Extremely Well Fed!

Well, what can I say, knackered and at least a dress size bigger I think pretty much sums up our Saturday night!

We were invited to not one but 2, yes count them, 2, foody launches last night, and, quite frankly, it would have been rude not to.

We started our evening at the brilliant No 71 Coffee House & Bistro .  Well I have my own very selfish reasons to be very excited about this one...it's about a 2 minute walk from my house, has a brilliant coffee machine, even better food offerings and a wi-fi connection meaning my computer based "work from home" work life is going to be transformed!  It's fairly safe to say that a good whack of my on-line Faiy Heaven happenings will be happening from here from now on!

Last night was a wee limited taster menu of Chilli Nachos, Chilli Hot Dogs and Pulled Pork & Coleslaw rolls...so yummy!  Robbie makes the most amazing chilli and it was just as good as ever!
Also on a wee side note I think this place would be amazing for small parties - you know like the well behaved Hen Nights the mums and grannies come to, or 30th's, 40th's, engagements, divorces etc etc etc etc!  It's cosy perfection!

Our next stop was to meet the beautiful Amelie at Resonate in Alloa.  Amelie is the newest addition to the Allo Alloa family - one of my most favouritest families ever!  They are some of the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet, and Amelie would be a great addition to any of your functions...look, isn't she gorgeous...

She is quite possibly the loveliest little outside catering van ever, and she came all the way from Alloa's twin town in France (I love that, I think it's so cool!).  I will let the pictures of the launch info boards tell you the story as they can tell it so much better than I can...

 Now Allo Alloa has a tag line which is "Food With Thought" and how is this for food with thought...the menu for the evening was Ratatoille from Amelie's home town and Stovies from her new home...genius  (this pic even has the authenic food drips!)

A brilliant time was had by all and I can't wait to see Amelie out and about - I am tempted to have some sort of event just so she can come along and we can see her in action!  Watch for her around, give her a beep and a wave and make her smile!

In other news I don't think I have ever worn a dress that was so widely admired by young and not so young alike so I thought I would share.  It was from the fabulous Lady V London, my favourite dress website of the moment!  Great prices, gorgeous clothes and fantastic service, what more could a girl want? (except shoes of course, but I hope that goes without saying ;-) )

 

 

If only my waist looked as small!!!!!

Back to crafy news, I am in the process of uploading the £1 Bargain Buttons folder which you will find on my facebook page - it should be done by the end of today and here is sneak peak.  There's even a multi buy making them even more of a bargain!

Right that's me for today - I have some bunting to be made so I am away to be productive!

Have a fabulous day everyone!  'Til Soon, keep smiling

Ruth xx
fairy-heaven@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/fairyheaven

It's A New Year!

Hi all - well I can't believe we're in to February 2014 already...where is the time going?  

I discovered that the post I spent ages researching and writing about my favourite Christmas digi's didn't publish...sorry about that people - guess I didn't press the all important button!

I've had a busy few weeks with some time away for my baby girls 11th birthday (11, seriously, how did that happen?).  We headed for a couple of days by the sea...judging by this happy smiling face I think she may just have enjoyed it!  Big crashy waves, log fires and hot chips - medicine for the soul.

I also had a wee pinterest "saw it, made it" moment with her cake....it turned out pretty well although it is harder than you would think to get chocolate fingers to stand up and stick.  Also had a wee bit of a moment in the supermarket buying all the chocolate - could see the business man in front of me looking at all my stuff on the conveyor and laughing away while I'm standing telling him "I'm not a chocaholic honest, I'm making a cake", good thing I am not easily embarrassed.  The best part of all was the squeals of "Mum, that's totally awesome" from the birthday girl herself, and it even elicited an "oh wow" from my Dad which is high praise indeed...

And now for some craftiness...I have finally got my act together and added a "Buy Me Now" folder to my facebook page here  .  This is (I hope) permanently pinned to the top of the page, has prices and contains all my pre-made stock.  At the moment it is filled with notelets, bookmarks, C6 & square cards, and of course some fairies too.  Here's a wee taster...

I will be adding to this as I go along, so keep your eyes peeled there as well as here.  At the moment I don;t have enough hours in the day for all the new designs winging around my head!

That's me for tonight...I need my beauty sleep ready to attend a couple of exciting events tomorrow...I will take lots of pics and share (if you like your food then trust me, these are not to be missed!)

