Fete on the Strait, Lincoln tomorrow!

I'll be selling my handmade jewellery at the Fete on the Strait in Lincoln tomorrow Saturday, 30 March (craft fair at the bottom of Steep Hill). I will also be selling these blank notebooks with 100% of proceeds to go towards Harvey's operation fund.

Harvey was a stray dog that was never claimed after he'd had his seven days at the pound. Instead of being put to sleep, he was rescued by the Doris Banham Dog Rescue a local, Lincolnshire charity. After he'd been there for a short time it was realised he needed an operation (probably why he was abandoned). It's a very specialised one and will cost about £5,000. We've been fundraising on his Facebook page to save him. So far we've raised half the total we need.

These were purchased as stock for the gallery venture which never got off the ground last year. They're priced at wholesale rates so these are real bargains! They're great quality, hand-dyed and hand-waxed by one of the artists on the Cambridge Art & Craft Market with a ribbon divider and brass motifs/fittings.
I have around 15 or 20 left (been giving them away as presents!)

Small  14cm x 10cm x 2cm, 100 ink friendly blank pages £10.00 per notebook
Medium 16.5cm x 12.5cm x 2.2cm, 150 blank pages approx £12.00 per notebook
Large 21cm x 14.5cm x 2.5cm, 190 blank pages approx. £14.00 per notebook

Colour range: light brown, dark brown, orange, purple, light pink with different brass motifs on the front. Not sure what the paper is made of, she's the type of person that would use sustainable FSA approved stock but I cannot say for sure as I didn't double check.

If I get them made in time, I will also be selling six to eight pairs of earrings made with my own handmade glass beads made by melting Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry bottles - again 100% of the proceeds from those also going to Harvey's fund.

It's going to be a cold old day out there, be nice to see some friendly faces and if you can afford to buy a book or Harvey's Bristol Cream earrings, you'll also be helping Harvey. See you there!

-o0o-
The counter on Harvey's page is out of date, we've raised about half of the total needed for the operation via on-line auctions, raffles etc. as mentioned above, we still need £2,500 - if you can't get to the Fete on the Strait please do feel free to make a donation to the cause, all the details of how to do it are on the page. :-)

PS I know I've not been blogging much, so so busy after the move! The studio is up and running and I have been restocking my Etsy shop. We've had a succession of trades visiting the house doing various work as we're putting in a new bathroom, having some things fixed that were wrong etc. I'll be telling you all about it with photographs soon!

Under construction

.... quite literally, the platform that will hold my beadmaking studio (OK, it's a shed but a very nice one!) is being constructed today. This is the morning's work.It's really beginning to take shape. This one shows how much the garden slopes down to the river.

Here are the motley crew of workers altogether including DH, friend, Martin and another helper, Kev. 

Well done guys, the shed arrives tomorrow ... no pressure!!!

Sun and snow

I told you Missy would find the new sunny spots! Here she is on the day before we moved in, no furniture except for the sofa that came with the house. Whilst she worked on her tan, I did a bit of knitting whilst we waited for the dishwasher and washing machine to be delivered and installed. DH was back at the old place being packed up by the removals company.

Yesterday it snowed most of the afternoon, looking very pretty from the lounge ...

... from the kitchen window ...

... and from my upstairs jewellery making studio (you can just see the river in the bottom).

Today, the snow has all gone and it's sunny again!

Martin, our very good friend who we have known for years and years came over today, he's a joiner and has been easing some of the doors that were sticking and measuring up for some jobs that need doing, the main one being advising on the materials for the construction of the platform for my beadmaking shed ... very excited about that. We can now get the timber ordered and hopefully work will start on it next week :-)

The blog is back!

I closed my Blog to readers a few weeks ago. DH and I were buying a house (see above and below for Estate Agent pics before we moved in, I will get DH to take better ones soon!) We now live in an old blacksmiths forge built in the 18th century and extended during the Victorian era set in about a quarter of an acre. The River Witham flows through 150 feet of the garden at the bottom. Two of my Facebook friends were flooded out at the time we were viewing the house and I thought "we must be mad". We made very thorough enquiries about past flooding of the village. The house is very high up - the garden slopes right down at a steep angle and the Environment Agency says even in severe flooding, our home would be clear, the flood plain is over all the fields that we overlook on the other side of the river.

Our old house in Papworth Everard has finally had all the outstanding defects by Countryside Properties put right ... it only took us five years(!) but they had to do everything, kicking and screaming all the way. DH's calm persistence and dogged determination wore them down but we had to go to the 10 year insurance guarantee people - they also kicked and screamed about some of the works until finally the Insurance Ombudsman made them do it. So one sold house with clear conscience!

I got paranoid when we were applying for a small mortgage that they would read my blog and the fiasco over galleryRAUXA. As we're both self-employed people, it's hard enough to get a mortgage these days without advertising the fact that we had some bad luck last year. We're really a very cheap to run couple, just us and a little dog, no kids or extravagant spending habits (except books and yarn!) Some people buy cars for more than our mortgage!

Fortunately, galleryRAUXA has caused no long term lasting damage on our finances, our savings are depleted quite a bit but DH has got a new client who is keeping him occupied pretty much full time, my Etsy shops were doing really well before the move and I will be doing monthly craft fairs in Lincoln starting in March to sell my jewellery plus three Fetes on the Strait this year. Also I'm looking into doing some bead fairs.

So that's why the blog was closed, there's no way to just disable a few postings in Bloggerland, which would've been helpful so I had to shut it down completely, thanks for those who e-mailed that you missed me! :-)

So this posting is just to say hi, I'm back, I'll update you on our new home shortly, I still have to unpack my jewellery making studio which will take me a day or two. Beadmaking will take a little longer, I have no outbuildings here to make them in but a very good friend of ours, Martin (who is an able joiner) is coming to see us this week about putting up a custom made shed. Due to the slope, it needs a terraced platform building first!

I'm expecting our new home to inspire me in all kinds of ways and I look forward to sharing the experience with my readers.

More very soon!

What this glum face all about?

Why is Missy looking so glum?

It's time for a walk (it's ALWAYS time for a walk according to Missy!) and all dad is doing is having a cup of tea and the crossword. It's SUNNY out; what are we doing stuck indoors??!