A very British day .....

It is Sunday today and the day of the boys' school summer fair so we had lots to do beforehand....











There were vegetable monsters to make .....























And seed tray gardens to assemble .......











The weather was lovely - which was a relief as yesterday, saturday, was pants.
There was a ballon race, tug of war, farm animals to pet, cakes to buy, a tombola, May pole dancing and a whole heap more. Half an Acre had a stall as usual and the bunnies were on display too.

I have to confess that the above (and left) seed garden was a stolen idea from Dan Jackson - I hope he doesn't mind. There is an adults display table and, being an irritatingly creative family, we are the ONLY people to put anything on to it and I feel the need to come up with something curious and entertaining each year! So, for once, I was drained of any ideas at all so I stole one! I'm hoping that linking to Dan will make up for it! DAN'S SHOP >>>> CLICK HERE!

I am so pleased that the boys are at such a wonderful school. They are allowed to (seasonally!) play in the dirt, throw snowballs, get wet and play with sticks. I value these things. They have really benefited from the inclusive ethos of the school and my eldest especially has changed from an anxious worrier to a cool, confident, self-assured dude-in-the-making.
So BIG thanks to Mr Potter, head-teacher extraordinaire, for looking after everyone so well and making school a pretty good place to be ....

Whale/seal/shark/fish thing update ....

Now, I was asked at Winchester Handm@ade, by one of my 'followers' (that sounds a bit cultish!) Trashalou about my whale/shark/etc thing. I have a visual update ...

Yup - it is back up on the book case. At least it has got the map on it. It's that chicken. It won't let me near it. Honest ......

Yesterday I went to a craft fair and I bought .......

Yesterday was Winchester Handm@de. It was interesting going back to the town - er, city - because I went to school their and my parents-in-law live just outside it. I also had the most interesting experience of about 5 people coming up to me and saying that they read my blogs ......WAH! er ...... hello ....... I feel all self-conscious now. *waves nervously*. I felt all famous for a few minutes and then a bit exposed. So, to make my self feel better I went shopping. I bought .....

...a monsta!

Monda Loves makes these from old jumpers - she had a big row of them on her stall and there was a tricky moment when I nearly gave in and bought them all but ...... this one won out. His name is Egor and my youngest son has stolen him and taken him to bed. Damn.






This ring ......... from David Corbin.

I needed this ring. I did. Really I did.

It's on my right hand middle finger and is going to get in the way when I hold a paint brush but I simply don't care. It is too yummy to take off and I've been looking for a ring for years.







.....and this little owl brooch from MeninaFeliz. It is for an old friend who has always loved owls.














I also managed to slip in time for the purchasette of one of these little ceramic houses from Hodgepodge Arts. It is like the little one with the heart on. I also bought two of her gorgous buttons. I had a little trouble choosing.









I sold lots of bunnies which you can read a bit about on The Bunny Blog and had a very nice time indeed.

The Greatest Day ......

I went to Wembly last night to see Take That. The stadium was full - sold out. It was THE MOST awesome show I have ever seen and for a glorious two hours I forgot about anything and everything. What makes it even better is that the boys are all getting on a bit (like me *ahem*) and are married with kids (okay, not all of them) so it is okay to fancy the whole damn lot of them without feeling slightly old and leery! (tell me it's okay yeah?)


They had clowns, tumblers, tightrope walkers, fireworks, unicycles, rain, umbrellas, balloons - I think they stole half of Cirque du Soleil. We sang and danced and sang some more and then took three hours to get out of the car park ........

happy days ......

A-yurting we will go .... ho ho.

This weekend we all went 'Yurting' - or 'Glamping'. Glamping is 'glamorous camping' I've been told. I think that means we are yuppies or something. Oh poo.

We stayed at Barefoot Yurts in Brede, East Sussex. All there are are two yurts just for us. No other yurts and no other people . YAY. You get two yurts to yourself - one is the living area and one the sleeping. There is also a kitchen and shower room in that little wooden hut in the picture. We also had a great compost toilet off in the trees which amused the boys (and me) no end. And then you get this view .......

It goes all the way over the hills to the horizon and not a house in sight except in the way off distance. *sigh* lovely........

