Cross Stitched Baubles

I have been so rubbish at posting lately, I am so sorry!  We've been so busy with all the Christmas fairs and getting products ready and orders dispatched we just haven't touched the ground recently.

Anyway this is only a short blog to let you know what's been going on.  Well I've been making lots of felt hangers...

and cross stitched baubles...

I'm starting Christmas pressie shopping tomorrow, I feel like it's approaching really fast this year!!!

Busy Busy Busy

Busy busy busy this week making products for our up coming Christmas markets. I haven't had much time to do anything else.

I did make a start on some new candles yesterday. They are a woodland theme and scented with sandalwood.  Dripped over with 3 different shades of green...

That's about all really, we haven't got anything coming up in the next week until the Christmas market on 23rd at Evesham Town Hall during the Christmas lights switch on. Hopefully we will see some of you there xx

The Internet is a Brilliant Thing But....

The internet is a brilliant thing and if it wasn't for it we wouldn't be where we are today with our business but it can cause a lot of problems.

Especially social media.  Someone can write something not meaning it in an offensive way but another person can read it and completely take it all out of context.  

I have first hand experience of this in a few situations.  It caused me and my dad to fall out for a week or so a couple of years ago over something I had written on Facebook. Someone had told him what I had written, as he isn't on Facebook, and taken it completely the wrong way.  I wasn't even saying about my Dad in the first place and it wasn't written in a horrible manner either.  

As I write this I can feel a sick feeling in my stomach as again this may be taken the wrong way, I am a wuss and don't like to offend anyone so I very often find myself not saying anything to people who offend me.  So to be able to write a truthful and honest blog about my life and my family is really difficult.

You have just got to read the posts that people write on Spotted on Facebook.  People can get so nasty about each other and comment about people's situations that they have nothing to do with. The comment I see over and over again is "what is this world coming too!".  I don't think things have got any worse, you just hear about every little bad thing that happens now via social media and the constant stream of news.

Maybe social media was a very bad idea as it brings out the worst in people and makes people see the worst in you.

She Must Be Getting Sick Of Us By Now

I've had a mostly brilliant weekend.  Saturday we stayed in all day and after doing all the house work I had a day of sewing.  I am sewing some felt hearts, gingerbread men and snowmen ready for a few markets that we have booked up between now and Christmas.  I love Saturday's like that, when I can sit and craft all day and the football is on the radio, the kids were all doing their own thing and James gets to relax and play on his computer.

Then today we went to James' mum's for Sunday lunch, we always go there for lunch and have done for the past 19 years, she must be getting sick of us by now!  I took my sewing and got all the hearts sewn together and made good progress with the gingerbread men.

I am after a bit of advice.  What would you do if a family member/friends kid was hurting your kids?  I don't want to go in to too much detail as I don't want to offend anyone but I feel so awkward.  I'm not the kind of person who likes to argue so I keep my mouth shut but when it comes to my kids I try to be more assertive. It's such a horrible situation to be in but it's getting to a point where we don't want to take our kids to see them.

I am on twitter if you want to follow me there @ThirtyishMish and I also have another blog about my crafting called Thirtyish Mish Stiching Page.  

I Love Days Like Today

Did you go to see any fireworks last night?  We stayed at home as we had already been to a bonfire party at my mother-in-laws house on Saturday night.  We have hot dogs and the kids watch the fireworks, it's a really lovely evening.

Yesterday we had to take a trip into Stratford as something that I have ordered from Etsy has been sent to an address there.  We have very similar addresses and because our village is in the postal town of Stratford then sometimes our post gets sent there.  Unfortunately it hadn't arrived there so we have now got to wait for a phone call from them to let us know when it has.

I seem to have become comatosed in the evenings, I really want to get on and finish making a few things that I have started but once I sit down that's it I have no more motivation left in me.  From tonight I am going to use the evenings to work on all the projects that I have going at the moment.  I need to get the kids stockings finished for a start as they were meant to have them last year and I didn't get them finished in time!

 I have, however, now got these gorgeous hearts for sale on Etsy and our website.  You have use them as air freshener and are great for the car.  We supply them with a bottle of fragrance oil of your choice so you can just top them up when you need to.

Today I am going to making candles, I love days like today.  Don't get me wrong I love the freedom of selling online but it does get frustrating staring at a computer screen all day.  So when we got the opportunity to make new products I love it!

I Know I am Weird

Sorry I haven't blogged in over a week but we have had a busy few days and with the kids being at home it was hard to work let alone do anything else.

