I dont do nice....

......i only do camo, kitsch,maybe a bit tacky?
My mothers tree is devine, its all colour co-ordinated and lush, its ivory and gold heaven on a tree. But dare I say it.... A little to boring for my taste? (sorry mom).
I like kitsch, tacky, garish, I love the phrase "camp as christmas". I love tacky birds, pound shop decorations and wonky fairys, I like home made by the kids. So now ive given you fair warning here are my trees in all their white fakery goodness.
















So there you have it two camp and proud trees. Im sorry I havnt been around having a 3rd child has really been a massive shock to the system but im getting more organised (sort of) so hopefully ill be back on track soon

All thats left to say is Have a wonderful christmas and a fun filled new year and ill see you on the other side :)
X Becci X

my christmas makes

ive been a busy bee making xmas decorations. mostly for myself, family and friends but i do have a few left over so ive popped them in to my folksy shop, you can have a little peek here if you like.

 ive done some bunting (obviously)

 some hearts

 and some birdies

ive used my lovely new sewing machine with its fancy stitches. i will do a review of my machine soon because it is so utterly fabulous i love it. i never even dreamed that an automatic needle threader could give me so much joy.

what have you all made for xmas?

take care

x Becci x

my first craft fair

This sunday just gone i attended my first craft fair as a seller. I was totally pooping myself. Im a very nervous person i dont really cope under pressure and can easley go in to a melt down but i am finding that actually if i push myself a little i can do all those things i thought i couldnt do.

     Anyway this craft fair was being run by a friend of mine so it was a perfect starter fair so i put my 50s inspired dress on, loaded up the car and tootled on down to womborne. I set up my stall ok, i met lots of lovely people but it wasnt really too busy so i didnt take much money. i dont mind though because i am now no longer a craft fair virgin so doing more crft fairs should be a breeze (thats the idea anyway).

 Here are the pikkies of my stall, i think they maybe needed a bit more height?

anyway im thinking of maybe running a craft fair abit closer to where i live as there is nothing (and i mean nothing......zilch....zero) creative going on in poor old codsall villiage, so if anyone has any tips on running a craft fir id love to hear em.

right im off, frankie needs feeding...........again

look at his cute little dicky bow and smile. how can i say no to that ?

take care

x Becci x



Baby Frankie update

Hi all, just a quick update from Bunny castle. Baby Frankie has settled right in he loves mummy cuddles, eating and sleeping he is 6 weeks old this week and has just started to smile although he only frowns when there is a camera pointed at him. Iv not had time to pee never mind do anything crafty but hubby very kindly took all 3 of the kids to his moms today and i had 6 wonderful hours to myself. i will do a post dedicated to my sunday makes when i get chance, i dont think ive ever got so much crafting done in one day! I also managed to work out how to use my new brother machine and its ace, i cant believe that i survived before without my automatic thread cutter and needle threader.

Here are some pics to keep you entertained........

 this is the massive nappy cake that my mom made me for frankie, she is so creative, thanks mom.

Frankie looking very co-ordinated in his purple polka dot pram (yes thats right i said purple polka dot pram, can you guess why i chose this pram over all the others available?) with the blanket i crocheted for him.

Frankie having a snooze in his ring sling, he loves his sling.

Frankie rockin out with daddy

Ok so theres your lot, i have been tryig to comment on your blogs but blogger hasnt been letting me. i asure you that i have been trying to keep up with you all, reading your blogs is the only thing that keeps me sane during the many many hours i seem to spend breast feeding :)

Take care

X Becci X

He is here

Hi everybody, sorry I havnt been around. I finaly had the baby on satuday 1st October at 9.25pm. He was 9 days late and weighed 9lb 6oz, he is my little chunky2 monkey. The labour was only 4 hours long from the first contraction so it was super fast, I managed on just gas and air and we were home tucked up in bed by 2 am. I am totaly in love with my new little man.

