Thursday, December 30, 2010

Toothache!

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to moan here. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and today I have developed a toothache! I think I have lost a filling. I telephoned the dentist for an urgent appointment and they are closed tomorrow. Monday evening at 8 p.m. is the earliest appointment I can make.

If you hear any unexplained whimpers coming from a Spanish direction, it's probably me. Off to check how many painkillers we have in the medicine cupboard......

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Help needed for a worthwhile cause

In the last few days I have been following a particular thread in the Artfire forum. One of our sellers is very ill. In fact, she has stage 4 lung cancer and the prognosis is not good. She may only have a few months left. Her name is Jean and she ran a jewellery supply shop called LadyHawk.

Health care is covered and not a problem but, and this is hard to write, she hasn't the resources to pay for a funeral. She doesn't want to be a burden on her family.

Some of us have been discussing ways in which we could help and a small fund raising campaign has been set in motion. Many Artfire sellers and craftspeople have volunteered to donate a percentage of their January sales and I am one of them. I will send 10% of the proceeds of any January sales and, failing that, she can have what's left in my PayPal account.

Collections have been made showcasing the volunteers' shops (see one of them below) and we have all added the tag "jeanlove" to our listings. If you want to help, please go to www.artfire.com, search the term jeanlove and buy anything that takes your fancy.

If this is not possible, as I know many of us are strapped for cash at the moment, then prayers or general good vibes sent in Jean's direction would be just as much appreciated.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas Everybody!

I'm here to wish you all a lovely Christmas and a great New Year! Yesterday, I didn't think I'd be able to. We had a big storm yesterday evening and the electricity supply for our whole area was down for several hours. The very high winds must have blown down a pylon.

Added to that our water supply was cut off for twenty four hours! I was beginning to panic about that. It's amazing how often you turn on a tap, expecting something to come out of it, during the course of a day. I think it might be easier to live without electricity than to live without water.

Thankfully, we are all back to normal today! I've had a lovely hot shower and I'm on the internet again. All's right with the world!

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Something for the Walls

My husband has just finished redecorating the lounge. Now I have to decide what goes on the walls! I procrastinated by putting together a small Collection on Artfire.  I went traipsing through the Fine Art section and look what I found!



Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Shabby Sheep is going great!

I just got back from the UK yesterday, where I stayed with my Mum for three weeks and caught up with my sister and saw the grandchildren. I am also please to report that Shabby Sheep Boutique, my future daughter-in-law's shop, is going great guns!

Sheryl seems to have gauged her clientele extremely accurately. The stock comes in and then flies straight out the door! My jewellery is also selling well, apparently which is very gratifying, to say the least.

Shabby Sheep is also the proud winner of Brightlingsea's Best Christmas Window Display Award! I will post some photographs as soon as I have them.

Unfortunately, I still haven't seen said shop in the flesh!  We had rather a lot of unseasonably early snow which prevented travel for a while and then, when I could go, my son Ben went down with a nasty bug!  I couldn't risk exposing myself to that the day before I had to catch a plane back to Spain. Flying Ryanair is bad enough but doing it while you feel like vomiting is not advisable!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

First Sale on Artfire!

I am celebrating today! Last night I sold two pairs of earrings from my Artfire Studio!






It was a nice day altogether really! I'm staying with my Mum in the UK for a few weeks.  We have had a tremendous amount of snow. This is a pic of my Mum's back garden so you can see what I mean.



My sister came round for the evening and fetched us a take away from our local Indian restaurant. I hadn't had a proper curry for months and was suffering withdrawal symptoms! It was gorgeous and I stuffed myself until I could eat no more. 

Then, top buttons of jeans undone, we watched TV all evening! A real girly feast of guilty pleasures -  Strictly Come Dancing, Casualty, X Factor and I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!  It's amazing what you can get away with viewing when there are no men around to spoil it!

My sister went home, my Mum went off to bed and I went on line quickly just to see what was happening out there in cyberland.  I checked my emails and couldn't believe it - I had a sale! 

Then, of course, I had to go straight to the forums and crow about it! I had to wait for the dancing kitties to come along before I could go to bed.  The dancing kitties have become a bit of a tradition in the Artfire forums.  Kibbles watches out for "first sale" threads and posts her little animation by way of congratulations. It's very cute! 

Anyway, I'm now off and running! I would love a few more sales before Christmas. Wish me luck!