The world of BB thru a lens

Moving day

2007-09-28T13:31:00.000+12:00

I'm moving to a new blog! Please come join me here and update your bookmarks!

nothing but mumbles

2007-09-27T14:41:00.000+12:00

Changes are imminent and I have lots to share but can't. Do you ever have those days where you have so much to say but are too tongue tied to know where to even start? I can just say things are going good but man am I busy!! I'll be moving my blog soon. I am frantically trying to write part 1 of my story (for those who asked I write erotica and I write it well. I don't tell my mother but I'm not ashamed either.) asap. My etsy shop should be open by Halloween if paypal will start playing nice. I have gobs of stuff to take to the thrift store. To replace the gobs of stuff I buy from them. I have craft ideas coming out the wazoo and no time for the next few days to do them. I have more swaps than I should going on right now too.

I'm stressed out but it's so going to be worth it. One day life is stagnating, the next it's going too damn fast. Isn't life a trip sometimes?

Free Hugs Campaign

2007-09-26T16:26:00.001+12:00

Cat and mouse

2007-09-25T16:11:00.000+12:00

I wish I could take credit for this photo but Dave took it:

And the mouse reference in the title? Why, I do believe that little guy is hiding under my fridge. Yet again Rastus has bought in a mouse and released it. Not the way I would have chosen. And the fridge is like 2 feet from my sewing area. Not a happy camper right now.

And it begins....

2007-09-24T19:10:00.000+12:00

I'm doing it. I'm moving forward with creating a business. It's what I have wanted to do forever. And so I am. My business is called lovestitches. I have closed my old etsy account, created purely to shop and opened a lovestitches account. So I hope to have an etsy shop open in the next 2 months. It's rather like me to try this sort of thing too late for Christmas but not this year if I can help it. I have some secret things in the works to stock in the store if and when it comes to fruition. Watch this space!

Oh la la

2007-09-23T12:04:00.000+12:00

A lame title indeed but when I look at these two little creations of mine with their simplicity, their mostly neat and tiny stitches, all nice and neat I can't help but go "oh la la, you did good girly".

Crochet, I will conquer you!!

2007-09-22T23:10:00.000+12:00

Oh yes, I will conquer you!!

I managed to cast on a slipknot with the instructions from a kids book (always learn from a kids book, they will give you much easier instructions on anything) but I am having trouble actually making a stitch. Yeah, so maybe this book isn't brilliant to learn from but it might just be that I'm too stupid. You can never tell with me. I will persevere though. Crochet, you will be mine!!

Oooohhh, something new...sort of.

2007-09-21T13:11:00.000+12:00

Spring is well and truly here and the sun has been out in force today. What better activity than embroidery in the sunshine. I started my first piece of redowrk last night, a simple little flower. I altered my 'technique' if you could call it that, and it worked. I used white cotton and very, very small stitches, and tried Anchor instead of DMC. Overall it all came together beautifully.

I finished it out in the sunshine today and turned it into this:

I'll glue it into the ramekin as soon as I can find the faffing glue. It was a lot easier than I expected to make. A thrifted ramekin, a scrap of cotton, some stuffing and a gathering stitch to put it all together and voila, I have a new pincushion and finally have something to show off my embroidery on.

I copied the idea from here in case you thought I was being devilishly original. Alas, no.

Mail day!!

2007-09-20T12:47:00.000+12:00

The 6 bags of baby gear was picked up this morning so now I get to use my half share of the profits to mail off my Pay It Forward parcels and some swaps. Yay! Not yay for the post office ladies though, hehehe.

edit: Blogger chopped off one of the parcels. Damn you blogger!!! I've been considering moving to wordpress and you make it so easy!!
5 parcels and 2 envelopes. Will my money or mail run out first? Who knows....

The envelopes have bookmarks in for a swapbot swap. Not my best work but the linen is getting easier to sew and I think the fabrics I chose are beautiful. I just wish I had gotten more than a scrap of the apples and pears one. I love it yet I'm giving it away. Selfless, I tell you, selfless. Or stupid, whichever.

Oh, and....after sulking yesterday about the bad job interview I read my email and there was one frm a guy who I have written for in the past givng me a writing gig. US$500!!! Converted into NZ$ and after tax (first time I will have ever declared my extra income, what a grown up) thats still over NZ$500 for 500 words. Y A Y ! ! !

Count to 10

2007-09-19T10:21:00.000+12:00

According to the book my toy was George the long eared giraffe. OK. And everyones guessing it's a dinosaur including Dave. So I made my first original pattern last night :-) and it sucked. Actually the dino toy is looking great, just sustained a few rips between the horns down his back so I have to redo the pattern with no gaps between the horns then I can try again. Only problem is I think I used the last 2 pieces of felt in the same colour so the next little guys gonna be 2 different colours.

Other than that I am taking the day off the internet. I found an ad asking for someone to look after a baby in your own home, which since we're 'trying' for a baby is what I want to do. The lady got in contact with me and managed to make me feel this small----> .

Do I have my full drivers license? No. The world is safer that way and your baby wouldn't die if we took a train or bus. She's too young to have ballet lessons to go to yet anyway. Do you have a first aid cert? I can do a refresher course no probs....but right now no. Fenced backyard? No and she's 8 months old, you think I'll lose her? So I feel useless today and am going to turn up the music, open the doors and let the sunshine in while I sew up a storm. See ya tomorrow.

When things turn out right yet look so so wrong

2007-09-18T16:02:00.000+12:00

I'm having a few issues with this laptop. Namely the keys are smaller and closer together and my fingers aren't even a little bit small. I am making so many typos its driving me nuts. And I keep pressing the cAPS BUTTON INSTEAD OF THE A KEY. Not annoying at all.

I did a little crafting. I found a pattern in a book and thought it sounded cute. It turned out very unlike what its supposed to be. Look at the picture and leave me a comment on what your first guess was about what it is meant to be. I'm going to alter the pattern so the next one I make will be a totally different animal. Cos clearly this one ain't working but I do think it has potential.

Time for a little blatant begging to cheer me up. I'm hosting my first swap-bot swap. It's called Think pink!! If you like pink and are a member of swap-bot maybe you'd like to join the swap.

Seven Things project update

2007-09-17T18:43:00.000+12:00

On Saturday I had the joy of giving 60 odd things to the thrift store. And really since I bought most of them from there in the first place it was fitting, like the circle of life. Plus all proceeds they make go to a hospice charity so its for a good cause.

40 books gone, almost all of Daves scruffy clothes gone (except that damn lumberjack shirt he loves), the sweaty sausage skin of a jacket I learnt to ride a motorbike in, a bunch of junk I spent my money on and barely used, all gone!! Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of that bloody shirt.

It's funny though....We dropped off over 2 huge bags which really cleared up a lot of space but still my little house is full to bursting with stuff I don't need. Your time is coming my little pieces of junk!

Web wierdness....and a crooked bookmark

2007-09-16T13:58:00.000+12:00

First the funkiness that is my first fabric bookmark. Bear in mind that linen moves ALOT, or at least that my linen did plus the pattern lines were on the back, and so sewing the ribbon on the front was hard. I'm a brilliant sewer, it was just the plan that sucked. Yeah, thats it...

OK, I've had a lot of time lately thanks to my injury to surf the net. I have found some good stuff!! Here is some bad stuff though to make you laugh, and I hope it will make you never ever name your kid Jestaney Kalei or Jassity. Or Espn. Or pretty much any of the horrors listed on the site.

Etsy ideas

2007-09-15T14:12:00.000+12:00

Beki asked me what I would sell in my as yet imaginary Ets y shop. Damn good question! I don't really have a 'thing'. Like Lisa sells bags, which are usually a dime a dozen these days. Except hers are *bright*, sassy, very cool bags. Thats taking an old thing and making it your own. Rhiannon makes hoodies and ball bags and things with felt applique. Very cool and original, I even have a ball bag.

(excuse me a minute, Dave's in Mr IT Guy mode)........count to 10 Steph, count to 10...maybe 20.

Moving on...I have a long way to go embroidery wise, I'm not even gonna show you my latest embroidery now it's finished. It's terrible and I can't send that out for a swap. So nothing embroidered in my shop yet. So I guess I'd stick to the tried and trusted stuff for now until I find my 'thing'. Bend-the-rules Sewing artsy clutches, I did them so well. Little felt teddies (which may become my thing once I tweak them) maybe? Softies, if I can figure out a cute pattern. Fabric bookmarks. I really need to flesh the idea out. It's funny how you think you want something but when asked why or what or probed about it the idea totally falls apart. Thanks Beki! LOL I mean that in a positive way really!

My back is a bit better today and I am finally mobile. Yay!! Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll be walking like a 28 yr old, not an 82 yr old like present. Ohhh, AND I got rid of 60 things today for the Seven Things project!! 60!!

This was my second photo I uploaded to flickr when I joined. In honour of summer coming I want to repost it here:

Tales from the sickbed (and crafting)

2007-09-14T12:28:00.001+12:00

Into the third day of back pain and the second stuck in bed, the pain is getting worse if anything. I'm ok standing up so it wasn't a problem getting breakfast or going up to check the mail (in my robe - so glad its a quiet street!) but the groans involved on getting out of bed...not cool. I suspect I should be flat on my back but I tried that for all of 5 minutes before admitting total boredom. One of the cats has been flopped against me 'trapping' me in bed though so I'm not being totally silly.

The view from my sickbed yesterday:

Who can resist such cuteness?

Crafting!! I had to do something before I got TOO stressed over the pain. It's for a swap-bot swap:

Yesterday I was surrounded by the cat, the laptop, my mobile phone and my little embroidery tray. Today I have added the camera, cords to upload from the camera and phone, 3 containers of embroidery thread, tissues and soon I may have to lie on the floor for lack of room on the bed. I am BORED of being in pain.

