It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

As the title says.......It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here today. The new notonthehighstreet catalogue is out and once again I'm in it.

I have no idea where that year has gone. It seems like only yesterday that I was blogging about the exact same thing!

The only difference is I'm a bit more prepared than I was last year.

Well, last year the word 'prepare' didn't come into it really.

My home resembled Santa's grotto, and all my elves were here to help. Unfortunately, I'm one elf down this year........he's at University!

I'm late, I'm late.........

This is going to be a very short post! No pictures, no time, sorry.

I have drawn a winner even though there are no photos to prove it.

The winner is Faith.

Well done you.

If you contact me with your details I'll pop it in the post on Monday.

Must dash.......be back soon.

Here we go again!

It's giveaway time once more.

I've been sorting through some of my old stock and have decided to give some away. This design is last years and I don't make these particular ones anymore. I still make felt phone cases but the new ones are fully lined with a contrasting fabric. This one will fit an iPhone or a phone of a similar size.

So, if you fancy having a go at winning this case, please leave me a comment and I'll pick a winner next Friday.

Oh, and if you don't already follow me, please can you do that too!

Good luck!

Something for a Wednesday.

Looking on the internet yesterday evening I came across this.

The gadget guru from BBC"s Something For The Weekend had recommended one of my iPad cases.

How exciting!

Groovy Gran

I spent a while yesterday evening sketching a new design for an iPad case and a while making it this morning.

I LOVE it when a plan comes together!

What a difference a year makes!

Firstly, thank you for your comments on my last post. Things are much better on the Uni front and I'm managing to control my tears a little better now!

So, the title of this post say's it all for me really.

This time last year was near enough the beginning of my amazing journey. It is a year since I was able to hand in my notice in my then day job and spend my days doing what I love doing the most.....sewing.

I really do count my blessings on a regular basis as without notonthehighstreet.com it would never have happened.

Here's to the next year of my journey.

I wonder where it will take me.

What a difference a day makes

Sorry for the blogging absence but things have changed a little here.

Our son went off to Uni in Loughborough last week :( and it didn't all go to plan to begin with.

He was put in halls( which are lovely) but on his own. Well, I say on his own, there were two others but both were second year students. We assumed that more freshers would arrive on Thursday.

We left him late Wednesday afternoon with my daughter and I sobbing for the first hour of our journey. My husband chose not to say anything as really there was nothing he could have said that would have made us feel any better!

On Thursday we had a call from him saying that there appeared to be others in halls close to him that were also on their own and they had all decided to go to the accommodation office and ask to be moved. That proved pointless.

So, on Thursday afternoon my daughter and I drove back up to Loughborough, a 400 mile round trip, to try and sort things out.

To cut a very long story short, we managed to get him moved. I say 'we' but it was my daughter who did the talking. I was very aware that my son wouldn't want his mum going on to campus with him, so my daughter went instead. By this time my son was mentally drained and was ready to give up the fight,my daughter on the other hand, wasn't!

I'm very happy to say that he is now with a group of 5 other freshers and is really enjoying it.

I'm an emotional wreck most of the time. It doesn't take much to make me cry but those few days were one of the worst times I've had. I felt helpless.

The only thing I have to come to terms with is the fact that he's not here, which I hate. I miss him so much.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but...........roll on Christmas, then he'll be home!

Childhood memories

We decided a couple of weeks ago that we'd like to put a wood burning stove/fire in our lounge. We've been talking about doing this for the past couple of years but always seem to talk about it in the middle of winter when it's too late to do anything about it. This year we thought we'd do something about it a bit earlier in the year...well sort of!

Anyway, today the chimney sweep came.

My grandad was a chimney sweep in London and amongst other places, cleaned the chimneys at the Savoy Hotel and also Scotland Yard.

He had many a tale to tell of his antics while sweeping chimneys including the time he emptied a bag of soot over one of London's bridges in to the Thames just when the Police boat was passing underneath and covered the policemen in soot!

When I was young we would travel most weekends from the south coast to London to visit my grandparents who lived in a flat in Brixton. It wasn't until we had our chimney cleaned a few years ago that I realised what their flat smelt of ....soot!

Oh, how that bought back memories of our visits.

The flat had a communal laundry room up in the roof of the block of flats and only a boiler and a mangle to wash with. Can you imagine washing sooty clothes without a washing machine?!

