Online shopping! Not going so well.

I am rather fed up at the moment! Over the past few weeks I have been trying to get a copy of Quickbooks Pro 2010 for a reasonable (ish) price on Ebay. Well, I finally got one! or so I had thought. When it arrived yesterday I installed it on my computer only to discover that it was the US version and was totally useless! :( My data wouldn't import and the tax would be all wrong anyway. I checked the listing and there was no mention at all about this so I emailed the seller and have had no reply. I could cry. :(
Today seems to be going much the same way as I ordered myself a new belt. Feeling confident that I had chosen the correct size after using a tape measure that I had found in my sewing box I was looking forward to it arriving. Which it now has!! Do they have different inches in China? Only the belt was way too small and I'm not surprised when I checked another tape measure. The one that I had used in the first place appears to have an inch measuring closer to an inch and a half! ARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH! So I am rather down, sad and despondant and also a little uneasy about ordering online. You may also add decidedly chilly into the mix.
I hope everyone else is having a better day.

Before I forget!

I did say that I would take a picture of small boy with all of his new bugs on his birthday. In all the stress with the next issue of Creative Crafting and CRAFTfest! I haven't had any time.

But here we go, a lovely picture of him covered in his new creepy crawlies.
He also adored the Dragon Fly cake that Nanny made for him. The first thing he did on arriving was to go straight into the kitchen and pull a wing and one of its legs off. Such a boy thing to do!
By the way, the cheese and pineapple was a special request from Sir himself although on the day he didn't touch a single piece!

She's done it again!! Beautiful!

Maria from Minxtures has done it again! She has made me two of her beautiful fleece cushions for my boys. They will be taking pride of place on the sofa. Just as soon as I can get them to put them down! They are being cuddled constantly. If you love cushions, duvet covers, bags etc you must pop over to Marias shop as her work is such fantastic quality. I highly recommend her to you all. :) I've already been given a Christmas list from the small boy who is trying to talk me into commissioning some of Marias soft toys for him. lol.

There were actually a lot more photos of the small one as he loves to be photographed. It is his 4th Birthday on Monday so I'm sure the camera will be extremely busy. Watch this space for the fallout from all of the insect related gifts that I have found for him. Eww!

A very quick, yet rather mad week!

After what has been an incredibly hectic week, I am now sat here rather 'shell-shocked'! It's been one of those times that are filled with high points and an equal if not larger amount of low ones. Very, very busy at the beginning as the manic preparations for the Creative Connections Birthday party had to be dealt with. Then it was the big day itself on Tuesday which went very well luckily. Lots of people came and we had a lovely crafty chatty day. (I now have the burning desire to scrapbook everything though, probably a good thing that I wasn't around for the felt making chat!) The next issue of Creative Crafting is coming along nicely and the first printed copies that have been purchased are on their way to their new owners. (I will be totally paranoid until I hear that they have arrived safely...chews fingernails)
My wranglings with Amazon about publishing on kindle have been bouncing back and forth and I'm fast coming to the conclusion that it just isn't going to happen. I did however whip up a book version of edited features which is all set to publish as soon as I work out what my iban number is!!! Annoyingly, although there are literally thousands of free books available, when you publish yourself you are not allowed to give them away! I think this is highly unfair as I want ours to be FREE!! It may never actually see the light of day. :( As you can see from these two images though, it does actually exist! Would anyone actually pay for it?


I have now had far too much coffee and am finding it hard to settle to anything. Hence the general waffling. So sorry, but it's something to write about isn't it.

Ooo! I almost forgot to tell you. My printed copy of the magazine arrived. I am very proud of it. I know that it is quite expensive from the HP site but it is lovely. (I did notice however that other craft magazines on there are considerably higher priced than ours!! Fancy that!) The pages are lovely and thick and it is perfect if you are featured and would like a copy. We are looking at a small print run for future issue if the printers ever actually reply to me. If you are interesting in purchasing a copy from HP however you can find it here http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/225873

School shoe time again!! Ooo! Look Dinos!

