Rock Stars?

My musical babies;

Daisie xxx

Just Call Me The Bag Lady!

Been busy mad sewing like a mad bag lady.

Here is half the bag order for the shop;




The picture is terrible and the bags are actually really yummy!

And we need to pop on over and wish Swirly a very happy birthday!

Daisie xxx

Ooooh, I Love A Postman!!

Hello, I was alarmed by loud knock on the door this morning whilst peeing, luckily Simon hadn't yet left for work so went to investigate.

He came back with a big padded envelope with this on the back;


Some sneaky love from folksy *blush*

Within were this amazing (yes, I squealed and jumped up and down on discovering) folksy ruler;


The excitement of the ruler did over shadow this very prettily wrapped present (paper now trimmed and flat in the cupboard waiting to be reused);

But was still excited to finds this lovely book, shame I don't crochet though :-(

Oh, that sounded really spoilt, I'm not really, I will find time to sit in front of YouTube at some point and teach myself to crochet, promise!

Thanks Folksy and thanks Laura at Robson and Mason for choosing my breast!!

Daisie xxx

HELP! I'm Being Kissed To Death!!

Well, that's what he would be saying if he wasn't laughing so much!!


Tonight I am mostly sewing little felt purses;


I delivered my first box of Daisie Goodies to the gift shop today and they were received with much gushing and huge appreciation. I left very happy and I think my head may have been slightly larger?! Pam has obviously been watching my work for a while as she asked me if I could make her some felt purses. I have said I'll make a dozen and she also wants a dozen tote/shopping bags too! I am going to be a busy bee!

I also have a birthday project and a mug swap to complete before the end of the week, argh!

Daisie xxx

The Big Draw

The lines have closed, the votes have been counted and verified, please do not swear etc etc....

There were fifteen votes in all;


They were beautifully mixed by Francesca;



Nathaniel took it upon himself to choose the winning name;

And the winner is...........

Pixiedust! Please email me your postal address and some Daisie Davies goodies will be on their way to you early next week!

Don't be too disheartened, those who didn't win, as I am rapidly approaching 300 posts and by tradition I will have to have another giveaway!

Daisie xxx

Still Sick...

....and still unable to come up with good post titles :-(

Francesca at home again today but is much better and has managed to eat and not be sick, whey-hey!! Nathaniel is eating and chucking up at a mighty rate and I will be back at the doctors again tomorrow for a second opinion!!

We had an unannounced visit from a lady from FLOW (family learning something or other, wasn't really listening) that has been given money to visit children in the north of England and give them stuff to improve academic ability on entrance to primary school. Sorry, bored myself then too!! She was preaching to the converted through all the blurb; playgroups, good routine, good diet, mixing with others etc etc. All the things I usually do (and have been doing for years). But Lisa was very nice and chatty and cheered me up in the middle of a bad day full of sick! She also gave Nathaniel a huge bag of goodies (for free!!!!), some books, a jigsaw, some crayons, a drum and a maraca all in a lovely jute bag just like the ones the girls have reading books in for school, he was dead impressed, me too!! Thanks Lisa x

I did manage to do a few more cards for the box :-D;



Francesca is much in love with this one but I think it would look so much better with the 'princess' on some mirror board (it's on my shopping list);



Don't forget to leave a comment on the giveaway post, will be mixing names on Saturday morning!!

Daisie xxx

Can't Think Of A Good Post Title, Will This Do?

Firstly, ooooh, a mug!!


Secondly, my handmade goodies in the shape of this brooch and felt embellished card;



Have gone off to the lovely Lynsey to join the great cutebale giveaway.

Thirdly, here is the brooch I have been knitting on and off today inbetween taking Nathaniel's poo sample to the doctors and cleaning up sick. I so wanted to shout "It's not mine!!" when I walked in and everyone looked at me in the waiting room! Francesca has been very sick today as well, she has lay on the sofa most of the day, thumb in, eyes shut. It has been a long day and I hope that they both sleep well tonight and awake in the morning fully recovered but somehow don't think I'm that lucky!!

And lastly, and possibly most excitingly (is that even a real word?) here is a box of Daisie Davies goodies;

Packed and ready (well, when I have done some more felt cards and bracelets) to go to a real life shop!!!!! Nearly wet myself and kissed the lady yesterday! She wanted my cards and brooches and possibly knitted bead bracelets for her new crafty shop! I am going to see her next week to discuss terms and payment and stuff and I don't want to jinx it so will say no more just yet.

