Category Archives: Life in General

Planet Penny on Folksy – A Year On

I’ve just sat down at the keyboard with my Reasons to be Cheerful hat on, and realised I have an anniversary to mark this month. It’s a whole year since I needlefelted my first robin and my chums in our little Procrastinators Anonymous group said, “Just get ON with it!” So I put it in the Folksy shop which I had set up months before and then had a crisis of confidence, and I sold it. And it’s a whole year since I took a clutch of robins to the Pick’n’Mix Makers Market in Holt because Emma of Silver Pebble wanted to choose one, and she sold the rest on her stall…

And this time last year I was visiting the Market as a customer, and this time I’ve got a stall, so I think I’ve got a Reason to be Cheerful right here!

(While I was digging around in the archives I found a photo I can’t resist using again…how ridiculous is this…?)

Anyway, enough of all that silliness…

I’ve taken advantage of Tim being back in the middle of the North Sea to commandeer the dining table on which to sort out my packing for Saturday…

Oooh-er, putting it in a photo makes it look so darn little, but actually sitting alongside it I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Needlefelting does NOT lent itself to mass production!

I’ve had some fun with the baubles…

and I’ve made a Christmas Angel…

…or two.

And I’ve put a bigger robin in a wreath which I’m quite pleased with…

I’ll hopefully have lots of pictures of this Saturday’s event to show you next week (note to self – REMEMBER THE CAMERA!)

So all that is jolly stuff, but before I share some other cheerfulness I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the lovely encouraging comments you have been leaving me. I might be beavering away on my own, but I never feel it while I have so many virtual friends visiting Planet Penny. And also, there’s been some interest in the whole needlefelting process, and what it’s all about. Excitingly, I’ve been asked to run some classes next year, I’ll let you know more as I get the information. Obviously that’s only any help if you live relatively nearby, but when things are a little calmer in the new year I can put a tutorial on line if you would like. Do leave a comment if you are interested.

So back to the matter in hand. I’m still finding loveliness in the garden but with the weather turning colder it seemed a good idea to bring it indoors…

…and Sweet Peas in November?

After yesterday’s fog, this morning’s sunrise was beautiful…

…and it was fun getting a Higgins’ eye view of the toadstools!

And finally, and I know I’ve gone over the three reasons but that can only be a good thing, there was a glorious misty sunset the other evening…

…it’s just a shame it has to happen so early in the afternoon!

So, what Reasons to be Cheerful have YOU found this week? Please share them on your blog and link them through the Linky below and spread a little happiness. And if you don’t have a blog, feel free to add them to the comments on this post, I’m looking forward to hearing from you…x

Silent Sunday

Mid November Cheerfulness

What do you think of that for an Autumnal photo? Albertine usually only does her stuff, very spectacularly, for three weeks in June! She’s a little confused!

It’s been a little hectic this week, and again I’ve had moments of ‘Humph, what is there to be cheerful about?’ but it’s always there when you look for it.

We had a bit of worry over my mum. She struggles heroically with all sorts of health issues and keeps amazingly positive but this week new pills rendered her a bit more wobbly than usual and for the first time she had to use her alarm necklace and we had a call to rescue her. She’s less than a mile away so we were there within minutes to find that she had gently capsized rather than fallen, and had only damaged her dignity. It was so fortunate that Tim was home though as I could never have got her off the floor single handedly and probably would have had to call the emergency services. Knowing my mum, she’d have said, ‘Ooh, lovely, firemen!’

So for a couple of days I’ve been going round every couple of hours but now the doctor has been and the pills sorted out we are back to normal for the moment. Such a worry though.

Any way, The sun’s been shining through the last remaining cherry leaves this morning…

I think over the next week the rest of the leaves will be down, but there’s been a lovely sparkly carpet for a small dog to rush about on!…

If you look in the top left hand corner of the first Higgins photo you’ll see my Drummer Boy rose which is still blooming too…

I rescued it from the ‘Nearly Dead’ bin at the local garden centre some years ago and it has been gratefully flowering every year since! And talking of buying plants, I was very happy to find hyacinths to buy at the Farmers Market last Saturday.

