Yesterday i finished, altered, started and managed to find quite a few miniatures i had long forgotten about... lol. These are just a few.
I also have some in the finished box and many an item half done all around my table and in the box of doom.
Last week i had all these ideas in my mad head i would be so ready for this Friday and get the esty shop moving but it now looks like next Friday instead.
I think next Friday is probably better because it will give me a chance to order some much need boxes for posting, extra bubble wrap and tape etc, then hope they arrive in the nick of time. The trouble with this is i could have done so last week and it would have arrived by now but sadly i've had lack of funds. So roll on hubbies payday and i can get this done. Yipee for Friday!
I've also got those gift tags and boxes on the go, alongside the tables which i cant finish until the glue everyone suggested arrives. Plus i also started another witches potting table but sdaly cant go anywhere with until i find more nice plant pots or at least make some.
Theres also another nice batch of bottles i made from the marbles hiding somewhere in my clutter which are complete. Plus the marble bottles you can see in the picture inside the coffee lid i need to stain and glitz up.
The chicken coop (oh lol) which you have probably forgot all about is still is desperate need of eggs and perhaps a few the chickens have chucked out and cracked.
The dressers i started have gone wrong. I should have been patient and waited for the right colour wood stain. I'm sure i can rescue these somehow.
Can you see the tiny little berry baskets? I plan on making some poisonous mushrooms to go in these alongside some berriws and whatnot.
Plenty to do but never enough time!
My son Niall has his school prom tomorrow. Don't get me started on this but he's only 11, some of his friends are 10 and his mad school is having a prom. Fancy cars will pick the children up and horns will go as the little darlings approach the school gates. Oh Lol.
I have nothing wrong with proms when they are older and in senior school but 10 and 11 is simply a joke in my opinion.
Yesterday Niall came home and told me some of the girls have spent £500 on their outfits and hair etc. Are the parents nuts? This is such a large amount for two and a half hours on a Thursday evening (it will probably rain too).
I refuse to join in with this madness and have bought Niall a nice tie and shirt and some new trousers. I'm not hiring a full suit nor am i buying something he can't wear again.
It doesnt stop here either. You have to give cash to the school so they can get all the flowers, ballons and food, plus pay for the awards and what not. Then donate money again for the food and wine the parents will be drinking.
I'm not mean, but i'm just not rich and all of this amounts to far more than my food bill and its also unfair on my other two that wont get anything.
The children have already been out on trips for two weeks which cost a fortune too and then they needed spending money everyday. Alongside all the different hours they needs to be picked up by and waiiting for the coach that was always late.
For next week all the batty mothers have got together and organised a trip out to a fun park with fancy cars for the kids. You have to buy the 2009 leavers t-shirt and buy the ticket too, pay for the fancy cars and not once complain that everyone has gone mad.
Then of course we have all the leavers assemblies and leavers this and that to attend also. Does the school not know parents have jobs and busy lives they cram in while their kids are at school? Can they really believe we can take all this time off work and spend all this money? Perhaps they do.
I have mentioned all of this madness to the school headmistress but i reckon she thinks i'm just a moaner and fobs me off with well they have their peers to say goodbye to and all that garb.
How much time and money does it take to celebrate their time together since nursery and send them packing to senior school.
I'm not saying dont have fun but just tame it all down slightly.
I shall shut up now because its driving me mad. Maybe i'll add more tomorrow or Friday after the event.
Whew!! First off....look at all that lovely "stuff" just lying around!! What a collection. Seriously, it all looks great (love the mushies) and I cannot wait to see it all for sale. It's all marvelous.
ReplyDeleteAs for the school thing..I'm with you. Prom at 11??!! They ARE nuts!! Obviously their are parents at the school who have nothing better to do with their time or money than dream up these totally inappropriate events for their children...and everybody else's. When my some was at his old school, there was a group of Mom's who come up with such nonsense. Fortunately, the Headmaster said no to most of it but it seemed that there was always and "end of year" class hoopla that everyone was expected to attend. And it was never free. The new high school is so much better in that respect. Prom is reserved for Seniors; no limos allowed; no tuxedos required. (But the girls still spend a fortune on their outfits.) Just smile and grit your teeth, my friend...this too shall pass. :-)
BTW...both Debbie and I think you should save your pictures someplace other than Blogger (see your post in the your "Picture Gallery).
