So, thanks Jenny, very much appreciated!

And if anyone knows of any whizzy way to get Tumblr posts to feed into a non-hosted WordPress blog….speak up

xx

Anyway, onwards and upwards, stop feeling sorry for myself and all that jazz…despite the fact that I STILL haven’t sorted out my tax return, the Gateway thingy isn’t working for me so I have to faff about with the IR (something that inevitably gets me goat) to re-register, I’ve got way too many ideas than is sensible, I haven’t stitched anything since before Christmas (and that just ain’t right) and January Skintness Syndrome means I’ve no money to buy the mahoosive wishlist of fabric I’ve developed recently or the wee turned wooden bits that will become World of Weemo (*gasp* darn it, I’ve said too much)…*sigh*

As I said, onwards and upwards…Monday sees another Etsy treasury feature WOOHOO! I love these, I’ve only made one myself, must make more effort – but the more I ‘collect’ the more I want to buy which inexorably leads to the above problem of Skintness Syndrome. Ah well. In the name of all things handmade, Treasurists, I salute you, and vow to reciprocate more expansively in 2011. Ba-dahhh!

The lovely Brye of AllisonBWonderland has featured my brooch in her collection of lovely redness – some gorgeous things, I’m coveting wolfartglass’ blown shot glass BIG time.  Click on the pic to go to Brye’s treasury and bask in the glow….nom.

For the rest of the day I’ll be wondering how to get hold of a hazelnut and chocolate croquante, and adding to the wishlist.

Have a grand Monday y’all.

xxx

So, same old same old

I’ve decided to have a January sale at the ole bucket o’ fuzz – so pop along to the Etsy shop and if you fancy it, enter JANUARYSALE15 as a coupon code at checkout for 15% off everything therein….NOM.

Good way to start the year was to be featured all over the place – having restocked the shop (which will be ongoing over the next week or so as I get everything on there) the purpleness was feeling the love – featured in not one, oh no, not one – but TWO Etsy treasuries - thank you very much to the two lovely Etsians ( dollsandbunnies and peyeto) who added me to their collections…

Click the pics to go through to the Treasuries on Etsy….just lurrrvley.

nightfall treasury by peyeto

purple loveliness treasury by dollsandbunnies

NOT ONLY THAT…(“What??There’s more??” I hear you cry…) – but the lovely Beth from magpie and button also featured another brooch on her blog this week – the buttons are getting some love too this slightly mad 70s inspired brooch was part of a buttontastic collection – click the pic to go to Beth’s blog (it’s GORGEOUS!!)…

magpie and button's blog

So yep, hurrah!  Get your bottoms along to all these lovely shops and blogs and fuzzy goodness.

Vive la craftyrevolution!

x

oh yes...there will be much rejoicing...

Yes. It’s coming – a whole WORLD of Weemo.

There will be many. Small, infinitely collectible, odd little people…who may (or may not, they’re not saying) live under your bed, in your cellar, at the top of that cupboard that’s too high to be rational…

I’m very giddy about these, very giddy indeed. Bookmark it now…

I seeeee yooooouuuu.......

1. Fishnet stockings under jeans are indubitably a good thing. Like a foxy cellular blanket. I’m serious. Try it. Even you, sir.

2. Skidding your car IS fun. Don’t listen to the police, the Met Office, Bill off Breakfast, or your dad. Course, I mean fun in a “WAAAHHHHH WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND IT’S ONLY MONDAY!!!” sort of way.

3. Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon should be renamed The Pouty Album. Seriously – the cold weather means I’ve been slathering Aloe Vera Vaseline on my mush. Do that (and I mean a nice wodge of it) then sing along. I defy you not to pout like Jolie after a bar brawl.

4. Having teenage children IS enough to make an entire family want to kill eachother. Slowly and painfully.

5. There is something wrong with the circulation in my feet. Big toes in particular. I can no longer feel them.

6. Watching international rugby is the finest line between pleasure and pain you will EVER get. In the universe, ever. All those thighs and not enough points….it’s enough to drive a girl to drink. Oh, wait….

7. Cat sick is the most heinous substance known to humankind.

(I’m not putting a picture in for this one)

8. I am Beowulf, and I am here to kill your monstah.

That will be all.

