The decision is made

Thank you for all your thoughts on Etsy.  I have taken the plunge (after a few frustrating hours of trying to get my name sorted out, to no avail), and am now on Etsy.  I am keeping the Misi shop going for now until the products expire, but I won't be adding anything new to it.  All my bunting is now via the Etsy shop, and when I get some story bags in stock (still working on custom orders at the moment), then they too will be in the etsy shop.

If you fancy checking my shop out it is here.

I shall also add a link under the Aisling Designs banner on my blog.  Also, should you be on facebook, please check out my page there too.

Everyone's happy!

 A while ago a friend introduced me to Stratford Armoury, mainly for the soft play barn, as we needed somewhere to meet up.  But we had a quick peek at the museum, and I vowed that I would have to come back and show the boys, as I was sure they would like it.  So, this Saturday we paid another visit, and I could not even have imagined what a success it was.  The younger ones enjoyed dressing up.

The older ones were fascinated with the vast array of model armies, and the chap who was running the museum was a great enthusiast too, so email addresses were swapped!

Guns were explained to an attentive audience...



 ...and played with!

 Sophie enjoyed the armoured elephant

 More boys and their "toys".

There was a fantastic World War I and II exhibit, which appealed to Stan, and we finished off the visit with a lovely meal (thank you Stan) and a trip to the play barn for the younger ones.

Everyone got something out of it, a great feeling ticking everyone's boxes!  I can see us frequenting this place again.  It is all a private collection, and it got me thinking, I wonder if there are other little places like this around, private collections that are open to the public.  Not too massive to be exhausting, but full of interesting and quirky things that perhaps you would not find elsewhere.

Decisions, decisions.

 Aisling Designs is keeping me wonderfully busy at the moment.  I love having little projects to do, and have actually made some bunting that is not to order.  This "Hope" bunting will hopefully one day find a home with someone who needs to have a little light, and brightness brought into their lives.  On the back is embroidered part of an Irish blessing "May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain".  It is £18 plus postage.

I've also had some custom bunting to do too.  Ready for a little girl's birthday later in March.  

 But my indecision comes from what to do with my Misi shop.  It is useful to have somewhere to show what things I have in stock, but I have never sold anything directly from the shop.  It has always been via either facebook, my blog, or word of mouth.  Facebook now has "shops", but not everyone chooses to use facebook.  I could use Etsy instead, as it has more traffic, but could I cope with a possible increase in orders, especially at this time of year when the garden and allotment are beginning to call to me?  

I would love to hear from others who have online businesses, whilst juggling everything else.  What are your experiences of using Etsy?  Where would you look for handmade products?  Please feel free to share any experiences you have, both positive and negative of these different methods of selling, as I am going round in circles here!!

And the winner is...

 All 16 names were written out and placed in a felted bowl. 

My lovely assistant then chose a piece of paper from this bowl.

 And the winner of the drop spindle and seeds

is......



...Alexis AKA MOM.  Congratulations! If you could email me at claire dot davies at junitech dot com and give me your address I can send you your prize.

Yarn along- Little Red Riding Hood

Knitting has been happening again, with the production of some story bags.  I am currently making the characters for Little Red Riding hood, trying to match the clothes etc to those in the story.  Little Red is nearly done, just awaiting the eyes.  I don't know why it is, but I never like putting the eyes on, seems to spoil it in my opinion, but I think she probably does need eyes.  The Big Bad Wolf is awaiting stuffing (not with Grandma, this is the nice version ;) ) and mother is on the needles at the moment.  I love making these little characters, the children are probably fed up of me showing off my little creations, but I get a real sense of satisfaction of creating something like this from some yarn!  The pattern I am using as a base for the dolls is Phoeny's Man Dressin Up doll, and the wolf is JellyBum's Wolf.

Reading wise, I'm still reading Car Sick.  It is a great book about how to reduce car usage in our society which is so often built around the car.  Not just a book preaching "don't use your car", but how to engage the wider society about reducing car usage.  The recent bit I have been reading about is walking buses, and cycling training.  All these would be do-able in our local area, but it's getting the impetus and support from the local people.  Last time they tried to organise a walking bus at Ethan's school they had 2 volunteers, and that was it.  I think it might be time to approach the school again.

Joining in with Ginny again for her wonderful Yarn Along, looking forward to see what everyone has been up to this week.

