Category Archives: Shopping

My Planet Penny Facebook Face

I’ve had a Facebook Page for Planet Penny for a while now, and very slowly the ‘likes’ have mounted up. It’s been very long winded, so when I reached the magic 200 I had a ‘giveaway’, and one lucky person has just won a needlefelt pin cushion in a little drawstring bag.

( I think I need to make more of an effort with Facebook, so if you’ve got any tips I’d love to hear about them, and if you want to ‘like’ me, I need all the friends I can get! ) But for now I’m heading off towards 300, and then I’ll do the ‘giveaway’ thing all over again!

Anyway, having a little gift to parcel up made my own surprise package in the post very useful indeed. I have recently been awarded Fave Blog Status by the Dotcomgiftshop which is quite an honour in itself, and I was also sent a selection of gift ribbons from their Mothers day gifts range as a present.

Perfect timing!

And hugely useful to me as not only is Mother’s Day fast approaching, but my mum actually has a birthday at the beginning of March, as does my son, my niece and most of ‘Rabbit’s friends and relations’!

so I’m very well stocked for all the gift wrapping, all I have to do is make the pressies!

Reasons to be Cheerful – Lucky 13!

The first thing I found this morning when I went on the computer is that the Guardian has a feature called Reasons to be Cheerful, so we are in good company! And one of their reasons made me very happy, new in at IKEA is this…

Oh how I love raspberry pink! Now IKEA is a day trip for us, we have to do the meatballs and everything, but I might have to work on a visit very soon. I realise there’s a whole love/hate thing with IKEA too. When we introduced Aimee to it she nearly had to be carried sobbing and screaming into the carpark after half an hour but lured in by something like raspberry pink dishes I think I can be brave!

Going from one extreme to another, in this case a multinational Super Store to an individual business, I love the way most of the things I buy on line from small retailers tend to arrive looking like little presents…

…bamboo crochet hooks from Wool and Buttons…

I love using bamboo knitting needles, I’ll let you know how I get on with these…

I’m being optimistic about the garden too, although the last few days have been too gloomy and wet to get anything done at all. I went out in the drizzle this morning to encourage Higgins to follow, he’d really rather not when it’s wet.

I had spotted the yellow crocuses which grow in the lawn were about to open and thought I could get a lovely shot of Higgins smelling the flowers…

‘Higgins! Look! What’s this?’

Gallopy gallopy…CHOMP!

…one less crocus to brighten the gloom…will I ever learn?

We went off to the garden centre to replace the mini plastic greenhouse which was really useful for starting off seeds but had been ripped off the wall and seen off by the gales. Fortunately, still half price so it didn’t break the bank at less than £15.00. This time we’ll put in stronger fixings. This is a problem when you live in windswept Norfolk.

A new trowel and fork in bright blue. New because you might have noticed someone chewed the handles off the old ones, and bright blue so I don’t keep mislaying them…

…and they look very jolly along with my gardening gloves…

And while I’m waiting to get to grips with the great outdoors, I have a few indoor projects from the cut price shelf to be going on with.

I’m very cheerful that I’ve sold one of my Love Bird Hearts on Folksy and later today I will be adding the larger one, which has been finished off with a primrose…

So, despite the gloom, I’m managing to keep my spirits up, how about you? If you’ve got some cheerfulness to share please join in with the Linky below, or leave a comment on the post. It’s always lovely to hear from you….!

Reasons to be Cheerful 11

Hello! It’s very cheerful here on Planet Penny…a blue, blue sky and bright sunshine – a perfect winters day. And when Higgins and I went round the garden this morning we found these little lovelies optimistically anticipating Spring…

They are probably being a little too optimistic seeing as we’re not even in the middle of January yet, but I shall enjoy them while I can!

And I have my usual post Christmas bunch of daffodils which I have to welcome the New Year. There’s something so fresh and hopeful about the delicate lemon/yellow and green after the bright colours and rich decorations of Christmas. They’re not quite open yet…

…so I’ve got it all to look forward to!

