easter break

hello ladies, I'm a day late this week with my blog, I completely forgot what day of the week it was. With hubby being off work and my sister and nephews being down for a visit this week I've found it hard to keep track of the days as our routine has been all different this week. Its been lovely having time with our Ali, William and Andrew as well as Hubby, Mum and Matt. Mum went back with Ali and the kids on friday for a couple of weeks so it's very quiet at home with only us and matt at home.
We've not had the best weather to get out an do stuff so have been playing bingo and darts and things at home, but we've still managed to have fun. We did get out for a walk around newmillerdam on sunday, mum, ali and me had a girlie day shopping at meadowhall on tuesday while Paul and the kids had a boys day playing on the wii at home, and we all went to the royal armouries museum on wednesday.

Andrew and Paul found a den

everyone had an icecream after our walk round
heres mum ali and paul with theres 

my shopping on tuesday

In crafting news I've finally made the decision to close my jewellery website and sell off most of my made up jewellery and a lot of my bead supplies that I had at home. I'm selling the jewellery at reduced prices on my Andies Accessories facebook page and the beads in an auction. I'm not going to make anything likewhat they originally cost but I just want to clear the space now I've finally decided thats it. I'll still keep my tools and some beads etc and make the occasional piece for myself but I'm no longer going to make them for sale on my site.
http://www.facebook.com/AndiesAccessories
bead auction http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.431969136829807.118253.251860708173985&type=3

Happy easter everyone xx Just a quickie today . My lovely sis Ali and two nephews William and Andrew are staying with us this week.

me and sis ali when we were kids at skeggy

Its quite a houseful with Matt our nephew who lives here with us, mum coming over too as well as Paul and me, standing room only at times lol  and the dishwasher is on almost permanent but its so lovely to see them. Sis is a bit of a shopaholic so no doubt we will do lots of shopping this week wooooooohoooooooo yay. We started our shop fest off slow yesterday with a trip to a small retail park not far away that has a few shops like matalan next boots asda living sports direct. I didn't do too well though as I only got a new pair of sandals and some undies but I'm hoping to do better later in the week. I've been really struggling to get clothes that fit and suit lately so I hope I manage to find some things later in the week.
On a making note I finished and sent out two personalised cushions that were ordered last week.  One was to say MUMMY and have spongebob on the other to say DADDY and have a man city badge on.
These were for a lovely lady who has now bought 4 of my cushions.

Just found out I've also sold one of my cushions on folksy today too. I've booked  another craft fair for may. Its at the national mining museum in Wakefield. They have these about once a month so if it goes well I may do some more.
Well thats all from me today folks have a lovely easter x

Just a quickie blog today as I'm off to do some sewing soon. I'm working on an order for another 2 personalised cushions but thought I'd pop in and say Hi.
The weather has changed today hasn't it, we went to a car boot sale today and boy it was cool, luckily I still had some gloves in my bag so at least my hands were warm. I don't go to boot sales normally as I don't like early mornings so usually miss them but this one started at 10am so we got up and ready a bit earlier than normal on a weekend and made it there with hubby, mum and my aunt before 11. Shocker to those who know me!!!!
Apart from the cold weather I enjoyed it, we bumped into a few people we knew for a little chat and I bought a few little bargains for my next craft stall, Auntie Jean did well and came away with a bag full too. I bought a couple of metal mug tree things for my hanging decs and a wooden shoe stand to use as a shelf.
I do find it intersting what people sell and buy though, I think I enjoyed the people watching as much as the shopping.

