Postal loveliness and a PIF

Well not done much on the crafting front this week as I've been soooo busy. I have managed a bit of sewing which I'll show you later.

Hasn't the weather been gorgeous we've spent a lot of time in the garden, I LOVE September.

I've had two lovely parcels this week, the first one as mentioned previously from the very kind and lovely Andrea at Indigo Blue who sent me a cupcake parcel after hearing my Cupcake Swap partner didn't deliver the goods how kind is that?

Thank you lovely lady. Here are some pics, check out my Kate Moss figure. (I'm built for comfort not for speed ok:)

Also, today I received another lovely parcel from Kim @ Ragged Roses, it was a PIF that I was lucky enough to win a while ago.

It smelt divine when I opened it due to the cute lavendar pillow in the box, I loved the bag, pretty corsage and the flowery baubles are so sweet. Twiglet was after my choccy but I saved it and snaffled it whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing this evening washed down with a few glasses of wine, so please excuse typos.

Now onto something completely different, isn't life interesting. As you know I'm an avid Freecycler and still haven't blogged my new (to me) vintage Singer Sewing Machine, Evadne, Myrtle is a little jealous. (notice the old lady name theme? we used to have a guinea pig called Queenie). Anyhoo, a very nice lady popped around this evening to collect a baby change bag I'd put on our local board and I always remember faces and felt I knew her. Turns out after she'd left I do and I emailed her and we've had a good old chinwag, I worked with her 11 years ago - how weird is that??? Love her, she said you're much slimmer than you were 11 years ago, her memory is obviously failing her - tee hee.

Right onto other business, I still owe 2 PIFs, so I'm going to do one of them now. Just for a bit of fun I'd like you to tell me a happy Christmas memory from your childhood - I'm just nosey really, so leave me a comment and I'll do a draw in a couple of weeks or so.

Here's mine, we were allowed to open one pressie on Christmas Eve and I always remember spending ages throwing building blocks into a cardboard box by the light of the Christmas tree fairy lights with my darling Dad, how come it's always the tiny mundane things that are so special? I also remember going Christmas shopping with my Dad to buy a surprise for my Mum and I bought her a shiny red satin scarf and some Wade Whimsies, remember those?

Have a great week

Twiggy x

This week I have mostly been.............

1.Making cards for a fellow Papercrafter who will sell them to raise funds for Little Haven Hospice in Scotland, I would provide links but I'm a dunce. However if you'd like to show your support and whistle a few cards off let me know and I'll pass your details on. Also, if you become a Papercraftersunited member, any cards you make will be entered into a competition. (See my fave places to hang out for link)2. Starting my new job which is fine, still juggling my hours a bit as parking is a nightmare but so far so good, it's not rocket science but my colleagues are nice and it fits in around Twiglet nicely.

3. Sewing cards....................selling cards, I made 11 for my Mother In Law to choose 6 and she bought them all woohoo!!!!!

4. Having fun at the seaside........... We HEART Filey !!!!!

5. Joining Indigo Blues Christmas Decoration Swap, there are a few places left so get over there and get the festive feeling.

6. Watching Strictly Come Dancing and the Restaurant.

7. Saying ohhhhh crikey aren't the nights drawing in, it's so dark etc(I'm such an old biddy).

8. Getting excited about Mr Twigs BIG SURPRISE that I've planned for October, but more on that story later....................

That was Twiggys week in a nutshell, told you I'd be concise for once this week :) Off to sew labels into Twiglets nursery bag and coat now.

Have a lovely week

Twiggy x

Quick update, I joined Rachel Rabbits Cupcake Swap a while ago, dutifully sent off my parcel and sadly received no contact whatsoever from my swap partner, disappointed Twiggy indeed. Anyhoo the very lovely Andrea at Indigo Blue has sent me a surprise Cupcake Swap parcel today, now how lovely is that? I'm overwhelmed at your kindness Andrea and delighted with the lovely goodies that you and your husband chose for me. My swap faith is restored and I'll blog some pics later in the week.

Thanks again honey

love

Twiggy xx

I'm in meltdown !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so very excited because I popped into my favourite charity shop - we haven't been in for a month - you won't believe what I found for a bargainous price, thought I'd died and gone to heaven...........................................
Ha ha I'm not going to tell yet - mean Twiggy.

Look at those lovely tomatoes at the top of the page, they are from Grandma Twiggys massive harvest I'm managing about 4 red cherry toms a day, which Twiglet scoffs straight from the bush! Anyhoo, take scrummy differing coloured toms (much more interesting than supermarket conformity) add an onion from mates allotment, basil from my greenhouse, chuck some other bits in and hmmmm twas a very tasty spag bol, without nasty additives and very cheap to boot.