Which finger are you?

2007-09-13T20:14:00.000+12:00

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything.
You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word.
Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world.

You get along well with: The Pinky

Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

Ouch ouch ouch

2007-09-12T17:10:00.000+12:00

I have this major pain in my left side, making it a little hard to breath and seems to be spreading. Can't drive so still waiting on the bf to get back to me. Answer your emergency text damn you!! Lucky for me it means doing the dishes is out but it also means standing, breathing, moving like a normal person are out. It's ok if I sit in one spot though, so have found myself flat on the couch reading for a while. I don't like being forced to be still though.

I checked my myspace today, not something I do anymore that often and this is why. I used to get a lot of these messages, now thankfully only one a day at most. He's a keeper right? Read:

hello....how are you doing i saw you profile when i was search through for a soul mate when i saw your picture so i check profile i even saw your pic with ur friend and i saw where u wrote more about your self.....but there is only one thing i did not see is your name i will like to know your name.....am David by name am a friendly guy from africa...am single and really want some one to be my gf....i know you are in new zealand and am in nigeria it bit far but i think things can work out fine with me and you we can get to met.....I just finished an aviation school and am planning to get a job and further my education....it will be more easy for us to meet.....dont be afraid of me am not a scrammer but looking for a true love.....i dont mind people from a distance......your question will be why did i not look for someone from my side but love can take people to any place.....i will be expecting your reply....please get back to me dont just read my mail but reply me

Well, he says he's not a 'scrammer' so I have to believe him. Who knew my prince was hiding in Nigeria....?

On the home stretch

2007-09-11T19:11:00.000+12:00

It's getting better around here by the day. We palmed off two of the six plants we're looking after to a friend so now only the remaining four are in mortal peril. I just wish I could figure out which one smells wierd. I don't like plants and they don't like me. I have managed to clear my desk enough that I can now get to my sewing machine again!! Crafting is imminent!! I think its 'quick crafts for sanity' time. Bookmarks, coasters etc. Just to take the edge off!!

I finally photographed all that baby gear (no Eva, sadly theres no news to report) and it is listed for sale (it took 3 photos to fit it all in) and I am eagerly hoping it'll sell so I can pay bills (buy fabric), buy food (buy fabric), generally act responsibly (buy fabric) and buy fabric. Just kidding. I need threads, felt, ribbons, buttons and needles more than fabric. As you may be able to tell I am kind of hanging out to craft. Now I am not working or doing much else sewing and creating something has taken on new meaning. It's either that or doing the dishes. Hard decision.

One of the plants we're looking after (and possibly the smell culprit) is a chili plant!! I'm strangely fascinated by it.

Randomness

2007-09-10T14:29:00.000+12:00

Things are often better in the daylight and today is better. I no longer have 4 machine loads of baby stuff drying above my head, it's all either folded or drying on the line outside. Yes, sunshine!! Yes, space!! Yes, money soon!!
Today is my first official day doing the Seven Things Project. And on account of our house rapidly filling up this week will involve getting rid of a LOT more than 7 things. So far waiting to go to the thrift store are 3 bags containing 40 books (and a scarf), a bag of Dave's clothes (only bachelors dress like that, those clothes are going!) and a hideous plastic-y vinyl jacket of his that I wore to sit my motorbike license (that is a story for another day) and I'm sure that when I can move in my own place I'll find more. The project has certainly given me the incentive I needed to do something about the clutter other than whine. Only problem is I probably can't take it to the thrift store for 5 more days!!
I do have to post off a parcel of card making supplies I sold on Trade Me last week. Until I do I can't get to my sewing machine and the stress is mounting. When stressed, must make something! I'm not stressed enough to hand sew though!
I am sorely tempted to keep some of the baby clothes instead of sell them. I keep holding them up and saying to myself, rather than freak Dave out, "can you believe a human fits in that? I WANT one!!"
I did a meme a while ago about 8 random things about me. In hindsight I have been thinking of lots more stuff, way more interesting. Like my real first name is not Steph, or short for Stephanie. It's Persephone. No, not pronounced Percyphone (can't think why I shortened it) which kids find hilarious and adults coo about, saying "Ohhhh, it's so pretty....how do you pronounce it?" I suspect my name alone has a lot to do with being a bitter, bitter person.
Someone (sorry, I already forgot who, my memory is that bad) linked this ebay auction that went around. You have to read it. the woman who sold it is hilarious! Her blog made me howl with laughter.
I'm terrible about updating the links down the side of my blog, I'm going to have to list all the lovelies whose blogs I never miss at some stage. I read them even if I don't comment. But recently I made a point of reading every blog in my bookmark list one day and yeah, thats how long it took to read them all. One day. Too much talent out there!!

expletives deleted

2007-09-09T18:14:00.000+12:00

I had a blog all planned out with photos to show how cramped things have gotten with all the loads of baby clothes hanging all over the lounge drying so I can sell them. Even had photos of the crowdedness to make your eyes widen. Then plans changed. We now have all of Jimmys house plants, several boxes/baskets/buckets of stuff covering EVERY surface in the house on top of the baby sheets, towels and clothes hanging everywhere. Stress levels for everyone are through the roof. Jimmy is sleeping in his car tonight (someone 'kindly' let him park on their property) because his C*** SIL has said he can't stay with them. We would offer him a bed if we had more than our car and our 2 seat couch. His own relatives...shame on them.

Irony at its best

2007-09-08T19:42:00.000+12:00

For those who asked this is the lining fabric of my new handbag. Star bursts..or fireworks... or whatever. It's awesome, you open this really classy, floral bag and POW this explosion of colour leaps out and smacks you in the face.

A friend of Dave's, Jimmy, had a garage sale today. He has to move because his drug addicted daughter keeps robbing the house (1. That man just cannot get a break from life and 2. Boy, are the next tenants in for a surprise!) and so we went to 'help out'. Thats code for get free stuff in case my sarcasm wasn't obvious enough. For one brief moment we thought we might finally have a couch big enough to fit more than one human and a cat. But nope, all the good stuff was already spoken for. Oh well. But we DID get a reclining leather desk type chair with matching ottoman, enormous lamp with 1980's faux marble base that I *had* to have even though it screams "I'm straight off the set of Days of Our Lifes in 1991", a plain TV thats good for the bedroom once Jimmy is finished watching the rugby world cup on it, a glass top coffee table , various little things and....his fish tank. We've already started muttering about how the tank needs a plant and a toy and it's too small so we need a bigger tank etc. Stop me now.

The cats were throughly curious about the new additions, Rastus was very very intrigued.

Ginga had a nosy but was overall too cool for it all, although if anyone is gonna work out how to get the lid off it'll be him.

Wheres the irony the title mentioned? Well, I'll write about it in my next entry. I'm going to take part in The Seven Things Project. You get rid of 7 things a week. This is coming from someone who got so much free stuff she has to store that new chair and ottoman in the kitchen for want of space to put it. This'll be interesting.

edited: I forgot to add before I got a comment, I also got a huge suitcase and an ENORMOUS plastic bag FULL of baby gear. So much stuff, all to sell on Trade Me and split 50/50 with Jimmy. So I will count that as this coming weeks stuff to get rid of. This week I got rid of a bunch of craft stuff I don't use. I still need to take stock of what I really do have, that stuff I stuffed in the wardrobe at the back never to see again.

floommpphh

2007-09-07T17:07:00.000+12:00

*floommpphh* you ask? Yes, *floommpphh*. Thats the sound of me flopping down on the couch after making the most horrendously hard bag ever. I thought my last bag 18 months ago was a nightmare but this was actually worse. Don't get me wrong, it turned out great and I LOVE it!!! It really tested me though. I altered it from the Bend-The-Rules Sewing pattern, changed the bottom to box corners which was a lot easier and the straps are sewn in rather than held in by casings which added hours to the making and yet probably took years off my life. All in all though....I LOVE IT. The fabric was the perfect choice and now I want to go somewhere and flaunt it.

Have lemons, too lazy to make lemonade

2007-09-06T20:40:00.000+12:00

Stuff lemonade making. That whole turn your frown upside down bullshite. I'm about ready to shoot the wireless router so my IT Guy will stop being the IT Guy and go back to being my guy. Every. fucking. night. this. week. Tweak this, install that, move that. It is nice typing in bed now but seriously I am not so lazy that I can't get up and type on the couch.

And now I read that Charlotte's mother just died of lung cancer today. My love is outside having a cigarette right now and it breaks my heart to think I could lose him that way. I went through it with my grandfather when I was 13, we lived with my grandparents at the time, and I never want to lose the love of my life that way. My mother smokes too and I can say from repeated nagging of them both that a smoker will find any excuse not to give up. Either that or just tell you to piss off when you try to make them quit.

I'm making a bag. I resisted for ages cos I have made bags for sale before and I got totally bagged out but I finally decided theres only so many artsy clutches I can make. Originally it looked exactly like the Charming Handbag from Bend-the-rules Sewing. It now looks nothing like it. It is turning into the very essence of the reason why I am obviously still bagged out. Cos I suck at them. Clutches, not a problem. Toys, trays, easy peasy. Might even try a zipper pouch soon (yeah right). But bags? Plain, ordinary, tote/messenger/hand bags I simply cannot do. And it's all making for a very long day. Oh yeah, and my 43 yr old ex is dating a 19 yr old. Dirty old man. Pfffft.

I will be a lot happier tomorrow. I just needed to get a few things off my chest.

Cleaning out the cobwebs

2007-09-05T13:33:00.000+12:00

The urge to sew has passed for now, so it's the perfect time to sort out my fabric stash and notions and clear some of it out. I have some FQ's available to swap, and if I link the photo right they will be below, otherwise the link to my flickr photos is in the sidebar. Go have a look, maybe one will catch your eye?