You might remember last winter I had these…

…and now I have these to look forward too…

This morning Selvedge arrived…

Which has gone into the pile with Country Living…

…and Country Homes and Interiors…

…to be read, sometime, when I’m not wielding a a red hot felting needle!

Which reminds me. Thank you for all the suggestions which were made about listing the Felty Balloons on Folksy. I’ve taken them all on board, but I think I will wait now until after the Pick’n’Mix Market which is in 10 days time. It would be rather lovely if I don’t have any left to list, wouldn’t it? We’ll see!

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the studio with express intention of have a good tidy up, walked in, spotted a particular piece of fleece, had a brainwave and ended up needlefelting again! But it was very productive, because I made this little chap…

I thought if he had a couple of brothers, they could go carol singing, and here they are! This one has the music…

…this one rings the bell…

…and this one knows all the words!

They are quite wee, just over 2″ tall, and look SO cute on the mantlepiece. However, I will be sensible, and they ARE for sale! (Ed. to add: and were sold, the very next day! Another reason to be cheerful!)

I hope that you too have found some ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ even if you felt it’s been a tricky week so far. And I hope too that you’ll be able to join in with the ‘Linky’ so that we can spread a little happiness about. I’ve really enjoyed popping off to other blogs, and sharing the cheerfulness. I’ve decided to start the Linky slightly earlier, Wednesday afternoon rather than Thursday morning to give as much time as possible for people to find it and join in and so here it is!

See you soon xx

Silent Sunday

Losing my voice…

Is it because I’ve been talking for three days? I’m not complaining, Open Studios has been fantastic, and we still have next weekend to look forward to. It’s been wonderful despite it being our first time, and despite being a bit out on a limb location-wise when you look at the Norfolk Open Studios map, we’ve had so many interesting and interested people visiting us.

But I’m sort of feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment with everything happening at once. And again I’m not complaining, just a little shell shocked. And I feel I want to share it, because I know that I’m on a journey which lots of women of all ages are embarking on since the advent of the world wide web. For the first time, women, and yes I know there are men in the same situation but it’s so much more a female thing, are no longer having to sit at home, alone, with creativity at their fingertips but not knowing how to make it more than sock puppets for the children or fundraising contributions for the school fete.

With Blogs, and You Tube, Twitter and most importantly retail sites such as Folksy and Etsy not only have we got the opportunity to get together as an online community, we can pass our skills on to others and find a market for our creations.

I remember my first blog post, and the feeling that I had nothing to say which could possibly interest anyone other than perhaps my nearest and dearest (and then only because they were being kind!) Now I feel that I am part of network of like minded women from every part of the globe, and really appreciate the support I’ve received through the comments which have been left over the years.

Just six months ago my friends pointed out that it was about time I stopped talking about the fact that I had an unused Folksy shop that I might just put something in sometime, if I ever felt I had something worth selling and just got on with it. And with the help of the lovely Emma of Silver Pebble I actually made my first sales last November. So what I’m trying to say is, you really have to go with the mantra…Just Do It!

Because I have wasted SO much time just talking about it…

It’s not that I’m suddenly making lots of sales, lots of money In fact I’ve left it a little late to embark on a new career! But I do feel now that I have validated what I do,and better than that, I can thumb my nose at the M.E. which has tried so hard to relegate me into life’s cul de sac.

So if Planet Penny posts are a little thin on the ground at the moment, forgive me. The more exciting things that happen, the less time I have to blog about it! But I have new friends to tell you about, and the Pick ‘n’ Mix Market coming up on the 11th June

… bear with me, as Arnie says… ‘I’ll be back!’

Spring Cleaning…

…not my favourite thing! However if I’m going to let an unspecified number of people visit the studio over the next three weekends I need to give some impression of organisation and cleanliness. There’s also got to be room for my partner in crime and her creative accoutrements. So that’s what I’ve been doing over the last few days, and I think I’ve got there. I have a floor! And shelves! I’d nearly forgotten what they looked like!

It’s been a little tricky because the studio assistant has been having a whale of a time stealing interesting little bits and pieces and running away…a lot faster than I can chase him!

There has been some creativity going on, which I’ll be photographing very soon, as a result of some interesting shopping a few days ago…

The planet Penny flock is growing…

I’ll be back very soon, but in the meantime I’ll leave you with a little film, it really is a dog’s life!