Can you see those spools on the the top of the dresser? I bought them at the Knitting and Stitching show last year and forgot to show them to you. They were empty when I bought them, but it was an ideal way of showing of some ribbons, tapes and bindings I’ve had in my stash waiting for the right moment to star…

The top two and the far right one are some I found in France and wrote about in this post, the blue and white stripe bias binding is made from a favourite shirt of Tim’s and the seashell ribbon was tied round a birthday present. This way I can enjoy them even though I haven’t actually made anything with them yet! (I can’t remember the name of the company I bought them from at the Show, but I’ve found them for sale via Not on the High Street from Jane Means)

And the other thing which has made me happy is a little rabbit. I don’t really knit animals much as I love to needlefelt them, but yesterday I discovered a bag of sample wool…

and this Debbie Bliss book which I’ve had for years…

click image for info

As I discovered it while I was looking for my mislaid sock pattern (which I needed as I’d got to the point of turning the heel) I abandoned the search, grabbed the most bunny coloured wool and some needles and created my own version of a Debbie Bliss rabbit. (I know, what a butterfly brain!)

I’ve used vintage mother-of pearl buttons to attach the limbs and shirt buttons for the eyes so he wouldn’t be suitable for a little one, but I think he’ll be staying with me for the moment!

So that’s what making me cheerful this week, how about you? Do share your thoughts by adding your blog to the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, leaving a comment. I really appreciate all your comments on every post and always read them. If you are linking your blog, don’t forget to link back to Planet Penny so we can really spread a little cheerfulness!

And now I’d better get back to looking for that sock pattern….

See you soon! x

A Pick’n’Mix Handmade Monday…

Hello, Good Morning and Happy Monday! I hope the sun is shining where you are. It’s a perfect Autumnal morning here, bright low sun, and frostiness. The weekend’s strong winds have subsided, and now the last few leaves have been whipped off the cherry trees, the sun can stream in through the french doors unhindered.

I must admit to being very, very tired! There are times when the only way to have a bit of fun and life is to ignore all the ‘management’ advice about M.E., go for it, and pick up the pieces afterwards, which may take a while…

However, enough of all that…

Would you like to see some pictures? I’ve got lots, but I’ll try not to go over the top! If you want to find out more about any of the lovelies that you see, click on Pick ‘n’ Mix Makers Market in the side bar for the details.

My stall will look very familiar since I’ve featured most of my makes on here at some time…

But here are some of the rest…

We were next door to a lady selling beautiful glass pieces, but can you see who is modelling in the background?

…and I discovered she too was a member of the Dachshund fan club, and I met Monty!

Always a popular theme!

I suffered some serious yarn love looking at these…

…aren’t they gorgeous? I wish I suited a hat!

I did buy some lovely raspberry yarn from High Fibre, which I will show you when I have knitted it up, and some jolly Christmas cards from Gabriella, whose whole stall was an explosion of Jolliness!

(and where you will also find dachshunds!)

If you want to see the whole thing from another angle, pop over to Purple Podded Peas where Celia Hart has posted the day from her perspective…

The only new make I have to show you is the Robin brooch. I made one for Kit and one for me to show where we belonged…

but if I’d made lots I think I would have sold them! I sold all the robin baubles very quickly, I think that thanks to the Kirsty Allsop effect, everyone wants a needlefelted robin this Christmas!

(and that gorgeous necklace is a Silver Pebble creation, created for Kit from the contents of her granny’s button box!)

I had enquiries about the robin baubles before the weekend and will be making more for Folksy but if you’d like some you’d better let me know…

I must stop chatting, I have two men in the garden erecting scaffolding and I’m on tea duty. Do visit Wendy over on 1st Unique Gifts to find the Linky to all the other participants of Handmade Monday.

See you soon…x

Sweet Peas, Strawberries and Stitches…

It’s Friday again, how quickly it comes around! At the moment the sun is shining so I must try and nip out to make the most of it before the next band of rain arrives. It seem only five minutes ago we were begging for rain in East Anglia, never satisfied!

I’ve had a varied week, lots to tell you about. It was my actual birthday (I know, I’ve been milking this event for weeks) so some lovely flowers were delivered…

…and the house has been filled with the scent of lilies ever since.

I had a special needlefelting order to complete which I was pleased with, but the light was so bad I’m not so happy with the photos I took. He is sitting on a little crochet mat with a ball of wool to play with…

I’m obsessively knitting too, since I saw this on Penelope by the Sea’s lovely blog. It’s the Boneyard Shawl. I don’t know about knitting for winter in the summer, I can’t wait to finish it to snuggle up in it now, it’s been so cold!

Isn’t it gorgeous yarn? It one I can actually get locally, (we don’t have dedicated yarn store, it means a trip into Norwich) it’s Sirdar Escape wool rich DK and the colour mix is very pretty and random. I’m struggling to work out when to stop knitting, unlike crochet you can’t lay it out flat when you have so many stitches on the needles, so it’s a bit hard to judge what’s going on. I’m nearly at the end of the third ball with one more to go and I’m thinking better too big than too small.