The boys loved it! Here's my youngest - wearing blooming White Company pyjamas damn it! The stereotype gets worse. And the other two WERE running around in their Boden surfing shorts. GAH! What have we become?



Look how knackered they all are waiting for the barbeque to cook! The previous night, having no clue what the time was, we went to bed when it was dark which was probably pretty late. Then the next day we dragged them around the very pretty town of Rye, in the heat, and finished them off in the sea at Winchelsea.

None of them wanted to come home and the middle one wants to do it again for his birthday treat. This is not until February, mind, but he always has been one for forward planning. Both yurts have wood burners in them so I guess it would be quite cosy ... hmmmmm.

Not forgetting that I run a multi-squillian pound craft empire I took along the latest chickens to find a better background than the last two I've been struggling with.














I'm a lot happier with these ones so they've all gone onto Folksy and onto my website.
Third time lucky! I also took Widget along too and learnt a little about ancient bunny history ... READ HERE
I'm now off to re-assess my stereo-typical lifestyle ......... harumph.

Half an Acre gets loads more chickens!

Since my last post with a meagre selection of chicken decorations I've been in the stygian gloom of my workroom whilst the sun has been shining and the flowers blooming. I've been chickening.

I'm pretty pleased with them and the colours are getting brighter as I do each one - which makes me happier than just the classic pale blue, cream and red. They need to be strung together in pairs but I'm struggling with the string - nothing is looking right at the moment - I think I'll try leather next. The fish look nice with the jute twine as it has a kinda beachy, natural look to it.
Ponder.....ponder.......ponder

A lovely Folksy find for you

The other day I bought this adorable felt tub from Snowdrops and Daisies on Folksy. I'm sure I spend more than I earn on that site! I can't resist all the cute handmade stuff - er ..... okay that's pretty much the whole site! Its a work hazard.

It is perfect for my little collection of pewter thingies. I don't usually keep it on top of a load of House Leeks but I liked the background - soft vrs prickly - you know - that kind of thing.
There are lots in the shop on Folksy and they are perfect for rings, trinkets and all kinds of ephemera. Here's the shop link >>>>>> SnowdropsandDaisies

The Chickens hit the shelves.

Ha Ha I love that imagery! Chickens hitting shelves. *SIGH* I'm overtired.
Right - new this week are in fact the chickens in store. I've re-shot the pictures as the last ones were pants. These ones are annoying me too - not sharp enough or is it my poor old
eyes?













Definately not crisp enough for my liking but how many times can you re-shoot something? I quite like that soft look but is that 'softness' really just an arty way of saying 'out of focus'?
These things are troubling me so I'm going to make some nice strong coffee and ponder a while.
In store here >>>>>>>> CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK

I've made some more hag stone rounds! YAY!

These always sell as soon as I make them and I only feel like making them when the sun is shining!



We went to the Isle of Wight over half term again and - behold! the sun shone! I did some concentrated beach combing for Hag Stones. This is where I find most of them along with a lot of sea glass too.

Both of these are £8.99 in my Folksy shop

So, what are Hag Stones exactly?
Stones found with a natural hole through them are called Hag Stones. The holes have been worn away by years of wave action on weaker minerals within the stone. In bygone days, when superstition played a part in everyone's lives, it was common to see these stones hanging above the doors of people's houses in England. They were believed to provide protection for your home and those living within it. A horse was vital to the family in these days and people also tied them into their manes to ward off any disease that might afflict the horse.
They are also known as Witch Stones, Fairy Stones, Holy Stones and Eye Stones.

A few new things today ...

I've gone all simple! I just fancied doing something red and white and spotty - so I did.

Although I have put them into my shop I'm going to reshoot the pictures as I think I can do something a bit better! I've priced these very reasonably as the designs are quicker to do than my usual ones.
Swim on over and have a look. Half an Acre on Folksy

How not to make a paper mache whale/shark/fish thing...

The third in my "How not to......" series! I'm good at doing things all back to front and taking months to finish them. It all starts with a mad spurt. It would be fine if there wasn't that period for drying or setting or flattening, in fact anything which causes a break in the process. That is when the process stops ..... nice cup of coffee and 'I'll finish that tomorrow'...