All those Christmas mornings watching Darling Noel The Nation’s Sugar Daddy surprise poor unfortunates (and by unfortunates I mean people who, probably for very good reasons such as being somewhat more forward than is proper with the best friend’s spouse or some such shenanigans, have been estranged for a good few years) with tearjerking reunions, mince pies, trips to Lapland and such…what larks.

So when I saw this poor discarded scarf in my fuzz stash, it begged ( I could hear it you know) to be made into nostalgic little snippets of Noel’s Knitwear™ for you to rest your egg nog on.

Go on….you know you want to….

As they’re made from a scarf these ones are seriously limited edition, grab them at the Apples & Pears & Crafty Wares fair on Saturday…

Nom.  That’s for Noel.

x

Loving making these….a whole big heap ready for the Apples Pears and Crafty Wares market on 27th!!!

Been doing quite a lot of investigating with the old family tree; between ancestry.co.uk and GenesReunited I’ve been finding all kinds of gubbins – we’re spread all over the place, Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Tennessee…as well as finding out my great great great Granny was born, grew up and is buried about ten minutes down the road from where I now live, having accidentally ended up here after meeting hubby….weird.

So with trees firmly in mind, I set myself the challenge of devising a Folksy Friday selection that did not, yes that’s DID NOT, involve Christmas trees.  Quite a feat, I’m sure you’ll agree.  More lovely things than you could hope for appeared before me, a delightful selection of which is shown herein, below and forthwith la-dee-dahhh….

The Embrace, French Cherry Tree - 10x8 Inch Fine Art Photograph by Tim Irving

Tree Necklace - oxidised sterling silver by Caroline Cowen Jewellery

Handbuilt Vase - Tree Range by Peter Garrett Ceramics

Purple Tree Abstract Modern Art Print by Sascalia

Merlin by Woodwose

Tree by Zoe Est

I love trees.

Ciao belli ;D

x

I think I’d buy all of these, they’re yummy.

The Raven King print by Old Wives' Tale

Crown Necklace by Niche Handmade

I Rule cushion by Helkatdesign

Ruby red glitter crown by Janine Basil

Vintage style crown gift tags by Craftypagan

Pillow 3 set by Karen Hilton Designs

Fabbo

Have a groovy weekend y’all.

x

Let me compose myself.

*ahem*

I received my Christmas Lush Times yesterday. I can’t quite describe the plastic envelope ripping frenzy that ensued… what I found inside was a Times-on-Saturday-esque tome of utter deliciousness, making me “Ooooh!” and “Aaaaah!” several times in quick succession. I almost became light-headed with all the “Ooooh”ing and “Aaaah”ing.  Then I turned the page to the bubble bar section, usually my favourite read of the entire publication. And there it was.  A loathsome little black triangle with the seemingly innocuous words ‘going soon’ printed on it.  And it was over a hallowed image of Bathos, that most sublime of bathtime treats. Imagine, if you will, at least thirty packets of parma violet sweeties…all hand-blendered up and subjected to some wondrous alchemical process, condensing them into a crumbly, moisturising, deep, deep purple bar of loveliness, topped off with a glittery peacock green ‘B’ on it’s beautiful barnet.

THEY ARE DISCONTINUING BATHOS. It’s not right. Not right on any level.

My Folksy Friday collection for this week is therefore a plucking of delectable violet-inspired fabness…call it a memorial service if you like. I will.

Rose Violet - Silky baby alpaca laceweight yarn by Abstract Cat Crafts

Vampire Violet - signed print by Specific Flavour

Violet The Sock Bunny by Sockydoos

Violet Wolf Tote Bag by Atelier de Wolvelay

Violet Zephyr Pendant by Owl on the Sill

Purple Daze 12x10 print by The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

There we go. That’s better.

Have a fabulous weekend

x

Bella's luscious treasury...click the pic

but the equally awesome Sarah from Wrapped Up With String also featured me on her Folksy Friday selection – hurrah! The bangles haven’t been feeling the love lately, so it’s nice to see them get a bit of attention.

Sarah's Edinburgh inspired Folksy Friday....click the pic to go to her blog....

