Rash and grab

*Sigh* I can't wear my spiffy new pendant at the moment because it's brought me up in a rash (damn alloy allergy). I'll have to cover the back with something before I can wear it again, maybe varnish, or felt. I'm having to be bling free whilst I wait for my skin to recover. I think I knew I would be allergic to it, but I wore it to my Mums and also to jewellery class to show off. Guess that'll teach me.

M and I spent the day at Milton Keynes today. They have a massive shopping centre and market there. I'm not really a big shopper, I maybe go once a month at the most. In one of the cheap bookshops there I bought this book 1001 practical household uses for vinegar. It's a great book, it has all the different uses in tabbed section; laundry, cleaning, health and beauty, cooking, DIY, pet care, and outdoor/gardening. I've been looking out for one of these for ages.

I know a lot of uses for vinegar, but I've learnt some great new ones. For example, did you know that a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (ACV) in your pets drinking water will deter fleas and ticks? It will also help dogs with hip displasia as ACV breaks down calcium deposits whilst re-mineralising bones. 2 tsp of ACV and honey in a glass of water will help humans with arthritis for the same reason. How cool is that? There are loads of other tips, but I need to sit down and read through properly without skimming.

It is also one of the ingredients used in the 'no-poo' lifestyle which I have unconsciously been gravitating towards. I have always been reluctant to use chemicals on my skin as I suffer from an auto-immune disease which is worsened by chemical overload. I've figured out a way of making a lot of body products but for some reason my hair has been the last on the list. I only wash it about once a week but after reading even more about it, I have decided to give up the poo lifestyle. I recently made some shampoo bars, but I'm still waiting for those to cure. I think the bicarbonate of soda and cider vinegar approach is just what I'm looking for. It'll be more eco-friendly too. I only have a little shampoo left, and when that's gone, I'm not going to buy any more!

The plastic goldfish are going to go into my Dad's and Bruv's spa boxes this Christmas. I have some clear melt n pour soap from a past project, so I'm going to use it to make 'goldfish in a bag' soaps for them. The girls will get a cp soap each. Also going into the box will be a shampoo bar, bath bomb, body butter, wash mitt, candle, wine glass and mini wine bottle (ah, one of life's most decadent pleasures, a candlelit bath with a glass of wine and your mp3 player!) maybe a hand-made chocolate too. Everything going in will hopefully be made by myself! I made a similar one a few years ago and it went down a storm.

I'm nearly finished WhileyWoos Kitty beanie. Just the ears to do now.

I spent last night working on 3 super secret projects for the HPIYP! (Tralala lala!) I love them all and one of them I'm going to recreate for myself. I spent last week thinking about both projects and how I was going to do them, and now I have the bits, I've made good progress. I've not finished any of them yet, alcohol got in the way and before I knew where I was, I woke up in an undignified position on the bed. The evils of drink I tell ya! Still, at least I always manage to get to bed! I was feeling sorry for myself commiserating not getting on the college course I wanted to do. There were only 14 places and they were all taken by the time I applied. Where's my time-turner? I'm sure Hermione wouldn't have let a simple thing like this stop her! *Sigh*

Bargains galore

I was visiting my Mum the other day and we were discussing our lists of things to do...I'm in the process of compiling my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days (I've thought of 64 things so far) and I was telling her that one of the things on my list was to learn how to knit socks because I've always been a little intimidated by them, which kind of makes me want to conquer them. She told me this little story that her mother told her.

My Nan was the youngest of 13 children and spent a lot of time alone with her Mum as her brothers and sisters had grown up and flown the nest by the time Nan was born. Her mother taught her to knit at a young age and they would often spend evenings together by the fire knitting. Apparently my Nan always had problems turning her socks and her Mum would tell her to leave them by the fire when she went to bed and the sock fairy might help her out. So my Nan would go to bed, leaving the hardest part of her sock project on her chair by the fire, and when she woke in the morning, the sock fairy would have visited and turned her socks for her. Isn't that a sweet story?

Mum and Dad have just treated themselves to a new set of wooden garden furniture and offered us their old set, which is brilliant because ours cartwheeled down the garden during the spring gales and kinda broke the table. We haven't been able to afford a new set this year and this will do us for a while, especially as I hear that August promises better weather (yippee!) Don't they look great?

