Bags of Swank ~ Almost a Day off

As mentioned earlier in blog, today was the day to visit one of my outlets with some more stock. What a chore this is - NOT. We were so lucky today as the weather turned out good for us too. First of all we were ruthlessly attacked by ducklings trying to eat our trainers, the ones in the photo had decided to try my husbands shoes as mine were not tasty enough. Just how cute are they?
We manouvered over to the bird tables, as on our last visit I managed to capture some great shots, today this too was taken over by ducks, but what a lovely specimen she is.
We didnt see that much else, except in on of the hides a lovely chap let me view his mega lense and watch the herons right across the pond too far for the eye to see, but I got to watch 3 of them pruning their feathers and relaxing in the sunshine. Again the kingfisher was elusive, but I did see a photo of one of the young whilst in the shop - would love to have seen the real thing, but alas not today, but then it was a bit busy and the visiting children were a bit rowdy.

The lovely Robin posed beautifully for us, sadly too much in the sun for the camera's to capture him too well, but this is the best we got between us taken by husband Steve.

Luckily the wild flowers keep nice and still for me, so I took this shot of something that cant fly away!

Before our adventures at Mere Sands we had been out to lunch with Mum and Dad, so lucky enough to have a fantastic day, ok so I was working for some of it, but this is one of my real perks of my job getting to spend a few hours here.

Hoping to have a full day of work tomorrow, arranged to meet with my friend early on the dog walk so hoping to have time to crack a new skill I have been working on, fingers crossed.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and all ready and refreshed for a great start to the week tomorrow.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

Folksy Friday ~ The Vintage Selection

Bit late in the day sorry, but here I am with this weeks Folksy Friday. A showcase of some of the fabulous crafters who also show their wonderful creations on Folksy. This week I asked for some Vintage items to show off and got a great response here are just some of the superb finds on folkys. Just click on the photographs to be taken as if by magic to the individual shop for more information, what else can you be doing on such a wet gloomy day?

First from "Silk Purse, Sow's Ear" is this gorgeous festival ring.



From "Blue Button" is this wonderful vintage lace and button wedding bouquet, almost makes me wish I was getting married again, I would have loved something like this.



"Little Denim" has this great hat, for those of us who like to keep the sun away (once it finally turns up)



"Cherry Tree Handmades" has this crochet throw or blanket



Now I do know that over 83 hours work went into this wonderful moss green beaded lace wedding shawl, isnt it just amazing? and created by the talented "The Crafty Bride"



"Beccabugs" has this very useful Pin Cushion Jar and Needlebook



This is so cute, a headband from recycled yarn by "Can u Knit it"



A very attractive pair of Flower Feather earrings from "Mary Elliot" made up from vintage feathers



"Poisoned Apple Jewellery" has a fantastic collection in her shop, here is just one of my favourites by her, its called La Belle Epoque Red



Finally from me here at Bags of Swank by SimJaTa, vintage fabric tote bag and gadget case, in gorgeous peaches and tans






Hope you have enjoyed this weeks Vintage Selection, I know I have, you wont find such individual personal designs on the high street, along with the first class customer service that will be given from the sellers on Folksy.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

New Stock for Mere Sands

I was lucky enough to receive a cheque from Lancashire Wildlife Trust at weekend for the sale of my bags in our (almost) local Nature Reserve at 'Mere Sands' which of course was brilliant news as they had sold my bags, but also meant I had to get busy and make some more. Above are a couple of the ones I have ready so far - planning on our visit for Sunday.
Mere Sands Nature Reserve is a wonderful place, so quiet and peaceful with plenty to see, as long as you have the patience to wait, particularly the kingfisher can be rather shy. For further details there is a link on my website.

Has meant I have struggled a bit to keep up with the Folksy 'June Bugs Daily listing club' but at least I am being kept nice and busy. I have also searched and found all the fabric and extra's for my next set of bags, should be popular with the dog lovers. I have also neglected my Special by SimJaTa shop, hope to remedy that one soon - have some simply gorgeous fabrics for silky scarves, as we do not appear to be having a roasting hot summer so far, so they should still be popular.

