Tuesday 2 June 2009

Charles Christopher North

I am very interested in my family history and I thought I would share some
of my findings with you to-day.
I want to tell you about my great uncle Christopher Charles North.

Christopher was born in Queniborough, Leicestershire to Sam and Mary North, he was one of a large family. Sam, his father, was a butcher and grazier in Queniborough where he owned around 100 acres of land. Christopher had a happy childhood with his brothers and sisters.
When he was in his 20's Christopher met a young lady called Nellie Burditt.
Nellie lived in Great Bowden also in Leicestershire, her father was the publican at the village pub called the Red Lion and he was called David Burditt.

Anyway Christopher and Nellie married in 1908 and went to live in a cottage opposite the pub on Main Street. They had a daughter who was also called Nellie after her mother.

Christopher, like so many young men of that time, went off to France & Flanders in the first World War and never returned. He was killed on the 29th April 1918.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Featured Fellow Etsian


I first met Mindy26 on Etsy in the chatrooms and she then bought a set of heart charms from me. I was intrigued with what she was going to do with these charms and found out from Mindy that she intended making garters with a charm for Valentines Day.
I thought this was such a good idea that I have decided to feature her in my blog so here is the interview we did.



Who is the Person behind the Shop

I am a homemaker with two children.I live in Michigan. I am using this as a way to make extra money for my family. I've always have loved to paint ceramics and make crafts. So this was the perfect opportunity to do what I love and make some extra money.

Do You Have any Business Goals

Yes,The goal to have a successful buisness to help my husband finance a move to Lexington,Kentucky.Thats where we would like to be.

What is your Favourite Purchase from Etsy
My favorite purchases from etsy are my charms from MissElany do accent my garters. My choker from Lanter,and my wolf print bracelet from HempLady4u.

What do you most like and least like about Etsy
I like all the friendly and helpful people I have met and have become friends with.

Tell me a random fact about yourself
Happily married to my husband Scott and enjoying raising our children





click on the link below to be transported to Mindy's shop on Etsy

Mindy26 Etsy Shop

Saturday 28 February 2009

Barton-in-Fabis 28th February 2009






















I met Kerilee when I started my Etsy shop and she purchase some fabric from me. We got talking about sewing as this is also a passion of mine and I had started to learn how to quilt.
Anyway to cut a long story short Kerilee told me she was doing a child's quilt with my fabric and I was so bowled over by the finished article I hope you will agree with me as the picture above is the finished article. I decided I would feature her in my blog

So here is what Kerilee has to say in her own words


My Name is Kerilee Rubrich. I have been married 20 years to a wonderful husband Gary. I have 4 children, Matthew 19, Alyssa 17, William 11, Samantha 7. Along with selling on etsy I coach figure skating and work retail.

I have loved arts and crafts for my whole life. I love to paint, quilt,papercrafts,and scrapbooking. Some day when funds permit I would even love to make jewelry. Most of my crafts have been self taught. Once in awhile I would take a class at the local craft store.

My dream would be to retire from all my other jobs and just make money selling my items that I create. That is why I started selling on etsy. I think it is such a great site. I love to look at all the items people create. There are so many talented people in this world.

I have not had the funds to buy much on etsy, even though there is a ton of items that I would like to. I would say my favorite purchase was the Material I got from Margaret. It is fun to see a item in one store turn into another item to be sold in another store.

The hard thing about etsy is getting started and bluiding up trust with cutomers. People like to see and touch items. They want a quality product. Which I know I have but getting people to have faith in you is hard. They want to see you have alot of sales. So getting the first few sales is hard even more so in this economy. One other thin I would like to do is seperate my crafts into different shops, but it is hard to do that because you need a seperat e-mail for every shop.

I love to travel in my travel trailer. I love to pack all my craft items and just go camping. See different places and create new things at the same time. My husband and I joke that when we retire we are going to get a ROCK STAR bus (RV) and travel the United States. Once in awhile dropping in on our kids.



Click the link below to go into Kerilee's Etsy shop

This text
is a link to a page on
the World Wide Web.

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Rose Cottage, Barton-in-Fabis

Well at last nearly all the snow has melted but at the moment it is very cold
and icy,not the sort of weather you need for the half term holidays which
are due to start this Friday. I thought some craft ideas might be useful
to keep your children amused as I think the weather will keep them indoors.

The first idea is for Chocolate Scented Playdough

You will need
  • flour
  • cocoa powder
  • salt
  • cream of tartar
  • cooking oil
  • boiling water

  • Directions
    Mix 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup salt,1/2 Tablespoon cream of tartar. Add
    1 1/2 Tablespoons cooking oil, 1 cup boiling water.
    Stir quickly, mix well. Cook over low heat until dough forms a ball. When cool , mix with your hands. Store in airtight container. It will smell good enough to eat but without sugar in it kids will not want to taste it a second time!


    Hand Made Bath Salts

    You will need
  • 2 1/2 lb Epsom Salts
  • Food Coloring
  • Perfume

  • Directions
    Combine epsom salts with food colouring and perfume in a large bowl. Mix well so colour is even
    Put into small jars and let stand for 4-6 weeks before using. This causes the perfume to blend with the salts. The bath salt is very soothing and makes for a very relaxing bath

    Homemade Glitter

    You will need
  • Salt
  • Food Coloring

  • You can make your own sparkling glitter using salt! Add a few drops of food coloring with the salt. Place the salt mixture (spread out) on a cooking tray and set the oven at 350. You only have to cook it for about 10 mins. After taking it out, let it cool. After cooling you have homemade glitter. It's just that easy!

    Have fun this half term break
    Directions