Today I didn't have any chores or jobs to do after work and I felt a little at a loose end, sooooo......I made a start on tidying my craft room! YAY! Here are some photos of my handy work! I've still got lots to do, but at least I've made a start and I can get my chair back in there so I can use the sewing machine!!!

My super-organised desk drawer!

Nice neat books! (I have more downstairs!)

The cupboard over the stairs - the curtain usually stays closed!

And finally my tidy book case! Can you see the lovely toadstool that Sarah made for me in the swap? I though it would look nice on the crochet doormat my friend Ann made me and that Mousey would like a nice little garden! There is a lot more sorting, tidying and fabric washing to do and I shan't be showing you my desk any time soon! ;)

Sorry all, I've not been neglecting you I've just been lacking somewhat in energy and enthusiasm the last day or so. I've perked up a bit today so I'll catch you up on things...The prom was very nice. The year 11's all looked smart in their sharp suits and fancy frocks - didn't take any photos. They all seemed to enjoy themselves, which was the main thing. The drinks however were ridiculously expensive! £9 for a glass of wine, the staff couldn't afford to get drunk! ;)

Saturday I also got a hair cut as I was starting to resemble a Lego man. While in town I couldn't resist the John Lewis sale and went straight to the haberdashery bit to rummage through the bargain wool. Got 4 balls of Rowan All Seasons Cotton and a lonely green ball of baby cashmerino. Such lovely colours....I may have to sneak back after work one day before J gets home to get more supplies! I'm not even very good at knitting, I just like looking at it and squishing it! I must have over 30 balls of brand new wool in my craft room now, ones that I've bought because I liked the colour or it was on sale!

Sunday we were going to go to Ryton Garden as we haven't been all year, but on the way the sky greyed over so we made a quick change to the plan and went to Ikea instead! Bought some napkins and other bits and bobs, but mainly some fabric!!!!

I've had a busy weekend with sewing. I made Katy a 'Science Nerd' brooch for her daughter - hopefully it arrived today! And I made the new earth softie and he's now on his way to America. Today I sold the last of the amoeba brooches in my Etsy shop so I've had to make a few more! The green one is in the shop now and the others will be added this week along with the rest of the science nerd brooches!

Phew....That's almost all. I just have to say congratulations to my littlest sis who got her degree results today.......she got a 2:2! YAY! Well done Pob! Now go and get a job! ;)

...sometimes I have Wizard of Oz days where I just forget everything or I just don't use my brain! I had one of those this week - Thursday I managed to completely forget all about one of our teachers. She never got any of the worksheets of equipment she'd asked for and was pleased to see me wearing the 'DOOFUS' badge I made for the department doofus to wear so they can be identified. I've had it 2 days this week :(

I also forgot to post about the reversible beach bag I made for Bee's birthday the other week. So here it is. I used some nice striped heavy weight Laura Ashley fabric on one side and then the Laura Ashley spot on the other. She liked it! YAY!

OOOOOOOO! Rather more exciting than a reversible beach bag. I somehow managed to bag a Treasury West at around lunch time. I think I was far too surprised at being online when they became available that I had a massive mental block (needed my brain again here!) and just went....hmmm....cute food.....arrggghhh.... Here is the result! You can see Sarah's cute cupcake needle case at the bottom, the rest were chosen from my favourites in panic! I do love that shrimp! It should be there till Monday if you want to go and click :)

EEEKKK! I have to be at the prom in one hour. I had better look and the map and find out where I'm going and think about getting ready! oops!

OH! I had such a productive evening yesterday. While I was waiting for J to get hom from work I started cutting out my new batch of brooches ready to sew while we watched TV. I got most of them finished too! I just had a couple that I took to work to complete at lunch time.....here they are!

A nice new monster set in cute pastel shades!

Three eyeballs!

and a bunsen burner!