Almost forgot to write my blog

Well strictly speaking I'm late with my blog as it is officially Sunday now and I suposedly write it on saturdays but better late than never. I really should be in bed as we all lose an hour in the morning and so I could do with every bit of bedtime tonight. As usual though time got away from me while I was doing some sewing, nothing exciting just some little hearts to stick on my magnetic pegs, but I was happily sewing away in my own little world when the tv programme I had on finished and I noticed the time. I have a tendency to lose track of time especially when sewing  but basically I do it lots of times really and always have. Its as if my mind is a butterfly and it flitters about between Andieland and the real world.
Last week my mum was going through some old papers and found my school reports which she gave to me, so earlier this week I thought I'd have a read, they aren't glowing and aren't quite terrible either but looking back I obvously didn't set the academic world alight lol and there is mention quite a few times of me drifting off into my own little world (although the teachers don't call it Andieland)
The first few years at junior school are the best. I don't sound too bad on those, I was a good reader and quite good at maths, quiet pleasant and interested to learn, especially when we were doing project work where i used to get quite involved. But, they do mention my writing and presentation being untidy (it still is) and that I had a tendency to drift off into my own little world.
From the fourth year at juniors onwards though my reports get a bit worse, there is quite a lot mentioned about me talking in class, getting distracted from work and not putting as much effort into my work so I could spend more time messing about with friends. This coincided with me taking a course of iron tablets after a new doctor realised I was anaemic and finally getting better after a long kidney infection that I'd suffered with most of my childhood. With the iron tablets I remember feeling like I had all this energy to chat and play and feeling like I couldn't sit still and I think I found it hard to concentrate for a long time. It was like I hadn't had the energy to be too chatty before but now I had and I didn't know when to shut up. My nannan said it was like someone had found the key and finally wound me up like a clockwork toy.
My reports in senior school all seem to say I could have done much better if I'd tried harder and put more effort in but I was content to just do what I had to to get the basic work done and not get into trouble. I think looking back that was true, I did ok and came out pretty average without too much effort so didn't bother to do more. If I'd put more effort in I would probably have come away with much better exam results and been a lot cleverer but I was never that ambitious and ok was good enough for me.
When I read the reports this week I must say I wasn't that proud of them, they're nothing to write home about but then again they do sum me up, thats me.  Oddly the best thing I found wrote on one of them was for the third year of junior school when the teacher wrote 'on first meeting her Andrea seems a quiet unassuming girl but when you get to know her you realise she has a lovely quick wit and a wonderful ability to lighten a situation I shall be sorry to lose her.' Its not learning or study related but thats the thing I noticed and liked most which probably says something about my academic leanings or lack of them.
I think the things that are most true on those reports and still current now are that I talk a lot,  have a tendency to drift of into my own world and that my writing and work presentation leaves a lot to be desired. If I were to get a report today I think it would still say 'could do better'.
I've noticed the time again and it almost time to turn the clocks forward so I think its time Average Andie say night night and pops of to sleep and dream in Andieland
Night night  xxxx

Happy St Patricks Day everyone.I'm not irish myself but well I just thought I'd mention it in case any of you are and I didn't realise.
Not done much today just a trip to the supermarket and had my mum over for the afternoon. We've been looking at holidays on the internet, mum and her friend are looking at coach trips so I was helping her check some of those out and then I was looking at Bath as a possible idea for hubby and I's little break for our 20th anniversary this summer. It's somewhere we've quite fancied for a while but were unsure if there would be much to do. After a look online today I think we're pretty sold on the idea. Just need to make final decision and find somewhere nice but not extortionate to stay now. I've been looking online for central hotels as Paul is very taken with the idea of parking up the car on arrival and not having to get in it again till departure day. We're thinkin a nice walk round the crescent, the jane austen experience, look at the lovely buildings, visit the nice gardens/park, sightseeing bus tour, maybe a boat trip, look round the shops and a trip to the theatre will be just the job, hopefully all in nice warm dry weather. Fingers crossed we get it because we don't have much look weatherwise with our holidays.
Crafting wise I've been a bit quieter this week after my frantic weeks of making things ready for the fair. I still made a couple of lavender hearts, a couple of phone cosys, some hair bobbles with yoyo type fabric puffs and a couple of russian doll  fabric keyrings as I can't seem to stop crafting for long.

I've been looking for some more craft fairs on a site call stallfinder.co.uk which you pop in your postcode and it list all the fayres registered near you in distance order, nearest first. I've found a couple I'm interested in doing and think the next I do will probably be in May although I havent booked it yet.
Right well thats all from me ladies have a lovely Mothers Day on Sunday and take care xx

