Civic theatre exhibition up & running!

Hello, sorry it's been so long, but I am unbelievably busy with it being nearly Christmas, not with claying & fairs, but with family , school, cards, you kknow the usual stuff that could have been done & dusted weeks ago but obviously wasn't!

I was so pleased with my display at the civic, I really enjoy setting it all up, we're going to the panto today, & the children will see not only the show, but Mummy's "stuff" too!

Take that never fail to provide us with the best night out ever, & an atmosphere that I can't describe, we were a bit higher up than we have ever been (scarily so) & a bit further away, but still close enough to feel the fire!

they managed to get in all the old favourites, (some nearly forgotten) & the best of the new ones, it was fantastic! I screamed I shouted I waved my arms about (like I'd forgotten I could!) they were better than ever!

The 02 wasn't what we expected, seems much smaller than you think, but inside is enormous, I didn't realise there was so much there, I just thought it would be the same as any other concert venues, but theres an ice rink, the Tutankhamun exhibition, a cinema & various bars & clubs.

Todays very happy thought-That there'll always be more Take that !

Can't wait for Friday!

Hello, finally got round to posting again, Hylands house was a success, I loved setting up my little scenes, even if it does take me 2 hours or more! I forgot to take my camera with me, (annoyingly) so no pics of my new stall layout yet!

I have my exhibition at the Civic theatre starting Monday it's called.......

Itsy Bitsy Theatre
An Exhibition of miniature scenes based on musicals & pantomimes.

I'm busy getting the finishing touches done, but first I have a Take That concert to go to, am I excited or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 days to go!!

Todays happy thought:Whenever you're lonely, whenever you're blue, somebody somewhere is thinking of you!

Slow progress!

I feel like I'm getting nowhere fast this week, I've so much to do & its just not happening...no matter how much ironing I do, the pile is still bigger at the end of the day, nothing looks clean no matter how much I clean it.

someone sent me this just as I was feeling very stressedyesterday, & it made me laugh, -

Diet for stressed women.

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help WOMEN cope with the stress that builds during the day.

BREAKFAST* 1 Grapefruit* 1 slice whole-wheat toast* 1 cup skim milk

LUNCH* 1 small portion lean, steamed chicken with a cup of spinach* 1 cup herbal tea* 1 Penguin Biscuit

AFTERNOON TEA* The rest of the Penguins from the packet* 1 tub of Gino Ginelli ice cream with chocolate topping

DINNER* 4 bottles of wine (red or white)* 2 loaves garlic bread* 1 family size Supreme pizza* 3 snickers bars

LATE NIGHT SNACK* 1 whole cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

REMEMBER:'Stressed' spelled backwards is desserts'

even my clay roast potatoes went wrong, (there was a bit of an emergency in happy shed though, whilst I was creating these, so I can blame my disaster on that, I will tell you that story later in the week!)they went into the oven looking like perfect little roasties, like the ones my husband makes, with crisp edges & all, I was "well" pleased with them, & they came out burnt & too dark, like the ones I make!..... anyway, I soon sorted that out, I had mixed in too much ochre & I re- made them & this time they are delicious looking & look fab on my christmas table.

anyway, more about the diet for stressed women;-

Dr. Neil proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.So I looked around my house to see things I started and hadn't finished; and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Pinot, a bottle of Cardonay, a bottle of Baileys, a butle of Kehuha, a pockage of Pinqeuns, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res of the Chesescke, some saltins an a bax a cholates.

Yu haf no idr who gud I fel!

3 days to go until Hylands house, soooooooo not organised, but then I never usually am, I never make everything I intend to:)

Todays happy thought; "As you travel on your journey through life, don't forget to stop to smell the roses"

Recovery!

Sorry there's such a gap in between posts, our half term was swallowed up by sickness, worry & a stay in Broomfield hospital, all is still not well in Happy house, sore throats & headaches, I think we need to make an extra effort to eat our 5 a day.

I managed to get some claying done (but not the ironing) I have got the Hylands house craft fair in a couple of weeks, & theres still lots to do, I still need to construct some sort of display stand, as my current arrangement isn't big enough, might have to concentrate on that for now and pack away the clay.......

Todays happy thought; Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing, is like clearing the path while it is still snowing!

Cleaning not claying!

I'm catching up on some housework today, seeing as the weather is so nice & blowy, I thought I would get loads of washing done (tumble drier broken!), the children are poorly, & I gain 2 extra hours in the day when they're off school...so I thought, cleaning, then maybe we can snuggle up & watch a film or something(probably scooby doo)!

I've been getting back into my painting since we moved here, and I painted a picture for my sons room the other day, the Tardis of course, handy for making cards for his friends birthdays using the prints, I suppose I'll have to get to work on some Daleks & Cybermen now to complete the set.

anyway, back to work, washing to be put out, ironing to be done!!!!!

Todays happy thought; Only dull women have immaculate houses!

half term countdown

I had an exciting delivery of clay yesterday, thought it would be held up in the post somewhere until the middle of next week, so I can get on with more minis today....We're looking forward to half term holidays already, only one week to go! the children are excited about seeing our cousins who are coming to visit from Liverpool, they can't wait!

Hello, to all the family & happy birthday to Mike, Sean & Auntie Jean!

Cold misery!

