Its nearly Christmas!

And here are some more finished quilted frames. I know you have seen these two before but they were not finished then! This is me with my Mam, Dad and Nana.

And here are the close ups.

Due to great protests by my son, I had to take his photos out and use some of me.

This is me with my Mam. And the close-ups

I was going to take some pics of the others today - but it is SNOWING!

This week has been just as hectic!

And I have been buying stash again - but more of that later.

I got fed up waiting for the tape to come so I improvised. I cut strips of the same fabric I used for the front and staples it on the back as I was going to with the tape. Then I used the designer labels I made and stapled those on as well. It doesn't look quite as professional as the tape would but it does the job nicely. I now have 7 finished and two of them up for sale in the Florists. I am thinking about putting them on Etsy as well.

Here is the finished Leaves frame. And some close ups. All of the frames are 20cm x 20cm and made to fit a 9cm x 13 cm photo.

And finally that stash! First of all, I have to say that the lady was wonderful. I realised that I had ordered two different sized padded stars and emailed her to ask if she could send them the same size and add the difference to the postage.

Then I emailed her about some punches and couldn't make up my mind about them so decided not to get one as it was getting time to go to work.

I asked her for the total, which she sent and I paid. However, she hadn't adjusted it for the stars and, as I had turned the puter off and would be late for work if I turned it back on, didn't do anything about it.

The stash arrived the next morning, complete with the alternative stars. How is that for service? I emailed her to ask about the aditional cost and she came back to me to tell me that she hadn't altered it on purpose.

So, if you want great service and quick delivery, I suggest you pay her a visit.

Her shop is Pink Marshmallow on eBay.

Doesn't Time Fly.....

.....When you are working?

20 hours doesn't sound like much, especially when there are 168 in a week. In fact, when you think about it, it is actually less than one whole day. But 20 hours spread over 4 days, plus the time to get there and back, creates a HUGE hole in your time. And things just keep falling through it!!!!! Basically, I have lost the best part of four days and have to fit everything I normally do in seven days into the remaining three. I am not doing so well.

I know other people do this all the time. But they are used to doing it. Hopefully I will get organised at some point and get into a routine where I can fit everything in. However, the good part is that I finally have some money to spend! I have to be relatively good as I have things to pay out and sort out first but I have treated myself.

I bought a staple gun so that I can finish off my pictures myself without hassling Mark to sort out the big compressor one down the shed and some tape to cover the raw edges on the back. I also got some of those nine pocket pages to keep my ATCs in.

Marks Mum picked up twelve 8in frames for me last week so now I am all set to finish off the quilted photo frames, or I will be when the tape arrives. As you can see from the photos, I have already mounted theones I have finished and just need to finish the backs off.

I had to change the photos in the Baby Girl ones due to MAJOR complaints from my son. I had used photos of him as I didn't have any of baby girls. Then my Mam pointed out that I had some of me. So they have been duly scanned and printed to use.

I only have time to edit a few of the pics to use, so will show you the others another day. The other thing I really wanted to show you was this lovely lot of stash I got from Linda E. Thank you so much! I love it!!!!!

And finally, I took this from the back door this morning. The sun was coming up in the front and the moon was still really bright out the back.

November Calender

It's here at last!

The November calender. I cheated a bit. With this new job still throwing me for a loop, I haven't had much time to get out and get some pics. So I have used one I took last November. I rather like it and I hope you do as well.

And as you may have noticed, I have a new background. Thanks SC for the help. This is the same one I have on my site.

I haven't got the text colours right yet though so please bear with me.

Quilted Layouts

I have finished the two girl ones!

Well, almost. I wrapped these around an 8x8 pad of cardstock to display them as I don't yet have the proper frames. But I couldn't wait to share them! The other thing I need are some decent tags to tie on. These are for the babys details.

They are based on a scrapbooking style. I have used painted silk instead of patterned paper and (mostly) crocheted embellishments. They is finished off with some baby buttons and seed beads. They are 8 inches square and made to fit 5x3½ inch photos.

Now I have to get the frames to finish them properly and decided on a price to sell them at.

The Lady in the flower shop said to keep them under £20 which is why I have done them small. The thing is, how much under?

I have enjoyed making these. I just hope I enjoy making the others I have planned as much!

