Counting sheep

For some strange reason I can't sleep.
I've been to nod land but woken up. I've even gone down stairs and had a cheeky biscuit. Probably not the best thing to do, loading myself with sugar!!!

Should I go and get my granny stripe blanket and do a row or 2?? Many of times I've woken up in the early hours, half propped up, blanket in one hand and hook in the other, lamp burning away.

I think sometimes I just over stimulate my mind and it can't cope!!!

Earlier in august I mentioned my other fad craze craft, decoupage.

I jumped from decoupaging a small papier mache animal to furniture in one night. You will see a pattern in my frantic mind!!!
Well here is my bargain 99p ebay chair that I couldn't decide what to do with, so I decoupaged it (you can see my suitcase from my hols sat there waiting to go back in the loft. Everything is on hold when a new craft comes to town!!!)

Ta dah . . .  (zzzzzzz)

An eventful week

What an eventful week I have had.
After finding my ring, I've gone a lil bit craft crazy.

If I spot some thing crafty that catches my eye, I have to have a go!

This week  it is painted dolly pegs!
I know I know it is a random craft, but again it over takes everything.

I am the kind of person that sees a new craft, whether its in a shop or mag or internet and I have to do it . . . Now.
I don't just test how I get on, I go and have to buy the full equipment/resources whatever I need.
I go shopping in my various haunts, looking for the best deals on equipment.

Who would have thought that:
1) dolly pegs are difficult to track down, considering that used to be the only peg you could buy at one time.
2) when you do track them down, they are stupidly priced!!!

Anyway, I got the kit . . . acrylic paint, varnish, brushes and the elusive pegs!!! Not that cheap either.

So, all day all I could think about was how I was going to paint these darn pegs!!

The kids snuggled down to bed and before I earned the right to start my new obsession, I have to varnish our new bargain find oak table.

This table I got last week and found it on preloved for a bargain £20.
I have sanded and scrubbed the top of this table, to try and restore the grain. I would like to paint the legs, but what colour???

I'm going off onto another subject, but this is what my mind is like . . . A messy yarn basket!!!

The dolly pegs turned out quite cute and will look cute on a child's clothes line for dolls clothes!!
I had a random peg left, so I painted me!!!
Not bad for my first attempt, will I paint anymore???

I have also been sewing coin purses, but Will update you on that soon. I don't want to blow your mind.

Pictures are all together because I am writing this post on my mobile app.

See you soon
(Baking tomorrow I hope, cake pops? My 'Tear n share' scone loaf??)

Xxx

The lost ring

I had to quickly right this because I am soooo happy and had to tell some one!!!

I had a phone call this morning to say that they had found a ring, I think she is a TA.

I'm so happy.

My partner is taking the kids to school and going to meet her.

There really is good honest people out there!!

Now what thank you gift can I give her :-)

Xx

My crafting activities before Cumbria

So, quickly I wanted document some of the things I have been making in August.

 

A treasure bag for my lil man. He is always picking up sticks, stones and other unknown objects!!! So I made him a bag from mesh so it would sieve all the dirt and grit before we get back to the car!!

 

Hot homemade bread . . . scrummy

 

We love this new coffee and we had several of them laying around and didn't want to throw them out, they seemed such a useful container. So, I crocheted a jacket to keep my scissors, buttons n bits n bobs in in my crafty nook.

 

 

 

New blue cord skirt, for me.

 

A bike bag for my lil mans balance bike.

 

 

 

For keeping his raisins and juice safe!!!

 

 

 

 

Home and with new inspiration

So after having a busy trip in London I was so eager to get back and do a little bit of tweaking in my craft nook!

I added some of my bargain finds from Camden Market.

What do you thinks so far??
 It's ok, in fact I love sitting here, listening to music. I only get to go in here when the kids are sleeping.

 

Here are some of my great small finds in London.

 

 

This is a beautiful handmade piece of embroidery. I just love the bright colours and the little elephant following its mother. The skill is amazing.

 

 

I also purchased a chain of small elephants in lovely bright colours. I believe Elephants are a symbol of good look in India.

I also got the small hand painted tile hook, which the elephants hang from.

 

 

 

My shameful amount of fabric. I never seem to have what I need!! I need to do some stash busting quilts or something!!!

 

 

London continued . . . Liberty's :-)

 Hola,

I am determined to get this blog up to date!!

Just before I show you the beautiful sights inside Liberty's. I wanted to show you the view from hotel window. To say we were in London, it was amazing of London docklands.  Even though we were under the flight path, they didn't fly at night.

The room was amazing. We had a suite, with so many gadgets, two bathrooms two separate rooms, a dining table. It was a real treat, happy, happy joy!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a trip down to the History museum, only to find the queue unbearably long. So, we nipped across to the science museum, which was not so busy and got straight in!

 

Has you can see, I only managed to take pictures of cars because that is all my lil boy is interested in and at 2 years old, I was just happy he was taking an interest in something!!!

 

We took a bus trip and went for a walk down some streets, wondering where my other half was taking us. . .

