Tutorials

Ever since I wrote my first tutorial on how to make your own twill tape labels I've been itching to write some more. With time being of the essence there has just been no room for discovering new avenues for expressing my craft. But with August bringing more time to dedicate to bagladee I am looking forward to really getting my teeth into some new projects.

I know that I love reading blogs and find it really interesting when they include tutorials, I always like to learn new techniques and see how other people make things. Do you like to read tutorials? I have a couple of ideas of projects to write about but I was wondering if there was anything in particular that you would like to see? If you'd like to leave any suggestions I'll see what I can come up with.


Now I'd like you to meet another member of the bagladee family....these are felt flower brooches that are available here. I love making these brooches, the best part is choosing the combinations of felt. I can lose hours hand stitching them :D

Viva Madrid!

Oh what a lovely trip I have had, even after all the rigmarole of actually getting away it was sooooooo worth it. We had an amazing time. We took some bus tours, walked LOTS, ate at some really lovely restaurants, took the tour around the Bernabau Stadium, had a day in the national park, spent an afternoon on the terrace soaking up the sun, did a little shopping and of course went to see the Red Bull Xfighters.

It will be showing on Dave (sky channel 111) in the next couple of weeks, it was totally awesome the atmosphere was unbelievable. The Spanish sure do know how to show their support in style. More on that to come with some photos.

The weather was absolutely glorious, most days 33 degrees and even the evenings were about 30, it was so nice to walk around in dresses and shorts all the time. Not like here in the UK where that is a rarity.

The best part was getting the chance to spend quality time with C. We laughed LOTS, chatted constantly, and soaked up the atmosphere together. We're both sun lovers so we made the most of the sunshine too by spending all day and most nights out doors.

I am now completly and utterly rested and recouperated and raring to get started on my next order......its my first day at part time on Monday and there are some surprises in store. Hope you didn't miss me too much ;)

France air controllers' strike disrupts European travel

This is the reason why I am still here in old blighty.....and the ranting begins!!!

We got up super early to drive to Luton this morning, from Nottingham, to find that the flight was cancelled (yes we could have checked before hand but since we had text updates set up on our mobiles we didn't think necessary). There was nothing on the news about the strikes??? We have battled all day to try and get some flights and finally after we had travelled back to Notts we've managed to book a flight for Friday. Which does mean that we miss the first night of the Redbull Xfighters.......I'm soooooooooo angry.

I just have to cross my fingers, toes and eyes that we do make it there in time on Friday to see the final.

Oh and did I mention that we did get a text to say the flight was cancelled, bearing in mind that we were due to fly at 1pm and had been at the airport since 11am, at 12:45pm!!!!! Now tell me what use is that??? And if you ever fly from Luton don't expect any of the staff to sort anything out for you.....the only answer that we got was to "Go round to the Internet Cafe and try and book another flight". Which was £1 for every 10minutes, so after some lunch we were a burger king heavier but £15 lighter, I know!! And it wasn't even fast broadband either!!

I'm pleased that I'm home, some poor buggers that were there with their children are now stranded in London desperately trying to find accommodation until they can fly!!!

I understand that these people (traffic controllers etc) are just trying to protect and fight for their jobs but when its at the expense of hard working peoples well earned holidays its just not on!!!

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest, back to work for the day tomorrow so that I can have Tuesday off for the extra day flying.

Excited

A quick post before I jet off on my holiday, I know I wont get a chance to post tomorrow just because of the amount of things I need to get sorted between now and then. I am so excited to be going to Madrid, part of it is because its a beautiful city and its one of the European cities I have not yet visited....but also because the whole reason we booked the trip was so that we could go and see the Spanish leg of the Red bull Xfighters tour.

This lovely clutch bag is Monoflora and she is available to buy here.

