Memorandum Monday - the one that is all about the fundraiser

Just a very quick whizz in to say hello and wave to Sian at From High in the Sky for Memorandum Monday.

It was the weekend of my fundraiser at home and the weather was pretty vile, but a few souls braved the weather to come along and support me.  Early indications are that I have made at least £70 for Children with Cancer Fund.

The rest of the weekend has been about catching up on lost sleep - I did burn a bit of midnight oil getting all of my cards finished and putting the house back straight again - I rearranged all the furniture to fit all my tables in!!

This week I can now turn my thoughts to getting ready for Christmas - I need to do a count up of the cards that didn't sell to work out how many more I need to make.  Also Marillion's UK tour kicks off in Aylesbury on Sunday so I need to get packing as we are seeing them for four out of the six nights. We are looking forward to not just the gigs but a chance to catch up with so many of our friends who also support the band.

Have a great week everyone!!

Blogtober Day 3 - Memorandum Monday

A quick dash in to join in with Sian's Memorandum Monday.

It was a weekend of pricing, packing, wrapping, finishing off, printing, float counting and general last minute prep for my fundraiser today.  There wasn't even any time to get a photograph of how dreadful our lounge looked with boxes everywhere and bags of display stuff.  And all of this was done with the Ryder Cup going on in the background, sadly we were defeated by a great American team but it was three days of great viewing.

But now I can sit here thoroughly worn out and report that it was a great success.  We raised £187 for
Children with Cancer Fund and I was given a further £225 in donations for the charity.  We had a lovely lunch out afterwards and the afternoon has been spent counting money, recounting it and recounting again just to make sure that I have got my figures right LOL!!  Some stuff has been put away but as I have another fundraiser at home in about 5 weeks time, it seems best to leave it in the boxes.  Tomorrow or Wednesday I will do a stock-take and see what I need to make - I definitely need more Christmas cards - they were selling like hot cakes today!!

A big thank you to Mr P, my parents and my friend Carol - they give me so much help and support and my fundraising is only possible with their help.

If you want to join in with Memorandum Monday, please go and give Sian a wave over at From High in the Sky

Memorandum Monday

It is still just about Monday, so I still have time to report on the weekend and what the week has in store.

The weekend was a fairly quiet one - Mr P was working all weekend so I took the opportunity for a bit of messy crafting whilst I wasn't going to be getting in the way.  I had some layouts from a class that I took last weekend at the A Trip Down Memory Lane retreat that needed the messy backgrounds doing before I can mount the photographs and other embellishments.

I am really out of my comfort zone doing this type of crafting and I know they will look a whole lot better once they are finished if the class examples were anything to go by - watch this space!!

Saturday evening I did my usual visit to my parents and as it has now become custom due to lack of anything decent on TV on a Saturday evening we watched a DVD.  This week's offering was 'The Theory of Everything' and it was really good.  Of course I didn't sit idle - I got on with stitching up more knitted offerings from my Mum ready for our next fundraiser - it isn't until October but I need to keep up with things or I will end up doing a few midnight oil burning sessions if I leave things till after the summer.

This weekend I did a santa, a penguin and a mouse -

This week is strangely quiet on the calendar - a rare week with no appointments.  I need to get on with booking more hotels and more plans for our great Scottish roadtrip in June.  There is also an ironing monster that needs taming and I also have plenty of crafty stuff to keep me occupied.  Hope you all have a great week!!

Memorandum Monday (except it's Tuesday!!)

I'm a day late for Sian's Memorandum Monday but I have a good excuse and a note from my Mum!!

The weekend was spent getting prepared for a fundraiser that I did yesterday for Children With Cancer Fund.  I had cards to put inserts in and package up and lots of baby chicks to finish stuffing and sewing up.  In fact I was so busy I never took any photographs of what I was up to.  I did take a little break on Saturday evening to visit Mum and Dad though and we watched Saving Mr Banks as there was nothing on TV.  I'm not sure Dad was overly impressed with Mum and I singing along to all the songs LOL!!