I've had a bad cold, sore throat & earache for the last 2 days now, I feel horrible & don't feel like doing much, I feel hungry but don't feel like eating, so I thought I would sit quietly & redesign my brochure that I hand out at events.

a nice, easy job... if I can manage complicated polymer clay techniques, this will be a piece of cake! I thought as I loaded in the new software to make it even easier, how wrong could I be....2 days in & I still haven't got to the point where I can print it out:(
I just fit one page in nicely, just how I want it, then notice that it has shoved the last page into oblivion, I cant even find the text & the pictures refuse to go back to where I put them!

think I will wait until I am feeling better x

todays happy thought; “All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!”

Rain stops clay :(

Rain stopped clay today, couldn't spend any time
in Happy shed today, so my new improved bakery stall remains abandoned & unfinished, as does my fish stall & loads of other stuff!!

I can only work in short bursts as my first , most important job is a mum, so as my claying takes place down at the bottom of the garden, Ruby likes being creative in there too, so when it rains, as much as it did today, creating all that mud, it's not much fun!

I have some workshops to prepare for so I can get on with those until the clouds clear....

Todays happy thought; God made rainy days so gardeners could get their housework done

Busy baking day!

Hello, I had a busy baking day yesterday, I was restocking my mini bakery stall, & once I had made a few sliced, unsliced loaves & got a bit bored after 2 french sticks, I thought I would have a go at some pitta breads.
I think I was inspired my our freezer, which, mainly due to my only activities last week being walking to & from school, making cards & playing with clay was empty except for one lonely pitta bread!

now you would think that upon discovering this, my first thought would be, oops I had better get myself down to tesco sharpish, but no it was....wow I have just thought how I can make wicked mini pitta breads!!!! so off I went down to Happy shed (because our house is called Happy house) to begin.....I got so carried away that I nearly forgot that I had to make my daughters hair like Gabriellas (high school musical) before we went to tea at Grandmas!

I made loads of them, and now I can fill some of them too, might need to open a sandwich bar alongside my market stalls!!!!! anyway, back to the shed, can feel an idea coming on for pizza, & I suppose Tesco beckons too!

Todays Happy thought: Creative minds are never tidy(or remember to do the shopping!)

simpsonized!

I found this website today & the children & I have had lots of fun with it, its http://www.simpsonizeme.com/, I think I look better as a simpson! try it its FAB!

Todays thought: Death laves a pain no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal

The Gallery

yesterday I set up my mini display in The Gallery, near to where I live, the theme is Halloween & Christmas, there's pumpkins, apples for bobbing, broomsticks spellbooks, toffee apples, turkeys, crackers & more all waiting to be put into the perfect little house or room box!

Back to school

School has started again, the children are settled in and it seems like the summer holidays are long gone, I'm looking forward to the Autumn, I like the wintry months, our long walk to school each day will be much easier when we're all wrapped up warm.

I like this time of year as it leads to thoughts of hallowen, bonfire night, Christmas & my ideas for miniatures goes into overdrive!!!

I have been offered window space in a lovely shop I pass everyday called The Gallery, so I have been busy making Halloween goodies, I made toffee apples this morning, just how I remember them, with deep red hard toffee around them & a flat top where it had been left on the tray to set...we also used to play bob apple which was an apple dangling from a piece of string which you had to take a bite from without holding it! my children love playing it now on any occasion, & it's how I got them eating apples, so why not!

I am also going to be exhibiting at Chelmsfords civic theatre for the whole of December, all through the panto, lots of peter pan & cinderella inspired miniatures to think about!

Todays happy thought; I keep trying to lose weight, but it keeps finding me!

Hopefully now, I have secured at least one exhibition for next year at the civic theatre in Chelmsford, I love the planning & setting up exhibitions any ideas of what you think would make a scene in miniature would be welcome!

I have my market stalls , Bridalwear, celebration cakes etc...new stuff includes magical miniatures, treasure chests, scented stuff...but I need more ideas!!!

Summer hols nearly over .....we all went to Walton -on -the -naze the other day, it was really good, things weren't too crowded & overpriced, the children went on loads of rides (I went on one that was very fast & screamed, much to the amusement of my eldest daughter) & we will definitely go there a lot more. It doesn't feel like we have done much, the summer has gone so fast, the children & I have enjoyed our new garden, done some painting on paper , T-shirts & cushions, time to sort school stuff out now, I expect the weather will brighten up now too!

sewing accomplishments

hello, would have liked to have added new post sooner but have had a whopper of a headache all week! probably all that close work, I have been claying, sewing & working on the website...heres my finished cushion cover.

I have also been working on some miniatures to put on ebay as well, wedding dresses, grapes (fiddly),plums, broomsticks and loads more. This awful weather also started me thinking about christmas stuff as well, but now that the sun come out I have put that out of my head for the time being, still it gave me a head start!

Todays happy thought-You're not old,just young with lots of experience!

first go

Hello, I decided today I was going to share my thoughts & ideas (as I seem to have so many) so I took some time out of my heavy school summer holiday schedule, children were occupied so here I am!
This summer, I thought it was about time I put my craft skills to good use, so I have been teaching myself how to use a sewing machine(believe me, I needed teaching)as artistic as I am in most areas I have never even been able to sew a button on straight....after a few feeble efforts and fights with the machine, I have managed to produce a cushion cover I am proud of, I will take some photos tomorrow(bet you can't wait!) As far as my claying goes (my only addiction) I need to come up with a theme for an exhibition, have lately been creating miniature Harry Potter inspired bits & pieces, that might be an idea, anyway , back soon x

Todays Happy thought;-If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it!