Today is the last day for entering my give-away.  If you are quick you might be able to have a chance.  Just leave a comment at the end of this post and join in the celebrations of 300 blog posts.

Seven Days of Half Term

 The week started with a visit from a friend we have been trying to meet up with for a while.  Car problems and mid-day pre-school runs meant that we had very little time to travel and meet up, so we eventually managed it on the first day of half term. So lovely to catch up and see the younger children play so well together.

By Tuesday we had a car back.  So after dropping Stan and Stuart's brother off at the train station in Birmingham for a little adventure of their own, we went to visit the BBC studio at The Mailbox. There we could have a go at presenting the news, or the weather forecast or a bit of Newsround. Very difficult, and we got some rather funny results, as we saw when we played back what we had recorded.

. 
 We gave the big car a bit of a spruce up.  After it had been used for Stuart's daily commute along the motorway, it was looking decidedly salty, so we restored it to it's original black colour.  Sophie, when asked to clean the wheels, cleaned the tyres, well that will teach me for not being specific enough!!

 Wednesday was a day of utter chaos!  9 children running riot in the house!  Luke had a friend over to play WarMachine.  Alec had a friend over because we had been promising him for a long time that he could have this lad over.  Ethan had a friend over as he was feeling left out, and we got joined by the boys from next door too!  I made a batch of scones using the scone mix I got the other week.  17 scones lasted all of about an hour or two!

Thursday saw Sophie decide to make a house out of a box.  It had windows, a door, and later in the day curtains.

 It got played with by anyone (or thing) that could fit in it!  Sophie was very disappointed that I could not fit in it, and to be honest, so was I!

 By later in the week it was becoming more and more tatty, but still played with!  I am actually amazed at how many people could fit in it.  I found Alec and Ethan using it as a bit of a retreat with the iPad for entertainment!

Another, pretty much, home-based half term, but that is just how we like it! 

Joining in with Jacqui again with a review of the week.

Just a reminder, feel free to enter the giveaway .  Closing date is 22nd February.

A double edged sword

It's strange, I look at all these wonderful blogs and see beautiful crafts people do with their children, or the adventures they get up to in beautiful settings (ok we do have some adventures but not as many as I would like) and I feel a tinge of jealousy that our life isn't like that.  I then bemoan the fact that there are very few blogs that I have come across that share what life is like with older children who go to school, but then don't often blog about what my lot do!  Why don't I blog about it?  Probably because it doesn't fit in with the crafty, slow(er) living, low tech life that I dream about.  But I'm going to redress this imbalance right now and introduce you to Minecraft.

It has taken over the boys lives a little bit, especially since Stuart set up a server for them, so they can now play online with each other and their friends.  So what is it?  It's a computer game where you have to mine for things and then can make items with the things that you mine.  The example that sticks in my head is if you combine water and lava you get obsidian, but you can only mine the obsidian if you have already found diamond to make a diamond drill bit.  The boys create accomodation and have to protect it from creatures that try to destroy it all when night falls. 

Since they have now got a server, some of their school friends are joining in the fun too.  Although it also adds a political element to it too.  There have been occasions when some of the children have been silly, and Luke and Alec who are moderators are sorting things out as diplomatically as possible (I overheard Luke at one point, and was struck with how fair he was being).  They have also introduced a monetary system, which has already thrown up a few interesting results.  For example Luke is now employing Ethan in the making of potions to sell.  But last night somebody started to steal the potions. 

I am really impressed with the imagination and skills this game draws upon.  It is not the most graphically enhanced of games, which I think adds to its charm.  However, and this is the double edged sword bit, it does suck them in to spending alot of time on the computer.  Luke and Ethan are pretty good at regulating themselves, but Alec finds it difficult to to drag himself away, and when he isn't playing it, he is researching things about, but then that is all part of his character, such a focussed child when something interests him.  For half-term we have had to impose a curfew, so that after lunch computer time is ended and we go find something else to do.  I don't like curfews, but without it I know exactly what this half term would consist of!!

So there you have it, technically addicted children, but they are my children, and I can see the benefits they are getting from it as well as the drawbacks!  And right now, it is simply...life!

Oh, and on a completely different note, don't forget my giveaway to celebrate 300 posts.  Just leave a comment here.