Weekly Challenge and Chat - part 4!!!!

[Gingermonkey]

And here's yet another thread. Blimey we can chat!!!! I've been in London the past couple of days, looking forward to catching up on everything....

Oh s&^* yeah the toadstool

buy posting box - Guess who's been at the pinot grigio again

finished or badly finished . Bearing in mind I've done stuff all else, have no other swaps . . .
..

Evening all ..
Well, what a really horrid day eh? It was here, not stopped raining and a fierce gale.
LK - hope the party was fun and Miaou - what a beautiful bag.
Nbg - congrats on your orders.

Been really busy today doing this and also houseworky things (yawn) because my brother and his family are coming to stay this week. The dust bunnies just have to go.

Off to IKEA tomorrow, yippee !

Tilly - have left comment. I know what you mean about yawny housework things. Given the rain we had precious little else to do - so we couldn't ignore it any longer!!! I suppose I have to admit it was worth it. It always looked okay to me before, a bit lived in and messy but clean. Now it is CLEAN and gleaming and all the little bits and pieces I've made have been put in their homes so its more personal and 'showhomey' (well maybe not that good) but certainly more finished. It has been a long road getting the house sorted. My biggest craft project to date. We bought a proper 'do er upper' (mega cheap) but seriously a lot of work to do. So once the major projects (i.e new bathroom totally rip out all of the mouldy carpets/60s lilac and pink wallpaper Oh and install heating - there was seriously NO heating in the entire house ) were done - we were too knackered to do little finishing touches. And also once you've gone from hideous to liveable you kinda get used to it. Oh and the fact that we're hardly ever there together and when we are we want 'family' time. . . you know the score. I think life these days is a bit tough, the priorities are getting a bit lost /
Sorry massive ranting post over

Your rant made me chuckle. You rant away m'love

party good - house trashed though!

we (stupidly) went for bbq, the rain held off, just until dh went outside to start cooking sausages, then it started pouring down and the gas ran out on the bbq!!, luckily, one of the neighbours kindly brought their gas canister round for us to borrow. the kids were all, in and out on the trampoline so mud was all over the house. took me until 11 last night to tidy up. i think i need a rest from the big parties, this is the third we've done as we always have one on christmas eve as it's dh's birthday.

don't fret about the toadstools, you've got until the 13th of june, ages yet , i've got 2 to make and not started either, and with it being half term this week, am not going to get much sewing done.

mp, i can empathise, our house is a do'er upper too, and there is lots of it that we've just got used to. our kitchen has been bare plaster walls for nearly 2 years, we got so far with it and ran out of steam/money!

Today I am going to attempt to sort out/price up/ label my stuff for Saturdays craft fair (the marquee one). I am scared everyone else there will be a professional & I am a mere hobby/amateur. I have bought a couple of bracelet stands & may also try to put a box or something under the table cloth to give the back a bit of height. I am going to concentrate on more gemstone things rather than glass beads I think.
Can people take a look at my blog/pics & tell me how much you would be prepared to pay for one of my gemstone bracelets - like this one with a plated fastening. Ta

hello, not done any crafting this weekend, mainly been tidying house, painting the bathroom, I hate painting walls, and we had one of those "Buy your house for cash" companies come round to look at our place as there is a house that we are considering.. waiting for the guy to call DH this morning, bit stressed about it, going to try to do a bit of crafting today although with DS home and "HELPING" I'm not sure if I will get much of anything done.

NBG- well done on the comissions! you will be famous soon.

tilly- lovely things, have posted a comment on your blog.

whizzz- I don't really know about pricing, mostly a price my things based on the amount the beads cost and the fastenings, then add some more for time put into making them. normally things seem to be between the £10-£20 mark... I think your pricing depends on what sort of craft fair it will be.what the customer base will be like... says she who has never done one... though I am suppposed to have half a table at one in a month or two... waiting for the details still...I would say its best to bring a sample of all your work becuse you do some great things with glass beads, seed beads etc. and lots of cards too.... sorry if i'm not much help..

Thanks Meri
Yes I am taking some other things too. I just wondered without knowing how much things cost, what the average person would be prepared to pay. I'm not sure what the market will be to be honest - it looks like a family sort of thing, so I'm hoping for lots of like minded mums rather than the blue rinse brigade

Hi folks. Have calmed down a bit (well, I did until I wrote a list of what I have to do now!! ). My aim today is to get my bag finished. I made the bag and the lining on Sunday but the instructions were duff and I ended up with a lining that was too small so I have to remake it - luckily I have enough material!! I bought some handles yesterday - naturally of course I got the most expensive ones in the shop - however since the fabric was free I'm not complaining.

Sent photos last night of the bags I have made and got a very positive and enthusiastic response from the bridal shop - so that's all very positive

Have also been in touch with my swapee for the toadstool swap - blimey she's good ! I hope mine measures up. I've got some buttons I really want to use on mine so I'm kind of designing around that at the mo.

On my list is "look at and comment on blogs" - I need to do some blog-hopping I think!!

Oooh meri, I meant to say, let me know your paypal address!!!

my toadstool is now posted, phew. I got some more fabric in the post today for DS's quilt, so I can get that washed and cut out more hexs later today. I've also finished my mini quilt for the swap group I'm in on flickr, so now I can rest for a bit!!!
My sewing machine is playing up so I can't do any machine sewing until that's fixed. DH has told me I can go shopping for a new one if i want (of course I do!!!) but I can't decide on what to get.

TB - do you have a huskystar? Or is that LK? I know one of you does...was thinking about that...but I don't know....decisions decisions.

gm, i have a huskystar, it's 18 years old and due for retiring later this year, but it's been a pretty good machine, it was £150 and i chose it as it was the cheapest in the sewing machine shop in leicester that you could drop the teeth on to do machine embroidery. i've spotted lots of janomes in blogland, they start at quite reasonable prices too.

thanks LK, I thought it was you! 18 years is a good run, isn't it? I have a local dealer that sells janome, huskvarna and brother amongst others (but I am not much impressed by what I have seen with brother - too many twiddly bits for my liking!). Have you decided on a new one yet? DH has given me a pretty much free rein on price (which means he wants to buy a new computer and it's the best way to get me to agree with it , but I am thinking up to about £600. I don't need anything that is too fancy or fiddly, just strong and reliable.

I need help on my blog with sewing machine advice!

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Only just got round to updating my blog!!

DD getting better (still has a cough but no temperature and appetite picking up). Doc checked her over and thinks its just viral.

Been very rainy and windy here.

my swap doll has arrived!

Oh you clever lot, congratulations on the commissions, Miaou and Nbg (and anyone I've missed).

Whizzz I'm not great on pricing tbh but I've seen bracelets at craft fairs that go for a fair old chunk of money but, I think it depends on the kind of craft fair. Our local one you would probably be fair to ask the 12-15 that Dior says but, I have been to a couple that you would be able to charge a lot more and people would still buy them.

They look worth more than 12-15 to me though but then I can guess the amount of work that has gone into them, so a bit difficult to be objective iyswim.

Thanks for your views all

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