I shall certainly use them whilst I read through this little stack of books that I got from someone on our local Freecycle group. If you don't know about Freecycle, its a really eco-friendly idea - anything you don't need any more you offer to the group and give it away free, and you in turn can ask for anything anyone else offers up. Recycle, reuse, repurpose! Most areas have a local group, so why not join and do your bit for the planet.

The same lady was also giving this big bag of fabric scraps, lace, ribbon and stuff, so I grabbed that too *lol* I think it's been in a cellar or a loft though because it smells a little musty, so I'm going to wash it and air it all well before I use it!

Today was an unusually sunny day compared to the weather we've been having lately, a little windy but, *shrugs* can't have everything. M and I decided to walk the dog across the fields to the football ground where there is a big car boot sale held once a month and there was some great stuff. I held back a little because money is tight till M gets paid, but I treated myself to the Completed Illustrated Stories of The Brother Grimm, a great little book about the wild herbs of Britain and how to tell what they are, what's poisonous, what's not, photos, their uses, and how to prepare them. I'm a bit of a Hedgewitch at heart and I use natural herbs and remedies where ever I can. I have a small herb garden, but I haven't used it much this year because the caravan's in the way.

I also got three balls of yarn which are lovely and a set of dominoes which I plan to use for jewellery. Since seeing all the lovely domino jewellery on Craftster I've been keeping my eye out for the white dominoes and they're not easy to find round here! We mostly have a black heavily embossed domino, which I think is made locally.

My latest crafty endeavours have been a Cheshire Cat hat based on the Kittyville hat. I've done the crown and one ear flap so far. The colours are much deeper IRL but the flash bounced!

I don't claim the original idea for this, the lovely Catpants did one for the Fairytale Swap on Craftster and I've been coveting it ever since!

Hooks and Hallows

The last couple of days have been a sort of come down. I've read the last Potter book in the series and there is no more. Well, no more apart from the Harry Potter encyclopedia that Rowling has 'promised' which will fill in the background to alot of characters she was only able to skim over in the books, and will probably fill in those annoying gaps at the end of the Deathly Hallows. She apparently has realms of notes on each character. I did love the book though. I read it solidly on Saturday, determined to finish it before I encountered any spoilers. My brother texted me Saturday though telling me 'the owl did it!' Pah! Little brothers eh? They never grow up.

The BF is enjoying his new job. He took a First Aid certificate yesterday, so he is now a qualified First Aider! *Eeekkk!* Anyone need the Kiss of Life?

BTW, if anyone is interested, I have posted a tutorial for the body butter on Craftster.

Since ZaftigMomma has now received her OWS swap parcel from me, I can post what I made her. She wanted a crochet hook roll and stitch markers, so I made her a set in her favourite colours and in a fabulous velvet fabric.

Here it is rolled up

Here's it opened with the pretty butterfly lining showing.

Front unrolled

Inside with flap down

Stitch markers

I have at last finished the Fan shrug I have been pattern testing for jjgirl. I love the lace detail, and thought the pattern needed a little tweaking here and there because I made it a little bigger than the pattern she wrote, it all went smoothly, with no confusing bits, so I'll e-mail her tomorrow and let her know.

It seems as though most of the UK is currently under water. Luckily, we've escaped the worst of it this time, though as a past flood victim, I know exactly what they are all going through. I'm not that materialistic, but to lose all your possessions is not nice. The sentimental stuff was what I regretted the most. Photos, certificates, phone books, vinyls, stuff that was irreplaceable. We lived for 2 1/2 years in a semi-derelict house because we had no dependents and therefore didn't qualify for rehousing or any other help. We had no cooking facilities, no heating, no fridge or freezer, no washing machine, and lived upstairs in two rooms. The ground floor had no flooring, the floorboards were taken up to aid in the drying out. We were given a camp stove and a kettle and that's what we lived off for 2 1/2 years. We also lost the phone, the gas, the car, all our furniture and possessions....Oh yes, and the BF lost his job too because the place where he worked was flooded and never re-opened. Times were very hard. Our thoughts are with them.

