More toys

I’ve bought a WIRE BINDER and I’ve had great fun playing with it.  It took me a while to get used to it – my first attempt produced a wonky notebook – but I’ve since attempted three calendars and they’re all perfectly straight!  I’m waiting for a stationery delivery so in the meantime I’ll make mini notepads with the new stapler.

My cards were in a shop a while ago, the owner retired and closed the shop so I brought home the ones that didn’t sell.  They’d used a pricing gun on the cello bags and ripped the price stickers off quickly, they’ve all been left with a sticky patch on them.  I wish they’d left them on, the stickers will come off cleanly if you remove them slowly.  I hope WD40 will clean them up, if not then I’ll have to re-package them all *sigh*.

 

No pictures

I want to post pictures.  Pictures of what I’m using during the Frugal Frump challenge – SEE HERE – pictures of the animals, the garden, the kitchen and most importantly, my crafts.  I had a camera which took great photos, but it died.  So I started using another camera which I couldn’t get on with at all, the photos were a bit blurry but I thought it’d do.  That one’s died too, gggrrrrr.  My daughter has a cheap camera from Argos, I was suprised at how well the photos turned out so I’ll buy one for myself.

I’ve found a local stationery supplier PROACTIVE BUSINESS SUPPLIES and I put my first order in on monday – a heavy duty stapler, so now I can get on with making matchbook notepads that are thicker than 15 pages.   They delivered on tuesday and included a free Nestle selection pack full of mini smarties, fruit pastilles, aeros and  milky bar buttons.  That’s me happy for a few days!

The painting is almost done.  Can’t wait to get back to normal, the house feels very cluttered at the moment.

 

Can’t keep up………

………….with anything

There’s too many eggs and too much veg!  We’ve sold some of the eggs and frozen some veg but there’s so much of them.  Course, if a certain someone didn’t keep buying rubbish processed food, I’d have more freezer space

We’ve started painting the hall, stairs and landing.  I say we, what I mean is I’ve done a bit and he’s done a lot, lol.  The watered-down first coat is on, we he can get on with the ‘proper’ coats now.  He’s also been painting the woodwork, that was a pain because the stain kept seeping through the new white paint, even with primer on.

We were both off work last week.  We visited Fairford (to watch the planes fly out), Axminster, West Bay and Weston-Super-Mare.

I’ve still been looking after me, though it was a bit rushed because we were out so much.  I treated myself to some new make-up, and bought a 200ml tub of Morrison’s shea butter (£2.99) – it’s wonderful for feet.

When the work is finished on the house, I can get back to crafting.  I’ve hidden it all away for now, dust and paint splashes are NOT going to ruin my work.

 

 

Christmas

I KNOW it’s only June   But I have to get to work on Christmas crafts now or I won’t have enough to sell at the beginning of November.  I’m making cards, gift tags, tree decorations and kid’s notepads (for stocking fillers).  I’d like to do kits of make-your-own decorations for kids, but I can’t find supplies at a decent price.  I’ll keep searching.

I bought a guillotine a few days ago.  It’s great, I’m very speedy at making notepads now!  I still use the paper trimmer, it’s better for cutting notepad covers.

We’ve got a new perch for the chickens (well, an old piece of timber, lol).  Some were elated and jumped right on, others tried it and didn’t like it, a couple seemed terrified and wouldn’t go near it.

The hand lawnmower cuts better than our old lawnmowers, one was electric and one was petrol.  It’s so quick and easy, we now argue over who’s going to cut the grass.

Weeds everywhere….

I worked full time last week.  After work I only had time to bung some washing in, clean out the guinea pigs and chickens, eat, shower then go to bed.  The garden was watered but not weeded – you should see the state of it.  I’ve just been out and pulled some weeds up.  I filled two buckets (the chickens appreciated them!) but it looks like I’ve hardly touched it.

Our new lawnmower has just arrived, it’s a Qualcast Panther 380.  That’ll save a bit on the electric bill.

I’m still playing around with my notepads, just when I think I’ve got it right I change something, lol.  I’m almost there.

I’ve discovered that my sewing machine has more than one use – if you take the thread and bobbin out, it’s great for perforating paper.

RIP Boris Pig xxx

Every few months, his digestive system would shut down.  The vet would give him something to kick-start it and I’d have to feed him with a syringe for a few days.  It happened again last week, he had his usual visit to the vet and I took him to work so I could give him food and water regularly.  But it must have been too much for him to cope with this time.  He’s buried near the cherry tree.

New chicken shed

The girls have been in their new house for a few days.  They were nosing around (read getting in the way) while we were building it and while it was empty, as soon as we put their nesting boxes in they stayed away.  Not impressed!  They took some persuading to go away at bedtime.  They spent the next day trying to get into their old shed to lay, I’m sure they only laid in their new home out of desperation.  Still, they’re settled now.

I spent most of last week playing with paper and card, the end result was calendars and mini notepads.  As soon as I’ve finished them, I’ll post pics.

Just realised I haven’t shown you the latest additions yet, here they are -