It all began before Christmas - arghghgghghgghhh - so long ago!
*blows dust off*
So this time it was a whale. It was meant to be a whale. Why is that chicken wire stuff so expensive? At least, it was a my local garden centre. Expensive and spikey. I'd read somewhere that the thing to do was to make a wire frame. Hokay. Much snipping (using the kitchen scissors) and bending and spiking of skin ensued. It's pretty hard to make something vaguely fishy without having to mould a particular species ...... I'd made a kind of fish cockatrice - part whale, part shark, part seal, part submarine.


There it is in the picture - all papermached up. Now if you want something covered beautifully in this decoupagey manner visit Bombus - do not ask me. Got that? The fishy thing is all bumpy and dented and mis-shaped and no-one can agree on what it resembles most. The plan was to cover it in a star map but it because very clear that that just looked pants - due to the 'mostly blue with little faint constalations' - so it got more mappage. Its meant to fly over our map table (another How not to......) so I guess that more map would be okay.



Here it is - nearly finished. We used all the star map initally then put the other maps over the top - only we ran out. This means that there is that dreaded 'pause in the process'. Uh oh.





So - there it sits on the floor in the kitchen. At least it is down off the top of that bookcase where it has been since last year.
Now I have to listen to the boys saying "Mummy, it looks nothing like a whale, its a shark, on its side."
Thanks boys.

USEFUL CLUCKING .....

I've been asked many times if I make me things 'with hooks on'. Things like my largest fish, hearts and now my new tree design. The answer is alway no because that would make them useful. I don't want them to be useful. I want them to be totally non-functional, purely decorative and serving absolutely no purpose whatsoever apart from to be extremely cheerful and whimsical. So there.

Having said all that with indignation in my voice I would like to show you my newest design.
I was asked to make a chicken keyring fob thingy which is classed as 'being useful' - harumph - it had to be nice and big and it had to be a chicken. Now, I've not done chickens before because I just think that image is over done and that bores me rigid BUT a commission is a commission.














Those were the colours asked for but I'm wondering about giving them the Half an Acre treatment. Or I could just accept that people LIKE these more conventional schemes. So I've decided to make a big ole heap of chickens and see how they go.
Chicken opinions welcome .......

The Amazing Movable Meadow!

I did a sale last night with the bunnies from "Widget and Friends" - my other er ...'direction' .. I can't think of a good word for it! I took the Amazing Movable Meadow with me.
It looks fabulous even though I do say so myself and it got LOTS of attention.
The sale was a typical one in that I managed to spike many people on the way in with my bunny fencing thing and managed to spread my stuff over both of the tables next to me whilst everyone else was all neat and kept themselves to themselves. I managed to get it all in in 4 journeys - not bad considering.
Then something horrific happened!! I discovered there WAS NO COFFEE!! That was horrible! Don't tell me I should have taken my own little Famous Five picnic because I just can't face it - I want someone elses coffee and someone elses sandwiches and someone elses chocolate brownies. Okay there WERE brownies...... but brownies need coffee. So there.
As usual I lost faith in the human race several times...
"Is is a stress toy?" she said, pumping a bunny with all the vigour of a cardiac nurse in E.R.
"Squweeeeeeeeeeek! Squweeeeeeeeeekkk! Heeeeeeeeeelllllp" gasped the bunny.
I suppose the concept of a soft toy made from a sock is a difficult one for some people.

"What is is?" said another woman
"Its a bunny" I said dryly.
"What do you do with it?"
"It's a toy".
Sheeeeeeeeesh!

I also saw my doctor there. His wife had a stall. It was deeply un-nerving seeing him knowing that he knew all kinds of intimate details about me and after all doesn't he just stay at the doctors? I mean he can't have a non-doctory real-life? He was wearing pretty cool clothes and looked a little Richard Hammondy which was even more un-nerving. I'll be happier when he's back in his little room wearing something more traditional and I'm asking him about urine infections again.

I still had my usual 'self-doubt during sale' attack. When no-one is looking or buying and I wonder if I should jack it all in and have to run through a mental checklist of all the things that are going right for me elsewhere. One of those things which gave me the smiliest feeling all evening was getting a message from Ruth of BirdlandCreations saying that she had seen my fish on THE COVER of Aga Living magazine and on the inside pages too!!!!



