As usual I do struggle with never enough hours in the day, so if these two bags from my shop are still there at weekend, they may well be finding themselves in the Mere Sands shop. These pictures do connect to my shop, just click on them and they will take you there (at least until Saturday).





Hope everyone is keeping busy, but maybe a little less than me by finding some relaxation time too - hoping to find mine on Sunday at our little Mere Sands oasis of calm.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

Healthy Eating

I decided to have a break from crafting waffle today, just for a change - normal service will be resumed soon. Take a look at this picture (above) how appetising does that look? yummy right? nooooooooooooooooo. This is what my friend Sylvia has me taking daily in my morning fruit juice. She told me all about it, then force fed it to me (well, slight exageration she brought me some in a jar).

This super food is SPIRULINA. To save me trying to tell you here is some information I just copied from "Wisegeek.com"

Spirulina is a blue-green, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh bodies of water such as lakes and ponds. It has a long history of being used for human consumption for its many health benefits. Over the years, spirulina has nourished the citizens of Africa, Asia, and South America. The Mayas and the Aztecs used the algae as a central part of their diet. Today, spirulina is consumed by health conscious people all over the world.

Spirulina is popular with health buffs because it packs such a potent nutritional punch. This algae weighs in with an impressive 60% all-vegetable protein, and also contains a powerful combination of important vitamins and minerals such as iron, vitamin E, zinc, B-complex, copper, calcium, and magnesium. It is also a rich source of the antioxidant beta-carotene and the essential fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA). In other words, spirulina is one heck of an algae.

Spirulina also contains very little calories, sugar, or starch. The average 500 mg tablet of spirulina contains only one to two calories. It does offer some carbohydrates in the form of rhamnose and glycogen, both of which are easily absorbed by the human body. Thus, the sugars found in spirulina can provide a quick, healthy energy boost.

Spirulina is easy to find in pill or powder form. Although there are no known toxicities associated with spirulina, it is always best and safest to talk with a health care provider before taking any nutritional supplement.


You can find lots of information on google about its benefits. But if you did decided to give it a try dont blame me when you discover it does actually taste appauling. I have found the best mix to be in Cranberry and Raspberry juice. It has amazed me finally doing some research into foods that are very good for you, so I felt so much better today with my salad, including healthy lettuce and celery. So much so I can even really enjoy my nice healthy glass of red wine later (as part of my 5 a day of course).
I do believe a varied diet to be the best, so here at SimJaTa we are not all Spirulina and salad thats for sure, we still eat plenty of what they say we shouldnt but in moderation.

So, off for that nice glass of the red stuff now, probably with a small amount of chocolate too - really do need to balance these things out!

Please do share your own healthy supplements with us, would love to hear benefits of what my bloggers take (as long as it tastes better please).

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

Folksy Friday ~The majestic Owls

Hello bloggers
I have missed out last couple of weeks of Folksy Friday's, one week when blogger wasnt playing and sinmply out of time last week.

So this week its full steam ahead - and a Folksy Friday showcase of some of the lovely owls available on Folksy. Simply click on the photographs to be taken for further information on how you can purchase, and to look around the rest of the fab folksy shop.

To begin I just couldn't resise this lovely bookmark from "Made 4 Your Books"



Next from my super talented Folksy pal "Squintessential" are these fimo owl earrings, she also has other owl earrings in her shop.



More lovely earrings from "Flonightingale" who has lots more simply gorgeous jewellery in her shop to match these.



"Artisan Silver" another of my favourite jewellers has this superb Parisian Owl Pocket Watch Pendant.



"Nofkantscurious" has this snowy owl keyring, along with the rest of her lovely bird collection



I wanted to show a card from one of the folksy sellers, this one was my favourtie owl, from "Lilly's Night Garden" a Vintage Owl card



From "Diomo Glass" a super suncatcher, with this lovely cute owl



Lastly from "Bags of Swank by SimJaTa" there are 2 owl tote bags for you to choose from in the collection of many other themes.