Anyway Monday was a busy day and a new fundraiser for me, I usually do one in September with Christmas cards at my parents' home.  This time we sold mainly Easter cards plus knitted goods, post it note pads, tissue covers and other cards.  We did really well and raised £97 with our stall and over the course of the morning I was given a further £190 in donations from individuals and groups.

Here are all my ducks in a row

And some of my Easter cards (I will share them soon on the blog) and the other knitted toys we had.

So I'm now having a bit of chillout time and planning what I can make for my next fundraiser - I sold all the post it note pads, so they are next on my list!!

Blogtober 2015 Day 8 - Tissue covers

Last year Fiona from Staring at the Sea shared this great tutorial on her blog for making tissue covers.  I hadn't used my sewing machine in ages, but the tutorial was really easy to follow, so I made a few for my fundraising.  They sold really well and as fast as I make them, they sell out. 

Here are some of my most recent batch- warning there are a lot of photos!!

Thanks Fiona for doing such a great tutorial and making it simple enough for a sewing novice like me to follow.

The Carol Of The Bells

Marillion released this fabulous Christmas single yesterday in aid of a charity to raise money to buy a life prolonging cancer treatment for Matt Elworthy (see the JustGiving page here).  It was originally made as a Christmas gift to the members of the fan club but has been so well received that the band decided to release it.

It is available as a download for 89p from Amazon and for 79p from iTunes

Take a look at the video and if you enjoy it, perhaps you could consider supporting this fabulous cause by downloading the song.

Blogtoberfest Day 31 + 1 - Oooops and Fundraising

Well a big fat fail to me, I missed doing a final post yesterday for Blogtoberfest.  But I do have a very good excuse and nothing at all to do with the dog eating my homework LOL.

I was busy setting all this lot up -

 

All the weeks of crafting late into the night has led to this day when I run an Open house to raise funds for Children with Cancer Fund.  So far today I have had a steady stream of visitors and I am expecting more this evening.  You will have to wait for my November Month in Numbers to find out how well I have done!!

I've enjoyed Blogtoberfest and look forward to taking part again next year - thank you to Michelle all the way over in Australia for organising it this year xx

Blogtoberfest 2013 - Day 28 - Going Quackers

A few more of the lovely knitted toys that my Mum has been busy making for our fundraisers.

Thanks Mum for being so busy through the year and making lots of these lovely toys for us to sell xx

Blogtoberfest 2013 Day 19 - P P P P Pick up a Penguin

Today I am sharing more knits that my Mum has made for our fundraising efforts this year for Children with Cancer Fund.

These are some of the cute penguins she has made -

Of course I got the fun job (NOT!!!) of stitching them up and putting their faces on.

Blogtoberfest 2013 - Day12 - Post it Note Pads

One thing that always sells very well at our fundraisers are the post it note pads.

 They are really simple to make and are a great way to use up odds and ends of paper.  You can decorate them anyway you please.  There are lots of tutorials showing how to make these - this one comes very close to how I make mine.

Blogtoberfest 2013 - Day 9 - A Melt of Snowmen

Here are some of the little Snowmen that my Mum has knitted for our fundraisers -

I want to keep them all!!

Blogtoberfest 2013 - Day 8 - A Jolly Lot of Santas

My mum always knits lots of toys for our fundraisers and I get the job of stitching them up, stuffing them and adding their features.

Here are the mini Santas that we made -

They are just so cute!!

Tomorrow I will share the little knitted snowmen that we have made.

More Memory Wire Bracelets and blog event announcement

Here are some more memory wire bracelets that I have made for my planned autumn fundraisers.

Sweet Princess (side view)

Sweet Princess (top view)

Pebbles on the beach (side view)

Pebbles on the beach (top view)

Deep Blue Sea (side view)

Deep Blue Sea (top view)

Raspberry Ripple (side view)

Raspberry Ripple (top view)

Sweet Candy II (side view)

Sweet Candy II (top view)

Jennifer from Jennifer Grace Creates is hosting one of her weekend blog events from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th May - if you get a chance to join in, then have a go.  The one she did last year was great fun.

I know what I am up to next weekend!!