Three bed semi

Batpoop crazy!

2011-10-30T23:54:00.000Z

Guys,
I find that simply posting on this blog really got me in the right mood to craft again. I mean, what's the point in moaning about a house that needs... customizing.. and then not do anything about it?
So I got to work Friday night. And I mean night, as I came home LATE after a rather long shift at work and a despicably tedious, wet, cold hike on the bus (which is new to me as the old house was so close to my shop that I only had to fall over face first twice and I was there) and decided that the lack of bats in the living room was rather disturbing.
Hoarder that I am, I luckily had some black cardboard at hand. Out came the trusty old scissors, and with the help of a bat shape neatly copied onto a white piece of paper from my laptop screen (hey, do I look like I can afford a new printer??) turned stencil, I got to work and cut out 18 ridiculously cute, fluttery bats.

Yup, another mobile phone picture as it was 3 am in the morning and my proper camera has decided that working her flash is just too much hard work. Can't blame her.

Obviously, there had to be more spiders since my arachnophobia is a considerable entity in my life and nothing says "batpoop crazy" better than surrounding yourself with the one thing you really fear, right? So I used about 750 square feet of fake cobweb and loads more plastic spiders to really make a house a home.

By the time I had finished my infernal webbing, it was about 4 am... maybe I should mention that my alarm was due to go off at 8 to pull another fun filled, joyful shift in the bookies? I reckon that was what inspired the finishing touches. Enter Stephen King.

I figured (with stupid o'clock logic) that ketchup would be better than food colouring. Since ketchup does not contain food colouring. *d'oh* I also got the second R wrong, should have faced the other way 'round. Silly, overtired me!

I wasn't around to see the kids' faces when they turned up Saturday afternoon, but if the fact that they insisted on staying up 'til after ten to wait for my arrival back home to actually thank me is an indicator, I reckon they liked it.

I hope to be able to show off my chandelier tomorrow (THE BIG DAY, as Halloween is MY holiday of choice!) because it is sadly not even finished yet. On the twelfth day of Halloween my true love gave to me... *sigh* Please forgive the lame photos, I hope you still sort of get the knack.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a little bit of sleeping to do to be fit for tomorrow! (bless me, I got 2 tubes of glow in the dark makeup for £1, I'll either die of the most epic rash ever or have the coolest complexion known to man. Maybe both.) Stay tuned, if you feel so inclined, for the chandelier reveal :)

BOO!

2011-10-26T20:50:00.000+01:00

Hey, did I make you jump?
This old ghost from the past just crept up on you! Well, if there are any of you left to be crept upon.
I shall not even try and bore you to oblivion with why I was away for so long, let's just say we had a few major changes going on, including moving house. And just in case you've never tried to stuff a large 3 bed semi into a cozy 2 bed terraced, just be told DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
Only today did I manage to get a little bit of my mojo back and make a few little decorations for my upcoming favourite day of the year, Halloween.
Just to illustrate how bad I suck at blogging, the pictures were taken not with my beloved DSLR but my mobile phone- if you can forgive me for being invisible and despicable and awful and altogether rather unwholesome, I promise a proper post with proper photos in the very near future.
What do you say, do I deserve a second chance? If I throw in a few spiders?

The arrangement is not final, I just wanted all I got so far in as few photos as possible. All there is are a few cheap pound shop Halloween toys, old book pages, red and green food colouring and fake cobweb. We are on a really tight budget, which sent me on a quest to come up with really cheap, yet cheerful stuff to creep the kids with.
There will be some more things, the coup de grace being a big roadkill rescue IKEA chandelier all spooked up.
I hope that I have not lost all my bloggy friends, as I've missed you all pretty much like crazy in the last few months of madness and mayhem.
Keep calm and scary on, eh? ;)
Love,
Steff

What the &;^%$#@ Are You Wearing Wednesday!?!?

2011-05-04T14:32:00.000+01:00

I am, my lovelies, wearing a big, old, chunky wool sweater. Because the house is so dang cold that we actually considered switching the heating back on!
Don't get me wrong, it is lovely and sunny outside, but this lovely house of ours takes MONTHS to warm up and only minutes to go back to its natural freezing state. I reckon my next What the... Wednesday will feature me with snot stoppers stuffed up my nose! On the upside, my bathroom is now lime green rather than mould green. The walls are still bare and will remain bare until I find a stencil to spruce them up a little before putting up my new bling organizers.
Now... behold, yours truly:

Have a good day, peeps!

It's not easy being green!

2011-05-01T21:56:00.000+01:00

So we survived another weekend of minion infestation. Took 'em to the park, and a good time was had by all.
Who am I kidding? We had a blast!! The weather was awesome, the kids were on their absolute best behaviour, and it turns out that a walk in the woods is about a gazillion times more entertaining than the TV, the PC, and any random heap of plastic ever deemed a toy. This will be a (kinda) crafty post, but please let me show off the babes!

There were football hooligans, imaginary dogs, bear caves and ancient graves. Take that, Playstation, Wii and Cartoon Channel!

Anyway.

I figured that with my Mums' visit approaching fast, I better get my behind into gear and tackle the worst disaster areas in the house. Pretty much the first thing that come to mind is the fungus farm in the bathroom. It hasn't seen a lick of paint since we moved in, and mould is spreading like there is no tomorrow. There is pretty much nothing we can do about it- the house is old, the room is badly ventilated and the paint that graces the walls at the moment was, I suppose the cheapest on the market.
So we went all out and bought a bucket of "lime crush"- yes, "lime crush". My choice. In my first flat, I was still a teenager, I had a green "wet cell", and it sort of tickled my fancy. Wanna see the disaster zone I'm talking about? Behold- our poor bathroom!

I had a few brush strokes to test it, and I guess I can live with the colour. As long as it's not mould green, I'm all for it!

I intend to take down the shelves you see in the picture. All they do is steal light! Honestly, if I wanna slap on some make- up, I have to do it somewhere else because for the love of mascara I can't see what I'm doing in that bathroom mirror.
But that means the wall is going to be empty. And there is nothing worse than an empty wall, right?

Say hello to my new earring organizers!!

No tutorial needed for these bad boys. Have a look:

All I did was adhere some fabric to cardboard I cut to size to fit the frames (this way I can keep the original backing in case I get tired of organizing my bling!), added some wire to one of them, some crocheted flowers (please check Mandys blog for the super- easy tutorial, the green flower is my first ever and not at all bad, if I may say so!) to the other, stuck some of my shinies to them and there they are, ready to grace the new lime crush- coloured walls.

Unfortunately, the daylight disappeared before I could take pictures, so the colours look a tad (very) odd. In reality, they actually match, and I'm hoping they'll look ok on the wall, once it's done.
What I shall need now is a solution for my necklaces, but I think that a few twigs and white spray paint might help me out.

Stay tuned, I have a hunch my next post will involve paint, brushes and a lot of green!

Love y'all, hope you had a great weekend.

Gimme a jellyfish, will you?

2011-04-28T23:53:00.000+01:00

Guys, I had this post all planned out.
I meant to present you with some perfectly crafted jellyfish, in honour both of Mich L and Saraccino.
Now, have you ever produced an utter FAIL? I mean, something so dang bad you can't even sell it as kids' craft, recycling, upcycling or repurposing?
Check out my Jellyfish.

They jelled their way into the bin, without even getting the benefit of ~~doubt~~ tentacles.
After failing with model clay, I decided that one fail isn't quite enough, I had to fail with the needle felting technique, too. On the upside, I got a pretty flower and some really decent felt beads out of it! But on the whole, there will be no jellyfish in the Three Bed Semi at any point in the foreseeable future. Boy, am I cheesed off!

In order to rescue todays post, I have something that I would love to share with you all, if you'd allow me. Nothing I had planned, just one of them little LOL moments that make jellyfish seem quite unimportant, even if you've spent a whole day off on creating a jelly disaster.

The Man and I went on a little stroll today, exploring charity shops and generally enjoying the nice weather. I came home with a bag full of fun finds, he came home regretting he ever took me for a stroll. Bless his cotton socks, he took it like a man and stopped crying about an hour ago, I am SO proud of him!

To cut a long story short, when we came home, I went upstairs to change into something comfy and found this:

Brownie points if you find the kitteh. I called The Man upstairs, and I swear he did not notice her! Domestic bliss on a mad cat lady scale.

She eventually emerged, and I managed to get some shots of her and Bob which I am really proud of, for no reason whatsoever. The light played into my hands, the camera is pretty much courtesy of my insurance (hey, a D40 was all I asked for, cheers!) and the models seemed to be in the best mood ever. All I did was click, and I was blessed with pictures that, in my book, capture the very reason why we put up with hairballs, spraying, hissing, cat fights, a bannister that is reduced to a mere toothpick and no room whatsoever on the couch, bed, comfy chair and pretty much anywhere else.
Meet Erin and Bob, people.

There are two more supermodels in the house, but apparently they were unavailable for this shoot. Divas... If this wan't too much for you guys, I will happily post glamour shots of them as soon as I manage to get an appointment in. As I am writing this, Shannon (skinny black slinky cat) is trying her upmost to sit on my lap, so I reckon I might have a foot in the door.
Sorry for another utterly non- crafty post, but if anyone feels the need to say JELLYFISH anywhere near me, I swear I will hurt somebody. Badly.
Love y'all, have a great weekend!

What the &;^%$#@ Are You Wearing Wednesday!?!?

2011-04-27T13:49:00.000+01:00

Here's another one for Sunny!

I am wearing
A) an incredibly sexy baby- blue, 100% artificial fibres, made in the 3rd world, ill fitting work blouse and
B) an equally sexy, just as incredibly well- made black skirt, courtesy the local charity shop.

Both items show every wobble, every blob and every fold there is to be shown, and I don't think the blazer I shall don to complete the outfit will help a lot.

Why the heck am I wearing this as we speak?

Because I am on my way to an interview which, if successful, might or might not grant me a small promotion within the bookies. Same job, worse hours, different job title and a few shillings more a month. And I mean few. But, should I ever apply for a PROPER job, "deputy manager" will look better than customer service assistant, right? So I clench my teeth, get myself suited and booted and go for it.

Wish me luck, guys, I think I deserve the promotion just for getting dressed in work stuff during my official holiday and hauling my sorry behind into town to bare my teeth in a Cheshire Cat grin at whoever sees fit to assess my abilities. Err.

Love y'all, have a good 'un!

Happy Easter, everyone!

2011-04-24T12:22:00.000+01:00

The Man and I wish you a wonderful day filled with eggs, chocolate, sun and whatever else makes this a brilliant holiday.
Nightmares of Donnie Darko included.
Love y'all!

He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood!

2011-04-15T23:47:00.000+01:00

He's the one that makes you feel alright.
Nothing like a bit of Motley Crue, people, reminds us how ~~old~~ ~~seasoned~~ ~~young at heart~~ musically educated we are!

Both The Man and I suffer from ridiculously dry skin at the moment. Dry to the point where it gets itchy and, as a result, painful from the scratching. His mainly affects his face and back, mine the areas around my big gob and arms. Basically, we both look like considerably less cute versions of this:

There are few options, really, especially when your dry skin borders on something that might require cortisone creams. My grandma always used to say they make your skin thinner, and that would be counterproductive, right?

So I decided to go with the flow and try something so simple, it really should not work.
Entry Dr. Feelgood.
Sugar, extra virgin olive oil and honey.
If you google olive oil sugar scrub, you'll find tons of recipes to whip up within a few minutes. So the only point of this post, really, is to gently nudge you towards giving it a go.

You can use fancy stuff like oil made from olives harvested by Sardinian virgins on the last full moon before their 15th birthday and mix it with honey produced by a rare breed of pink- and- black chequered rain forest bees, but all I do is get a cereal bowl full of simple, cheap white sugar, about a shotglass full of ALDI extra virgin olive oil (you can tell it's fancy, it comes in a glass bottle rather than plastic! whoo- hooo!) and a splash of whatever honey you have knocking about. Actually... if you would be so kind, try and get ethically sourced honey. I won't bore you with the details, but it makes sense.
Anyway, mix it all up into a rather sandy, yet smooth happening, stick it into a container with an airtight lid and you are all set.
Smother it all over your body in the shower or bath and do NOT wash it off with soap. Clear water will do. Then... don't towel yourself down like you normally do, just get an old towel and gently dab the moisture away so as to keep the oily film on your skin.
You can happily use it from head to toe, and if you feel so inclined, even lick your fingers after applying the mix. Sweet, baby!
I promise you will feel divine. Your skin will thank you a million times over, and your wallet will cry tears of joy for not being disemboweled for purchasing empty promises of eternal relief.

If you use it on your face, there will be no need for extra moisturizer after your bath or shower. Your face might be shiny like a babys' behind for a bit, but that's better than a face like a bearded dragon, right? Oh, and did I mention how you exfoliate at the same time, save loads of money and feel divine? Yeah, I think I did.

So, if you have not yet made your very own olive oil scrub, I strongly suggest you get started. Zero hassle, almost zero cost and you can (almost certainly) bin that cortisone cream. Convinced?

Have yourself a divine weekend, love y'all!

What the &;^%$#@ Are You Wearing Wednesday!?!?

2011-04-13T22:52:00.000+01:00

Sunny over at Life in Rehab has introduced the worlds first "What the &;^%$#@ Are You Wearing Wednesday!?!?". You all know "What I wore Wednesdays", right?
Well, Sunny is keeping it real. Or surreal? Not too sure, but please go see for yourself. To put it in her own words- it's just... weird!

Anyway, here's me this afternoon (!) before work.

exhibit A: Oversized Glasgow Celtic hooded sweater jacket, bought about 10 years ago on sale in Glasgow.
exhibit B: "This is England" T-shirt, featuring the picture of a full English breakfast in all its artery- clogging beauty. Bought on sale last summer as an anti- support for the English national football (soccer) team during the World Cup. I support ABE! (anything but England! To keep it fair, I also support ABG, anything but Germany, and when England played Germany, I only JUST stopped short of displaying the England flag.)
exhibit C: flowery jammy pants, bought on sale at ALDI. Yes, they have a PINK print. Got a problem with that??

Altogether, I look a proper tramp in the house! But I couldn't be bothered any less. It's MY lair and MY dress code! HA!! Please note that I took the picture at an incredibly unfortunate angle, though- my chin has, in reality, less than 3 layers. But only just.

Ah, knock it off, will ya?

2011-04-13T15:30:00.000+01:00

You might or might not remember that I promised a little knock- off the other day. It'll cost you pretty much next to nothing, and I'm pretty sure you will laugh all the way to the bank because yours truly is about to save you a whopping £118! (don't ask how much that is in $, but it'll be a lot of dough.)

How do you feel about these babies:

Minoan earrings that, according to Anthro, give you some sort of divine powers. And they'll give THEM aforementioned £118. For a bit of brass. You WHAT? I don't think so, people.

Ready to kick some Minotaur butt, guys? Go and pour yourself a pint.

Yes, pint.

Then grab the empty can, carefully cut it open and do this with a sharpie:

Just estimate the length, it totally depends on what size you want your shinies to be.

CAREFULLY cut out your shapes, the metal is really sharp. Keep away kids, cats and clumsy significant others! You'll get this:

Sand down the edges. Please don't skip this step, unless you feel the urge to decapitate yourself with your new earrings!

Now, bend the metal strips into shape. I tried to make mine resemble the original, but again, it's totally up to you!

Now... I am lucky enough to have a crazy talented Man in the house who used to paint wargaming miniatures. He does not paint anymore, but all the equipment is still there. You might want to enlarge the following two photos (click on them!), just to treat yourself to the full range of, well, INTERESTING shades available to yours truly.

Snot green is my all time favourite, but I went with Mithril Silver, followed by a coat of clear varnish. I'm pretty sure you could use spray paint or even nailpolish instead!

Oops- I forgot to mention- before I started slapping on the paint, each shiny got a little hole at the flat end.
Anyway, it won't do any harm if the brushstrokes are visible- the original Anthro version seems to be brushed brass, so no smooth surface there.

Now, let everything dry out nicely and gather two beads of your choice, two headpins and two earhooks.

Assemble.

Take a final picture:

... and sit back to imagine what you could do with the £118 you just saved.