Today I watched as the rods went up the chimney and sneaked a couple of photos while he'd gone to his van.

This one is a bit blurry as I had to rush it. I didn't want him to think I was a complete nut job as I'd already asked him if he could let me know when the brush was out of the chimney so that I could take a photo. He said that it was usually only children that ask that!

Ahh, there it is, and what a lovely day for it too!

The house smells delicious and I've been taken back in time by a few (well more than a few!) years and I've enjoyed every minute of it!

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.......

New York.............sadly not me, but my daughter is off to the big apple in the morning for a few days. She asked me to make her a new iPad case to take with her so I spent a while designing and making her one.

She has wanted to go there for years and her boyfriend surprised her with a ticket for them both to go.

He gave her a box and inside was the biggest Granny Smith apple you've ever seen. The only trouble was she didn't get the clue and he ended up having to tell her!

I've added it to my NOTHS shop if you fancy one with your name on.

And the winner is..........

Right, here we go again.

All the names written out, one day I'll work out how to use a number generator but until then I'll do it the old fashioned way.

All the names in to the cup that is placed on metres, yes metres of Ikea Rosalie fabric that sent my heart racing on a trip recently.

And the name out of the cup is....Loo xx Jumble and Pompom

Yes Loo, it's you!

Well done.

It'll be on it's way to you once I have your address.

Sorry to the rest of you but I will do another giveaway soon and please feel free to enter.

In the press!

I had an email earlier this morning from 'notonthehighstreet.com' to say that one of my phone cases is featured in today's Daily Mail!

I rushed to the shop to buy two copies.

There I am along side 'Cath'!

P.S ..........Don't forget to enter my giveaway below.

Bag Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I promised another giveaway and this time it's one of my bags.

It's a messenger bag, that can be worn on the shoulder or across the body. I have made a few of these in different designs that have not made it in to my NOTHS shop yet.

So, you can be the first to own one (if you would like to!) by

a) leaving me a comment and

b) following me on the link at the top lefthand corner.

I'll pick a winner in a couple of weeks.

Good Luck!

Mooooooooo!

My lovely mini Moo cards arrived today and I'm very pleased with them. Much better than writing my details of scrappy bits of paper. These look far more proffessional!

Sweetie Monday

On Friday there was lots of biscuit talk here, which led me onto thinking of sweets!

Looking at the colours of the buttons in the first of today's posts ( see below) I came up with another new phone case design.

Playing shops

I saw these on line last week. A little crate with six tiny milk bottles and I knew exactly what they would be ideal for.

They arrived in the post this morning and I spent an hour os so sorting my new stash of buttons in to single colours.

Funny the things that make me happy!

Cup of tea and a slice of cake?

This gorgeous fabric arrived yesterday that I'd ordered earlier in the week. I plan to make a couple of skirts with it. Not sure when I'll find the time though!

I want to make just above the knee skirts to wear with thick tights and boots in the winter. I don't have the legs to go tightless!

Hoping to get a pattern today and as soon as they're made I'll show you.

Oh you Jammie Dodger!

There's been a lot of biscuit chat here today and this is the result of it

......Yum!......

Is it too early to mention Christmas?

I've spent a lot of the past few weeks preparing for Christmas. Oh what a horrible thought...CHRISTMAS!

Last year I was still working in school and didn't have time to prepare for it but this year I'm determined to be more organised.

Those of you that have been reading my blog for the past year will know that it all happened very suddenly and my business just took off over a matter of a couple of weeks.

Being a one man band is great but the problem I have is that I find myself panicking and moving from one job to another to try and get as much done as possible. Cutting, sewing, ironing fabric, cutting elastic, labels etc and not really sticking to one job until it's finished!

It's a good problem to have and I'm very, very grateful that I have it!

Picking a winner!

Oh what miserable weather we're having today. Yesterday was so hot and today is well.....wet and miserable.

So, to cheer things up for one person I thought I'd draw the winner of my latest giveaway.

This time I put the names into my heart shaped dish. Just because I could!

And the winner is.....

Pea Pod!

Well done you.

Thank you to those of you that entered.

I'll do another giveaway in a week and this time it's going to be one of my applique bags.