Can you see me? Down the bottom of the cover on the right and over there on the inside page!
I am thrilled - what is more I wouldn't have known if Ruth didn't have an Aga (not a little jealous) and hadn't have told me - so thank you Ruth!!

We are off to the Isle of Wight AGAIN tomorrow. I'm going to make up a whole heap of my Hag Stone Rounds this time so expect a few featured here when I get back.

What I don't understand is that I packed up my bunny stall and made it back to the car in two trips. I guess its like a car journey which always seems shorter on the way home!
Read more about the bunnies on their movable meadow on the sock bunny blog HERE

New design at long blooming last!

At last! A new design!
I've been trying to find one for a loooooooong time now but nothing has really grabbed me to date. But one day, whilst doodling in my sketch book, it presented itself to me (as they say).

A funky and fabulous Tree Of Life. It's pretty big - roughtly 45cm across and 30cm ish high. I'm thrilled with it and will be doing a whole load more in different colours now. Originally I thought it would be in greens but it just didn't work and I had to sand the whole lot off and start again. Never ideal.
What do you think? Does it work?

Look what came in the post today!

This came ...
I am totally chuffed! In case you can't see what it says:

"This is to certify that, in pursuance of and subject to the provisions of Registered Designs Act 1949, the design of which a prepresentation or specimen is attached, had been registered as of the date of registration shown above in the name of Anna Hull in respect of the application of such design to: Children's toy bunny made from a sock International Design Classification LOC (07) cl.21-01"

Which means that, in the UK, only I can make and retail a bunny in a sleeping bag made from a sock! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY! This does not, however, mean that all you lovely crafting people have to stop making bunnies from socks - it just means that it can't look like one of mine. I had to submit detailed photos showing the exact design on mine and it is that design that the certificate applies to. I'm tickled pink .........

Who would have thought that parsley was so interesting.

It's been a long while since I've had that sunny day feeling but it happened this weekend and, as a result, I did what everyone else does on such days and went to the garden centre. There is something so uplifting about all those damp, buddy plants in peak condition all offering to be '3 for £5.00'! In the end I came home with two big terracotta pots for my blueberry bushes, some sweetpeas and three other little plants for the pots outside the front door. I planted, pruned and generally had a lovely time.

Then I watered. I watered the vegetables seedlings which are pushing through in the new patch and watered my very large parsley plant which is in a scrubby bed next to the house. There you are ...... see? a very big clump of parsley right under the boiler flue thingy. Lovely position. Ha Ha.
So I squirted the hose at it ..... and a blooming duck shot out!!
We gave each other such a fright! She scattered across the lawn and took off over the fence. Flap...flap...flap....
Bearing in mind that the boys had been playing football all afternoon and our garden is NOT big - three small kids playing ball takes up the whole lawn.
Behind the bush I found...

Twelve totally perfect new eggs! I would just like to stress that we have no pond. There is no pond. The nearest pond is about a mile away and we live surround by houses, fences, gates so why oh why she chose our garden is a matter for some confusion.
She flew off and didn't come back last night. I checked at about midnight but she hadn't come back. I really thought she might have abandoned them. Did they get too cold? Can the eggs survive without her on them? I felt awful because it was me who scared her so much. But, this morning she was sitting back on them and has been there all day - thank goodness. I'll be keeping you posted!

I'm easily over-excited......

... especially by techy stuff that DOES things. I've just registered with byhand.me and made myself the subject of my own 'spotlight'. You can just drop the HTML into your blog post land 'whoomf' up comes your stuff! YAY! Its a 'Fabulous Fish' gallery.... I'm still tweaking it as it pulls images from my Half an Acre Etsy shop and that is a place I haven't been for ages and ages. I've been trying to come back to 'Old Blighty' and sell in pounds rather than dollars as it does work out much better for me. Etsy was my first landing place on the internet so I have a big soft spot for it hence I've been revamping my shop this morning.

oooo its all vanished! there used to be lots of pictures in this big ole space! I'll try and get them back..

Junk, spam and scam ... and I'm $7.7m richer!

