Making Good Use

Uping the Ante

I tend to be a bit timid when it comes to spending money with the aim of  re-selling an item.  I'm always wary that items might only sell for the 99p starting bid on ebay - or, indeed, not sell at all.  I think the most I'd spent before now was £5.00 on a vintage picnic set and I still haven't got round to listing that for sale on ebay - I'll hang on for a few more months now.  Yesterday though I saw some stunning curtains for sale in the local charity shop

 
They are floor-length, cotton and linen mix fabric with this wonderful pattern of roses all over them.  Before I'd even realised they were by Laura Ashley, I knew they were lovely quality.  The fact that they were £7.50 for the pair did put me off for a nano-second and then I thought of the old adage 'you've got to speculate to accumulate.'  Having checked some of the sold prices for Laura Ashley curtains on ebay I think I'll make a profit on them but if they fail to attract enough bids to cover the purchase price I'll keep them as they would nicely fit the windows in our dining room.

 
So I think that's going to be a re-selling resolution for me in 2011 - stop being such a sissy and take a few risks.  Plus, I'm going to keep a record of what I buy, where I buy it, how much it costs, and how much it sells for.  I realised at the end of last year that I had no idea whatsoever of how much I made via re-selling over the past 12 months (nowhere near enough to pay income tax, that's for sure) and I'd like to be able to look back at the end of this year and work out what sold well, what I paid for it and how much it fetched.  At the moment I'm jotting things down in an old notebook but I'll keep my eye out for a heavily reduced in price 2011 diary in the next few weeks and will use that as a more permanent record.

 

Scottie Dogs Bookmark

The loveliest present I received this Christmas was from my sister.  She's never done cross-stitching before but made me this amazing Scottie Dog bookmark ('cause she knows how much I love Scottie Dogs).

 
It is so beautifully stitched and is so fine and intricate I don't know how she did it.  I certainly couldn't manage to sew anything so small so neatly.  Not only that, but she also made my Mum a gorgeous cross-stitch poppy bookmark too.

I'm in serious awe, and some envy, at being able to make such lovely items with no previous stitching experience.  S, they are a-may-zing, and thank you very very much.

Maneki Neko Embroidery

My sister has a small collection of waving Chinese cats (which I've just discovered are called Maneki Neko) so when I came across this free embroidery pattern I knew it would be just the ticket for her for Christmas.

 
Silly me forgot to take a photo of it when it was totally completed - fabric trimmed and glued to the back of edge of the embroidery hoop - but this is one I took once I'd finished all the stitching. 

Everything used to make it was thrifted or recycled - the hoop, the embroidery thread, the fabric -except the fabric glue which I had to buy new.  The trickiest part was trying to trace the pattern onto the fairly thick piece of vintage linen (the other part of the tablecloth that I made these gift bags from.)  I'm sure if you've got some sort of lightbox this would have been fairly easy but I was going for the taping the pattern and fabric to a window method.  The whole lot slid to the floor on numerous occasions, causing me to swear copiously at the time!!  It all worked out rather well in the end though and my sister was very pleased with it - as was I.  It looked particularly nice wrapped in tissue paper and presented in this gift bag (also made using totally thrifted / recycled materials.)

 

I've linked this post over at Apron Thrift Girl's Make Share post.

Now That's a Cheerful Sight to Welcome In the New Year

 
A teeny tiny little snowdrop spotted this morning in Mum's garden.  Makes me feel that spring may be just around the corner (I wish!!)

2011

With another year drawing to an incredibly swift close, my thoughts turn to what I'd like to achieve in 2011.  The list is incredibly long and many of the things I'd love to get sorted are outside the scope of my influence.  But of those things I can influence and change I'd really like to get sorted the following:

* Improve my crafting techniques - and perhaps finally conquer crochet.  I do feel my sewing skills are gradually getting better and whilst I'm all about embracing the wonkiness in handmade items, I'd prefer the wonkiness to not be there in the first place.

* Perhaps find an outlet - either online or in 'reality' where I could sell some of my handmade items.  I've had limited success via ebay but it's not really the place for handmade, and both Etsy and MISI have been dire sales-wise for me.  I might give Folksy a try.

* Get my eyes tested - now seriously overdue, go to the dentist - also seriously overdue, and see a physiotherapist about the persistent and intensely unpleasant pain in my hip which is seriously limiting my ability to get about.  And, yes, I've been putting that off for far too long too!! 

* I'm very hopeful that we might be able to at last get shot of the git with the motorbikes in the garage next door who has made 2010 an absolute misery for both P and I.  The wheels of bureaucracy are grinding extremely slowly but we are assured that the eventual outcome should be in our favour.  I do hope so.  One of the very few pluses of the recent arctic weather has been that the git with the motorbikes has been unable to carry on his intensely intrusive and irritating business - hoorah!!