Hope you are all staying warm and dry, we got caught in a very heavy downpour this morning, totally soaked through. Forcast not good for weekend either. Hopefully meaning lots of shoppers on line ready to cheer themselves up.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

The June Bugs from Folksy

"June is busting out allover" well, ok it has been for 7 days now, sorry I am a bit late, but been busy with afore mentioned show, which was a success and we managed to raise just short of £360 for Woof Beginnings!!!

Anyway, to the point - remember the Mayhemers? well this month we have the June Bugs, where we can find the best crafters showcasing their wonderful talents with crafts for you to purchase on Folksy. Its easy too, all you need to do is click the pictures of the below scrumptious items for futher details, and to take a look around the rest of that crafters shop.

To begin is Nofkants Curios, not only a great crafter but the caretaker of the June Bugs, who looks after us all and calculates the amazing sales tally each month. Be sure to click on this wonderful knitted and crocheted handbag.



One of the talented card makers is "Cards with a Difference" with today's card a trio of bears



For something clever and totally different, this really attracted me this morning from "Lilly's Night Garden" this decorative box in the style of a flip flop



One of my favorite jewellery makers (I have some of her earrings) "Squintessential" and a gorgeous Summer Pastels Necklace



From "C Shell Designs" another one that caught my eye today, very attractive card for the Camper Van people



"Diomo Glass" has this lovely glass panel in her shop today, be sure to take a look at the other wonderful items she has there too



As someone who cannot draw for toffee, I am always amazed at the collection of wonderful art on Folksy, here is a watercolour painting from "Wellydog Gallery" I am very tempted by



This is lovely, and a great idea too, from "Clover Jewels" a bright eyes beaded glasses chain



Lastly from me at "Bags of Swank by SimJaTa" a visit from the Love Birds on this lighter weight tote bag, that can easily fold up in your handbag to take with you.




Hope you have enjoyed today's choices, I will endeaver to keep up a bit better this month so you wont miss out on all the wonderful items to be found on Folksy from the 'June Bugs'.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~

A bag for a friend

Those of you who follow my facebook may have already seen the terrible twosome. The black Labrador is my very own Alfie, the Golden Retriever is his best friend in the entire world Zac. When these dogs are together they see nobody else, a very firm friendship.
Of course as a result Zac's Mum and I have been forced to spend a lot of time together on our walks, luckily we get on well too.
Whilst viewing the photo's on my facebook Zac's Mum of course fell upon my bags and told all her contacts about them, which was great for the one's who have a PC - strange as this seems to us Folksy Crafters and indeed bloggers not everyone does.

So, Zac's Mum ordered a bag with the gruesome twosome on - as we have similar tastes the design is up to me, so I designed something I would like, she 'thinks' she is paying for this at weekend, but no chance... On our dog walk today I mentioned how I was struggling for time, what with my business and OH having booked us in at the Southport Fun Fest with Woof Beginnings, at short notice giving me 3 days to sort everything out. I am almost there, with some great people donating prizes for a tombola (yes that can be sorted in one night, I hope as thats tomorrows job), but not so many volunteers to help set up at 8am Saturday morning...infact just me and OH with 2 hours to put up a Gala Tent and set everything up.
So, Zac's Mum not only offered to donate prizes to raise funds for Woof Beginnings but also voluntered to come and help set up - how wonderful is that? So, the bag will be a thank you gift.

I do have one listed in my shop, and details here on how you can order - simply click on the photo of the rather handsome Greyound for the information




I had hoped my next blog to be featuring the Folksy June Bugs and all their wonderful crafts, but the time constraints are making this a bit tricky - I will try steal some time from somewhere but if not, will certainly sort out some features for next week once I recover from the charity event.

Better get back to the table cloth ironing, and sign laminating - then thats me for today, long day ahead tomorrow - and you might not see me over the weekend, show is till 6pm each day and Sunday will be packing up so late night then.

Have a good weekend, and hope all your craft fairs go well.

~Bags of Swank by SimJaTa~