First craft stall for Andies Accessories

I had my first stall at a craft fair as Andies Accessories yesterday. Hubby came with me and we both enjoyed it. I didn't sell loads but did make sales and covered my stall and the making costs and even made a little profit so I was very happy with that. It was a lovely venue and the other stallholders were friendly and nice so it was an enjoyable day. I had lots of nice and encouraging comments on my makes and quite a few people took business cards too, so although I didn't make lots I still think it was a successful day. I had been worried I wouldn't cover my costs but hubby said don't worry its a day outand an experience so think of the stall fee as payment for a day out but in the end we sold enough to cover it anyway so that was good.
I think the fair would have benefited from a bit more advertising though as it wasn't really that busy. I'm not sure what had been done to advertise but I had only seen it on the civic website, I think they have a newsletter so it would probably have been on that but there was no mention of it in the local paper and I hadn't seen any posters around town although there could have been some I don't know for sure. The organiser did go out with flyers into the town centre on the morning and managed to get some flyers put onto the trays in costa coffee in town which did bring some extra people in but apart from that I think they relied on stalls to advertise to their fans and family and friends.
Overall it was a positive experience and I'm glad I did it and will look for some more fairs to attend. It was nice to hear what people other than friends and family thought of my items and see what actually sold, which was quite a selection of different things, more or less a bit of everything so that was nice.

Thank you to all of you for your kind comments on last weeks blog.
Hubby and I are slowly getting used to the fact that Lucy isn't here anymore, the house feels very empty without her and I still keep looking round expecting to see her walking into the room or laying on her bed but not as often now.
The first few days after saturday I kept going over what had happened at the vets and worried over if we'd made the right decision but the vet had been quite definate she couldn't carry on as she was and said she didn't want us to bring her home and have her suffer. I know she couldn't have managed and wasn't likely to live long and seeing her suffer would have been worse than letting her go peacefully and calmly like we did so I know now we did the right thing for her but I still miss her terribly.
I've tried to keep myself busy this week making things and thinking about the craft fair I'm attending next weekend. I was thinking of cancelling my stall but mum said it would give me something to do and think about other than Lucy and it has helped.
I am panicking a bit now though that I haven't got time to make some of the things I wanted to, at the moment my stall looks like it will be mainly cushions as I seem to have got caught up in making them. 
When I booked the fair the other week I didn't have much made up to to take at all so its been a bit of a rush this week as I realised I don't have long left. I still have to think how I'm going to lay out my stall and find things to put things in and package and price everything too so I think this week will be busy busy busy.
I've redesigned the chick egg holder I made the other week to hold the egg in the back and have made quite a few of these to take to the fair and also because I have a few orders for them via facebook. I've added a pic and also a few pics of some of the cushions I made (but not all as this page will be long enough). Theres also a pic of a  welcome wreath and a heart banner I did this week. Besides these I've also made some more lavender hangers, hearts, bookmarks and a couple of pencil cases and make up bags but I still need to make some more things so I best say bye for now and get sewing.
Ooh before I go I have been reading and commenting on your blogs girls but I'm not sure they are always appearing also, I had trouble getting on a couple of blogs for a couple of days but I think I caught up with them all. Keep writing girls I like to keep reading. Chrissy and Julie I hope you both feel better soon x

race car cushion

caravan cushion

fleece flower cushion, did this one in reverse colourway too

heart aplique cushion i've done a blue one of this too

Welcome wreath

heart banner

sad news

Today we had to make the sad decision to put our cat Lucy to sleep, yesterday her legs started collapsing on her and today the vet told us there was nothing they could do for her and it was best to let her go peacefully now than let her suffer.
I have written another blog about what happened but I don't want to upset people so if you would rather not read it please don't, I just wanted to write down what had happened for myself.
It is the blog before this so just avoid it if you don't want to read it
thanks Andie x

