Charlie Turns 9

Not quite sure how it happened, but Charlie turns 9 today.  Time is going a little too quickly for my liking.
Charlie, we are so very proud of you.  You wake up every morning with a smile and end the day the same.  You are our brave little superstar - and we love you more than ever xxx

My Darling Daughter turns 11

I know we all say it about our kids, but really, how on earth did Henrietta get to 11 so quickly.  She is turning into a wonderful, caring, kind girl, who thinks of everyone before herself (something her teacher is trying to change - Mrs Wilson thinks Henrietta needs to start thinking of herself as number one, at least some of the time anyway).

Happy Birthday my darling, we love you more than you will ever know xxx

OOP'S

This 'Im going to blog more often' lark hasn't exactly started yet.
I seem to be so busy with general 'life' stuff, blogging is way down on the To Do List at the moment.

I have very good reasons for being away from blogland.  First my darling boy Charlie who suffers from childhood arthritis.  2 months ago, we discovered he had lost vision in one eye, it has been a scary time for the whole family, and even now, I cant accept what has happened.  The vision loss is a result of his illness, and we have been making many trips to various hospitals.  He underwent a major operation on his eye to insert a Shunt Tube, but as yet we haven't seen any results, and the consultant is keeping rather quiet.

Secondly, we are doing up our 'other' house.  It seems so long since we started major works on it, but the light at the end of the very long tunnel seems to be getting brighter by the day.  We may even be finished in time for Christmas.  The garden however will have to wait until next Spring.  Photos to follow.

School holidays are now upon us.  We are visiting grandparents on the south coast next week.  Should be a nice break from the norm.

Happy Half Term everyone, and I promise (well, sort of), to be blogging abit more often.

Love
Amanda x

Summer Holidays v Christmas

Well the school holidays are in full swing.  Lots of visits to the park, swimming pool, ice cream eating - you get the idea.

We are off on our jolly hols next Friday.  Yep this time next week, we will be landing in The South of France.  We all need this holiday.  Charlie needs some sun on his pale and skinny body.  He is still having lots of treatment for his childhood arthritis, and more to come when we get back.  Neil needs to get away from it all, especially work and the house.  The house, which we are doing up in stages seems to be taking longer than planned.  Hopefully I will be able to show you pictures on our return.

Posts keep popping up on Facebook about how many weeks there are till Christmas.  Oh heck, I better get my skates on and start sewing some of these little beauties.  I will be adding personalised handstamped tags this year.  I will post these on my Facebook page beginning of September, for those of you who are extra organised with their Christmas shopping xxxx

Gardening Galore

At last, my wonderful grapevine has produced bunches and bunches of grapes this year.  What to do with them - haven't a clue.

There must be bottles upon bottles of wine on that vine of mine, but how to get it from the plant into the bottle is way beyond me.

I hear Sainsbury's do a nice selection of wine, just might pop in for a look - so much easier, and far less messy!

Birthday Wishes

Firstly, sorry its been months since I have blogged.  We are doing up a house in the next village, and all my time seems to be taken up with painting, cleaning and waiting around for contractors.

Im hoping to be back blogging soon.  You may have noticed that I have changed my blog name to Stripes and Stars, this is because my little business is under this name, so I thought I would tie it all in together.

OK, secondly a very big Birthday Wish to our house rabbit Reggie, who is 5 today - love you Reggie...x

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY

CHRISTMAS ROBIN GIVEAWAY

Hi everyone, gosh its been such along time since I last blogged, cant seem to find the time at the moment.

Over on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/StripesandstarsUK you can find my latest giveaway, this fantastic felt robin, just ready to be hung on the tree.

Why not have a wonder over and try your luck, but you will have to hurry - giveaway is this Friday.

ITS GIVEWAY TIME

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this Giveaway.  Hospital appointments seem to get in the way, but Charlie has been priority just lately.

 

OK, my giveaway is a Felt Mouse, Felt Halloween Garland, and a wonderful book for you to make your very own bunting and pennants.

 

This giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you live in the world.

All you have to do is leave a comment with a current email address, so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

 

The winner will be announced next Wednesday.  For another chance to win, please see my facebook page and leave a message on there too:

http://www.facebook.com/StripesandstarsUK

 

Good Luck everyone....xxxx

 

 

GIVEAWAY

Once my followers list reaches 100 on my Facebook page, I will be having a fab GIVEAWAY.  Ive been wanting to do a giveaway for such along time.

My Facebook page is now open, just have to remember to update it more often than the blog.

Spread the word, please become a liker and hopefully the giveaway will be up and running very soon.  Link below for new likers.

http://www.facebook.com/StripesandstarsUK

Hope you all have a great Father's Day.  Hooray the sun is shining here in North Yorkshire this morning - but for how long!

Amanda....xxxx

FOR THE ATTENTION OF DOTTIE MAY BLOG

Hi Dottie May.  Sorry, but this seems to be the only way I can contact you regarding the Heart Swap from Mary Poppins Blog.

Please could you email me on amandakirby10@btinternet.com

We are swap partners, but I need your address etc to send the swap.