Notes: I made a couple of mistakes. I applied one thick coat of paint rather than to thin coats, so little "blobs" of paint accumulated at the edges, and at some points, the green permanent marker still shows through.
I also did not make the little holes smack- bang in the middle.
But since this is so ridiculously easy, I'll just have another go and experiment a little!

I hope you are a bit inspired. Now, go spend £118 on something that's REALLY worth it!

This one goes out to the one(s) I love!

2011-04-12T03:11:00.000+01:00

Guys,
I apologize for the lack of posts. Let's just say that liquid and laptop keyboards are a less than perfect match!
I am posting this from The Mans' laptop, late at night while he's serenely snoozing away in bed. Bless him!
My recent inability to actively participate in the blogland community left me feeling slightly guilty and immensely handicapped. So many wonderful posts, comments and ideas I would have loved to answer! Eeek.
But for the time being, I shall have to remain quiet until my keyboard is fixed. Thankfully, my laptop works justfine, minus the keyboard! It'll be fixed soon, but until then, it's quiet time.
While I have the reign over The Mans' laptop, though, I would like to introduce you to a couple of peeps you have seen, yet not properly met before. I promise this is not going to be a photo blog (in fact, I am hoping to be able to present you with a ridiculously easy Anthro knock- off soon), but in my book, there are things that need to be put out in the open.

I mean, WHAT??? See the big guy doing an obscene gesture? And see the wee guy laughing his big head off at it? And don't get me started on the princess wearing shades way too small for her. She actually prides herself in needing glasses in teenager sizes because, and I quote, "a big brain needs room". Darn right it does, my little Viking queen. Her namegiving, not mine.

The Viking queen, as you might recognize, is Abigail, 8 years old. She is hard as nails, soft as dough and pretty as a spring flower. She is NOT a lady. She never will be, and I love every hair on her head. If I ever had a daughter, I would wish for her to be a lot like Abi. Clever, funny, caring. I got her and her lil' brother a Kinder surprise egg on Saturday, and after she cracked hers open, she immediately offered me half of the chocolate. What a girl, peeps. What a girl!

The big guy in the middle... I will not bore you with details. All that counts for me is that he loves me, the kids and the cats (VERY important for me) from the bottom of his heart. He has zero manners (obscene gesture?), cares zero for what people might think and has the most creative mind I have ever encountered. His cooking skills are unrivalled and he looks, well, INTERESTING wearing nothing but an apron Just trust me on that-further proof found on my Facebook.

Have you noticed how happy the little guy on the right looks? Aaron, 4 years old and the master of the whingy voice. "...but... I am a goooooooooooooood boy!" Yeah, man, you are, and a bloody pain in the behind! This little fellow can crack you up at the drop of a hat. He does not WALK down steps, he'll slide down the steps on his behind. Panicky adults will only increase his pleasure. He's perfectly able to wipe his bum, pull up his pants and sort himself out, but there seems to be nothing more pleasing than a shrill shriek " Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" (yeah, it hurts, doesn't it?) and the world is at his disposal. But look at that smile, even I, certified Ebenezer Scroogesse, can't growl. His main feature is the incredible ability to take apart every £30 Transformer he encounters and turn it into an interesting heap of scrap plastic, keeping adults entertained for hours on end, trying to fix the unfixable.
For some obscure reason, he calls me "weird" and "Womble". I think I like him.

Anyway, so much for today, this is as close as this blog will ever get to a Mommy blog. I'm no Mommy, just a victim of circumstance and dang happy with it! And in case you picked up upon wee man and big man wearing the same odd outfit- they are Croatia football (soccer) tops. I have a relatively large collection of tops The Man likes to wear, and I happened upon the tiny version in the charity shop. Don't they look awesome together? I suggested to Abi she get a Croatia top, but she objected, she reckons us girls need to stick together. Hello Kitty it is, then!

Love y'all, please stay tuned for my Anthro knock- off earring tutorial. Have yourselves a good time!

Happy Mothers Day (UK)!

2011-04-04T00:02:00.000+01:00

Guys,

this is a post that's not about the crafty endeavours of yours truly. In fact, it has no crafts, success or fail, in it whatsoever.
It is about my Mom, and I would like you to get to know her through the awesome pictures she takes.
I know that most bloggers and blog readers appreciate beautiful pictures. I also know that many pictures we get to admire on our favourite blogs go through some kind of post- processing, often wonderfully done. Most of the pictures on my blog are at least cropped, and more often than not they go through some sort of enhancement, even though they are still amateurish in most cases.

My Mum, as far as I know, has no photo- enhancing software at her disposal, and I truthfully doubt she even knows how to crop a picture. But she seems to have "the magic eye". She sees things, and it is like the camera turns into an extension of her eyes. *blink*, and the magic is done.For me trying to photograph, it's more like *blink* and the magic is gone!

I would like to show you some of her pictures that make me want to laugh, cry, embrace the world and believe that there might be some good left in the world. They can all be found on her Flickr, if you want, I'll share the link.

Now... meet the incredible woman I am proud to call my Mum and see the world through her eyes.

Years and years and years ago I requested that she should please only send greeting cards from her holidays that feature some sort of critter. You know, not your boring old "sooo cute highstreet" shot, wish you were here and whatnot. She has not let me down ONCE after that. In fact, there was one occasion where she did not send a card at all because she could not find one with any kind of critter on it.
She sends me parcels with home made chocolate pralines and my favourite ketchup and crisps (I can't get that stuff in England, so she spends stupid amounts of money on postage to make sure her offspring has something to spice up her sandwich with) and (true darn story!) has kept a piece of puff pastry in the shape of a frog that adorned a meal The Man made her on one of her visits in Leeds.
When I was a kid and on holiday with my grandparents, she would send me letters with the pawprints of her pets stamped in lipstick (how she got the cat to do it I still do not know) and one year I received a full carriage horse- headcollar as a christmas gift. We passed her off as my sister to my first boyfriend and laughed for years afterwards. She got bowel cancer, survived and still contemplates tattooing a zipper over the scar. Heck, she had herself tattooed at the same time as me more than ten years ago! She paints on silk and buys the students of the university she works at little gifts- because she can. She never wears the socks I get her because they are kept for special occasions...?! Her kitchen counter is packed with stuffed animals, all of them little gifts from me and Her Man, and she still lights candles for my Rainbow Cat Penny.

Her name is Marion, she's my Mum and when I grow up, I want to be just like her.

Bang goes the bangle!

2011-03-29T21:12:00.000+01:00

Remember me mentioning a fail in my Scotty- post? Well, I figured it was about time to show you my new yarn- wrapped ~~bangles~~ candle holder adornments!

I scored this beautiful yarn in, you guessed it, a charity shop and immediately thought of making it into some sort of jewellery.

So out came the cheapo bangles I got with wrapping in mind.
Wrap it, baby! And end up with something that looks like your favourite childhood teddybear had a terrible accident:

The blue version is not much better, like a carpet sample turned cupholder:

So, after photographing them, I actually meant to throw them away, but found out that they fit snugly around my little IKEA tealight holders. Like so:

They kinda make me smile, not because they are pretty (and heck, they are anything BUT pretty!) but because of my blind enthusiasm to put my own spin on some of the really beautiful stuff I have seen sprout up all over blogland, failing royally. So, for as long as my mantel sports the blue- ish look, they are allowed to stay, and then end up in the dress- up box for the wee ones to mess around with.

Behold, my yarny endeavours did not stop there. A fail will not prevent me from trying out anything that looks do- able, easy and satisfying, so I grabbed myself a fork, some yarn and got to work. This little tutorial shows how to make neat little pom poms without much ado, and I strongly recommend you guys give it a go. No fuss, no messing about, just you, your fork and some favourite yarn scraps. Aww, bliss!

I made 13 of the little fellas (13 is my favourite number, just for the heck of it!) and stuck them to my now- bare winter wreath with some hot glue.

Unfortunately, the pictures do the wreath no justice at all. I'll try and get some better ones in proper daylight!

Put a price on happiness!

2011-03-25T01:11:00.000Z

Necklace: £1. Fancy little bottles: £1 for the lot. Frames: £2 including yarn.

"Meow" unique artwork: £1, candle holder £0.50.

Incredibly gorgeous, slightly disturbed ginger kitteh: free to good home rescue kitten from a family in Castleford.

Have you added up? £5.50 for the things you see pictured. Quite good, right?

But have you ever tried to purchase the perfect light in any shop? The way only the morning sun at 8 o'clock before a 13 hour shift makes your random garbage look like a million bucks? The way it puts a golden glow to a ginger kitties' fur? How a few minutes of pure, undiluted bliss in the morning can set you up for a whole, long day in the treadmill?

No shop, catalogue, website can ever offer this. When you wake up an hour before waking- up time and the birds are singing their little hearts out because spring has finally arrived, and when your significant other gets up even though he doesn't have to just to sip a coffee with you before you set off and how everything seems to be just right.

This morning was really some sort of wake up- call. Hibernation is over, my summery self is coming out again. The world hasn't changed, but I am in the right kind of mood to appreciate the "small" things again. Like the two ladybugs I evacuated from the bathroom yesterday. And the wonderful little old guy with the atrocious handwriting who was beaming like pictured morning sun when he came to my shop today, giving me a bite size Mars bar just because he likes me. (and I ate it, pretending I didn't have the most terrible chocolate- induced toothache in the history of toothache, and I loved it. Loved it like the first chocolate bar ever.) And the starlings that, I swear, grow out of the tree across the road from my shop in their dozens.

What makes you happy, guys? Which are your "million bucks moments"? I could list so many more, but I thought I'd just give you a glimpse of one nice day. Not a perfect day by all means, but memorable for nothing other than the way the morning sun turned it into something good.

There is more crafty stuff lined up, if you can tolerate more yarn- related posts. I'll move from decorative items to jewellery, and you are invited bear witness to my most recent fail.

Love y'all, have a sunny day!

It's a wrap, Scotty!

2011-03-22T14:56:00.001Z

Don't worry, the title will make sense in a minute, if you wanna stick around!

You might have gathered that I dance at many a wedding. Metaphorically speaking, because I can't dance. The women in charge of my tormented, traumatic childhood decided it would be an idea to pay for lessons when I was a teenager (disco fox and waltz, I mean, seriously??), but I packed it in after 3 or 4 of them and decided to spend my allocated dancing time hanging out with equally uninterested friends, all the while pretending I was duly rocking the dance floor. Mama, it's too late to send me to bed without dinner now that you found out... right? RIGHT?

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, dancing at many weddings. Dabbling.
A few days ago, I decided that I absolutely HAD to wrap something in yarn, or I would never- ever be happy again. I have many colourful yarns knocking about, a very lucky charity shop find. Not enough of any colour for, say, a scarf or anything, but so many wonderful shades that one feels inspired by simply looking at them. Stashbusting? Yeah, let's call this little project stashbusting, it makes me feel downright organized and sensible. (and you don't get the image of an excited kid in Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe into your heads!)

Unfortunately, a wreath was not really an option because I had no intention of paying good money for a wreath base just to satisfy my yarn wrapping needs. Plus, the need came over me around midnight- not the best time to go wreath shopping. So I had to come up with something that was already at hand. What does every savvy thrifter have an abundance of? Other than empty jars, candle sticks and ready- to- felt sweaters? Correct. Picture frames.

The idea is not new, and if you want to check out a beautiful Pier1- knock off, please head over to Jess, who made the coziest little beauty you could ever wish for. She also has a pretty neat idea how to match the photo in the finished frame with the yarn used.

My approach is less cozy and reminds more of all those beautiful wreaths that pop up all over blogland. I even got to make my very first felt flower! (always hot on the heels of the latest trends... months later...)

Have a look:

I hope it'll look pretty when the candles are lit.

Have you figured out why it is a wrap, Scotty? I'll give you a hint:

and a close- up (because I am pretty chuffed with how the edges turned out, merely by chance as I am not ashamed to admit!)

This craft is strangely addictive and immensely satisfying, so I will keep wrapping things in yarn till my need to dabble in something else comes over me.

Have a great day, peeps, love y'all!

>

Happy St Patricks Day!

2011-03-17T02:15:00.000Z

Guys, I'd like you to listen to the music while reading my post.

I am not Irish. Not even 1/16th, and as much as I would love it, I don't have an Irish Wolfhound as a pet. Dammit.
I have been to Ireland (well, Northern Ireland), and I loved it, so for your "Kiss me anyway" display tomorrow, you can quote me as the girl in question.
As some of you might have gathered, I am a German living in England supporting a Scottish football (soccer) team with Irish roots- Glasgow Celtic. Are you still with me?

The whole thing started AGES ago when a Scottish player came to play for my then favourite team, Borussia Dortmund. The guy was Paul Lambert. At some point, he left Borussia to play for Glasgow Celtic, and my then- husband and I decided to travel to Scotland with two friends of ours to check out his new "home". We hired a van, stuck a Borussia Dortmund- flag in the rear window, and the rest is history.
It was, to put it in a nutshell, an incredible experience. 4 Germans with Dortmund- tops and English- skills ranging from "yes, no, where toilet pleez?" to "yeah, naw, where's the loo?" surrounded by incredibly lovely, welcoming Scotsmen and -women, pampered and protected from everything I now know to be a tough world. Upon entering Glasgow in our hired van, a guy actually threw a "Glasgow Celtic Almanac" from an open bus window into our ride and gesticulated all sorts of appreciation until we were out of his sight. And, please be told, that was only a tiny fraction of the gifts we received just for being German and supporting Paul Lambert and, by proxy, Glasgow Celtic.

Upon returning to Germany, we were reformed. We knew all kinds of Celtic Songs and Irish history, even though we'd never set foot on Irish soil. Oooh, ya beauty, Celtic has the most Irish roots as ever you'll see :)

We went back at least twice a year for many years after that. And we were always received like friends those beautiful people hadn't met before.

Unfortunately, there was and is a dark side to the way we were introduced to a certain part of Irish culture. The songs we were taught during our first couple of visits often are about political stuff you don't really want to get involved with as either a tourist, a proper Celtic supporter or anybody who is not Irish.

I learned this lesson the painful way when I took The Man (English born and bred, even though he has LOADS of Scottish and Irish ancestors) to an Irish pub here in Leeds. What sounds great when you are surrounded by merry (drunk) fellow Celtic supporters (or so it seems) kind of turns sour when you are in England, surrounded by welcoming English friends who have no connections to Ireland whatsoever.

When I went to Belfast, I went on my own. I have tattoos that disclose me as a Celtic supporter, and I felt the need to cover them up. I was stupid. My experience in Belfast is something I would tell my grandchildren about if I ever had any. I was welcomed, embraced, incorporated into a large family of IRISH people who don't give a flying fiddler's fart about where anyone originates from. What seems to count these days is who you choose to be, and I choose to be as Irish as I can be.

I have spent the last few years in England and I am incredibly grateful for the Welcome I received. Even though there are still fights I have to brave, mostly they are negligible. But if I could be born again into any country of my choice, it would be Ireland. Straight after Slovenia.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures that, I swear, will never see the light of day again!

and the reason why I decided that NO rebel song whatsoever is worth it:

Oh, and did I mention that I disagree with the general idea of expelling snakes? I know, I know... it's all about getting rid of infidels blah blah blah... but the mere idea of one mad Saint picking on serpents really annoys me! Same as I don't agree with good old St George going after that sad oversized lizard. It just doesn't gel with me, folks.

Have a WONDERFUL St Paddy's Day, guys, and paint the world green. The best thing Glasgow Celtic taught me is to Spread the World. Pay it forward, kiss the Irish and those who want to be, make the world greener and sing a song. Give away an item you KNOW somebody else will cherish- what about that pair of earrings Aunt Cecily adored when she visited? Or this really cute tote bag you used to take the recycling out, and the neighbour nearly fainted? I SWEAR you will forever remember the good deed you did, and I also swear you will forever be remembered for it!

... but... but... I am not Irish!

2011-03-16T14:27:00.000Z

Fear not, my dears, for those of you who are not 1/16th Irish, have an Irish Wolfhound as a pet or have heard of somebody whose cousin knew a girl who actually went to Ireland once- you will not remain unkissed tomorrow!

Print off this little something, stick it in a frame and nail it to your door tomorrow, and you shall be pecked, smooched and snogged!

This post is just a quickie, pretty much a brain fart in the last few minutes before Mama's gotta haul her not very Irish backside to work. There will be more shamrocks and shenanigans later!