Also made more pizza dough and managed to make deluxe Pizza Express style pizzas for £1 each!

Had another busy week, wee Twiglet is still loving nursery which is great. however he's not very forthcoming about his time there.

Here's a typical conversation.

He came home at 11.30am, me being very observant noticed at 2pm he had a different t.shirt on. So Twiglet, why did you change your t.shirt poppet? Can't remember Mummy. Where is it ? Can't remember Mummy. Rang nursery, turns out it's drying out on the radiator as it got wet during a painting session and they forgot to give it to me, not to worry.

Did you enjoy the painting Twiglet? I haven't been painting Mummy. Why have you got paint in your hair and on the back of t.shirt and jeans then?

Because I've been painting at nursery Mummy :) Miss Marple hasn't got my ace skills of deduction.

My sewing muse is away with the sunshine I think, however my card making muse is back. Here's what I've been working on for my mother in law, not my usual style (well the oriental and vintage ones are) but she wanted generic birthday cards, some are still WIPs. I'm also doing a few for my Etsy or Folksy shop which I'll add later this weekend for your comments - be nice :)

Here's a piccy of a vintage Christmas card I've made for a Papercrafters Challenge.We had a lovely day out with our bestest buddies on Thursday - dashed out as it wasn't raining. We visited out local open farm and spent hours there, the boys didn't want to come home we had a terrific time. (The cafe also does tiptop homemade cakes) Anyhoo, they have a MASSIVE playground with very tall scarey ropewalks, slides etc, here's my boy. Doesn't he realise he's only 3 and I'm of a nervous disposition. He had a great time, the highlight had to be an escapee baby goat trying to walk up the slide :)
After our trip out we visited the lovely ladies in our teeny local library and they gave Twiglet

a Bookstart Treasure Chest complete with fantastic books, great stickers and pretty Crayola pencils, what a great end to a grand day out. I LOVE libraries !!!!!!!! (PS If you have a littlie in the UK have you collected their Bookstart packs yet? type in Bookstart to your PC and have a look).

I wanted to be a librarian when I was a Twiglet but decided I'm too noisy and erm.... rather disorganised, but books are the most fabulous thing aren't they? Introducing Twiglet to favourite books and discovering new ones with him - (My ahem, of course I mean our current favourite has to be Night Monkey/Day Monkey) - is magic!!

How great are Autumn TV schedules, don't watch much TV at the moment, but I'm looking forward to Tess of the D'Ubervilles (remember it was one of my Twiggys self improvement programme set texts) Strictly Come Dancing - wahey, the sequins, the glamour, the music, the lights, sorry getting carried away there. I also enjoy The Restaurant, I love the serious (I'm trying to build tension) face Raymond Blanc pulls when he's pondering who to close down, always makes me smile.

Here's a piccy of the fabric I bought recently, as you'll see big Ikea influence with a smidgen of tractors, as they'd say on The Restaurant , it's fusion :)

Oh I nearly forgot, here are my FANTABULOUS purchases and guess how much they cost? 50p per tube of buttons and 20p each for the needles. I showed great restraint and didn't buy all the buttons, if Mr Twigs hadn't been hovering, I may well have done!

Have a great week. I'm starting my new job, next week so wish me luck and you'll be pleased to know I'll probably be tired so will type much shorter posts.

Take care

Twiggy x

All Change................

Well I said I wouldn't be away that long. Above is a photo of one of our jolly red sunflowers, it's a beauty around 8 foot tall!!! I forgot when I planted the seeds that it was red, so it was a nice surprise.
Twiglet started nursery this week, his key worker came to visit us at home and the following day we took him in. Well his lady as we call her :) said Hi would you like to help me build this train track? We said Bye Darling, he shouted Bye Mummy, Bye Daddy and didn't even turn round!!! Hey none taken, young man :)

To be honest was v.relieved. Thankfully I have yet another cold - what a germ infested old gimmer I am - however this was a good thing as 1, I slept like a zombie the night before he started and 2. any redness around my eyes and nose was passed off as cold related :)

I mentioned in my last post about my sisters Mother In Laws, sadly one of them passed away this morning and the other lady has gone into a hospice now. The nice thing (if that sounds weird, sorry) is that the hospice is very near her home so my sisters Father In Law can spend all day, every day with her in comfort.

Here are the lovely hugs cards that my fantastic friends over at Papercraftersunited have sent over to me during the past two weeks,

On to happier things, well I've received a commission from my Mother In Law to make 6 cards - however, my crafting mojo is lying dormant until I've shifted this cold so will keep you posted.