Sprung sprung a leak

2007-09-04T17:48:00.000+12:00

Nature is busy reminding us that yes, it IS spring now but it's still the winter end of spring, thank you very much. Sunshine one day, black skies the next....three. Jolly good. What to do when it's crap? Go to the thrift shop and buy more stuff to fill your tiny house of course! And when I say small I mean 100 square feet. I so need to (nearly wrote that I need to stop shopping lol) throw out some stuff soon.

Todays treasures included a metre of burgundy velvety suede fabric and this booklet:

I'm torn over selling/keeping/giving it away right now. I *had* to buy it but I just don't think I'll use it anytime soon. Go figure.

Fabulousness

2007-09-03T20:33:00.000+12:00

Last Monday was so bad that Tuesday was bad and Wednesday too. Pretty much the week over before it picked up. But today was such a good Monday that there is no way this week will be anything but fabulous my dahlings, fabulous!!

Fabulous fabrics, including this Paris Hilton concoction:

Fabulous things made by me:
The cat ball even came out in a ball shape! My whipstitch is pretty shit-stitch (groan) but it holds things together well enough. Just got to make about 4 more mice skittles.

Fabulous mail:
Vintage transfers from Jane, thank you so much!! Plenty of stitching to pass my time!

And more mail fabulousness: The Spring and Winter Stitchettes to complete my set. I owe my brother big bucks for them (his credit card) but pfffft he can wait. I'm far too busy right now!

And to round out the fabulousness I sold an auction on Trade Me so theres money in the bank this week. And what a week it's going to be!

Envy

2007-09-02T18:53:00.000+12:00

Sometimes I don't know how they do it. You know who I mean, those bloggers who don't blog for what feels like a maximum of 36 hours but when they do it's to report that they have 'only' been away for a week somewhere devastatingly interesting, sewn 50 bags/toys for their shop, found more at their thrift store in day than I find in a month, homeschooled their kids and got some fabulous new book that I want madly. In that same amount of time I have fought with the cats for my share of the bed/chair, sewn 1.5 things, stuffed up one embroidery, and found 2 things at the thrift store and had more naps than is good for me. So I just have to ask...how do you people do it??? And get 36 comments about how fabulous your photos of it look!!

I am currently making the cat and mouse skittles from my Toys To Sew book. Yes, ladies and gentlemen (and if you are a gentleman you are probably seriously lost but welcome) I have so far managed most of a mouse. Well, it IS Sunday. And as soon as I sew the mouses ears on the right way I'll begin the cat.

A road trip and mail

2007-09-01T21:53:00.000+12:00

Today we took a trip over the Rimutaka Ranges (of Doom) to Masterton in the Wairarapa (lifestyle farm country). The real reason was so Mr I.T. Man could fix some friends PC's. My reason for tagging along was less altruistic. I wanted to go to the fabric stores. Well sadly Masterton hasn't quite taken to weekend shopping like the big city has. If they do open on Saturday they shut at noon on the dot. So needless to say they were all shut up tight including a shop teasingly called The Embroidery Shop. Dave says we can go over again another day but considering I get carsick driving to the shops and this is the only way to get to The Wairarapa I doubt it:

The weather was lovely for most of the ride and I distracted myself with thoughts of sewing on the trip over to keep the nausea at bay (it actually worked too). The only reason it was so easy was because I got mail this morning from the sweet Kellie:

FQ's and lots of cute scraps perfect for crafting! And I will enjoy them well, thanks Kellie!

Randomness

2007-08-31T22:18:00.000+12:00

Randomness is the perfect word to describe my mood of late. Suitably vague. I have messed up two Wee Wonderfuls Stitchette embroideries so to take a break from those I ironed a heart onto some felt and just took it from there. No clue what it will become.

I want to come up with a good phrase to stitch in the middle. Or maybe a drawing?

I tried sewing a hot pink felt teddy bear but my machine tension crapped out for the second time in less than a month. It doesn't like felt I guess. Which is a shame because a hot pink teddy? Who wouldn't want one???

I have figured out the problem now though, something odd about the way the bobbin works. So maybe we'll have a hot pink teddy soon. But before that I think it's time the old catnip toys around here went to the 'farm' where old pets usually go and we had a few new ones around. Ginga still loves this but it turns my stomach to see him licking it:

He's fine today but some marauding neighbourhood tom got a chunk of his back end. I found a chunk of black fur under his claw so I hope he gave as good as he got. He definitely needs some new catnip to relax with. It's the weekend after all.

Grrrrrrr

2007-08-30T20:47:00.000+12:00

Please excuse the typos etc. It's been a longer than long day. Ginga, the cuter but more annoying cat (extremely deaf when he wants to be) woke us at 4am and 5.30am. Why? Was he busting to go out? No. House on fire and he's heroically warning us? No. Just wanted to wipe cat snot on us and claw our faces until we patted him. Cats apparently produce a lot of snot at night too. Just so you know too now.

And this evening Dave comes inside to say that Ginga has been in a huge cat fight with a feline intruder, and is bleeding and covered in mud. We spent nearly an hour doctoring his wound, removing the other cats fur from his claws and coaxing him to drink warm milk. Now I could do with a stiff and preferably flammable drink.

My Pay It Forward things are all finished, just got to find the money to send them out. It costs a small fortune to mail anything. To change the pace around here I am embroidering something on felt. I'm making it up as I go along so who knows what it will be when I finish with it. I also have more felt for teddy bears including one piece so bright I bet you can see it in the dark.

I bought this at the thrift store today. It's got age marks on the edges and I can just imagine this being a prized possession in WWII.

Anniversary time

2007-08-29T17:18:00.000+12:00

9 months ago (November 29th - it was a Wednesday then and it is today) I found myself hiding in a nook in the museum lobby waiting for him to walk through the door. He did and my first thought was "Wow". His first word, once I plucked up the courage to come out of hiding, was "Wow". My memory may be embellishing that but wow was said and the way I tell it, it was the first word said.

It was a wonderful day, we met again the next day, we were living together within a week and were madly in love long before that week was up. He tells me he loves me every morning, every evening, every night. He rings me in the middle of the day to say it. I never ever go to sleep at night without making sure he knows I love him.

His anniversary present to me is a hard drive and network card for his old laptop so I can be mobile. My anniversary present (since I don't get 40% work discounts on hard drives) to him is a freshly baked double batch of e-nour-mous cookies. The way to a mans heart after all.....

Ugh

2007-08-28T17:05:00.000+12:00

You know the story. Mondayitis...on a Tuesday. Someones coming to pick something up in 90 minutes but you have to pop down to the shops real quick for something important. Which is where the mission starts. Go to the bank, the teller is new...and slow. Go to the haby store...son of a...new sales assistant too, even slower and usually theres not even any other customers and today theres a queue. Go to the library, theres a queue. Go to the post office. That went fine actually. What didn't go fine was stepping out of the post office and seeing that the heavens have opened rather spectacularly and I have to walk home in the rain. Oh joy. Made it home with dreams of a nice hot shower after the person picked up their stuff (Dave sold a PC online yay!! Less crap!!) but on my way to the shower I detoured to lie in bed for like 2 minutes, I swear. 2.5 hours later....

I'm hoping to get the crafting bug back tomorrow. I have a couple of things to make still. I am also going to try using my embroidery transfer pencil for the first time.

Excessive recycling?

2007-08-27T19:03:00.000+12:00

Yep. Apparently you can recycle excessively. If you live within our city councils area anyway. They left part of our recycling today with a notice saying there was TOO MUCH OF IT!! Since when has helping the environment been a bad thing?

Last night I let my lovely interfere with my PC. I should know better. He may be an IT guy but he never has much luck with my PC. Before I defragged he said "oh, run ccleaner". So I did, making sure to untick the things he said to so it wouldn't remove my mozilla settings. Not only did it completely remove them anyway it ATE my bookmarks. My blog list, the sites I visit daily, the lot. Grrrrr!!! Luckily I have learnt from the past and regularly save my bookmarks to my documents. But he is now completely banned from any improvements to my PC.

Signs of summer

2007-08-26T18:49:00.000+12:00

How can you tell summer is coming? When the cats play 'that warm grassy patch is mine!' of course!!

Might be time to buy me a pair of these beauties!!

One thing it was time for today was crafting!! I am doing a Wee Wonderfuls Stitchette (toe tapping Tilly) and on days like this I want to be able to sit outside with my scissors, flosses etc on hand while I get some colour on my pasty white self. I remembered saving this picture off Flickr a while ago so decided to try my own.

Smaller than the one above but I am thrilled with it. It's just the right size for my embroidery stuff and I can even just put it on the couch arm with my embroidery or sewing bits in it without it getting in the way. I'm ready for summer now! Oh, and best of all it only took 1/4 of a fat quarter for each side plus a piece of flannel to pad it inside.

Simple pleasures of home

2007-08-25T20:53:00.000+12:00

The simple pleasures of a Saturday spent at home:

Moved on from the artsy clutch in Bend-The-Rules Sewing to the simple bib. My gran once gave me a bunch of snaps but I never thought I'd use them. So I kept them but threw out the instructions. Yeah, smart. I know. No idea if I set them right (and I definitely didn't do it well if it is right) but they are set and I can brag about that to everyone who will listen. And I will.

There was something on TV this morning about meerkats and Rastus was *hypnotised* by them. He could not take his eyes off them.

The sleeping beauties Dave and Ginga. Ginga keeps waking us up at 4am with cute little 'I want a smooch' antics and as cute as it is it's not as cute as it was a week ago. We end up needing major nana naps in the afternoons. He doesn't know I took this photo and is going to kill me for taking it let alone posting it. Simple pleasures baby.