That time of year again! It comes around so fast doesn't it. The yearly trip to Clarkes. I am eternally grateful that my mum and dad buy the shoes every year for my boys as the prices seem to be through the roof. I am also having serious doubts about the suitability of Clarkes anymore. The range seems to get smaller, the prices higher and the quality lower! The year before last my eldest had some of their Bootleg range. They started to fall to pieces after about 6 weeks, it got so bad that wonderful husband had to use filler on them and replace the fitting for the velcro bar!! Last year we discovered that they hold a small amount of Clarkes brand shoes 'under the counter' so to speak. (in the back room actually!)
These don't appear to be on general display. They were far superior in quality and have lasted considerably better than the previous years. Unfortunately they didn't have any of those in his size this year so we have tried the Bootleg ones again after being assured they are better quality than they were. I have my doubts though so will keep you updated.

But the small boy!! Well, who would believe it!! This year they have a new 'Stomposaurus' range. Perfect for a little dino lover like the small one. He chose the pair that he liked, tried them on and went over and checked his appearance in the mirror. They are very cool, they have a t'rex on the sole and are named Raptoboy!

As these will be his first proper 'school' shoes we also popped along to Shoezone and bought him some trainers. (The Clarkes ones were yes you guessed it, very pricey and extremely heavy. Also a poor fit!) Incredibly his new trainers also have dinosaurs on. Triceratops this time!! He says that they make him as fast as the fastest scorpion!

Next year we may not be going back to Clarkes, does anyone have any ideas of other good quality shoe stores that offer a fitting service?

Bugs, bugs and brain ache!

I keep finding myself staring at the screen! Not because I have nothing to do but because I don't seem to be able to engage my brain! This may not be surprising as I am rather tired having been up and down out of bed all of last night like a yo-yo. The small one kept thinking of reasons for me to boing out of bed the minute I lay my head down. So I am a little jaded today and no amount of coffee seems to be doing the trick.
Time away from the screen may be called for especially as the small one just asked "How's are you getting on Computer Girl?". He really is only 3! Honest!
Some exciting things have happened though, I am currently awaiting the first printed proof copy of Creative Crafting Magazine. Super exciting! I hope it comes out OK. It has also been giving me brain ache trying to work out how to convert it all to XML for the e-reader version.
On another note, I have been busily ordering insect related gifts for the small ones 4th Birthday at the end of the month. Not really my thing as I hate bugs of all kinds. On Tuesday he received a fabulous gift from his Nan and Grandad of a glow in the dark bug t-shirt and cap. HE ADORES THEM! In fact I had lots of tears on Tuesday evening at PJ time as he wanted to wear them 'FOREVER' Here is a little pic of him demonstrating them. He is currently missing the big one who is spending his summer week with Nan and Grandad.
I have no idea where this love of bugs came from, I prefer the dinosaur or car stages that he has been through. As well as publishing the August issue of the magazine this week I have also had a quick revamp of my Mystic Earth Website. and last week I totally changed my Radiance Crystals Site. No rest for the wicked! ;) Oh, and also made a couple of pairs of earrings after a little boost from selling a bracelet.

Oak Jasper

 These among other earrings can be found on my website for £5.99.

Hematite

A spot of Carrot and Parsnip soup!