Thanks for looking, 

Keep smiling

Ruth xx

fairy-heaven@hotmail.co.uk

www.facebook.com/fairyheaven

Tardy & Embarassed

Well, I am rubbish!  I can't BELIEVE it's been nealy a whole year since  I've blogged. That's really really pretty rubbish.

I think it would be pretty fair to describe 2013 as challenging to say the least, and I, for one, will be glad to see Midnight on Hogmanay...having said that it's had some pretty great high points too.

I'm going to keep this brief today and start afresh tomorrow - I find myself with some time on my hands, and while searching for "nativity" products earlier I thought "why not share?" so watch out for this in the next couple of days.

I hope this finds you all well, happy and smiling and looking forward to an awesome holiday season!

Til soon

Ruth
x

Hello 2013!

Well I haven't been here for a while and I have to say there is no fond farewell from me for 2012...what a year.  Without going into too much detail the last 6 months of last year in particular were one heck of a struggle but 2013 can only get better.  I am so so grateful for my family and friends who really came out fighting for me, and who continue to be there for me.  I really feel like I have turned a corner though, and I am really looking forward to the year ahead, I am determined to make it the best one yet for Daisy and I!

I feel like I may have my design mojo back and hope to get back into creating and sharing those creations with you, and Daisy and I started this afternoon with her thank you cards for her STACK of Christmas presents...

the papers are DCWV "Pocketful of Posies"  

These papers actually took me back - my very first class I taught at the Paper Mill Shop were with these papers all those years ago and I am still using them yet!

and here is the gorgeous girl herself with her creations...she just has to write them now so we can deliver them tomorrow.

That's me for tonight, but thank you all so much for your patience - and a massive massive THANK YOU to those of you who have done so much for me - you know who you are.

Happy New Year, chin up and keep smiling!
Love
Ruth
x

Something Different!

Morning all!  What a crazy few weeks!  Have started at GAP and I am absolutely loving it - the clothes are so fresh and colourful, the team is amazing and it is so busy - a bit of a change to say the least!  Have even gotten used to the long days - although it's taking Daisy a wee bit longer to adjust!  Busy in the studio too, with lots of wedding creations on the go (although you won't be seeing any of those for a wee while yet!)

So mother's day crept up on me this year and I thought we would try something a bit different - I had some Amy Butler fabric left over from my quilt, and a pile of felt that I found in the cupboard so I thought I would give some brooches a go.  I'm pretty pleased with the results for first attempts - I'm sure they will improve the more I do!

Here's Daisy's prototype pinned onto her new Mini Boden dress!

Made this one for my mum...

and this one for my nan...

and then remembered I had some cards in the cupboard that they would look nice attached to...

We're having a go at these on Thursday nights class, 7 -9 in the studio if anyone fancies it - as always though if you just fancy some crafty company you can bring your own project to work on!

 Thought I'd share this picture of Daisy making herself at home in the studio - I was busy working on wedding orders and she was busy building an online fashion empire!  Love how at home she feels here!

Right I am off to finish a batch of invitations, have an amazing day everyone.

Keep smiling,

Ruth

x

ruth@fairyheaven.co.uk

S.W.A.L.K

Evening!!  I HAVE A JOB!  Thank goodness!  I start on Monday in the local GAP store at Sterling Mills.  I have never been so relieved in my entire life :-D  I'm really excited, but Daisy is more excited about the discount!   What a stressful couple of weeks!  It will take a few weeks for my shifts to settle down into a pattern but as soon as it does I will let you know the opening hours for the shop!

Have been busy with weddings over the last week or so again, but decided to have a play with the S.W.A.L.K. stamps that arrived yesterday from Crafters Companion.  I limited poor Daisy to choosing 4 and it took her AGES to choose, but I love the ones she did pick.

This is Slugs & Snails, coloured with my Polychromo Pencils - the papers are First Edition "Up Up & Away"

Here's the colour chart for the pencils...

And here is Rain.  I have Paper Pieced her umbrella, wellies & raincoat, used 4mm pearls for the buttons & stickles for the rain.  I coloured with the Polychromo Pencils again.  The papers are We R Memory Keepers "Love Struck"

And now for something a bit different.  I read this book a couple of weeks ago - in 2 sittings!  It is an AMAZING read.  So much so I really want to read it again.  It won the Whitbread Book of the Year award, and was thoroughly deserving in my opinion.  The main character is 15 and suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, and I can't tell you how well the novel gives an understanding of his thinking.  Rush out and buy a copy now and let me know what you think.  I loved it!