Oh damn it

2007-08-24T12:58:00.000+12:00

I failed at Computer Free Friday on Thursday evening. Thats how damn good I am at that sort of thing. So I'm *limiting* todays usage instead. Can you tell? I'm hoping to get these Computer Free Friday's into my routine eventually though, a whole internet free day? I'd get so much sewing done! As it is I have fabric ironed and waiting to become another clutch. Guess what my family is getting for Christmas? Lots and lots of Bend-The-Rules artsy clutches. Even the boys probably.

Too tired to title this today

2007-08-23T19:24:00.000+12:00

It may still be the end of winter but it was sunny all day, heavenly, and I got a good dose of it. As a result I am completely tired tonight. No crafting today like I had planned. In fact a nana nap sounds good. I'll be up until 2am as a result but hey I'll be ready to sew then.

Can you spot the bird?

Spring is coming...

Gettin arty farty...

This was yesterdays lesson. When you have a cat who will automatically hop into ANY open drawer or cupboard you have to shut them ALL. Even the high ones. He jumped on the bench and walked over a keyboard balanced on a monitor (precariously) to stick his nose into the cupboard.

Artsy clutch

2007-08-22T20:11:00.000+12:00

I finally made something from Amy Karols Bend-The-Rules Sewing. I absolutely should have made this earlier! It was the easiest bag I have ever made!! And it came out SO beautiful!! It won't be the last one I make!

Crafting karma

2007-08-22T17:01:00.000+12:00

All my good deeds, giving catnip toys away and doing the PayIt Forward thing etc must be giving me major karma points. I mean how else do you account for the Japanese embroidery book I found at the thrift store today? $4 is about twice what they'd normally price a book like this at, they obviously realised its beauty. But considering I have one of these books that I bought from Superbuzzy for a heck of a lot more....$4 is like pennies for this.

Hooverpuss

2007-08-21T13:29:00.000+12:00

I dropped the cat treats and almost had to get the vacuum out to clean them up. Luckily Hooverpuss saved the day by swooping in and clearing the floor in no time.

The reason I reached for the treats in the first place was to distract him so I could finish this:

Teddy time

2007-08-20T22:36:00.000+12:00

The last couple of bears have been cuddly (washable) flannel ones for two little girls. Now its for two little boys but this time I decided to go back to felt. Especially since all my flannel is rather...girly. I doubt they'd appreciate purple swirls. The time I embroidered the muzzle before I sewed it on, which led to a much tidier face and I added french knot eyes because I love doing french knots.

Now he just needs a name...Dave is going for Herbert. I love Dave but I doubt it baby.

Snail mail sweetness

2007-08-20T19:01:00.000+12:00

I wasn't expecting this for a couple of days and had pretty much forgotten I ordered it. Just when I was trying to decide what to embroider I decided to check the mail. Problem solved!

Walkmans in World War 2

2007-08-19T21:20:00.000+12:00

Did you know they had walkmans in WW2? I sure as hell didn't. They were called mikiphones, and were a very small gramophone, the size of a cheese tin. Pretend you know how small a cheese tin was. As small as a large pocketwatch apparently. You couldn't exactly tuck it in your pocket and go for a run but it was small enough to put in your pack and I absolutely want one.

karma and catnip

2007-08-18T13:43:00.000+12:00

Today marks the end of my little 'Me Time' break. I got busy crafting last night, spend many of my boyfriends hard earned dollars at Craft 2.0 this morning (that'll be the next blog entry probably) but I think the best part was taking the catnip to the shelter.

I also took several large cans of cat food cos showing up with only treats is a bit rude. When we walked in with the catnip toys and started the handout there was about 8 cats visible. Within a minute there was about 25 sniffing around. They LOVED the treats. It was especially nice to see some of them rolling around cos it turns out that some are quite....porky. Some of them take to grazing in other cats bowls so...

This is Miss Muffit, you can't tell from this cell phone photo but shes a gorgeous and headstrong wee lass. I'd have adopted her on the spot if I could.

Crookshanks, a tom cat currently causing chaos amongst the shelter residents, goobing on a catnip toy

Other goobing catterpusses

This behemoth was collecting the toys to bogart the catnip, one paw on each toy.

Gratuitous cat porn photo....and this is only the second biggest cat there!

Apparently they have about 40 residents. I only bought 20 cat nip toys and probably saw 25 cats at most but they have their little hidey holes. Next time I have to make more!

Theodore

2007-08-17T23:56:00.000+12:00

His name is Theodore and every lopsided embroidery stitch (note to self: next time DO NOT sew it together before you embroider it when you're a hopeless beginner!!) is stitched with love. His flannel body is made for cuddles from little arms and soon he's off to a new home where I hope he'll be loved. And of course he can't go anywhere undressed so he's wearing a dashing felt waistcoat.

Progress

2007-08-16T14:39:00.000+12:00

Well for a break where I meant to sew and create like crazy I don't know if it's turning into the frenzy I hoped. We finally have clean laundry and I have watched Little Women and the BBC version of Pride And Prejudice (oh Mr Darcy....*growl* Colin Firth) but not much beyond that. My sewing machine has been moved to on top of my desk to tease me for not using it as much as you should be using a $500+ machine- daily!! That does at least mean the desk is tidy enough that the papers no longer threaten to eat my keyboard . I have also spent today doing an embroidery while swooning over Mr Darcy's saucy smile and those curls. Although thanks to him the stitches aren't great...yeah blame it on Colin Firth, thats right.

I still have to bake some cookies and sew something, anything, before my break can be considered over. On Saturday I am going to Craft 2.0 and taking the catnip toys to the shelter...finally. They stink!! I hate the smell of catnip but I hope I get to give a few out to the kitties to play with. Also on Saturday I get to pull the names out of a hat for the first swap on my flickr ribbon and button swap group. If you belong to flickr and would like to swap with us please join!!

Running in circles

2007-08-14T14:57:00.001+12:00

I am heavily bogged down right now and I think the rest of this week is Me Time. Craft 2.0 is this Saturday and I was so disorganised I didn't even get around to applying to be in it. So this week is going to be spent selling, donating, chucking anything I don't want or need. Our 'house' is something like 50 square feet. So making room for us to move around would probably be appreciated by Dave too. I *might* even be able to put my sewing machine on TOP of the desk!! Oh it makes me almost giddy to think that! The mess has begun to 'eat' the keyboard.

See you in a couple of days!

Spiderpig, spiderpig...

2007-08-12T20:12:00.000+12:00

After 8.5 months of being a couple Dave and I went on our second date tonight, our first time going to a movie together. We saw The Simpsons Movie which...well after 18 yrs of them I enjoyed it but didn't laugh that hard. 3 out of 5 from me. However if I get the Spiderpig song out of my head anytime in the next week I'll be surprised!

It wasn't until this evening though so this afternoon I sat down and did my first complete embroidery. I got real linen in a fat quarter swap recently so I cut off a piece, ironed on a Sublime Stitching transfer from my brilliant book and spent several lovely hours sitting on the floor in front of the heater creating this:

Finally!!

2007-08-11T22:09:00.000+12:00

We have crafting!! I finally got my hands on some catnip, fixed the tension on my machine before I smashed it to bits and was able to finish the catnip toys I am donating to the cat shelter. The fruit loop at the health food store told me the organics store has it. The capital city and we have one organics store and one health food store. It's a boom town people. Anyway...I did my mental arithmetic about how many bags I would need - I failed high school maths pretty spectacularly. I used less than 2 bags so I have 3 left and I HATE the smell. I will never get through that much left over cat nip for toys for my own br...cats, so I have to pluck up the stomach to make more pouches for homeless cats. Maybe I'll just donate the 3 bags to Health Food Store Fruit Loop for catnip tea.

Photo fest

2007-08-10T12:23:00.000+12:00

The buying of the contents of these photos tired me out I had to rest the whole next day. I'm getting old!

First I had to buy some new fabrics. I was forced to really, because I needed some really amazing fabric to offset the bags I intend to make from my new book. I love the black fabric, I shoulda got more.

My new book! My Amazon order finally came. Speedy they are not. Unfortunately my sewing machine tension is out of whack so before I can even start sewing things I need to fix that. The one part of my machine I hate fiddling with.

The Wee Wonderfuls autumn stitchettes (didn't even know I could get them in NZ) and a sublime stitching pattern!

Not to mention more fat quarters last night, which I am just going to ease into my stash quietly so as to feel less guilty about the fact that I will probably never use any of them. Far too pretty to cut into.

And at this point I am going to stop buying craft supplies and MAKE SOMETHING.

Flickr swap group

2007-08-09T14:52:00.000+12:00

I am so so busy (translation: running behind) doing things right now that I have no idea what to do first. So my next post will be chock full of photos and things that I have bought/received. Lovely things at that! But until I get my head together I only have time to say that I have started a new flickr group! If you're a flickr member interested in a ribbon and button swap please come join us and have fun!

Signs you may be an IT widow

2007-08-07T21:07:00.000+12:00

I am an IT widow. I'm not married but thats not the point. Dave works in IT, and at last count 7 PC's and 2 laptops plus a laptop he's selling for a customer are all in my kitchen. We don't have room for a dining table.

Some of the signs that indicate I am an IT widow:
- The side or top of the PC/PC's are never on. Either because theres parts to add or remove or just because 'somethings playing up'. 'I need to clean out the dust' is also valid for lid removal for up to 2 weeks. In case the dust comes back.

- There's cords strung between PC's (they HAVE to be networked), PC to TV, inter-room, dangling for no reason, ready to be hooked up at a seconds notice. Notice the nice white light cover? Not original. Dave had to buy a new one online after the cords made the original fall off and smash.

- Free bench space? Not in this house. And you can't give these old monitors away now(Except to my pack rat lovely) so they just multiply.

When the IT addict runs out of bench space thats ok cos theres floors too!!