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In other news I have just got me a snazzy new embroidery sewing machine, its the brother se400 I imported it from america, ive only had time to do a bit of normal sewing on it so far but im already very impressed. I will post about it when I get more time. Got to go frankie is a boobie monster and is demanding to be fed :) take care. X becci X

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Autumn swap

i recently took part in an Autumn swap organised by Blueberry Heart and i got paired with a lovely lady called Madison, check out her blog HERE.

anyway she sent me my parcel and i was so excited that i just ripped all the paper off without taking a picture but i promise you that is was very well wrapped with some lovely floral paper.

i was so spoilt by her, she sent me, an orange pot/candle holder which looks lovely on my shelves in my conservatory, some decorative pegs which will come in very useful when I've finally sorted out my inspiration line, a lovely notebook which I'm going to use to document all my crafty ideas, some brilliant handmade apples....not just one but a whole bunch of em. and last but not least 2 absolutely fabulous and very well made cardies for my new baby, i was really blown away by the quality of these and am very envious as i cant even hold knitting needles never mind create such fab items.

i did send Madison a box of things but because this was my first swap and i have a  bad case of baby brain (memory like a sieve) i forgot to picture them, i hope she liked them though.

I'm a big fan of swaps now and i intend of joining allot more, i really enjoyed looking at Madison's blog and trying to find things that i thought she may like. They are a great way to get to now each other and spread the bloggy love.

Thanks for reading

x Becci x

my new makes

Hello all in blog land, what lovely fantastic weather?! its more like June than September.

I've been a busy bunny this week, my baby is now 5 days overdue and I'm so so bored, so i got the sewing machine out and made some bits and bobs for him.

first up is a wet bag, its supposed to be for reusable nappies and they are really big in America but i will just use it for wet and dirty clothing.

its made from a purple polka dot cotton and is supposed to have a fabric called  PUL inside, but seeing as this was my first wet bag and i had no idea how well it would turn out i just brought a cheep £1.75 shower curtain from Asda and cut it up. it worked well and wasn't hard to put together at all so i will definitely be making some for family. the zip was a little tricky to begin with as i haven't installed a zip since i was in college (nearly 14 yrs ago!) but it was a bit like riding a bike and i didn't forget how it was supposed to be done.

isn't it funny how fearless you are when you are younger? when i was in college i would sew up zips, trousers, corsets etc without thinking about it but now i have to read at least 3 tutorials and watch one YouTube video per item before i even choose the fabric!

 next up is my new obsession, burp cloths, again i think they are more of an American thing as we just have muslin's. I've made up loads with loads of different backings to see which works best. I've been having trouble sewing with the terry toweling so any tips on how to do this will be warmly welcome. Ive just been stabilising it with iron on interfacing to stop it being so stretchy, the only problem with this is that the terry fabric isn't as soft afterwards.

 and lastly I've been making personalised bunting for one of my dads Friend's, it turned out really well and it made me think that maybe i would like to try for another girl after this one is born (as the one that is due is definitely a boy).....and then i realised that lovely bunting and pretty dresses are not enough of an excuse to have a child and that i was being very silly indeed.

i hope you are all well and that the next time i post i will have a new baby to show off.

thank you all for your well wishes and nice comments on my previous blog posts

x Becci x

Fabric crazy

Ok so I think I am actually fabric mad.i sold a load of things on ebay so I could buy some irregular choice shoes but instead I ended up spending it on fabric, what the hell is wrong with me?

I ordered this lovely fabric from an ebay shop called sew lala yesterday and it arrived today how amazing is that?



Anyway on friday night I put the sewing machine away and promised my hubby that I wouldnt get it back out again untill the baby is born and settled, well the sewing machine came back out on monday morning and no the baby is not born, I am sewing mad. Infact he is 3 days overdue and im one fed up, hot and grumpy mommy/crafter.



I hope you are all well and full of inspiration, and I hope I can reach the sewing machine a bit better soon.
x Becci x

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Im still here.....

.......im just mega tired. Im still preggers, im due on saturday. I saw the midwife today and she said that the head is engaged so we are just waiting for my body to get with the programme. Unfortunatly I went 10 days over with both of my other kids so im not hopefull. Thing 2 started nursery this week and has taken to it well but im so unbelievably huge I cant reach the sewing machine....which is making me very grumpy, its sods law that I get 3 hours to myself of a morning and I cant use it to sew. I may go back to crochet, anyone got any free and easy baby patterns? Ive made a few personalised buntings recently mostly for gifts but ive enjoyed it. Ive also joined a crafty forum over on the baby centre, its great but a little quiet sometimes, can anyone reccomend any busy crafty forums? And last but not least.....ive been trying to post comments on all of your lovely blogs for weeks now and blogger just wont let me. Ill keep trying I promise. Right you cant post a blog post without some pics so here they are....some personalised bunting.