I'm in the process of making bags to go into my notonthehighstreet shop. I did sell them early last year but when things took off over Christmas I just didn't have time to make them but I'm hoping to get a few in stock ready for Christmas this year. I hate talking about Christmas at this time of year, although looking at the weather today you could be mistaken for thinking it's winter!

Sidetracked

I've seen in blog land, lots of people talking about Fimo covered crochet hooks. I've seen some on Etsy that are gorgeous but so intricate that I've not got time or the knowhow to make ones like that.

So........yesterday when I should have been doing orders, the urge to make one became too much so out came the fimo, red glittery of course!

I sat in the garden and began kneading. I find this the worst bit as it really hurts my hands.

I'd had a quick look on You Tube to see how it was done and it's very, very easy.

I rolled out a sausage shape which I flattened and rolled it around the crochet hook making sure to seal the edges well.

I added a heart brad to the top end, just because I could!

Then rolled out a few white balls and squashed those onto the top and rolled it flat, baked in the oven and hey presto, there you have it.

I must say I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out.

Just need to find the time to use it now!

Today I've been...........

I thought I'd show you what I've been up to this morning.

Mini glasses cases for children.

After working in a classroom and seeing children lose their glasses on a daily basis I thought these might help them take care of them.

They are now in my notonthehighstreet shop which you will find on the side bar.

PS.....There's still time to enter my giveaway on my last post.

Lovely Lip Balm Giveaway

It's time for another giveaway and this time it's for one of my lip balm cases.

To enter just leave me a comment and I'll pick a winner in a couple of weeks.

Good luck!

x

Drum roll please.............

Here we go then, the winner of the giveaway!

All the names in the cup and saucer. I promise i didn't peek even though the names were on show.

Give a little shake

And pull out a name.........and the winner is.......

Patchwork Heart

Well done you.

Thank you everyone for entering.

Pop back next week as I'm going to be giving away one of my lip balm cases.

You can see them in my notonthehighstreet shop on the sidebar.

Busy doing nothing

Yes, that's exactly what we've been doing for the past week.

For the first time in 15 years we were able to take a holiday in term time due to the fact I no longer work in a school, and very naughty it felt too!

We took off for a week in Kefalonia in Greece.

Flying though, is not a favourite pastime of mine. I absolutely love planes and helicopters, in fact I was lucky enough to go up in a Sea king on my 40th. A dad at the school I worked at worked for the Navy and they landed it on the school field for the children to have a look around. Names were put in a hat and as it was my birthday I, and a few other members of staff got to go up in it and we flew with the side door open (I'm sure there must be a more technical term for it) over our neighbourhood. I have also done a parachute jump but I HATE flying in passenger planes.

Anyway, after half a bottle of Rescue Remedy and a good cry I settled down to look out of the window and admire the view.

Three hours later and a hair raising drive up the side of what seemed like Mount Everest, we arrived at our destination.

We have been to Kefalonia once before and stayed in a villa nearer to the sea but the views this time were simply stunning.

The infinity pool was beautiful. It was such a pleasure to sit and eat breakfast every morning with views like this.

Now, I mentioned my fear of flying and my other fear is creepy crawly crickets,well bugs in general actually.

The last time we were there we never saw any so when I saw the first one I assumed there was only one!

I went upstairs to unpack and there on the bed was his brother!

I called my son (as my husband was already fed up listening to me going on about them) and said we had to get it out of the bedroom as I wasn't sleeping in there all the time it was in there.

It jumped up under the bed and as it was the same colour as the wood we couldn't see it. We ended up stripping the bed and removing the mattress to find it. At this point we'd only been there half an hour and had already dismantled the bed!

Panic over, my son removed it while I ran around the room shutting doors and windows.

Things got worse at night when they came out of hiding and paraded all over my swimwear that was drying outside on the airer.

Ugh!

The best way I found to avoid them touching my skin when sleeping in the sun was to cover myself up with towels. I just didn't think anyone would be mean enough to take a photo of me!

On the prettier side of things, this tree fascinated me. I've no idea what it is but I thought it was beautiful.

Holidays over for another year.

Lots of chilling, reading, chatting, laughing, screaming, crying was done but a really fab time was had.

By the way.....how much does a Greek urn?

Nearly forgot........don't forget to enter my giveaway. I'll be picking a name at the end of the week.