Arrrgggh!

Ever have one of those days? I'm in the middle of one at the moment....

I'm madly trying to make things for a shopping evening that I have a stall at. I do these maybe three or four times a year and while I always get stressed in the week leading up to them, I really enjoy the nights themselves and come home buzzing. I always use the profits to buy myself something, a real treat, something that I would otherwise never have, rather than just frittering it away. This way, each time I look at my purchase, I can think ' I bought that' and feel a teensy bit proud of myself!

Two years ago, I made enough to buy this:

(Pretty in Pink - Doug Hyde)

I loved this picture the first time that I saw it. I had no idea who had painted it and it took me a while to find out. I was gutted to find that there were no prints of it, and a bit taken aback by the price. But still I loved it and would look at it now and again! When I finished my first evening two Christmases ago, it was the one thing that I wanted to buy, and so I did! I felt a little guilty spending all that money, but it has so been worth it. Every time I look at the picture it makes me smile. Well, last year's Christmas shopping evening was very successful and I knew just what I was going to get:

(Deeply - Doug Hyde)

Well, I've never done a shopping evening at this time of year and so am intrigued as to how it will be. Each time, very different things have sold and I always am convinced that 'I don't have enough' but usually do!

This is what my desk looks like right now...

so far, I have a bunch of corsages ready to be finished and carded:

a small pile of spotty bags..


some bags for 'grown ups' and knitting bags. These just need finishing touches and corsages adding

a basket of Hairclip holders and hearts to be finished..

badges that need to be carded...

bunting - finished!

Matryoshka dolls that need to be sewn and appliqued..

A pile of felted jumpers that need to be turned into cushions...


Wooden plaques - finished!


felt cakes - finished!


Lavender hangers - finished!


Nappy cakes that just need wrapping..

but my to do list is oh so long : bibs, baby shoes, cards, applique bags, zip pouches, storage cubes (nearly done), crayon rolls... help!

as if time wasn't stretched enough, it's The Engineer's 9th birthday on Friday, we have a wedding in Portsmouth on Saturday (a good 2 hour drive away) and we havefriends coming to visit on Monday. Oh, and the car refused to start today, which means a 1.5 hour school 'run' twice a day - walking with all four children. As I said earlier - AAAAARRRGHHH!