Christmas Shopping Event in aid of SJPA.

 

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Christmas Shopping Evening
Friday 22nd November 2013, 6pm - 9pm
St. John The Baptist Catholic Primary School, Normanton

 It's here: the very first Christmas Shopping Event  for SJPA! This is not your typical school Christmas fair! You won't find a bottle stall or a white elephant table; it's definitely a time for the grown-ups! Prepare yourself for Normanton's shopping event of the year and be part of the first of many successful shopping nights in aid of the school's PA. With something for everyone and every budget, save yourself the hassle of the shopping centre and tick off your whole gift list under one roof.

The evening will be opened at 6pm by the beautiful sound of the school choir singing your favourite carols. Alongside a fantastic array of high quality items, many of them handmade by local businesses, you will be able treat yourself to some Christmas baking and a glass or two of festive tipple to kick start your season in style with a child-free night to remember.

Here's a taste of the businesses and items that you can expect to find on the night. And if you see anything that takes your fancy, why not make it easy for yourself and write a list of things you want to watch out for? With the added bonus of helping to raise funds towards the school's outdoor classroom, it's sure to be a wonderful evening.

ChaseTheCloudsAway
We are delighted that Zoe will be joining us with her handmade homewares from Vintage and Retro fabrics, such as sausage dog draught excluders, wheat bags, oven gloves, hot water bottle covers, peg bags, pin cushions, door stops, baby snugglers, crochet baby booties and dribble bibs. She also has a fabulous range of oven gloves, all British Safety standards approved. Pop over to say 'hi!' on Facebook.

Booby and The Beads
Sharon offers a host of wonderful breastfeeding jewellery, dummy and toy clips, personalised key rings,small crochet items and ornate jewellery display stands. If you're looking for emergency contact/"If I Get Lost"/Medical ID bracelets and key rings, then here's your chance to buy peace of mind! In addition, Sharon will also be offering mini manicures and nail painting on the night, perfect for the weekend! PayPal payments are accepted for bespoke orders. Say hello on Facebook and on Twitter @BoobyandtheBead.

Little Shop of Lathers
Claire makes fabulous natural, handmade bath, body and shower products, including bath bombs, shower tablets, soaps, hand and feet treatments, body scrubs, facial treatments, lip balms and bespoke gifts, all with no chemicals or preservatives. Little Shop of Lathers is able to accept debit/credit cards on the night. Find out more at www.littleshopoflathers.co.uk, on Facebook or on Twitter at @shopoflathers.

The Stationer
We are really pleased to be able to welcome Susan and Robert from The Stationer on Normanton High Street into school for this event. They will be bringing along a selection of beautifully handcrafted wooden toys, along with a range of the ever-popular Melissa & Doug wooden fun! You'll also find some fantastic educational games and puzzles from Orchard Toys on their stall. The Stationer will also accept personal cheques at this event. 

 
Delgled Crafts
With a range of lovely crafts, Dela will have something for everyone and every budget on display at her stall! Items include fused glass pieces to add light to your home, decoupage items and small sewing projects. Dela is happy to accept personal cheques for purchases made at the event.

Sandy Fryer
Sandy is a fabulous local artist and poet, and unsurprisingly her product range is based around her wonderful work. On the night you will find small paintings (some of local scenes), paperweights, bookmarks, Christmas cards and poetry booklets. Sandy's range for children includes colour and rhyme books, and art to colour. Some of her colouring books include images based on Bible texts, making them the perfect quiet activity to take along to Mass! You can see some examples at www.sandyfryer.co.uk.

Pampered Chef
We are very grateful to Gaynor for standing at the event as a fundraiser stall, with a percentage of sales on the night going to SJPA funds. Pampered Chef specialises in high-quality kitchen tools that make cooking quick, easy and fun, and that make getting together as a family even more enjoyable! As well as ordering from the extensive catalogue (including cheque and card payments), you will also be able to watch a demonstration at Gaynor's stall. For a sneak preview, visit Gaynor on Facebook.