Fabric bandit struck again

2007-08-06T13:55:00.000+12:00

Dave obligingly and rather foolishly drove me up to a quilting shop I recently discovered. Oh my. He sat in the car and read the paper while I shopped. The pink and green ones at the back are for my first quilt. The red ones in the front are for my second quilt. The polka dot ones and the fat eighths are flannel and I have my secret devious plans ready for them. Basically I intend to let them sit there for a while while I stress myself into a stomach ulcer that they cost a fortune and I should be using them. Then I'll use them.

Playing tag

2007-08-04T19:10:00.000+12:00

Yay! I have my Pay It Forward people! Leslie, Poppy & Mei and Celtic Mommy. Ladies, please email me (in my profile) your addresses so I can get crafting for you!

And Lisa has tagged me! 7 random fascinating facts about me may be a bit of a stretch but here's my turn:
1. I find it incredibly hard to learn almost anything. Guitar, languages, installing lining in a tote, all beyond me.
2. I can't drive. I sat my learners license when I was 16, I renewed it sporadically and here I am, 28 with my 12 yr old learners license. The world is safer this way, trust me.
3. I have my motorbike license. Don't worry, again its just my learners permit. I'm entirely legal to drive a motorbike on the road on my own but after falling off the bike during the test day I don't see it happening. (seriously, it is HARD work riding for the first time)
4. I have a teeny tiny shopping addiction. Honestly I can quit anytime I want to...I just don't want to.
5. I have a large pile of uncut fabric and unread magazines as a result. One day....
6. Officially I can't cook. If you've eaten my cooking you'd agree. Unless you're Dave and then "mmm, it's delicious sweetie".
7. I'm extremely clucky/broody. I'm totally ready for the adventure that is parenting. However my lovely has ED so I don't hold out much hope.

Now I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but I have no idea who hasn't been tagged yet so I'll just tag 3. Oh yeah, I should have written #8. I'm a bit lazy! So I'm tagging Leslie , Kate and Blue Yonder who I realised AFTER has been tagged already. It's hard to find someone who hasn't now.

Teddy With Waistcoat

2007-08-03T22:21:00.000+12:00

It was all about priorities today. I found myself at breakfast buttering my toast with a paring knife, eating my toast off a dinner plate and drinking my coke out of a coffee cup. Time to do the dishes? Yep. However, as I said it's all about priorities. Craft inspiration called out loudly from my new Toys To Sew book.

THIS is what the Teddys with Waistcoats look like in the book:

And THIS is what it looks like when I try make the toy featured in the book. Yep, I made a toy that looks like it should!!!

I'm not a handsewer at all, it's a skill I never bothered with it. So after sewing the sideseam shut, the muzzle on, the face and eyes I decided that sewing all the way around the face and ears was not vital, and so I gave up after hand stitching the ears so they stand out. It actually really works too.

It took me hours to make, but I am so so proud of it!! Next on the list: cat and mouse skittles!

female maths: spending on discount = profit

2007-08-03T08:47:00.000+12:00

Firstly, a point to note. The catnip is for cats, I didn't get any so yes I will have to brave the loopy lala's at that shop again soon (trying to find another local source if I can) and no, I do not drink catnip tea. I didn't know you could and having smelt catnip I have no idea why anyone would want to drink it. It's like cat food, it must smell good to them cos they always want more but it does NOT smell good to a sane human.

Dave's gone to work so the new additions to my stash have been brought out to be inspected and projects assigned to the favourite pieces.
The reason I actually went into the shop:

The reason I spent so long in there (other than the slooooowwww sales assistant):

I walked in and they had SO MANY good patterns that I was just scooping them all up. And they had 30% off! I actually SAVED money by shopping. Over $20 saved on the fats, which I woulda bought even if they weren't on special and another $5 saved on the felt.

Men don't understand female maths. It works like this. I saved $25 by shopping. So by shopping I was saving money. Very shrewd. The point we don't tell men that would help them understand is that I saved $25 by shopping when I did. Because I would have bought that stuff on special or not. It just woulda cost me $25 more at another time. And so that $25 saved is a profit. Not only did I save money but I earned $25. It's technically a fragile branch of maths and no man has ever accepted that I walked out of the store with a bag of stuff and made a profit but men also don't understand that those shoes don't go with that outfit. Which proves that we know more and therefore it really was a profit I made last night. Duh! Easy!

Secret Squirrel post...shhhh

2007-08-02T20:16:00.000+12:00

Firstly, yay!! I have two people on my PIF list so I need one more person to Pay It Forward to! To the two who are participating, I'll be in touch!

Secondly, you have to listen close. Dave's <<<<-----in there and can't know exactly how much I bought this evening. I went to a store tonight that normally doesn't have good fat quarters at all. I mean only bad ones almost. I wanted some felt and not only did I get some amazing felt squares I got 14 fat quarters that make my eyes water, they're just so pretty! I'll post a photo once Dave is safely at work.

Until tomorrow what I can safely show you is this book I bought a couple days ago. It was so cute and surprisinly for Borders incredibly cheap. And the projects!! A fabric tea set! And cat and mouse skittles!! Now you know why I had to buy the felt!! I feel a major craft binge coming on!!

I didn't think today was going to start off too well when I woke up and sneezed (morning hayfever, such fun) a big glob of phlegm onto one of the cats!! I didn't realise that was the reason he shot out the door until later! But felt, fabric and oncoming craft binge....good day!!

Pay It Forward

2007-08-01T17:24:00.000+12:00

I am participating in the Pay It Forward blog movement! Good news for you as, if you decided to participate, this means I will send you a gift, made by me to the first 3 peeps who leave a comment. You will receive your free gift within 365 days, the only thing you have to do in return is PAY IT FORWARD by making the same promise on your blog.

Full moon freaks

2007-07-31T18:51:00.000+12:00

Some very odd happenings today, and to be honest a pretty crap few days.
Two standout things. The first was a conversation. The health store was out of catnip so alas, the catnip toys will have to wait a couple of weeks. This is the conversation I had with the freaks behind the counter (and freaks is being nice about them):

Sane Girl(SG): Do you know when you're getting more catnip?
Loopy Girl(LG):Ahahahaaaahhahaa(in a random tone)
Permanently stoned guy(PSG): We'll be getting some in...soon. I had catnip tea last night and I gave some to my flatmate and she started turning into a cat.
LG: Ahahhhaaaahhhaaa
SG: Thinks: he's a winner Says: oh. This is for an ACTUAL cat.
PSG: Oh ok. Are you a cat person? Do you become a cat?
SG: Thinks: get me out of here! Says: No
LG: Ahhhhaaahhhhaaahahahaha
PSG: I'll make a request for us to get some catnip in. Tell your cat it won't be long.
SG: OK. *rolls eyes*

The other noteworthy thing: a fabric purchase! And a big one for me too, 4 different fabrics! I felt like dancing because it can be hard to find worthy fabrics there. The goldfish one is even a Heather Ross print.

A perpetual calender panel:

Today has been so crap other than the fabric score that I had to take myself off to bed for a long nap. You are never too old, young, whatever for a good, long, refreshing nap.

Randomness

2007-07-30T16:00:00.001+12:00

- I have a confession. I don't do cross stitch. It seems like I am sometimes the only crafter who doesn't. Most importantly because I am enjoying learning to embroider so much I have noticed all embroidery magazines seem to be 'cross stitch and embroidery' magazines. It seems like people think you must enjoy one if you enjoy the other and you're less of a crafter if you don't cross stitch. I tried cross stitch but stitching xxxxx repetitively made me want to poke my eyes out with the needle. I have much respect for those who can do it, some of the patterns are incredibly complex, but personally it's filed right next to Greek and guitar as things I will just never be good at.

- This is my 300th blog post in this blog. Thats as close to a blogiversary as I will ever get.

- It was Dave's and my 8 month anniversary yesterday. I'm always surprised when we make it to another month but I'm totally happy.

- I'm not big on punctuality at times. Yesterday I bought Dave his 6 month anniversary present. Around the 6 month mark I bought him his birthday present, also 2 months late. I get there in the end.

- I finally came up with something for my other swap partner. Don't look too closely, it's not my best work.

A random act of kindness and one of stupidity

2007-07-29T20:01:00.000+12:00

I decided it was time for another random act of kindness. That really means that I finally thought of something to do. So far I have:

donated 12,000 air miles to a sick childrens charity
sent cards to friends on the other side of the world for no reason

This time I decided to make some catnip toys for a cat shelter. Originally I thought of the SPCA but the shelter here is so up themselves I honestly doubt the cats would even get the toys. :( So I decided to give them to a plain cats only shelter, along with a couple of cans of cat food.

So last night I made 10 little pouches, ready to sew up once filled with catnip. I plan to do about 20 in total.

On another and completely dumber topic I have truly outdone myself in stupidity. When I bought the Wizard of Oz recently I just picked it up and bought it. You have to act fast to beat the professional thrifters (I'm still semi-pro: I sell for profit but not terribly successfully). SO I got it home and put it on a shelf. Fast forward a week and I picked it up to look at it. Flicking through it I saw some of the pages were upside down. I turned it over to find...a whole new book. Yep, it took me a week to notice The Prince and the Pauper on the back half. I have reached a new level.

If anyone asks its meant to be that shape

2007-07-28T14:01:00.000+12:00

I have my first swap-bot swap underway at the moment and I have two swap partners. The first is easier because her profile is very thorough. We have only got $5 to spend on each partner and so I decided I'd make a pincushion. Originally it was a circle but circle pincushions were not my best work at school. When I came back to sewing after 10 yrs I was 100x better, so I suppose I hoped that I could now magically make a circle pincushion. No, still can't. So it's offically "shaped like the flower". The linen holds up really well, it looks good.

