The "Mother" Part

Well, I knew it would happen, and it did. My business had to be put on the backburner so I could be a mother. Not just a mother, but a daughter as well.
I was just getting into it when the kid's decided to be ill. Not all at the same time and not just one bug. It seemed like one or other of them was ill for quite a while. If they were ok, I was ill. We finally got rid of the bug's and my dad became ill!
It is really hard to find the time and the energy to be creative when looking after ill children or worrying about my unwell dad.
I've, somehow, managed to fill two card orders though. I'm quite pleased with that. Also, some of the jewellery I made is selling.
Things are moving. Slowly but surely. After Christmas, I think I may buy a bigger loom and make some wall hangings. They will take a while but they will be really impressive (I hope) and will sell for a tidy profit.
Watch this space

This is not easy!

I have been so busy recently. Not with my business but with the kids. They have been ill. They have been naughty. They have had bad dreams keeping me up in the night. You name it, they have had it! I haven't had much time to make much recently. I have been to a craft fair in Bristol, though, and I bought a bead loom. It's wonderfully easy to use, but very time consuming.
I have also made a "page" on facebook. The link is on the right. Plus, I donated an item of jewellery to a charity raffle (and sent off 50 business cards with it). The person who collected the donation ordered 3 Christmas cards. I haven't had time to make them yet but they are easy cards so, when I get time, they wont take long.
Currently, I am making a bookmark on my new loom. I'm hoping to finish that this week, maybe even tonight. Once I have, I can make more. I've found a few free patterns online.
Jewellery wise, I have made a few new pieces. One of which I am really proud of.

I will take a better photo of this, maybe with me wearing it. It is a very elegant necklace, priced at £15.
I have also decided to put a 1 year guarantee on all jewellery. If it breaks within a year of sale, I will fix it free of charge.
Things are going well, the making side is anyway (when the kids are not ill/having bad dreams etc). What is not going well is selling. I have made 9 Christmas cards to order and anothe 3 have been ordered, but no one seems interested in my jewellery. I am praying things pick up soon. I can't afford to buy much more in the way of materials. The whole point of this, is so I don't have to stop making simply because I can't afford it, but nothing is selling........................yet

First Christmas Card Order

A waterfall card with a hidden message

Posting a Letter to Santa

A Snowy Scene

Christmas Eve sky

An Old Fashioned St Nicholas

A Warm winter fireplace

A snowman window card

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A pyramage St Nicholas

A Simple Christmas tree with 3D baubles

A sample of my work

A simple sequin necklace and bracelet set. £5
A netted bracelet. £10

Bracelet and earrings. £5

Victorian collar style necklace. £10

My favourite necklace. £10

Quick catch up

Well, where do I start?

I have been really busy recently. Both kids birthdays within 3 days of each other. Aaron was 5 and Mia was 3. They had a small party in the house/garden. When I say small, I mean 15 kids in my tiny house! I'm so glad the weather was kind to me and they all played in the garden.

It's the dog's birthday on Monday. He will be 11 - an old man now!

Now, about my business. I started making cards last year for Christmas. Recently, I had a go at making jewellery. It's wonderful and so satisfying. I soon realised that materials are fairly expensive. Not the beads as such, well, some of them can be. More like the tools etc. I was enjoying it and I didn't want to stop simply because I couldn't afford it.

Then my mum had an idea. She suggested I sell what I make to pay for materials. I contacted the job centre and the tax office to see exactly where I stand, as I am on benefits until both kids are in school full time. It turns out, I can make £20 a week profit without my benefits being affected.

That was when the work started. I've been making like a trooper since then. I haven't sold anything as yet. I'm trying to build up a good base stock. I've now got 12 items of jewellery for sale, including sets. I've also got some phone charms ready to sell and I made some jewellery for Mia's birthday.

Things are starting to look up for me. I hope this is the start of something really good for me and my family.

Quiet week

It's Monday again. Where does the time go? In 2 weeks we will be half way through the school year! Not long til Mia starts nursery. I really need to spend lots of time with her because soon I wont see her much.

Its been a quiet week on the whole. The kids are both still making me proud of them. No tantrums this week :) Aaron has been fab with his homework as well. He is flying through the worksheets I got him. They should have lasted him most of the year but he has nearly finished them already.

Mia is becoming a little comedian. She is making me laugh every day. The best one this week was when I kissed her. She said "Don't kiss me!". I asked her why not and she said "Because??.............Because!!". Its not as funny written down but the way she said it was hilarious.

I took my flute into Aaron's school today to play for his class. They thought it was great. So did I. They were all listening and answering questions about it. At the end, Mrs Thomas said "Who would like to learn how to play the flute when they are older?" Most of the children raised their hands. Aaron didn't. She asked him why he didn't want to play my flute and he said "Because I want to play her saxophone". I have already told him he needs to learn how to read music first, so he is really working hard had learning that with me.