Once I’ve mainlined some Covonia (if it can make Ainsley Harriott sing then there’s hope….or something) and watched Helicopter Heroes I might be able to write something a little more coherent on recent times….. until then mes amis, adieu!

x

stitched quilted coasters

So, here are some stitchy, quilty coasters…

Now, I don’t like measuring. It’s boring. I’ll do it where necessary, like measuring the fabric – but as for stitchy goodness placement, forget it.

I’m a firm adherent to the principle of handmade goodies LOOKING like they’re handmade. If a stitch is 1mm to the left of where perfect symmetry dictates it should be, tough poopie. I like it where it is thankyouverymuch.  So expect these to be slightly random, in little ways.

The intention at the mo is to keep the fabric neutral, this rough unbleached calico is ace, irons nice and crisply and is tough enough to be in constant use.  Then I’ll go to town with the stitchiness – any colour you like, it’ll be there.  Having said that, I can see many a garment being recycled in this fashion….

So indeedy, once I’ve honed and tweaked and trialled and pulled and…well, whatever else you do to coasters, they’ll be available in the Folksy and Etsy shops…watchez vous ce space innit?

It struck me this morning, quite hard actually, and with spiky bits, a bit like a halibut fillet that’s not been deboned slapping me across the rosy just-woken-up cheek, that the family breakfast appears to be dead.  That archetypal image that seems to sum us Brits up in 80s and 90s movies starring John Cleese of red gingham tablecoths, tea cosies and toast racks is no more. And I’m not sure I like that very much (I mused to myself while sprinting out of the front door with the recycling wheelie bins in one hand, the book bag, lunch box and inevitable ‘bear who must drive with us to school and look after the car while it’s parked up’ in the other, car keys between my teeth).

That eternal dilemma of whether to have an extra half hour in bed or to actually spend it chatting with the family…. that’s what’s inspired today’s Folksy Friday selection. Because maybe if le petit déjeuner LOOKED a little prettier, we might find it easier to deal with.

Nerd Emoticon Cafetiere / French Press Coffee Cosy by Mouthy Mitts

Red Gingham Breakfast Set by Berry Beautiful

Bunting breakfast bowl and mug by 1000degrees

'English Breakfast' Print by Tea & Ceremony

'How To Boil An Egg' Tea Towel by You Say That You Love Me

Sheep Egg Cosies and Egg Cups Set by Claire Sibley

Enjoy!

Had a wee message through this morning from the fab fab FAB Sylke at Sealmaiden in Brooklyn, truly gorgeous screenprinted garments….lovverley… she’s featured me in an Etsy treasury, “Of woodlands and the heart”. Click on the pic below to zip through to the treasury….

of woodlands and the heart

Mmmmmm…nommy.

Viva la bucket!!!! x

Missy Jean's Purple Haze Treasury....click the pic to go have a look...

Thank you muchly!

xxx

In honour of the small furry thing that invaded, albeit in a very cute manner, the Derby Singers & Songwriters’ Club night this week, prompting Ruth Bellamy and Julie Collings and those assembled therein to squeak and go “Aaaaah cute innit?” several times….this week’s theme is meeces

Mouse Paperweight by Millicent

Wee Mouse with Cheese by Quernus Crafts

roly poly mouse print by clootielugs

Mouse 8x8 print by Cassia Beck

Mousie Mouse Gocco printed notebook by Inkmeup

Mouse Silhouette Pin by Lost At Sea

Squeakidy squeak, squeak squeaker.  As Yzma would say.

Have a grand weekend y’all

purlsoho.com

Tres nom n’est-ce pas?

I discovered a little fascination with orange felt this week. So Orange will be my theme…

Felt Orange by Woolly Duck

Orange button brooch by Flourish

Orange etched floral apron by Rachael Taylor Designs

Orange spice soap by Saffronbarr

Little Orange Ninja by Lilley's

Lavender rabbit in zesty orange by Pouch

Enjoy-joy

new geometric starburst petal thingy fabric brooches

They’ll be in the Folksy shop shortly…

So it’s finally take-a-breather time. I feel so bad for the students this year, it’s been bloody awful, so much stress, so few places, so many tears, bless ‘em.  General advice would be take a year off, do some crazy jobs you’ll never get the chance to do again, get some cash behind you, and have another go next year.  Seriously, these days getting a place at uni and getting a degree under your belt the second you leave school really isn’t that fantastic. Give yourselves a bit of breathing space.