Hope to hear from you soon

Love

Amanda.....x

HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY

Charlie had decided he would love a Harry Potter Party to celebrate his 7th Birthday.  OK, I could do that, no probs.  What a nightmare.  I have been so stressed out over this party, but thank goodness everything came together and it was a brilliant success.

Here are the many photos I took of the preparations and party - enjoy:

Charlie's Birthday Banner at home, with some of his cards

The Birthday Party Invitations.  These took forever, as I had to find all the different Harry Potter fonts and logos.  They came out brilliant, I was really pleased with them

The envelopes were the more tricky, the font was a nightmare, as I had to use more than one font and in different sizes.  The back of the envelope was printed with the Hogwarts Logo and I secured the seal with a Red Wax sticker with the Hogwarts Logo

The invite asked the children to look out for the Hogwarts Express sign and Station Platform number.  Pretty easy to do, although the lettering did take a while.  Alot of re-writing the letters

Decided to go for a box Party Favour instead of those plastic party bags (which I hate).

Here are the 32 Party Boxes all ready for the party.  Phew, only took 2 hours to make up!

The boxes were tied with traditional string and topped off with a Hogwarts Owl Mail tag

And look what goodies were in the box.  I made the Bertie Botts sweets using jelly beans.

The squashy frog was disgusting, but seemed to be a hit with the kids.

And now we enter the Village Hall, or should I say Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

We hired the inflatable slide which we had last year.  The kids love it and keeps them pretty quiet, apart from all the screaming.

A trip around Hogwarts.  The school banners, which I made from black fabric and edged with ribbon.  My first major sewing project on my sewing machine - didn't think I did too bad for a first timer

The Great Hall, including the gold plates and cups

Floating candles, made out of card - and a nightmare to hang

Diagon Alley sign

We took the DVD/TV off the kitchen wall and showed Harry Potter throughout the party, the kids loved it

Harry Potter - Colouring in

Make your own Hedwig

Hedwig Owl balloon floating high up

Cake decorating

Spell Room, including wand and lesson chart

Broom parking

Charlie banner, done in the Harry Potter font

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Harmione Granger - took forever to make, but loved the end result

The cake was a real problem.  Nobody seemed to sell Harry Potter cakes.  So off to Tesco for a Star Cake.  I purchased 3 wood blank figures from Etsy and painted them as Ron, Harry & Harmione.  Charlie wanted me to do an owl, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

The kids all had a brilliant time - all 32 of them, I must have been mad.  NEVER AGAIN

Molly came as Rons pet rat - Scabbers

Charlie blowing out his candles and making a wish

With all the excitement of the day, I totally forgot to take a picture of Charlie in his Harry Potter costume, so here he is on Halloween in the same outfit:

A fab day was had by all.  Thank you to all the kids that turned up and made this party one to remember.  Thanks for all the help I received from Neil, my sister (Alison), Mum and Paul - there was alot of tidying up afterwards.

Happy Birthday Charlie.  Wonder what his next birthday will bring.

My Darling Boy Turns 7

Can't quite believe how Charlie has got to 7 so quickly, how the heck did that happen.  But its true, my darling boy turns 7 today.

A PSP was the order of the day, plus Lego, Lego, and more Lego.

We are off ten pin bowling this afternoon, then ending the day at Frankie and Benny's for our tea - yummy.

Sunday will be Charlie's 'Harry Potter' themed party (for the WHOLE CLASS - oh no what have I done!).  I'm in abit of a spin with it all at the moment, cant quite get my head round the many things still on my TO DO LIST.

Hey, Ive opened a new Facebook page for my felt goodies - find me here, hope you will be one of my followers.  Would be really grateful if you could pass on my facebook page details to all your friends.  Once I have afew more followers, a GIVEAWAY will take place:  http://www.facebook.com/StripesandstarsUK/timeline

Happy 7th Birthday my sweet Charlie, hope you have the most wonderful day....x

Getting Off My Bum

OK, the gym really didn't work out for me last year. When I was there, I was always thinking of stuff that needed to be done around the house, ironing, dusting etc, so I quit. This morning the fitness regime started again, only this time on my very doorstep. I live in the most wonderful village, with lots of countryside just a stroll away. I got off my bum and walked 3 miles. This I am going to try and do every morning, except for Tuesdays, as I am round at the village Primary School helping out. Took me 45 minutes this morning, hopefully I will become quicker. Do any of you bloggers exercise, would love to hear your tips. Right off now, need to bake 27 buns for Charlie's class. It's his 7th birthday on Monday, but as it's Bank Holiday, he wants to take goodies in today. Best get baking.

Anyone been watching Foxes Live

Me and the kids watched Foxes Live last night.  They stayed up a bit later, as Henrietta is always late home from Brownies on a Monday.  Normally, they are both in bed for 7.30!

The fox cubs where just so cute.  I know foxes can do damage, but watching them last night just makes your heart melt.

If you want a little cute fox of your very own, check out my Fox Brooch - link here:  http://folksy.com/shops/StripesandStars

I haven't increased my postage prices in my Folksy shop, so grab this crafty fox, he's looking for a new home.