So, it's been well over a year since I last posted, and so much has happened with the poppies.......I eventually raised £2000 in 2011, way beyond my wildest dreams of £500.  To top that off, I raised £5000 in 2012 ! Not only was I interviewed on BBC Radio Manchester, Stoke and ITV News, but I was honoured to be invited to present the cheque to The Royal British Legion Battleback Centre at Lilleshall in Shropshire.  What a fantastic day - we had a tour of the facility, had a go at wheelchair basketball (not very successfully !) with some of the students, and met some of the tutors. 

Here's a picture of me presenting the cheque to Chris Joynson of The Royal British Legion along with my Mum, Dad, and partner, Shay.

But the money raised was not without it's trials and tribulations.  Long story short, The British Legion mistakenly reported me to Ebay for infringing their copyright the day before Remembrance Sunday.  Even though I stated on Ebay that I had permission from TRBL, they both forgot to check with their internal records whether this was correct.  It caused me no end of upset and heartache, mainly because all my Ebay customers received an email saying that they should return their Poppy to me and ask for a refund because I was not genuine. 

So as you can imagine, I had dozens of horrid emails from people who took Ebay's word (which you would) and called me a fraud, etc etc. 

HOWEVER.....I decided to try and turn this negative into a positive.  I figured I could either spit my dummy out and never do it again, or keep the momentum going and try and remember why I started it in the first place.  I had already got loads of lovely volunteers ready and willing to help, so here we are again in 2013.

And much better news on the horizon.  I have had my permission renewed by The Royal British Legion (anyone who needs to check the validity of it can email my local Fundraising Manager, Julie Dove on jdove@britishlegion.org.uk).  But most exciting news is that we are having a 2103 "Remembrance Poppy Crochet Day" at TRBL's Battleback Centre (Lilleshall, Shropshire) on Friday 27th September.  We're asking for volunteers to come along and join us to help make a huge stock of poppies to sell around Remembrance time.  You can either crochet the poppies themselves (or the little leaves) or just lend a hand glueing buttons and brooch pins on and packaging them ready for sale.  TRBL will be providing lunch and refreshments on the day, and I am in talks with a big craft retailer about them *hopefully* sponsoring the event and donating some equipment/materials.  Fingers crossed.

So, if you would like to get involved, please either email me, or drop me a line on my Facebook page (top right).  Other than that, watch this space and I will start posting a bit more regularly about the progress, and any other "Poppy News" !

Crocheted Remembrance Poppies 2011

Well, what a blur the past 2 weeks have been in our house !  It's been a sea of red yarn, ziplock bags, buttons, glue, Ebay orders and envelopes......

But well worth all the effort and mess, as I am EXTREMELY proud to be able to say that we have the grand total of £2000 from the sale of our Crocheted Remembrance Poppies, to be split equally between The Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes. 

Thank you to everybody who bought poppies.  And of course a big thanks to my Mum who helped to make them, sisters that helped to trim, glue, pack and post them and Shay who put up with the "makeshift poppy factory" taking over most of the downstairs of the house !

The image above is one of the designs for next year, with a slightly bigger, sparklier button than this year.  I'm also going to make some with a plain black wool centre, as some of the chaps I have spoken to aren't so keen on the bling !!  Any other ideas welcome, so do drop me a line if you would like to see them bigger, smaller, sparlier or whatever.

I've been asked by loads of people if they can still buy them - the answer at this point is unfortunately no, as I don't have the time, materials or resources to make them all year round (I work full time).  However, if I do decide to make a few more over the dark winter nights, I will relist them on Ebay and will put an update on this blog and also on our Facebook site here 

I am also looking for volunteers to help make the poppies for next year.  I could have sold many hundreds more this year if I had the time to make them, so if you can crochet (or know anyone who can) and would like to help, please, please get in touch.  Sirdar have very kindly donated 20 balls of the yarn (Rocking Horse Red!), which arrived this morning so I will send the yarn to any volunteers, along with the pattern.

So that's it for now.  I'm off for a well earned rest, and I know that my poor little wizened fingers will appreciate it......

Crocheted Remembrance Poppies

Last year, around this time, I decided to put my crochet hobby to good use, and make a few poppies to sell to family and friends, to raise a few quid for Help for Heroes and The British Legion.  I did better than I thought, and was able to send £180 to these charities !