Sad day

Today is a very sad day. This morning we had to make the decision to put our beautiful cat Lucy to sleep. Late yesterday afternoon I found her laid in the kitchen in an odd position and in an odd place I thought she looked like she had collapsed and was really worried about her. She did get up and eventually walked but was very slow and kept sitting down so I was very worried. After a while she got up onto the sofa and sat on my knee so I thought maybe she was ok and I was just worrying about her.
We have been worried about her recently and keeping a close eye on her as she went blind at the beginning of the year and was still getting used to finding her way around. The vet thought this was due to raised blood pressure causing her retinas to detach suddenly because she suspected she had hypothyroidism. Other than this and a bit of arthritis she thought she was ok for her age  so didn't want to prescribe any tretment for the hypothyroidism unless she showed any other symptoms due to her age.
She suffered a setback on Sunday when she must have bumped into something while we were out shopping and ended up with the equivalent of a black eye. It was very runny and sticky when we came home so we bathed it and took her to the vet on monday which is where we were told what must have happened. She had been getting a bit lost and confused occasionally and when I told the vet this she said it was the start of dementia and she sometimes would forget and lose her map for where things were in her mind for a little bit and so this was probably how she had bumped into something and hurt her eye. We were given anti inflamatory eye drops for her and she was ok for a few days until yesterday.
Later on yesterday after she had got down from my knee she was walking round the room when her back legs gave way and she fell over, she laid where she was for a while and after a little while she would get up and walk a bit but then would either sit down for a little while or fall over again, her back legs would give way and her front legs slid too and she didnt seem to be able to correct them. We rang the vets but couldn't get an appointment until this morning so we had a worrying evening keeping an eye on her and wondering what was wrong with her.
She spent most of the evening on her bed but just before bedtime came in for a sit on Pauls knee for a little while. Everytime she got up we thought ooh maybe she'll be ok but still worried things werent right. I also noticed her eye had gone red which worried me so we didn't put her drops in just in case they had upset her eye and because we didn't want to distress her doing it. When we put her to bed last night she got up to her litter tray and for a drink without collapsing but she sat down a few times on the way back and was wobbling by the time she reached her bed so we knew she still wan't right.
At the vets today we explained what had happened and she put her down on the floor to see her walk but Lucy couldn't stand, again her legs just splayed out from under her. The vet examined her and said she thought it was a neurological problem and judging by the way she placed her front legs on the table it was quite high up and affecting her front legs too. She said the lession was probably in her brain and when she looked at her red eye she said it was blood in her eye and she had bled into it. It was heartbreaking news for us as she said there was really nothing they could do for her now and the best thing for us to do was to let her go to sleep. She said she wouldnt have been aware of what was wrong and so wouldnt have been in pain but there was really nothing they could do for her now. I don't think she would have lasted much longer and the vet said it would be best to let her go peacefully now and not let her suffer. I picked her up and she cuddle into me and the vet put her to sleep in my arms.
I'm sorry if this has been upsetting for anyone to read. I just wanted to put it down somewhere as we are heartbroken, she's been with us for 19 years, most of our married lives and we'll  miss her terribly.

coooooooooooeeeeeee

Hello all I was just about to go to bed when I remebered I'd not done my blog, I really am not doing well with remebering to do it yet.
My exciting news this week is I booked my first Andies Accessories stall at a craft fair. The fair is on the 10th of march so I need to get myself organised.Even though I did a few fairs with my jewellery a couple of years ago its  a new venue and I've never done one with my accessories so I'm nervous and excited. I'm starting to think of how to layout my stall and what to put on it and what I need to make.
Craftingwise this week started off as another cushion week as I'd had a couple of orders for personalised cushion at the end of last week and I made them up early this week . The first was for a seven year old who liked fish and was to have her name on it, between me and the customer we came up with a design on blue fabric with two felt clown type fish on. The second cushion was for a baby and my customer wanted his name and date of birth on plus a lion and a giraffe in a similar style to the fish cushion I'd done.

On Wednesday hubby and I went for our haircutting and found out it would be the last time our lovely hairdresser Kathy will cut our hair as she is leaving hairdressing in a couple of weeks. She has been having back problems for quite a while and had been thinking she couldn't continue in hairdressing standing stretching etc for another 20 years when an opportunity came up for her to buy a vintage clothes shop business nearby. I'm pleased for Kathy as it sounds a lovely exciting time for her and off course although a shop is hard work she wont have to stand and stretch in the same way all day everyday anymore so hopefully her back will benefit I will miss her though, she's a lovely lady who makes you feel really comfortable and we have some lovely chats.She shared the hairdressing business with another lady who is going to carry on so in future Leslie will be doing our hair, at least we don't have to look around for a new place to go but still I'm sad kathy is going.
On wednesday evening I had a go at making a little chick felt creme egg cover a little like the knitted ones, I'm not sure if i'll keep it the same style or tweak it a bit yet but I thought if I can get them okay I might make more to sell online and maybe take some to the craft fair.