But my cheeks hurt from smiling!!

Don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway!

Daisie xxx

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

Just a quick one before I dash off with my son to the doctors (he now has a dire rear to go with his vomitty top end) to say happy bloggy birthday to Daisie Days and to say that if you leave a comment on this post by the end of friday I will draw a name from a hat (or any avaiable device) on Saturday and that lucky (?) person will win two of my fabby felty cards;


A knitted beaded brooch that I have been working on and some other goodies that I haven't decided on yet.....

I can guarentee that there will be no vomit included!

Daisie xxx

A Whole Year?

Blimey, it would appear that Daisie Days will be a whole year old tomorrow!

That snuck up on me when I wasn't looking!

I am pleased to say that my photos seem to have improved (?) since my first post!

I will be back tomorrow to tell you about (maybe) a bloggy birthday giveaway and my terrible week of cleaning up sick (yes, again, it never ends).

Night, Daisie xxx

Tired

I am so sorry to have neglected my blog so much this week but I feel like a dog chasing it's tail or like I said the other night running up a sand dune and not getting anywhere near the top!

I have started a first aid course on monday mornings, haven't done one since I was pregnant with Elizabeth but haven't been back to work so it has mattered little until now. I need it if I am going to be working with new mums in their homes and at various children's centres. Nathaniel went into the creche for two and a half hours and mostly cried. I felt awful :-( To be honest I didn't think he would mind so much as the building and staff are familair (we are there several times during the week for different things). He wasn't inconsoleable though and it is the first time he has been left, other than at home with Daddy. Can't wait to see what he's like next monday?!

Tuesday sees the regular playgroup I have been attending weekly since Elizabeth was baby. I am a very old hand!!

Wednesday sees Boobie Club and we were a little busier this week although not as busy as we would like! Followed by Tiny Trumpets (a local performer who comes and does song and dance and brings lots of yummy child sized instruments) for an hour.

Thursday I avoided playgroups as I went to see my poorly Dad and it was really nice to sit and chat and drink tea and not have to do anything at all. He was glad of the company and I was glad of the rest!!

Friday (today) we go to our local Tumble Tots group and Nathaniel has a wonderful time climbing on things and generally being a 'boy'.

I like to be busy with him as it won't be very long beofre he's at nursery and school :-( time goes by too quickly!

But in amongst the self improvement and childcare are also the laundry and cooking and cleaning and reading books and spelling tests and this week I am so tired and seem to have little time to myself. Shouldn't complain really but there you go!

Yesterday saw the first crafting for an age!! Nathaniel woke from his nap in the foulest of moods and I really wanted to try running some flet through my bighsot. So I sat him on the floor next to me expecting him to continue in his crankiness but he found some scrap paper, shoved it into the machine (no plates or anything) and cranked the handle and laughed. I showed him how to layer all the pieces and he found me bits of felt and helped for about an hour. He had great fun when I got the buttons out too.

We created some felt flower cards;

They have ribbon stems and button centres. I really like them. I have some more flowers cut but they need buttons finding to match. I am waiting for some time and some light so I can stick some in my folksy shop. Think they'd be great for valentine's, mother's day or a spring birthday!

And I really need to find some time to knit. I am knitting a scarf in a really easy 'waffle' pattern in a beautiful russet toned yarn and my plan was to finish it and then start a beret (I have found a pattern for one on two needles!) to match. I think I had this notion some time before christmas........

Daisie xxx

Winner

Just another quick one tonight, still running up hill and geting tired now too!!

It would appear that I am a winner again!! Thanks!

Daisie xxx

Mug Shot

Only a very quick one today, feel alot this week like I am running up a sand dune very fast and am not near the top yet! More on that tomorrow.....

I just popped in because I am very excited to be a part of this with my friend Jenny;



Just click if you want to play too!!

Daisie xxx

The Victorious Breast!!

It would appear that my breast and Niftyknit's clanger are joint winners of the folksy comp.

Maybe it wasn't the landslide I had hoped for (in my wildest dreams) but it does mean that I now have £20 to spend on buttons, squeal!!!!!

Daisie xxx

My New Toy

Firstly a quick snap of how I spent my day on thursday;



Kae-Lei and Elizabeth are in the picture with me, Nathaniel and Li-Bau are in the pram. After dropping the girls off at school (Francesca was there somewhere, probably hiding behind Claire to make sure she took a good pic) I took the boys into town to do a little shopping and also to allow them to have a little snooze. My tummy muscles and bisceps were really sore by the end of the day. It is a borrowed pram so I'm not used to it anyway and the handle is quite low and with two big boys snuggled inside it gave me a really good workout!!