It's when you turn it over to the cotton side that you start to really snigger and point. I cut little splits all the way around the inside seam to stop puckering, but alas. So I stuck a ribbon loop in the top to distract people. I bet all you can think is how it clashes with the cotton...see, distracted ya didn't I? My ribbon stash is only 5 months old, I only had 2 jars to choose from.

After I gave up on it last night I started fiddling with my sewing machines fancy stitches. I bought it 4 months ago for the fancy stitches, I kinda figured I better use them. Alas $600 doesn't buy you any fancy ducky or flower stitches though but this is one of the prettiest:

Nearly better

2007-07-27T15:22:00.000+12:00

The cleaning bug has mostly passed other than a few light urges to wipe stuff which I manage to resist. It got bad at one point yesterday when I found myself ironing a couch cover. You know how big those things are? Luckily the fever broke and I'm in an exceptionally crafty mood now.

My little ironing helper:

I spend so long trying to find my desk to craft on that the crafting part often doesn't happen but I found myself with free time and enough desk space to do something. And since the ironing board was already out....I tried the first page of my Sublime Stitching book that I got months ago.

My first attempt!!!

May I draw your attention to the beauty that is my first try at stem stitch and the first successful french knot.

I'm a little bit giddy that I actually did these so well!

Don't tempt fate

2007-07-26T15:31:00.000+12:00

Fate is a bitch. It's apparently not a good idea for me to write about how my day is feeling a bit off kilter because apparently fate reads my blog and thought "oh ho! You think that's a shit day? THIS is a shit day!" It's really just little things but together they all add up to an atomic wedgie from the universe. For the second time this week I have had a fleeting yet traumatic glimpse of what the girl upstairs would look like in underwear if their door wasn't frosted. Frosted glass I love you!! A classful of kids at the library turned an in-out trip into a mission. I undercharged postage yet again on a sale. Etc etc.

Plus I think I'm sick. I have a c...c...c...cleaning bug. I've only got a mild dose (fates chuckling right about now) so far but it's enough to scare me. I've put the clean dishes away (I volunteeraly washed them yesterday, an early symptom of this affliction), washed, dried, folded and put away a full load of laundry. Yes, there is space on the bedroom floor folks. I've emptied Dave's undies and socks drawers of the stuff so ratty I wouldn't put it on a scarecrow - he'll probably want to wear it if he sees it's being thrown out, he's a total pack rat. Sometimes I vaguely worry that he'll turn into one of those creepy old people who has hoarded so much stuff that every room is full and you have to take a running push to get the door open.

Anyway, dishes, laundry, and now I'm actually off to do ironing and vacuuming. Yep, cleaning activities that require plugging things in and setting stuff up to do it. Send help, I'm starting to get worried now.

On the bright side I sat in the sun down near the shops and watched the freak show that is suburbia pass by. Since some of the individuals scare me a little I played it safe and took a photo of my feet. As you do.

Crafting for sanity

2007-07-25T14:43:00.000+12:00

You know what I mean. It's been days since you made something, you're dying for a good fabric hit, theres no glue on your fingertips, the paint is long dry. You gotta make something!!! But what??

The books are piled so high around here waiting for someone to buy them and give them a new home that I am genuinely scared to touch the piles in case they come thundering down and squash stuff. There is already a CD orphaned under the fridge from a spill last week that we haven't yet rescued. So I can't move a lot around and make much space. It has to be a small craft. So I decided a couple of pincushions will numb the pain nicely. But I have to know...what do you stuff your pincushions with?? Just regular old stuffing? Steel wool covered in soap to keep them sharp? Craft sand?

Lovely Blogs

2007-07-24T15:44:00.000+12:00

I've been featured on Lovely Blogs! Thanks Charlotte!

It's different being me

2007-07-24T12:57:00.000+12:00

Do you ever have those days that are slightly surreal, not enough to be worth writing about or mentioning (unless you're me then it's a highlight of my week) but just really.....not normal. You can't put your finger on it but life is off kilter.

Being brave I fought through the oddness and to celebrate, or whatever, I went to the thrift store where they've done a major tidy up and all sorts of things have appeared. I could only stagger up the hill with a bag load so I had to resist buying the childs easel. Honestly I have got to get knocked up soon cos I have started buying second hand baby cardigans. Just for the buttons (SHE SAYS) but I took the buttons off one over two weeks ago and it's still here!

The ladies outdo themselves with their low prices sometimes. For $5 I got what I expected to cost me $15. The standout treasures included these:

A mint condition book of Noahs Ark knitting patterns. You can knit Noah and....Mrs Noah? (thats what the book calls her anyway) and the animals. I'll probably sell it because I can't knit and with carpal tunnel I won't be learning anytime soon (in reality my carpal tunnel gives me a chance to bitch and moan but I very rarely admit that its too sore to craft. Do the dishes hell yes, but craft no. I'm just sick of getting my tension so tight the needles wont move!) but I'd also possibly give it away in return for a knitted elephant. Hint, hint.

This was the score of all scores. Apparently it's from 1940 when they were asking people to knit for the boys.

Steady yourselves ladies, I know Errol Flynn here is hot. It's all in the smirk and the girlish cheekbones.

This is going right beside the 1950's Alice in Wonderland in the inheritance pile for my future kids. Everything I got was spiffy and new as a kid and I never learned the value of things. I hope that by sharing these treasures I'll be able to pass on a different message to my future kids.

bookworm

2007-07-21T12:21:00.000+12:00

I'm a bookworm from waaaayy back and today was the release of Harry Potter at 11.01am. We all shuffled forward to get our copy (yes, I was waiting in the queue and no I wasn't in costume or waiting overnight. I swear. I just rocked up 1 minute early to a store that I was fairly sure would have plenty.) then zoomed through the checkout and home to read. I'm up to page 34 but I guess age is hitting me cos as the books and the plots have grown so has my need to take constant mental breaks from all the concentration.

So to concentrate on something else...I mostly finished my WIP although the edges of the card it is on need tidying, the cork didn't come out that great and I think it's lacking something (talent hehehe). The clumsy oaf in me competes often with the perfectionist in me. I don't know how she got in there, I can only assume I ate her cos perfectionism is certainly not a natural thing for me.

I'm antsy to get back to the book (after 6 books you kinda just want to just finish the damn 7th one and move the f*** on, ya know?) so heres a quick peek at my score of the day. The local rotary club had a huuugeeee book sale today. Way overpriced but I staggered out with plenty all the same. But anyway it was an awesome score. Brand new copies of amazing modern books but my best buy was this vintage copy of Alice in Wonderland from the 50's. Most of the books I buy are to sell, as a way of earning income. But theres just some things that I see and instantly know I want to keep for my future kids.

On the bias

2007-07-20T23:18:00.000+12:00

Regular bias binding is so depressingly normal so I bought myself a bias tape maker and put it in a drawer for a month. As you do. Well, as I do anyway. In this crazy fit of doing stuff tonight I decided to cut something in my fabric stash and finally make bias binding. Thats pretty rash of me, considering my stash is only the size of many peoples scrap pile.

The vintage linen I used on the cushion was given to me by my grandma along with (and those two words 'along with' give me great excitement because my grandma normally would refuse to give me a cold if she could at all help it. Lovely woman, slight psychotic streak though.)...along with this strange trippy peacock fabric which are two of my stash favourites. I used most of the linen on the cushion and draft snake so I decided to sacrifice some of the trippy peacock stuff to make the binding. It was a little boring to be honest, ironing 2.4 metres of it but it looks so damn cool! Now I have to find something to use it on. Or just put it in one of my ribbon jars and look at it through the glass muttering how pretty it is and how it would be a shame to use it.

W.I.P. = a chance to shop

2007-07-19T18:28:00.000+12:00

I have long wanted to have a WIP worth showing on my blog. In lieu of that this will have to do. It's on cork, it involves my first public attempt at embroidery (a bit of a stretch to call it that really but I can so I shall) and it's all a little bit...yeah. But for what it is (small and sort of rough in places) it's cute as!

I used one of those needle threaders to thread the embroidery cotton (6 strands takes lot of tugging btw) and promptly broke it, then the next. I never thought I would use them, let alone use to them breaking point. Suddenly it's 30 minutes until the only local shop with haby stuff closes and I have to decide....wait until tomorow to get more or walk down NOW. Wait, walk, wait, walk....I walked down to the shops for the second time today. When did I get so....unlazy? Turned out needle threaders are piss cheap so I had a bunch of change left over to spend. I accidentally purchased these cuties:

Groundhog day

2007-07-18T13:18:00.000+12:00

Today seems to be kinda like yesterday was...only worse. Some guy was coming at 10am to value the property so I had gotten in a tizzy thinking maybe the owners are selling, we'd have to move, etc. First he was late, and I do not like having to get up that early to clean only to have someone be late! I even put clothes on!!! Last time I go to that much trouble, I swear. Pfffft. Anyway turns out the owners sold the house...in April!

I also had round two with the shrinky dink. Here is attempt 1,2 & 3 for the day. Attempt#1: No really, I was going for the bowl look. It was a circle shape, and it hardened SO fast that I couldn't flatten it. When they say 'fast' they mean 'OMG not even half out of the oven and it's set'. Attempt #2 was a halfcircle that I actually flattened still in the oven (whacked it down with a cookie tray for lack of something else lying nearby) and #3 I did the same. Only problem is the gold ink which is fast drying is...not. The words are smudged and my fingertips look sparkly.

And in the process I knocked over a huge stack of CD's I was sorting and a disc of photos of a soldier friend that he took in Iraq is now either magically missing or under the fridge with the cat fur and mice. And Dave is sick as a dog but has insisted on going to work. The slightest cough and I'm in bed with lemon drinks and a good book. He's perfectly happy to go work himself to death while I worry.

Plus the other cat found the laundry basket so we're just gonna give it to them and buy a new one. A prickly wicker one.