New threads

The weather here is awful at the moment. We're talking a months rainfall in several hours here. Today was dreadful, so we've been sort of housebound. The BF played pc games all day and I played with my 'lil brother. That's my sewing machine btw.

I made a kimono style hoodie based very loosely on one I already had. I had this gorgeous micro-fleece and as I'm skint and stash busting anyway, that's what I used. I sort of turned my old hoodie inside out and pinned it to the fleece, then cut roughly round it, changing the shape where I wanted to.

At the moment it's fastened with a vintage silver brooch that belonged to my Mum, but I may add ties at some point. I just love this fabric and it's so soft and snuggly! I like that using a brooch means I can fasten it loosely or snugly depending on my perceived body image of the day - today I'm having a fat day, so it's fastened loosely *lol*

I also had this pair of cropped trousers that I bought last year when I was on holiday - I went on a seal trip and got totally soaked. The seaside town I was at was practically pre-historic and the only clothing shop I could find seemed to cater exclusively for the over 50's. Anyway these were the best I could find, so I bought them. They are really not my style. They're elasticated and tapered for goodness sake!!!! Sorry I have no before pictures. (Phew!) They came to just above the ankle, so I cut them off to just below the knee , hemmed them and used the material I cut off to cut a couple of star shapes. I used my sewing machine to applique them to the left leg using a herringbone stitch, then embellished them with some glittery textile paint. The picture doesn't show it very well coz it's black on black, but I think they look great...

And I made this set of display shelving from some clear cd's and hot glue. They are now in my bathroom showing my shell collection off! Recycing, Yay!

Short 'n' Shit

The weather's been a bit erratic lately. Today it was warm enough to sit in the garden with my crocheting, and even more, sunny enough to burn! It was a real family affair in the garden. The BF was cleaning his Harley, Joe, Keilo and Pippin were all sunning themselves and I was working on my Short 'n' Sweet. What a deceptive name. It's sweet till you get to about row 8/9 right hand front. Then, she's a bitch. I've frogged this bloody thing about half a dozen times. And half the time, I think I was following the pattern correctly. Those of you that have done this pattern will know exactly what I mean. But, I persevered and have got past the nightmare bit. I did have to add a little bit on, kinda winging it slightly, to get it to the point where I believed the pattern should be, so I've done the top back, each front top and have joined the back and fronts, and I'm now crocheting in one piece. I must admit, I do like how it's turning out, despite all the cursing it has taken to get me here.

I'm determined not to be beaten!

And this was the view outside my studio window at 8pm tonight. Yes, we had a mad thunderstorm to finish off the days sunshine. I said the weather's been erratic! It's June for goodness sake! It should be long sultry summer evenings, not storm conditions. I think there was even a tornado off the Norfolk coast last week! We humans have seriously f***ed the environment up. I would be in despair at the kind of world we're handing over to our children if I had any. We're guardians of this planet. We don't own it, we're looking after it for our children.

And here's another WIP shot, an Indian elephant lantern I'm in the middle of painting. It'll probably be for my ebay shop.

The computer died tonight. Rest in pieces. I think the fan burnt out. The BF is gutted, but happy that he's discovered the source of its recent unstability. Luckily (for me *mwahahahaha*) we have a wireless router, so I can still connect to the internet via my lovely little laptop :-) The BF threatens commandeering it tomorrow to source a new fan.

Recycling madly

Last night the BF wanted desperately to watch a really important football game *pah* we usually spend Sunday night together curled up in front of a film, but he begged me, so I spent the night on my 'lil Brother. I've been wanting to make some of these for ages, but just never got around to it. Tissue holders from BellaDia's tutorial. Now my tissues will look snazzy in my new holder and I need never fear pulling a tatty plastic covered pack from my bag. I use hankies too because they're washable and more eco-friendly, but I do like to keep a travel pack of tissues in my bag for emergencies.




Pretty purple fabric with butterflys for the outside, and a paler fabric with little purple flowers for the lining.

I've also made some suncatchers for my garden out of some dvd's, some little mirrors, a couple of glass nuggets and some beads. There are three of these in my garden now. One of them I engraved with little flowers. A nice eco-friendly recycling craft. The dvd's were mis-burns and would have been thrown away otherwise. Yay for recycling! I love it when a project costs me nothing, especially when money's so tight.