Hop Stitch Jump 
Make memories last a lifetime with Doodlebroidery, an embroidered version of your littles one's amazing artwork! Catherine will be bringing along some examples of commissions to give you a feel for the work she does, and you'll be able to place orders on the night. There will also be a range of ready-to-buy wall art and fabulous dinosaur hoodies! Personal cheques will be accepted on the night and PayPal for commissions. Pop over to Facebook to see more and say 'hi'!

Sisters MC Photography
Award-winning photographer Sarah will be joining us to showcase some of the amazing portrait work she undertakes at the Wakefield studio. Sisters offers an amazing package range that includes special photo shoot parties for your little princess, pregnancy and baby portraits and makeover shoots, and has some great value Christmas offers to share. You can see more at www.sistersmc.co.uk or on Facebook.
Felt Like Art
Lesley makes her own felt by hand and uses her creations in the most beautiful wall art and cushions. Her range depicts nature and landscapes and is very striking. From poppies and peacocks to fairies and flowers, you'll be amazed to see what can be made from felt. If you'd like a better idea of the items you can expect to see in school on the 22nd, please visit Lesley at Facebook.

Calli-Fleur
We are delighted to welcome Maxine along to school for our shopping evening, and look forward to being able to give you more details very soon about the beautiful floral items on offer and the exciting demonstration you can see on the night!

Gail Draper Knitting
All her own designs, Gail will have a wide range of hand knitted items for children and ladies. With beautiful baby cardigans, fantastically fashionable handwarmers and the most amazing children's character hats, you are sure to find every you need to beat the cold this winter!

Created In Yorkshire
Lynne will be joining us with a fabulous selection of handmade goods stocked in the award-winning shop in Wakefield. Items include tile coasters, Christmas decorations, stunning wooden signs, pocket mirrors, badges and fridge magnets. Add to that a delicious range of sweet trees that make a wonderful gift and then the ultimate Christmas table centerpiece, and you'll agree there's something for everyone! If you'd like to see more before the 22nd, please pop over to Facebook.

Avon
Following the tradition of Avon making your shopping easy, Tracy will be joining us with Avon! If you are looking for  gifts or just something to treat yourself, you're sure to find something worth ordering!

Jewelbox
You'll find Karen among her varied range of fabulous wooden, crystal and glass jewellery,perfect for the ladies in your life. She'll also be bringing along some special Christmas items, including children's door hangers, wooden and beaded decorations and wooden plaques. Visit Jewelbox on Facebook to get ideas for your Christmas list! Personal cheques will be accepted on the night.

Cupcake Central
You'll be amazed by the range of sweet treats Lisa has to offer! She'll be bringing along beautiful cupcakes, boxed shortbread, gift wrapped traybakes, chocolate toolboxes and makeup kits, wow! Added to that are gingerbread houses complete with gingerbread men, and Christmas baubles filled with chocolates, yum! Lisa will accept personal cheques on the night.

EDITED 08/11/2013 to add two further businesses. Wow, what a night it's going to be!

Baht 'at Designs by Ruby Shoesday
Vicky will be joining us with a lovely selection, including beautiful ladies' bags. Whether you need a large messenger bag for every day use, or a beautiful clutch to finish your Christmas outfit in style, the range of unusual fabrics is bound to have something to suit you! Take a look at her website or visit her on Facebook.

Liah Made It!
We will also be joined by Liah and her hand-painted glasses, wish stones and cute cat doorstops! These all make wonderful gifts for someone who is usually difficulty to buy for!

School's out for Summer!

 

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School's out for Summer
(and the teacher gifts were a hit!)...

Could you have drawn a more diverse and beautiful collection of flowers yourself? Me neither!

 

I love these little guys. Their faces are adorable, aren't they?!

Picture the scene: it's a hot, sticky afternoon and The Boys and I are watching Girl at her first proper school sports day. Between races, the parents, grandparents and childminders are enjoying the chance to have a little natter and a catch up in the sunshine on their bonus afternoon off work...

