Well Saturday saw our CrafTea and Cakes summer fair take place. The sun shone and lots of people came and we managed to make £735 for our two chosen charity's. Two friends joined us, both called Janet and took on the tea and cakes side of things while Suzie and I concentrated on the sewing side of things. Another friend, Jean brought along some vintage tiered cake stands that she had made and Julia gave us a large double quilt which was 2nd hand but added well to our total. A huge thank you to everyone who helped us on the day with washing up, setting up, clearing away, making cakes, serving tea and cakes.

It's that time of year again....time for the CrafTeas and cakes event to raise more funds for the Good News School in Kolkata for street children and Romanian disadvantaged children. The weather is very wet at the moment but hopefully by May 19th it will be sunny and we will be able to be outdoors.
We are having a new kitchen fitted at the moment so I have plenty of time to do some last minute sewing for the day. It's a bit like camping in your own home while you have a kitchen fitted, everything is squeezed into the dining room and we can't get to anything! It will be worth it though!
I will soon put some pictures up of stuff being made for the sale, watch this space.

And the result was.......

All the hard work was worth it today when we hosted the latest CrafTeas 'n' Cakes at Suzie' s home. The crafts sold well, cards sold more than ever before and the cakes...well they went like the proverbial hotcakes.

Suzie despite not feeling very well managed to get through the day and is seen here setting up the tea and cakes.

At times the lounge was full to bursting but the weather was mild and people were able to spill out into the garden to enjoy their cups of tea.

In total just over £700 was raised to share between the two causes, but that total will raise as we have a few orders to do. So if you came, a big THANK YOU for supporting us and more importantly children in parts of the world who are very needy. Also a special big thanks to my husband Dave who made teas and coffees and washed up for a solid 3 hours!
Now off to lie in a darkened room .......

History of CrafTeas 'n' Cakes

Last year I started to have a craft and cakes 'do' at our house to raise money for street children in Kolkata, India. I have been asked many times how and why it began so I thought I would put it here...just for the record! My daughter Amy went on a mission trip from our church, Canford Heath Baptist Church to Kolkata in India, she worked in various areas but the one that impacted her most were the children who live on the streets, under lamp posts, blankets and were just so poor. The Good News School bus picked the children up in the morning and took them to the school where they had a wash, clean clothes, a meal (cooked by the teacher before he drove the bus to pick them up) and gave them an education and some hope for the future. At the end of the day they were taken back to their pavements and so to their families again.


One story that shocked me was that during school one day the children made little shakers out of plastic cups filled with rice to shake and make a noise with. When the bus dropped the children off, one of the mothers of the children tore open the cup and got the rice out, ....it was food for the family that night. The team were wishing they had filled the cups up to the top when they saw this

Well, all this got me thinking about what I could do and thinking about using the gifts God has given me. One thing I love to do is to sew and be creative. As Dave and I travel around I am constantly scribbling ideas down, sketches of views and vistas I see and wanting to make a picture of them so it seemed a good idea to use this and so the first sale came about in 2010 just before the team went to India to raise money for craft stuff to take with them and use in the schools. We bought puppets for them to do puppet shows with (they loved them so much, they were left out in Kolkata in the school!) lots of other stuff was taken too.

The first sale was on my birthday at the end of May and was supposed to be a garden fair but had to be hastily regrouped indoors as it poured with rain the whole time! However we made £358 which was so much more than I thought we could make! If you look back in the blog to May 2010 you will see pictures of it.

The cakes were as popular (if not more so!) Family and friends got involved with cake making, washing up, etc..
As Christmas approached I felt it would be good to do another sale and was joined by my very good friend Suzie. Suzie and I are both Christians, we used to go to the same Church and we work together as palliative care nurses in a local hospice. Suzie has a special interest in summer camps in Romania for children and this is something I believe her church supports, I will try and get Suzie to write about it on here one day! So it was decided that we would both make and create and divide the proceeds between the two causes.

The Christmas sale was held in Suzie's home as she has a bigger lounge than we do and made £745 which was a staggering amount, it was divided between the two causes equally. (See blog entries for November 2010)

In June 2011 we had our 2nd garden fair...and yes, it was in the garden this time with blue skies! Suzie had other things she was involved with at that time, so it was just my stuff on sale but Suzie still helped me on the day. (Pictures in blog in June 2011)BMS India were given the proceeds which came to £650 which included some which went to Freeset which is also based in Kolkata and gives ex prostitute women a job making bags and gets them off the streets and gives them an income for them and their families.