Om My Nikki! I can't believe the school expects this out of the parents....Maybe if you wrote down all the expensise on a piece of paper, then showed it to the headmistress, then they could see how much money you have shelled out. Is it suppose to be a free education??? When I lived over there....and even here in the states now with my kids, they have feild day at the end of the year....And do fundraiser type of stuff....Bake sell, raffle off stuff.....You would think they'd be more inventive then Prom at the age of 11!! Fancy cars??? LOL.....What next? Don't feel bad for complaining...You know your not the only one who feels this way!!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for your creations this week.....I'm going back for another look! Your new baskets are very cute!! Can't wait to see them filled:)You make me want a credit card/paypal account soooo bad!!! But I must control myself:)
Katie
Everything looks so lovely and mucky :)
ReplyDeleteI feel strongly that Esther will have need for one of those slimy green specimen jars with the rusty handle...
Hi Nikki, Fab new creations, looking forward to seeing the little baskets filled.
ReplyDeleteYou know I agree with you about the Prom after our long discussion about it the other night. It's absolutely ridiculous expecting all the parents to shell out vast amounts of money for a couple of hours. Don't they know we aren't all millionaires and some of us have more then one child..
Chin up Nikki and stuff the rest of them..xxx
Beautiful work, as always. You are such a gifted artist. I agree with your sentiments and think you have every right to complain. I don't think boys even really wanted to dance with me at 10 years old- much less lots of money shelled out to a prom. Ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteNikk everything looks amazing and we are Sooooo happy it will be next week for Etsys launch as we are off on hols from this Friday for a week and not back til nex Friday so hoping by the time we are back there will still be something left to buy lol!!
ReplyDeleteWith you on thre whole school thing! Thank goodness we have only 1 prom at 16 yrs but that was bad enough, we had to pay for Rhiannon first, then Emily and Rebecccas a year after. We are lucky they arnt greedy children, they were all content with us borrying a friends posh car, no limo hire, couldnt afford it! And as for the dresses, no big posh ultra expensive dresses for them, Rhiannons was in the sale in a shop in the Brighton Lanes, Emilys a bargain on ebay. I must admit becuase of the hype and how other parents spend a fortune on cars, dresses etc I felt really bad they wernt having the very best as their friends were, but they didnt seem to care which is the main thing.
In fact rebecca went on the back of Johns Lambretta scooter and she ended up having her photo in the paper, while the friends with £150 limos that they were in for 10 minuites from house to school didnt get a look in!!
We have just shelled out on a £300 school trip we cant afford as the school expect everyone to go, and I couldnt bare to see the look on my sons face if he didnt, so we will struggle for the next month or so, and eat from Icelands bargain £1 meals just to keep up with the peer pressure!!! Its maddedning, and gets worse every year. So feel for you!!
There you go our rant over too!!! Kate and John xx
Great work, love the toadstools on the newspaper!
ReplyDeleteAs for you school prom thing...I think you are so right! I think it's ridiculous too! I think what the school is doing is teaching children at a very young age that fun can only be had at high cost, that more and bigger equals better. Kids will be confronted with plenty of that when they get older.
I am the chairperson of my son's elementary school's 'work force', a group of parents who are in charge of organizing all parties (like Saint Nicholas and Christmas) and responsible for the yearly school trips. In our school, parents pay a yearly voluntary fee of 48 euro's per student from which festivities and trips are payed. Just last month we had a discussion with some of the teachers who wanted a higher budget for the school trips. The outcome of the discussion was that we all felt that for less money kids were just as likely to have fun (and learn something as well), which is what it is all about.
Last week we had the last day of school, which is always a fun day for all students and teachers. We have a budget of 1,50 per student for this day, all students (4 to 11/12 years old) get to join the party. We organized an 'expressions and sayings' fox hunt (similar to a treasure hunt) through the village with the teachers acting as the foxes. Granted, it is a lot of work to organize this, and lots of parents need to help out, but it is so much fun! After this, there was a magic and juggling act by a street performer and all the kids got to join in and learn to juggle, walk tight rope etc. The day ended with a 'picknick' of french fries, ice cream and lemonade. All the kids (yes, also the 12 year olds!), teachers and parents had a blast!