Thursday and friday have mainly been housewifey days spent mostly cleaning and ironing but I did get time for a little crafting in the evenings and made a couple of little mini heart hangers with lavender in the middle heart and a couple of bookmarks.I also cut out fabric for a few more hearts and bookmarks.

I also found time on thursday while eating my lunch to do a bit of fabric shopping which arrived yesterday so now I cant wait to use it.

Well you're more or less upto date now with my not very exciting life girls so I'll say night night now thanks for reading Andie xx

Cushion week

Hello girls me again and this week on time yippeeeeeeeeeeee.yay. So I hope everybody is well, (Chrissy I hope your bug has left the building now) I hope you are all able to get out and about and aren't snowed in.
Luckily we haven't had much snow here in Barnsley which is good as I don't like it, sorry for those who like it, but to me it just causes too much trouble for us as a country, we just can't cope with it. It brings power lines down, makes roads impassible, causes road surfaces to crack, causes peoples pipes to freeze, build ups of snow on fragile roofs can cause them to break under the weight, people slip and break bones on it, the thaw can cause flooding, ooh and no end of other problems we seem to have.I know it can look pretty sometimes and its fun to make a snowman, go sledging and things but everytime I hear there's a chance of it I panic and dread it. So there you go there's my bah humbug bit.
I had worried that last weekends snow might stop me meeting my friend from Chesterfield for our planned  trip to Meadowhall on Monday but luckily even though she had more snow than us  the roads near her  were fine so we both made it for our shopping trip and it was a fun day.
This week on the crafting front I've been making cushions. On wednesday I felt like getting the machine out and sewing so thats what I did. It had a fab day in the kitchen singing away to my cds while I revved away on the sewing machine, making 4 cushions.

Well it was fab till my machine went wrong and started stitching really loose underneath. I had a good old fiddle tryed all the things suggested when I googled the problem but in the end I had to give up and pack it away unfixed,
On thursday I was thinking I may have to buy a new machine especially as I'd had a request for a personalised cushion for a customer so I decided to have one last look at it on thursday evening, fiddled a bit more and somehow got it working again, not sure how long for but it seems ok now. Touch wood it keeps working as I have that cushion to stitch up now the applique is done on the front and also I now have another one to make which was requested on friday by another customer.
In other news our nephew Matt who's been living with us for the last few years came back from his trip to  Australia today. We went to the airport this morning for him, sign in hand which my mum pinched as soon as we got there lol. After a 26 hour travelling time where he didn't manage hardly any sleep and a 10 hour time difference he arrived very tired but chatty and giddy. It reminded me of when he used to come and stay as a kid and he'd get overtired and be running around in chatty giddy mode before zonking out which he did at about teatime today. I don't know if he'll stay asleep overnight or end up awake and prowling round in the middle of the night.
Right well hubby has nodded off on the sofa now and is merrily snoring and heavy breathing away so I think I'll go now and ship him off to bed.
Ooh almost forgot I also made a little friend for Dotty my felt dolly I made last week, her name is Freda

Oops one week in and I nearly forgot to write my blog this week

Hi blogettes nearly forgot to write my blog entry this week, not a good start is it. I only decided to start again trying to write at least one entry a week last saturday and already i'm a day late oopsy daisy.
Hubby will tell you I'm always late for everything, well I'm not ALWAYS late, but quite often I'm on the last push no matter how early I plan to be ready something always comes up n delays me.
Anyway here I am with this weeks entry, ooh that makes me think of listening to the charts on the radio when I was young '' and in at number one its this weeks new entry 'oops nearly forgot my blog'''
So what have I been upto this week? As usual not a lot of housework :0 shock horror yes I know I'm a lazy housewife. Quite a bit of sewing :) yippee and some shopping :):) double yippee.
I started my week off with a bit of shopping from Julies new website. I saw a fantastic little cottage pincushion on her blog which was iresistable so I went over to her new website and bought it quick before someone else bet me to it. It came early  this week and is gorgeous, at the moment its displayed on a shelf in the kitchen next to my teapot with the teacozy Jacqui knitted me last year.

mines the blue one

On sunday evening I made a little lavender filled bear, it was a bit of a pain as its only small and turning it out the right way and getting the lavender in all the small limbs was awkward but I do like him.