BAH! I've been scammed! Damn and blast it! I've lauded the virtues of Vista Print for years and been happy with the quality and service. I've poohoo-ed people who have moaned about finding themselves being charged for things they didn't ask for. I've ignored the threads on Etsy.
Two days ago I noticed that my credit card statement had a payment for £9.95 taken by a company called CLUBPREM.COM.
Looking back over the last months they have been taking it since October. *@#$! My heart sank - and the first thing I thought was "Vista Print". So I Googled this Clubprem.com and WOAH! and whole page of google arrived peppered with "I ordered from Vista Print and now I'm sign up to ..".
Please don't start the 'should have read the small print' thing with me - I have and there is NOTHING about it. I ticked no boxes, didn't join the 'Passport to Fun', didn't sign up to the 'insider info' and didn't subscribe to their updates. So just keep that small print @$%* to yourselves!!! I'm an angry bunny today .....

Every piece of information you need is here in this blog post I Got Scammed By Vista Print..... I suggest that you read it as it makes interesting reading indeed.

Now - Vista Print DO offer great products of good quality - that is not the scam - the scam is that they seem to be sharing credit card details with other dodgy companies (allegedly). I called my credit card company who gave me the phone number for the company (being saturday their fraud false whatnot department wasn't open) and I easily cancelled my 'membership' of Clubprem.com by calling them and entering my membership number (on the cc statement) into their highly annoying recorded message loop system. If you read the blog post link above you will see that it is not too hard to claim your money back either. But I am livid!! How can they still be doing this? Especially if you delve into the google search results and see that the scam is so well documented. What have Vista Print got to say about it? Well, there is no way of contacting them through their website but I do have a phone number given by the blog linked to here. I will be calling tomorrow (Monday) and I will have to cancel my credit card which is a pain.

So, to date, I've had my credit card cloned at the local petrol station and spent on in Sri Lanka, I've recieved tens of those emails asking me to update my details online for banks I don't even bank with, I joined StyleHive and within 20 mins was asked by the wife of some Nigerian official to house all her money in my bank account and now this came yesterday:

Dear Sir/madam

My name is Mrs. Grace Richards I am 63 years old, I am a dying woman who have decided to donate what I have to you/churches/ motherless babies/less privileged/widows.I was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago. I have been touched by god to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for good work of god. I have asked god to forgive me and believe he has because he is a merciful god. I will be going in for an operation Monday.I decided to WILL/donate the sum of 7.7 million dollars to you for the good work of god, and also to help the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows. At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the fact that my relatives (That have squandered the funds I gave them for this purpose before) are around me and my health status also.

I have adjusted my WILL and my lawyer is aware. I wish you all the best and may the good god bless you abundantly, and please use the Funds judiciously and always extend the good work to others. As soon you get back to me, I shall give you info on what I need from you then you will contact my bank and tell them I have willed (7.7 million dollars) to you by quoting my personal reference number: Jlk/Wds/95773/50015/GwrI/3196us/uk and I have also notified my bank that I am willing that amount to you for a good, effective and prudent work. I know I don't know you but I have been directed to do this by god.

Thanks and god bless.
Regards,
Mrs. Grace Richards.

They have even blocked the 'To' section of the email so I don't know which of my email addresses it came in to. I'm fed up with the world......

CELEBRATE WITH ME!

I am celebrating today! One short term ambition has been fulfilled and ticked off the list, being featured in a mainstream magazine - one you can pick up in WHSmiths. It has happened!! YAY! I'm in the May issue of Junior Magazine ...


It's there - up in the righthand corner - my little stencil kit!

I do two of them; the Mechanic one to the left and the little Tea Party one to the right. Each has five handmade wooden stencils, designed by Half an Acre, a bunch of coloured pencils in natural wood and a jute carrying bag. Cute - not plastic - and better than the TV!
Even if stencilling leaves them cold they can use them for pretend play - saw your furniture - or simply chew them. Alternatively, ditch the stencils and use the bag for something entirely different! They are made from birch ply and have no splinters and it pleases me greatly that when the kids tire of them you can re-cycle the wood instead of throwing it into a landfill like so many of its plastic counterparts.

Both available from Half an Acre on Folksy.

UK Handmade Spring Issue

The Spring issue is now out! I am very proud to have contributed to it by writing 'some stuff' - a two book reviews, a feature on Long Nose Puppets and a bit on the wonderful Green Tree Gallery who are exhibiting my fish. You can view it online in cool magazine format by clicking on the the homepage image on the

UK Handmade website