Too long ......... again!

New Years resolutions are starting early, or late depending on how you look at it! Normally I don't "do" resolutions, I know I will only break them before January is out. A bit like going on a diet, when you know that you can't have something, even a something that you don't normally want, you want it! So my non New Years not a resolution this year is to be a better blogger and to keep in touch with distant friends better than I have in the past.

So no photograph this time, no funny story, no craft items to proudly show off, and not even a WOYWW, just a physical reminder to myself to get my act together!

Been a long time

I just do not know where the last lot of weeks have gone to! I seem to have been very busy, but have not a lot to show for all this activity.

This is going to be the cover of a holiday journal, that if, and it is a big if, I manage to get over to my craft room to play, I will be making for out holiday.

Getting There

I am happy to report that me weekend has not been wasted! This is what I have managed so far. The bottom pillowcases, quilt cover and curtains. I has a bit of a panic today when I could not remember what I had been told about doing the Oxford pillowcases and had to go trundling up to Dolly Traybake's house to get personal tuition this evening, but all worked out well and I am now back on track, and she got into the action too by cutting out and doing most of the sewing of a runner and two velvet pillows for decoration. A bit of finishing off to do and i will be able to show the room in most of it's glory. I am not going to have time to do the painting, so the bright blue walls are going to have to stay for now. There are just not enough hours in the day!

WOYWW

Anyone who knows me will know that this is the MOST unlikely WOYWW for me. Yes that is a sewing machine, and yes, those are two HUGE bolts of fabric. I am hoping to turn them into bedding and curtains for one of the spare bedrooms.

It is all Dolly Traybakes fault. She is the fabric Queen, and when she was here last week I made the fatal mistake of showing her the fabric stash that I have hidden in the barn. Totally fatal!

The idea had been that she would fall in love with some of it, take it home and turn it into something fabulous dahling. Sorta didn't quite happen like that! She knows that I have been itching to do something about the furnishings and decoration of said bedroom and what evented was that I would make bed linen, bolsters and curtains.

So far I am amazed at myself, I have made two pillowcases, and they look like pillowcases! (they are the striped material) The patterned fabric sitting waiting for me to continue, is the curtains, apparently they are going to be box lined (whatever that is) with the blue fabric still all nicely wrapped up. This has to be taken into the sitting room to be unrolled, measured and cut, hopefully this time without managing to slice my finger open with the metal measure! I have my notes, I understand them and I am ready to carry on. Wish me luck!

Be careful what you say ...................

Because you might just get what you ask for and more!

When the Dollies were coming over, I had a look at the long range forecast, as you do, and was disappointed to see that we were likely to be in for a wet weekend. Not a problem as being crafters, I knew we would be able to find something to do, so when the first morning dawned clear and fine, I was happy. When the second day dawned, also clear and sunny I began to hope that it would stay fine till they had to go home, and thought to myself, if it will just hang on it can rain all it likes on Monday. Now here's the rub, be very careful what you ask for, hail, strong winds and driving rain was not exactly what I was thinking of when I said it could rain all it liked!

What a Weekend!

4 Dollies, a car, good weather and good food, what more can a girl want or need? Dolly OCD arrived first, collected and nearly missed by Dolly Traybake's husband and delivered to LSS (Local Scrap Shop), closely followed the next day, by Dolly Dunnit and Dolly Traybake. Now let the fun commence :)

A lot of talking, well we did have a lot to catch up with! Followed by a token amount of crafting in The Cat House with a LOT more talking and catching up, so far, so good.

The weather forecast had not looked at all promising, so we had no plans set in concrete, in fact we did not even have any set in mildly damp sand! So the great outdoors was peered at with trepidation, but YEAH! sun was shining and all was was well, a trip up the Antrim Coast was a must, ending with a visit to a ..........wait for it .......... you will never guess ............. a ........ craft shop! I will never tire of showing of the beautiful scenery here, seems the English contingent were quite impressed too!

Food was provided courtesy of Dolly Traybake and the local Thai. That went down well too :) Everyone holding up well.

Then came the Ulster Fry, oooops, that on top of sea air, shopping, chatting, giggling and generally misbehaving like schoolchildren was just toooooo much for some :)

This was the best weekend for a long time girlies, thank you all so much for making it easy, fun and even Mr Froggie says he will will welcome you with open arms next time (note NEXT time!) He is proud to be a survivor of a Dolly get together :)

W(N)OYWW

This is more a what's NOT on your workdesk Wednesday than what's on it!

I have been shamed into tidying up. No other reason. It has been so cold here that I have been grabbing stuff and bringing it into the house to play with, then shoving it into a crate to take it back, emptying it onto the workdesk and running away again. Time came that I had to do something about it, so for probably the one and only time this year, ta ta! A tidyish workdesk.

Yes, I was watching a dvd while doing this Reach for the Sky if you really want to know.

The dinky little drawers were so cute I could not resist them. I thought they would be good for my little ink pads, but I am now thinking that the previous arrangement of the metal bucket was the better option.

I have done a swing around too, my not so tidy bits storage. Yes, I do have a few books, and yes, my ribbon storage (?) is being sick. Can't resist a nice bit of ribbon :)

The red and pink boxes hold things like metal embellishments, bling, ephemera, kajinker tool and bits (so infrequently used it is unreal), rub ons and paper patterns, the sewing ones. My Cuttlebug folders and dies are in the boxes with the patterned lids, and Promarkers live in the clear tub.