Challenges

2007-07-17T19:07:00.000+12:00

Last time I left a basket of unfolded laundry lying around in the living room that was the room Ginga chose to kill and eat a bird in. Well, thats the room the myriad of feathers was scattered in when we came in after a day at work. We never did find a bird but 1. feathers assumes they were once attached to a bird and 2. one of the cats didn't want dinner cos he was full.

I learned my lesson. No laundry is ever left unfolded anymore. Yes, that does mean it usually just hangs on the line for a week rather than folding it but thats not the issue here. I folded MOST of this basket before my wrists became too much. I apparently left just enough to pad the hard bottom for a cat to lie on.

Since laundry was out of the question (darn) I was forced (oh the humanity) to do craft stuff. I finally got to try my shrinky dink. Oh boy. I will only show you one attempt (utter failure) to spare you some of the laughter and sniggering but rest assured this is the best utter failure of the lot. It cupped in the middle and set before I could flatten it out. I think I left it in just a bit too long. Oh well, thats ok cos I get to fiddle around trying again and god I love to fiddle with stuff.

And it's not even my birthday

2007-07-16T14:45:00.000+12:00

I got a present in the mail today and I'm so happy! The wonderful Eva sent it to me. The embroidery is exquisite and I am so lucky!

Thank you so much Eva!

Her embroidery is such an inspiration that one of these days I just might pull out my mothers hoops and threads and actually start to learn myself. But then I said that about knitting and crochet....I really do need to learn at least ONE of them.

At last!

2007-07-14T21:45:00.000+12:00

It's finally finished! The cushion is f i n a l l y done. It took me so damn long I thought I was gonna give up. And then there was the horrible realisation that there was nothing in my stash that would go with the floral linen. I managed to buy this pink stuff to go with it and I think it works. I hope.

The back is an envelope opening and as long as it isn't moved in any way you can't see the seams on the underflap. This photo is terrible, it makes it look like the first attempt it is but it looks much better in real life. But I made it so I would say that.

This is my washing steaming in the winter sun. Neither here nor there but it can be quite alarming to look out the door at the laundry and see it steaming like it's about to catch on fire!

I'm ready for summer now thanks

2007-07-13T16:02:00.000+12:00

Yep, it's been swell but I'd like summer now please. Please? Just a wee preview? Even the cats are huddling for warmth. Well, yes Ginga does have his nose in Rastus's ass end but I tell myself that it's for warmth.

I am participating in my first online swap here and I am so excited. Irrationally so really when you consider how simple the swap is but it gets very exciting these days receiving any mail that isn't the winter power bill (due next week and I'm bracing myself) or my Avon catalogue. Yes, it's a small life I lead. This is what I sent:

It pays to warn people

2007-07-12T17:09:00.000+12:00

I really think it's only fair to warn people what they're in for. You may have to enlarge the pic, red is apparently not a good colour to photograph.

The weather is arctic outside and the woind is making me feel like Dorothy spinning away from Kansas so I stayed in and baked. Like I need a reason. I finally got the Hokey Pokey biscuits (cookies) right! Thin and crunchy mmmmmm. The enormousnous of them is just a bonus. The huge one down the bottom is 5 inches at it's widest! Needless to say there was some fast slicing to seperate them before they hardened into one giant supercookie...(why I decided against that I'll never know)

The thrift gods were kind indeed

2007-07-11T12:16:00.000+12:00

I was randomly flicking through books and magazines at the best local thrift store (I keep the good stuff for myself and sell the rest to pay for my fabric addiction) and this jumped out at me. I'm not sure if it's his blinding teeth, sunglasses, dreamy smile, the 80's font in the title but it just jumped out at me. I didn't buy it but I'm going past there today and I'm gonna buy it for sure!

This is what I did get for the huge total of $2.30. Here was me hoping to be under $5. Those ladies are both kind hearted and completely ignorant of the true cost of some of the things they sell.

Despite trying I am not pregnant but I really wanted the baby cardigan for the Peter Rabbit buttons. As usual I have nothing to use them on but I'd hardly let that stop me. (Him:"what are you going to use that fabric for?" Me evasively:"mumble mumble stuff")

Amongst the treasures was this huge mint condition transfer sheet of teddy bear images. Oh my.

Token shot of my button jar where only the elite buttons go to die. These buttons are the ones that are too good to actually USE. I need professional help. You know I do and I haven't even revealed my ribbon jar.

Inheritance

2007-07-10T12:28:00.000+12:00

My mother bequeathed me all her cross stitch stuff recently. Really, the second I said I was sorta, kinda, dabbling in it she gave me every thread, hoops, pattern she possessed. She's loving my new found domesticity more than me it seems at times. However being my mother my inheritance was presented to me looking like this: Only imagine about 8 of the rattiest bags, of varying sizes, each holding a number group.

Me being the anal retentive first child I have started to turn the mess into this:

It's not helping my carpal tunnel at all but it's very therapeutic to wind onto the bobbins muttering "5 skeins of the same baby poo brown? I have got to talk to that woman about priorities".

I sorted out the doubles (triples, quadruples and even beyond) into one bag and once I count then I have got to figure out what to do with them. I'm going to sell some to pay for the gaps in my new set (not to mention storage containers for them) but if you want any let me know. I can spare them for sure.

I know I'm hot but....

2007-07-06T15:45:00.000+12:00

Creepiest thing ever: I got the bus and asked for a $6 day pass. I didn't realise they are $3 all this month. Thank you very much. So that was nice BUT the driver (and most drivers are middle aged guys direct from the pacific islands near NZ, rather rough looking weathered types) looks at my money and gives me $3 change and my ticket and says "is $3, juss for yoo baby" in this creeeeepy voice! My eyes nearly rolled out of my head I was so shocked! LOL, it was funny and icky at the same time. I'm desperately trying to think of something similar sounding that he might have said that I misheard but nope, just can't do it.

Not quite a Domestic Goddess

2007-07-05T16:41:00.000+12:00

My life has lately become all about my home, my cats, my boyfriend and the things very local to me. Staying at home from choice (albeit forced on by carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrists) and in a relationship is far different than being stuck at home with no job. This time I'm out to take care of someone else and our cats (which are as close to babies as we'll be getting for now).

Suddenly I have a reason to bake...well other than the usual reason which is to eat the dough. I'm not very good at it and I did forget to press them with a fork until a bit late but if theres fresh baking to feed him with maybe he won't notice the sinkful of dishes the baking process created.

It's my first attempt at baking biscuits in years and they are....well it's version 1 anyway.

The cushion inner is done at last! I will not willingly make the whole thing from scratch again after the time and effort involved when I can buy one for cheaper but this first cushion is going to be completely from scratch.

The cushion cover is proving harder still. Do I cut two of my beautiful fabrics from my rather pitiful collection and hope that it looks like I want when it's done or do I hold off on the offchance that the fabric store might actually have something cushiony? I'm leaning towards just cutting them since waiting for my fabric store to provide is like waiting for my butt to shrink. Miracles just don't happen.

Something to remember

2007-07-04T07:55:00.000+12:00

Find your passion

Follow your passion

Share your passion

TEACH your passion

Free time

2007-07-02T20:19:00.000+12:00

Since I quit work to stay at home almost a week ago I have done nothing but clean. Wheres this mythical free time to craft? Dishes, laundry, wiping muddy cat prints off...everything. And right now there's a sink full of dishes and a line full of washing drying. Is someone else slipping their laundry and dishes in with mine? I'm not doing mine, so I definately am not doing yours!!

I really want to find a website with information on making cushion inners. I read somewhere that your inner needs to be made about an inch bigger than the cover so it's really stuffed in and wont settle as fast. But there's nothing online to help me check this before I start sewing.

Draft snake

2007-06-29T11:13:00.000+12:00

I know it looks realistic but don't worry, it's just a draft snake. It's winter and freezing so I thought that my boyfriend had subtley hinted enough and I finally made a draft excluder. It fits perfectly too. :-) And hey, if you're going to call it a snake you may as well make it a snake. I knew those googly eyes would come in handy, even if I did glue them on a bit uneven.

I heart Superbuzzy!!

2007-06-28T14:18:00.000+12:00

I finally bought some things off superbuzzy and I am soooo happy! They came extra fast considering the distance and they are even better than I expected. And I only got half a yard of the fabric! Noooo!

Swarovski crystal bracelet

2007-06-09T21:33:00.000+12:00

It cost me $30 of crystals which is a lot just for myself but it's SO sparkly and pretty, the photo doesn't do it justice.

Mag-neato!!

2007-06-04T20:52:00.000+12:00

It's been so long since I last posted and sadly this is all I could come up with....my new range of magnets to sell at the next Craft 2.0

Peg dolls

2007-04-25T18:46:00.000+12:00

My first attempt at a set of peg dolls:

One of my failed attempts - nicknamed PMS Peg by my boyfriend for her angry expression

Did You Know?...

2007-03-18T19:47:00.000+12:00

Did You Know?...

The harmonica is the most popular musical instrument in the world.

Each member of this year's Super Bowl-winning team will receive $73,000.

Tom Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln.

Britney Spears, Anna Kournikova and Tonya Harding have all had computer viruses named after them.

Before becoming famous, Mick Jagger was a hospital porter.

Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

A bee is more likely to sting you on a windy day.

More than 600,000 Americans a year are injured on beds and chairs.

64% of women sleep on the left side of the bed.

Nicolas Cage ate a live cockroach in Vampire's Kiss.

Only 7% of the population are lefties.

Hot water is heavier than cold water.

The candies most likely to cause tooth decay are dark chocolate and fudge.

Handshakes transmit viruses 7 times more effectively than sneezes do.

It takes a sperm one hour to swim seven inches.