Just for a change, today hasn't gone as planned! My to do list has not become any shorter and I'm not feeling particularly satisfied. I did however, decide to make myself some carrot and parsnip soup for lunch. "That doesn't sound that unusual" you say. Well, actually, it is for me. I have never liked soup so why I felt like making some today totally escapes me but there you go. It may have a lot to do with the fact that I am trying to keep to below 1200 calories a day. No mean feat I can tell you, I could easily consume that in coffee alone! So the soup, yes, I bunged the carrots and parsnips (totally random amount) into a saucepan with some water. Boiled them half to death and then whizzed them up with a bit of salt, parsley and butter. Believe it or not, it was edible. I even managed to consume almost half of the bowl! There it is in all it's orange glory. Yes, I know its very thick for soup but as I may have mentioned, I'm not a soup fan. So I left it nice and thick.
Now, what else didn't I do today? Well, I didn't revamp my website like I was going to, didn't complete lots of articles for the magazine, totally forgot to order some more beading wire and probably lots more. But I did pick up about 250 toy dinosaurs off my living room floor after the small one upended the box and refused to put them back in, and I did repair a dragon who repeatedly came apart much to his annoyance. Tescos did arrive and amazingly there were no bizarre substitutions today and the driver was very nice and not pervy like the one who delivered the other week. (eww shudder)

Ah, now I promised you a picture of my boys with their new PE bags cleverly created by Maria from Minxtures. Obviously the smaller one chose a spider (he has a thing about insects!) and the creature on the bigger ones bag is the pokemon Cyndaquil. I am expecting these to cause quite a stir at school but should hopefully mean that they are more noticeable amongst the sea of Navy Blue plastic ones. Please excuse the state of the kitchen. Maria is an absolute whizz with a sewing machine so make a note of her shop address for a later time.
Well, I'll let you get on. I must, also, as the bigger one has a friend around from school and he is in full show off mode. I give them about another 15 minutes before the smaller one gets fed up and starts causing trouble.
Ta ta for now my friends.

Right then, here we go! Don't expect too much!

I became so bored with writing my blog that I just gave up doing it completely!! I was trying to use it to promote my businesses which just isn't very interesting is it. So, here I am, reinventing it completely and making it far more general. I can't promise that I will write that often as time is something I don't have much of but you never know, I may catch the blogging bug again.

So where am I today? Well, I am currently sorting out articles and blog posts for Creative Crafting Magazine, managing three twitter accounts and running about after my 3 (almost 4 as he keeps telling me) year old son. I must quickly tell you that we did manage to get away for a few days the other month. First time in years, short weekend trip down to Cornwall with my mum and dad, Mr Wonderful (aka, my husband) and my boys. I was far too short but lovely, apart from Midnight wanderings by the small boy which caused me to fall down the stairs! But enough about that, we did have fun. One thing that particularly amused us was the row of cupboards in the kitchen of our lodge. They had no handles and as well as cupboards hid a fridge, freezer and washing machine. Now, my mother and I had great fun with this especially  the freezer as it was extremely elusive. It soon became clear that it only exposed itself to men as only Mr Wonderful and my father could actually find it. And no, we hadn't hit the wine by this point. lol. Anyway, here is an image of the aforementioned row of cupboards.

Yes, I know, there doesn't look very many cupboards but it kept us amused for a good hour or so for some reason. I may be going slightly batty but lets keep that between us shall we.

What else have I been up to other than work - Ah yes, I was asked by the small boy to make him a scorpion. An orange one no less! It was quite a task but after spending an entire Sunday at it, here is the result.

My son is desperate for me to include a photo of him with his new PE bag that was kindly made for us by Marie at Minxtures but I will save them until I have a shot of his older brother with his. Now I am sure there are lots of other things I could mention but I think I've taken up enough of your time so I'll leave it there for today, I could waffle on for hours but who wants that! I should also get some work done.
Bye for now my friends.

Latest Custom Designs

This beautiful custom healing necklace and bracelet are off to their new owner.

Labradorite and Hematite with Black Diamond Swarovski Crystals.

Mangano Calcite, Rose Quartz, Smoky Quartz, Lepidolite, Sunstone, Rhodochrosite
with Topaz, Rose, Smoky Quartz and Amethyst Swarovski Crystals.

Just finished!

Created this morning.

An Amber pendant suspended from a full stone circle of Amber and Citrine, accented with topaz and golden shadow Swarovski Crystals.