But I want to buy it now!

***having a childish tantrum***

On one side of the sewing room studio I'm going to have a little table in one of the corners with a table lamp and a chair, I've seen this one in Ikea which I love.

I'm also looking for a chair for my desk, I really love this one but I also like this one which is the same as the cream one in our office.

And to go beside the little table and lamp I would really like this lounger/rocker, it looks lovely and comfy for sitting doing bit hand sewing. :)

Only one problem, I can only go and buy them once the room is finished (ridiculous I know, you'd think I'd be able to wait!?!?!) but I want to now!! :( The foot is firmly put down though......not til the room is finished!!

Paris - part 2

....even though I had visited some beautiful sights in Paris the Louvre has to be my all time favourite. Ever since I was little I had wanted to visit it......and finally I got to do it.

It was a perfect day, blistering sun and a clear blue sky. Of course there was no 'what shall we see first?' or 'lets work our way through this part first', I was straight in there with 'I want to see the Mona Lisa!!!!!' And so we did!!!

Not a great photo, as it was mounted on a wall in the middle of the room, with thick glass in front of it, a huge wooden frame around that, then a barrier, then a roped off section then about 50 people all with flashing cameras squeezing in to get a glimpse.

After a lot of walking round (which I must say I was in agony any way as I was sporting a humongous blister on my right heel which was painful to walk on) we came outside to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the sunshine. Outside the Louvre is of course the 2 glass pyramids and quite a few water pools (obviously for ornamental reason) in which everyone was dipping their feet into. It looked like bliss as it was so warm and my feet were throbbing slightly.

So I joined them too and had a bit of a splash in the water!! Aaahhhhhhhhh!!! Lovely and cool.

Interesting fact: They say it would take 3 months of days and nights in the Louvre to see every piece of art but you could only afford to look at each piece for 3 seconds to manage it!!!!!

On the last day we took a stroll down the very populated 'sex shop' road that leads down to the Moulin Rouge. You cant really get a feel of it during the day but still worth a quick photo. One thing I would like to do next time in Paris is to go and see a show.......I've heard the 'Crazy Horse' is a good place to see a show but a bit 'riskay' if you know what I mean. Well.....you're in Paris!!!

It was off on the tube, which I have to say I'm very impressed by, to Sacre Coeur. Such a beautiful church perched on the side of the hill. Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

And what an amazing view from the front steps of the church.

Just before we were due to go back to the hotel and pick our bags up to head off to Gare Du Nord, we took the tube up to La Defense. Which is part of the 'new city' this is where all the new high rise buildings are. And this is the new arc they built to mimic the Arc De Triomphe which if you stand right in the middle of this arc and look straight forward you can see it.

OK that's the end of my photos (well not really as I said there were over 160 of the blighters) and I hope you enjoyed my little tour of my mini break. I hope to travel back to Paris again soon. Its such a lovely city and with the Eurostar now running so frequent it would be silly not too.

Vive la France!! :)

Paris - part 1

Isn't it beautiful? I have spent at least the last hour trying to chose a minimum number of photos to show you.....well how difficult was that!!!

In the fear that I was going to bore you all to tears with my holiday slide show ;) I've tried to whittle it down to a nice bite size few.....OH who am I kidding!!! After I was kindly informed by the other half that I had taken 162 photo's in 2 and 1/2 days, I thought I'd split it over 2 posts with just my very, very favourite photos.

We couldn't have asked for better weather while we were in Paris it was glorious (as you can see from the photo's) lovely blue skys and a just right temperature. I've been to France before but never to Paris and I have to say I was absolutely smitten by the place, I loved it.

Notre Dame was as spectacular as I thought it would be, although it looked awesome in the sunshine there was a part of me was wondering how much more spectacular it would look on a stormy night with lightening in the background? Very fitting with the Gothic architecture.

Now it wasn't until I uploaded the photo's to my computer that I realised how many photos I had actually taken of the Eiffel Tower (probably as many as I did of the Statue of Liberty when I was in New York). I think because of it being in so many films etc I was a little bit in awe when I got to see it for real.