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Ive been a busy bunny

Ive gone burp cloth mad! Now that the kids have gone back to school I have found that I have a bit more time for sewing, and although I cant really reach the sewing machine properly and it kills my back after a while I am loving it.
Ive made some double sided cotton ones with a nice absorbent middle and im really happy with them, ive also made some matching bandana bibs. Woop woop gooooo meeee.

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Sorry I havnt been around much....

.......the end of the school holidays is here, horray! So hopefully in the next few weeks ill be around a bit more. Thing 1 starts back tomorrow but thing 2 doesnt start back full time until the end of september so ive got alot of pratting about at induction mornings on and off for the next two weeks which I think is just silly, thing 2 wants to get straight back in to it. Meanwhile thing 3 is getting massive, here is a pic of me taken 2 weeks ago when I was 36 weeks.....see massive!



We went for a scan to check that my pesky placenta had moved up enough for me to have a normal birth and it has, whilst we where there the lovely sonographer took some measurements so that she could estimate the birth weight and we are having another whopper! The baby is approximatly 7ish lbs so by the time im 40 weeks it will be approx 9lbs or over. Im not surprised as thing 1 was 9lb 8oz and thing 2 was 9lb 1oz I was just hoping I may have a smaller one this time. Oh well. Anyway with this being my 3rd and it being another boy (no lovely homemade frilly dresses this time) I havnt had alot of inspiration for making anything. I made the cowboy taggie and that was it. Well at the weekend I was browsing pinterest (i think I was browsing for hours) and I came across some lovely burp cloths so I had a go at making my own.



What do you think? I love that little moustache logo I know its silly but boys things are so boring.



I also made 2 bandana bibs, I love these too they look like cowboys neckties. I made 2 sizes as I just winged it and made it up as I went along.



I know they are not perfect but thats the beauty of handmade and no other little boy in the world will have the same bib and burp cloth. Hubby laughed at them when I showed him, he thinks they are discusting. Unfortunatly hubby is very much pitched in the pale blue camp when it comes to baby things........boringgggggggg! :)

What have you guys been up to recently? I will check out your blogs soon and leave lots of lovely comments, I promise.

Take care
x Becci x

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Wow the time is flying. only 2ish weeks left of the holidays and only 5 weeks until my due date....eek! Because of the holidays i haven't had much time to craft or blog which is a shame, I've been trying to get myself organised for this new baby and the kids organised for school. Ive also been trying to organise myself and my own life, I've been thinking a lot about what i want to do for work when i finish my maternity leave, at the moment i am self employed but I'm not 100% sure i want it to stay that way. i dunno, i haven't come to any conclusions, I'm very indecisive and a bit flighty.


I've joined in my very first swap, the partners will be announced in a few days and I'm very excited, I've never done one before so any tips would be great.

take a look at the swap here

I've also rediscovered pinterest  I've been a member for ages now but I've only recently got the app for my ipod touch which was a bad idea because now i spend even less time making things and even more time looking at lovely things other people make.

here are some really nice images that i found and have pinned them in to my inspirations pin bored on pinterest.

 i just love the colours, i cant get enough of them, i think its because my living room is black, white and red and i hate hate hate it but hubby wont let me redecorate.

if you would like you can follow me on pinterest here

I've also been looking around blogs, i love reading blogs, especially ones about other peoples work space or handbag contents, I'm so nosey its unreal. Ive also noticed that the more popular blogs offer things to the readers like tutorials or giveaways. I'm not very good at articulating so I'm not sure about writing a tutorial, also I'm not sure that i could offer anything original to make.

ill have a little think about what i could do to contribute the the crafty blog sphere.

sorry this post is a bit naff and lacking in substance but I've really done nothing but look after the kids, what a hard life? ;)

x Becci x

Charity shop find

Omg omg I had to share this brilliant charity shop find with you, hubby definatly wont appreciate it and the kids hate me going in to charity shops, so who better to share this with than all my lovely bloggy friends.

Isnt she lovely? I saw her from through the window and practically knocked people over to get to her. I snapped her up and checked her over for any cracks or broken bits and there were none hurrah! All the while I was checking her there was a man looking over my shoulder giving me those put the item down vibes, not a chance she was mine, and at £1.50 I think this may be the bargain of the century.

Ive put her on my shelves just waiting for some lovely things to put in her, im thinking buttons.