God, I’m talking like a Guardian columnist who’s every word is hung upon by a bajillion sniffly students.

Anyway, the result is that I’ve even neglected two, YES TWO, Folksy Fridays so I’ma break the mould this week and go for a Makers’ Monday instead…update on….er…Monday.  In the meantime, the breather has meant that I’ve finally been able to photograph and list some wee brooches that have been sitting forlornly in the ‘made’ box, ready to be unleashed in all their vintagey kitschy glory. Those Liberty offcuts I managed to get a while ago have been turned into brooches – a new, simple, elegant kinda design that doesn’t detract from the pattern of the fabric…

new felty Liberty goodness...

All are listed in the Folksy shop if you fancy it

I’ve been fiddling about a bit more with those curtain samples I mentioned a couple of posts ago – and those Sukie iron-ons…there’s another one in progress…

Sukie forest picture thingy goodness...

I love making these, they just kinda build up, bit by bit…it’ll occur to me that something’s been sitting in my stash box for a while and I could add a flourish here, an embellishment there…. love it.

So there’ll be more of these, no doubt. They kinda break up doing everything else – not that I get bored by everything else, far from it!  Just keeps the brain fresh no?  God knows my brain needs a freshening every once in a while…

K. I’m off to Tesco. See you on the other side….

BeadWire's Regency and Victorian Treasury (link above)

How very super!

1950's Vintage Ellen Kaye dress

1950s vintage Frank Starr dress

1920s antique gold metallic dress

Utterly nom.

teddy bears' picnic

I’ve had some Sukie iron-ons knocking around for a while that I bought when I was in Nashville last year…finally got round to getting them on some lovely rough calico today….and was hit by inspiration thanks to also having some curtain sample thingies donated by my folks when I saw them on hols last week.  I bloody love my sewing machinnnnnnnnne!!!!!

teddy bears' picnic - detail

With the stupendous news that Kings of Leon‘s fifth album will be out in October (oh yahs, pre-order here I come) I’ve decided that RAWK is the order of the day.

The Horse of Rock necklace by Cherryloco

You Rock card by Accidental Vix

Keep Calm pendant by Pendant Pixie

Rock n Roll All Night undies by Miss Cherry's Boutique

Rawk resin pendant by SpoiltPig

Rock Baby Vest by darkhaireddolly

Rock on.

I’ve been messing with my new toy. Hubby bought me a Fuji HS10 for my b’day…tis lovely and shiny and does all manner of clever things. So I’ve basically been harrassing my garden and its inhabitants. Bloody loving it. Trotting off to Snowdonia for some jollies with my gorgeous girls next week, so armed with tripod and HS10, expect some pics of mountains, streams, lakes, more mountains, and some mountains. Hurrah!!!

Garden geekery VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So yes, this week’s Folksy Friday is SEEDS – of any shape or form…

"Poppy" by Passionate About Photography

Watermelon Glycerin Soap by Melusine Soap

Seedbom by Kabloom

Grow your own Soup - Carrot & Coriander by Grown by Loumms

Large Bird Feeder by Little Brick House

Plantable Greeting Card by Bits N Bobs

*sigh*

Have a great weekend!!

Even Shakey understands....

See, I tried. I tried to blog. But it didn’t really like me. At least that was my excuse.

So I tried tumblr (braintoofull) – it was snappy, funky, brief, and it fit right in with my ‘spend less time blogging about making and more time making making’ ethos…….but after a while it just didn’t do what I wanted it to.

As a result, I’ve come back to my old friend WordPress…ah dear WordPress, with your silken locks, colour options and widget range, how I do love thee….

Ahem. So, er….. yeah, I’ve re-enlivened the old fella, given him a paintjob (that’s PAINTjob…) and added my tumblr feed via Twitter to the stuff and thingies on the right hand side. And when they invent something that lets me feed it straight into the blog, happy day.

I’d just left too much stuff on here to abandon it completely, and when your brain is as erratic (and insistently so) as mine is, I’d like to keep it all here if that’s ok with you? It is? Super.  It also occurred to me that many more people with content rich blogs from arty type areas are on either WP or Blogger, and it’s a lot easier to follow and subscribe here than it is there.