Click image to enlarge, right- click to save and snog!

I FELT the need to dabble!

2011-03-07T21:47:00.000Z

Hey guys, did you miss me? :)
Sorry for being awol, but somehow, there didn't seem to be a lot to tell the world, so I decided to rather keep quiet than spam your overflowing reader with yet another negliblible post.

Not saying that this particular post is going to make your day, but I was told that a cute kitty enhances pretty much everything.

Convinced? :)

Now that I have your attention, I would like to show you what I have been up to recently- needle felting! I'd been intrigued for months, and getting a little bonus on pay day (100% attendance, can I please have a medal?) allowed me to purchase a few supplies. All the curious crafter really needs to start felting away is a felting needle (or two or three, but to test it out, one is enough!), wool rovings and a foam block. Google it if you are interested, there are tons of tutorials out there, and it really is simple, yet immensely rewarding.

My first shot at felting some embellishments onto what is hopefully going to be a bracelet:

Certainly no masterpiece, but I think it sort of illustrates how easy it is for a complete newbie to make something that does not look like Jackson Pollock on acid :)

And of course I had to have a go at 3D- felting as well. If everything turns out the way I want it to, the little gnomes will turn into a gift for someone special, but until I am sure, my lips are sealed.

The pictures leave a lot to be desired, but that's down to the flash. There's just not enough daylight to be had in England! And there's talk of snow again, maybe I better get some scarves done for the little guys.

So, if you are looking for a new, very old hobby that does not cost you an arm and a leg (just the odd occasional gallon of blood when the darn needle ends up in your finger), look into needle felting. In my sometimes relatively creative mind, the possibilities are endless, and failure comes at no great expense. Just think of what you could make! Felted beads, toys for the kids, brooches, sculptures of animals... I've only just started to dabble and love it already. You can even embellish clothes and bags! What's not to love?

I hope I could inspire you to try something new today.

As a little PS, my Random acts of Kindness are not forgotten! The other day, I had a wee chat with a lovely lass who runs a tiny beauty parlour next to my shop. She knows I am German, and she told me about her favourite ketchup, Hela Curry Gewuerzketchup.

It always has been my favourite as well, and since I have the best Mum in the world, there happen to be two large bottles of it in my fridge. So I went up the next day and gave her a little of the good stuff which I'd poured into an old coffee jar. It pays to squirrel away containers :)

Pay it forward, guys, and make somebodies' day. Often, it takes as little as a sweet from your private supply given to a customer or a cup of tea made for a colleague. Maybe even letting the busy fellow behind you in the queue pay for his two items first, so he can get on with his day, or buy a chewing bone for that shy new neighbours' awkward dog.
You'll feel at least as great as the recipient of your kindness, and the more happy folks there are around you, the better it will be to live in your little corner of the universe.

Love y'all, have a lovely day!

You're nicked!

2011-02-16T20:41:00.000Z

At least cuffed, so consider yourself nicked.
I spent a few hours yesterday and today whipping up a little something for a girl that has put a smile on my face many times. If you would be so kind, go and check out her magic.

She lives in my town/ city/ village (it depends on my mood what I call Leeds, today it's positively a village!) and is one of the most generous, helpful, JOYful people I have encountered online. And, boy, is she talented! She makes the most gorgeous little art clay critters you could ever hope for, and if you manage NOT to fall in love with her wee beasties, please let me know how you did it.
She made a wee mouse for my Mum before Xmas and kitted her out with black forest gateau- just because she can. At no extra cost, and it was her idea entirely- can you believe that?

Anyway, I owe this lassie big time (for more than just black forest gateau, because it turns out she is also a wonderful friend far, far beyond mere customer service!), and I thought I'd make something for her.
Take felt in various colours, embroidery thread and a whole lot of patience, and you get this "you're nicked... well, cuffed, anyway" bracelet.

It's posted, so all my doubts about it come too late, right?

It's a test run, I've never tried to make a felt cuff bracelet before.
I hope the recipient will not dwell on the shortcomings (like uneven stitches... oh man, I am blushing even thinking about the stitches!)... if anybody wants a tutorial to outdo me (easy!!), I'll be more than happy to let you know what I did. It's not hard, just very time- consuming.
Anyway, I count this as my RAK for yesterday as I spent more hours on this yesterday than I did today.
Hope I'll have something to show you tomorrow; I started something RAK- wise today, but that was as bad a fail as ever you'd see.

Love y'all, don't forget to be kind to random folks as they come along!

Oh, I nearly forgot- proof I delivered my spider- eyed surprise:

We went past the house today and I couldn't see any police cars OR the bug- eyes. I hope my dahlias- to- be were received kindly!

Let there be darkness!

2011-02-14T18:14:00.000Z

... so I can sneak out and deliver a little parcel to an unsuspecting neighbour!

You are looking into the surprisingly beautiful eyes of a jumping spider, would you have guessed? Inside, there's a plastic flower pot spiked with dahlia seeds; the leftover seeds are attached to where the spider ear would be if spiders had ears, together with a little note thanking the "gardener" for brightening my day, signed "a smiling neighbour".
Well, the recipient will either happy or call the coppers because he or she thinks they're being stalked by a freak!

My second card for Aunt Peaches' challenge is done; another acrylic paint- job with a little felt owl keyring attached.

I'll show you the third and last tomorrow, hopefully together with the story of another RAK- do you have any ideas for me?

Love y'all, happy St Val's!

Random acts of kindness

2011-02-13T22:59:00.000Z

Guys, please don't think that St Val gets me all soft- hearted. Far from it.
It's people like Aunt Peaches and Lori that do. Let me tell you how those ladies inspire me, will you?

Lori recently received a lovely gift from somebody who would not disclose their name, so she can't thank the person properly.
Instead, she decided to do some sort of informal giveaway to everybody who wants to participate in what she calls Pay It Forward. She agreed to send everybody who commented on her post a little gift, but in return, everybody has to do random acts of kindness to random people in random situations.
Leaves a lot of room for inspiration, doesn't it?
I have vowed to dedicate all next week, beginning with St Val's day, to random acts of kindness and tell the world about it in the hope that it might spark something. You know, that little extra bit of patience in the queue at the supermarket till, hittig the brake rather than the gas pedal when you see somebody who wants to cross the street, putting out bird food when it's darn cold rather than just think "yeah, I really should..." but never actually get 'round to doing it.
My first RAK will be something quite odd, and I'll do it tomorrow. First day of my proclaimed week of kindness!
My neighbourhood is very small. Lots of tiny streets with semi- detached red- brick houses, many of them inhabited by students and some of them freshly bought by what you might call young professionals.
Some houses are more looked- after than others, and only few are lucky enough to have a garden. Bless our house, it HAS a garden, and I often think that the garden would deserve people who would put a lot more care into it.
I know just the right set of people, even though I don't think I have ever seen them in person.
They live only a stone- throw away, in a house that looks a lot like ours. What makes it stand out is the grand display of countless flower pots arranged at both sides of the door. It's like whoever lives in that house gives a big "so what!" to us ignorant folks with gardens that are ill- cared for.
I walk past that house every day on my (short) way to work, and it always makes me feel good to see those tons of flower pots and the care somebody has put into them.
So, to cut this short, I will tomorrow go and purchase a little bag of flower seeds. I have ceramic pots and soil knocking about, and I shall make a little, oh, I don't know, pansie pot? and secretly park it among the dozens of pots around that particular door. I'll leave a little note just thanking the "gardener" for always putting a smile on my face, maybe on the back of the seed pack or so. And with a bit of luck, that person will also smile and have a really good day, who knows. Or maybe they'll never know there's an extra pot, but I will, and it'll be my secret :)
Right, that's one RAK sorted, only 6 to go. Any ideas?

Another thing that makes me go all fuzzy is an idea Aunt Peaches came up with.

Aunt Peaches had a little last- minute challenge up the other day. Send a Valentine to three people also participating in the challenge. No later than Feb 10, so I have already screwed up, but I was really busy!!
I don't think I've ever sent a Valentine in my entire life, so this was a chance for me to experience something new.
I've been busy today whipping up something half- decent, and here's one of the results, the rest is yet to be finished. The first card I ever made, with acrylic paint, glitter and beads strung on wire.
Don't let the pictures fool you, once the glue is dry, there won't be white splodges, and without the flash, the whole thing doesn't look like a slice of bacon, either.

I just hope my Valentine has some use for those little earrings!

So go on, folks, be kind. Maybe thank the postie for doing such a good job delivering your mail in every weather, or feed some stray cats in your area. You could give some stuff to your local charity shop or hop over to your granny and listen to all those old stories all over again.
Maybe you could drop into your local newsagent/ corner shop with a cuppa coffee and thank the staff for infallably opening the shop at stupid o'clock in the morning so you can read the paper over your breakfast. Or tell your wee ones' teacher how much of an impact their work leaves on your little treasures' mind. Heck, you could even leave a beautiful card in the book you bring back to the library with a nice little message to the stranger that reads it after you. The possibilities are endless.
Be creative, and be sure you tell the world about it. Not to make yourself look better but to inspire somebody else to be just that little bit more kind.
If I can do it... it'll be a walk in the park for everybody else.

Love y'all, peeps!

A Valentines quickie :)

2011-02-11T20:11:00.000Z

Sorry, I just couldn't help it.
This is something I whipped up this afternoon when a silly idea crossed my mind.
Well, not so much an idea, as this has been done before, but how about giving your loved (little) ones a message in a bottle for Valentines?
Not sure about you (well, those of you who have regular access to a pint- sized version of homo sapiens, anyway), but we kind of delight ourselves in how little it usually takes to make the minions happy. (again- I stole this term from Sunny over at Life in Rehab- you'll find the link in my side bar and I strongly suggest you pour yourself a glass of wine and head over! Maybe finish reading this post first, though...?)
You buy them an oversized toy, and they end up playing with the box. Just like cats. *sigh*
Personalized stuff always hits a straight 10. A few weeks ago, we got them a little set of cutlery each, Abigail got one engraved with little hearts, and Aaron got Dinosaur paw prints. Guys, that was the first time ever I saw the wee bugger polish off his entire plate, no kidding! It might have helped that the veg was cut from an ancient dinosaur forest, and the drumsticks were dino thighs.
You get the picture, right?
And now you'll get the pictures

I thought you could print them out for the wee boys and girls in your life, stick them to some empty bottles (do I hear recycling?) and leave a little love note in the bottle.
I remember when I was a child, my grandmother would write me little poems before I had to do class tests or other unpleasant stuff. She might not have been the best responsible adult, but she used to be quite the poet! So, if you need a little "extra" to spice up a kids' day, maybe this helps.

I made the labels using artwork by cagedbird, redju, mdl and Raspberry Road.

Click on the image to get the full size version. I hope you like them, and I hope even more that the little ones like them! You could maybe soup them up with some glitter or, for the wee men, the odd occasional screw attached to the bottle?

I intend to make my own message in a bottle, I need to justify keeping all those old bottles around anyway :)

A windy Folksy Friday!

2011-02-04T19:50:00.000Z

Sorry it's been so long, peeps.
I'd love to say I was crazy busy, but no such thing. Quite the opposite is the case- I was crazy lazy, which sounds a lot more like me, right?
There's some good news- to the day 3 months after we were burgled, the insurance FINALLY decided to do what they are supposed to do and replaced our missing goods.
We are now again the proud owners of a laptop, a little digicam and, I am overjoyed to report, a Nikon D5000. Guys, she is a BEAST. You will soon be ~~bombarded with~~ treated to pictures of decent quality again! How I have missed my Nikon... unpacking my new baby was a treat. I took my time, slowly opening the box and every little bag (why the heck does it take so much packaging? Seriously, it's like the moon was waiting to be our next landfill!) and assembling my little beauty. If I was a little bit more of a pansie, I swear I would have cried with joy, and that's no exaggeration. Couldn't stop smiling all day!
Guys, if you have a little bit of disposable income, a favour to call in or a friendly neighbourhood shoplifter that took a shining to you, I'd recommend you get a DSLR. Nobody who's not a pro will ever need a D5000, and I would have never been able to afford one myself- I was so lucky the insurance thought her to be a replacement for the D40 the burglars took off me. Buy a used camera, it won't make a difference. Borrow one (if possible) for a day and experience how amazing the difference between a DSLR and a regular digicam is. I guarantee whichever one you get, it'll shoot ants right up your behind, making you want to go out there and see the world through a lens!
I rest my case showing off Shannon- with every bit of dust visible. Where the heck has she been prior to having her picture taken?

Today it's terribly windy around here- bins falling over, branches breaking off trees and whatnot. So I thought I'd gather some wind- related item for this Folksy Friday and get some air into the dusty old Three Bed Semi! A click on the pic will take you straight to the shop.

Let's hear it for the dabblers!

2011-01-23T23:05:00.000Z

Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes is a dabbler. She is not happy until she's tried it.
And what is it?
Any craft you could think of and then some, she is not picky. Weaving, knitting, carving, quilting... you name it, she dabbles (no, wait, I think the word I am after is DAZZLES) in it.
So, what is a dabbler?
The way I understand it, and please cut me some slack as english is my second language, is: you give it an amateurish go, and if you like it, you crack on. Blogging it seems to help, too.
I started this blog because I won a crazy competition, and I haven't looked back since.
There was jewlellery, paper, felt, sugar, mod podge, spray paint, soap, candles, crochet and whatnot. I loved it all, and I still do.
There is a huge stash of supplies in our house I can't find any justification for it other that being a dabbler.
Say it with me and Pam- DABBLER. Been there, got the T- Shirt.

There are so many incredibly lovely blogs out there all written by, c'mon, you know... DABBLERS! Yeah, class, that's it. Give everything a go, immerse yourself, learn something new and be utterly embarrassed about the paint chips. But does it really matter? I, for one, have some stupid amount of fun coming up with a new blog post, supported by The Man, trying to catch your imagination with something. It might be something you have seen a million times before or something you'd never wish to see again, but for me, it is fun.

I should really start and tell you about my failures as well. A tea- died carved owl- fail. Pillowcase- fail. 70ies style crocheted scarf- MAJOR fail. That kind of stuff never makes it into this blog, but maybe it should. Germans say "dance at too many weddings", and yeah, you are bound to trip up. A Yorkshire person would say "and land on your @rse"", but let's not go that far.

All I want to say is- go with Pam. Dabble in anything you like. You might find that you are the new and upcoming queen of jewellery, or maybe you will be the most incredible model clay artist ever. If not, you could always go for the crocheting crown or tea tanning tiara. Whatever makes you happy. And if you feel the need to share the umpteenth twine- wrapped object, go for it. It's your craft, your blog, your creativity.
Go on, dabble.

My fails

The last one, I am not a bit ashamed to admit, is The Man. The Royal Fail lies in how I thought I might actually fit into the outfit, because it said one size fits all. Just so you know, it doesn't.

Night of the bunnyrabbit!

2011-01-22T21:07:00.000Z

I told you yesterday that The Man came up with and idea.
When I was sketching simple stuff I thought I could make out of felt for the Easter Tree, he looked at the bunnyrabbit- face I had drawn and said "That's be cool as a cat nip toy!"
Bless him, I hadn't even thought of that. So here it is, the birth of the catnip bunnyrabbit.

Sketch yourself a bunnyrabbit on an old wine box.

Cut it out.

Draw outlines on felt of desired colour twice, flip over template after first one.

Cut out, leave a bit of felt around the outlines- you'll use them to sew along them. Sketch and stitch on a cute face. Stitch together with the sides with the outlines on the outside. Begin half way up the chin, go 'round the ears and face till you arrive on the other side of the chin. Turn inside out, a chopstick might help to accomplish this.

Stuff with dismembered pillow, add catnip and sew the opening together.

Place in front of picture of soon- to- be- ex husbands utterly adorable doggie and take a shot together with new best mate Valentine, the Voodoo zombie.
Be proud of youself, crack open that wine and relish looking at your kittehs enjoying themselves with a good, healthy dose of pacifying catnip!

Thanks to The Man, he was a real star during conception and birth both of Valentine and Bunnyrabbit. Credit where credit is due!

Folksy Friday: Your best friends!

