Crafting, Bargain Buys and Birthday Fund update

I've been trying so hard not to go out unnecessarily this week as I thought that if I stay in I can't spend money on a whim, which it's so easy to do when browsing in shops.  Consequently I haven't had anything interesting to blog about.  I have had my head down designing cards for the shop order, fitting in the washing, drying and cooking when I needed to stretch my legs.

On Thursday DD and the GC came for the day as it's half term (again???)  They requested a 'sewing day' so DD brought her machine in order for the children to have a machine each to avoid squabbles.  My 11 yr old GD was allowed to use mine (I only bought it in Nov 2014 as a 60th birthday treat) and the 8 yr old GS used his mum's.  They had a choice of what to make and decided on patchwork cushions.  The 11 yr old took to it like a duck to water!......

 

The HOME cushion was a kit which I had forgotten about. The letters were pre-cut but have been hand sewn on to the canvas. She also made a smaller cushion using just 4 Kath Kidson squares of fabric and a pink spotty piece for the back .  They were machined almost all the way round, turned the right side out, stuffed and then the opening hand sewn together.  She was thrilled with the result...

GS also progressed well although he tried to put his foot down a bit too hard on the pedal (like most males ;) and his seams ended up a bit crooked.....

 

 

 

 

I still think he did very well for a first effort. The little pin cushion is a gift for his teacher.....

In the end a fab day was had by all of us although their mum and I were knackered by teatime!  A quick cheese on toast for tea, a rest and then home at 7pm for them.  Boy, did I sleep well!!

Bargain Buys

I often have reward/loyalty vouchers through the post, never worth a great deal of money but I use them if I need something.  Debenhams sent me a £4 loyalty voucher and, a couple of weeks ago, a £5 promotional voucher with no minimum spend, the latter expiring tomorrow.  I had to pop into town for a top up shop so nipped into Debs on the way.  As I rarely go anywhere to dress up for I tend to slob around in jeans and T shirts with a fleece or cardigan on top.  Therefore I needed to replace a couple of quite faded tops.  I saw these today....

A plain white tee for £5 so with a £4 voucher it cost £1....

A pretty floral top £10 minus the £5 voucher therefore £5.... Not quite as cheap as my legendary 7p top but still useful bargains :)

Birthday Fund Update

I am still trying to raise around £50 for DD's birthday fund for next month but eBay sales are so very slow these days.  My latest sale adds just £3 to the pot making £26.69 so far. Times must be hard for so many people.  Is anyone else finding sales slow?

Crafting

My order for the shop is now finished so I can take a breather this weekend and drop them off on Monday.  I hope my friend likes them as it's quite hard work coming up with new designs all the time.  Each and every card has to be different in some way even if it's just the colourway, and she likes ribbon and gem embellishments which can really push up the cost.  Any that she doesn't buy from me will go the Hospice CS to raise funds there.

Marlene Jones  asked if I would show and tell some of my cards so I'll try to do that tomorrow.
It's lovely to know someone is interested enough to ask :)

Thanks everso for popping in and have a lovely day x