My longest post so far

Brace yourselves girls as I'm guessing this could end up being quite a long post, it might be wise to go and put the kettle on and grab the biscuit tin!
As promised I have finally got around to uploading the photos I took while I was at The button Tin workshop a couple of weeks ago. As predicted they don't really do the place justice so I suggest you pop over to Gemma's site  and check it out for yourselves, or better still if you live close enough hot foot it over to Rotherham and see it in the flesh.
 I hadn't been to Rotherham for years (anyone who is familiar with Rotherham will probably understand why) BUT I was really surprised by how much it had changed and the Imperial building and the surrounding areas were really beautiful, apparantly they have been boarded up for the past twenty years and have only recently been uncovered. For more info and great pictures of the imperial building check out Heart Shaped blog
I will definitely be returning in the very near future as there was a fantastic tea room my friend Adele and stitching partner in crime and I wanted to try but sadly it was closed the day we visited.
Back to The Button Tin I am soooo easily distracted!

The place itself is in the centre of the Imperial building so it's completely enclosed which means you also get to enjoy the outside space in complete privacy. It was so peaceful you wouldn't believe you were in the centre of town.

If you think the outside is special wait until you see the inside.

The tiny space is absolutely packed to the rafters with beautiful vintage items from aprons and haberdashery to sewing baskets and machines, even the practical pieces of equipment like the glue sticks were kept in a pretty tin! (I notice these things!)
I could have happily sat there for the full six hours just looking, everything looked so beautiful.
There are a few of Gemma's items for sale but most of the things you see are the materials she uses either every day for her workshops or for her commissions but Some things are there purely for your viewing pleasure.
When it's not being used for workshops it's Gemma's private studio so you can't just walk in, which I think makes it all the more intriguing and special.

After telling us a little about herself and her work Gemma invited us to rummage through her enormous suitcases (vintage obviously) which were overflowing with fabulous pieces of fabric... as you can imagine I was like a kid let loose in a chocolate factory, I just couldn't decide which fabrics to choose but in the end I went for a green/yellow sort of theme.
Gemma showed us how to make the most beautiful flowers from our chosen fabrics that were actually much more simple to make than they looked. When we had mastered the basic flower technique we got to make them into pieces of jewellery or a hairpiece/fascinator.
I opted for a brooch but to be honest there was plenty of time to make two or three pieces. Most of the girls made rings and brooches and hair clips and a couple of the girls made fascinators.

Gemma served tea mid morning while we carried on stitching then we popped out for lunch. When we returned we had tea again and at 3p.m we had tea and cakes all served on pretty china.

This is the brooch I made, I do like it but I feel it's slightly too large for my liking and I'm not entirely happy with how I stitched it together so I think I'm going to unpick it and make three smaller brooches... what do you think?
I also made a ring and a hair clip.

Sadly the day came to an end all too quickly and we said goodbye to the wonderous place that is The Button Tin.

You may remember in my last post I mentioned that Mr. H was collecting something very special..............

well here she is in all her filthy glory.

Obviously she needs a little massive amount of T.L.C not to mention a bloomin good scrub.
Admittedly she's not a Rolls Royce model but for £30 I think she was an absolute steal and will be perfect for housing my growing collection of Woodsware and pyrex.
At the moment I am drawn towards yellow and white but I am open to suggestion so feel free to comment!

I also had a fabulous day at Mary's Marvellous vintage and Craft Market on Saturday and an equally fabulous morning at the car boot yesterday in fact I'm still giddy from just thinking about the haul I brought back home with me. I am just about to take some snaps but the weather is so dark and miserable here in Sheffield I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Mr H spent yesterday repairing the garden gate that the scummy chicken thieves wrecked last week, the plan is to get the roof on the chicken run replaced and get ourselves 3 new girls, the garden is just too quiet without them.

I just want to say thanks to all my lovely friends both bloggy and none bloggy for your lovely comments and for your kindness and understanding.
My mojo is slowly returning and I have lots to look forward to.