2011-01-21T23:25:00.000Z

I am in crafty limbo. Or, I was, until about 3 hours ago, when The Man, in his uniquely lovely way, sort of whacked me over the head with a great idea.
I was sketching silly stuff, like bunnyrabbits and carrots, in preparation of our easter tree. Remember the xmas tree? Same thing, but with easter decorations. Stand up and look me in the eye if you have any valid reasons why... NOT. Stay tuned and you'll see.
Anyway, his remark inspired me for this weeks' Folksy Friday.
It's all about our best friends- kittehs, goggies, feathers and scales, you name it.

I had quite a few "pets" in my life, and I loved them all. Minus the cats, I think the best companions I had so far were my rats. Apart from the first one, Paul ( who was a female, I found her abandoned on a shopping trip in town when I was about 18), I got them all as youngsters, and they allhad names realated to ancient Egypt.

They are so wonderful- give them their space (no, a cage bought in the pet shop will NOT do!), a companion (I suppose siblings work best?) and all your love, and you have best friends for as long as it lasts.

Downside is, it doesn't last long. Two, three years on average, and they tend to meet their ends. Given that they often descend from lab rats, they have sort of damaged genes, and cancer is a common disease. I won't bother you with the stories, but you have to be a tough cookie to see it through.

After sharing my life with about 12 rats over the years, I had enough of the heartbreak. 2 tattoos are eternal reminders of the joy they brought me, the trust they put in me, the loyalty, love and friendship I received. If you can stand the heartbreak of a hard decision at the end of a beautiful life, rats might be the pets you are looking for. Intelligent, clean, friendly and always surprising, given you provide them with what they deserve to live life to the max.

Mama, don't preach and get on with it! Folksy Friday, people- for all your best friends' needs!

Treat pouch- 5% of the sale go to a greyhound charity. You know it makes sense.

Best friends- wee piggietailed critter and wee rat- tailed critter!

Hey, gorgeous, what's your name?

pocket- sized purrs- personalized portraits of your pets. (ppppp)

I might not believe in it, but maybe there is a need for doggie coats. If there is, here's one to look out for!

Personalized bowls- how can your pet live without them?

The best kitteh is a sleeping kitteeh- tuck them in in style.

Liiiiiving under the sea... love turtles? Show it!

Free bird! Headless horsemen not included. (and this bird you cannot change!)

Show your love by buying a HUGE rabbit hutch for at least two and this cute name tag (times 2)

Hope you found some inspiration, guys. Always remember- see what your pet shop recommends for your pet and double it up- that'll be somewhere near what is required. This goes for space, company, nutrition... they depend on us, give us their love and their lives. Least we can do is meet their needs, eh? And with the help of the omnipresent and somewhat omniscient internet, it won't take long to study up before taking in a furry, scaly or feathery lodger.

Love you all, stay tuned for what THE MAN kickstarted!

update: Ooops... over all the preaching, Mama forgot to link the pictures! This is fixed now. So sorry!

Folksy Friday: Healthy!

2011-01-14T20:54:00.000Z

We've been feeling a bit under the weather recently- there was a lot of coughing, sneezing and general germ- spreading going on around here. Tell you what, guys, it was NOT pretty!

So, here's some healthy stuff to keep y'all going through the flu season- everything, of course, lovingly handmade from the beautiful people that are on Folksy.

Click images to zip to the shops!

Wheatie bags to keep you warm!

Dress up that hot water bottle, you know it makes sense.

Treat your cracked lips to chocolate goodness

A lavender bath to relax before bed time

No warm kitty for your lap? Stick one 'round your neck, sure to prevent sore throats!

Gather friends to support you!

And if all else fails... spread some love, as it might just be the best remedy.

Oh, and if you happen to encounter a severe case of MAN FLU... try this:

Have healthy weekend, everybody- love y'all, even with the sniffles!

Folksy Friday- Make me laugh!

2011-01-07T22:41:00.000Z

It's been a while since my last Folksy Friday. You know, the post where you guys are supposed to find handmade items you really love and, eventually, get your pay pal ready to buy them.
The whole idea of Folksy Friday is to pick items you'd totally buy yourself, there is no marketing behind it, no money, no syndicate.
Just a little community thing to spread the love- and the Folksy Handmade Idea. Why buy High street when you can have something lovingly handmade for pretty much the same money?
This week, I want to share items that make me happy just by looking at them. They make me laugh, grin, chuckle, ROFL and smile. They inspire me and make me feel... good. Yeah, that's it. I vow to play the lottery from now on so I can buy each and every wonderful item that tickles my fancy- here's to all the wonderful artisans that put all the effort, time and love into their work to give us something truly amazing- a smile.

What makes you smile? Outwardly or inwardly. What gives you this "on top of the world" feeling?
For me, the cats usually do it. And if they fail, there's always The Man! LOL I smile when I see a wee birdie having breakfast on a quiet morning or when my idiotic kitten falls off the telly. When I wake up to sunshine and when a new customer tries to open the door the wrong way round.
There's loads of smiles to be had, it's just the case that sometimes they need to be hunted down.

Ready to grin?

Remember- a click on the image takes you straight to the shop.

And now- gimme a SMILE!!

Love you loads,
Steff

Happy Resolutions Day!

2011-01-01T23:46:00.000Z

Since there are so many New Years throughout the world, I am at a loss as to wether I shall wish you all a happy new one. Technically, for me and many others this is the first day of 2011, which is kind of scary.
I still remember the first day of 2000 (in Glasgow...boy, did we see loads of still- smoldering car ruins! (and a fair number of human equivalents) We loved every second.

2010 was memorable in many ways for us- unfortunately, largely for all the wrong reasons. Hang on... maybe one remembers stuff... largely wrong. I was about to say "financial straits, dissatisfaction with the job, getting robbed at home and at work, this, that and the other". What a silly way to round things up.

It' s a lot more healthy to look back on the really good stuff that happened.
For one thing, I started this blog, thanks to Mad Mich L. What a wonderful person to come into my (pixel-) life!
She got me started on a journey that restored my faith in mankind after life thoroughly wrecked it. And she gave me reason and excuse to come up with stuff I never thought I would createincluding jewellery, bats, ghosts and sugary xmas decorations.

Also, I found my way to Folksy, a wonderful "british" alternative to Etsy and populated by the most lovely, talented and inspiring people you could imagine. I am still overwhelmed at how nice and friendly everbody was and is towards me, even though since the robbery, I have mostly been quiet in the community. If, as a local artisan, you need support and encouragement, go folksy yourself. You will be amazed.

The Man has been a real pleasure to be around most of the time, and I'd be sincerely surprised if he could say as much about me. We are pretty much two sides of the same coin- where he is tolerant, I am judgmental. Where he is patient, I am fiery. Where he is lenient, I want heads to roll. Where he gets disappointed, though, I am not surprised, and where he gets burned, I wear the asbestos underwear. In many ways, he should be writing this blog, because he could be the genetical experiment where Jim Carrey, Billy Connolly, John Belushi, Martha Stewart, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey and Woody Allen each donate a toenail and the result gets to wear nappies. I, on the other hand, am called Scrooge on good days and make children check the dark areas of their bedrooms on average ones.

Another good thing... and I mean, a real good thing, has been my Mum. She calls me Loewenbaby (german for lion cub), because we are both star sign leo and (even though none of us actually believes in astrology) bloody typical of what 99 p magazines say we are like.
She is fiercely protective over her (can you believe it?) 32 year old cub and like a crown jewel. No, scrap that. She is THE jewel. The version of myself I always knew I could be if I only was more understanding, more protective, more patient, more thoughtful, more ... her. Dammit, when I was 13 or 14 and dating my first boyfriend, I passed her off as my older sister and went to meet the lad with her in tow, only to take the mickey out of him with her over a big, fat bowl of ice cream afterwards. What a blast!

Looking around me, I see a stuffed Bob the Builder toy about the size of an average 3 year old. On top of my bookshelf there is a Bob the Builder play- o- rama (couldn't find the battery slot to disable the darn thing, so I hid it when Aaron went to the loo), and half the house is covered in glittery plastic stars I threw over the kids a few days ago when the wee man complained he couldn't see any stars in the sky. We afterwards stuck them to the windows with spit. You don't want to get the glue out when there's minions about. You just don't. And there's nothing wrong with spit in small doses.

I also see a room with no carpet and mustard coloured floor boards (ever had four cats puke on the same spot of your cheap landlord- provided carpet?), a sleeping Man, no cat, half a smoked cigarette at the fireplace (the only place we smoke in the house- we blow the smoke right up the chimney and you can't smell there's stupid, idiotic, suicidal, money- burning smokers in the house at all!), a box of Country Manor wine (an acquired, but quite refreshing taste), endless books about serial killers, a wonderful knock- off victorian birdcage with Twit and Twoo plus nest in it (stay tuned for pictures, they defy common good taste, but are totally US!), a silk scarf- turned main deco made by Mum and a load of stuff that once we are dead, people won't even donate to the charity shop, but means loads to us.

Not quite your average stylish mansion you would love to live in and be able to decorate and re- decorate endlessly. Not even your average family home. But in the last 12 months or so, it has turned into our den, our refuge, our, dare I say, home, cat p!ss on the door mat and all. We might turn on the light in our bathroom by pulling a string with a stuffed monkey soft toy dangling from it (and we can't even blame the kids) , and we might have grave candles from Slovenia in our garden, right next to a fat Buddha. Our spiders might be hard enough to knock the neighbour's spiders lights out, and I might feed the rats in our garden on the odd occasion, but that's it- the Three Bed Semi and what it was like to live in it in 2010.

Sure you wanna stick around for 2011?

Let me put you off. (the casual use of pictures NOT taken in 2010 is non- intentional and a delusion instilled into your brain by the government of Micronesia)

Happy Resolutions Day, everybody, I shall be posting crafts again very soon as all this reflective time of year is finally over. I always hate myself in hindsight and mirrors, both make me look fat!

x

No crafts today..

2010-12-29T00:09:00.000Z

No crafts today, my heart just melts away

The children stand for joy, a symbol of the day

No crafts today, it seems a common sight

But people passing by don't know the reason why

Unlike what I think some families do, we don't take family pictures to use as Xmas cards.

It's not that we are not family. In a modern sense, we are.

It's not like we don't look good in pictures-

in a LOLcat way we do.

It's not even like we don't do Xmas- darn right we do.

There were crafts I could show you, but beautiful people like Saraccino rounded

them up a helluva lot better and more original than I could. Hop over and give the girl

some love- in a very tentacled way, she is incredibly talented, humorous and incredibly

big- hearted. One of my favourite blogs ever. This wonderful lady happens to be

a fellow German, but I can't say I was ever lucky enough to encounter somebody as,

and I mean it in the BEST way possible, odd as her in Germany EVER. If I had,

maybe I wouldn't have felt the need to leg it!

Right, I was talking about Xmas cards.

I might not have told you, but the minions are staying with us for a full week.

For those of you who have their own minions, this might not quite be the biggest deal

ever, but for somebody like me who has successfully avoided reproduction, it darn well is.

A full week trying not to swear, getting up early (well... The Man does. I just switch to Deaf Old Witch Mode

and steal another hour!) and hiding your alcohol intake that seems to be getting

out of hand around the holiday period. Hic. (please don't take this one literally,

we DO drink responsibly and share with them! LOL)

We got them early Monday morning, and, boy, days seem to drag when the weather is

so frigging bleak that you can't take them to the playground and the bank holidays

don't really allow you to go into town and drag them through random museums to make

everybody elses life misery.

What we have learned so far is that a Transformer toy is not only impossible to

transform, it also breaks easily in Daddys hands. It was called Bumblebee, now it is

called "The Plastic Thing That Drowned In The Bath Never To Be Mentioned Again".

We have also learned that it is quite cool to take a very grown- up 8 year old girl

and a "third child syndrome" 4 year old munchkin boy round the shops to buy really

big heaps of chinese plastic for about 45% of the price that was charged like...

a minute ago. Did you know that cr@p provides about ten minutes of fun, while

watching Daddy trying to get all the packaging off entertains for a full afternoon?

We have tried to make Xmas last for as long as possible. Yesterday, we did aforementioned

trip, while today, we just spread out silly little gifts like pound shop

cutlery with engraved dinosaur footprints (for him, the princess got love hearts)

to dig into their astronaut feasts (chicken with broccoli and cheese sauce, but

in really fancy dishes, they nearly busted their bellies!) and stupid Xmas

crackers with paper crowns and stickers in them.

Tomorrow morning, a 99p stuffed toy is awaiting the wee man Aaron(he has a thing with monsters.

One minute he's scared, the next he luuuurves them), looking like a pink zombie.

The princess will be presented with an equally expensive necklace with a love

heart pendant.  They went to bed tonight knowing there'd be something to wake up to.

If I had to price absolutely everything up, including the big heap of

chinese- made scrap plastic they both got as their main presents, I'd say we spent

about £20 on each kiddo so far. Keep in mind that is 2 days of being showered with

surprises like a toy car for being a good boy and a little lockable diary for

helping carrying the shopping without even being asked for the princess. (a hands-

on princess like Shreks Fiona, never mind Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella! My Abigail will

knock the Prince straight off his horse and nick his ride until further notice,

thankyouverymuch)

So, now that you know how absolutly adorable we all are, I don't mind showing you the TRUTH.

The ugly, absolute, undeniable truth.

Let me please show you what would have been our Xmas cards if we did them. And understand

why we don't do them. Ever.

Heiligabend means Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T02:54:00.000Z

Guys,

according to Wikipedia, this is the German tradition of Christmas Eve. Check it out.

In some families the whole family comes together; in others December 24 is celebrated only by the close family, whereas the larger family (grandparents, uncles & aunts, etc.) will visit on the first or second Day of Christmas (December 25 and 26 respectively).
Before the Bescherung (gift giving) begins, many Germans go to church. Christmas masses/services often last around one hour. Families with children go to a children's mass which is usually shorter and dramatised with a Krippenspiel, which is a nativity play.
While everyone else is at church, one of the adults prepares the Christmas tree and turns on electric lights or lights decorative candles, and puts on festive Christmas music and places the gifts under the tree.
When the family comes back from the church, the living room is locked. The children must wait to enter into the prepared room until a little bell rings. This bell marks the departure of the Christ Child (Christkind) who, according to tradition, brings the presents (instead of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus). Revealing the decorated Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree) with all the presents is a big surprise. For the Bescherung, the only light comes from the Christmas tree lights (in the past real candles, today electric lights rather than candles).
Many families will sing traditional Christmas carols or play music on flutes and/or guitars around the tree before opening the gifts.
The gifts lie under the tree, wrapped in colorful paper, and the children unwrap them before the big Christmas feast. Adults may also share gifts while the children are opening theirs. Many families also prepare decorated paper bags or carton plates (Weihnachtsteller) for each of the children and adults. These are full of treats and are often in the shape of angels or Santa Claus, who is called Weihnachtsmann in German.

All of this, to the letter, applies to the Christmas Eves of my childhood. I never enjoyed the church bit (hey, c'mon, what child does?), but the little silvery sound of the bell, the smell of the tree (remember- I am conservative, its gotta be the real thing... or it did have to be...), the soft glow of the lights in the tinsel (red one year, purple the next) and even the flute, played enthusiastically by yours truly, were cherished.

I used to get two Bescherungen, one with my grandparents who technically raised me and one with my Mum and her partner who lived two flights of stairs above us in the same house. My Mum always had "the same tree"... the tree itself, of course, changed from year to year, but the decorations never did. To this day, they did not.
She, in fact, is the only person I know who still uses real candles in her tree. She might only light them on the actual Christmas Eve and substitute them with electrical lights for the rest of the season, but there are CANDLES in her tree. I remember the smell of real bees wax like I had only experienced it 5 minutes ago.
Her tree was and is a feast for my sore, tired eyes. It has been years since I last saw it, but please spare a minute to admire MUMS CHRISTMAS TREE 2009.

All the gifts are arranged around it, and on the wall you see my silly face under a silly hat overlooking the scene.
Her apartment is tiny, and the tree is always quite big. I know that green sucker reminds her of years gone by just as much as any Christmas tree reminds me of her.

Guys,
I don't really care if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Ashura or Diwali... nothing, all of the above or something entirely different... I would love for you to use 5 minutes today to sit back and gather your favourite memories. Sit back and unwrap them like a really expensive piece of chocolate. If you are on a diet, unfold them like the first love letter you ever received, carefully as to not tear the slightly age- worn paper.
Look at what is right in front of you, and then read between th lights. Remember smells, sounds, colours, whatever makes those memories special for you.
When your 5 minutes are up, pick up the phone, grab a pen or open your mail program. Get in touch with somebody nice. Mom, niece, Granddad, the wicked witch of the east, somebody who unexpectedly dropped you a line or two, your divorce lawyer, your vet... it doesn't matter.