Which leads me to the next purchase. I started knitting on standard needles, but the pattern requires circular needles which I didn”t have in the size, so when I saw a Tweet about a promotional discount from a new online wool shop I wizzed over to see what was there. I found these lovely bamboo circular needles. I do like using bamboo, but have never found circular ones. In order to qualify for the discount, I had to spend a bit more (life can be tough) and fell madly in love with some fabulous Bluefaced Leicester yarn from the Natural Dye Company…

Such a nice way to shop! I had a Twitter conversation with Joanne from Wool and Buttons whilst putting in the order, a tweet to tell me it was in the post and it arrived the following morning before 9 o’clock. So pay her a visit, and say I sent you!

So the next project, socks or mitts? I can’t decide!

I’m loving having fllowers to cut for the house growing this year. It’s a bit accidental, the garden’s been rather neglected one way and another so I ended up with a bamboo wigwam in the veg bed where I popped in some sweet pea seeds. It’s taken forever, but at last they are flowering and the colours are rich and the scent is heavenly. Added to a self sown cornflower I have been able to have a little posy of colour and scent on the dresser all week…

And the strawberry? Well I had to show you this lovely pressie from my dear friend Jen. It starts off small…

…unravels…

…and turns into the very thing for carrying home the spoils from a visit to the yarn shop!

Well, lovelies, I’d better get out in the garden and do a spot of deadheading. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. Higgins and I are taking a trip to visit the lovely Emma of Silver Pebble who is opening her studio this weekend. Emma has made me something rather special which I will share with you soon.

Can you guess what it might be?

See you very soon x

Pick ‘n’ Mix Makers’ Market – The Event

After all the excitement of the last month I’ve suddenly skidded to a halt. And it’s a very good thing, as I can now spend a week sorting out and gathering my thoughts and making decisions about where I go from here. And, AND…I might have time to do something other than needle felting!!! Crochet, perhaps or some knitting! It’s been really hard to look at some blogs as I’ve been suffering from yarn envy, so I’m looking forward to a bit of a break! And I have to revamp the Folksy shop which has been closed because of the Market, so look out for new things appearing later on in the week.

But I promised to tell you about the market. Firstly, I have to confess that despite taking lots of photos, the one of the Planet Penny stall was too bad to use so this one…

is courtesy of Catherine Daniel, whose stall you can see further on in the post, thank Cathy!

But there were so many lovely stalls to look at…

I was next to Celia Hart, of Purple Podded Peas fame, with all her lovely prints and cards…

…and opposite Sasha, and her colourful menagerie of handmade toys…

On my other side was Suzanne of Heart of Glass with a sparkling array of stained glass…

At the far end of the hall was the lovely Emma of Emma Mitchell Designs. I can never resist buying something every time I see Emma, but this time I have a special commission which I will tell you about another time!

Then Lisa of Bobobun, to whom we are indebted for all the organisation for the event…

and Ruth, of Glory Days, one of my favourite shops in Norwich…

…and I’m terribly in love with that teapot!

There was fairy loveliness from Sara of Wildwood…

and then the twin temptations of Fiona’s High Fibre wool…

and Daisy Boo’s amazing Coffee Shop Corner…

Warm Stilton and Walnut Scones for breakfast…well, you’ve got to, haven’t you?

I also fell in love with a wonderful ceramic take on patchwork, as created by Catherine Daniel…

Kit bought a gorgeous piece…

And what did I buy?

Well, I tried to be sensible, but I will be going back to Catherine….Can you see that wonderful ceramic bunting above? But in the end I bought this heart…

…and this heart…

and two little books from Celia which seemed to have been made with me in mind…

Gosh, this is a long post! If you follow the links you’ll find some of the other lovelies I didn’t get time to photogragh are mentioned in other blogs if you want to get the full flavour of the day.

And it was a good day, for my first foray into the world of Makers Markets, it was fun, and successful…

…and now I’m very tired…

Must share the nest two pics though. Yesterday was quite bright and sunny to start with, sunbathing took place… But it clouded over, stared to rain and got SO cold..I had to light the wood burner…

As you can see, Higgins hasn’t managed to persuade Henry it’s possible to share the mat! Definitely hangdog…

Edited to add…The next Pick’n’Mix Makers Market is coming up on November 26th and you will find we have lots of lovely Christmas pressie ideas under one roof! Click on the poster on the side bar to find out more!

Hope to see you there x