And yes, we did make it all the way to the top and what a view!!! We went up just as the sun was setting over Paris and it was very pretty basking in the orange light. I did have a touch of vertigo which was hilarious when we had come back down and went for a meal, I felt like I was on a boat (or a bit tipsy) which was very strange.

I managed to sneak another from the top of the Concorde.

Now I have seen many photos of the Arch De Triomphe as my Dad had taken many on the trip he had made when I was very little. But I didn't think it would be as fun as it was......if you have heard about the round about (so they call it) which the arc sits you will know why I say this.

There are 12, yes 12 junctions off this and this is the only area in Paris where if you have an accident you are not insured by ANY COMPANY!!!!!

And from what we witnessed there are no rules to approaching said round about, its just every man for himself!!!!! We must have spent about 40 minutes just watching the traffic!! I have never seen anything like it in my life. Some people were brave and some were just plain stupid....but it made for great entertainment :D

And to finish the post tonight another photo of the Eiffel tower but just as the lights were switched on, I think this is my favourite photo..........back tomorrow with the second installment of photos. Hope you're all having a great weekend. xx

I'm back!!

Bonjour.......j'adore Paris!! We arrived back home very late last night and we had a fantastic time. I haven't had a chance to get the photo's off my camera yet but I will do a proper holiday post tomorrow.

It took me nearly an hour and a half to catch up on all the blogging I had missed while I was away, there were lots of great posts to read :) so now I have done all the holiday washing and got back into the cycle of normal post holiday life :(

I thought I'd post some cheery photos of one of my projects that I have got 'on the go' at the moment. Its going to be a cushion for my sewing room. I made some brightly coloured templates in photoshop for the flowers.

And cut them out of felt in the colours I'm decorating the room. See you tomorrow for a Paris post.

I must dash!!!

Only time for a very quick post. I'm off to Paris tomorrow (omg how on earth did that creep up on me so fast) and with everything that's been going on lately.......I am in a complete spin, clothes to iron, clothes to find, where have those shoes gone, cats to sort, where the hell is my passport!!! house to kind of tidy, emails to send....the list goes on and did I mention I'm going in the morning Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!

Oh well I'm only away til Friday so its OK. Just pack your clothes woman and you're set.

See you when I get back, Au revoir ! :D

p.s please see my previous post for update on Race for Life (there's lots of photos) xx

Race for Life 2009

We made our way to the race not long after lunch time and there were lots of people already there, after we had dropped off the bags of clothes at the donation station we went and wrote a little something on the wall of thoughts (huge tarpaulin walls which you could write messages on with a marker pen).

More people gathered and we did a warm up and then watched a short film about Cancer and some of the people who have suffered.

Looking quite composed before the race ;)

This is my good friend Andrea who has raced with me for the last 3 years.

Making our way over to the runners starting place (blue flag)

Waiting to go through the start

Managed to grab a quick photo of all the runners running through the start.....there were quite a few!!!

And here we are with our little goodie bags at the end!! Phew!! Oh and of course our medals. Andrea is eating one of the yummy granola bars that were in our bags :)

Couldn't resist taking this one....there were lots racing in pink tutu's and fluffy cow boy hats :)

Well done everyone that took part you were all amazing!!!!

More progress...

Thanks for all the good luck messages for tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it :D I thought I'd get back to normal posting today and show you what progress we've made on the studio/sewing room.

All the lighting is now wired in and with the skylight leaves me with lots of light for sewing.

Even the little itty bitty radiator is all plumbed in and working, so it will be lovely and snug in the winter.

Next step is to finish plaining and sanding the beams which are a lovely black colour from the old coal fires that used to be in the house. They've started to come up really nice so I think they'll just need a little coat of laquer.

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how the race went. xx

100%

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

2 days before the run and I have reached my target of £500 you can see here -->
And its all thanks to the lovely, kind, generous, caring people who sponsored me. Although times are pretty tough for everyone at the moment money wise, I was overwhelmed with the support and generosity.

I'm all ready got my 'Race for life' t-shirt, my race number and back sign (to say who you are running for) just had my last training run and I've filled 2 bags worth of clothes etc to give to the charity stall which will be there.