I have come to the conclusion that all this holiday stuff really is about the fuzzy feeling inside. And I don't mean the eggnog. Go and share it, it has a tendency to grow. Bugger, eh?

Thanks for following me on my little adventure as far as you did. I hope you will keep traipsing along with me as you guys give me almost as fuzzy, warm and, well, LOVED a feeling as my favourite Christmas memories do. Your support has been amazing, and I love and appreciate each and one of you strange people who keep stopping by for inexplicable reasons to work their way through my ramblings.

Happy Holidays, everybody- Frohe Weihnachten!

How are thy leaves so... foily?

2010-12-20T13:34:00.000Z

This little house of ours is not meant to be adorned with a Christmas tree. 4 unruly cats and 2 typical kids (who will visit during the holidays!) simply don't allow for a proper tree, which even I had to admit. I am normally really conservative when it comes to a needly friend during Xmas, it's eitherthe real thing or nothing. Period.

Look what the man adopted yesterday.

It is not much taller than a pint, incredibly despicable and made from some sort of foily fiber things. Things. When I came home to it, it wasn't even shaped, and I could not stop laughing for 15 minutes solid. The ugliest piece of third world child labourers impression of a Christmas tree you could imagine! (or at least I suspect child labour for the price of £2.29, reduced from £8!) I instantly fell in love with it.
I always wanted the teddy with the dodgy eye or missing ear as a child, and I always wanted the tree that nobody else wanted for Christmas. Softie, eh? So this awful little fellow made from stuff that probably ends up as bin bags 11 out of 12 months a year stole my heart.

The Man said it was my challenge to make something pretty out of it, so I started immediately.
A pathetic little popcorn chain was made, and the little fellow got a hat and scarf so as not to freeze. Skinny thing MUST be cold, don't you think?

Then I remembered a wonderful post I read not too long ago on Polish The Stars about frosting candle holders with Epsom Salt. How freaking clever is that?
Well, I have no Epsom Salt. So what else sparkles? Yeah, man! Sugar! (at this point I think The Man kinda lost his last bit of trust in me and decided to go with the "Yes, Dear" routine. Bless him, he has suffered a lot.)

Here's what happened:

Get some reasonably sturdy clear plastic and cut your desired shape. Get your sugar and mod podge (or, for savvy folks, cheapo PVA glue) ready.

Attach thread (or pretty wire) to your stars. Watch your hands, people. Don't ask, okay? (...)

Dry the little beauties together with slices of lemon you happen to have sitting on the radiator, too, for another project:

Start over with the other side, dry again and display:

I am dead chuffed with how these fellas turned out! And I shall do more stuff for that little ugly tree. The plan is to buy nothing new and just use stuff I have 'round the house anyway, so let's see how it goes. I think The Man likes it, too- he sweetly commented how crafting away put a genuine smile on my face and didn't even attempt to strangle me after another giggle- attack while inspecting the tree late at night. Never laughed so much in my life!!

All in all, minus the time it took the stars to dry, the whole session didn't chew up more than half an hour and it is literally a sweet little craft you can fit into even the busiest schedule!

Get frosting, guys, you know it makes sense.

See you soon with further tree- hugging!

Bad blogger, busy bee!

2010-12-14T13:08:00.000Z

Okay... so I have not blogged. Again. As odd as it is, I actually feel bad about it because I had the opportunity (we are still sharing a pc, but the Man is quite generous!), but rather spent my time creating things.

If it counts in the way of an apology, my working pattern is quite erratic, and when I actually DO get quality time, I have recently found it quite relaxing to craft rather than stare at a screen for longer than necessary. I have also found that when I can't fall asleep at all, it helps to mentally go through a future craft project, smooth out edges, solve little problems like, oh, I don't know... what fabric? Where to get a wreath?... and just get lost in it till sleep finally comes. Who would have thought that crafting would turn into my happy place?

Anyway, I want top show you what I have been doing while not staying in touch with you all, something I do miss. Pixels are one thing, but the people behind them... hey, the insurance might yet cough up and I get my laptop back so I can just drop a line or two whenever I fancy rather than making a session out of it and chasing the Man away from his machine :D

Right... are you guys ready for a shameless display of "what Steff did this Xmas"?

For my colleagues, I came up with a daft little Nikolaus treat. The lad got a pair of normal, well, guy socks, the girls all got fluffy socks. Each sock was filled with the second sock, xmas confetti, sweets and a little gift. Oh, the husband of my beloved colleague Barbara got his own treat, too. Can't help it, I love that chap.

This is what happened:

Not very detailed, but you get the picture.

I also did some Xmas decoration, on a very small scale and potentially embarrassing, but that's in the eye of the beer holder, right? Please be lenient, this is my first crafty xmas and my very first xmas where kids get to judge my effort... I couldn't be more freaked.

I started with a tweaked version of something I saw on Everyday Mom Ideas
A guest post from Robyn, check it out here.

The trees are made out of a German Heave Metal Magazine, a dish towel, a sweater and coloured pencils. Oh, and loads of hot glue.
The wee stars are felt and beads. Everything else is just the everyday atrocities one encounters around the three bed semi.

I love that chain of lights that pretends to be a chain of snowballs. Three bulbs need replacing and I am frantically searching for a pack of snowball xmas light chain replacement bulbs- when, please, did I stop being cool? Ironically, while typing this, the whole thing blacked out. Not fair.

I shall tell you about my primitive (in a good sense) wreath soon, I am tired of things (including the pc, it's done it three times now while typing this post) blacking out.

Hopefully the minions (geez, Sunny over at Life in Rehab
has a lot to explain!) like it, as they are the only reasons I'm feeling all xmassy in the first place.
Amazing what a pair of small- scale hooligans can do!

Guys, I hope the preparation for Xmas are not too stressful for y'all and you don't forget to enjoy all the good stuff.

Catch you soon!

OWL tell you a tale!

2010-12-02T23:15:00.000Z

Not too long ago, my wonderful blog friend Mich held one of her competitions- guess the mystery thing.
She makes a quirky piece of jewellery out of a totally unexpected thing of everyday... things totally taken out of context and makes you guess what the heck it is. Q- tips, automotive vacuum hoses and aquarium plants, to name but a few.
In her endless generosity, she awards a prize not only to the first correct guess, but also to the most cr~~ackpot~~eative guess.
I was lucky enough to be a creative crackpot and win her automotive vacuum hose competition.
Since we had been burgled not too long before that, she promised she'd throw in a little something on top of my prize to put a smile on my face... brace yourselves, peeps, this is what I found in the mail the other day:

Please take some time and look up those pieces on her blog, you will not believe what they are made from!
If you hop over, please leave her some love and let her know if you'd be interested in a tutorial for the beautiful little bracelet she made for my bff Abigail (which I will save for a Nikolaus treat for her, but that's for another post) I, for one, am all for it, because then I can make one my size!!

The necklace, featured on her blog on August 10th, actually inspired the little piece I showed you in my last post, but please head over to see for yourself.

I wear my new bling with pride and am so proud and glad to have such a wonderful friend in La- La- Land! Let me repeat myself here again, what's a couple of stolen items compared to truckloads of love sent my way?

Today, a frozen postie knocked on the door and brought a parcel full of felt. All the colours of the rainbow and then some. This year, most of the Christmas gifts coming from the Three Bed Semi will be handmade, and I had something in mind I wanted to try.

You might know about my slight obsession with owls? Can't help it, I just love them, and one of my dreams is to see one in real life. A short while ago my Mum was lucky enough to encounter one , and I am sure I will one day. Until then, I will have to make do with what is available.
So I decided to make a little stuffed owl brooch for my Mum to always remind her of her Day Of The Owl.
Since my little camera is pretty crappy, so are the pictures, and this is not a tutorial, but I guess all you savvy crafters out there are way ahead of me anyway and have long since passed the stage of owl crafts.

Here's what I did:

I received the book amongst other things today in a big parcel from Mum, but that, as well, is another post as I will just well up with "I miss my Mum" tears again if I go there now. Gotta chew and digest first. Never mind.
So... take an incredibly cute image for inspiration, draw something entirely different and cut the felt to size. (body twice, wing twice, eyes twice or once if shaped like figure 8)
Stitch on eyes with embroidery floss, realize your talent is non- existent and add two seed- beads as pupils. Laugh at self. Add beak.
Stitch two body shapes together inside out, leave bottom open and reverse.
Use old pillow- stuffing to stuff.

Ignore silly questions like "why are you disembowelling that cushion? I am still using that!" and stitch together the bottom.

Add two remotely wing- resembling shapes on the sides, be proud of yourself and laugh some more. Make onlookers feel compelled to congratulate you to your mad skills by reminding them that otherwise they'd fall out of favor (and this is an important step, ladies, make sure you go the extra mile and make everybody feel really guilty about smirking in the first place!!).

Realize you don't have a brooch back and call it a day. Blog it.

Hey... by my standards, this IS a tutorial! It would be better if a few folks actually knew what the heck I'm trying to say, but that's alright, I let you off.

I shall now enjoy a fine glass of wine, regardless of the fact that my owl kinda looks like an (admittedly sort of cute) potato sack and, as Germans say, let God be a good man.

Have a lovely day, love you all!

Disclaimer: The Man wasn't really that cheeky, but I do think he's getting fed up with Twits and Twoos!

We're streaking in the snow....

2010-12-01T22:23:00.000Z

Yorkshire is covered under a remarkably thick layer of snow. So thick that the miracle happened- I was allowed to close my shop at 6.30! After taking an amazing 188 bets (and a few menacing phone calls, I have to admit) all day, the powers that be decided to let us go early. YAY!

Sometimes, snow seems to bring out the best in people. Like their bums. Don't believe me? Look at these ~~ghastly~~ ghostly captures of The Man braving the elements and, while he was at it, traumatizing the neighbours...

This was a few days ago, when the first layer of snow came down, and I am actually quite happy with the fact that my new stupid compact digital ALDI camera decided to capture a ghost rather than the full monty; at least I do not need to censor anything. Any questions?

Today, my little world looked like this:

Since the photos were taken, the amount of snow almoust doubled- I am kind of giddy about it, even though I am aware of the downsides that come with it.

Tomorrow, I will buy some food for our feathered friends and make sure they have a little landing area in the garden. If I make it up the hill to the shops. If not, they'll have to make do with what I find in the house.

And since there is bugger all else to do, there's loads of time to craft- look at my new necklace!

All you need is crappy pencils the kids reject because they are, well, crappy, a drill, a cutting tool and a few jewellery findings. Behead the pencils, drill holes, connect with eye pins, add chain, wear with pride and stick out from the crowd. Easy.

Tomorrow (hopefully), I will tell you a tale of overseas friendship and crazy jewellery that found its way to my house over the big, big pond. Stay tuned and behead some pencils while you wait! Love you all, folks, you are an amazing bunch.

So effing WHAT!!!

2010-11-20T02:14:00.000Z

Okay, so whoever marched into our home on Hallowe'en robbed us blind.
So, the insurance is being a ... female dog about paying anything.
So, I had to increase the overdraft on our poor old bank account to purchase a compact digicam at ALDI which, I can foresee, won't be my best friend anytime soon.
So, every time I see the now obsolete chargers for all our gadgets I want to cry and stomp my feet and slap somebody, anybody 'round the face. Mostly myself.
So- WHAT!

Our feline babies are alive and kicking, sweet as ever and then some.
The Man has lovingly fixed an old mobile phone (which had officially been pronounced dead about 6 months ago) for me which is now good as new and works a treat- he even took my most favourite picture off it and installed it as a desktop background on "Holly", the reliant old machine he built himself from scratch years and years ago.
There were so many incredibly lovely comments and mails from people we have never personally met... I have come to firmly believe that the internet is a true blessing and far more than just a way of showing off what you're up to, paying your bills and keeping up with the latest nonsense. Wonderful people from all over the world dropped us a line (or two or three) of support, asking how we're keeping and generally giving us the big thumbs- up.

D'you know what, peeps? I won't lie to you and say that mere things don't matter. They do. My camera, an extension of myself, is gone. Hack off my arm and it'll feel the same in some instances. So many pictures are gone, and it sickens me to think about it. BUT, and it is a very big, fat, in- your- face but, as much as this incident shattered my last remnants of faith in mankind, it also restored it. The Man and I came out stronger than before, and I had opportunity to get a glimpse at how many unbelievably lovely people are out there who are ready to offer a kind word and a shoulder to cry on to mere strangers. Our cameras, phones and laptops gave us convenience, their being taken gave us a helluva lot more.

Here's to us, little burglar, UP YOURS.

And do you know how much stuff one gets done when there is only one PC which needs to be shared between two adults, one of whom is the rightful owner AND builder AND guildmaster of a (pretty cool) online game of aforementioned machine?

Thanks to my (pretty much self chosen) deprivation of most things online, I re- discovered a lost love. Model clay. FIMO, whatever you call it.

Please excuse the appalling quality of the pictures, but not only am I not used to that new camera- thingy yet, the light- conditions in our house in our city in our country in winter also don't help at all.

So, there are loads of owls that need finishing touches, a decidedly moody bat and two dragons. If my (ancient) model clay (which I bought in Germany years and years ago) was any more cooperative, I reckon the outcome would have been a tad more acceptable, but for a lass with no talent and sausage fingers I think I didn't do too bad. Please cut me some slack for the purple poopers, they are for my bff and actually have her name printed on their bums.

The brown owls ALL had eyes, but the eyeballs decided to fall off. As you do. So they need some plastic surgery before they are sent on their way to Germany to a particularly lovely Mum I am proud to call mine.

You might have seen my Mum on here before? She is incredible. Thoughtful, selfless, caring, nurturing, fiercely protective, over- bearing (in the best way possible!), generous, forgiving, respectful, sweet, unobtrusive, you name it. Well, she gave me a bell yesterday, which I sort of expected because my bloody landline had been dead for almost a week (again) and she wanted to know how we're getting along.
Well, phone rings, I hear her voice, she sounds... tense? I immediately freak out "Mum, whazzup? Are you okay? What has happened?" (The lass is a cancer survivor, you start getting paranoid about little things as your mums voice sounding different, trust me) She's like "Awwwwwwwww, good to finally reach you, been trying, blah blah, how are you, how are the cats, yaddayaddayadda" "Right, mum, WHAT IS IT???" And she starts telling me this little story.
She went to work yesterday morning. It was early, it was cold.
She heard a blackbird kick off as if it felt threatened... you know, this frantic chirpie- cheep thing they shoot off when there's a cat about. That's what Mum thought, so she looked around for the suspect.
My Mum is 53, and what she saw that moment was something she' d never seen before in her life.
An owl.
Well big according to her, larger than a magpie (her words) with a white- ish face and chest.. It looked at her with disdain (as owls do) and elegantly made an exit.
My beautiful, loving, mindful Mum took this as a sign. She immediately thought of me as I have a thing for owls. So straight after her shift, she grabbed the phone and made sure everything is alright in my neck of the woods. We are not superstitious, religious or otherwise spiritually inclined, but there are certain things that strike chords in us. A wee robin saved us from losing it during our aunties funeral (the little birdie sat in a tree nearby, singing away and enjoying itself with no care in the world like she would have done... minus the sitting in the tree part) and we both just held on to each other sort of knowing looking at it would keep us sane). And the night after I had to let my beloved first cat, Penny, go, for the first time in my life (and still the only time) I met a fox. It was late at night, I could not sleep for crying and went outside... and there was the fox. He or she did not shy away from me but walked with me for a minute or two before our ways parted. It was the day of the fox (or should I say night) and I decided right there and then that no matter what logic, science, brain and lifetime experience tell me, there is more between heaven and honeycomb than a dog cares to reveal.

Hey, this was a much longer post than I intended it to be. I meant to thank you all for your support, understanding and love in the last 2+ weeks- you are an incredible bunch and when I count my stars, you are on top of the list. Without The Man and you lot, I think I would have packed up and buggered off back to Germany, but you all managed to turn one of the most intimidating and discouraging situations of my life into an experience I wouldn't want to miss, even for the sake of getting my stuff back. (And I claim this after The Man provided me with a candlelight bath with classic music, a VERY relaxing bath foam and a nice, light glass of wine to get the tension out of head, legs and shoulders. I am so blessed!)

