Feature: The Purple Pumpkin Patch

So a while back... a looong while back... lol  I featured a little Etsy shop named 'Pookledo'.  This time around, I get to feature her new Brick & Mortar crafty (consignment) shop in Loughborough UK, called ' The Purple Pumpkin Patch '.

If you're ever in the area, drop in and see what she has in :) I love seeing her post about the items brought into her. so far I've seen everything from beautiful knit and crochet work,  homemade jams and jellies, adorable ceramic/clay/porcelain critters, homemade soaps and candles... actually, I think I've seen a bit of everything! 

And guys.. she hosts classes and such, too! I wish I lived close enough to attend her  'Knit & Natter' get togethers... I doubt my ability to learn to knit without a ready helper nearby to keep me on the right track, so this sort of thing would be the only way I'd be able to do it :)

Now, all of those glimpses inside her shop are from scattered times over the past year, but considering it IS the Christmas shopping season, I think I should show off some of the 'seasonal items' , too, right?

 The gingerbread man wreath is just classic Christmas without being overdone, and those lace roses... wow that must have taken forever to put together ! I'm not one for glitz  or flowers, so if I had to chose between these three in person, I'd go with the gingerbread man for my door ;) There are tons more in her shop, in a variety of looks, and the old fashioned looking lacy ones are SO PRETTY!  Like this one -

And SO much more! You should pop over to her page and browse through some of the goodies :)
 For those who are NOT in her area, don't despair, she still has the etsy shop where she has her jewelry, including her AWESOME Christmas Earring Advent Calendars

and if you see something in the PPP shop that you MUST have, message her about it and maybe the two of you can work things out with the shipping... you never know ;)

AND, for a reward for visiting her shop & page, she's offered up a little prize :) this set of  3 pairs of Christmas earrings :)  The center pair are Swarovski crystal :)

And, since this is ME and you all know on my blog I make you 'work' for your ballots ;)  Pop over and visit her shops, either/both The Purple Pumpkin Patch and /or  Pookledo , ( and check it off in the entry form ), and tell me in the comments about  your 3 favorite items :)

The winner will be selected by Random.org, and notified by email ( if they've provided it) or in a blog post (if they didn't provide an email) and will have 24hrs to respond. If they don't, a new winner will be chosen in their place. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Soup works and other fiddling...

See?! Still keeping up with this.. and no one has had to remind me yet :D

Although I did almost fall back into my trap... the one where I keep putting off blogging because I have something in the works to share... lol I stopped myself though :D Aren't you proud of me?

Anyhow, I've been eying this luscious soup Audrey sent me, and after doodling a bit, decided to just jump in.  I grabbed some super hard copper wire I salvaged from somewhere, sorted out some of my bead caps to go along with the ones from Audrey, and started to work with those amethyst rounds :) It is now official.. I have begun work on my soup pieces! :D

I would like to say, that I showed my mom the soups and she loves it too :D. She was up last weekend and we'd planned on my heading out to her place afterwards to dog sit while her and my dad went to visit my grandmother. Gram's health has been deteriorating badly, and the past few months have been touch and go. There were a couple times when we thought she was at the end of her rope, but she keep pulling through. Anyhow, as I was saying, I showed her the soup right after she'd said they were heading up to visit my gram, and she also noticed the same thing as I did... that the bird in the focal was a hummingbird, which happens to be my gram's favorite. With the way she is constantly in and out of the hospital, jewelry isn't any good for her right now, and she really only wears it when she's getting dressed up to go out, so the finished piece won't be going to her... but she'll definitely be on my mind and in my heart as I create it :)

Audrey really hit this one out of the ball park; my favorite colours, a focal with personal meaning behind it, and lots of little challenges for me to overcome and figure a way through :)

Aside from my bsbp fiddling, I'm also working on some baskets for my bathroom shelves. I have this beautiful wooden shelf my dad made me just sitting there empty ( because I don't want to clutter it up) so I bought some cheapo ugly white plastic baskets from the dollar store. Last night I sat down and mixed up some paint and painted all the trims, and today I'm doing a test run with some paper and modpodge on one of them. No worries, I'll show them when they're done, whether they turn out or not ;) I'm thinking I'll pick up some napkins of something to coordinate with them and have those as a liner... again, photos when I'm done :)

Well, no giveaway from me this time but I can't leave everyone hanging... so head on over to Grubbi Beads and check out HER giveaway :D Shop credit for her store! Whoohoo! who wouldn't love a shopping spree at Grubbi beads?!