Now this little Christmas present didn't arrive until well after the day as I had planned to put some extra money with the vouchers that my parents gave me for christmas but the big shot was way too expensive at hobbyvraft :-( when I left I was a bit disheartened but said I'd get some more vouchers for my birthday. Anyhoo, Simon, the techi nerd that he is spend an age surfing the interweb and found one for £50. So that was his Christmas/birthday present to me. Back I went to hobbycraft to buy some dies with my vouchers, got a brilliant alphabet and some other bits and pieces. I just need a silicone mat for texturising, can't get one anywhere!! Then later, while I am sitting on the floor spinning my little handle, Simon found this amazing site. If you have a sizix of any knid go have a look, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the prices!!

Here's my little (big) beauty;



I am mostly really loving the bigz 'flower' die;

I have cut some in black and blood red too for valentine's cards. The light is really crap but will hopefully get some good pics tomorrow.

Seems I'm running in second place in the folksy comp :-( maybe there are more of you yet to vote? Hint, hint!! There's still time, voting open until midnight tonight!

Daisie xxx

Tree Of Happiness!

So now for the rules:

Firstly, link to the person who gave you the award.
Post the rules on your blog.
List six things that make you happy.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the person who awarded you know when your entry is up.

A tree of happiness award I recieved a few days ago from the lovely Willow81 at That's Not My Monkey.

Now six things that make me happy....well that could change on a daily, if not hourly, basis but right now what makes me happy is;

1. Kisses from my babies.
2. Nice hot cups of peppermint tea.
3. Playing with my new Bigshot (yes, you read it right, how excited am I??? More later!)
4. Expensive chocolates left over from Christmas, yum!
5. Snuggling in bed when it's sooo cold and dark at night.
6. My Hubby's prickly weekend chin *blush*

Six more people.....

I'd love to know what is making Kelcey, Jackie, Sue, Julie, and Ethel, happy at the moment and I would like Jill to think about six things that make her happy to help her through her rough ride with a poorly baby this week.

Hopefully will be back later with pictures and stories of my adventures with my new toy!

Daisie xxx

Make The News

The voting blog is now up and voting ends midnight on sunday so click on the link and go and have a look!

The breast is entry number 6, incase you have lost all function of your eyes and mind!! It is saturday morning after all!!

Hopefully am off to Preston in a little while to buy something for the something Simon bought me for Christmas.....oooh, the intrigue.........I love a good mystery............will be back later....

Daisie xxx

Breast!!

I know, I know, here she goes again!!

This is my entry for the Folksy "Make The News" competition;


You can see it and all the blurb here. The brief was to handcraft an item that was inspired by a news item. The story that has struck a chord with me of late is how Facebook have been deleting pictures of women breastfeeding their children from profile pages as they have deemed them 'pornographic' and 'indecent'. You can read more here. I know I always bang on about the same old shit but at least I am consistant!!

The deadline for entries is midnight tonight and voting (as far as I know) is over the weekend. I will be back tomorrow with a link to the blog post on Folksy. I am assuming it will be the same as the Folksy Angel comp where votes are cast by leaving a comment with the name of your favourite. Don't think I'll be as near the top as last time, some of the entries are fab!!

Where have you been all week? I hear you all ask (or not as the case may be)!

Well, I have been stomping around with the pram in the cold burning off all those extra Christmas calories and doing school runs and running a breastfeeding group (a bit quiet this week but it was the first one and we're hoping we'll be busier in future), meeting with Elizabeth's teacher (she's having trouble with her confidence when it comes to maths and I've got some reinforcement work to do with her at home), struggling with a double buggy and two small boys (pics will follow) and singing and playing at assorted playgroups! I have also been highly deprived of sleep as Nathaniel is very unhappy at the moment with his teeth. Nothing seems to be combatting his pain and he cries alot! Still, only four more to go and then he has a full set and hopefully we can get some sleep.

Our bedroom is looking wonderful and we're just waiting for a plasterer and then hopefully we can move back in (and off the futon in the spare room) and then soon after the children's bedroom can be organised and redecorated, woo-hoo!

Daisie xxx

A Good Remedy.....

.....for cold bones from stomping to school and back and playgroup and the supermarket in the sub-zero temperatures; a big deep bubbly bath;



Followed by ten minutes wondering just where does the water go when it leaves the bath....?