A great, big I LOVE YOU to The Man and every single one of you who have turned an impersonal internet to a source of support and friendship.

Gimme a bloody break!!

2010-11-01T21:08:00.000Z

Guys,

after a weekend of bliss with the weans, we went out last night to celebrate our engagement. This was supposed to be a really lovely post with loads of pictures, but after a great night out with loved friends around us, this morning we woke up to the fact that we were burgled during the night.
Whoever did it must have come in during the night, taking 2 laptops, 2 mobile phones, 2 digital cameras and my purse. Including wallet, bank cards and whatnot.
It took The Man all day to get the old PC (he calls her Holly) hooked up to the internet, and it took me all day to sort out the bank, mobile phone provider and insurance.
I am not too sure if the insurance is gonna pay up- front, in which case I might be unable to replace what has been taken straight away. I could cry over the fact that my camera is gone. Nikon D40 with loads of pictures still on it. And the pictures that weren't on the camera were on the laptop.
the most horrifying bit is that they actually left the front door open for all my cats to get out. None of them did. Not one. Can you imagine how little I care about the things being taken in comparison to thinking what could have happened? Main road ten meters away, none of my feline babies used to life outdoors. I am trying not to think about any of it and just stay angry.
What a way to celebrate an engagement.
I will get back to normal posting asap, just meant to inform you so you don't think I'm abandoning blogland or anything. As soon as I get anything resembling a camera, I shall bug you again with loads of wacko pictures, promise! Just stick with me for a little while while we get our stuff and life back.
Luv ya
S
Be safe!

My bf forever!

2010-10-31T00:42:00.000+01:00

For this particular piece of bliss all you need is a Hello Kitty pair of plastic sunglasses, a charity shop Fez, a charity shop beggars hat and a particularly gorgeous daughter. If you don't have a daughter on hand, an incredibly gorgeous niece/ goddaughter/ granddaughter/ neighbour/ randomly sourced orphan will do.
Once you have this gorgeous lassie, take a nutcase (it helps if it's male with a serious case of gaga) and let him loose.
Tell the girl it'll be alright, she won't be all over the internet.
Take truckloads of pictures.
Congratulate yourself on the fact that you just took truckloads of immensely gorgeous pictures on a dime.
Blog it.
Kiss her goodnight and remember what she said.
And I quote.

If you steal the stars and stick them to the walls with blue tac, they'll shine for you!

Is he wearing a fez??

2010-10-31T00:11:00.000+01:00

So... the minions (cheers, Sunny! Abigail has a new favourite word) are 'round, and since things in the Three Bed Semi are not done your average ole way, it was "dress up your offspring- day" today. Minion A is only 8 and has never been exposed to the real meaning of Hallowe'en before, and minion Aa, who this post is all about, is only 4 and even more blissfully unaware. Yet. Count your stars, guys.
I will not over- elaborate on anything, just be told that Aa(ron) is an incredible kid. Immensely well- behaved, clever, sweet, helpful, patient an LOL funny.
Here is his transformation from parents' dream to dead zombie pirate skull rotting monster ghost thing formerly known as The Bad Guy in The Mummy. Err.

Yeah, the lad is wearing my shirt. And it took me bleeding ages to get that pathetic mirror shot. But can you see how much fun there is to be had with virtually nothing? His cape/ tunic is an old pirate flag his dad cut up, and the face paint was a leftover from his big sister's last stayover.
Hell, I don't even like kids!! Can you tell how this lot stole my heart?
I noticed today how little effort (and even less money) it takes to entertain kids. And their fathers.
Beforehand, we went out and bought some toys to make sure every eventuality is covered, but it turned out that a wiggly cat toy (for Aaron) and our sheer attention (for Abigail, who will be featured in the very next post) were a helluva lot more catching than anything you could ever buy.
So, if you have wee ones in your life, try the cat approach. Bin the toy and give them the box it came in.
Kinda restored my dented faith in mankind.
Cheers, little Mister. Your ears are still ridiculously big.

Samhain! Folksy Friday and musings on life as Steff

2010-10-29T22:56:00.000+01:00

Every three months or so, my company sends so- called mystery shoppers 'round. They have to fill in a questionnaire about their in- shop experience, the service they receive, cleanliness and all kinds of stuff.
Last week, I was unfortunate enough to encounter a mystery shopper... and fortunate enough to spot him. It's relatively easy when you know what to look for as they tend to be strangers, lurk about the shop and ask daft questions.
Well, my mystery shopper was so happy with me that he answered the question "which was the best part of your visit to shop xyz" with "The friendly customer service I received"
Cheers, mate! Truth be told, I wouldn't have been THAT good if I hadn't known it was the mystery shopper. I would have still been polite and friendly, but the reason I could answer his question instantly was that I could easily predict what it would be and looked it up while he stealthily (...) inspected the toilets for cleanliness.
My manager knows all this, but the fancy suits that receive the reports don't. So now they think I am, to say the least, the bees' knees. I'm dead chuffed! Of course I actually AM the bees' knees without a doubt anyway, but you guys knew that all along.
So, a bit of deception and a sixth sense go a long way in the life of a CSA in a bookies. Interesting. It also helps to give people a fair share of quality abuse rather than "Yes, sir, no, sir, thank you, sir". Seems to make them feel at home, and as long as they think that "Hell, man, I can't believe you're still here, don't you have a bloody life??" is just banter, all is well.

As much as I moan about work, there are good bits. Very good bits. For example the fact that it's so dead at night that I managed to finish off a crocheted cat hat (beanie with ears) and little cuffs for Abigail to wear tomorrow. She and her little brother Aaron are going to pop 'round tomorrow, and instead of taking them for Trick and Treating, we are going to dress them up as cat and dog and watch, well, Cats And Dogs. All I have to do now is crochet a little doggie beanie for Aaron, whip up a tail and take tons of pictures tomorrow when their Dad turns them into Fido and Fluffy. Well, in this case, Cerberus and Sekhmet! I'll show off what I came up with tomorrow or Sunday, as now it is time for Folksy Friday.

According to the omniscient Wikipedia,
Samhain is a Gaelic festival held on October 31–November. The Irish name Samhain is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end''. A harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic polytheism, it was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and continued to be celebrated in late medieval times. Due to its date it became associated with the Christian festival All Saints' Day and greatly influenced modern celebration of Halloween.

I thought I'd pay tribute to the elders and give you a glimpse at what Folksy has to offer where it comes to Celtic and Gaelic inspired pieces.
As always, a click on the pic will take you straight to the shop.

Love y'all, have a wonderful Samhain/ Hallowe'en/ All Saints' Day if I don't see you before.
Please remember, if you see anything that tickles your fancy on Folksy, most sellers ship internationally, and it won't cost the world. Highstreet was yesterday!

Jack O'Pendant!

2010-10-27T12:29:00.000+01:00

Guys, just a quickie before work. Honi soit qui mal y pense!

I have recently experimented with crocheting around beads. No way I am paying loads of money for them if I can whip them bad boys up myself! Give it a go, no explanation needed, if you can hold a crochet hook without stabbing yourself through the eye, you can do it.

Since it's Hallowe'en VERY soon and my beloved colleague Barbara has already got a pair of my Whee Ghostie earrings (and bought a pair for each of her daughters in law, the bats of Britain will appreciate it!), I thought I'd make her something to go with it out of an orange crochet bead.

Meet Jack O'Pendant and his 8 legged companion!
(sorry, the pictures are %$*&?!, but 'tis a dark ole day over here!)

The eyes are seed beads, the folds and mouth are stitched on. So easy, even I can do it.
It's not the best stitching job in the eorld, but the bugger is no bigger than a thumbnail, and should I ever join the Seamstresses' Guild, it will not be for my needlework skills.

Luv y'all, have a good day!

Folksy Friday: SQUEAK! and a confession

2010-10-22T00:34:00.000+01:00

Remember that silly attempted robbery I told you about a week ago?
I have had loads of TLC since then, some really good stuff and some of it just plain wrong.
The good stuff came, in the first place, from The Man.
He always picks me up after work anyway, regardless of the fact that my shop is just a stone- throw away from home. Boy, how I love him for that.
But ever since that "fateful" day, he has been even more considerate, even more protective, even more "I'll run you a bath and light some candles" than usual. How blessed am I?
The second source for good stuff are my colleagues, some of whom have been victims to "proper" robberies. Slap on the shoulder, chin up, we're on the same team. Love it.
Let's not forget you guys, my beloved readers. You were awesome, giving me thumbs- up and all sorts of support. I'm seriously busy counting my blessings here.

The wrong kind of TLC comes frome fancy suits a couple of tiers above me who just follow procedure and offer help and an open ear when it is blatantly obvious that their mobile phone will be switched off when I need them for even the mundanest of enquiries, totally unrelated to pathetic teenage robbers. Gimme a break and cut the cr@p, guys, save your energy for getting your blackberry to work.

Today, I was emptying a machine right next to the door after joking with my manager about how ironic it would be to get robbed again. It had been a dead night up until then, no customer in ages.
So, I was busy getting the change out when all of a sudden the shop door opened- and I nearly had a heart attack.
Big mouth, tough attitude, nothing gets to me... but I nearly wet my pants.
It was just a customer, a normal, every- day- annoy- my- socks- off- at- this- time- of- night customer, but for a second, I kinda lost it, shaky hands and all.

Which made me laugh. And think.

After all, I'm not hard as nails. But don't tell anybody, guys, because now I've got a reputation, and I'd be devastated to see it go.
Well, so much for confession time, I thought I might as well share it after letting you in on mustard floorboards and 8 year old Lotus Ravenmoores.

Are you prepared for a shopping spree? Because it's this time of the week again. Folksy Friday.
I would like to share with you the cutest rodents you could possibly imagine (well, in my book, anyway)- step aside, Dr Dolittle, and make a little room for the Folksy Troop of Rats and Mice.
(click the pic to take you straight to the shop!)

In memory of all my rainbow mice and rats, here's to us, guys. You made my life a happier place, and I'll see you all over the rainbow. Thanks for being the wonderful companions were. SQUEAK.

Let me tell you about face paint.

2010-10-17T21:53:00.000+01:00

Face paint creates joy. It creates disguises. It creates art. It creates a helluva lot of mess.
But most of all, it creates photo opportunities.

Do you guys happen to know Terry Pratchett? He is my favourite author EVER, and I proudly claim this after spending my teenage years buried under Stephen King books. IT still bloody scares me.
Anyway, Terry Pratchett. Without taking you too far into it, let me just tell you that, amongst a world of other stuff, he wrote about a bunch of pictsies (sic) called the Nac Mac Feegle, otherwise known as the Wee Free Men.

They look like this:

Okay, keep this in mind.
Now... The man has started playing a game on Facebook called CastleAge. Like many games on FB, it is a bit like "the more, the merrier", which means you end up with loads of friends playing it, too.
The man created a "guild" within the game, calling it "Wee Free Men", as I have infected him a little bit with the Pratchett bug.
Do you follow so far, or is it just tumbleweed being blown across my blog?
He promised his guild members that if they achieved a certain goal, he would turn into a Nac Mac Feegle.
If you remember the post title- here's where the face paint comes in.

Feegle:

The Man:

Okay, so this is the first half of my post on face paint.

The second half is dedicated not to The Man, but his beautiful offspring, Abi.
She came 'round this weekend to spend some quality time, terrify the cats, make our ears bleed and get her face painted. Err.

Daddy introduced her to the wonderful world of CastleAge (no, she does NOT spend any time on Facebook yet!) and decided to turn her into one of the games' characters, Lotus Ravenmoore.

This is how it went:

In the last few pictures, Abigail (who is 8 and one of the most gorgeous kids you could imagine, inside and out) wears my furry coat, a charity shop belt and a scythe plus clawy glove her dad made for her.
The whole thing cost about £2.50 for the face paint and zero for the costume.

Heck, guys, this is a normal days' work. Can you imagine the terrors that await this blog at Hallowe'en??
I did not edit out any of the horrors of our living room, just so you know. Yes, there are bare mustard- coloured floor boards and yes, the mantelpiece and shelves could do with decluttering. But I wouldn't want our life any other way, mustard floor boards and all.

So go on, give your little ones a lick of paint. You might enjoy yourself even more than they do, for the price of a fashion magazine that'll be outdated before the next issue comes out.

I've been robbed! plus Folksy Friday

2010-10-15T12:34:00.000+01:00

Day before yesterday, about 8.45 pm, some little ASBO kid really spoiled my last hour at work.
I was emptying a gaming machine and had a bowl full of change next to me when that little *insert swear word of choice here* burst through the door, face covered and in full teenage ASBO gear, snatched the bowl and tried to leg it.
Not with me, can't be having that.
So I grab the bugger by his hoodie and try to hold him.
He drops the bowl and about £130 in change go flying all over the little parking lot in front of the shop.
Kid manages to break free and actually TURNS AROUND to consider picking up the loot.
I went straight for him again and he finally legged it for good.
I managed to pick up pretty much all the money before two babyfaced coppers arrived to take my statement.
Hometime was delayed by about 90 minutes- I was not a happy bunny! Only cheered up when the district manager told me that it's company policy to give an employee who had been robbed the following day off. How cool is that? :D
I am really glad that not every teenager in Leeds seems to be carrying a knife, but I was so mad when this *insert swear word again* grabbed the bowl that knives were the last thing on my mind.
Here's to stupidity.

Now, let me take you shopping. It's Folksy Friday again!

Given my latest adventure, my collection is inspired by cops, robbers and money, money, money.

A click on the picture will take you straight to the shop!

Right, guys... you'll be busy shopping for a bit now, but please never forget to be safe.
I'm an idiot who was extremely lucky to encounter the most pathetic robber ever, but you should know better.
Don't be as daft as me and keep safe AT ALL TIMES. Because I luv ya.

Charity is sexy!

2010-10-11T01:45:00.000+01:00

... or: how to sell stuff on the BAT of an eyelid.

Did you know that ghosts are sexy? Here's The Man to prove the point.

My stay- ups never encountered legs more hairy. I am German. And what is that cat doing?

Those of you who read my previous ghostie posts might know that I am on a spooky trip. And during a very enjoyable eMail- exchange with Pam from gingerbrad snowflakes, I pledged to sort of donate my wee ghosties to charity.

Well, it is all done now.
Today, I made ten pairs of ghostie earrings and listed them in my Folksy shop.
They are £2.50 each and are free of P&P.
For every sold pair I will donate £2.50 to the Bat Conversation Trust, because as I might have mentioned before, bats are just plain gorgeous in my book.

So, if you feel like spookifying yourself AND do something amazing to help saving those impressive, unobtrusive, helpful, inspiring creatures, get your PayPal ready.

What you will get is a pair of these:

and what you will help save is this:

If this isn't win- win, I don't know what is.

Folksy Friday: I begin to spookify!

2010-10-08T11:10:00.000+01:00

The title is "my" version of The Disturbeds "Stupify"- love that song.

I have decided that my wee ghosties will have to go on a field trip to Folksy. Whatever money they make will go to charity since they didn't cost me a penny to make; stay tuned for the grand announcement when they hit the shop! :)

Now, let's see what my fellow Folksy friends have in store to spookify our lives. A bootiful collection to inspire you and show off the great talent that's out there.

Come with me and don't be afraid- these spooks are harmless!

As usual, a click takes you straight to the respective shop.
Go on, buy handmade- because you know it makes sense!

Bootorial for the wee ghosties!

2010-10-08T00:07:00.000+01:00

Told you... there's more to come.

The wee ghosties I showed you were white because I had to paint them. I had to paint them because I burned them. I burned them because the model clay, FIMO, I used was bought in Germany donkeys years ago and did not quite accomodate for gas marks. Boo. Hoo.

What I originally intended was this:

A badly taken picture of The Blob.
Or a glowinthedark ghost.

Wanna make your own ~~Blob~~ wee ghostie?
It couldn't be easier, promise.

What you'll need:

Some model clay (I was lucky enough to have glow- in- the- dark FIMO in my ancient stash), something to roll it out on, something to roll it out with, a headpin (or eye pin or some wire, whatever you have), a bead and, conveniently, some round- nose pliers. Don't have any? Never mind, I bet you can improvise.