The beige boxes hold large flowers (you know the VERY expensive Dunelm ones) and crocheted ones, and I think one of them has chipboard words and phrases and shhhhhhh don't tell anyone, but a couple of them are empty!

The ink storage rack was a found item that OH gave me a while ago, I think it must have been for cassettes, but ink pads fit in it perfectly, well not the LLB ones, but they dried up so quickly I will not be getting any more of them!

I did find a couple of things that I had forgotten about, a naked perpetual calendar, might be time to do something with that, and some wooden cogs (why did I want those?)

Harrogate

I have had a fantastic couple of days in Harrogate at Art from the Heart. Two workshops with

Claudine Hellmuth

Mad Friend phoned and asked me if I wanted to go, silly question me thinks, and after she got her hearing back from me squealing in her ear, she managed to book us two places, quite a feat as places were sold out in about 6 minutes!

We were held up for two hours on the tarmac at Belfast due to fog in Leeds/Bradford airport, so a long wait with nothing to read did not improve my humour, especially as on the way through baggage control, you know the bit where you have to remove everything that is protecting you from the elements only to be told that they do not know why the darned machine is STILL bleeping when you go through it and would you mind having a full body search? STILL not to find anything and being allowed to get on the plane anyway! Those people, yes, I am NOT impressed with them, they managed to give my handmade brooch away to someone else, who apparently looked at it, said it was not hers and walk off with it anyway! May plagues fall on her head!

Anyway, arrive we did and headed off to stash our cases and troll off into Harrogate. What a town! Architecture, shops, people and Betty's!

I cheated and had coffee, but it is great in there, someone every tourist should go to ........ once lol

Dyan did us all proud, tea/coffee and crumpets/pikelets in the morning, a gorgeous pasta dish for lunch and again later, coffee/tea and homemade cake courtesy of Pat (I think) in the afternoon. How scrummy is that!

Hmmmmmmm enough of the food :) The first day's workshop was the Collage Discovery workshop, background techniques and transfer methods. Brilliant! Messing with paints has to be THE most fun. There was a lot of laughter too over English v American words, especially popsicle/lolly sticks, the others were just a tad too risqué for blog land, I know how sensitive you all are ;)

What is it about button baskets that has us all, even Claudia, grubbing around in them like children? Perhaps that is exactly what it is, remembrances of childhood, and Granny's button tin?

Snowing ..... again

Not a lot admittedly, but enough to make it not a nice day to go out. This is what we woke up to this morning. A nice sprinkling that has frozen overnight :(

I had been wanting to go into town today, but the effort it will take just is not worth the effort of clearing, so I am going to put the heating on, grab the lap top and a dvd and go out to my workroom and probably sulk. When I have done that, about 2.5 minutes (I don't do sulking very well!) I am going to have a Valentine's card making session.

It is No 1 Son's Birthday today, so Happy Birthday Son x x. Of course he will not read this, and I cannot say it to him personally as he is away with his Girlfriend, what newly 30 year old wants his Mother along for the ride? Well, not yet 30 as officially he is not 30 until 4.40 this afternoon.

WOYWT

OK, I know I am late with this one ............ AGAIN! I do have an excuse though, my Mum has been here for the last 6 weeks and as anyone who knows her will confirm, paper crafting is not a craft, it is just playing with bits of paper and making a mess. She has now gone home again, so I can ........... well ............ PLAY!

This morning was playtime and as I had the house to myself, and was waiting for a phone call, I could not really use my craft room, so I made a mess of the kitchen table, closer to the kettle anyway! This is my take on a lovely card in Making Cards.

I did not have the die cut sheet, so I improvised!

Punches and a pair of scissors are fantastic :)

First Trotting ? ? ?

Just imagine the scene, sitting at my computer reading blogs and enjoying a few quiet minutes (OK, an hour maybe) to myself. I looked out of the window because a movement caught my eye and what did I see? Well ..................

............. a PIG! Now I have heard of first footing, but first trotting?

She was quite a beauty, stopped by to see if there was any food going, and drank the cats water, then she was off again.

Sausages anyone?

New Year ......... NO Resolutions!

Well here we are at another year. Christmas was lovely, a real Family affair this year. Both Sons here, Step-Daughter, Daughter-in-Law, GrandDaughter and Mother, so it was lovely.

No 2 Son has had another Birthday (29) and we had, what is becoming tradition, a meal out with friends.

Then there has been the snow! Boy! Has there been snow! The photo above was taken on the 20th December, not a very good picture as I had to try and snap it through the windscreen, but the little blobs you can see in the road are phesants .............. traffic jam Hillsborough style!

This next one was taken yesterday and shows that, yes, it is still snowing and the drive is an ice skating rink. I am housebound. Starting to get a little stir crazy, but I have no washing or ironing, my wardrobe has been cleaned out and a big bag of things for the Charity Shop is sitting waiting for me to be able to get to it, the kitchen cupboards are all nice and tidy and those bottles of miscellaneous things that are probably

harbouring something potentially lethal have all been discarded.

My house is the cleanest it has been for ages, but I am BORED! I want to be able to go out! It is even too cold to go and sit for long in my lovely haven, my workshop. It is even too cold to sit for too long in the house, we are considering lighting the fire for this evening as I am sure I saw a brass monkey looking for a welder in the bathroom this morning.

This is was we woke up to this morning, freezing fog that has hung around all day, so no wonder the outside temp has not gone above minus 2 all day.