Angel Jem's City Cottage

I have had an afternoon in the attic; it was so dirty up there I had to keep washing my hands. Eugh. But well worth it. I got so much cleared out and began to see how my space will work when I get my table, my armchair, my resources. I couldn't believe how much stuff I had up there that was really just junk! And how many boxes of books does one woman need? Seriously! I could open up a second hand book shop..... but I'm setting up a craft attic instead. Here are my photos.  The attic as it was at noon today. Just a big jumble, all boxes and no sense to it.  I mean, seriously.... How many boxes does one family need?  You can see the bags of material I have; loads and loads. This is only what's in the attic. There's more in the guest bedroom, the family room and (ahem) on top of my wardrobe. I never know what I've got so I always buy more instead of using my stash. That will change.  The three boxes under the skylight have sat here for eleven years. Sinc...

Jan at Softie's Place nominated me for an award! The Liebster award is for blogs with less than 300 followers; that's me! Thank you! Here are the rules; “The Liebster Award is for bloggers with under 300 followers and the rules of the award is that the nominee must link back to whoever awarded them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions from the award giver, and then nominate another 11 bloggers and make up 11 questions for them to answer. It’s a great way for new and undiscovered bloggers to meet new people, get more followers and find some blogs that they want to follow.” Softie's Place answered her award here.  I got this last week (or the week before... oops!) but this is the first chance I've had to do the post. My random facts; 1. My little finger on my left side is smaller than the right. I think this shows I'm highly evolved. My brothers say it makes me a mutant. Hey! I can be an X Man! 2. I love Paris. I would love to li...

You saw the attic yesterday, right? You saw the boxes, the papers, the cots, Just all the stuff. Depressing. Nasty. Not useable. A waste of space. In our original plans for the house we wanted to raise the roof. We wanted to make a Master bedroom suite, with a bathroom and a walk in wardrobe. To decorate it with cool cream and have a chaise longue and plain linen blinds. Lovely. But it isn't going to happen. I'm not likely to get the full time job we planned on having. I don't think we'd get the planning permission and I'm not sure I could cope with the mess, the men, the all-pervading dust that would inevitably be everywhere and for ever. Dreams are lovely, but they are not immutable. Not fixed. Open to adaptation. So I have adapted. I have changed. I have got a new dream. And this one is doable. This one might just work. This one is for me. I found this blog; It's me, Sarah.  and her excellent craft room pages . And I looked and looked. I found...

The presents sit waiting.... I woke at 3am with contractions 3 min away. I have to draw the birthday cards, it's a family tradition. I told my husband who told me to wake him when they were closer. Opening a Sylvanian Family present, of course I rang my Mum at 4am to say 'Happy Birthday Mum! And, by the way, could you come and look after the boys. The baby's coming NOW!' I'm conscious that the years of cute presents won't last forever. I got to the hospital at 5am and told the midwife the baby would arrive by 6am. She chose the dotty paper. My princess arrived a fashionable 10 minutes late. Happy 11th! I have never had a moment's peace since, and I love it. Happy Birthday Princess!

This is a true confessions post. I am about to admit to the true state of my house. It's a tip. This is the study. Better, but still not good enough. There are too many piles of fabric, too many boxes of paper that have had no home. This is the small bedroom.  This is a true embarrassment. Two years ago it looked lovely, blue, tidy and clear enough to have my friend stay there ; now it's full of stuff waiting to go on ebay, go to charity, go to hell. You can't get in there, you can't invite a friend to sleep over, I haven't got it as an option to put one of the lads in when I decorate their bedroom. That is completely unacceptable. This is their bedroom. Perhaps this is what sparked me off; their room has lain dormant for 10 years. They like the colour. They like the arrangement, the bunk beds, the books. To an extent I know I have to leave the arrangement to them, they are, after all, teenagers but I want it to be acceptable. This is not accep...

Ready for a reveal? I set myself a challenge to make something every month. I am, of course, behind schedule. This was my January challenge. Inspired by the doyenne of crochet, Attic 24 , I wanted a fireplace garland.  I got the tutorial off Bella Dia , collected my wool (simple red and white cotton DK) and settled down with my hooks. From Bella Dia, this picture can be seen here No luck. I can crochet, but these just weren't feeling good. Didn't like the surface feel. They just made me go meh. So I thought that perhaps I should try my first craft, knitting. I don't knit often enough. Too many stitches to lose. But small hearts, they must be doable, right? I figured that the same pattern would work for knitting as crochet; so I basically just followed it. It worked out so easy by the second heart I was working without any pattern. It is not rocket science. I'm so glad I did. I love this heart.  It was so easy to make. Here's my (first ever) pattern ...

When I got home from a busy day at school last week, I found this waiting on the doorstep. It took me by surprise. I hadn't ordered anything; definitely nothing from America where the label came from. Then I read the customs declaration; Tea, chocolate, notecards, notebook. The tea swap !  Inspired by a post on my happiness blog, Happy Angel , Lucy in the Sky   suggested a tea swap! I haven't got moving on my parcels yet.... there is no time limit, so I don't feel guilty. But somebody obviously has got organised!  I love the look of the cinnamon tea! I really love Chai tea so I'm hoping this is something similar... guess I'll find out!  Chocolate with sea salt is my guilty pleasure, two squares a day eaten slowly with a warm tea. A little decadence every day.  Mmm! Lip salve from Burt's Bees. Love it. And stickers, notecard and a lovely green notebook. How pretty and how useful! Thank you very much to Jan of Softies Place. S...