 

Here

 

 

Amazing shops, so vibrant  . . .

 

 

But not as great as Liberty's!! :-)

 

OK ok, on to the best bit of the trip for me (ssshhhhh) don't tell the other half) . . .

 

 

LIBERTY'S OF LONDON

 

 

 

The side entrance to Liberty's was fantastic. I wanted to look and look and and touch and BUY!!!

 

 

 

It wasn't really worth buying any of these gorgeous plants or flowers because we were staying in an hotel and I thought it would be wasted not putting them in a beautiful vase on my table!

 

 

So, I practically ran inside, I couldn't contain the excitement. Looking for a  plaque on a wall to find where the haberdashery department was. I had to rush through the accessories department with the kids when I saw that one scarf was £200 and my daughter was running her hands through the beautiful colours!!!

 

Agghhh quick, we called the lift and jumped in the beautiful traditional life. All very elegant.

We looked a bit out place with our tourist backpacks and foot wear!!!

 

 

 

 

Look at those beautiful suitcases. Such beautiful patterns and colours. If I was asked to pick one (I wish) I don't think I could!

 

The fabrics were amazing and I so wanted to buy some, I would have if my partner wasn't there looking at the price tag and saying  . . . 'How much??!!!'

 

The place was full of beautiful, lush nick nacks, clothing (Oh the clothing, if only!) yarn, haberdashery, notions and fabrics.

 

I wish I could have taken more pictures, but the assistant was watching me and I'm not quite sure I should have been!!

 

The kids were touching too many things and I was so paranoid, s we made a quick exit. My partner said I could buy something but I wanted the time to browse and with too young children it wasn't fare on them. So, I left empty handed. Later on, I get my chance to purchase some beautiful items, when I visit Camden market and get time to myself with a wad of cash!! 

 

Before walking away I had to take another picture of the front entrance, which just shows its beautiful architecture!!

 

 

 

 

Next stop was 'Hamleys' Is it 6 or 7 floors of over priced toys?!? The 'E' numbers of the toy shop world!!!

 

 

The Lego department was great, but the picture isn't very good. They had built a royal family all from Lego. Wow. I can't even build a simple house!!!

 

Some how we managed to get to the top and had coffee, cake and ice cream.

 

It was so busy in there, no air con or not enough. You soon get agitated in there!! we grabbed a few toys and

souvenirs and got out (after paying of course!!)





 

 

 

 

We worked through Green park and down to Buckingham palace. It was nice to see the flag flying, so we could tell the kids the Queen was home!!

 

 

We also got there in time to see the changing the Guards!

This inspired my lil man to march up down outside the gates, so sweet!!

 

 

What else is there to say about the palace, but it is our heritage and history!! Love it.

 

 

 

Camden Market

 

We packed up on our last morning, and I wanted to visit a market, something with a bit character and culture and a variety of sights and smells.

 

We headed to Camden market. We looked about at the stalls and bought myself a funky new felt bag.

 

 

Funky, eh???

 

We called at a great diner for lunch and had a traditional diner lunch . . . burgers, fries and real milkshakes.

On leaving the diner, my partner gave me some cash and told me to go and explore and he will take the kids to the car for rest before we headed home.

Oh my word. I got lost!! It is like a rabbit warren. I didn't have enough time to look at everything. You need a weekend for sure.

My eyes were up, down, side to side. I didn't know where to look!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 Look at these beautiful throws for just £10 each, I will be returning for 1 of these!!!

 

I don't know how I managed to get here, but it was amazing. I mean look at these guys sitting here pulling on these pipes . . . or whatever they are?? Are they even legal!!!??

 

 

I made my way into 'the tunnels' and found a rabbit warren of stalls and shops and curiosities!!

 

Well that just sums my week in London off in colours!!!

 

Next post will be about my week in Cumbria . . . a big contrast to London.

 

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August catch up . . .

Hi di hi,

Tonight I am determined  to catch up with the list on my previous post here. Then I can start September with a fresh!! Which, in fact by the end of September there will be a lot going on with new beginnings! 

We have had such a slow laptop, so I haven't had the enthusiasm or time to download some of my holidays photos. We bought a new laptop on Thursday so, now's the time to catch up with you all.

I have been in Yorkshire this weekend trying to catch up with family one last time before the holidays finish. I went by myself with the two lil people and it is soooo tiring.
When I got home today I went straight to sleep on the sofa, only to be woken 5 minutes later by a car key being jabbed into my leg . . . . mmmmm not impressed!!!! So, I locked myself in the bedroom and snuggled under a fleece blanket. I love the smell of your own bedding when you have been away, especially when I had to sleep on the sofa at my mums!!!!


Right, so keep up. I am now going back to the beginning of august. This was our first week away together.
I posted about our trip to the beach in Bournemouth. We stayed in a lovely hotel, Bartley Lodge and the got up early headed to Peppa pig world.