"Have you thought about a present for their teacher at the end of term?" asks a Grandma. "Yes," I say, "I'm going to make something." "Do you think you could make something from all of us?" Erm, I wasn't sure! Could I? I thought I probably could, but I had no idea what could be special enough that it would be able to come from a big group. I did have a plan for our own gift, and it will be no surprise that it involved Doodlebroidery: Beatrix had asked me if she could do a wall picture for her teacher and an apron for her TA. Actually, she swapped and changed between a wall picture and a rosette for her teacher, but I managed to pin her down! A couple of years ago, when she left pre-school, we decorated a big plant pot, wrote "Thank you for helping me grow" on it and filled it with a lovely hibiscus that would flower in the staff room for a few months of the year. We planned to do a variation of this as a Doodlebroidery for her class teacher this year, and she was going to draw flowers for me to embroider.

It dawned on me that I might be able to adapt this idea slightly to incorporate more flowers, and make a pretty, embroidered flower garden with the same sentiment on the picture. I talked through the idea and there it was, a plan! Facebook and text messages started flying back and forth between tip top organised mums, and very soon I had a pile of 27 flowers drawn by 27 little artists on my desk.  These were soon followed by a pile of beautiful self-portraits after some parents discussed what the TA might like to have to remember our children by, and decided upon a cushion. Their TA has been completely amazing: she is a Nursery Nurse and has been with many of the children since January 2011, moving with them from the nursery class into full-time school. It's not enough to say that she's been a rock.


So, there you have it, and here it is! The picture took about eleven hours of scaling, planning, embroidering, appliqueing, ironing and framing to complete, and the cushion was around 6 hours. I have to tell you, though, I enjoyed every minute of both project. I think they are so very beautiful, and reflect the personality of each child who contributed to them. I could not have drawn 27 more different flowers or 17 more different faces if I had tried, and together their beauty blows me away.
 
To see the original drawings on which these Doodlebroideries are based, please join me on Facebook, where you'll see the whole bunch!

The confessions of a cobbler

 

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My name is Catherine and I'm a cobbler...

The mojo went. I don't know where to, but it definitely left the building. My best bet is that the baby stole it. Wherever it went, I can see it on the horizon and I'm trying to persuade to come back and stay a while. 

I thought that a special project for my own children might entice it back, so I'm experimenting; I've ordered the materials, and I almost have a pattern I can use. It's an idea I've been contemplating for a while and one I know that Beatrix and Jasper will love if I can get it all to come together, so why didn't I make it sooner? The truth is, makes for my poor babies have been repeatedly put on the back burner since I started Hop Stitch Jump, and even more so since I've been juggling the baby in the equation. I rarely seem to be able to coincide the time and the inclination to make for pleasure.

The irony is that I started making children's gifts as thrift measure, but now I spend my time at the sewing machine making for paying customers because they put food on my table, and I end up buying presents for my own little guys!

A beautiful castle on a sunny day - not embroidered by Mummy.

It seems I'm not on my own. I'm part of a couple of small business networks, one of which is Yorkshire-based and bursting at the seems with crafters of all disciplines, from metal workers to ceramicists, and fine artists to cake decorators. The members all say the same thing: once your hobby becomes your work, it's no longer your hobby! There's a wonderful landscaper and garden designer in the group who's embarrassed by the state of her own lawn and flower beds. There's a lady who makes the most beautiful cushions for children and who, thanks to an order book that's full until next summer, hasn't had time to make one for her own son. How about the fashion designer who spent the day before her holiday frantically sewing to make clothes for her own suitcase? And here I am, with a boy without a superhero cape, a girl who needs a new hairclip holder and a giant pile of their drawings that I keep putting to one side ready to create my own gallery of Doodlebroidery.

Little notes everywhere!

It really is true: the cobbler's children go barefoot!

So here I declare, publicly, that I will make my children a mail centre in time for Christmas. I will, honest! It will have a beautiful post bag, a plethora of letters and more than one place to deliver to. I will do it because they adore playing postie and I adore them. I'll do it because they love writing notes and drawing pictures for us and finding places to leave them. I will do it because it's the game that they play most nicely together and it will make them so happy. I'll make it because I owe it to my children. You know why I'll really be making the cobbler's children some shoes though, don't you? Yup, because I've told you I will, and I know you'll crack the whip!

If Daddy were a dinosaur. Again, not transformed
into Doodlebroidery by the cobbler!