let her. This year it is about 10 times the original size with loads of flowers. Unfortunately, she still cant have a cutting as she is having work done on the house. At least next year it will be loads bigger for one!

I also have this in yellow but it isn't as big yet and not as delicate as the blue.

It also flowers later so I have only had two flowers on it so far. But there are loads of buds just waiting to come out!

And I have a few things just coming into bud.

This is Lemon Thyme and it smells gorgeous!

Lavender

And Mimulus in both "Highland Yellow" and "Highland Orange". Also known as "Monkey Flower" because the flowers are supposed to look like monkey faces. You are supposed to plant them a certain distance apart but I put them close together in the hope that the two colours would mingle.

And finally, my Clematis. It is "The Vagabond". It is a lovely colour and already has has a few flowers. There are loads more buds and it is supposed to flower all through summer.

The Bad, the Good and the Terrific!

Yesterday started off quite well, I sold a pattern. I also had an email to say that new crochet thread had been despatched!

Thats enough to put anybody in a good mood. Right?

Well I was. For all of 5 minutes. Right up until I went to find the pattern to email out to the customer. It wasn't there. Whats more, another wasn't either. Major panic. I finally worked out what had happened. When I finish a pattern, I write it to disc then put it in the "finished Patterns" folder on the desktop. That way I have a copy of it which is easily accessible if I need it. During the reformat, I didn't save the Finished Patterns folder, because they were all backed up on disc, weren't they? No, they weren't!!!!!!

Both of my Scrapbooking patterns hadn't been written to disc. The thing is, my writer doesn't work and it is such a palava to transfer them over to Marks puter to use his burner. I was going to get around to it eventually!

So, when I came down from off the ceiling, I had a think.

I have both of the patterns in hard copy. That means I can scan them in with OCR which will mean I don't have to type them all up again. However, the pictures are not good enough so I have to remake everything to get new ones During a visit to CTM we were looking at my Silk Scrapbook and realised that I had use quite a few bits in there. That would save crocheting them. Also, while I was there I realised that I have pictures on my msn group so there is very little I am actually going to have to make.

When I got home I emailed a couple of customers, explained the situation and asked very nicely if they could help out. A US customer immediately sent me her version of the pattern. And a UK customer has promised to look for it after her weekend away. This means that at least I will have saleable copies of that one, even if I have lost all of my work

The problem with the other one is that I haven't sold any.

When Mark came home and I told him he was very matter of fact (typical) and just said "We will try that program on it."

"That Program" is one he bought when something went wrong during his format and he lost ALL of his files. It found them. It doesn't cost anything to download, install and run. However, if it finds the files you want, you have to pay to register it to be able to save them. It cost him $59.95 but was worth it as some of the files he had lost were programs (including Norton) and their key codes.

So, the good news is that it found a whole load of files which I now need to wade through. I have done some of them and found the publisher versions of the one pattern in both UK and US terms. As this is the one I haven't sold any of, this is the one I most needed to find.

Although I don't think I am going to get all my work back, I will have enough to not have to do any work (apart from converting the publisher files to pdf) to have the patterns available to sell again!

And what has happened to my cutomer in all this?

Well, she has been very understanding. I offered her a refund of a text version on a temporary basis. She opted for the text version. As I managed to get the US version back, I sent her that instead. As soon as I get a UK version sorted out, I will send her that as well.

In the mean time, I am sure I can find something else to send her as a "Thank you."

And some really good news is that one of my Silks at the Florists sold!!!! I was shocked. I went around to take her another one and pick my cheque up! Too late to bank it today but I will be waiting for them to open Monday morning.

Spoons and Dragons

Last night was Craft Club. This is the one that meets once a month and we get to try out new stuff. I always look forward to it.

Sometimes is is just a talk but the best ones are where you get to have a go.

Last night we made beaded spoons. They were fun to make and not too difficult. However, the smell on the glue was something else!!!!!

And now the moment you have all been waiting for! The Dragonfly page for my Silk Album. I used the thread I used to stitch it to crochet two of the Dragonflies and the beads I used on it to make the other one.

And, on the Silk subject, I had a good afternoon yesterday! The lovely man in the gift shop took all my posters advertising my patterns for both the Chatteris shop and the one in March. He also took a pile of business cards.

I was careful to put on the posters only the stuff that uses DK as that is what he sells. I figured if he was good enough to promote my patterns for free the least I could do would be to promote the ones that use his yarn. He also knows somebody who may be able to help sell my silks.

Next I went to visit the flower shops.

Both of them took a silk to display and business cards. And the best bit is that neither have asked for commission!!!!! One did say that if she sells loads for me I could make her one. I have to go in and swap them over every 3-4 weeks so that they have a change.

A Great Weekend!

It didn't take up long to get to York. The B&B was easy to find as well. However we had a bit of a shock when we walked in the room! I have never seen decor quite like it. I thought my taste was a bit eclectic, but this was amazing! Some walls Lilac, others Lavender. Blue blinds on the window and deep purple curtains. There was a bright purple canopy over the bed, burgundy velvet covers with hot pink cushions and even bright pink sheets. The Landlady called it the "Indian Room" and it was decorated with Indian style pictures and sequined elephants!!!