Jodie Foster was George Lucas' second option for Princess Leia in Star Wars.

Clint Eastwood and Marlon Brando both became fathers after age 60.

Each of us generates about five pounds of garbage per day.

Women are 10 times less likely than men to suffer from color blindness.

Disney World is bigger than the world's five smallest countries.

Larry King has been married seven times.

Leonardo da Vinci spent 12 years painting the Mona Lisa's lips.

It takes 50,000 years for a plastic container to start decomposing.

Americans spend an estimated $8 to $10 billion U.S. on pornography each year.

A jumbo jet needs 4,000 gallons of fuel to take off.

In Scarface, "f*ck" is said 206 times, at an average of once every 29 seconds.

If it gets hungry enough, an octopus will eat its own arms.

Pirates thought wearing an earring would improve their eyesight.

35% of people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

A mosquito has 47 teeth.

Beer foam will go down if you lick your finger and stick it in the beer.

The average person spend about two years of their life on the phone.

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

The average person speaks about 31,500 words per day.

A leech has 32 brains.

The words "assassination" and "bump" were invented by Shakespeare.

There are more than 100 chemicals in one cup of coffee.

An average of 100 people choke on ballpoint pens every year.

Edward Norton is fluent in Japanese.

Whenever Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head.

Virginia Woolf wrote all her books standing up.

When a person blushes, their stomach lining turns red too.

Being unmarried can shorten a man's life by 10 years

America's favorite Crayola crayon color is blue.

Hundreds of years ago, only wealthy people wore underwear.

25% of a human's bones are in its feet.

A person uses approximately 57 sheets of toilet paper every day.

In New York City, approximately 1,600 people are bitten by other humans annually.

Only 5% of Americans dream in color.

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.

Americans get toothpicks stuck in their throats more than any other object.

The largest kidney stone in history weighs 14 pounds.

If you spend one hour in a public swimming pool, you will come into contact with about 50 ounces of urine.

According to research, mosquitoes like people who have recently eaten bananas.

The world's oldest McDonald's restaurant still in operation is in Downey, California.

Every year in America, 13 people die from falling vending machines.

Single people are seven and a half times more likely to require psychiatric care.

When you're born you have 300 bones in your body, but when you die you only have 206.

You will inhale about 44 pounds of dust during your lifetime.

Until the 1960s, men with long hair were not allowed to enter Disneyland.

More collect calls are made on Father's Day than on any other day of the year.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

Only female mosquitoes bite. Male mosquitoes are vegetarians.

A typical can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.

All shrimp are born male, but grow into females as they mature.

Your taste buds are replaced every 10 days as old ones die and new ones take their place.

The skin of around 3,000 cows is required to produce a year's supply of leather NFL footballs.

According to the Ghost Research Society, there are 789 haunted houses in the United States.

my chibi rabbit

2007-03-18T09:37:00.000+12:00

I tried making a little rabbit.
It's a little different than the pattern or the original. I still like it though, and I like it's minimalist look with only eyes. Yeah, I'm lazy but I don't want to mess it up any further.

Exhibited!

2007-03-12T19:03:00.000+13:00

stencil attempt #2

2007-03-06T21:05:00.000+13:00

I tried again on thicker fabric, a babies $2 t-shirt. I also used a brass stencil instead of freezer paper cos I was too lazy to iron the paper on. Either way it came out so well.

oh my....

2007-03-05T19:48:00.000+13:00

Nope thats not camp at all....click the link and scroll down a little. Tell me what you think too...

not gay at all

Myspace hilarity

2007-03-03T19:49:00.000+13:00

So as a single woman in a western country I get tons of myspace spam from young men in Ghana and Nigeria. Men here get Russian women spamming them. Incidentally my brothers boss thinks his latest russian (he is such a sucker) is the real deal cos she waited until the third email to ask for money! Anyway...I didn't check my myspace for months then today I thought I better. This was by far the best message I got. You'll notice he can't say "I will like to know you more better" properly but in the middle of the email he spells spontaneous (I can't even spell that) and monotonous (or that) correctly and uses them perfectly. His sob story is just...well read for yourself.

Hello Prettie,
How are you doing? firstly, let me compliment on your beautiful face in the profile.... you are damn looking pretty good. I'm just browsing thru the pages and I come across your profile and wish to drop you a hit. If you dont mind I will like to know you more better,
My name is Edun Olalekan , single male from Nigeria. I'm looking for a lovely woman who undestand what real love is, who dont play games and is very honesty, I love alot of things as hobbies,I'm a pretty easy going person who has his moments. I'd like someone who is along the same line. Someone who can be spontaneous but also knows how to plan things out too. Someone who will make me laugh. I love to be outside in nature and thats where I am most comfortable. I love doing active things but nothing monotonous. I love to travel & computers programs, I just got out of a year relationship which is about to lead to our marriage but I later found out my fiancee was nothing but a game player, dont mind playing games at the excense of her lover, So we broke up last month, is not my idea to joining any dating site but since there is nothing I can do, now that im amidst of depresion and loneliness, Just checking on to see if theres someone true and real out there for me I dont ant players and soul deceivers, if you think you real and available why not get in touch and let gets things going.
I will like to chat with you my screen name in yahoo email is edunolalekan@yahoo.com and MSN is edunolalekan@hotmail.com, really waiting to have a great chat with you.
Take care sweety
Olalekan

American culture

2007-03-03T14:14:00.000+13:00

This website has some seriously sobering numbers and pictures to highlight its point. Please check it out: here

The images that hit me the most were the paper bag forest, the plastic bags, the prison uniforms and of course the guns.

Retail hell

2007-03-03T12:03:00.000+13:00

Please spare a thought for the girl (or guy) who serves you at the supermarket or a store next time. I've been in retail for 2 1/2 weeks now and I already want to die just from the job. You may be a nice, polite customer who doesn't take forever to pay, who doesn't bore us with stories of how your phone number has changed (really, do you think we care?) but there might have been any number of crazies that I had to serve before you who wanted to tell me about their old phone number being nearly the same as their new one and isn't that funny, dear? In one 5 hour shift I had to find 175 metres of the right type of cord, cut 1.5 metres for an older, arrogant man who told me he was getting old so he had to dress up (bit my tongue over that) and of course the phone number lady. I might have had to do several laborious returns for people who decided they wanted another colour of $3 thread. Keep the thread for next time and spare us all, PLEASE. The day before I had to measure and cut 1 metre of ribbon...in 20 different colours for one customer. Oh yeah, and my feet hurt so please don't expect me to walk all over the damn store for your lazy ass.

I work on the craft counter and I get people, often rather snooty women coming up and asking me things I don't know but that I am apparently expected to. I don't know about every craft ever invented ok? I get a little above minimum wage and I really don't think that requires me to care more than a little above minimum.

Cute Overload

2007-03-01T20:07:00.000+13:00

Cutest site ever: http://cuteoverload.com/

Freezer paper stencil

2007-02-27T21:26:00.000+13:00

So after the crayon fiasco I decided to try freezer paper stencils. Freezer paper is a novelty craft item here, $1.39 a metre in craft stores. I bought all I could find, some fabric paint and dug up some fabric I had that I didn't have a use for and set to work. Once it dried I peeled off the paper....and the paint had bled. Bugger!! I'm hoping it was just the type of fabric and I'll try again this weekend but shit, that day was not a good one for crafts. After both those 2 mishaps my sewing machine bit the dust. Grrrrrrrr.

Crazy crayons

2007-02-27T21:16:00.000+13:00

So I decided I'd try my hand at making Crazy Crayons....

So far so good. Looks easy enough

Success! They're a bit shit but they look and work pretty much as they should. Look a bit closer though and you'll see some of the hearts aren't exactly heart shaped. Why?.....

What I assumed was silicone was actually just rubber shit and it curled. Oops.

Better luck next time...maybe...

7 deadly sins quiz

2007-02-19T09:44:00.000+13:00

Greed:	High
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	High
Envy:	High
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

sleeping face down

2007-02-19T08:09:00.000+13:00

Well he seemed to enjoy it...

The world of BB thru a lens

Moving day

nothing but mumbles

Free Hugs Campaign

Cat and mouse

And it begins....

Oh la la

Crochet, I will conquer you!!

Oooohhh, something new...sort of.

Mail day!!

Count to 10

When things turn out right yet look so so wrong

Seven Things project update

Web wierdness....and a crooked bookmark

Etsy ideas

Tales from the sickbed (and crafting)

Which finger are you?

Ouch ouch ouch

On the home stretch

Randomness

*expletives deleted*

Irony at its best

*floommpphh*

Have lemons, too lazy to make lemonade

Cleaning out the cobwebs

Sprung sprung a leak

Fabulousness

Envy

A road trip and mail

Randomness

Grrrrrrr

Anniversary time

Ugh

Excessive recycling?

Signs of summer

Simple pleasures of home

Oh damn it

Too tired to title this today

Artsy clutch

Crafting karma

Hooverpuss

Teddy time

Snail mail sweetness

Walkmans in World War 2

karma and catnip

Theodore

Progress

Running in circles

Spiderpig, spiderpig...

Finally!!

Photo fest

Flickr swap group

Signs you may be an IT widow

Fabric bandit struck again

Playing tag

Teddy With Waistcoat

female maths: spending on discount = profit

Secret Squirrel post...shhhh

Pay It Forward

Full moon freaks

Randomness

A random act of kindness and one of stupidity

If anyone asks its meant to be that shape

Nearly better

Don't tempt fate

Crafting for sanity

Lovely Blogs

It's different being me

bookworm

On the bias

W.I.P. = a chance to shop

Groundhog day

Challenges

And it's not even my birthday

At last!

I'm ready for summer now thanks

It pays to warn people

The thrift gods were kind indeed

Inheritance

I know I'm hot but....

expletives deleted

floommpphh