Last week we had the dentist and poor Lily had to have her first tooth out, which involved a horrible anesthetic injection.  It was her last milk tooth that had to come out as it had become wedged behind the adult tooth and was refusing to fall out on it's own.  She was really brave though and the good thing is the dentist said that she won't need a brace.

Yesterday we made a trip to Ikea in Coventry to buy some storage for our office.  We bought an Expedit shelving unit in black/brown.  

It was made a huge difference to how we can store all the materials we need to make our products. They are so easy to put together and really strong, we have them in the kids bedrooms with tubs in to keep all their toys tidy.  I would give Ikea 9/10 for these, I won't give 10/10 because they would be so much better in wood but then I guess that would shoot the price up.

I am a bit of an organising freak so anything to do with storage I am in heaven.  All of the materials are not only in separate boxes but also in zip lock bags depending on their use. I know I am weird no need to tell me.

It's Half Term this Week

It's half term this week!  I love it when the kids are home with us. It's a good job that they weren't at school as I was so tired this morning.  I kept waking up all night because I was expecting that storm to be destroying everything outside but it turned out it didn't even come over us!

This weekend I had my hair cut short.  Well I say short but it's not the shortest I've ever had it, it is now in a bob just under my ears.  It feels so much better because when it was long all I did with it was put it into a pony tail or bun.  I am going to cut the kids hair this week too.

Not a lot more has happened really so this is a really boring short blog sorry x  Oh today we waited in for a stock delivery which didn't turn up, so we wasted half the day waiting around for it.  Apparently the delivery driver forgot to pick it up on Friday so it's going to be delivered tomorrow!!

I have been making stockings and baubles this week, I just need to get some backing material and then I will post some pictures of them.  Also we are just waiting for some special paper to come so we can make the advent candles ready for the Christmas Markets we are selling at.

School Halloween Disco

Last night the boys had their Halloween disco at school and the usual thing happened with one of them coming home saying they felt sick!  Too many sweets I think.  They did enjoy themselves though which is the main thing although it does seem to be getting more expensive every year, it was close to £10 between the 2 of them to get in and have spending money for drinks and sweets.

Lily wants to subscribe to a thing called Glossy Box, they send you make up and cosmetic samples once a month.  I used to have it delivered but I felt it was a waste of money as I could buy some new make up with the money it cost every month £12.99.  She wants me to get it for he instead of giving her pocket money, I said I would think about it.

I  made a start on the kids Christmas stockings yesterday, well I say made a start I actually started them last year but didn't get very far with them.  I am cross stitching a design onto linen which will then be sewn on to the stocking shape.  I have completed 2 so far and I have another 2 to finish as I have made one for my sister too.

The photos of the new candles are now on the website, I am so pleased with how they look.  We are waiting an order of candles to come in then we can make some new designs.  I have lots of ideas in my head so I don't think it will too long before they will be up for sale... You can find them here http://www.thecrystalchakra.co.uk/samhain-halloweed-dripped-candle/

Back to the Drawing Board

Sorry I haven't blogged in the past couple of days but our broadband has been playing up, so what little time I had to spend on it I used it for work.  It is back on and everything is fixed so we're back to normal again.

In my previous post I said that I was worried about the house move falling through, unfortunately it has happened. The lady coming here has decided that the house is not suitable for her.  I know that you have got to be 100% sure before you move but I wish that people wouldn't commit to it and then turn around and say sorry no as it has not only let us down but 2 other families that are wanting to move house too, so it's back to the drawing board!

Right that's that little rant out of the way, we are still hoping that we can find someone to complete the chain as the house we want is absolutely perfect for us.  

We had the boys parents evening at school this week and I know everyone writes on Facebook that they are so proud of their children doing really well at school but I am astonished at how amazing my kids are. Lily was born extremely premature and we were always told that she would probably have learning difficulties but not only is she in a year above than what she would have been if she had of been born at her due date but she is also doing extremely well at school too.  The boys are both amazing at maths, Owen is doing lessons 2 years above his age and Morgan actually showed his teacher how to do a maths equation the other day as she had got wrong!

So the past couple of days at work we have been working on our new range of candles and candle holders. They are looking amazing and I can't wait to get them on the website, when I have got the photos of them then I will put some up on here.  They will be on there in a few hours www.thecrystalchakra.co.uk

One last thing my sister has started a blog reviewing books and movies, she is very good at it and her blog is amazing so you should go and check it out... http://www.sarawwsays.blogspot.co.uk/

A Little Less Confident

We are a little less confident about the house now, over the weekend it seems like 2 of the people in the chain are having the wobbles.  I don't think it's going to fall through but it always puts that doubt in your mind.  We need this move not only because it's a bigger house but to be nearer my mum who will shortly be starting kidney dialysis so I need to be close to help her out and the petrol at the moment getting back and forth is extortionate. All we can do is ask the universe for help, I am a great believer in this I don't pray to a god as such.  We are pagan so we ask the universe and the angels for help and they seem to have listened so far, if it doesn't go through then it's just meant to be that way.

