result!

Finally, something positive! I took the wee castle-coaster to Kellie yesterday and they liked it! Super! Of course, this doesn`t mean an instant order of 400 pieces but for me the main thing is that they didn`t turn me down without even looking at it - on the contrary, they were very supportive (as they are towards all kinds of local produce, be it cheese, honey, soap or embroidery) and I am to take some more coasters back next week to see if they`d sell in the Gift Shop. I kind of have to hurry since the Castle`s only open for about another month, then they`ll be closed until 1 April 2012.

Well, I started to write this yesterday but since then a whole weekend has happened, with rainstorm and sunshine, shed building and painting in the garden, fishing on the beach, cooking, cleaning... and stitching, of course. On Saturday I woke up at 4.30 (yeah, I know...) because I had a brainwave re: my mother-in-law`s birthday present. A couple of weeks ago I`ve very sneakily found out that she`d lost her shopping trolley coin (you know, the one you keep on your keyring so that when the chap in desperate need of a cart approaches you in the ASDA carpark, brandishing a £1 coin in his hand, you blushingly have to refuse him, saying that you`ve got one of these "thingies" in your trolley... By the way, what`s with the new system that now you have to "pay" for the smaller trolley? I can`t believe that fewer people used to bring these back, so I`d rather say it`s a quite blatant attempt to get you spend more in their shop since the bigger trolley you can still get for free), anyway, so Nana lost her shopping trolley coin. And would you believe it, I had one in my stash, and a girly one at that, with a wee silver butterfly on it. So I made this for her keyring:

I don`t know why I always lavish her with all this pink girly stuff - probably as the mother of my one and only son, whenever I see a really feminine design in one of my magazines, I subconsciously store it for an occasion for Nana. Anyway, so this is what she got for her 76th, along with some lilac (again, why?) bath salts and a card - cross stitched, of course. I made this wee cushion-thing for her keyring so that she would instantly find the coin in her bag when she got to the shop but she decided to rather put it in Purse #2 (I think she`s got three, I`m not sure, but there seems to be one for notes, one for coins, one for her bus pass and God knows what else...) and then we went to Lidl where she promptly wanted to try out her new coin - which doesn`t work! I don`t know why, it must be the wrong size or something but the main thing is: it`s useless! As you can imagine, first I was extremely upset because this is not how I imagined this... but then I tried to console myself with the thought that (again, thanks to cross stitch) at least she`s got a present that will last, long after she soaked in her lovely-smelling bath and chucked this useless butterfly-coin in the bin.

Oh, I almost forgot: I got so excited the other day when I saw that someone other than my closest family and friends is following this blog! So welcome, creativethinker, I`m glad you`ve found something among my ramblings that piqued your interest. And that also reminds me that the other day I never wrote any more extensively about my new friend, Linda, a very lovely lady who moved here roughly at the same time as us but we`d never met until last weekend when we sat next to each other for two days at the Arts Festival. As an experienced aromatherapist, she makes her own bath products, soaps and other smellies from essential oils - but these are just one third of her "stock" because for some strange combinatory reason she also sells pet food and Christmas stockings. I think she must know something so I decided to seriously consider branching out myself in the future. There are so many things I could do... just tonight, for example, I saw some designs for cross stitched bracelets... and why not? So jewellery making, here I come!

Oh, what an imbecile I am, I almost forgot to mention the biggest story of the weekend! On Friday I raided the charity shops in Cupar and found some lovely pieces of scrap fabric which I can turn into anything, from Christmas decorations to cushions to book binders... really, the list is endless! And now the best bit: in another charity shop I found 30 new (well, new to me...) cross stitch magazines! I`m happy as Larry (who`s this Larry, by the way?) and every spare minute I had this weekend, I spent flicking through my new stash - an amazing wealth of designs I`ve acquired, I can tell you! Just to name one, I have wee Christmas stocking designs, about 2" in height, and MATCHING PAIRS, i.e. mirror images so I can make little Xmas decorations that will look great from both sides, as opposed to "nice front, felt back" which, by the way, also has its merits but these`ll be extra-special.

OK, I can feel I`m getting a bit carried away, approaching a territory that only the really hardcore cross-stitcher among you would understand so I`d better go - but before I do, there`s just one more thing I`d like to share with you... Gregory`s got a wardrobe! Yippie! Finally we got round to buying him one so we don`t have to keep his clothes on these poles you see in department stores (I know, we`re terrible parents but may I just add: in our old house we had built-in wardrobes). Oh, and he`s also got a wobbly tooth which he simply can`t leave alone, which is fine until he starts shoving it back and forth with his finger while I suddenly feel light-headed. Plus he`s already preparing for battle because after the Tooth Fairy has already taken 4 of his teeth, he says that when this one comes out, he`ll definitely keep it - and the Tooth Fairy can keep her money, thank you very much. I think this fight will be a tough one but if and when the tooth falls out, I`ll faithfully report, I promise. And before you`d say, "Too much blah-blah, not enough pictures", here`s one of the Tooth Fairy "container" I made for Gregory:

Again, I apologise for the quality of the photo (I`m still not familiar with hubby`s camera but the good news is that yesterday I found one on Ebay that`s identical to my old one that was unfortunately "sat upon" so hopefully, within a few days I`ll be able to take better pictures again). So it`s a wee leather bag that was on an old keyring nobody ever used and I attached it to this square cardboard that fits in the frame I also had in my stash. And the poem reads, "In this pocket you will find/a teensy, tiny tooth of mine./So while I sleep,/where dreams are made,/let`s see if we/can make a trade." I wonder what we`ll find in the wee bag next time...