So, what's the science behind summoning ghosts?

Take a little chunk of your modelling clay, soften it up, form a ball and flatten it real flat. Like...flat- flat. If you have a can of BUAV approved deodorant (the slim one many gals have in their purse anyway), that's great.
Use the lid to cut out a circle.

Now, thread the bead on your eye pin and punch it through the middle of your FIMO circle, like this:

Carefully coherse the FIMO disc around the bead. It will, if you do it gently enough, ghostify itself.

Now bang it in the oven to bake (if you burn it, you better have paint ready!!) and either use a thin sharpie marker or acrylic paint to give the wee bugger a face.

You can, if you have managed not to burn yourself or your ghosties, now attach them to some earwires and either give them away (as I will tomorrow to my bestest- loved colleague Barbara) or keep them for yourself.

See, told you it was easy!

You can make pendants, garlands, decorations, cat toys (okay, better not.) and favours.
Have fun, and let me know if you help growing the ghost population. I would absolutely LOVE to see yours, now that I've showed you mine!

I would like to thank my family, the academy, our postman and all the unnamed FIMO sweatshop workers who made all this possible.
And, on second thought, maybe even The Man whose eyes lit up yesterday when I started ghosting away, when I was a little embarrassed about my own pleasure about how well they turned out. He told me he loved them. And me.
If it wasn't for him, there'd be no wee ghosties.
Thanks, babe. I love you too.

Happy haunting!

What's this? What's this? I can't believe my eyes!

2010-10-07T12:58:00.000+01:00

The marvels of model clay (FIMO) and an hour of boredom turned my humble hut into a haunted mansion.

These little guys moved in yesterday and will be turned into earrings tonight:

If you can handle the horror, I'll whip up a little tutorial and post it when I get back from work. It's so ridiculously easy, even I can do it!
(There are some bootiful brothers and sisters, too, but more about them later.)

Happy haunting!

Mad giveaway from Mich L. in L.A.!

2010-10-07T00:58:00.000+01:00

Right... there's this crackpot woman over in L.A. who designs the maddest jewellery ever. You think the Mad Hatter is gaga?

Or do you reckon Weird Al is off his tree?

Reconsider, folks. Mich is in a league of her own. She makes jewellery from, let me think... trash baskets, Superballs, novelty yarn and even tennis balls. Yeah, you read that right. No need to mention the zip ties .

So, now she's doing this giveaway. As you do.
Does she want you to follow her blog, buy anything or even review her on facebook? Nope. All she wants you to do is to guess what this is made of:

and you can win.
Told you the gal is mad!

Head over and meet Mich, she is a wonderful blog friend, the most creative soul, and she'll crack you up with her dry humour as well.

What'cha waiting for?

Disclaimer: Mich doesn't have the faintest clue I'm penning this. Just because I lurve her,that's all.

Halloween tags

2010-10-06T00:38:00.000+01:00

... or whatever you think these are useful for.

As before, click on the image and then right- click to download.

Kids:

Big kids:

Hope you can find some use for them!

Have one on me! A round of drinks (labels) for everybody!

2010-10-04T03:27:00.000+01:00

Did anyone notice Halloween is just round the corner?

I am not the xmassy type. Or the Valentiny type, though I am kinda tiny. Halloween is MY holiday of choice, and I am already kinda excited about it.

I don't like spiders. They love me. Let us not elaborate on this.

Bats are, in my book, drop- dead gorgeous, and witches are people I deeply admire. Death winks a lot more than most people think and I seriously can't find anything wrong with rats.

Get the gist?

I have started putting together some Halloween graphics. Here's some drink labels, print them out and stick 'em to a bottle, if you like. If not, drop me a line and I'll try to find something you like.
Deal?

Click the pic for full size. Right click to download jpg

Witches for weans:

Spooks for big 'uns:

Thanks to all those designers who give up their kits for free!

Folksy Friday: Meow!

2010-10-01T00:15:00.000+01:00

OmG... A week passed, and I hardly noticed it.
Well, there was a birthday to be celebrated- The Man turned 37. Look at him, wrinkles and all:

Your friendly neighbourhood bum. Isn't he adorable? The hat was an impulse buy, £10 from Scope. Gotta love it! Love it so much, I had to... improve its ownership:

Yeah, that's band aid round my thumb. Nearly chopped the bugger off trying to open The Mans new pool cue wrapping plastic thingy! (leave it to me, darling, don't cut yourself. I know what I'm doing. Err.)

Crafting- wise, I have been kinda lazy... up until today.
I will leave the details for a soon- to- come post, but I shall give you a teaser:

C'mon, who knows what this is?

Now, let us proceed to this weeks Folksy Friday.

As some of you might know, we share our life, house and everything else with four cats. Shannon, Erin, Hope and Bob. Penny in our hearts.
For me, life wouldn't be complete without them furry buggers shedding hair all over the place, stealing items, puking up so you step into the mess first thing in the morning, gnawing away at everything remotely string- like and taking up so much space in bed that you'd rather sleep in the garage if you had one.
So, this week I will dedicate FF to all things CAT. Because they have taken over my life anyway.

Clicking the pictures will take you straight to the shops- I recommend you check them out, because Xmas is coming up, and there's (almost) nothing better than hand- made gifts.#

Meow.

This one for charity:

I could go on and on.
Hope you found something for that special cat person in your life. Always remember:

"Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain

Folksy Friday: Come with me to the Emerald City!

2010-09-24T18:15:00.000+01:00

My first shot at Folksy Friday. For some reason, I have the Emerald City on my mind, so come and take the journey along the Yellow Brick Road with me!

A click on the images will take you to the shops.

This is the stuff guys.THE stuff!
Go check them fabulous shops out, you will not be disappointed.
It's so easy being ~~green~~ emerald!

My (semi-) precious!

2010-09-24T15:04:00.000+01:00

Guys, I am so chuffed with myself!
Yours truly has managed to create something!

Over time, I have assembled quite a lot of random rescue jewellery. I find myself particularly drawm to semi- precious gemstones of any kind, a lot more than glitter and bling. There is just something about them that appeals to me.

So, a few days ago I gathered my supplies and got to work. Okay, there might have been a little trip to the bead shop beforehand, to acquire some shamelessly overpriced bits and pieces, but in order not to re- open the wound this has left on The Man, I shall not elaborate on this too much. Lets just say, he suffered quietly and managed not to cry while I was comparing shades of green.

Here's what I came up with:

The green one; strung on stretchy cord to allow for a bit of flexibility,with moss agate, crystals, unakite, glass and wooden beads plus tibetan silver accents around an off- center wooden focal. Doesn't it just scream Elvenpath?

The second lot features a little idea of mine, feel free to nick and adapt it. Say hello to the embroidery thread- covered washer! (loadsa wrapping, but so worth it!)

Tourmaline, amethyst, tibetan silver, glass, wood, lampwork and crystal on stretchy cord. What do you think of the washer? And c'mon, tell me that clasp is just stinkin' adorable. Lurve it!

The only things I bought new were the crystals and tibetan silver bits, everything else was pre- loved.

Go on, guys, get yourselves into charity shops, car boot sales and thrift stores. Give unwanted stuff a new life and wear it with pride!

Meet the tenants!

2010-09-15T23:30:00.000+01:00

I haven't had a lot to blog about recently because most of my precious time was wasted at work.

In a team of four gals, 2 were off sick for almost a month (at the same time), and the last ~~men~~ women standing did it all. Yay to us. Err.

And did I tell you that my Mum was here for a week as well? She comes over from Germany once or twice a year to see us, and it's always a special time, work or not.

I didn't get a right lot of crafting done (well, none. Nada. Zero. Nowt. Nichts. Rien.), but in- between having some quality time with Mama and wasting away my life in the bookies (wrong side of the counter!), I managed to have a few pictures taken of the occupants of Three Bed Semi.

Do not call the police, refrain from cleaning your glasses and try not to call your psychiatrist- everything is perfectly fine. This is not a drill.Remain calm and meet the gang.

Me. With a spider catcher my Mom got me. Bless her, I thought it was a tad daft, but a day after she had left, it was put to real good use. Urgh.

Mom and me. Unedited.

The Man, Erin (NingThing) and yours truly. His facial expression is not out of the ordinary, why?

Sleep is genuinely overrated.

You can trust us. With your money, your children and even your pets. Yes, your pets.

So, now you know who you are dealing with.
I'll keep a close eye on my blog stats- if you decide to leg it, don't blame ya! If you decide to stay with us just a little bit longer, bless you, guys.

I'm off to slap some hair dye on now.

Luv ya!

SOS!!!

2010-08-18T20:37:00.000+01:00

Remember what I said in my las post about eating potatoes all week?
Isn't gonna happen.
They teamed- or should I say banded?- up against me.

When I came home from work last night, I walked into a protest gig by SOS- Save Our Spuds!

Have a look, guys, and come to understand why I daren't even go to the chippie...

This used bto be my fireplace, now it's a venue.

Meet the band.

According to The Man, who signed them for the gig, they are a Punk Rock Gothic Heavy Metal Viking band. Versatile, aren't they? Like a good potato should be.

Unfortunately, the Broccoli Sisters who use to do the background singing are currently in rehab, I have been informed.

I haven't laughed that hard for ages... love that man.

Chime time!

2010-08-15T20:08:00.000+01:00

Guys, yours truly is an idiot. And I mean the headless chicken- under- stress kind.
I lost my company £300 yesterday, because I processed a card payment that had been declined.
Imagine the situation: the shop is packed with customers, pretty much all of whom demand my immediate attention for this, that or the other. I am on my own, trying to take bets, pay out, manage the gaming machines and promote a tournament all at the same time. A lad gives me his card to process £300, loaded directly onto a gaming machine. I do it, give him his receipt, all is good.
10 minutes later, he comes up with a ticket for £900, lucky bugger. I put £800 back onto his card and £100 cash into his pocket.
Only later did it dawn on me that his debit card had been declined and he had played money that wasn't there.
After my shift, I left without even telling my manager, knowing that her superior would be in the shop later and I might as well confess directly to the big gun.
Which I did.
It wasn't nice, but bless her, she didn't rip my head straight off, either.

After a pretty restless night, I woke up to a text message from my dearest colleague Barbara, a wonderful lady of 60 who has been with the company for 30 years- imagine that! Anyway, I thought she'd let me know there would be a disciplinary next week or worse, so I didn't quite feel too good opening it.

Shouldn't have worried. It read "I got your 300 quid back!"

This angel in disguise persuaded the customer (who was daft enough to come back to the shop to ask how long the refund onto his card would take!) to pay back the dough!! She tricked him into believing the refund would only go through if he made the payment, bless her cotton socks.

I always loved Barbara to bits, but right now, I would think nothing of having her name tattooed across a big, fat red love heart on my forearm. So to express my gratitude, I made her a wind chime.

I felt so light- hearted after receiving the good news this morning that I spent our last bucks on a Dremel- like rotary tool. Hey, the Man has irish ancestors, so he will be fine with eating potatoes for a while! :D And to make the little gift for Barbara, I put it to good use straight away.

I used some more of that fancy potpourri I built into the bat- and- owl- frames, a bracelet for £1 (!) from the charity shop and copper tone headpins. Have a look.

I drilled holes through the disc- thingy, the bamboo and the shell- type thingies

Then I took bits and pieces from the bracelet and drilled holes in the appropriate places:

Assembly with long headpins

Build a hedgehog. com- the next step was to give each headpin a loop

The three middle pins got twisted around each other to form a loop for hanging the whole thing from

After all pieces were assembled, I put a dab of hot glue onto every headpin's... err, head to stop it from moving about and put a bead into the dab.

The whole wind chime:

I loved making it, especially since I had Barbara and her rescue mission on my mind. It was easy and I made everything up as I went along, so this is not a tutorial, but rather a show- and- tell. Hope you like it!

Dismemberment!

2010-08-12T12:07:00.000+01:00

Do I have your attention? :D

Sometimes, it's good to take things apart. Sometimes, it isn't.

An example for not- so- good taking apart of things is ripping the space bar off your laptop to figure out wether or not there is coffee under the keyboard. It is nigh impossible to get the bugger back into place and makes posting on your blog an adventure. Err.

A better idea is to go to the charity shop and buy an old necklace for just about next to nothing and then take it to pieces. Weird and wonderful pieces, like wooden beads with gorgeous crocheting around it and loads of little sparkling crystals. I lurve me some of that.

To get from necklace to this took about an hour... well worth it!

Then, if your hands are still your friends, it's an even better idea to reassemble all the bits and pieces into a little set of earrings and bracelet and display it proudly on your fantastic new £stretcher goblet for £2.

Totally wearable, and there's not another piece like it. I think I'll sport those babies at work today!

On a bit of a darker note, the kid I told you about yesterday totally messed up last night.
He ignored his 10 pm curfew and was picked up at half eleven by the police lurching around a neighbourhood miles away from ours with two other kids who ran off when the police materialized. They brought him home, and I managed not to explode. Still haven't exploded yet, and I hope not to at all. He is, for now, getting the silence treatment until we have made up our minds as to what to do. I don't want to give up on the lad, but at 14 he is old enough to know that whatever you do has consequences. The man and I will figure out together what these consequences are exactly, but they WILL sting.
For now he's stewing in his own juice, and that's quite alright. A lot better than being shouted at anyway.

Oh, the joy of being a...~~mum~~ ~~carer~~ housemaid!

So sorry!

2010-08-11T16:01:00.000+01:00

Peeps, I am really sorry. The bad blogger of the year award goes to... ME! Thanks to everybody who made this possible, I am honoured. Err.

Loads of things have happened, guys, and I simply didn't have much time to spend crafting and/or blogging.
The biggest change is that a friends 14 year old son temporarily moved in with us, smelly trainers and all. He's a bit of a troubled kid, so during the school holidays we sort of give him a bit of respite from his sometimes a tad chaotic family life. For me who's not a mom and whose only experience with 14 year olds comes from being 14 year old at some point it is, let's say, a novelty. But the lad is basically a good kid, and I am certainly not moaning.
The main work is done by The Man anyway, who is experienced in looking after teenagers. Thank goodness for that!

Another bit of news is that I have started listing a few items on Folksy, the british alternative to Etsy. There were a few "night shifts" of creating jewellery in the past few weeks, and I thought I'd rather give it a go than never know. (no, I don't play Lotto!) Here's the things I have listed so far:

No clue why the last picture refuses to appear the right way round... never mind.

So- I just wanted to let you all know I am still alive, just a bit busier than I used to be.

To my generous gifter in the Christmas In July gift exchange- I have received your wonderful notebook and will blog about it soon- I love it to bits!

Have a nice day, folks, and stay tuned. I will endeavour to blog a lot more regularly again! There is a little tutorial I have in mind for an easy- peasy piece of jewellery for pretty much the whole family. See you soon!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2010-08-04T23:20:00.000+01:00

Best Birthday wishes from Erin, Shannon, Hope, The Man, BOB and, well, Loewenbaby!
Love you, Mom, can't wait for you to come over here!
xoxo

Batcidentally in love!

2010-07-02T10:23:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was Not. My. Day. It was supposed to be my day off, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, I fell out of bed at 7 am. I mean, what the heck? So I went to lounge about on the couch with a coffee, read some blogs and make the most of it... and the phone rang. A dear colleague (luv ya, Barbara!) had an emergency and could not open the shop, so I duly went and did what a girl has to do. Sit in a badly airconditioned betting shop yawning her head off for 7 hours.

After crawling back home (man, I never felt so tired in my entire life!), I thought I'd just go back to where I left things and went about reading blogs, doing more yawning and pretty much being a waste of space when The Man suddenly stirred and shook his leg... onto which a fat spider had decided to climb.
Let's just say I spent some time on the middle floor, hyperventilating and shaking while the knight in shiny armour unarmoured himself in the quest to find the eight- legged freak. He thought it had made its way into his jeans, so he took them off, took his shirt off, examined the stuff properly and still couldn't find the foe.
Turns out the bugger sat under some furniture, but was eventually found out and politely asked to leave the house (with a gentle nudge towards the neighbour's door!)

With enough oxygen in my bloodstream to last me for a week without breathing, I thought I might as well do something useful (who said washing up? Are you kidding?) and get crafting. And that is where I batcidentally fell in love- have a look.