5 days of being romantic with Chris, now there is something not often done! ;) We're just so busy all the time, we get wrapped up in what were doing rather than each other. So it will be nice to be 'lovey dovey' for a change. We have cat sitters organised, passports and currency sorted so I guess I'd better get cracking with the packing!!!! I have some scheduled posts organised!! Yes get me Miss all organised :D and I will be back soon, in person to show some photos of my trip.
See you all soon. xxx

Knitted comfort

Before I started to write this post I trawled back through my posts to find something specific and was amazed by how much I have written on here just in the last year. Some posts made me smile and made me remember some of the great things that have happened and then some posts made me wrinkle my forehead remembering some of the not so good times.

One of the posts I had written (was embarrassingly) back in March 2009 not sure if you were a reader back then or remember. Where I started to knit lots of rectangles which would eventually be a blanket for my beloved cat Nell, she adores anything knitted. At certain intervals she has actually tried to curl up on it for a quick nap, but it just wasn't big enough for a proper sleep.

After the last order went out I thought about all the projects that I have started but are yet to finish, this blanket was one of them. Since I am one for not sitting and doing nothing whilst on a break from crafting I thought I'd sit and do a little bit more of the blanket whilst catching up on TV programmes and a couple of films I've been meaning to watch, Young Frankenstein, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs and The Men who stare at goats.

And after all the attempts Nell made to try and sit on the blanket while I was stitching it together........

Here it is!!

She seems pretty content with it!! I'm so pleased she likes it.......she was curled up on it for about 2 hours this afternoon. Bless. I'm just sorry that its took me over a year to finish it for her. Hopefully the rest of my projects wont take so long :D

Creative work space

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. I'm still reeling from it all and find moments in the day where I stop and think to myself....due to my little business I can now work part time. I'm soooooo excited about it all.

I thought you might like to see my studio....and because I'm such an honest Geordie lass I have decided to show you before and after. The before was just after I finished my last order. This is the norm for me. Get creative, make a mess, complete, tidy up!! And so it goes in a cycle. I've never been one for being a 'neat and tidy' crafter, just ask my Mam. She will tell you just how messy I am. But I always love a good tidy up at the end.

And now were back to a tidy studio, this weekend will see the start of a new order and some new bags (very excited). And on Saturday I off for a lovely shopping day with a friend. Must pick up a few things for my holiday next week.

Reveal

News:News:News:News:News:News

Ok I can finally spill the beans. There's been something brewing in the pipeline at work since early May. Unusually it has been quite a struggle sorting it out. But today everything came together and.......

I've just signed my new contract to go PaRt TiMe!!!!!

Yes that's right, I said it part time, I still can't quite believe it. There are so many things I can't wait to get started on. It will also mean that I will get my evenings and weekends back which will be nice. This is something that I've been wanting to do for quite sometime but never actuallY thought it would happen. Its going to take some adjusting to but as always I have it all planned out.

How exciting, I'm such a lucky girl :D I hope you'll all stick with me through this time of change. And a big thanks for being such a huge network of support for me so far....here's to a very exciting future!

I WON A PRIZE!!

I actually won a prize!!! I think in my life time I can count on one hand the amount of times I have entered something and won. Over on the Moo blog back in May I left a comment on their "Whats in a brand name?" post. They have some pretty useful discussions going on between comments and I was picked as one of the favourites. I won 200 free business cards of my own design. As they were the larger business cards as apposed to the mini moo cards I normally buy I thought I'd try something different and have some shots of my new collection on the back.

What do you think?

I was planning on doing a big Tah Dah post today with some exciting news but it will have to wait until all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted.

Frankenstein,

I eventually got my day of rest today and as I'd hoped I did just what I wanted. A lovely lie in with a cup of tea brought to me by C. Bless, he'd even got up and fed the cats so that I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn.

We then set off to get some jobs done, apart from because it was so beautiful outside and the sun definitely had his hat on it didn't feel like I was having to DO something. Driving round in the sun is a rarity so I enjoyed every minute. When we got back I sat in the sunshine and even had a little snooze. Later on when the cloud started creeping over I came inside and watched Young Frankenstein......

I love this film but it has been ages/years since I had last seen it, so after buying it for a bargain £1 I thought I'd get comfy on the sofa and enjoy.

Gene Wilder is hilarious in this film but my favourite has to be.....

