Keeping warm!!

I've spent most of the day indoors wearing a woolly hat and gloves with a blanket wrapped around me and cuddling a hot water bottle. Oh and wearing my very snuggly warm ugg-like slipper boot thingies. Yes it was a sight to behold and my hubby wasted no time in dishing out the not very funny remarks!!

The reason for this was that last night I thought I could smell gas in the airing cupboard where our boiler is. I got everyone else to come and have a sniff and the consensus was that yes, possibly it may smell a bit like gas but they weren't sure. So I rang the emergency gas line and half an hour later a nice man came and turned off our heating and cut off the gas supply. I had to wait until late afternoon for an engineer to come and check the boiler and test the gas for leaks. There wasn't a leak thankfully. I just wish the gas man could have tested it last night then we wouldn't have spent all day with no heat and no hot water.

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Changing the subject slightly, I was recently nominated for Sunshine award by the lovely Beccy from Designs By Reis. Thanks Beccy - I'll decide who I'm going to pass it on to soon.

I've added some new pieces of jewellery to my Folksy shop - some more floral earrings, these really cute vintage tortoise earrings and this pretty Fairytale Locket and Key necklace.

Folksy Friday

The end of the week again and time to have a look at some of the things I've found on Folksy. I went for a house theme this week. I tried Picasa for the first time and the mini collage I made went slightly wrong as the pictures should be square! I'm impressed with Picasa though - editing pictures is so easy and I can get a lovely bright white background which I seem to be having problems doing with Paint Shop Pro at the moment.

1. House from Strangelord

2. Little House Key Wristlet from Magenpie

3. Paper Mache Little House from Niche

4. Pixie House Coin Purse from DinkyDaisy

I hope you like my selections this week and pay a visit to these Folksy shops.

A new week!

Tinker (left) and Pickles.

It's a week now since my beloved cat passed away. The first couple of days were awful - I've never cried so much in my life. Losing Pickles has hit me harder than any other cat we've lost. I think it's because I'd spent so much time with him over the last 7 months. He was a perfect patient - he graciously allowed me to shove tablets down his throat 3 times day and inject him once a day (although he did occasionally have a little grumble!)

We had Pickles cremated and have now got his ashes with us. I was very worried about how his little brother would cope. We've had them both since they were 8 weeks old and Pickles was very much the big brother. He would always look out for Tinker, wash him and generally follow him about. The first few days Tinker kept looking for him and was a bit unsettled but today he seems much more relaxed. We've been giving him loads of cuddles and playing with him to keep him occupied.

As they say - time is a healer....

A very sad day.

This morning we had to have our beloved cat Pickles put to sleep. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in July last year. At that time we didn't expect to even have him for a month but he surprised us all and lived for 7 months. He had 2 embolisms in that time but he got through them with lots of love and care. Sadly today the third embolism was too much for him and we had to make the heart rending decision to have him put to sleep.

I am completely distraught. Although it was the right and only thing we could do in that situation, my heart is breaking not only because I shall miss him so so much but because I know his brother will be crying for him soon when he realises that he's not here.

Pickles was the most beautiful and adorable cat I have ever had the honour to know. We developed such a close bond in the time that he was ill. He had to have several tablets and an injection every day but was an absolute darling and never made it difficult. I am trying to take comfort from the fact that he was spoiled rotten and lived the life of a lord. He was so happy and to look at him you would never have known that he was so ill. He was doing everything that he did before he was diagnosed - running up and down the stairs, chasing his brother and playing with his toys. This morning was no different - we even commented on how well and bright he was. That is the nature of the beast though - blood clots happen so quickly and with no warning.

Folksy Friday time again!

It's Friday again and time for me to showcase some of the lovely things I've found on Folksy today. I'm planning a revamp of my banner (yes again!) and I'm going for lovely soft colours of aqua and pink. They look so pretty together that I thought this would be ideal for the theme this week.

I love the gorgeous colours in this Butterfly and Flower felt headband from Lupin Handmade

A beautiful floral chintzy bag from Lilly and Roses

These resin earrings from Nelli D are so cute but then so is everything in her shop!

How about these lovely peg magnets in hot pink and aqua from Mymiyel

I love this pretty body warmer - if I had a little girl I'd definitely get her this. From Angelic Folk... Finally we have this gorgeous floral bunting from Hollie Lollie...

Folksy Friday

Another week almost over and I thought I would showcase some of the fab finds on Folksy today. Looking forward to the spring I thought I would focus on leaves - it's my favourite time of year when the new leaves start to appear. So to kick off is this lovely leafy oven glove and apron set from Pidgeonstitch - the colours are gorgeous aren't they?
Next we have these stunning earrings in fine silver and copper from Ali Bali Jewellery. I actually had a hard time choosing which piece to feature as they are all gorgeous.


Finally I love this bag in black and cream from pipdesigns. Check out the shop - there are lots more gorgeous bags.

I don't know where January has gone to but to be honest I'm glad it's nearly over. It's such a grim month don't you think? Practically every day has been grey and cold - I just want to see some blue skies again. I've felt really uninspired creatively which I think must be down to the weather.

I've had a couple of lovely reviews on other blogs which really cheered me up though. Thanks so much to the lovely Katherine of Flutterbies Jewellery for showing my Dragonfly Earrings. Big thanks also to Slava who kindly featured some of my jewellery and lampwork beads on her Craftdom Blog.

Have you been watching Celebrity Big Brother? I'm so glad that Alex Reid won - he has changed a lot of people's opinion of him. I must admit that I, like lots of others had preconceived ideas of him due to all the media hype but he proved himself to be a really decent guy. Far too good for the likes of Miss Price in my opinion!

So what have I been up to in the jewellery department? Well I've been setting up a new shop on Folksy which will be the home of my altered art style charm bracelets and earrings. I didn't think they really sat well with my Rose and Raven range which is more vintage inspired so I thought it was best to keep them seperate. The new shop is called the Raven's Den which you can find here. Although there's not much in there at the moment I'm hoping to fill it up over the next couple of weeks.

I've listed a few new things in my Folksy shop - some birdie pieces including these earrings inspired by the American poet Emily Dickinson.Well have a good weekend everyone and I'll let you know when the new shop has been stocked up!