Bucilla Felt Kits

[Chalet School Fan]

I agree with the statement that if you are crafting you aren't snacking. Doesn't seem to make much difference to my size though. But at least I can feel virtuous, even though I don't look it!
Thanks for all the advice. There are also some helpful videos and tips on YouTube and various blogs, so I am now feeling more confident about starting.

[sam]

I've just had a look on your blog glingle, and they're very nice, well done - sewing isn't my "thing" at all, I get into such a mess!

[RozMinis]

Ah, I knew there was something I had missed, one of the wreaths. I think it is the sweetie one, but don't hold me to it. Just remembered the cuckoo clock as well. ;)

One huge piece of advice I should have mentioned last night, is not to cut the pieces until you actually need to use them. My mother, obviously trying to be helpful, cut all the pieces from one of the earlier ornament kits. Talk about confuzzling, it took me forever to sort those little Santa's out. I have been known to cut all the little Advent ornaments out in one go, but I put them into separate bags, and I also leave the numbers on them. Sometimes it is impossible to do the latter, in which case I tack the number to the felt piece.

Another tip is not to over stuff the pieces, some only need a little padding.

Roz

[Little Jan]

Pam I got the loo seat and cistern set years ago I finished the seat cover in record time but never did the cistern cover still in a bag somewhere only put the loo set cover on once and thought how unhygienic and that was it
Wanted the snowman and Santa wall hanger but it sold out
I also got the 100 felt tree decorations which I made and sold at a craft fair which sold for 25p each so I made a tidy profit
Enough to recoupe the cost and twice the cost to donate
Still have a few which my daughter wanted to keep
Just worked out it was nearly 20 years ago gees where has the time gone

[Waterlily]

I was wondering how long ago I got mine Jan, think I got them from QVC in the early days but no idea really.

[Little Jan]

I was wondering how long ago I got mine Jan, think I got them from QVC in the early days but no idea really.

Mine were from QVC too
Back when QVC were quality value and convenience
not purchased from them in years but hubby saw a hardy rhodadendron
He likes that was exclusive and selling fast
Exclusive my A...
After it arrived I googled when it could be planted
Up popped a dozen suppliers with same item half the price

[RozMinis]

The first Advent calendar (snowman stocking) Kate bought me from QVC. I often wonder if she realised what she was letting me in for!

As for the cost of plants from QVC............ sheesh, they are bliddy expensive, and that isn't even counting the cost of postage. In days of old when they used to sell Thompson & Morgan stuff I priced up what they were selling on one show. Had I bought from QVC it would have cost more in postage alone than the entire order, including postage, from the supplier.

We tend to buy locally now, it works out cheaper, and we can see exactly how healthy the plants are. Bought most of our bedding plants in the market last year. Brilliant quality, though I did have fun bringing them home on the bus. :)

Roz

[Chalet School Fan]

The plants sold by Aldi and Lidl are good too - one of our local gardeners always recommends them to his customers. A £1.99 honeysuckle plant I bought to cover a dead Apple tree is now a huge Bush which smells wonderful in the summer months.

[Waterlily]

We are lucky here, they hold plant auctions in our nearest town. There used to be two different auction houses but one has closed now. The only problem is that you have to buy small plants by the tray, shrubs are sold separately though. Wish I'd known about them when we moved here.

We've also bought some from Aldi and Lidl and as CSF says they are very good.

We've got a very large garden, when we moved here there were hardly any plants (plenty of weeds lol). Just a very large piece of grass that I called the field lol. We found a place that sold plants by post through advertising in the paper. The shrubs were very small. We actually went to the nursery and chose the plants we wanted and the lady there gave us the bigger plants that were too big for them to send. (I know you can send big plants but they didn't). We got a good deal as they were sold at their normal prices..
We did lose a few but not many, if you could see the garden now you would see that most of the plants have grown really well.

[Little Jan]

We have a large garden not half as big as yours Pam
Front garden was full of specimen trees but we cut a lot down
To get some light in
Back garden also had loads of trees and lovely shrubs and flowers being smothered with weeds
But some trees were dead and shrubs over grown
Back part of garden was a wild meadow with weeds as tall as me
I started trying to weed it but ofter three months I was getting nowhere so we got the whole lot mowed down
Removed a row of trees to find we had a small orchard
Flower beds have now been thinned out and replanted
Dead stuff cut down
The garden looks so much bigger and last spring the meadow
was a blaze of yellow daffs and cowslips which had previously been smothered by weeds
Looking forward to this spring to see what my hard work has produced
That's if the rabbits and pheshants have not turfed out the bulbs