Off now to polish off the last piece of my mums delicious carrot cake.

Hope you all had a great weekend
: )

I want my mojo back

As you have probably noticed the blog looks very different, not because I fancied a change but bloomin blogger is playing up again. It was o.k while I could still use the old blogger interface but it decided to update itself and my background is no longer. I suppose it's somewhere out there, oh well I suppose a change is as good as a rest or whatever it is they say!


Life is a little up and down at the moment, it's been a week since our girls were taken from our garden and I'm still finding it hard to come to terms with the loss, I miss their clucking and scratching around and generally making a mess of Mr. H's lawn,  I miss them getting under my feet when I'm hanging out the washing and the garden seems so empty without them. We desperately want to get some more but are so afraid that the scummy little sods will return, I don't think I could bear it, the whole experience has left me feeling very vulnerable at the moment and I can't seem to shake off the feeling.

I have been keeping myself busy at work which has helped and I'm busy at home preparing for Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Market this weekend. It's a fabulous fair full of beautiful things and I always enjoy being part of it.
 I haven't  had time to make anything for this fair  as I have been so busy at work ( In the space of a year I have gone from working 12 hours a week to 25) but I have lots of lovely vintagey bits and bobs to take along.
I'm hoping to sell these, Iv'e had them over a year now and never worn them so it's time to part company.

Ive also sorted through a few bits of embroidery I acquired  when I worked at the convent. I have kept quite a lot and I plan to finish them but there were so many that I know I will never get around to doing them all.

My lovely friend Little Adele will be popping down in the afternoon so I'm sure we will make time for tea and cake and a good catch up.

Mr. H will be collecting something very exciting later today that we spotted last weekend at Elsecar Antique Centre , it needs a little T.L.C but it had our name written all over it so a fiver deposit sealed the deal along with a promise to return Friday to collect it.
You may remember in my last post I mentioned  The button Tin and the fabulous day I spent there, well I haven't forgotten I just haven't got around to uploading the photos yet but I promise it will be worth the wait.... I just hope my snaps will do the place justice.

speaking of snaps I must apologise for the lack / quality of photos, blogger is not satisfied with buggering up my settings it's now decided it won't upload my pics in the usual way..........AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!

I'm also hoping there will be a TAH DAH coming up very soon, Iv'e been a busy bee threading in ends on my granny square camper van blanket but just as I was getting close to finishing I ran out of wool so in the mean time Iv'e been using up scraps and making coat hanger jackets, the perfect project now the nights are drawing in.

Hopefully I will be back very soon with lots of pictures and feeling slightly more cheery.

: /

Life is most definitely a rollercoaster

It's been a week of ups and downs.
Last Saturday I spent a fantastic day at The Button Tin which I promise I will post about as soon as I have the heart.
Sadly a week later I am trying to come to terms with the fact that our beloved girls Dame Judi and Bobby have been taken from our garden. I am saddened and sickened that someone could do this for the sheer hell of it. I'm sure they stumbled upon them by accident while  raiding what they thought was a garden shed. They also tried to break into my next door neighbours garden and released  the hand break from another neighbours van leaving it to roll down the drive.
I really don't understand why someone would do this, I am utterly heartbroken.
: (

Waving goodbye to Summer

 I had a feeling the summer holidays  would go quickly this year but I can't quite believe just how quickly, it seems  everyone I speak to seems to be saying the same.
Despite the lovely weather we've been having up here in the North  I can already feel Autumn slowly creeping in and dare I say it but my thoughts have been turning to that most wonderful time of the year  and surely anyone who is on pinterest  can't fail to notice the amount of Christmassy pins on there at the moment.
Not so little H returned to school today with a spring in his step and to my amazement I didn't even have to drag him from his bed.
 I have loved spending some time with him even though we didn't do that much together.  He spent the majority of the holidays with his friends, playing footie,throwing water bombs and generally doing what boys his age should be doing but  it was nice just being there, even if it was just having a sandwich together, talking to the chickens or just watching Come Dine With Me we watch it together in secret when Mr. H is at work
 I realise it's times like these that are precious and how lucky I am to have had this summer at home.

