Singin' in the rain

Remember the little mermaid from a couple of weeks ago? At the time, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, except that I had a little musical windy thing... you know, the musical clock type thingees, which I wanted to incorporate.

Also, I wanted her to sit on rocks, so I found me some. Then it was time to come up with a way to assemble it all, but being in box making mode these days, the decision was made pretty quickly.



The idea to crochet around the rocks came, as so often, from the Craft: blog. I was fairly sure I'd seen them recently, but half an hour's trawling through it didn't bring any results, so unfortunately I can't tell you who did them first. If you want to go look for them, they're not in March...



Initially, I thought if I go for crochet, I can kinda sew it all together to make sure it stays where it's supposed to, but in the end I went for good ol' glue. I'm quite nervous about tipping it, though, so how I'm going to get it to Germany is, for the moment, beyond me. We'll see.



Oh, the tune it plays is 'Singing in the Rain'. I know. Bit incongruous, but the options were kinda limited...

Jackpot!

Finally, today, I went to the post office and picked up my own personal Coraline Mystery Box, and Oh. My. Sweet. Lord. Never, in my wildest imaginations did I think that it could possibly be so perfect.



The first thing I noticed upon opening was the bunting! Mini bunting! It made me squeal, a little bit.

The treasure contained within was just amazing! A tiny needlefelted squid! A miniscule starry jumper, like in the fillum! A box of buttons barely visible to the naked eye! Just lovely! Thank you, urban craft!

Ack!

It's here! Well, at least that's what I think it is... I am currently debating whether I should forego swimming tomorrow morning and instead go to the post office to pick it up. Aaaaaaaaarrgh! I don't know! Why do the pool and the post office have to be so far apart?? My feeling at the moment is that I might actually leave it until Thursday, so that I can have a proper appreciative opening ceremony, rather than the rip-it-to-shreds-because-I've-got-to-go-to-work thingee that's inevitably going to take place if I pick it up before then... If my head explodes in the meantime, you'll know why.

And now, for something completely different: Craft: sez that March is Mending Month, so I've been mending.



These trousers have been around for a good few years, but seem to have gotten too long fairly recently. Maybe there's some age-related shrinkage going on here, I don't know. Anyways, the back legs got a bit shredded, and finally I caught one of the shreds on something and ripped off too big a bit to ignore it any longer. I had fairly recently picked up this flowery cottony fabric, which had been squealing 'Pick me! Pick me!' every time I looked at my fabric box, so I finally decided to use it on the trousers. I ended up unpicking all the seams, then ironing on tape to repair the worst of the damage, before sewing on the new fabric, shortening them a wee bit at the same time. I kinda like it, although I didn't shorten them enough... They're getting scuffed again already.


I've also finally joined The Toy Society, to help spread the loooooove. This wee thingummybob will be released into the wild soon, in search of a happy home. See how it goes.

Finally, whilst I'm at it, may as well share with you a pic of another mobile, for another wee yin, which happened last weekend. (The mobile, that is, not the wee yin).

The sweetest treasure

March is a crazy one for birthdays 'round here. This little mermaid is the start of a present in recognition of one of them, which is today. I kinda made her up as I went along, and she's stuffed with rice, which keeps leaking out through the stitches. I'm still dithering how to mount her, as well. But I really like her.

Finished and ready to go!

So, this is the box, all finished. It turned out so much nicer than I had ever hoped... And here's the perfect thing that happened:


I found a stone with a hole in it! When I first started thinking about what to put in the box, the possibility of including a stone with a hole in it made me squeak with its perfectness. But I knew, of course, that a) I wouldn't get to a beach in time and b) even if I did, what are the chances of actually finding a stone with a hole in it? Practically zero, that's what. And then, suddenly, a friend found herself with a spare car seat and the urge to go to North Berwick, and there it was, waiting for me. A little stone with an even littler hole in it. I was so chuffed!

Of course, the main point of the box is the handmade things in it, so I also included some boring notecards, ribbon and some Coraline-themed mittens. Yawn. ;^)


I hope the design on the mittens is recognisable. The back has a cat on it (and a big button at the top), and the inside is all buttons, with a key on the thumb. There's also little keys round the wrist.

Anyways. That's me. I'm rather pleased. I've been trying not to look at the Coraline Mystery Box Swap flickr group, even though I'm supposed to add some pics. But! Won't it give away the surprise? I don't know which box no. I will receive, but when I do, I really don't want to have seen any of it beforehand... So for now, I'm not adding any pics to the group, but maybe eventually I will.

Ssssh!

Yesterday, the most perfect thing happened, but I'm not going to to talk about it because it's much more fun to keep it a secret a little while longer. It is connected to this swap, which I joined and which I'm SO excited about. The box is nearing completion, and working out quite well so far. I'm rather chuffed with the paper used for the inside (and soon outside) of it.



The contents are almost done, too, so soon this little mystery box is going on a wee trip!



In between mystery things, there were also a few people's birthdays to attend to. This one was actually for a half-birthday, and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. For ages I'd been meaning to make this super cute mobiley thingee, and for ages I balked at the thought of lining all those tiny little petals. I should have thought of felt earlier for this.