There are many many other things I REALLY would like to get sorted in this coming year but they all rely heavily on other people and their decisions, circumstances, finances and other such things I have no say in so I'll just have to go with the flow on all those other matters.

Wishing you all a very HAPPY 2011, and many thanks for taking the time to read the blog, and for the lovely comments that are left.

Green Green Grass

 
This was the snowy scene in Bristol last week.

 
And this is a more usual winter vista. 

I can't tell you how delighted I am to see green grass again.  No more taking your life in your hands just to get to the gate on ice that was as slippery as glass.  No more being shut up in the house because of the icy pavements and roads, and no more being swathed in layers and layers of clothing to keep out the cold.  Snow may be pretty on Christmas cards but it's vile anywhere else. For the time being it seems, normal UK winter weather has returned - and long may it continue.  In fact, I'll take grey, damp and foggy days from now 'til the end of March if that's what it needs to keep arctic air at bay!!

Lily's Little Blankie

 
Here's a picture of Mum's cat, Lily, enjoying her personalised Christmas blanket.  I wasn't sure she'd really take to it but it seems she's very pleased.  Being a nice piece of old wool blanket it is lovely and warm and I'm sure that is part of the attraction for her in this cold cold weather.

 
I made some patchwork chair backs for Mum for Christmas to sort of match the patchwork cushions I made her last year. 

 
Although they are only very simple I was quite pleased with how they turned out in the end.  I made three chair backs - all slightly different - two for the settee and one for the corner chair.  

This is the second year I've handmade a few presents for Christmas and I've really enjoyed doing it, especially as this year I started making in September.  My sister's birthday is at the beginning of April and I've already got plans to make her a couple of presents and I'm hoping to get started on things as soon as I get back to Essex next week.

And So The Wheel Slowly Starts To Turn

Well, we've just made it past the shortest day - hurrah!!  I always feel psychologically just a teensy bit better when the 21st of December is past.  Sunrise was at 08.02 yesterday and sunset at 15.51 - less than eight hours of daylight - or what passes for daylight at this time of year.  Even if this hideous weather gets colder over the next few weeks at least we know that day by day, little by little, inch by very slow inch, the daylight hours will begin to increase.  Imperceptible at first but in a month or so's time there should be a noticeable difference.  And I, for one, really can't wait.

 
I took the now completed little  blanket I'd made for my next-door neighbours' cat round to them this morning, and they were both really pleased with it.  Jester, the cat, even put in an appearance whilst I was there but wasn't allowed on the blanket as his back feet were absolutely filthy!!  None of us had any idea where he could have got so mucky but he was leaving little black footprints all over their carpet.  I'm not so sure Jester will approve of his Christmas pressie but at least my neighbours liked it.

Two Too Cold

 
Clever little starlings waiting for any bits that fall out from the fat ball in the apple tree that another starling is furiously pecking away at.  Love starlings, they're such smart and funny little souls.

Yesterday, despite wearing two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers (a slimish pyjama pair under my normal round-the-house trousers,) two long-sleeved T-shirts - plus a thick hooded cardigan and a shawl, I was still absolutely bl**dy freezing.  This was despite the fact that the central heating was on all day - Gawd help us when the gas bill arrives - and that the two wonderful oil-filled radiators we bought last week in Lidl were pumping out additional heat. 

Those oil-filled radiators have been a huge help to us this past week.  Frugal Queen mentioned them on her blog and said what a great bargain they were and how efficiently they worked - they were £29.99 each compared to £85.00 which was the cheapest alternative P could find on the internet with the same type of specification.  Sadly, I didn't know of a Lidl supermarket anywhere near where we lived.  However, when my Mum also mentioned that an extra heat source might be a good idea for us, we checked out where our nearest Lidl was - not that far away as it turned out - and hot-footed it down there early on the Monday morning.  There were only three radiators left when we arrived and we bought two of them.  They have really made life a lot more comfortable in this draughty cold old house and I'm so pleased we got them.

If this sort of severe winter weather is going to become a regular occurence in the UK, I think I need to start re-thinking my winter wardrobe.  I have no boots at all, no thermal underwear, only a few jumpers (and none of those are pure wool) and no really warm winter coat - although my 11-year-old zip-up fleece is useful in cold weather.  I know what I'll be looking out for at car boot sales next summer!!  At least I'm not short of knitted hats or scarves and they really do help to keep me warm - both indoors and out - though I'm getting a bit fed up with the perpetual 'hat hair' look now!!

Thrift/Craft Synchronicity

I was watching Kirstie's Homemade Home Tuesday evening and thinking what a great craft making rugs appeared to be when lo and behold!

 

The very next day I came across this punch needle rug-making pillow kit in the local charity shop - unused and with the necessary punch needle (which the original kit didn't contain (!) - for the grand sum of £2.50.  I'm thinking that's a nice cheap price to see if I can get on with rug making.  Oh, and I also like the statement that it can be completed in a weekend - my kind of quick craft fix!!