I think I am going to do the poppy ones next!

As Promised..........

Indoor Fireworks!

These are perfectly safe, no fire involved.

You will need 2 paperclips, a strip of strong paper or card and some streamers. I have used shredded foil paper for the streamers as I thought it would sparkle like the fireworks actually do.

Fold the card over but do not crease it. Use the paperclip to hold it in place.

Turn the whole thing over then repeat with the second paperclip, making sure it only goes over two layers of card.

It should look like this from the top.

Finally, tie your streamers to the paperclips. Now the fun bit. Take hold of each end of the card and hold it at arms length. Pull the ends apart quickly and shout "Bang!" Enjoy!

More ATCs

Have to say, I have been having a great time making these!

This is my latest lot of ATCs. And there are a whole load more in the process. Yes, they take a lot of work but I really like the original idea of them being miniatures of your art work. As my artwork is crochet and silk painting, that is what I do.

I could probably make 10 times as many if I did them with paper and glue - but that just isn't me. Anyway, as I was doing these I came up with another idea. What about bigger versions that I could maybe sell?

After thinking about this some more and then chatting to the lady in the flower shop who displays some of my work, I came up with this. It is 8x8 quilted scrapbooking layout and made to fit a 5x3½ photo. It isn't finished yet, I need some pink baby buttons and I haven't beaded it yet. Yes, its pink! Its very pink!!!!!!

But I didn't have any pale blue fabric to make a boy one and I had a whole pile of pink stuff made for the "Scrapping for Babies".

Besides, I am not planning on keeping it and there are plenty of baby girls around.

However, I am quite pleased with the result so far.

And I have another pile in all different colours to get done yet!

Not that easy.

Mark isn't pleased with me!

I was really enjoying my job. I love making these people smile and bringing a bit of fun to their lives.

The carers are great but they only have enough time time to "care". I get the fun bit of playing.

However, this week I was brought down to earth with a jolt. One lady who is there on respite due to a physical injury had a "funny" turn. She was convinced she was somewhere else and thought I was working there. I hadn't seen her like this before and it threw mw a bit.

Then the next day, another lady who gets a bit confused was a lot more confused than usual and ended up in tears. This threw me even more as she is really lovely and I hated seeing her upset.

So, two days in a row I came home from work a bit down.

Mark asked me if I could do the job. I told him I just needed to get used to it. He said "Either that or look for a new job!"

I have worked with Learning Disabled Adults in the past. I thought this job would be like that. In some ways it is but in other ways it is so different.

The people I used to work with had never known any different. The incontinent ones had always been like that. The ones that thought like children had always done so.

The problem with the people I work with now is that they used to be normal human beings like you and me. They used to look after themselves and others. They have brought up families and worked hard for a living. They really don't deserve the indignity of the way they are living now.

Life can be so cruel. It can take away your mind and rot your body and there isn't anything you can do about it.

Catching Up.

I don't know where the time has gone!!!!

Work has been much more fun since Tina came back from holiday. I have been learning what I am supposed to be doing and, although most of the day was spent chatting, I learnt more last Thursday than I have learnt the rest of the time I have been there.

And my hours were upped to 24, 4 days at 6 hours a day.

I took some of the residents out for a walk on Friday. Well, I did the walking, they were in a wheelchair.

I have planned some activities for future weeks - like a bonfire party. Have you ever made Indoor Fireworks? Perfectly safe and no fire involved. When I start making them I will put pics and instructions on here.

I had a few orders for some of my crocheted embellies, so I was busy doing those in the evenings. They all got posted on the weekend. Look what Fi has done with some of my flowers! Had a day out in Ely on Saturday, enjoying my first wage packet!!!!! Unfortunately, I couldn't spend much as I only had one weeks pay that has to last me all month. I was expecting more but the Manager forgot to add the additional hours I was promised on. Mark went back to work on Monday. I love having him at home - when he is supposed to be. But when he isn't, he disrupts my routine and hogs the puter!!!!!!

This week, I made ATCs with the residents and one Lady loved it! I have put a special trade request on the UKS ATC board to see if I can get her some trades. This is the one I traded with her. So far, I have had 4 replies about sending cards to my Lady. When I told her she was so excited.

I also had a great time doing manicures on Tuesday. It gave me a chance to chat to some of them on a 1-2-1 basis and get to know them better.

