Festive Feelings...

So it's December and I'm officially feeling Christmassy! I've marked the occasion with a festive gingerbread latte and mince tart!

And although I recently told myself I'd made my last Christmas item, these little birds were fluttering around my craft desk with nowhere to go so I just had to add them to something:

So THIS is definitely my last Christmassy creation....I think!!

Elsewhere, it was my Dad's birthday and so a little sketch was in order for his card:

I had quite a busy week at the day job which didn't leave much time for crafting, but, as I've mentioned, I'm kind of winding down my Christmas productivity and am already thinking of next year! I've got a few new product ideas to play with so watch this space!!

Craft Fairs Over :(

Well, that's the second of my Christmas Craft Fairs over with now and, like the last one, I really enjoyed it. Attendance wasn't bad at all and I had a few wee sales and nattered with other crafters (and had lots of coffee and biscuits to ward off the chill in the hall!) I think next year, if I do more sales (and I'm hoping to!!) I will need to work on the layout of my stall as I feel it looks a little "flat":

This pic was taken by my Dad - he did well getting it to come out considering that half the lights in the hall weren't switched on for the first part of the day - ooops! It was a little crepuscular - my fave word! - until someone thought to switch them on, then we were dazzled by the brightness!!

Today I have been kicking back and relaxing - well, if you call spending most of the day in the kitchen "relaxing", I have! I made tomato relish for my cheese sandwiches, stuffed aubergines and rice for my dinner and jammy oaty flapjacks to, er, feed my face with whenever I feel peckish!!

Flapjacks fresh from the oven!!

I must also share with you this prize I won on the tombola at last week's fair. I'm not entirely sure who made it but it's a bottle cover and it's sooo cute!

Adorable!!

Social Crafting

Today combined three of my favourite things - Crafting, Pizza and Chat with friends!!! Kim hosted the occasion and provided a fabulous spread. We gorged on Doritos and the pizza and cake, so much so that I don't think I'll need to have any tea tonight!! 

It has rained all day but, cosied up in our little crafty haven, we were quite happy!

My main focus was the Christmas cards and tags that I'm hoping will sell well at the next craft fair!

Nothing promotes creativity quite so much as good food and good conversation I find!!

Sales and Sushi!

I feel as if I've been away for ages again but I'm pleased to report that the first of the craft fair events was a resounding success! The Well-Being and Gift Fair was held to support the Canine Partners charity and over £700 was raised in total.  My wee stall did not too badly; in fact my stock is now somewhat depleted but I'm not complaining!!

The wee snowman with the hollow tummy was "borrowed" from the Christmas decorations box at work but I think he held my matchbook notepads quite efficiently!  

I was helped on the day by my long-suffering Dad, and supported by my friend Angela and of course Himself.  I'm always filled with nervous energy for the duration of these events which means I'm shattered afterwards but it's so worth it!!

We were even given a wee demo, by a gorgeous pup called Kelty, of some of the things the assistance dogs can do for their owners.  It was amazing and brought a tear to my eye (I'm so soppy when it comes to animals!!).  Elsewhere the tombola was a big draw and it seemed that Himself and Angela won half the contents of the table!! And the home baking at the coffee and tea area was just yummsville!

I was too tired to cook when we got home so it was chips for tea, tut tut.  Well, never mind, we'd been out the night before, partaking of sushi so at least one meal this weekend was vaguely healthy! (Well apart from the deep-fried tofu rolls!!!)

Slurp!!

Sporadic!

I'm so sorry I'm being such a sporadic blogger at the moment, please bear with me! I've been very busy making stock for my craft fairs but haven't any photos to show just now.  I really hope the fairs are a success, not just for the charities involved but for all the crafters who work so hard on their products. I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet (shame on me!) but I hope to begin at the fairs as I'm determined that all gifts this year shall be hand-crafted by talented artisans!!

Today I went to a friend's for a crafting session; it's been a while since I had a sociable craft sesh and it was really enjoyable, I got lots made and the cupcakes she provided really helped with motivation, hee hee!

I'm quite liking the autumnal colours of these little bird bookmarks I've made, just the thing when you're snuggling under a throw on the sofa to read a favourite book during the cold, dark evenings! :)

Every Cloud....

It was production-line central round here a couple of days ago, when I made a load of tealight packs and tissue boxes for my friend's home shopping event:

I went along to help at the event - unfortunately it was very quiet and only three people turned up in seven hours, which was disappointing but she is running it again today and tomorrow so hopefully that means two more chances for it to be busy! And if nothing of mine sells at least I'll have loads of stock for my other craft fairs! (Every cloud has a silver lining and all that!)

Today I've been baking again, rock cakes this time:

I've also revamped my wee calendars as I discovered the magnetic part was being prevented from sticking to anything metal by the wee binder clip I'd put at the top.  So I've replaced it with ribbon which means the calendar has the option of being hung up if preferred and the magnets will stick fine to fridges/filing cabinets, etc now! 

I'd thought the binder clips looked pretty but they can always be used for something else.  It's all part of the design process!

Bah Halloween Humbug!!

I'm not one for celebrating Halloween so I don't have any pics of carved pumpkins or fabulous fancy dress or anything like that. In fact I didn't even stay at home to welcome any would-be trick or treaters - Himself and I went to see the latest Bond movie (fantastic, would recommend!) and then went for pizza afterwards, it was a really great evening.  I hope all of you who do celebrate All Hallows Eve had a good one, we certainly saw some interesting costumes when we were out and about.  Edinburgh's Old Town is a spooky place to be on such a night! :)

I have been busy making loads of tissue boxes and tealight packs for an upcoming shopping event, but no pics of those.  I did however, introduce a new card into my repertoire, this one's for chocolate-lovers!

Talking of the brown stuff, I had a notion to do some baking this morning.  It's not usually my forte to bake successfully, but I was quite pleased at how yummy these Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies were when they came out:

I'd scribbled the recipe down from somewhere on a scrap of paper but I can't for the life of me remember where I originally found it.  I've a feeling it might have been on a blog, so if it was yours please let me know and I'll give you credit for it!  Wherever it came from I will be eternally grateful that I actually managed to bake something edible!!!