Marty Feldman who sadly is no longer with us. He is so funny as Igor :D Not long after the film finished I treated myself to an afternoon nap. I soooooo needed it. Feeling refreshed I got round to dyeing my hair and sorting some dinner.......so as I go to fill my glass with Rose I will say good night.

Normal service will resume shortly

Brace yourselves this may be a long one. Over the last week or so I feel like there has been something missing from my blog, that something I think was me. I was here in body but not really mind. There's been so much going on my weeks are kinda blurring into one. I thought I'd sit down tonight and have a proper catch up with you all.


This lovely lady is Livvy, she and some more items from my website went off on their travels today as my biggest order to date. Part of it was delivered at the start of the week and I can proudly say that the recipients were really pleased with their first delivery so smiles all round. I was extra pleased after all the sleep I've deprived myself of lately, hearing my customers lovely comments made it all worth it!

If you are interested in this bag I have one left and its available here. Having such a large order to complete really made me realise that I'm going to love spending more time helping bagladee blossom (more on that to come very soon) then I will be able to say I truly LOVE my job.

To say that I really need a rest would be an understatement.....and on the 21st July that is exactly what I'm going to be having. We fly out to Madrid on the 21st for 5 days and while we are there we're going to see Red Bull XFighters in Las Ventas. We went to the London leg last year and it was fantastic. We heard that the atmosphere in Madrid is amazing so we decided to book up this year and go. I've always wanted to go to Madrid so it will be great trip I cant wait. We are also lucky to be going to the London leg again this year too which is in August. How exciting :D

Things have been so different in the bagladee house hold in the last 5 months. C sold his business and is currently completing more renovation work on the house. So I kinda have a house husband at the moment, and I use this term loosely. It doesn't include any domestic chores....Oh no. But we'll not get into that. He'll be pursuing a new career later on in the year. And for me, well a word to describe it would be bedlam, or mayhem??? Yes those two just about cover it, working full time on the day job, then trying to work full time on bagladee (hence not much sleep) and trying to keep a constantly dusty house ( because of all the work being carried out) clean. I'm going to spend this weekend just on me.

There is going to be sleeping in, cups of tea in bed, dvd's to watch, hair to dye, nails to paint and some wine to drink......this weekend. NO SEWING ALLOWED!!!

Something will be happening in the next few weeks that should allow normal service to resume in all aspects of life for me. I have big plans for my blog and website and I'm looking forward to adding some new bags to my collection (the fabric is soooo gorgeous).

And on that note I'm off to have an early'ish night for the last day of the week tomorrow at 1pm tomorrow afternoon the weekend is all mine.

thanks for hanging in there :D

Dear eyelids....

....I know that you are sooooo tired after me keeping you up til 2:30am and then rudely awoke you at 6:30am this morning but please, please could you manage a few more hours and stop me from falling asleep. I am by no means complaining, Oh no.....I've had a manic but enjoyably busy weekend and yes not much sleep but its OK. I love to sew!!! And at the moment until I can get things into place there are a lot of things overlapping. Not leaving much time for sleeping or relaxing.

There are so many tasks left to be completed and silly things like the day job getting in the way. But I promise that I will let you sleep properly after Wednesday and not disturb you too much. There is a holiday and some other good news (fingers crossed) coming so you can be rest assured that I will not abuse you again (don't hold me to that!!) by depriving you from rest.

thanks muchly.
a very tired bagladee :D xx

to my readers: I am exhausted but I'm not letting it get to me just yet, I have a lovely 5 days in Madrid all booked for the 21st July and I cant wait!!!! Lots of rest, shopping, eating amazing food, spending time with my gorgeous fella and a break from work!! Yippeeeeee!!! Viva Espania...........

When you're stressed, what do you do?

I had a quiet 5 minutes to myself so decided to take this.....

and add it to here.

It was quite therapeutic and did keep me calm for all of 5 minutes until I started thinking about stuff and was Miss Stress A lot all over again. I cant really say just yet because I don't want to jinx things but there maybe something on the horizon to help my lack of time (And no sorry ladies I did not find a time machine, ha ha).

Have a great weekend. x