So, in a nutshell that's the story so far. God willing, Suzie and I will carry on although we do probably need a bigger venue soon!

Amy, my daughter is praying and talking with various people about sometime doing more work out in India. Suzie and I are continuing for now with sewing, making and baking.

I would like to thank all the people who make this possible and give their time and talents freely, My husband Dave, who puts up with my fabric everywhere, sets the tables up and washes up and does more than I could ever say, my children, Amy, who makes amazing cup cakes. Will and Ed who help at the sales when they are home, Kat and Naomi, the two girlfriends who also get involved in selling. My mum who makes beatiful hand made lace items. Dr John and Mary who serve tea and cakes and do endless washing up, and others who willingly provide cakes, wash up and do so much . THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Well the next sale is on this Saturday at Suzies home so watch this space...right...off to make some cakes now! Malteser cakes I think................

"Suzie and Lyn's Home-made Fair"

The day of the "Home-Made by Suzie and Lyn" has been and gone and we raised an amazing £745 so far! Half will go to BMS India and the other half to Romanian Summer Camps for children. We sold lots of cards like the ones above, quilts, Christmas stockings, bags, serviette holders, and numerous other bits.
We reckon if we feed the husbands with cake and tea/coffee thier wives are happy to browse and spend the money! So lots and lots of cake was made......and consumed! I spent the previous evening icing 120 fairy cakes plus 3 victoria sandwiches, 2 lemon cakes, 2 fruit cakes, 3 mini cakes and 200 biscuits.

A few bits and bobs on a table

And more stuff, people just came and seemed to enjoy the home-mades.

Cards sold well,

and the little bags, but not the pincushions. People from both our Churches and the Hospice where we work and neighbours came too. We still have a few orders to complete which will bump the overall total up.

I am so tired now....I need to lie in a darkened room for about a week I think!

Excuses for my absence!

This is why I have been away, I am having another sale of handmade stuff next Saturday and these are some partly made cards for it.

I have been making pictures, quilts, cards, potato sacks, tea cosies, serviette holders, bags, pencil rolls and numerous other bits and bobs. This time I am not alone, the friend above and I have joined forces to hopefully raise more money for the causes. Last time in summer the end total was £4oo, so I aim to beat that. The money is again going to India, in particular Koltata where my daughter went in summer to work with the street children in a school.

I have alot of sewing to finish off this week and alot of cakes to bake for the day, I'm on holiday this week but sadly have 2 funerals happening, one is my Aunty and the other a friend, both to cancer. Not the way I saw my holiday! Anyway here's hoping next week will raise alot of money to make a difference in childrens lives.

What NOT to do when you have a craft fair in your lounge!

1. DON'T put a card near a candle...or this happens, as in the photo!
2. DON'T bake too many cakes!
3. DON'T choose a rainy day!
Actually I never did like the card in the above picture as I'm not keen on the painted flowers on the card! I think I can save the embroidery and sell it as smoke damaged!

I sold a lot of cards so have started restocking again. as it's summer I'm well into beach huts and summer scenes.

Vintage and Handmade Fair & landscape pictures

These three are the latest works in progress, I'm trying to get all the machine bits done now so that I can take them on holiday in a few weeks time and do the hand embroidery there.

This one is based on a place I saw when on holiday in Wales last year called Abereron, the houses were all different colours. My family says it looks more like Tobermory on the children's TV programme! I have still to do the borders on this one.
The last one is a bluebell wood, I have used different colour netting and fabrics and wools to make the texture. I will do a tree canopy in wools and chiffon I think.

These are fun to make as no two are ever the same.

Changing the subject I went to the Vintage and handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury on Saturday, it was lovely although very crowded...but that is good for the stall holders! The teas and cakes served on delicate vintage china looked wonderful but we didn't try any as the queue was long and no seats so we had another look round instead!

I was very restrained and only bought a couple of magazines and some very pretty ribbon. I hope they all did well as they had all put such alot of effort into it.