Anyway, enough justification…click on links in the Twitter box to get through to my tumblr – and make sure you follow this one! Comments, feedback, thoughts very much appreciated, on anything from new jewellery to textile yumminess to pet traumas and school days…and anything in between.

Hurrah!  Not only have they shaved a couple of years off my age, Ian’s finally getting credit for all the head and heartache that he’s poured into getting (and keeping) this going.

If you’re interested in the goings-on of the Derby Singer Songwriters’ Club, click here for the facebook page.

Never, and I mean “NEVER” with all my being, has physics been so very interesting. Could it be that Coxy is just a big kid, still messing about with chemistry sets and writing letters to NASA? Could it be that some small part of my brain is still going “Whoa….” at the massiveness of it all? Or could it be that the BBC is still making bloody great science programmes for those of us that just never really got science?

On a similar tip was BBC4′s Chemistry: A Volatile History which was also bloody brilliant. All those mentalist scientist types with sideways brains that work funny coming up with elements called flogesten and trying to prove stuff by setting fire to their own bottoms. That’s how science should be – gawd bless The Beeb.

Staying with chemistry… my wee ‘studio’ became a lab again today as I messed about with oxidising chemicals and the like….all of which contain sulphur so my bedroom now smells like I’ve been guffing all day. If you take that as read, here’s what I pulled out of my bottom, figuratively speaking…

Mucho spangly no?  The one on the right…I’ve had this long piece of gallery strip for a while, it’s way too delicate to actually set anything in, and it melts as soon as a torch looks at it.  But today, hurrah, I managed (with stupendously judicious use of said torch and a MASSIVE amount of skill, natch) to fuse it to the band…luvverly. Looks like summat dug up, in my humble opinion.  The one on the left is a new take on the lace plaque rings first mentioned here waaayyy back in 2008. Cripes.

My head seems to be full of ideas at the moment, which is nice in one way…not so nice in the “I can’t really act on all of them at once now can I?” kind of way.  It’s mainly to do with promotion, getting my stuff seen.  I’m jumping on the moo.com bandwagon, mainly because their products are completely fab and allow you to use them in whichever way you want… people are being really creative in the ways they use them, and I want to be too… expect a post soon on my one-woman endeavours in packaging

• you adopt a cat for a week before realising you have to hand it back as the old man cat you’ve already got really isn’t down with that
• you panic as you’re not sure you’ve got enough of the right stock for a market you’ve got to do
• you’re off being a sociable bunny the other side of a body of water (in this case the Irish Sea)
• you’re generally assailed by all things real life and creative shenanigans go right out the window with a big boot up their bottom

Other than that, it’s been a marvellous couple of weeks. To elaborate, said new cat was exactly what I wanted, one of those non-needy ones that loves a lap cuddle and greets you at the end of a working day with a snuggle around your ankles rather than a disgruntled “Humph, where’s my dinner you feeble, inadequate human…”. Unfortunately the grumpy old Eric was having none of it and after a few growling matches the likes of which I’ve never heard before, new cat was unfortunately taken back to his previous owner, a fortunately splendid woman who was happy to see him back again. Phew.

The market was in Sheffield, run by the dudes at Handmade Revolution at a venue called Workstation – great venue, right opposite Sheffield Hallam’s Students’ Union… but inevitably these things are hit and miss, you can never tell what’s going to go well, what kind of customers the event will draw and what things they’ll want to buy.  The heinous icky drizzle didn’t help either. I always feel for the people who organise art & craft fairs, don’t think I’ve been to a single one that’s been a runaway success (maybe with the exception of the first Flair fair I went to at the LightHouse in Wolverhampton) – it’s always hard to know whether to book in for one or not…. ah well, keep trying I guess.

Ireland was….splendid, as it was bound to be. Met even more fab people, had more giggles than was probably wise, and amazingly managed to escape two (yes TWO) hangovers…lucky beyond belief.

So here I am and back to creative thingies.  My jewellery mojo has been taken over by fabric a little bit (you may have noticed) – and I’ve been trying to figure out a use for all that fab old stuff that My Mate Lee™ (see earlier post) gave me.  Well, a few scunci hairbands and kirby grips later, I think I’ve figured it out.  Rose are everywhere. Absolutely bloody everywhere. As I already make my clay roses (piccies of two necklaces I’ve added to the collection below…) I thought I’d use the fabric for this too.  I’ll get a load made and expect to see them in the Folksy shop shortly.