So this year, I decided to get my act together in advance, and made a hundred poppies, with a fund raising targe of £250.  My sisters volunteered to sell some at their places of work, and I listed the rest on Ebay.  That was last Monday.  They had all sold by Friday, so we have smashed the target !  I have been madly crocheting in every spare minute I can find, and roped my Mum in last night to help stick the brooch pins on the back and to bag them up.  It's not even November yet, I can see me having some very late nights and very sore hands before long !  Well worth it though......I'm *secretly* hoping that we can raise £500.00 this year.

If you would like to purchase one, please see my Ebay page here  And you can follow the progress of how much money we made on my Facebook page here

Family Tree & Long Lost Relatives

What a lovely place Northumberland is.  A couple of weekends back, my OH and I took my Mum and Dad up to the Alnwick area where Mum was born.  More specifically, we went to a little village called Shilbottle, where her father and other ancestors grew up.  We met up with some long lost family members which created some tears, but also lots of smiles too.  It all came about because I researched our family tree a couple of years ago, which led me to get in touch with my Mum's Auntie Celia, who still lives in the area.  We spent a great afternoon with her on Friday, catching up and reminiscing.

On Saturday morning, we went to St James' Church in Shilbottle to have a look around the graveyard.  I'd wanted to do this since I started researching the family tree, and what an emotional experience it was to find the grave of my great great grandparents, Francis and Emily Queen.

It re-ignited my interest in our family history, so I have renewed my subscription to Ancestry.  There are some new census records now available (1911) so I am looking forward to finding out what my ancestors were doing 10 years on.....!

Craft Workshop

Exciting News - Cottage Crafts is running it's first Craft Workshop on Thursday 28th April.  "Make Your Own Royal Wedding Bunting".  It's being held at the fabulous Handmade By in Congleton, Cheshire.  10am until 1pm.  £10 for adults, £7.50 for kids.  No sewing experience necessary.  All materials provided.  Come along and have a go at making your own bunting.  Whether you like Union Jack colours for the Royal Wedding, pastel polka dots or Cath Kidston style vintage fabric, there will loads of different materials available for you to choose from.  Plus, lots of different designs of ready made bunting to give you ideas/inspiration.  Places are limited to 8, so to avoid missing out, contact me to book or pop in to see Beth at her shop, above Cloud 9 Hair on Lawton Street, Congleton, Cheshire.

A Bright and Sunny Weekend

Well, can you believe this gorgeous weather we have been enjoying lately ?  We spent all weekend in the garden, alternating between working hard and lazing in the sunshine.  The cherry and apple blossom are such a lovely sight against the bright blue spring sky.



The chickens are absolutely loving it, dustbathing under the trees and generally strutting around.  The memory of them huddled together, freezing cold in -15 degree temperatures seems so long ago.  They're laying well again now, so we are getting 8 eggs a day from 11 hens, not too bad at all.  Sorry for the poor photo of them, it's hard to get them to pose for a photo all at once !


Also, we went to the Emma Bridgewater Factory Shop in Hanley, and picked up one of the 200 limited edition Royal Wedding Teapots featured here.  Mum and I will certainly be enjoying afternoon tea from this little beauty on the 29th !

 Search Amazon.com for emma bridgewater

Mothers Day

Had a great day with my lovely family for Mother's Day. We all met in Warwick, half way between Windsor (where my sister, her partner Mat and son Sam live) and Sandbach, where I live with my other half. Our other sister hitched a lift with us from our house. Had lunch in a great little place called 7 Square (www.7square.co.uk) where the staff were great - really accommodating and helpful, and the food was fab too. Highly recommended. Lots of lovely presents were exchanged, and I had made some daft little easter eggs for my nephew Sam. Unfortunately had made the schoolboy error of not hard boiling them before I soaked them in food colouring, so I'm not sure how long they will last until they are splattered on my sister's carpet - Sorry Helen !!!

I also baked a yummy Bakewell tart for my Mummy, which I carefully packaged and took down to Warwick. "Unfortunately" in all the chaos when we said goodbye, I forgot to give it to her.  Oops ! I did send her a picture of it when I got home though......!