So I'm off to relax, going out for a curry tonight and planning on doing a bit sewing and scrap booking tomorrow.

A quick update...

Today is the last big push before I run on Sunday.....so it will be back to normal posting tomorrow. Just wanted to pop by quickly before I head off for a run and tell you that I'm almost there my total is up to £442 so I'm only £58 away from smashing my target of £500. Amazing isn't it.....I'm so grateful for everyones support.

So it only leaves to say that there is one, yes thats what I said ONE of the special purses I made left which is available here or here and since its the last one who ever buys it will also receive a free mystery gift. However if you would like to donate (even as little as £2) to help me smash my target through the roof you can sponsor me here.

I really cant thank you all enough!!! xxxxx

Hugs for your support!

First of all I'd like to say a HUGE THANK YOU and send out a big hug to all of you who've bought purses or sponsored me online (if you hadn't read my previous post see here), the support has been amazing!!!

I set myself a target this year of £500 and so far with online and offline sponsors I've reached £343!!! WOW!! Still a little way to go before I run on Sunday......so if you haven't had a chance there are still a few purses left click here for links or you can still sponsor me online here.

HUGS TO YOU ALL :)

Emma xxx

Support Cancer Research

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend, the weather today here has been so lovely. Perfect for today's post. I'm calling on all my bloggy friends to help support a very important cause. I'm not one for harassing people, but Cancer Research is very close to my heart for many reasons. When I was younger 'Cancer' was rarely mentioned, I'd heard of it but only knew of one person that had been diagnosed with it. Sadly she died.....as the years have passed by, worryingly, more of my friends and family have been diagnosed.

4 years ago when my Mam's friend Anne died from Bowel Cancer I decided to take part in 'Race for Life' which is organised nationally by Cancer Research UK. For those of you that don't know, ts a woman only run. In a way I was running in her memory and also to celebrate that earlier that year my friend had been successfully treated for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was great to take part very emotional and muscle aching but so worth it.

I strive every year to raise as much sponsor funds as I can, but this year is proving to be quite difficult. People are finding it tough with the current economic climate so not so willing to part with a little cash for a charity. So to help I decided this year that I would design and make some limited edition purses inspired by Cancer Research and sell them through my website and etsy shop with ALL the proceeds going towards the total raised. I'm not charging any postage, I will pay this......so you would be donating £10.

As you can see from the photos each purse has been embellished with buttons and rhinestones, and inside there is a little pouch for credit cards or money.

They are available in my etsy shop or for those of you not familiar with etsy also from my website. If you would like to know more or make a donation please visit my sponsor page http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/emmacastle thanks for taking the time to read this post. xx

Catch-Up

I'm playing catch up this weekend.....now that the Monkey swap is all posted and received :) I really need to get back to the To Do list, which has now also turned into a wall planner :/

OK, apologies to Jane from Picciolo who nominated me for the 3 awards below. How cool is that?!!? So a VERY BIG THANK YOU to you Jane :)

Now my mission if I chose to accept it is to list 10 honest things about myself and then nominate some other bloggers to receive them too.

1. I love to clean (but detest ironing)

2. My fella is my soul mate :) 2peas in a pod us two

3. I'm desperate to emigrate to Portugal

4. My cats are my babies =^o^=
5. I hate liver and onions (yuk, sorry Mama)

6. I want to get married (sshhhh don't tell him I said that!!)

7. I love freshly made beds

8. I've just discovered I like Sushi :oP

9. I'm not a morning person, talk about grouchy, that doesn't even come close!!!

10. I drink way too much coffee........

There :/ done it.....now to nominate:

Paper-and-string :: A bit of this and that :: Bexs Buttons :: Claires Crafty Blog :: Daisie Days :: Dolly Dollop :: Prettylittlefings :: Silkie Sue :: On Planet Ag

p.s. make sure keep your eyes peeled in Issue 9 of Sew Hip magazine!!!!!