So that’s what I’ll mostly be obsessing over this week

So, pics of those nummy fractal clay thingummies I was talking about…

They’ve all come out egg-shaped, result of the sqooshing and squashing…. quite like that, but might slice and dice a few, see how that fancy takes me.

Also made some copper rings over the weekend, had some reclaimed copper lying around for absolute donkeys with no clue how to do it justice – it’s all nice and battered see, scratchy surfaces, dents and knobbly bits, and I’d quite like to keep that character to it. So, created some more knobbles, dents and scratchy bits, and these rings are the result:

Now I just need to refine how to get them to NOT leave green marks on fingers, as the crystalline wax layers aren’t flummin’ working like they should be after my test run today…. grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Short and sweet today…. oh yup, title mentions puddy tats…. must dash so that’ll have to wait

What can I say…there’s only so much fun one can have crafting with one’s small offspring… so I raided her toy tubs and posed her wee plastic animals. And this is the result. Bloody love Photoshop.

As for the crafting with the offspring, many developments in terms of my clay jewellery… sneaky peak here, will add more bits as they’re finished and made up into wearing thingies that dangle and make people go “Aaaah!” and “Ooooh!” and “My that Rachel Watson is a talented little strumpet isn’t she?”

Ammonite fetish much? There are flattened versions too, all fractal like….totally nommy but the light went all pants and I couldn’t get pictures…will upload tomorrow.

Ooh ooh OOH GIG tomorrow, officially a lounge singer, if you’re at the Cinema De Lux in Derby centre tomorrow night, that warbling and twanging you’ll hear is us…

Ta-ra chuck, as Cilla would say.

I decided last night I was going to use up a load of materials I’ve got left over from my card-making incarnation, reprising some of my best selling designs into packs of cards, beautifully packaged and ready to go…. then this arrives. Ruby’s inspired doodling of a bear, with a two second colour-fill on Photoshop. I’ma make my girl a superstar. This comes only a few weeks after she declared (at the age of 6, mind) that she wants to be an artist. Not just any kind of artist, oh no. “One that makes posters.”

After seeing this, makes perfect sense to me. Expect to see it on cards soon

Ruby's Bear

Genius.

Today dear friends…*echo echo* – I have been mostly fiddling with photos. Started with some pictures I took in Ireland a wee while back… it was October and the light was so atmospheric, so I decided to emphasise that fact with some Photoshop wily ways – came out lovely…

Just makes me want to go back… Really straightforward, I’ve got Photoshop Elements rather than the crazy full monty, and it serves the purpose perfectly – only glitch being that any tutorials consist of instructions for the full programme so you have to be a bit creative in how you manoeuvre. Worth fiddling about a bit though. This mainly involved changing the opacity and blending modes for each layer – and LOTS of Gaussian blur. Might have to Wikipedia that. Still don’t know what it actually is…

So decided to apply similar wily ways to jewellery pics :

Nommy.

Other shenanigans today, finally took delivery of some resin woohoo! So have fiddled, drilled, threaded, papered, included and poured into a couple of bezel cups to see what occurs… will post pics as and when (if) it works – getting resin to set right is apparently a process of arduous trial and error. If it works, there’ll be no stopping me.  Of course, being my impatient self, the only bezel cups I had to hand were fine silver, rather than brass or copper – so if it goes waps up, I’ve wasted a bit… ah well. Trust to the fates and all that rubbish…

Black roses. That is what I like right now. Teeny, tiny black roses, accompanied by sparkly bits. That’s what’s in the resin, and I’ll be stitching some toot sweet.

One last plea….if anyone fancies buying any of my jewellery for Mothers’ Day, you know, as an unforgettable gesture to show the woman who squeezed you into this world how much you love her….then you’ll be helping me to fund a ticket to go and see Kings of Leon in Hyde Park in June. Just saying. You can’t imagine how grateful I’d be. I might even throw in a freebie. Oh yeeeass baby, that’s how I roll.

This week’s wondrous Etsy eye/wallet candy…. these completely awesome donuts…

..it’s SOAP people, SOAP! The woman is a genius… read her Etsy Featured Seller interview here…

So yup, weekly is probably to far apart for my old brain, I keep thinking ‘ooh must stick that in the blog’  then totally forgetting… so I’ll probably pop bits and bobs in as I go from now on….