A busy day tomorrow as I have an early, half eight meeting with a teacher at school (must make sure I am up early enough to shower and dry hair and find clothes without snot on) and then the very first meeting of "Bosom Buddies" starts at 9am!! Our breast feeding support group is finally underway, am very excited indeed! My CRB is done. Everyone is briefed. Just have to hope that we get some Mums dropping in to chat!

Will be back tomorrow with tales of how it all went...

Daisie xxx

My Life Is Brilliant

My life is pure (ok, stop choking on your coffee!).

I've had a brilliant day today. We all managed to get up and washed and dressed and out of the house on time for school and I didn't shout once! And what is even more remarkable is that I managed to dry my hair rather than sticking it to the back of my head wet!!

Nathaniel and I stopped by the children's centre to wish everyone a happy new year and to pick up the fliers for boobie club which starts on Wednesday. It has been a long time coming and I am really pleased that we can start supporting women in our community to breast feed their children.

Nathaniel has been lonely today and kept going to the stairs to shout for his sisters or his Daddy.

But the upside of this is that I have my cooking buddie back now that there is nobody doing something more exciting in the other room;

I have vaccummed all of upstairs and sorted through the children's drawers and stored away all clothes that don't fit at the mo but may fit one of them in the future, done two loads of washing and hung them up to dry, prepared tonight's tea and done tomorrow's shepherd's pie and put it in the fridge, made the beds, snuggled my son and played boo for far too long and have baked some 'Mummy has really missed you today girls' cupcakes;

And all the while I have been doing this I have been bopping and singing away to music of my own choosing (hence link in title). A little Blunt, a little Morrissey, a little Madonna and the best bit is that Nathaniel is not old enough to object or pass comment as are the rest of my household, hurrah!!

Nathaniel snoozing now so I am just catching up with other blogs and scoffing a big prawn sandwich, mmm!

Some ironing to do and I want to walk up to school this afternoon so the girls can stomp back in the snow, well, sort of a light crusty dusting to the pavement, but this is exciting stuff when you are only 4 and 7! Poor Simon peeled his eyes open this morning hoping there would be at least four foot of the stuff! Poor disappointed boy :-(

Daisie xxx

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle....

What a brilliant day I have had! The children and I pottered around this morning and then made our way to see my friend Alison. Thomas is a little older than Elizabeth and they are great friends, Hannah and Francesca are the same age and are both pink and princess mad! And with her lovely husband around to bring regular refreshment and entertain Nathaniel what more could a girl ask for?!

She gave me all her Christmas cards (she too has done the removal of decorations and a mega clean), I'm hoping for many more bundles from people. I cut the nice fronts whole to make the tags for next years presents and nick the embellishments for new cards, tags and Christmassy collages.

Here's what they looked like when Francesca and I had finished with our scissors;



There's even a musical disc in there too! Wonder which unfortunate person will get that next year?!

And while we were chatting Alison was sorting the washing and she went to fold a pair of her hubby's undies to find that the seat of them was see-through! Now the urge to laugh was huge and we both succumbed to hilarity (especially at this point as Phil was complaining about things in the kitchen cupboards, a thing a man should never do), I felt bad as I'm sure that some of the remnants in Simon's undie drawer are circa 1976! Anyhoo, the laughter brought the man in question in to see what was soooo funny. He went to put them in the bin and I demanded to know if they had a button on, and if so, could I have it? There was a small pearly blue button that is now mine :-)

This prompted Alison to go and get a bag of 'spare' buttons from her bedroom. You know the ones that come in small plastic bags on the inside seam of your posh new cardi/blouse/coat etc. You cut it free and put it 'somewhere safe' only to be unable to find it when said garment loses a button!!

Here they are;

Some of them are very bog standard dark simple buttons but some are very fancy indeed. There is a beautiful mother of pearl one that is just begging for a brooch to sit on. There are also some tiny bags of spare sequins (Alison is very posh!!) and beads too.

These and the little ribbons from the neck of new garments are my very favourite crafty find.

Recycle, recycle, recycle, that's what I say!! And thanks Alison!!

Daisie xxx

Shallow, me?

Just a quick one tonight.

I've been taking down the tree and putting away cards and cleaning surfaces that haven't seen the light of day since the beginning of December! But now the sofa cover has been washed, dried and is back on, the floors have been vacced and mopped I can sleep easy in my bed knowing that I'll be getting up to a lovely shining house in the morning!

I just wanted to share with you all two things that made me smile this week and warmed the cockles of my heart. They sound very silly and shallow but they cheered me up no end!!