The bathroom was even bright! It had a "Primrose" bathroom suite. However, it was clean and smelled nice. The Landlady and the brekkie was lovely and, if you can cope with the decor, I would recommend it.

We had a rest for an hour or so as we were really tired after getting up at 5am that morning. Then we contacted our friends. After a snack, we went for a stroll around York. That city is amazing! It is a glorious combination of new and old, with the Minster appearing from above the other buildings keeping an eye on things.

And the Minster itself is stunning. I was lucky enough to get this picture as the sun was going down and the building reflected the colour. We went for a meal in a place called "Kennedys". You can always tell how posh a place is by the size of the meal. Just as well we had had a snack before we went out! They had a meal deal on which included a bottle of wine with two meals. So, as Mark and Steve were drinking beer, I had a bottle of red amd Sue had a bottle of white.

Just as well the camera was on auto focus because I would have never been able to take this one otherwise! We went on a bit of a pub crawl after that. I was good and stuck to soft drinks after all that wine.

In one of the pubs we saw this charater who kindly posed for us. He is one of the "Ghost Walkers". They take people on walks around York telling them all the ghost stories. The next day we spent the morning with Sue and Steve before leaving for home about 1pm.

Crochet Embellishment Exchange.

My Penny Black Stamps from the exchange still haven't arrived and I am really disappointed. I wanted to use them for some birthday cards this month and an anniversary card for Mark.

I know it isn't Clair and Sharnis fault. I have had a few things been delayed for unknown reasons. A letter I sent to York arrived two weeks later having gone via Liverpool! Bearing in mind that our sorting office is Peterborough, why did it go there?????

Also, a parcel I sent for an eBay sale took nearly a month to arrive.

However, despite all this, I have decided to do a crocheted Embellishment exchange.

First of all you pick a set from the ones shown here. Each set contains 3 daisies, 3 leaves, 3 bugs and enough chain to go around the edge of a 12 inch layout. You can chose from Butterflies in a peach and cream theme, Ladybirds in a pink, red and white theme or Dragonflies in a lilac, lavender and sky blue theme.

Use the "Ask me, I might button" to email me with the set you want and your postal address. If you are having problems with the button, you can email or pm me through UKS if you are a member, or leave a comment on here with your contact details and I will get back to you. Of course, I won't publish the comment.

Then, when you get your stash, send me some stash in exchange. Send me anything you like, whatever you think the exchange is worth. There is only one stipulation with this - NO PINK!

The first person for each set will get it sent out straight away. However, as I will be making the rest of them as they are requested, it will be 7-10 days before they are sent.

The time will all depend on how many are requested. I will be making them in strict order of requests and will email you to tell you roughly how long it will be.

Just one more thing. It is our 5th anniversay tomorrow. We are going away for a couple of days, leaving early tomorrow morning and coming back late Saturday. So any emails received during that time will be answered on my return.

Also, any comments will be approved on my return.

Now I need to go and make the journalling blocks for my Dragonfly LO and see if I can set up an advance post for tomorrow!

I can do Joined Up Writing!!!!

I wasn't really happy with the chain for writing the words. And I wanted something different for this LO. So I decided to play!

It took a little bit of fiddling but I managed to do it. I haven't worked out how to do the rest of the letters, just the ones I need for this. However, I plan to do the whole alphabet like this and put it all in the pattern.

I was thinking that maybe it would be far too big for one pattern so I might put the letters in one and the numbers and puntuation in another, with a discount for buying both at the same time. Then I couldn't decide how to finish this off. Lesley suggested crocheted swirls, which ended up as crocheted doodling.

I was quite pleased with the result and they are so easy to make. I am going to add them to my msn group as a free pattern. I will let you know when it is up. So the finished LO looks like this! Not a particularly good picture but I took it at 7.am this morning in the bedroom and I haven't sorted out the RAW plug in yet for Elements.

Dragonflies finished!

Well, almost. I still have to finish backing them which I will do today. Then, this evening I have to staple the backing on.

Then I need to scrap them to go in my album. I have some off cuts of silk from putting them on the frame and plenty of thread and beads to use on the page. I might even try to make a beaded dragonfly to show the beads I used. I suddenly realised this morning that I had not made the desktop calender for May. So, as I was editing the pics of the dragonflies anyway, I decided to use them.

They look really good on my desktop. If you fancy them on yours, just click on the pic on the left to download.

And I had some good news yesterday. I found out that one of my smaller lilies has sold! That means a total of two. I have (almost) finished the new winter. That just needs backing as well ready to staple tonight.

I have to go to the Angle Theatre in Wisbech and pick up the others tomorrow morning. The friend who was going to take me phoned me really upset yesterday. Her car got stolen so she can't. However, she has asked her hubby to take us all up and he has kindly agreed. I am even more pleased I decided to do this silk for her now, it will cheer her up!.

Now I know my ABC

And my D, E and F! And my G, H and I!

Each letter is about 5½ cm tall.