However, I did manage to make this 3D lady for a cardmaking friend.

Now, I do have some rather exciting news. it's all change at Twiggy Towers (this is the other stuff I had to deal with). I had an interview this week and was offered the job, unfortunately I had to turn it down as I couldn't fit the hours around Twiglet. Well blow me, they came back to me asked what hours I'd like to work, I told them, had a chit chat with Grandma and Nana Twiggy and blimey, I'm starting work the week after next!!! it's only a temporary contract until Christmas, but every little helps as like a lot of you, we're really feeling the pinch at the moment.

Here's an action shot of Twiglet finger painting, he had to have a shower and a bath when he'd finished :)

Further adventures with the breadmaker, I made my first ever pizza dough this week and made Twiglet a pizza Teddy for dinner!I've been going mad on Etsy recently and have spent a modest amount on vintage downloads and fabric, so I'm hoping these will get my creative juices flowing. Also bought some lovely fabric from Ikea this week, so I'll blog them next time.

Righto, that's me for now, so have a great weekend and thanks for all the very kind and lovely comments you left on my last post.

Twiggy x

Folksy Folks, Chilli Jam, Cards and oh For a Change Trains!!!!

Phew what a busy time we're having at Twiggy Towers, just over a week until young Master Twigs starts playgroup - I'm being a cissy about it - and he's only doing 2 half days. Anyhoo, we've got lots to cram in.

Here goes.........................................................................

Last weekend involved minature steam trains, then during the week we've spent a fair bit of time in the garden and playing with lovely friends that we haven't seen for weeks for one reason and another.

Twiglet has had his first big boy haircut.He looks about 3 years older, but everyone loves it and it was his idea, so he sat still for 20 mins while the hairdresser snipped away.We're finally managing to harvest some veggies from our little greenhouse, so far a pathetic 7 ripe tomatoes, but look at this bundle of oriental salad, it is yummy!Wow, Twiggy is getting super domesticated, I made my first ever chilli jam this week, phew it's scrummy but it's hot stuff!!! Twiglet and I made some carrot and lovage soup too which was delish, Mr Twigs had a go at the Hairy Bikers Cheese & Ale bread too, unfortunately the soup and bread was sooooooooo delish we scoffed the lot before I could take photos - oops.Here are a few ATCs I made for this months swaps on Papercrafters and ATC Addicts.A birthday card for my fantastic friend Helen.A couple of cards I've made that I'm about to pop into my Folksy shop.

And we've had a very tiring but wonderful day with Twiglets little cuz again, which of course involved trains!!!! and swings and ice cream - had a magic time.In other news, I received a fabulous RAK and two gorgeous cards from my Papercrafters and Crafts Beautiful friends this week which I promise to blog very soon. I was on a bit of a downer at the beginning of the week - I'm missing Twiglet already :( and had a grotty cold so after some good advice from fabby Jo at Blissed Out, I made myself some excitement. I've booked a VERY exciting surprise for Mr Twigs and I in October for his birthday, just hope I can keep quiet until then, but more of that at a later date.............................................

Finally a big thank you to my lovely bloggy friend Louise @ Home Is Where the Heart Is for this..................And right back at you Louise, I've met some great people since I've started blogging and you are one of the best :)

Catch you all later

Twiggy x

Surprises, Awards and lots of plants.........

Hello there

Have lost my blog mojo a bit at the moment. Twiglet starts playgroup for the first time in 2 weeks, so we are cramming in a lot of stuff. This coupled with the fact I've got a grotty cold seems to have affected my whittering abilities (stop cheering!) so this is going to be a post heavy on photos. (The above are photos of the lovely roses Mr Twigs and Twiglet bought me for being a good mummy and taking Twiglet out on trips while I've been poorly :) This was a lovely surprise as I rarely have flowers bought for me. After I gave birth to Twiglet, Mr Twigs bought me a cornish pastie!!! must admit I did enjoy it though:) (He also bought me a gorgeous Doug Hyde print 6 weeks later :)

I've done very little on the crafting front this week. I've kindly loaned the car to Mr Twigs so Twiglet and I have discovered the joys of public transport in a rural area and we've had good fun. It's lovely being able to nosey into peoples gardens and relax and enjoy the scenery which I can't do when I'm driving. Of course Twiglet has been in his element being something of an old lady magnet, I'm sure everyone in a 20 miles radius now knows he has new shoes and a new haircut:)

I received a lovely surprise in the post this week, Vicky over at Anglesey Allsorts posted recently about some agapanthus plants she'd bought at a car boot sale. I mentioned how jealous I was as they are VERY expensive up here. Well, what a terrific surprise my postman delivered two for me from Vicky along with a smashing little book for Twiglet, how kind is that? Here they are in the new pot I bought for them today!!!! Big thank yous and big hugs from Twiglet!!!!