To fund bigger things (like a theater company to come and perform at the school) we organize fund raisers and collect paper and old clothes for recycling (the salvation army pays good money for this!). This also helps to pay for the few parents who can't afford the 48 euro fee.
I'm sorry I'm going on about this, of course I have no idea how your kids school is organized, but I just wanted to let you know that so much is possible with a little creativity and parental involvement. And above all, that to have a fun time doesn't mean it has to cost a fortune.
Regards, Josje
I am so happy that in Italy there is nothing like a Prom! My goodness, it is really a nonsense, pure rubbish.Totally uneducational I dare say. I know it's hard to say NO to a child but sometimes it's rightfull to do so, I wonder if this race of parents make things on their kids' sake or just to keep up with the Jones. As Debbie said, chin up and do what YOU feel right. Damn to he headmistress.
ReplyDeleteAfter that....I love your work as usual! Hugs
Thank you all for the words of support.
ReplyDeleteI have just spent ages answering each and everone of you and then i couldnt post.
So i will answer you all together now else i'll be typing away for another half hour.
Its so good to hear your opinions are all like my own and i appreciate the time you have all spent letting me know.
The world has gone mad and i wish i didnt feel so frustrated and alone with this.
The parent are like mad people happy to go along with whatever orders are given.
I could harp on forever and a day about this but would only be even more frustrated.
Thanks all!
Nikki x
Love the minis, Nikki!
ReplyDeleteI think the children would have just as much fun with a pizza party and game day. Much less expensive for the school AND the parents.
Nikki, fabulous mini goodies. I have put a link to your new Etsy shop on my blog, when I get chance to update my website I will put it on there for you too :O).
ReplyDeleteBLOODY SCHOOLS DRIVE ME NUTS!!!!! We get letters for trips that you can make a VOLUNTARY donation for but if you dont pay the kids dont go. Or you get a letter for a trip and they want a £50 deposit three days later, or they have to go for GCSE's. I agree with you totally. Then theres the uniform that you can only get from one supplier, £15 for a PE top, geesh. Rant over LOL
((((((((((((( hugs )))))))))
ps I hope he has a good time xxx
Debie xxxxxx
I can't wait to see you items on Etsy! I would design a room box right around your work!
ReplyDeleteWonderful items, as always, I can't wait to see your etsy shop up and running also. Hope you don't mind, but a tip I learn' when listing on Etsy is not to list all my items at once. The main miniatures page shows newly listed items and then as more listings are added, your listed items move down the pages. Therefore as time goes on, your items could be on page 136 and people are only looking on page 1. So what I do is only list 1 or 2 items on any day. That way, my new items show up fairly near the front page and once someone has clicked on my item they can then see my other items in my shop. I hope this makes sense, I am waffling now!
ReplyDeletePS, I agree with you with the school and I am hoping our school doesn't get any ideas like that.
Thank you all for the time you have taken to leave comments. I totally agree with all of you on this and wish all the mad people could read this.
ReplyDeleteThank you also to bear cabin minis for the etsy suggestion. I understand fully what you mean and will put a few on a few times each week.
I planned to put a third of what i have made on in the first week, keep two thirds back and list each third week after week. Plus keep making each week so i always have a good supply behind me rather than feeling in a rush all the time.
Just wish i could have made a lot more over the last few weeks. Time just seems to vanish each day.
Wow you have been a busy bee. Do you have to join Etsy to buy your items? I don't know much about Etsy.
ReplyDeleteHi Nikki,
ReplyDeleteI´m so pleased that you have a Etsy shop. I cannot wait to buy some miniature from you. Hopefully I get some ;0). That is so exciting for me.
Lotti
Hola!!!!!!!!!!me encanta tu blog.Y tus mandragoras son una pasada, me ecantaria poder hacerlas la mitad que tu las haces de bien, felicidades.besitos desde España.ascension
ReplyDelete