On Monday I couldn't decide what to have a go at there were so many things I fancied doing and I couldn't decide but then I popped on facebook and someone had asked for a cushion and a heart decoration making so there it was decided for me which is good because decissions along with punctuality and housework are not my strong point lol.

I had another order via facebook this week too but the items were ready made so I didn't need to sew them.
On tuesday my mum came over and we spent the day knitting and chatting we're both knitting baby blankets despite the fact neither of us have any babies.
On wednesday I made a lavender bunny and bird as friends for lavender ted they are both much easier than ted to make.

Then I decided to try another ted, well three attempts later they were all in the bin and no more teddies were made and I'm not sure if they will ever be.
Thursday and friday beside doing some housework and the dreaded ironing were spent getting together some stock for the shop that has some of my jewellery on display and taking it in. It was ncie to see Jan the shop owner again and have a catch up but I don't know how long I'll keep on taking things in cos I still think i'll give up with the jewellery soon.
Yesterday we went shopping as I needed some more cushion filling, some white cotton material  and I also bought a few fleece throws which I use for cushion covers etc.
Then last night I decided to try making a little felt dolly that I had been given a pattern for out of an old magazine a friend of my mum had found. The longest part was the hair as I figured out how to attach it and get it to come round and over her face but I did enjoy making her and think I'll probably make more. I don't know what I'll do with them though if I make them as I don't really think people will want to buy them and I'm a bit old for dolls.

Right so there you go girls thats my week and another long rambly blog done. Hope everyone is well and not snowed in, we only have a thin covering nothing to write home about.

Yoohoo Guess Who- is there anybody still following my blog???

Well hello blogettes yep, It's me, Andie, long time no write eh.
 I wonder if anyone will see my blog? its been quite a while since I wrote it last.
 I got out of the habit of writing it before christmas as I was busy with orders for Andies Accessories and after that I've felt like I've lost my blogging mojo, but after a chat with Chrissy earlier this week I thought I'd have another go and try and write at least one entry a week.
So here goes here's this week. 
I was a little worried that  I wouldn't be able to even write an entry because just lately I've had a bit of trouble leaving comments on friends blogs I follow, but today I finally managed to leave comments so yippeeeeeeeee.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm right now I'm here what shall I write about???? well .......... erm............. I don't know now, maybe I have lost my bloggin mojo, this may take a bit of getting back into.
Ok well what have I been up to lately? well I've been sewing a lot. I just love sewing, both by hand and machine, but just lately I seem to be really enjoying handsewing. I think its partly because I can sit in the living room with the tv on and chat to Paul while I'm sewing.  Also no matter how long I have free time wise I can fit a bit of handsewing in, whereas if I machine stitch I have to get the machine out and set it up on the kitchen table and sit in there alone so I tend to only machine sew when I have a full day free to go at it.
So what have I made this week, well I did get the machine out this week as I had a free day and thought I'd take the opportunity to get the machine out. I made this fleece cushion cover with a seperate removable inner cushion.

I also did some handsewing on a few evenings, making some felt keyrings. Firstly I made some in the style of the emoticon/smileys we use when texting/chatting on social media sites. I made the wink, cool sunglasses and happy smiling ones.

And then I made some heartshape ones in different felts with little wooden heart shape buttons.

I sold a couple of these yesterday so that was nice.

Besides sewing things I finally got around to starting the long put off job of checking and sorting the stock for my jewellery website and today I have reduced a few items and put them in the special offers section. I will be reducing some more pieces soon and I have some pieces I made but never got round to putting online to add to the site too so I'm hoping to get those photographed and added within the next week .
My jewellery site has been quiet recently and I have been thinking of giving it up but I have lots of pieces made and lots more beads here so thought I'd hang onto it a little longer and see what happens. I'm not expecting much change though to be honest as more or less everywhere you go sells jewellery now and its so easy to pick a piece up while yourout  buying something else,  so why would people come and look online and wait for it being delivered. Also the fashion at the moment seems to be big bold pieces and that isn't really my style but my web hosting doesn't run out till autumn so I'll hang on for a bit longer and see.
At least I'll have plenty of jewellery to choose from when I feel like a new a piece, while sorting it out the other day I took a few pieces out of stock to keep for myself.
Well I think thats enough from me for now so night night blogettes, keep blogging and I hope someone has read this lol
Andie x