Reading is my wind down at the end of the day, and I seemed to have passed this love of books onto Daisy - we are currently reading Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, and she gets really really ratty with me when reading times up - she would sit up all night if she could, something of course I never ever did - with a torch - under the covers - without my glasses on ;-) (sorry mum!)

Right time for me to put my feet up tonight I think.  Talk to you soon.

Keep Smiling
Ruth
x
ruth@fairyheaven.co.uk

Patched

Evening all - and what an evening it has been!  Hopefully by now you will have noticed something different (and probably thought you were on the wrong blog!)  Had a wee oops moment tinkering with things I shouldn't have been and managed to delete my WHOLE blog layout! Talk about panic!  Daisy of course was cool, calm and collected and just said "well start again" so that's what I did, of course with the design Guru's help (any excuse not to have to go to bed!).  It's a bit different to before, hope you all like it!  Have added a follow me by email tag over on the right too so, in theory, if you sign up you should get my blog updates direct to your inbox!

Next thing, please don't laugh at my poor photography tonight - I will get used to photographing textiles!!!  This definitely is the way NOT to do it, but it will give you an idea tonight lol!  Since papercrafts are now pretty much my day job I decided I needed to do something else to switch off, and patchwork was top of the list!  Here's my very first ever quilt...

This one took me a good few months to finish off because I had never even used a sewing machine before but I am so pleased with the finished result!

So then a few weeks ago I took a notion to have a play with an Amy Butler fabric bundle, and here are the results.  This one is only the front at the moment and still needs backed and wadded but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colours so much!  Think some bunting is on order with the offcuts!

Think my little sisters might have her eye on this one, and pretty sure she has a special birthday coming up so this could solve a present problem ;-)

So I know I said I'd have a 4 hour goody bag class extravaganza announcement to make tonight, but between housework, building Hogwarts & getting carried away reading the Chamber of Secrets, plus the impromptu blog design time has run away with me so will save that for another night!

Sweet dreams everyone, and happy creating!

Ruth

x

ruth@fairyheaven.co.uk

Chilled!

Well I can't believe how relaxed I am this evening!  I have had a day at home today due to the gas man coming, and it has been bliss!!!  First time ever I was actually happy a tradesman was 3 hours late!  I pottered about, did loads of washing and just generally didn't stress!  My batteries feel well and truly recharged tonight - and they will be even more recharged shortly when I curl up with the latest issue of Sew Hip magazine which I got my hands on today.  Have had a quick glance through, and not sure which project I want to try first - I think possibly the cushions on the front cover!  Will get Daisy enlisted to help tomorrow I think!  Also had a read of an interview with the very inspirational Emma Castle, the face behind Bagladee (find her website at www.bagladee.com)  Have had the pleasure of chatting with her via twitter and she is so lovely, super enthusiastic and helpful, a definite role model for those of us just starting to turn our hobby into a business!  I am inspired!  Have a look at her website, her bags are absolutely stunning!

I've got a custom card to share with you tonight that I made a few weeks ago for a 55th wedding anniversary.  55 YEARS!  I still can't get my head around that!  It's such a special achievement to be married so long, and they are a brilliant couple.  When Bob asked me to do this special card for his wife I chanced my arm and asked for a wedding picture, and am so so glad that I did.  A quick scan later and here are the finished results.  A very simple easel card with a vintage feel...

The ribbon is my newest Malaysian import and I just love it - if you come into the studio and stand still for long enough you may end up with some tied to you!

Right, I am off to read the rest of my mag in bed.Details of a kit class to come tomorrow (but if I forget please remind me!)

Night night all, sweet dreams
Ruth
x
ruth@fairyheaven.co.uk

World Book Day

Morning all!  Just thought I would quickly share with you the results of an inpromptu "photo shoot" with my daughter and nephew this morning for world book day!  Introducing Katie Morag & Tiresome Ted, with George, The Smartest Giant in Town...

Have a fabulous world book day everyone - I am very much looking forward to curling up on the sofa with a good book after my class tonight

xx