Yes I am aware that ive just dedicated a whole post to a small blue glass chicken but I dont care, I love it that much.

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The Tudors self catering holiday home, Torquay

My holiday review of

The Tudors Holiday House- Sleeps up to 14 in Torquay

Wow what can i say? the house itself is stunning if not a little odd in its layout although in sure that's probably something that the owners cannot change.

 The house is set out on 4 floors, one floor being the basement where you get a washing machine and tumble dryer and an extra fridge and freezer although i don't think its used often as when we went to use it we found food in the freezer with last years sell by date on it! we also didn't use the tumble dryer because you get slapped with a charge at the end of the holiday if you used too much electricity which i think is disgusting considering how much we paid to rent the house for a week.

the ground floor consisted of a dining room, kitchen and two reception rooms which is fabulous but again a little strangely set out, i actually spent my whole time in the house thinking of ways i could make the house  better and a little more user friendly. the kitchen could do with being a little bigger and the decor is very dated but not in a good way but although a little small the kitchen was well kitted out with cutlery, pans etc and it had 2 dishwashers which was brilliant for a lazy family like ours. (who wants to do washing up on your holidays anyway?). The TV in the living room was tiny and i know that you don't go on holiday to watch the TV but my grandma and grandad love their soaps and they are both in their 80,s so a little TV time is OK, if only you could see the screen.

we had the room at the top of the house with an en suite which was very modern and looked new but our bedroom was a disappointment, it was two single beds pushed together and not even made up to look like a double, it also had a massive mould patch on the wall where they had obviously had a leak and not bothered to sort it out. There was an areal port sticking out of the roof but no TV and the wifi was a joke.

The week went on along the same lines, the house is lovely and because it was so old you do expect creaking and noises and dated decor but it became obvious that the caretakers didn't actually take much care of the property, just little things like peeling plaster and a lick of paint here and there wouldn't go amiss. The garden was a little bit shabby and the pond looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years, i wouldn't let the kids go near it in case they caught something from the stagnant water. As for the games room....well it was a storage room with a table tennis table in it. The house had been empty for at least 1 week before we arrived so why where these little jobs not done?

*sigh* what can i say the house is lovely and is perfectly situated for the shops, harbour and beach but so many little things let it down. if you went to a hotel and found it in this condition you would immediately complain and demand to move to a better room so why put up with it when renting a self catering house.

I'm rambling arnt i? so in summery

the house is lovely but needs attention. I would not stay there again as i know that you can get better accommodation in torquay for far less money.

Yummy pie

My fab neighbours gave me some courgettes and marrows the other day. They grew them in their garden. Im not very confident when it comes to experimenting with food so I popped a few in to a good old fashioned cottage pie. Yum. I know it was yummy because the kids ate every last little bit and my kids are my harshest critics. I have a few left so im off to browse through my cook books to find a nice recipie. What is your favorite cougette recipie? Have a yummy day everybody

Becci x

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im a crafing black hole......

...... i have nothing in me, no inspiration, no projects i want to finish or start, nothing. I feel like i spend so much time cleaning up after other people that i have no energy left for anything and i don't want to mess up the clean with crafty gubbins. *sigh*  I'm in a proper rut.

This wouldn't be a problem really as I'm on maternity leave and have another 6 weeks till baby appears so i have lots of time to regain my mojo...however....i am selling at a craft fair on the 20th of this month and although i have a few bits and pieces to sell i don't have anything of note, all the stock looks a little disjointed and there is no theme to my work. Also i have never sold at a craft fair before and I'm pooping myself a bit, i know that this is a reaction to me being nervous and shy but i just don't want to do it anymore, i feel like everything i create is pants and I'm not really enjoying it as much as i used to, as you probably guessed I'm not good even under the slightest pressure.

Have any of you sold at craft fairs before? any tips?

its such a shame I'm in such a down mood because there are such lovely things to look at and inspire....

i saw this in issue 4 of handmade living and it sang to me, if i had £30 to spare i would buy it now.

and this stunning skirt from clothkits.com, i wish i would hurry up and win the lottery.

i think i just need a change maybe, i feel like I've been waiting for this baby forever and as i get bigger and clumsier and tireder (is that a proper word?) i feel more and more crap and uninspired.

what do you guys do when you feel a little like a black hole?

Take care

x Becci x