I cant say it is my idea of a great day out, but when you have got little ones who love peppa pig, these things must be done.
We didn't tell the kids and my daughter actually guessed we were going there but didn't admit we were going there. When we arrived there, the kids were so excited.
Our faces had false smiles on when we saw the amount of people pouring into the park (nightmare).

we rushed straight to the peppa pig world attractions . . . . wow. It gave me goosebumps, with the music playing, and the fake grass hills and all the characters hidden around the place. It was sooo joyful to be there.

What to go on first???

Dinosaurs!

 

 

 

 

 The detail the park have gone into to make the rides and the viewing experience so interesting.

The queues are so long, that there needs to be things to look at whilst you are waiting.

We didn't get chance to go on all the rides because we queued for 1 hour for the helicopters and the kids were so fed up.
My 2 year old is at that difficult age, were he cant stand still for long, and occupying him for an hour in a queue is hell on earth!!! We decided to go into the main park and try the thrill seeking rides!!!

More rides at Peppa pig world are:

Balloons



 

Windy castle

 

 

 

Helicopters

 

 

We have quite a lot of peppa pig toys at home, and one of my sons favourite items is this campervan. He just couldn't believe the size of, he was a little disappointed that he couldn't ride on it!!!

 

I have tons more pictures of the place, but they don't really show how great it is. I would love to go to this place when its a lot quieter, so we could try all the rides.

So, we hopped onto a few of the other rides and oh boy did we have fun. I didn't realise my kids (5 and 2 years old) were such adrenalin junkies!!!

Tractor rides

 

 

Has we chugged around the gardens on the tractors, the attention to detail was, again, was amazing.

The had a full fruit and veg garden, herb garden and flower beds.

It was great to look at something beautiful rather than concrete and a metal track. The whole ride was just the right amount of time.

 

 

 

 

We also did digger rides, dragon roller coaster, racing cars, dinosaur land and those big 'wavey' slides.

I did feel sorry for my lil boy, he was too small for some of those rides, he took it on the chin most of the time and I didn't have too many tantrums!!!  

 

And, of course you have to go to the peppa pig world gift shop. Even I was excited in there. How could a child possibly choose from all those  . . . things. Clothes, toys, soft toys, games etc etc.

Surprisingly, they only picked  a soft toy each, dinosaur and Rebecca rabbit. I was saying to the kids 'sure you don't want anything else???' I should have been happy with what they chose. My partner bought a Daddy pig t shirt with a massive picture of  Daddy pig on it!!! The kids loved it, not very fashionable and more about that later!!!

 

Right ok, next chapter of our holiday is:

 

 

London

 

 

We booked to stay in the Novotel hotel in London Docklands, near canary wharfe. I was so excited about this leg of our trip. Every couple of years I like to re visit London . . . it kind of gives me a reality check!

 

I love London, I love the people and how cultural it is. it is steeped in so much history. But I couldn't live there. It is too busy and too much hustle and bustle for me.

It makes me realise that has much as I crave a cosmopolitan life style, it really isn't me and the next leg of my holiday proves that.

 

 

 

 

Tower Bridge

 
 
The traffic was so busy getting to our hotel, but I managed to get some half decent pictures of the sights.

 



 

Anyway, we arrived at the hotel a bit late and had to dump our luggage at the reception and jumped on the Docklands light railway to make our way to the London eye. It is a good job my partner used to live and work in London because I wouldn't have a clue where to go!!!

It was only when we sat down on the tube and burst out laughing, my partner had only put his daddy pig t shirt on for the kids in the morning and forgot to change it. He was soooo embarrassed. People either smirked at him, frowned at him or asked him where he got from!!!

 

 

We arrived at the London eye and it so much bigger than you think. And the views from the pod are amazing:

 

 

 

It was an amazing experience to see London from this view. I would highly recommend it to anyone. But, again the queues are just soooo long. Can you tell I hate waiting, I am so impatient!!!

 

We headed off for dinner to Wagamamas at royal festival hall. On the way we passed through south bank to see a variety of people performing. The kids just loved the man making giant bubbles. There were 100's of giant bubbles and loads of kids jumping, running and screaming to catch these amazing creations.

 

we watched some street dancers, and this kids wanted to watch them again and again. There is some serious talent down there.

 

When we managed to get to Wagamamas , we ate delicious noodle, drank nice cool beer and saw a few celebs eating in there!! Bonus!

 

 

When we booked our tickets for the London eye, we got an offer for ride on the London eye at night.

I was really looking forward to this, the kids didn't quite get why we were going on it again. Thank goodness the queues aren't so bad at 8pm!!!!

 

 

 

Because it was summer the sun was just setting, so it wasn't too dark but it still looked beautiful. If only I could have stayed at the top with a glass of wine and waited until the sun went down!!!

 

Well unfortunately I haven't managed to catch up with all my blogging business, but hopefully it hasn't been to boring and you will come back soon to see then next chapter of my adventures!!

 

I will be showing you pictures inside Liberty's . . . . . .mmmmm Liberty's!!!!!!

 

xxxx