The letters are to go with the numbers and punctuation for a "Scrapping Journalling" crochet pattern.

You can even write words with them by using a crocheted chain for the rest of the word. I think I need a design team for this lot!!!!

Make Your Own Designer Labels

My new iron on t-shirt transfers arrived this morning to I made more labels. I need some to do on the back of the new Winter and the Dragonflies.

I thought, that as I was doing them anyway, I might as well take some pics and post the instructions.

All you need to do this is some cotton tape which is readily available from most haberdasheries and some printable iron on t-shirt transfers.

First of all, buy your cotton tape so that you know what size to make your label.

Next, design your label. Keep it as simple and clear as possible. Remember it is going to be quite small so it need to be easily read. The height of it also needs to be just a little smaller than the cotton tape.

MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!! Remember to flip your label over before continuing.

Fit as many of them as you can on to an A4 sheet. The more you fit on, the cheaper it works out. Don’t forget to allow for printer margins. Alternatively, if you doing it in a photo program, fill the whole sheet then use the “fit to page” option.

Cut the labels into individual pieces.

Following the manufacturers instructions, iron on to the tape. Make sure you leave a gap between each label to be able to fold over the raw edges to sew on.

Remove the backing.

Cut into individual labels.

And I couldn't be so cruel as to make Mandi Jane wait any longer so......

Here are some pictures of what I did with some lovely hand made beads Mandi Jane sent me as a pressie. I used black crochet thread so that they will match the new t-shirt I am working on. The finished set..

Close up of the necklace.

Close up of the earring.

And me wearing them!

Things can only get better!

And they did!

I managed to sort out some of the web site mess, even if it did mean redoing half of the page. However, now that it is done, the book marks work on the scrolling banner and I am really pleased with it. I now have to sort out the other pages.

Then my friend asked me if I would like a trip out to Tesco. Not that exciting really, until you know she was planning the one that is only a short drive away from CTM! Well, of course, I said yes.

I didn't buy anything there but I did get a mag in Tesco.

I also started the Dragonflies so here is a sneaky peak! I decided on the brown thread with the bronze filament for the body and the light rainbow thread for the wings. I did start adding beads in on the wings but they didn't look right. I will finish quilting them then see where to add the beads.

And to nicely finish things off, my new magnetic catches arrived in the post this morning. Considering that I only paid for them Thursday evening, that was REALLY quick delivery!

This means that I have finished the choker and now need to do the earrings. I am sure Mandijane is waiting very impatiently to see what I have done with her beads.

Atlier East Presents.........

EJ Curtis – Fur & Feathers

An Exhibition at the Angles Theatre, Wisbech, Cambs.

Fur & Feathers is the title of the forthcoming exhibition by EJ Curtis at the Angles Theatre Wisbech. Curated by Fur & Feathers is a collection of stunning portraits, painted, printed and drawn, of domestic and farm animals with particular attention to rare breed poultry! As a self-taught artist living on a smallholding in Norfolk, EJ Curtis’s love of art has grown with her love of chickens and ducks. Inspired by her first six hens Emma now has many animals and not only does she use them as her inspiration, she also takes commissions from other animal lovers.

Emma has an incredible ability to really capture the beauty and personality of her subjects; this has to be because she really appreciates and enjoys working with animals. Anyone who loves animals is going to love this exhibition!’ says Karen Harvey of Atelier East.

Obviously a very talented and skilled artist, already achieving a very high standard of work that many other artists would envy, Emma still feels that she is learning and has more to learn. She is currently studying for a diploma in pet portraiture with London Art College. Fur & Feathers by EJ Curtis will be showing from 4 - 30 May at the Angles Theatre.

On Sunday 4 May from 6-8pm there will be a free opening reception and, as always, everyone is welcome to come along and meet the artist.

For more information on exhibitions at the Angles Theatre contact info@atelier-east.co.uk

And, just in case you haven't managed to go yet, mine is still on!

Stash Diving!

I know when I mention "Stash" most of you immediately think of papers!

However, my stash constists of yarn, thread and beads! And lots of each!!!!!

I was looking for something to do the dragonflies with. I know I had some bronze filament somewhere which, combined with brown thread, would look really good on the body. I wanted something shiney for the wings to go with the irridescant beads. I remembered that I had bought metallic threads to make Christmas Cards a few years ago, so went hunting for them and found a nice silver one for the wings.

But I also found these! Now I can't decide what to use! Brown/Bronze and Silver? Light and Dark Rainbow? Brown/Bronze and Light Rainbow? Or?????? What do you think?

Ooooh! I am all excited!

I had my first sale on Etsy!!!!! I sold a Tilly Tangfish puppet. And it is no coincidence that she looks like Dory! LOL I have another one of these so will have to relist her.

I learned some new html and can now link direct to a part of my page and not just the top of the page and have to tell you to "scroll down".

Now I need to learn to make the scrolling banner like the one on the left.

However, whether I get any of this done today is another matter. The sun is out, the sky is blue and I might just go out on the bike with the camera and find another letter for my A-Z photo journal of Chatteris.