Here's a sheet of my hand-made paper. I soaked some shredded paper last night and I couldn't wait, so I blended it with my trusty stick blender (yeah, it's my kitchen one, but *shrugs* kids eat paper all the while, and as far as I know, no-one ever died from eating paper) and made a few sheets. It's a little lumpy because I probably didn't let it soak for long enough, or blend it fine enough, but I like the kind of speckly effect from all the bank statement print and other junk with our names and addresses on (identity theft is a big concern in Britain at the moment). It's drying on top of the stove at the moment. It's been raining on and off all day, so I couldn't dry it outside.

And here's my painted spindle. I just used ordinary waterbased emulsion on it (my living room walls are this purple colour), then painted a star on it in pink metallic paint and used gold relief outliner for the dots. I modge-podged a sparkley coating on it, then coated it again in an acrylic seal (because modge-podge can stay a little tacky I find). I finished it off with some golden tear-drop jewels. When it spins it makes a pattern like a spinning top! :-)

Home alone

The BF departed for Sunderland today - he'll be there till Friday, training for his new job. At the moment he's stressing about trying to watch the England game in Scotland, which is where he'll be tomorrow. Boys!

Today I have been making a grocery tote bag out of a pair of old curtains. Don't worry, I never actually had these curtains up at my window - they were here when I moved in! They were fabulous material though a little threadbare in places. This is why the fabric patterns don't match up - I had to cut round the thin patches *lol* It's quite a square design, but very roomy

I can't wait to give it a test run. Pity I've already done my shopping for this week...

Here's the progress so far on my beaded doll.

A little more as you can see. When I started her, I think my original idea was to make a butterfly, but as I progressed, I couldn't think of a way to do the wings. Maybe it'll come to me as I work on her, or maybe she'll continue to be a floral goddess.

A different cloth pad. The blue material was a pair of old cotton jeans my mum was going to throw away. I got to them first. The material is very thin and soft. The padding/lining was some microfleece left over from my skirt project. (See earlier posts!) Yes, I use every scrap :-) Quite a 'green' day, all in all!

Carbon footprint

I'm thinking about what to make this month for the eco-craftalong. The theme is eco-cleaning. This is not a problem because I don't know how to be green, but completely the opposite. We're already a green household. We recycle our paper, plastic and cans through council waste collections. Our garden rubbish goes into a separate wheelie bin from our non-recyclable household waste, and kitchen scraps and soft garden stuff goes into our composter. Our personal details on paper, anything with our name, address, account details, anything we can be 'cloned' with gets shredded and also goes into the composter. Glass gets recycled by a regular trip to the recycling centre. Much of the glass I paint comes from a pre-loved source - charity shops are my favourite as I feel that the money to buy the 'blank' has gone to a good cause, and also the glass has gone from something that someone didn't want into something someone does want. I also use freecycle, car boot sales and eBay. I don't really buy that much new. Today the trendy phrase is 'reducing your carbon footprint' - I can't really do much about the petrol I use in my car as I need my car for work, but I try not to make unnecessary journeys, I walk as much as possible or cycle. I use my own bags when I go grocery shopping. I try not to use my drier very much - I prefer to dry my clothes outside on the washing line, or on hangers inside the house. I'm trying to remember to turn off my electrical appliances when they're not in use, rather than leave them on stand-by, or plugged in.


So, back to my dilemma. I have no idea what to make....I have dusters already...I have flannels and bath scrunchies and I make alot of my own bath products, I use cloth pads and a mooncup...I don't use a swiffer...I use a bagless vacuum....


I'm making some more cloth menstrual pads at the moment, will that do? I'm trying to find the perfect design - the last lot I made came out a little narrow and didn't want to fasten underneath without bunching my underwear together (I'm wondering whether the material shrank a little). This one has come out a little bigger than I was expecting, but I think I'll wash it a couple of times before I chuck out the template. (I've been making one or two at a time and test-running them, before I make a full batch.)

This is the one I've just made.

These are the ones I made last time.