What I've been doing because I certainly haven't been blogging....

Hi everyone, sorry I've not been around much lately I think I've just got out of the habit of blogging at the moment. I haven't been to idle though as I have been adding my A to Z photo challenge photographs to my photography blog 

and I have also been busy photographing my friend Barbara's delicious cupcakes and cakes as and when she makes them. Barbara has a facebook page showcasing her talents so if you are on facebook don't forget to pop over and say hello!

  Cakes by Barbara Jane

Crafting wise I have been busy too, operation "tidy up the workroom" is still in full swing and I have managed to sell some bits on ebay, if you have any early copies of Mollie Makes and you no longer want them then they fetch a very good price on ebay!!! I have also listed some more fabrics on ebay because as much as I would like to keep it all I can't so it needs to go to a new home!!!

EBAY

On the making front I have been beavering away on the box of unfinished bags that I found whilst tidying up my workroom here are a few of my now finished projects.

The lovely Helen from Handbags by Helen recently put a request out asking for a pincushion to save her poor doggy's paws so we agreed to do a swap. I made a pin cushion, well two (you can never have too many pincushions!!) and an "ironing friend". in exchange for a pretty box pouch. 

Here is a collage of some of the pin cushions and ironing friends that I made I have sent the cream floral/turquoise one to Helen and have listed the others on Misi.

And this is the pouch that is on its way to me!!!

I have also been working on a few secret swap makes, these haven't been received yet so I can't show you at the moment but I will post pictures as soon as I can. 

On the subject of swaps I am taking part in the

Handmade Heart Swap organised by Mary Poppins

and have been partnered with the lovely Kezzie, whom I seem to have terrified with my craftiness, so pop over and say Hello and please, please put her mind at rest about swapping with me, I'm very friendly really. Swapping is all about the giving and receiving whether handmade or thrifted, beginner or experienced crafter all sent with love and friendship across the miles. Kezzie are you listening !!

On that note I am off to bed as this post has taken me a little longer than anticipated to finish, that's the result of not posting for several weeks!!! I promise not to leave it too long next time!! and I have just remembered lots of other things I forgot to mention in this post but if I tell you about them now it won't be worth me going to bed!!! Night Night!

More "stuff" for sale.....

I'm continuing with my BIG craft room clear out and have just listed several back copies of Mollie Makes magazines over on EBay, I will be listing lots more over the next few days so if anything takes your fancy don't forget to place a bid!!!!! you can find more of my "stuff" HERE

Thanks for Looking (oh and bidding!!!)

My workroom

Thank you for all your lovely comments regarding my workroom I know I'm very lucky to have such a large space to work in and to keep hoard all my stuff. What I can't quite believe is that when Paul and I first got married I probably had just two boxes of stuff and one sewing machine, 18 years later and it has grown to this!

 I haven't always have this amazing space to work in, this room started life as Paul's bird room some 10 years ago and then when he stopped keeping canaries the children took it over as a playroom, we then shared it as a half and half playroom and store room for my growing collection of crafty materials and then finally I kicked them out completely in 2007 and took over the whole space.

the workroom back in 2008

Probably like most of you with a dedicated workspace it was important to get the storage right and initially I used the plastic crate boxes and filled each one with different fabrics, crafts etc piled on top of each 4 or 5 high along the back wall!

lots and lots or plastic crates!

the old ikea shelving

what happens when you decide to empty your workroom

I kept finding though that I would always need the box at the bottom and it was always such a palaver if you just wanted to have a look through a box or too.

you can just make out Tomas in his playpen!

I started looking on eBay for some Ikea expedit units but knew I would need several to fill the back wall and this would still work out expensive buying them individually, then one day I saw a listing for a job lot of 7 or 8 expedit units and took a chance and bid on them. I honestly can't remember how much we paid for them but I do remember it was a good price, because there were so many of them we arranged for a local delivery guy to collect them for us. When he arrived there were hundreds of pieces in the back of his van and a bag full of screws and no instructions! He also told us that that there were some extra Ikea units in there as the guy that was selling them didn't know which pieces when with which unit so just gave them all to us!!

one unit finished only another 3 to go!

I couldn't believe it when I started sorting all the units out I realised that there were also four ikea Jonas tables and a couple of Malm dressing tables! At this stage we weren't sure what we would be able to use in the space so I started putting together the expedit units once I'd downloaded the instructions from the ikea website.  I ended up using four of the units and sold the other three separately on eBay for more money than I had bought all the units for! Result! I then started looking at the other units and realised the Jonas tables would be ideal for sewing tables

 and the malm dressing tables were just the right height to use together with an MDF top for a cutting table,

Yes it looks like this most of the time!

 for years I had been using a kitchen table and suffered terrible back ache from leaning down over the table. So if you are looking for a new cutting table then I can recommend two Malm dressing table units and an mdf top, the drawers are ideal for all your sewing bits and bobs too.

 My table and chairs were also an eBay find they were originally used in the kitchen but after the orangery was built and we knocked through the kitchen we bought another table and chairs (also on eBay) and I moved this set to my workroom. 

It's not always this tidy I can assure you!

My painted chairs are also from eBay, can you see a pattern emerging here! Their shabby chicness makes them good for photography props too.

Finally when we revamped the driveway and garden in 2010 I got a lovely new path to my workshop and a few weekends ago we added the slabs and moved the herb garden (the dogs were prone to peeing on the pots where they were before which isn't a nice thought when you want to add some mint or coriander to your cooking!)

I hope you have enjoyed my post about my workroom I would love to see some of your work spaces however big or small, tidy or messy (I'm definitely in the messy category!)so now I've shown you mine you can show me yours!!!