We played "Play Your Cards Right" and enjoyed that as well - despite the fact that I have never watched it. I found some instructions on line and just made it up as I went along. One Lady nearly wet herself when I told her there was no way I was dressing up as Bruce as it would take too long to draw all the wrinkles on!!!!!

However, as much as I am enjoying myself, there is something I am really peed off about!!!!! Apparently the Manager was told on Friday that I only have 20 hours NOT 24. Of course, he didn't tell me!!!!! The lady in charge of the admin told me. This means that because I had already done 12.5 by Tuesday, I only have 7.5 left to do for the rest of the week. She said she has had it in the neck about the hours and insisted that I was only supposed to do 20 despite what the Manager had told me.

So, the routine I have started getting into is all up the wall. I now have to reorganise my days to fit 5 hours instead of 6. And, any overtime has to be relaimed that week as I can't go over 20 in any week. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went to the surgery to get weighed this and she said I had put on 3kg. I told her it was water retention!!!!! The thing was, I had got caught in a downpour on the way there and was wet through below my jacket. When I got home I weighed, then got changed and weighed again. There was a 5lb difference so I have only put on 1.5lb.

I am so loving the postie coming at the moment. I have sent off a few ATCs to trade and am getting some back. Its amazing the different styles and techniques of them all. One was quite simple and easy and made with a colour chart you pick up in a DIY. The lady who sent that one deliberately sent me something simple I can do at the Care Home as she does the same sort of thing at Sheltered housing.

I am hoping my Lady there starts getting some soon. I am planning another craft morning for Monday. Today, as the weather is nice, I will be taking a few of them out for a walk. As I have sent off all the ones I have made so far, I spent some time on Wednesday quilting more scraps of silk onto backing fabric to make more ATCs. I have another 25 in assorted colours to decorate now.

I have also started my mushroom silk - as all of my crochet orders are complete. Now, best I get to work so I can earn more cash for more stash!

Oops, its a bit late!

I am sure I will eventually get into a routine but I have no idea when.

In the mean time, you will just have to bear with me.

I realised last night that I hadn't done Octobers calender, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I am really missing blog hopping but am finding it difficult to fine the time to blog just now, let alone blop. I have loads of unanswered emails and piles of other things I should be attending to.

On top of everything else, after not having sold any crochet for months, as soon as I start work I get some orders!!!

I am not complaining, honest! Its just that I am not the most organised person and everything coming at once has thrown me a bit.

I sit and crochet in the evenings while watching TV so the orders really are not a problem. And I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to get the new Halloween scrapping pattern written in time for this year so there is no point trying. I have, however, put some of the stuff on the site for sale.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the Calender even if it is late.

It has been a long time.........

But I have been working!!!

And doesn't it take up a lot of your time!

It was REALLY boring at first as all I was doing was reading policies. But then I ventured out of the staff room and started to get to know some of the residents.

Much more fun!

I can't actually start properly until the lady I am taking over from comes back off holiday and shows me the ropes, but at least I am getting to know people.

I have made some more ATCs. I finished off the ones from before and plan, when I have time, to make some more. I was showing them to some people in the Gables and hope to persuade them to have a go. However, before I can do that, I need some trades so that I have a wide variety of styles to show them. They have only seen mine.

Here are some I traded for the other day. Both of the dragonfly ones are gone but all the others are up for grabs so please contact me if you would like to trade.

Sue, it is all your fault!

Up to now I have pretty much resisted the urge to make some ATCs. This was mainly through lack of funds. I mean, I need some felt and patterned fabric first.

Which means I need some money. And I don't have any spare until I get paid.

I think I have spent my first months wages 10 times over so far and I haven't even earned it yet!

So, as I start my new job on Monday, I thought I had better get the house clean and shiny as I am not going to have as time for stuff like that.

First, however, I had to get the sewing machine out to fix something for Mark.

Fatal Mistake!

There was this bag of scraps sitting on top of the sewing machine. It is cut offs from when I frame the silks. Normally I would sort through this lot, save the scraps of wadding for stuffing other things and throw away the scraps of silk and fabric. But now I have discovered a use for them.