We've spent quite a lot of time in the garden this week and I've finally had some ripe tomatoes in my greenhouse, which were swiftly gobbled up by Twiglet.

Here's my fledging herb pot, I've got a bay tree, rosemary bush and thyme elsewhere in the garden. Today I bought some lovage and comfrey(to make tomato food) but will pop those in a pot so they don't take over the gardenMy lilies have finally flowered too, here's one for your enjoyment (yes I know it's blurred :)

I received an email from Cathy @ Big Cats Emporium this week to say that my Cupcake & Tea swap had arrived safely in Australia, so here's a piccy for you. Although, I'm a coffee drinker myself I just had to include some Yorkshire Tea didn't I? (Gorgeous Cupcake card and tag made by Jan @ Daylily Lane - take a look at her lovely Etsy shop!)And in other news, as they say on TV, I'm trying to learn to crochet again - grrrrrr, that's my only comment. I've opened a new FOLKSY shop, see the link on the right hand side, now I really do need to rediscover my crafting mojo!

Twiglet has now had a big boy haircut and looks about 3 years older, I nearly cried when the hairdresser chopped off his lovely long blonde tresses - sigh. He does look blimmin cute though.

I've also been lucky enough to be the recipient of two awards firstly this one .............

From the lovely Tassie @ Tassies Craft Blog, thank you very much it's so kind of you lady. I was also given this award by lovely Natalie @ Natalies World of Sparkling Cards - lucky Twiggy, thank you Nat.

So I need to :-
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated

Now, you know I'm lazy and never add links but all my favourite blogs on on my favourite list so go take a looky see at :-

Lynsey @ Swirly Thoughts

April@ Cake Makes the World Go Round

Jan @ Daylily Lane

Emma @ Jellybelly Jellybrain

Lee @ Solstice Dreamer

Sal @ Sals Snippets

Sarah @ Tiggertastic

To quote Frank Carson, and there's more.............

I was given this award from lovely Jo over at Freaky Deaky Crafty Chick, thank you missus, here are the rules that I nicked from Jos blog and as ever all the favourites can be found on my faves list.

1. Only 5 people allowed.

2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog

3. 1 has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

The award goes to:-

Jennie@ Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

Daisie @ Daisie Days

Louise @ Home is Where the Heart Is

Vicky@ Anglesey Allsorts

Linda @ Two Pink Possums

Phew, another mammoth Twiggy post, I'm off for a lie down and a Lemsip. Have a good week.

Bye for now

love

Twiggy x

He's a Big 'Un

Blimey you don't get many of those to the pound do you? We visited our local country fair last weekend, and it was great. Apparently 10,000 visitors converged on the little village of Emley during one day - phew! no wonder the fields were so muddy.Twiglet was rather taken with the hamsters.How about one of these lovely creatures? you could make your own wool.
I love living up here.
How sweet does Twiglet and his little cousin look hand in hand, holding onto their respective Daddies hands - bless. He is only 5 months older than his l'il cuz and they get on so well but we live far apart so see each other a handful of times a year, but they're great friends.

Here's a bag I made for the little lady in question, she seemed quite taken with it!

The next day we went to a very rainy Lotherton Hall and met this pretty fellow.We popped into town this evening to meet Mr Twigs from work and had a quick trip to Primark as I never seem to get to go shopping anywhere and I was after a snoogy fleece to make into some cosy cushions. I'm very pleased with this................

And these gorgeous tea towels are so lovely it would have been rude not to buy them.
All at the credit crunching price of £2 each !!!!

I have done a bit of crafting this week, as I am all sewed out, thought I'd do some ATCs. I completed these for the lucky bag challenge I'm taking part in this month on the ATC Addicts R Us forum. The remit was to use only things from the lucky bag you were provided with and basic stuff like glue scissors etc. I used so much glitter, it is still everywhere. I left a fairy dust trail on the bus this afternoon, which I thought was rather pretty :)Good news by the way my friend LOVED the beans on toast brooch and bando that I made her for Cropredy and will wear them with pride (see previous posts). She did think the brooch was hilarious too, it's good to know you're not the only strange person out there :)Finally, now I know that Simone has received her giveaway prize, here's a piccy. Or as they used to say on the TV programme, BULLSEYE, Here's What You Could Have Won ! sorry, I'll get my coat :)

As Simone is a cardmaker I tailored the prize to include stuff I thought she would enjoy using the most.

Have a good week.

love

Twiggy x