We all seem to have come down with a sicky tum today, not actually been sick but just icky.  It was difficult trying to get Morgan to school today but he was OK once he was there.

Anyway on to other things, Stanford (our pup) is teething, the poor little thing. The first thing we noticed was his left ear seemed to be hanging funny and he whimpered if we touched it.  But I have asked on Border Terrier World forum and this appears to be normal when they are teething and can last until they are 22 weeks old, he is now 15 weeks.

Work wise we have had a good weekend, the Christmas orders seem to be coming in now.  We were going to be selling at a market on Sunday but the weather looked bad and it was out doors so that was a no go. I have added a little more to my figure that I am making, I need to get more clay and some material now to finish her off...

I hope you all have a good day xx

Michelle

Have you heard of Ebid?

Good Morning Everyone x

Yesterday we needed to pop out in the morning to buy our dogs some more food so we popped in to Stratford upon Avon to get some.  We have a 13 year old Border Collie called Jango and a 14 week old Border Terrier called Stanford.  They are on a diet of Nature Diet food, it's fantastic as it just contains meat, veg and rice.

Jango has got a wheat allergy to we struggle to find food that will stop his fur falling out, since eating Nature Diet his skin has been a lot better and he's had a lot more energy.

Whilst we were there we bought Stan his first collar, it's a light brown leather one.  I thought he would be annoyed by it but he hasn't really taken much notice.

Work wise we started putting some of our products on Ebid a couple of weeks ago.  It's an alternative to Ebay (which I hate with a passion).  If you haven't heard of it then you should take a look www.ebid.net. It's great, I don't think we would get the level of sales on there that we would on Ebay as there isn't such a large audiance but it's definitely getting bigger.

We are also running a competition on our Facebook page at the moment and I can't believe how many new likes and views it has generated. If you want to follow us on facebook then click here.. https://www.facebook.com/thecrystalchakra

We had tea at Morrisons yesterday, because it was cheap and easy as we had to do the shopping. On the way there we drove past the house that we are hopefully moving to.  The kids loved it and were amazed how big it looked.  We are going to take them to have a look around but we will wait until we have a more definate moving date xx

Michelle

Good News and a Bit of Crafting

It was good news, everyone is ready in the chain now so we have just got to wait for a date!!  It may even be before Christmas!!!!! I am so excited but feel really stressed at the same time.

So yesterday we were pretty much preoccupied with the house but we did manage to get some crafting done.  James stripped all of the wood down that we had gathered a couple of weeks ago.  We use it to make wands for our website.. If you would like to see some completed ones then take a look on our website here... http://www.thecrystalchakra.co.uk/handmade-crystal-chakra-directional-wand/

He usually does it in the garden but it was raining so much yesterday that he had to do it in the front room and flicked bits of bark everywhere!

I made a start on a new range of things that we are going to be selling, I can't really reveal a lot about what I am doing at the moment but take a look at the photo and you can take a guess at what it's going to be...

I can't concentrate properly on anything at the moment apart from the house move, I think I will be a bit more relaxed once we have an actual date xxx

Michelle

Back to blogging

Oh my gosh I haven't blogged for such a long time!  

I really need to get back to it. I want to use this blog to write about juggling family life, studying and running a business.

Today's is only going to be a quickie to introduce ourselves.  

I'm Michelle and I am slowly (well quickly) creeping/sprinting through my thirties.  My husband James is a year older than me and we've been together for 19 years! Since we were 16 and married for 9.  We have 3 kids Lily is 13, Morgan is 10 and Owen who is 7.

Me and James work together on our business The Crystal Chakra where we sell new age gifts online and at craft fairs. I am also studying aromatherapy and homeopathy so my life is very busy at the moment.

Currently we live in a very small village in the Cotswolds but we are looking to move.  We have seen a house that we like.  It's in the town that we both grew up in and it is a lot bigger than the house that we are currently in, we need the extra space as our business is expanding and we need to have a totally different area away from the house.

So fingers crossed that it all goes through. We should know a little more this evening on the chain, we are just awaiting the final person to view a house then we should all be ready to get things going.

I am so excited about it, so for now I will leave at that as I have got lots of work to do xx 

Michelle