The man decided that too many owls spoil the broth, so for my second shadow box (I have three of those ugly frame things going on!) I went with another favourite critter of mine: the Common Dozy Bat.
So again, some doodles first:

Here they are, the prototypes.

After that, again transferring them to cardboard and some cutting- this time I went for an easier option and only cut the wings and bodies. Even lazier, they only got painted with my new brushes The Man got me the other day (together with a beautiful bag of beads, am I spoilt or what?) and his good old miniature paints.

Heck yeah, he got me chocolate, too! :)

Bob helped me to prepare the frame, which I had spray painted while the bats dried. A piece of firewood ( I had to go into the basement to get it. Not happy.), some more potpourri and a bit of string, here we go:

The final result: (sorry about the lame pictures, it was pretty late and I had to use the flash)

Closer:

CLOSER:

Love them! Honest, the pictures don't do them much justice, if I may say so myself.

Yeah, and that's 2 out of three! The next one, I hope, will be nutty. Err. Any guesses? :)

Linkin' up:

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Credit where credit is due

2010-06-28T23:13:00.000+01:00

I have told you about The Man. Keen (hobby) cook, roll- over funny and at times just plain mad.
What I haven't told you yet is how he encourages me.
I have just had a week off work, and on the very first day, the weather was amazing, he dragged me out on a charity shop trip. The Man does not really like charity shopping. Or shopping at all. But he dragged me out on a mission. He wanted to find beads for me to use in future jewellery making adventures.
When I started the Envelope of Doom thingy, he was genuinely interested. Heck, the Travel Tic Tac Toe (see second- but- last post) was based on his crackpot idea of a mouse house bookshelf.
He even went to a bead shop with me- twice! and compared shades of red so I didn't end up buying the wrong stuff.
This lad is amazing, true to the word. When he messes up, he does it real good. ( and bless him ,he had the best teacher, me. Nobody could be messier than me!) And when he is being sweet, he is sweeter than chocolate without the toothache. How many gals come home after a ten- hour shift to a dinner in the garden with tons of candles, Mexican dinner music and a big, fat pottery frog hidden amongst the greenery? C'mon, hands up. He carried chairs, a table and pretty much half of the kitchen interior downstairs to create an atmosphere. And what an atmosphere it was.
For the World Cup, I supported Slovenia. You can kind of imagine that merchandise was hard to come by. So his solution was to "simply" make me a candle in Slovenia colours and then buy me a Slovenia flag in the Leeds market that wasn't only horrendously overpriced but also harder to find than my own backside with a torch. Geez, I was so proud.
And if you stuck with me until now, I will put some icing on the cake, just to top it all up. When I had finished Twit and Twoo (see last post), I stuck them up the living room wall to keep them safe from the cats. They were there for about an hour and I was kinda embarrassed, because Twit, the patterned one, doesn't look anything like I fancied him to. And The Man just turns around after I thought he'd just given into my latest idiocy and says "D'you know what... I'd like you to make three of them and backlight them so we might end up with owl shadows on the other wall."
What more can I wish for?
Love.letter\end

(and you know there are more owl posts in store!!)

Owlrighty then!

2010-06-28T13:18:00.000+01:00

No envelope of doom project this time, just somrthing I've kind of had in my head for quite some time now.

Owls... don't you just love them? I am lucky enough to sometimes at night hear Twit and Twoo somewhere near my garden, and it always puts a huge smile on my face. Whats more, Leeds has owls in its coat of arms and even its own owl trail.

So, of course I had to jump on the huge bandwagon of owls going on in the blogosphere. What I wanted was a shadow box with owls on a twig, and it all started with this:

I can't help it, my owls always look either startled or displeased.

After sketching them, I went on to cut the shapes (bodies, wings, eyes and beaks) and cover them with fabric from two shirts I'd kept in a drawer for far too long.

While that stuff dried, I disassembled the ugliest shadowbox frame thing I've ever seen in my life, so ugly I don't even want to post a picture. Lets just say it combined a green frame with pink paper flowers, 'nuff said.
The frame got a nice, black coat of spray paint, the rest went over the rainbow bridge never to be seen again.

What I needed now was a twig. Trip to the garden, a ninja- like assault on a tree, job done.

The ~~kitchen table~~ work space during assembly:

Boys and girls, I would now like to take the opportunity and remind you that hot glue is called hot glue because it is HOT. Ouch. Don't ask.

After a bit of feeling immensely sorry for myself, trying in vain to get sympathy from The Man without looking too stupid (again: it is called HOT glue for a reason!) and holding on to an ice cube for a while, this is what I had- meet Twit and Twoo!

Clever girl that I am, I dug out some potpourri we bought at ALDI roundabout Christmas time to make the whole thing look a bit less empty. Smells nice, too :)

Here's the final result against the backdrop of my craft box.

A closer look:

For now, it's kept safe from the cats on the living room wall, but I'll find a better place for it. I might even put it away 'til September or so, since the thing looks more like autumn than summer to me. But for now, I have the owl- shadow- box- thing out of my system. Unfortunately, I had another shadow box idea involfing twigs and jewellery storage, but that will be left until my finger has healed from where it was cowardly attacked by hot glue.

Linkin' up:

3 out of 3 ain't bad!

2010-06-25T13:30:00.000+01:00

... or: hugs and kisses vs noughts and crosses!

My third Envelope of Doom project is done. Help me Rhonda, it took three days altogether to finish, with small interruptions like watching my beloved Slovenia get kicked out of the World Cup and other minor injuries...

I mentioned that Mich had the decency to send me 2 Starbucks cards in her EoD. What the heck is one to do with them? I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. Need a reminder?

I mean, WHAT?? But The Man came to the rescue. While I was waiting for another project (the mauve plastic flowers of doom) to dry, I was sat on the couch staring at the cards, trying to think of something other than an ice scraper to turn them into. He just looked up from his Final Fantasy game and said "Why don't you cut them up to turn them into an x or a mini bookshelf for a mouse house?" (we don't have mice. There is a cute rat family living somewhere near our garden, and the spiders in the basement are most certainly bigger than your average mouse, but that's it. He thinks in mysterious ways... )
But anyway, and idea was born.

First, I went ahead and measured and cut up an old card, a leftover from Germany which won't be missed. Measuring and cutting the bugger took ages! This is what the final result looked like:

Then, they were sanded and spray- painted (in the basement. Remember the mouse- sized spiders? I was in a bit of hurry!) Anyway, after two coats, this is what I had:

At this point, I decided to cheat. Mich, both your Starbucks cards are still alive, I decided to just stick with my prototype. I couldn't bear the thought of two more hours of cutting, running down and up the basement stairs and watching paint dry... I hope that's okay...

Can you guess where this is going?

The next day, I grabbed an old sweetie tin and spray painted it white. When dry, the card pieces got hot glued to some of that black foamy mat and attached to the inside of the lid. Then, I cut an X and an O from yet another piece of foam mat and made a very nifty, extremely imaginative stamp. C'mon, you know what is going on now, don't you?

I know, even I can hardly believe how clever I am, that's okay, folks.

This is going to be a gift for my giftee at the Craftaholics Anomymous Christmas in July International Gift Exchange, so while I was waiting for the stamps to dry, I made a pair of earrings for my giftee which I call "English Rose", so when she wears them, she hopefully feels very english :) Have a look:

What I needed now for my Travel Tic Tac Toe (you guessed it, right?) were Noughts and Crosses. And since I had The Man' s very expensive acrylic paints out anyway (he was cool about it, by the time I started this blog post, he'd almost stopped sweating!), I decided to murder an old necklace from the charity shop and turn the beads into gamepieces. The whole thing looked like this:

See the names on the paint jars? The Man used to paint wargaming miniatures. Skull white is harmless. Wait till you come across stuff like snot green, warlock purple and tentacle pink...

Here's what the game thing looks like. Crosses win. Btw, in real life, the painted hot glue is less prominent, it's the flash that makes it stand out.

And this is what my giftee will receive, nicely wrapped up and hopefully a little to her liking:

There, you have it. I never want to talk about Starbucks cards again, in fact, I don't even want to drink coffee ever again. And should my giftee read this: I loved making it, sore hands and all. I have never made anything like this before, and I hope you'll have as much fun with it as I had creating it.

There will be more projects of Doom, this was GREAT! But for now, I need a break from paint and hot glue and will treat myself to a nice pint of Guinness.
Burp.

The mauve plastic flowers of doom

2010-06-23T10:49:00.000+01:00

I am not the flowery type. Granted, there are pansies clinging to dear life outside the door and in my garden, but in general, I'm more of a cactus person. The Man will happily agree and nod his head wisely, probably murmuring something to the effect of "a cactus is easier to handle than her"...
Never mind, this is not about me but another doomed project I came up with while waiting for a certain Starbucks card project to dry. Have a look at this:

Sweet and innocent, right?
It might be if you happen to have a little girl in your life or feel a bit like one yourself. No to both, I'm afraid, so what to do? Mauve plastic flower hair clips normally aren't part of my universe.

But this stuff is:

Twine and beads, the latter courtesy of The Envelope of Doom. Two birds, one stone, can't beadt it.

I cut two circles out of the black foamy mat thing, slightly larger than the flowers, and simply mod- podged the twine to it, a little bead in the middle of each one, and that was pretty much it. After the thingys were dry,one had a little beady accessoire attached and they got hot- glued to the flowers.

Bob luuurves them. I wonder if he'd let me embellish him! *evil laugh*

On second thought... naw, I like my face attached to my head, better give it a miss.

They look better in real life, you can't really see the black foam mat under them when worn.
I think I will send them to a very special friend in Germany who I haven't talked to for ages. My fault, for no reason whatsoever I kinda let the contact die down and I miss the lass a lot. She has the most gorgeous fiery red hair, which is what came to my mind when I made these. Luv ya, Martina!

Mich, it looks like you are re- uniting me with a friend, if she still likes me after disappearing for too long. There's your good deed for today!

Linkin' up here:

The puppy of doom

2010-06-22T18:20:00.000+01:00

Okay, so I am impatient. Very impatient.

After finishing my earlier post, I pretty much had to get started immediately. And since the project is supposed to be a gift for somebody, I decided to make something for the delightful people that have invited us to come to their house tomorrow and watch the England- Slovenia match with them.

Meet Carol and Wullie.

They have the most adorable little puppy, a chap called Milo. I am in love.
Last time we went for a visit, I talked Carol into giving me a snapshot of Milo, so I could carry it around with me and drool over him whenever I needed some cuteness, but it wasn't meant to be. Thanks to Mich and her darn Envelope of Doom, I turned the snapshot into a Thank you for having us- gift... have a look at how I spent my afternoon, if you like.

It started with a frame that somebody had given a makeover, but obviously didn't like it very much, so it ended up in the charity shop where I snatched it up for a mere 50 pence. Steal! (and I can keep the seashells for another project.

See how dang cute that puppy is?? Awww!
So off to work I went, taking it all apart with a little help from The Bob. See that ripped and torn plywood where I had to rip off the Hessian? I mod- podged a few layers of thin paper over it, and the splinters were sorted. (actually, I am too cheap for Mod Podge, I used watered down PVA glue) The frame itself had been painted in some sort of salmon colour, so it got a few minutes under the sander, and that was it. To get some colour back onto the plain wood, i stained it with dark brown furniture polish.

Next, I ~~mod- podged~~ PVA'd the scrapbooking paper to the front of the plywood and altered it a bit with the blue ribbon because I wasn't loving the embellishment it had on it. The snapshot of Milo got attached to cardboard, then glued to the plywood and surrounded with twine- messy business! But totally worth the sticky fingers.

Bit empty, isn't it? Good job I am a genius! (err...) When looking for the PVA, I came across a box of almost forgotten plywood letters, so the frame got the ultimate personalization... a MILO on it. Heck, it took me about a century to embellish that dang letter L! The twine wouldn't stick for nothing, and it took every bit of my (almost non- existent) patience to get it done. The M was a lot more fun, I just snapped one of the ladybirds off the rusty wire and bound it with a bit of twine. Love it!

It still seemed a bit too plain, though. So I used the rusty wire and a few faux pearls in (almost) the colours of the dog toy to make a little flower thingy. Why, I don't know, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, and this is the final result. Sorry 'bout the reflection, I had to use flash since the sun has moved a little since I started the project- but PVA takes a while to dry, right? Even with a hair dryer aimed at it. I DID mention how impatient I am!

That's it, my very first crafty post ever. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I am really proud of myself :)
Thanks for bearing with me, and a big CHEERS! to Mich for getting me started.

Linkin' up to these:

I am doomed!

2010-06-22T11:09:00.000+01:00

These are the contents of an envelope of Doom. Capital D.

Mich L had a challenge up, and boy, I should have known. The girl is mad (Mich, if you read this, I mean MAD SKILLS! ) and makes jewellery out of stuff you wouldn't give a second glimpse. I mean, a belt? Go check out her blog if you don't believe me!

The challenge is to make at least 3 gift out of the stuff in the envelope. She kept it wide open, so I guess it's fine to use one's own stuff with it (otherwise I'll have myself institutionalized...), and the main thing is about creativity. I will need it... 2 Starbucks cards, 3 glittery cardboard stars, rusty wire with ladybirds, pastic flower hair embellishments, 2 laminated mini- pictures, a string of 4 mm raspberry- coloured glass pearls, ribbons, a colour card, scrapbook paper and, my personal favourites (because I know them from her blog), faux- ivory mini forks. Also, Fimo leaves (Mich, are those hand made?), napkins, a clasp and the most beautiful bobbly wool thingy ever, which also is an old friend from her blog.

The Man is sitting here with me right now, playing Final Fantasy XII on his £12 charity shop PS2 (we are both suckers for charity shops, you'll probably read about it here in the future) and trying his best to encourage me- "c'mon, piece of cake for you, right?" and all I can think is "yeah, but STARBUCKS CARDS??"

I will endeavour. There might be a glimpse of an idea for the scrapbook paper. I charity shopped that frame the other day... well, I guess I better get my behind into gear, folks, and start crafting.

Doom holds no terrors for me!!

Welcome to Three Bed Semi!

2010-06-20T13:43:00.000+01:00

Right... so, after setting up this blog ages ago and always delaying writing the first post, here we are.

This is going to be another craft blog, with, I suppose, the main focus on jewellery making.
The wonderful Michelle from Mich L in L.A. has inspired me to set up a crafty blog without even knowing it, so please don't hold her responsible for whatever I litter the blogosphere with, okay?

You might or might not wonder what the blog name is all about. Well, that's easy- we live in a three bedroom, semi- detached house in a pretty (to me, anyway) part of Leeds, England. The house is more than 100 years old and has loads of... character, I might say. It can be loving and caring one day and spiteful and bitchy the next, just as it pleases. Big fat spiders come tnd come to mind, I try to avoid trips into the basement.

"We" are The Man, a fantastic hobby cook, Liverpool supporter and the one who brings laughter into the house. Quick- witted and a tad on the mad side, he's one of a kind.

Then there are four (yes, four) cats. Shannon, black and slinky, with a ready purr that can be heard over almost anything, maybe bar a starting plane. Erin, the tricolour princess, who sometimes seems to be chatting away with us and has the cutest pink lellybean toes you will ever see on a cat. Hope, the fat cat, with a tuxedo fur and a wobbly belly, a little shy but cuddlier than a teddybear. And last, but certainly not least... The Bob, a ginger Tom who is almost two years old but still gets shouted at as "KITTEN!!!" when he does all the little things he is not supposed to do at all. Bugger.

And yours truly is Steff, almost 32 years young (ahem...), with a thing for tattoos, heavy metal, bats, rats, cats (do I see a pattern?), photography, Terry Pratchett and, most recently, jewellery. I am a german ex- pat who has been living in England for three years now and I am still trying to figure out how people in Yorkshire tick. My football team is Celtic, for the World Cup I wholeheartedly support Slovenia (I see a post about Slovenia on the horizon, brace yourselves) and there's a treasure chest of football tops in the bedroom with my collection of mismatched goodies, none of which is an England- top. Hey, I never claimed to make sense!

As for the blog, I am hoping to post little tutorials, loads of photos and completely random stuff which is hopefully of interest for somebody out there. I'm looking forward to this, so...
Welcome to Three Bed Semi!