Most have been listed in my etsy shop already as there are still a few days left of my BUY 2 GET 1 FREE brooch offer! I'm now offering free shipping if you type "PROMO" into the message to seller section! Come get them while they are hot!!!

I've had a few special requests too. The very nice lady who bought my Earth Softie has asked for another one for her boyfriend as he keeps trying to take hers! There has also been interest in my science nerd brooches from yesterday! I was thinking June was going to end quietly - it started with a bit of a flurry or sale then nothing for a few weeks. Suddenly....I'm busy again! YAY! I do like coming up with new ideas! Hopefully I'm going to have a very productive weekend! Hair cut and my first school prom tomorrow...!

I had to have a sly sew at lunch today so the recipients of these brooches didn't cotton on to what I was making. Although I think one of the other teachers may have completely ruined the surprise by blurting out "Science Nerd - I could do with one of those!"...oh well. Only one of the people they are for was in the room.....

Hopefully Matt and Lucy won't read my blog before I give them their new brooches tomorrow morning! They are both proper science nerds (and a cute couple!). I think the department needs a bit of new enthusiasm to get the kids interested in science again. It ain't all bad this science milarky! ;)

OOOOO! I've sold a few things on Etsy recently and was far too over excited when I got home form work and discovered I'd sold some of my cute felt brooches - including the monster set that I made for the UKEtsychallenge! YAY! I'll parcel those up this evening and get them posted off to London Town tomorrow after work! I'm planning a sewing evening tonight as I made a start on another monster brooch set yesterday and I still have a list with 25 other items on it that I need to get through....!

I missed out on choosing a treasury again, just because I was eating my tea. HUFF! Better luck next time I guess! When having a flick through the new ones I did discover that I'm in one. YAY! My simple flower brooches - (which are available at a bargain price! ;)

It doesn't expire till Friday so go on over and have a click! In other Etsy news; Count Orangular has made it safely to Turkey and now lives with a very crazy lady we play WoW with (Hi SU! *kiss*) and my little planet earth made it to the US in one piece after a bit of a squash and a squeeze from the postal service. I may need to start adding a little extra padding. Off to catch-up on some sewing now and decide what I'm going to wear to the prom on Saturday! I thought I'd go to one of the school proms just to see what it's like...!

I'm making lots of new brooches to encourage people to buy them. Here is today's new brooch! A cute little strawberry with seed bead accents! (sounds all posh doesn't it for a felt brooch! hehe!)

This will be available in my etsy shop shortly as will the pumpkin and skull from yesterdays craft binge!

One thing I did do over the weekend was make a few new brooch templates and cut the shapes out ready to sew. I managed to sew four of them together at lunch today...a pear, a star fruit, a pumpking and a skull! I know it's little early for halloween but I've had the doodles in my book for a while.

These will be making their way into my etsy shop in the next day or two! On the etsy thing....Super Rolley Monkey has made it into two treasuries recently! Photos of these on my Flickr account! J was really pleased as he helped with the flying photos! :)

Not much crafting going on this weekend as J's little sister has been visiting. We did have a potter around the front garden this afternoon to tidy up some wild branches and get rid of the chard which had gone out of control too. We also dug up the garlic and onions as they were ready...and our first strawberry is almost ready to pick! YAY!

YAY! I've completed my June challenges for the UKetsyteam and MSOEteam *jumps up and does a little dance*

Firstly the theme for the UKetsy challenge for June was 7 deadly sins. I chose envy and made a set of green-eyed monster brooches. I really enjoyed making these and may whip up another batch with different shapes soon. And secondly is the Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE) Challenge where the theme was Leonardo Da Vinci. I really wanted to make a flying machine but with my other craft commitments at the mo I just didn't have the time so went for a Vitruvian Stick Man Brooch instead - He'll fit in nicely with the stick man and girl brooches. I'll let you know when voting is available. Next on my list is the Russian Doll Swap!

***Both challenge items are in the my shop NOW!***