Firstly I got a random email from facebook to say that someone had sent me a message (I got myself a facebook page under much pressure from my much younger sister and haven't really looked at it since) so off I went and logged in to see who it was and what they wnated. It was some random guy who had found my page whilst looking for someone else. This is what he said; "You are smoking HOT !!!!! xx" Well! If I could frame it I would!!! *blush* It made me go all girly and giggly!! Simple things make us fat old mothers feel good!

And secondly......... we bought ourselves a Wii last christmas as our 'all family' present and it's brill. This year we got a Wii fit to go with it. Simon, the love has bought me my own 'yoga suit' and some non-slip socks :-) We all piled on (one at a time, they are only small) to be weighed and measured and to take part in silly balance challenges to find out what our fit age is. Simon is old but his Wii age is unbelievable (he did consider taking it back becasue it was faulty). No it wasn't that bad really! The children confused it as it's meant for 'grown-ups' really so just added 20 years to their age. They of course didn't mind in the least. I went on last. It told me I was too fat, this we already knew (although not quite as fat as I had feared). I then went through some terrible balancing tricks that were just tragic and very very hard. I shut my eyes, crossed my fingers and sucked my gut in (like this would make a difference?) while it calculated my fit age. And guess how old I am.........31!! Wooo-hooooooo!!!! This is precisely the age I will be in around three months time! So physically I'm only three months older than my cronological age! Not bad for broken sleep for nearly eight years, several years of nursing night shifts and a bad skin care regime! All that walking to school and running round the park really paid off!!

Can't wait to see how old I am on my birthday after three months of yoga training!

Daisie xxx

Oh, and I almost forgot, Francesca wanted to know what yoga was so I told her very simply that it's a kind of exercise that stretches your muscles and makes them stronger. She looked confused and said; "I thought he was a little green person?" How we laughed! Still bringing a smile to my face!

The First Custom Order For 2009!!

Yesterday saw a lovely chilly walk through the park;

Francesca managed to trick Simon into a little ride;

Nathaniel had a go too (but he only has little legs);

It was a great opportunity for Elizabeth to keep her neck warm with her new scarf;

Blimey, it's like looking in a mirror!! Very scary indeed, she really is a mini-me!

We had fun searching all the trees for their 'secret' carvings. I really like this chick one;

And I recieved a custom hottie order this morning. And here it is completed and ready for delivery;

The pictures a bit naff, I have been practicing with the 'flower' feature on my camera but think it's the awful light quality that is letting me down at the mo.

I trimmed all the pieces over breakfast this morning as we were off to a play centre this morning with Elizabeth's friend Myah and took them along with my pins, scissors and other sewing treasures in one of the best christmas presents I have ever had. This cute little sewing box;

I saw this when shopping with my friend Claire in the run up to Christmas and said how much I liked it. And there it was on Christmas morning under my tree!!

Here's the inside and you can see the yummy baby boots I made just inside;

And here's hoping for many more orders in the coming year!!

Daisie xxx

A New Year, A New Skill

Happy New Year!!!!

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog these last few days but festivities (and a killer migraine) have stopped me getting to the computer. Oh, and the fact that Simon bought me some beautiful bamboo needles! Charlotte bought me some yummy yarn and the rest, as they say, is history!!

Elizabeth has learnt a fabulous new skill. I have been trying to teach her to knit with needles but she finds it so hard and being a bit of a mad perfectionist (don't know where she gets it from) is always disappointed to tears by her efforts. Then I found this and she loved it straight away. She followed the instructions all by herself. Firstly I made her do it with one strand of quite fine yarn without fluff so she could see what she was doing. She has turned this practice piece into a necklace with some ribbon embellishments.

Then she attacked my stash and found a deep purple 'bumpy' yarn and a pink eyelash and knitted them together;



Elizabeth did however stop for a quick snuggle with baby Noah who came to say hi. Am all broody again!!



She continued to knit after tea last night but Nathaniel and I went to bed before six as my head was pounding and the nausea was just too much for me and he was tired not having had a sleep during the day.

Simon was unable to advise on casting off so she resumed this morning;




She did a last few rows to finish the ball of fluffy yarn (didn't see much point in keeping 2 metres) and finished it off!

Ta-Dah;

She has already been back into my knitting bag and is eyeing up some more yarn for another original Elizabeth creation. I fear I have created a monster! A big thank you to Lucy Jackson!!

Have fun whatever you are doing on this very first day of 2009!!

Daisie xxx