Yes, ATCs! So guess what I was doing instead of housework?????? I started off quite neat and pretty much following the style of the first one. But that was done with felt and patterned fabric. I couldn't leave a raw edge with silk because it would fray. I stitched the silk on and folded it over for a neat edge.

The problem was that most of the prettiest scraps were far too small for this so I started being a bit more adventurous. I used smaller scraps and some embroidery stitches on the machine to cover the edge and do the quilting.

As I am not selling any crochet bits at the moment, I have a huge stash of them. So I figured I may as well use them rather than make some. I can always make some more if I ever do get any orders for them!

And, of course, it wouldn't be one of my silks if it didn't have beads on! On some, I have used brads instead of beads.

Finally, I glued them to the printed backing cards, trimmed them to size and did buttonhole stitch around the edge.

I have to admit the the original with the stitching matching the leaf looked nicer but I gave away all my old thread which these embellishments are made from when I stocked up with the new thread.

I used the sewing thread I quilted it with instead.

So what do you think?

And now that I have made some, does anybody want to trade?????

Like you Sue, as it is all your fault!!!!!!

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.

Ooooh! I am all excited!

I went out to Tesco this morning and when I got back there was a message from Sam asking me to give him a ring. So I did and he wanted me to go and fill some forms in. Of course, there is no time like the present so I have spent all afternoon there filling in banking details, going over various aspects that I need to officially know, choosing my uniform (as I am the only Activites Organiser, I get to choose the colour) and sorting out a start date.

Of course, it just so happens that the lady I am taking over fron is on Holiday and won't be able to do my induction until October 9th. However, Sam suggested that I would need to go in to read all the paperwork etc and get to know the residents.

So I start Monday!!!!!!!!!!!

Best thing is, I still get to go to C&C Monday morning first and until Tina gets back, I can go in as I please. I am hoping to do as much as possible during school hours to save on the child care costs as I have missed the cut off date for this month so won't be paid until the end of October.

Obviously, after then, I will have to fit in with Tina for the induction and work the longer hours when I am doing it properly. But the After School Club is great and only £2 an hour.

I knew this would be a mistake!

I have managed to stay away from ATCs for quite a while but after making that one last week I have been bitten by the bug!

Yesterday I spent ages designing this and printing it out on to cardstock ready to make some more. Luckily, I have an A3 printer I bought with another purpose in mind and its perfect for printing on to 12 inch card! And, although I have managed to stay away from organised swaps for the moment, have agreed to a private one. What am I getting myself into??????

That lovely lady in the new florists got me some green handmade papers on the weekend so, to celebrate going into work, I splashed out on them and finished off the Snowdrops LO yesterday. I crocheted a Snowdrop by adapting the pattern I have on my site slightly. I didn't use wire in the stem which is the basic difference.

Yesterday evening there were loads of kids outside the window. When I looked out, they were all standing in the next door garden looking at the old cistern (they are in the process of having their bathroom redone).

However, when I looked a bit closer, they were actually watching a baby hedgehog eating catfood from a bowl.

Of course, I had to rush out and take pics!

My first ATC!

Last night was Craft Club, normally an opportunity to try out something new.

And last night was no exception, I made my first ever ATC. Sue Cheffins is a local lady who dabbles with dying threads, quilting and a whole host of other things. She brought along kits for us to make Fabric Trading Cards. The kits were all for an Autumn theme and had all those lovely rich autumn colours in them. Most people had great fun doing it, including me and they only cost £1 as well so it was a cheap night!!!

It just so happened that I had a crochet hook in my bag - I guess you are all really surprised at that!

So I got some of the lovely hand dyed thread she creates and crocheted a leaf. Then I stitched it on the the background, added some leaf sequins, stuck the background on to the card and did button hole stitch all around the outside with what was left of the thread.

I have to say I was quite pleased with the result and can see this becoming habit forming!

Another thing I am quite pleased with is this 12 inch LO I did for the UKS weekly challenge. As I am working on Halloween embellies just now, I thought I would make it Halloween themed. This is Benjamin, age nearly 3, in a Pumpkin outfit I made for him. Unfortunately its the only photo I have of him in it and isn't very good but it will have to do. But the bit I am really pleased about is that I used chipboard!

I covered it with PP - and should really have waited for it to dry propery before trimming.

One of the tags made a perfect leaf for the pumkin!