Right, I’m off before the waffle gets too silly…

Brightness however, has entered my small and insignificant life this week through the medium of – no, not contemporary dance – fabric. Lots of it. If you’ve read any of my rubbish before now you’ll know that I’ve developed a bit of a fetish for things textile… well My Mate Lee (of stripy cardi fame a couple of posts ago) brought in a shedload of fabric, thread, bindings and all manner of things haberdashery from his Nanna’s stash, all for moi. His lady is in fashion and textiles, but is clearly way too hip to get more excited than is healthy over some 1970s dress polyester and a darning mushroom. So I became the recipient of all this lovely goodness…

Coooooo, innit lovely? And that’s not even half of it… I fiddled about with some of it, and along with this awesomely pretty tutorial from Portabello Pixie made a few rolled roses, perched atop the fabric above… the brownish one is made with some kimono silk I’ve had for a while, it’s soooo gorgeous, the colours remind me of old paintings. Nommy. Now all that remains is to figure out what to do with them – roses seems to be flummin’ everywhere at the moment…

All this fabric is lending itself nicely to my next ‘tryout’ – I’m gathering all the goodies together bit by bit….oooh the intrigue.

As well as rolling around in second-hand fabric in a debauched manner, I’ve been getting excited about other things this week.  Have a peek at the last pic in the gallery above…

I know. Pens. Ever since I set up my bedroom so I could play libraries when I was wee (well, wee-er than I am now) and got all possessive over my rubber stamps, I’ve loved stationery. Freakish, yes; but when a full set of  Staedtler Triplus Fineliners calls to you from a high craft shop shelf (drooooool) I defy you to resist. OK, ‘fession’s over. Nothing to see here, move along please….

On March 6th I’ll be at Handmade Revolution’s market in Sheffield – sounds like a great organisation to get involved with, there’s another market of theirs I’m hoping to do in May – will update closer to the time.

And there’s my summer hols to bonny Scotland. Haven’t been up for a good three years and I’m pining, big time. We’re going to the Isle of Mull for a week, in the teensy but utterly gorgeous cottage we stayed in after we got married (and where we had so much champagne as pressies that I was burping pink bubbles for a fortnight yum)…then back to the mainland, Argyll somewhere for a week’s camping hurrah!!! If anyone knows of any yummy sites, let me know.

And last but not least, GALWAY ROADTRIP!!!! Weehoo! In 2009 I was fortunate enough to meet some truly fab people, all through the medium of – no, not contemporary dance – Kings of Leon. And I shall be seeing them again at the end of the month for a no doubt raucous, gin-fuelled, butt-boogied, legendary weekend. Cannot wait.

Right, it’s Earl Grey time. Pip pip!

P.S. – if anyone has a fairly decent nick colour laser printer they don’t need any more, let me know

No bleeding hearts, no guilt-inducing adverts while you’re eating your dinner – just a way to help those in need to get access to something we don’t even think about.

Thanks x

But yup, another plaity recycley drapey necklace done, loving this. This one is actually made from my favourite top as was, I used to make all my spangly things wearing this. Then I ripped it. So here it is, freshly laundered (natch) and transformed into a thing of snuggly loveliness.

Quite nice getting back to making after the insanity of the weekend, sprog #1 had a sleepover to celebrate (albeit belatedly) her 13th b’day.  There were even going to be a couple of boys. THAT’s how cool of a mum I am. Oh yeah.

Except they didn’t show, the chickens. Needless to say teenage daughter was gutted, but proceeded to console herself with peanuts, copious amounts of Sprite and a barrelful of Millie’s Cookies. So all was well.  Until we missed the start of Avatar, which she’d been begging to see for weeks. So I’ve now had to promise to go and watch oversized, tight-tushed, flat-nosed, ab-endowed blue men. Again. What a bind.

Right, sprog #2 needs picking up and taking squealing to Build-A-Bear. Can I cram any more product placement into this post? I think not. Send me some damn freebies.

I love all the frayed-edgeness to it, they all curl in on themselves and go all petally, tis lovely.

I can see a fair few more of these appearing v. v. v. soon.