So, once again, a quiet but good week with both my children making me proud of them. My kids are no where near perfect but I couldn't ask for better. They are well behaved most of the time, and always in public. They work hard and want to learn. They listen, most of the time. And they both love to help me around the house. In fact, they argue over who will help me do what. Most importantly, I love them and they love me, and we all show it every day. We have had some rough times but we are now a very happy little family.

This week has gone so fast! Mia is better at last. Peppermint, multivitamins and pro biotic yogurts sorted her out.

Tuesday, Mia still had the runs a bit. Aaron got to school. Not much else happened really. I took my sax to rehearsals (I have decided to put my music stuff in a different blog http://lifemusician.blogspot.com/)

Wednesday, Mia wanted to go to pre school but I didn't really want her to go. She was much better in herself but she still had the runs a bit. They wouldn't have been happy to have her there. Plus her immune system was still low so I didn't want her mixing with other children, running the risk of her picking up something else. When Aaron came home from school, he decided he wanted to do his music for his homework. He has learned loads. I'm so proud of him.

By Thursday, the vitamins and pro biotic's had kicked in. Mia was back to 100%. Aaron read his school book for his homework. He had a break from reading over Christmas and he had been struggling a bit. Until now. He read it with no problems at all. He did struggle with some words but, without any help from me, he just broke it down and read it. He is coming on amazingly well.

I'm not sure who was happier for Mia to go back to pre school on Friday, her or me. I had not had a break since Boxing Day. I had to take my sax back to the shop first but then I had over an hour to myself. I did something I cannot do when the children are around - absolutely nothing. It was wonderful. I picked Mia up at 11 and she had 3 tantrums on the 5 minute walk home. All because she didn't want to walk. She is nearly 2 1/2 now. Aaron was walking everywhere by the time was 2. She needs to build up her leg strength. She has to walk as much as she can. Not only that, she is getting to heavy for me to carry her.

For his homework on Friday, Aaron wrote a letter to his cousin. He had seen something on the telly earlier in the week and he thought it was wonderful that the friends were sending each other letters. He did really well. He finally managed to write it all on his 5th attempt. He is such a perfectionist that 1 small mistake made him start again.

The weekend was good. We all went to the library Saturday morning. Aaron already has his own library card and they were both getting books on his card, but they are lowering the limit soon so I got a card for Mia. She thought it was wonderful. They both picked 4 books each, then they took them, with their cards, to check them out. Then it was back to my mum's for dinner. Fish pie topped with sweet potato. I liked it. Mia liked it. Aaron didn't. At least he ate all his veg.

Sunday it was church as usual. The kids went into Sunday school, then Aaron came upstairs to me and Mia stayed downstairs with my dad. They are more likely to behave if they are separated. They were both very good though. So much so that I moved both their reward charts up. That put Mia up to number 10 so she had a reward. I went out to get some envelopes for my card making and she picked a cute pink teddy. She called it "Lucy". Now she keeps saying "Where's my Lucy?". She is so cute.

So all in all, a pretty good week. Only 1 day of tantrums. Other than that, both the kids have made me proud of them this week. I wonder how long that will last??

Here we go

Well, its Monday. The snow has gone. The school is open. The school bus is running. Hopefully I can get back to normal, whatever that is.

Last week was a nightmare. Mia became ill at the start of the week. She had a stomach bug. Aaron caught it off her on Tuesday. We had snow on Wednesday but I wouldn't let the kids play in it because they were ill. Mia didn't really care, she's never played in the snow. Aaron on the other hand was not a happy bunny :-(

I was hoping I had escaped the bug. Wednesday night I was prooved wrong. Thursday was the hardest day of the whole week. Trying to cook for the kids while I was so ill I could hardly stand. To top it all off, Aaron then decided he didn't want his food. He wanted a biscuit instead. When I said no he came out with "It's not fair!". I went mad! He has developed an attitude at 4. It has to stop. I think what I said to him did the trick though.

By Friday, Aaron was better. So was I. Mia was still unwell. She had also developed a very painfull nappy rash. I decided she needed a helping hand so I got my oil burner out with some peppermint. That seemed to help her stomach. She is still sore, but it is getting better.

Sunday I went to church with Aaron. Mia wanted to come with us but she was not well enough. She felt better about being left out when I told her Grandad wasn't well and I asked her to look after him. She loves helping.

I have decided to try and put together a concert to raise funds for my mum's marathon. She is running for FSID in memory of my first daughter, Kira. I asked my good friend if he would help out with the music, organisation and piano playing. He is happy to but I need permission to use the church hall. I need to ask 3 people, 2 of them said yes. Ross needs to ask the other one. Lets hope he remembers.

My saxophone, that I bought new year's eve, has been neglected a bit this week. Couldn't really play while I was ill. I played a bit today and I actually finished "The Complete Saxophone Player". I just need to play lots of music as much as I can now. Hopefully I will be good enough to play in church soon. Then I'll have my flute and my sax and I can chop and change between them, dependant on the music. I will be taking my sax to rehearsals tomorrow. I hope they like it.