I love lamp

I have always wanted to be able cover lampshades, its seems to be a dying art as so many mass produced lampshades are available- but I thought it would be nice to provide them to match the curtains we make, so with the help of a few secondhand books (some just a penny!) from Amazon and a Fred Aldous Catalogue I set to work. I've made these three, the light blue was first, the red is to match a friends curtains (but I think its too big- so its back to the drawing board) and the last is a Laura Ashley fabric, which was the hardest to do all hand stitched and even balloon lined (took me 6 hours!) and went very well except the seam ripped so I hid it with a bow and the reverse shows more leaves and background than the pretty flowers- oophs! But it was nice to do something I've never tried before and thanks to the 8 shades I picked up from my local charity shop, I think it will definately be an ongoing hobby! (if anyone knows where I can get a regular supply of lampshades frames I'd really love to know, so that I can show customers a range to choose from, for when I've really practiced!

Heres another I had'nt finished before-

No business like snow business....

We love the snow...........Mr Frosty Meadows....

I thought you did snow angels on your back?..................
Great hat?...............................

I'm sorry I cant get to the phone right now....

I have to confess I miss my baby- why? He's now sleeping in his new bedroom at night because it has been decided that both his parent deserve a good nights sleep for a change. I wasn't a decision I would have made myself (as the room is so far from ours) but I was ambushed by my husband and I am partly glad he did, after a bit of a bug he has gone back to wanting more attention at night and has actually slept straight through both nights in his new room-but also I know that as he's my last baby I wont ever get to snooze to sleep with him across my chest at 4 am after sneaking him into my beds. JoJo has always been a difficult sleeper- mostly because I have been too indulgent and too busy, (somehow I was much tougher with the others) but also because as the youngest of 4 theres never really much quiet anywhere in the house! So this morning while the other were out he slept in my arms on the sofa while I drank chamomile tea, read your blogs and the phone rang on its hook without any attention- I've got my boy and alls right with the world!

Whats that coming over the hill......?

My children had been really good this week helping me stuff things for our craft fair on Saturday, (We are hosting it on our front lawn- with the hope it will grow each month with more stalls throughout the summer-only 6 tables so far!) and were getting frustrated at not keeping anything- Does that happen to you? So when all the work was over (will it ever be completely?) they made their own designs and we put them all together- no prizes for guessing which is Boo's! Here's my little monsters.......

I'm sure as an educator I should justify this activity as beneficial with lots of interesting long words but basically is was just great fun- So thats good enough for me!

We also took the bus to Chelmsford- and as buses and pushchairs are a recipe for frantic frustration I took JoJo in his backpack, which leaves my hands free to grab my wandering children but has the effect, after half an hour, of making you feel like you have a whole body brace on. We each had a shop list and the children sat on the floor in Mummy's shop- Mummy nearly sat on the floor in a few too! They have a tendency to walk one way when looking the other and ask to buy every and any item they see, Boo likes to run ahead and Sam likes to drag behind, Louis chats with strangers and chases pigeons so as you can imagine it can be a little stressful! (Its not unlike taking a yorkshire terrier, a tortoise and a kitten for a long walk without leads!) But at the point where mummy got overtired the children took me home.... I felt so proud of them they behaved so well and also felt so proud of me too-so much I rewarded myself with some Monsoon jeans! So hurray for adventures ( I think I'll still sneak off on my own when I can though-just for the sake of my blood pressure!)

snapper shot

How do you post without a camera? I have 2- both completely done in! And therefore I havent posted for so long....... But then I thought how about using different pics instead? I have been scanning fabric all week for my new fabric collection, and painstakingly labelling each colour (you wouldn't believe how many times you can mispell chocolate!) The worst thing is the temptation to window shop, you see a fantastic fabric and convince yourself it would be sensible to do a few things in it for photos.....for when you can take them of course and then you end up with another 6 more projects started, so if I promise to show you maybe I will be more determined to finish them!