Christmas shopping!

Oh dear, I've gone and let another week go by with no posts. I don't know where time is going at the moment, it's all work, college, work at the moment. I have been spending a lot of time shopping as well though so I thought I'd share some of the things I've been buying- there might be some ideas here for good gifts for your friends and family.

This beautiful necklace from Contrary:



A photo manipulation from bunny:


I won't share the manipulation bunny did for me as I don't want the recipient to see it yet but there are loads of examples of her fab work on her flickr too.

Cute Christmas tree garland from Kala:


Totally beautiful and intricate crocheted cuff from Gilfling:



I've bought loads more besides these great items so I'll post some more later in the week. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. x

PIF PIF PIF

So thanks to the respondents of my last post there will soon be three more opportunities to pay it forward.

Pinky has posted hers already, so go check it out now.

Keep an eye on Rhi & Kat's blogs for their PIFs.

Have a lovely weekend all x

London photos and paying it forward

Oh dear, I've nearly let a week go by again with no blogging. As an apology, there's a giveaway with a difference at the end of this post.

First up though, here are some pictures from my afternoon in London last Friday. I was playing around with the colour accent setting on my camera in Trafalgar Square which kept me amused for quite a while.



You can see all the photos on my flickr page.

So now on to the 2nd part of today's post:
Lu of blu-shed and lusummers on etsy had a Pay It Forward giveaway on her blog and I was one of the lucky recipients so now it's my turn to pay it forward...
The 'pay it forward' rules are:
1) anyone with a blog can join;
2) the first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade goody from me and I have 365 days in which to send it to you;
3) in return, you have to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So if you'd like some free handmade goodies from me, leave a comment below and then offer the same on your blog. x

Looking forward to Christmas

So sorry I've been absent for over a week, I had a horrid cold/flu bug for most of that time. I've been left with one of those annoying coughs though that starts as soon as I lay down. Ugh.

Well anyway, the point of the post today is Christmas. As you know, I've been making stuff for Christmas for quite a while but there's plenty more to go- cards, decorations, presents and so on.

So if you're ready to start Christmas crafting too, here are some places to go visit...

Join the 2nd Annual Holiday Ornament swap- I have and it's going to be fun!

30 days of gifts for Christmas at Sew Mama Sew

Buy Handmade pledge- give only handmade gifts this Christmas

I'll add to this list as I find more links, let me know if you have any Christmassy links to add.

Just a great night out

Went out last night for a friend's leaving party last night (she's going to Oz for 6 months) and had a really fun night (despite the sadness of saying goodbye). Here's a picture from last night of me looking a bit silly! I've just dyed my hair and I love it- it's a couple of shades darker than usual.



Oh and apologies for the cryptic post yesterday, I really can't say anything more yet but it's been on my mind all weekend and will continue to be on my mind for a very long time while I decide what to do.

Hope you've had a good weekend.

Decisions decisions

I've got a big decision to make! I'm not going to talk about it here but believe me, if I decide to do the thing I'm thinking about doing, I'll definitely tell you about it!

The Decision by Mark Twells

Oh how cryptic I am this Saturday!

On another note, if you'd like me to make Christmas cards for you, either in the same style as the several I have already made or something completely different, send an email to christine.hembling[at]tesco.net
I'd love to work with you to help make your Christmas great!

A magical evening

Went to see Stardust last night and I loved it- it's a magical, escapist, fantasy film with lots of good jokes, great effects and a local connection.

The whole cinema started giggling when the character Victoria (Sienna Miller) declared that her suitor had travelled all the way to Ipswich to buy her an engagement ring. Well of course, where else would you go for a ring?

The reason for the Ipswich reference is explained in this local newspaper article, the director Matthew Vaughn lives not far from here with his wife Claudia Schiffer.

Anyone else seen any good films lately?

In other news, I still haven't photographed my Christmas cards ready to list on etsy, will try and do later today. If you'd like me to reserve any for you, let me know.

Idiot.

That's me!

I've managed to double book myself for the night I was supposed to be doing my craft fair. I can't really change the other thing so the craft fair loses. So if you want to get your hands on any of the Christmas cards, tissue holders or button rings I've made recently, they'll be in the shop soon.

I'm an idiot!

Christmas crafting

I've been preparing for Christmas for a while but I have definitely got in to the swing of it this week with cards, decorations and gifts being the focus. Here's a little mosaic of the items being turned out by Santa's little helper (me) this week:




1. Christmas cards, 2. Christmas cards, 3. Christmas decorations prep, 4. Crochet scarf

Everything except the scarf are for the fair I'm doing very soon now. The scarf is for either my Mum or Step-Mum for Christmas.

So is October too early to be thinking about Christmas? Have you started your Christmas crafting yet?

How is it Friday already?

The week has flown by so far and almost before I knew it, it's Friday. This week has involved a couple of trips to the vet. Nothing to worry about, it was a planned operation as we needed to have Toby castrated. Poor little man! Whilst he was there he also had some baby teeth taken out, was ID chipped and had his dew claws removed from his back legs.



Look at the poor love, he is much perkier today, that photo was taken only a few hours after coming home from the operation so he was still sleepy from the anaesthetic.

I have made quite a few things this week but haven't had time to take any photos yet. I'm doing my first ever craft fair in just a couple of weeks now so I really need to get a move on with making some things including more tissue holders, Christmas decorations and cards.

Anyway, I'll try to catch up more at the weekend and show you some photos.

And before I forget, I've done the draw for the "What do you collect?" post. The winner is number 2- Charlotte! So I'll be in touch soon lovely for your address. x