MY SHELF IS NOW A REALITY

SO NOW AFTER A BUSY WEEK MY SHELF IS A REALITY. 

 The second shelf up from the bottom is all mine - filled with handbags, needle felted purses, snail fridge magnets, and decorated jars of sea glass.

The beautiful items on the shelf above make me feel I am in good company and have made the right decision. 

 It took me longer than I thought to get everything labelled and priced.

I must remember this when I do a craft fair, and make sure to leave enough time.

 Once everything was priced and put onto my practise shelf I listed it all so that I wouldn't forget what stock I had taken to ROUGH TRADE.

second shelf from the bottom

my display

SEA GLASS MOSAICS

I now have so much sea glass that I thought I would try my nieces idea.  With the bag she collected she was going to do some Mosaic on a tea light holder.  That sounded like a lovely idea - the flame flickering through the different shades and colours.

not a very good drawing but good enough

my seahorse

putting on the clear glass

First I drew a very rough outline of a seahorse on a piece of paper cut to size.
Then I placed green glass on it, rearranging till I was happy with the design.
Using superglue gel I fixed the sea glass to the tea light holder one piece at a time following my design.
Then I covered the rest of the tea light holder with clear glass - with a few thin lines of green to look like seaweed.

My first piece of Mosaic - a shame that it wasn't on my list of crafts to try.

With some teeny tiny shells and a couple of slithers of sea glass ( the bits that you would think are far to small to use on anything) I have made a really pretty phone charm and another glass charm pendant.  I will be listing the pendant on Etsy later.  I am not sure what I want to do with the phone charm yet.

It was a chilly start to the day so we lit the fire early while we made up our minds what we were going to do.
Lunch in Broadstairs was the decision and a very good one it was.  A very nice lunch followed by a walk along the sea wall at Stone Bay.http://www.flickr.com/photos/73346943@N07/sets/72157628853489351/
As the walk was a post lunch thought we hadn't got cameras with us so these were taken with my phone.  I did change the settings to sport which probably helped.
It was lovely to come home to a cozy house after walking along the shore.

Trip to the warren and a huge haul of seaglass

carpet of Harts tongue fern

november sunshine in the woods

Yesterday I made my second attempt to get to a little bit of woodland at the bottom of the cliff at Capel-le-ferne near Folkestone.  The first time I tried going down the cliff - there is a zigzag path that takes you down.  I was fine to start with as there were some trees on the seaside of the path, then they stopped and I could sea the drop, so I bottled it and went back.  On to try two. Walk along the path at the bottom cliff, much much easier, what could go wrong.  This was not the sucess I had hoped for.  We walked miles to get to the right place then had to climb some chopped into the side of a hill steps - not as high as the cliff but still quite steep. I still have not managed to get to these woods.  I am sure that my fear of heights has got worse over the years, although it has always been a problem. I am determind to get to these woods - not sure how.  But I hope it will be worth it.  

still couldnt do it

Next time round I will be with them

After that major failure I found a little patch of pebble beach and right away saw several peices of seaglass.  By the time my friends had caught up with me I had already found about twenty pieces.  We even had a lady who was walking her dog looking for it with us, then she told us about a beach back the way we had come that had loads of glass on it.

my haul

. 

Masses and masses of beautiful glass. The glass was nearly laying this thickly on the beach.  I also picked up a couple of pieces of sea worn slate that I thought I might paint.  And I found a Polly Pocket doll in very good condition.

 Would I like to live - not really sure.  As we walked along the seawall we spotted this shack built on the side of the cliff.  Although the views over the sea must be fantastic and it has to be a very peaceful place to live - when bad weather hits surely it would be horrible.  There was a rocking chair on a ledge and chickens roaming freely behind the gate.

Perfect weather again

Another day with perfect weather - perfect for crafting in front of the fire with a contented cat asleep on a chair next to me that is.

Had to do a little bit of baking before starting. Some drop scones for a quick yummy lunch, the last christmas cake (accidently used self raising flour but it seems ok and is now soaking up some sherry) and a bread pudding for my mother.  Defrosted the freezer yesterday so there is room to start filling with christmas goodies.  I like to make the sausage rolls, some bacon puffs, spicy pork rolls and mince pies (both puff and shortcrust pastry) and freeeze them uncooked so they can be baked as I need them.  I want to try some cinnamon buns and have just discovered this idea on Pinterest.                                                              http://goodcheapeats.com/2010/03/cinnamon-roll-convenience-without-can
I may make a Dundee cake this year, it is ages since I made one.  Christmas is just a fantastic excuse for a massive baking frensy.  Many days of feasting ahead.

The coaster that I tried to make yesterday for my nephew were not a success so today I tried again with much better results.  I have also been putting the base coat on the box I am using to gift pack my home made jam.

I spent the morning with my sister and she showed me the jewellery she has been making fromm seaglass - not the stuff we collected together but some she got on a previous occassion.  She also showed me the shadow box she had made to display some fossils.  I can't wait for her to really start producing things - she will inspire me to different approaches and together we will have so much fun.

Feeling ill but pulling through

Suffering from a killer cold at the moment. Yesterday was spent asleep, feeling a bit better today. Very annoying as there is so much I want to do.

by palameras

Feeling a little better so I have been reading Etsy hints and tips on selling.  Here's hoping I have learned something.   The big problem with Etsy is getting distracted by all the fantastic things that there are for sale there - so many talented people.

by MissKayes

This is an item listed by   palmeras           I think that it is truely beautiful .This bag is by MissKayes - I think her bags are works of art.
Both of these items are on Etsy

Its late afternoon  and I am feeling a bit better, I made some lemonade as it seems to ease a lot of my suffering.  Just drinking the first glass while it is still warm.