Monkey goodness

Thank you to you all that left such thoughtful comments on my last post. Even though every now and then I come across some hideous people in life its always wiped from my mind the second I step into blog land and meet with my lovely blog friends. The world is almost set to rights when I come here and write posts and add pictures. I think that people who are creative possess a special trait in their personality that is giving, considerate and selfless....well the people I have met through here are :) you lovely people you!!

Speaking of lovely bloggers, look what came through the post yesterday to cheer me up!!!! My monkey swap parcel and I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that it was from the lovely Claire. If you haven't met Claire then pop over to her blog and take a peek in her shop too as you can see she makes some gorgeous felty creations.

Isn't she pretty!!!! Claire was the one who organised the swap back in early May and I couldn't wait to rip the paper off to see what it was. Inside the parcel was of course this gorgeous monkey (which I still haven't named......I think it should be something cute and girly), a bag of strawberry haribos (which I am munching on now) a very cute card from paperchase which has these fun lolly pops on the front with a lovely message from Claire inside and last but at no means least there was this fab monkey wrist pin cushion!!!

I've just read that post back to make sure there weren't any mistakes and realised how many times I've said the word 'lovely'!! Ha ha.....well I cant help it I just loved my monkey gifts so much :)

Right I best go and hide these stawb sweets somewhere or else I'm going to spoil my dinner :) I'll be back tomorrow with some news!

Dear Bag Thief,

.....I'm writing this letter to you as there is no other way to portray my disgust or vent my anger about the fact that you think that it is acceptable to take other peoples possessions.

I, like many other people gladly send many letters and parcels through the Royal Mail entrusting their items to the people who actually get paid as their job to transport them to their destination safely. On this occasion I spent many hours designing and making a special bag for a celebrity in the hope that not only would she like the bag I sent her but also that an unknown bag designer would get a little recognition for her work......but nooooooo you made sure by taking my 'signed for' parcel out of the mail system and thinking that you could keep it for yourself.

I'm sure you were thinking, 'These famous people get things sent to them all the time in the post, they'll not miss this' not even sparing a thought for the person who spent all their time and effort creating a nice gift for someone. Since you also know, my return address, my blog address, my website address and etsy address......does this make you feel bad that I am not a big company with lots of money that can afford to give away lots of bags I am in fact just me, someone who works hard for a living for every single 'nice' thing in her life.....not a faceless crime now is it!?!!?

I really do hope that you have had the audacity to have actually read the letter than I included and got to know me to find out what a selfish act you have carried out. And maybe even decided that you would look up my blog or website and that you are reading this now.

You obviously think that you are a law unto yourself, have no respect for others or their possessions, and have no conscience. If some how you do find one and would like to return MY bag to me.....then you know how to. (Although I very doubt this will happen).

Please bare in mind that you have a bag that I have only made one of so it will be easy to spot, so hopefully you wont get away with it!!! I on the other hand am claiming for the loss with the Post Office as you are one of their employees, it is by no means compensation as the bag cant be replaced with cash but its the least I can do for myself.

I really do hope that you get found out to be the thief that you really are.

No Regards
Emma (a.k.a bagladee)

To my readers apologies for my written rant but after receiving the email that I was dreading today that the bag I had posted to Cheryl did not reach her as it was stolen during transit or 'lost in the post' as the Post Office like to call it, I was upset and angry. I have to live with it now.

Monkey Business

I have no idea how I did it but I did, its finished! Since its a secret monkey swap there's no reason why I cant show you it all. Don't worry I'll keep the recipient under wraps.....

I wonder whats inside the money bag???

Hello!! Who's this??

Its a monkey in a bag!!

And he's all ready with his satchel to go off on his travels

With a little wonky bagladee tag on his butt!

Well I couldn't resist giving him a bag.........wouldn't be a bagladee creation without one.

Stuffed enough so that he can sit up

And I'm also including this cute monkey book and pen set.

I almost don't want to let him go :( I was quite surprised how well he turned out. I'd heard on a blog that you could use split peas as a filling similar to bean bags so with this in the bottom of his hands, feet and butt he sits perfectly on a desk or shelf. I do hope that my swapee likes him.