OOOO! I'm so excited! Mr Rolley Monkey has been featured on cuteable! When I saw Lynsey's message on my blog today I was straight over there to see him! Thanks ever so much Lynsey, I'm ever so pleased!!!!! *BIG GRIN* I was chatting with J over the weekend to discuss whether or not Mr Rolley needed a girlfriend. I think he does! :)

In celebration of my Etsy shop opening tomorrow I am going to have a monkey-give-away.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will pick a monkey-themed-prize-winner on friday after work! Don't forget to leave your email address so I can get in touch with you and why not pop over and look at my other makes on Etsy when the shop opens tomorrow - 1st April at approx. 6pm GMT!

Happy weekend! I can certainly say it DOESN'T feel like spring here. We were planning on a trip to the Custard Factory but the weather was far too miserable for us to stand waiting at a bus stop to get into town. Instead we decided on a lazy day - I finished off my father-in-laws birthday present and will post about it on Wednesday! We're not quite sure what to do with ourselves this afternoon, possibly a trip to IKEA in search of a coffee table, or more sewing! We've finished our winter watch of the West Wing so it has to be officially spring now.

Happy rolley monkey day! This poor little chap has been sat on my desk waiting to be stuffed for a few days now. I'm slowly getting through a pile of half finished/half started(?!) projects that have been neglected while I've been making stuff to go in my Etsy shop. Thanks to Annie's reminder I found the cushion cover I started making for Megan over a month ago...OOPS! I think I'm back on the case now. Cushion cover finished and read to post...(it's a cup cake)

Rolley monkey stuffed and ready to roll...

...and thanks to my dad, our loft has been cleared (how much rubbish people put up in their lofts amazes me!), and part boarded so we can store some of our 'I'd like to keep that just in case' stuff up there and clear out the other junk from my craft room. I do wonder if I will ever really need my university notes again....but just in case... ;)

I spent a massive chunk of time this afternoon reading posts on the craft forum about selling things you've made on Etsy and registering as self-employed so as to not get caught out by the tax man. The more I seemed to read the more I got confused! I think I DO definitely need to register but from then I have no idea what to do. Am I just being a doofus? Next weeks job will be to open my Etsy shop AND inform the IR! My brain now feels fuzzy so I'm going to start on a knitting needle case for my father-in-law's birthday. The fabric is all ironed ready to be cut so I had better get cracking.

OH! forgot to say WELL DONE DR BEES!

Hello readers. I am Count Orangular - latest addition to ze fruity faces bunch. I am a blood orange from Transylvania and like nothing better than munching on a juicy apple - Waahahaahaaaaa. No, seriously, I love all my fruity friends and hope you will give us good homes when we are let loose on the world next week!

YAY! I've finally finished some of my WIPs (still have a big pile, but slowly getting through it!) Here are just a couple of pictures of what I've been making for my etsy shop (opening 1st April!!!!)

First we have 3 felt monkey face brooches (top to bottom):: Mooch, Chippo and Max and a learner badge. Then the 7 ipod nano cases that seem to have taken forever to finish. Hopefully in the sun today I'll be able to take a few nice photos of the fruity faces once I've finished the last one...!

...or 'WOOT! we can send emails again!' YAY! Phew! I was beginning to think I was never going to have any contact again with the outside world, but J got it sorted this afternoon and we're all working again! He also downloaded the drivers I needed to be able to use my trusty old scanner (pre-digicam!) so I may be able to scan some patterns into PDFs once I get my finger pulled out! :)

J's family have been visiting us over the Easter weekend so not much crafting going on. I finished a chunky scarf I'd forgotten about and ALMOST finished the ipod cases. We did re-felt the shed between us and it looks great, hopefully it'll withstand the windy weather we've been having! Also got some of the front garden tidied too. My Dad is coming over on Wednesday to help with a few more jobs while I'm still on school holidays.

*Over night the birds have already pooed on the nice new roof!

Photos to be added tomorrow when we will hopefully *crosses fingers* have some of the predicted sun! I've been reading up on the craft forum site about Esty shops. They say to add a few things at a time so you stay top of the 'new listings' bit. So, with that in mind, I will add a few things each day from the 1st April until I've put all of this batch on. So far 10 fruit, 1 tomato, 5 felt brooches and 7 ipod cases are practically ready to go, just need a few more photos...!

Just in-case anyone is trying to get in contact with us, we're having problems with our email. It seems BT have been mucking about with settings and stuff and we need to talk to a real person to find out why we can no longer use our own domain name for emails :(

Craft-wise, I've been a busy bee today and almost finished the last of the items I'm making for Etsy...I'll post all about them once they are in the shop. I'm surprised I've managed not to post so far! There is a bit of a felt theme to it all....!

Well done Joy! Rolley Rabbit is included in your goodie box! I did use the random number generator from last time and pressed print screen, but I have no idea where it was saved too! There were 12 lovely comments and number 3 was chosen. Sorry to all of you who missed out. I'm going to try and make this prize draw thingy a bi-monthly event to start with and see how I get on making prizes for it!

In the mean time, please continue to enjoy my blog and make comments. They are always appreciated and I try and reply to every one.

I am just about set up with my Etsy shop, all I need to do is make a few more things, write descriptions and take more photos ready for the 1st of April grand opening! The aim is to add new items on (or as close to as possible) the 1st of every month. I had a lovely time at Centre Parcs last weekend, thank you all that asked. Mostly I'm looking forward to a week off at half term and a chance to relax and finish some projects! Bye for now!

Happy almost the weekend! I'm off to Centre Parcs this weekend for Joy's Hen/30th birthday party so there won't be much in the way of crafting going on. I will however, start off my EASTER PRIZE DRAW early. The rules are simple....all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS POST and leave contact details or check back on Wednesday 19th March. Anyone can enter: friends, family, anyone who has won before, lurkers (those of you who read but don't comment!), my mum! Here are a few of the prizes - I've one more to finish when I get back after the weekend. I will pay the postage to anywhere in the world so come along, don't be shy!

NB: rolley chick (grapefruit sized) and easter brooches. 

Most of the fruity faces are finished and photographed ready to be put on Etsy next week.  I think so far Tomato Tom is my favourite with Geoff the Grapefruit a close second! I've just got two more to sew faces on then I can make a start on some felt phone/ipod/stuff cases.