 Remember THE LIST?  well I didn't get very far and only managed to cross off a few things.

 1. over haul spare room which is currently a dumping ground for my junk AHEM important craft supplies.

2. try new recipes as I will have all day to rustle up something interesting... fish fingers will be banished to the back of the freezer and saved for emergencies only (like when I forget iv'e put something interesting in the oven and burn it to a cinder!)

3. watch a film at least one afternoon a week.... without nodding off

4. Get at least half way down the W.I.P's basket.

5. take (not so) little H clothes shopping for the holidays.

6. rob a bank in order to achieve above task.

7. tackle the small mountain that is my ironing pile.

8. paint tea trolley.

9. transform oneself back into the domestic goddess I once was (or at least I liked to think I was!) o.k crossed this off as this ain't ever gonna happen!!!

10. potter

So as you can see not much got done really, I did tackle the ironing twice in fact, but it just continues  to grow when  I'm not looking.
 I'm also working on the W.I.P's basket and although I've not actually completed anything yet by the same token I haven't started any new projects either unless you count the granny square blanket I started on holiday - OOOPS!!!


Anyway moving on........ as promised here is a little round up of my latest haul
Some  I picked up on our holibobs and some  I found at our local car boot on Sunday.

Sorry the photos aren't great  but still a fantastic haul even if I do say so myself!

Now you may remember in my last post I mentioned news regarding my job.........Well it all happened really quickly and rather unexpectedly but I have another job, a new job, an exciting new job.
to cut a very long story short I heard there was a  vacancy at a local school for a cook which sounded perfect for me as it's 10 minutes walk from my house.... so  I called the number and had a lovely chat with a lovely lady who informed me that although it was a cook they were looking for,  they wanted someone who could  run the community  cafe which is located within the school grounds *gulps
Well this sounded right up my street - literally!
So before I knew it I was filling out the application form. I had an interview about a week later and the very same afternoon they called me to offer me the job and the rest as they say is history.

I called into town last week to say my goodbyes to my fellow workers at H.S.B.C and even though I had only known them for a short time I felt a little bit sad knowing I wouldn't be working there again, but we have said we will stay in touch and whenever I'm in town I plan to pop in.

So far I'm really enjoying the job and Iv'e been given free reign so I'm itching to get started with new ideas and make changes.
The school employed  a new Catering Assistant at the same time as me so we are a new team together and rubbing along very nicely, hopefully between the two of us we will make it a great success.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend as I am doing something I have been looking forward to for ages so I will tell you all about that next week- hopefully with some fantastic pictures.........well pictures anyway!
Monday I'm off to see Noel Gallagher again for the second time so lots to look forward to.
Hope you have a great weekend
: )

Part Two

Well laundry done and a sizeable dent has been made in the ironing pile, so I'm back with more holiday tales (no yawning now!!!)

Bruce sleeps in the camper with me while Mr. and (not so) little H sleep in the tent, it works well as Mr. H is a bit on the tall side and the bed in the van isn't quite long enough for him which is handy for me as I'm not really struck with the idea of sleeping in the tent. It was great waking up to see the sunshine peeking through the gaps in the curtains, not so great to feel Bruce like a dead weight at the bottom of my bed and not being able to turn over.

The Funky Mackerel is another favourite of ours, the views are fantastic and the bacon sarnis are even better and they welcome dogs which is a bonus.

.

I did make time for a bit of thrifting in between all that scoffing, so I'll be back soon when Iv'e taken pics of my treasures. Iv'e also got exciting news on the job front and something coming up that I can't wait to tell you about. : ) P.s there seems to be another technical hitch and blogger isn't allowing me to leave spaces between sentences......I'm counting to 10