Carmenland

Stuffie challenge

2010-12-14T18:33:00.003Z

Things are busy busy busy round here, so of course I had to accidentally create more work for myself. I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to Christmas, for everything will [have to] be done by then!

So, I seem to be getting into free-hand monster making these days. It started with this one:

I doodled, then I made a monster out of it. The results of this particular one I already posted in my last post.

Next up was this one:

And the latest one got finished just now:

I'm really enjoying these. I tried to recreate the first one, but it didn't really turn out right, and it's kinda fun making one-offs anyways. And to top it all off, I actually managed to sell the first little guy at the market on Sunday, wheee!

The two latest fellers shall be included in the Craft Reactor Showcase Exhibition, which opens on Thursday, 16 December. Come see!

Hello World!

2010-11-29T13:32:00.002Z

What a crazy year this is still only just being! We just moved house, and I spent a month without the internet and then another month trying to unearth enough stuff to make things with... Everything's still a giant mess, but oh well. We're getting there. Christmas may have to be skipped, though.

Anyways, here's what I made:

Because the world NEEDS TO KNOW

2010-09-27T21:28:00.002+01:00

Today, I got distracted by running across the What I wore today Flickr Group. Since I had a pen in my hand already, I doodled.

I've previously been contemplating doing some sort of regular drawing exercise, but so far have always failed. Not sure this is the one I'll stick with, partly because I'm not so sure *I'm* interested in what I wear every day, nevermind other people. So ye. Basically, what I'm saying is, there's not much to say. So I'll shut up now.

Dress hack

2010-09-21T22:27:00.002+01:00

Looks like the next adventure on our long list is moving house. We just recently managed to buy one, apparently, though at the moment we seem to be in a dead zone where nobody speaks to us while behind the scenes solicitors and finance people do their thang.

Nevertheless, awareness of the incredible amount of stuff we have in our current flat drove me to a very feeble attempt at cleaning out one of our many cupboards. In the process, I came across this utterly amazing fabric, which had temporarily been buried under a pile of other fabrics (all of which I had totally forgotten about). My friend Liz gave it to me a few months ago in what I'm convinced can only have been a moment of temporary insanity. Ha! Well, it's MINE now! I decided right away that this needed to be used before it disappeared again in the mounds of things we own...

Before I got my greasy paws on it, this was a skirtlike thing. I say skirtlike because it was open, like a wrap skirt, but not really long enough to wrap... In addition, it also seemed designed for tall skinny people. Did I take a 'before' picture? Of course not. Which is why I spent the last three hours sifting through Liz's flickr pics to find a picture of her in it.

Anyways, it seems to be hand-printed, and of course I wanted to destroy and lose as little of the amazing artwork (monster fish, people!) as possible, so I cut it hardly at all. I removed the waistband and stitched up the open sides - this became the back seam of the dress. Then I cut two slits in the now-sides, which I shaped into shoulders and arm holes. The rest is done with darts. Finally I halved the waistband lengthways and backed it with some lace (this purely because I couldn't be arsed cutting a long straight strip of fabric, and I had lace of the right width) and stitched it to two of the side folds to tie at the back.

The material is just amazingly lovely. It's really soft, yet sturdy. I think this dress and I are going to go a long long way together. I just hope the printing actually stands up to washing...

Bookplates

2010-09-17T12:12:00.003+01:00

Ooooh... I like me a nice bookplate. I don't know why it's never so far occurred to me to come up with my own (I've always stuck to stickers or just handwriting my name in the book), but when I saw a link to this nice little tutorial on how to paste a bookplate into a book on the Craft: Blog, I dropped everything and got my pens out.

So here's the result. And of course I'm happy to share the love, so feel free to download them singly or ready to print as a sheet of nine (about 18x25cm, so should go on either letter or A4 size paper).

In which she goes off on one about her dad

2010-08-30T11:40:00.002+01:00

Right. My dad. He's the classic grumpy old man. You ask him to do something and he immediately starts whingeing and wailing and clawing at his eyes, but if you turn your back for 20 seconds he sneaks off and does it and pretends it wasn't a problem.

The whingeing and wailing can get a bit much sometimes, so on occasion, my mum and I take a turn at sneaking off and doing things ourselves, which is probably the point of the exercise, even though he doesn't really like not being asked either. You see the problem.

So, whilst we were on holiday in Germany, we had to get the house ready for some overnight guests. This meant that a mattress needed to be got from the loft. I went up. Got the mattress. Then stumbled across a box of old toys and spent the next 30 minutes digging through it. This feller caught my eye.

He's photographed here on the bathroom floor just before his adventure in the washing machine. My mum says I never played with him, but I remember him being around. Anyways, when I saw him this time, I noticed what a nice huggable size he was, and it occurred to me that most of my stuffed monsters are smaller. Nice, but not quite as cuddly as this one. So I decided to nick the pattern and turn it into something monstery.

It feels like a real achievement, actually. It took me a lot of trying and undoing and redoing and then several tries to get the face right. But now, I'm really quite pleased. I think if I want to make these for sale, I'll have to streamline the pattern a bit, but that should be easy enough.

Just so you know...

2010-08-29T17:29:00.000+01:00

The Craft Reactor Launch evening will be going down on Tuesday 31 August 2010 at the Glasite Meeting House, 33 Barony Street, Edinburgh. If you're a crafter and want to know what it's all about, come along. There'll be gimmicky biccies and everything!

We need another camera

2010-08-01T21:18:00.002+01:00

Earlier this year, Mike decided to buy a second camera. We'd bought a new Canon Ixus 95 IS after our "old" one broke around last Christmas, and it was such a lovely handy and actually working little thing that both of us tried to use it constantly but could never find it because the other one would be busy with it. So, Mike bought himself another one which he carries with him wherever he goes, problem solved.

Now, however, I'm spending a lot of time hunting down the camera again, because Nils is suddenly really into taking photos. I really like how deliberately he decides what to photograph (even if it means taking 20 photos of 'Nobody!' and cackling madly every time...) But ye, I guess another strong point of this particular camera has revealed itself: It's small and light, but sturdy enough to withstand handling by Nils. It also takes nice enough pictures in the 'Auto' setting (i.e. without any faffing), to make most of his pictures turn out ok.

Anyways. Whilst I spent the last week or so frantically trying to sort out stuff for that exhibition, Nils went round taking pictures of me looking disheveled.

More photos taken by him here.

There's stuff happening! Lots of it!

2010-07-25T21:50:00.003+01:00

I'm all too aware that deadlines are approaching like nobody's business, so I'm currently spending most of my time trying to catch up like a madwoman. Lots of monsters happened in the last week for the Attack of the Knitted Tentacles exhibition, and now the last-minute-flood-of-ideas has set in, and I've not really got a clue how to realise them all without locking myself in a room and foregoing human contact for the next week. It's awfy exciting, though!

Maik of Dekor Labor suggested a collaboration on a kids' t-shirt earlier this year, so we set to work. The finished product is something I'm utterly pleased with and is now available in the Carmenland Shop.

More recently, my friend Jenny asked me to consider doing some illustrations for a forthcoming planetarium show at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. A very exciting opportunity!

In indoor gardening news, it's not looking anywhere near as good. Whilst our crop of tomatoes was quite exciting (nothing Nils couldn't destroy single-handedly within seconds, but still at least detectable), mice and whitefly have plagued the peas and cucumbers, and trampled the rocket and radishes. I have managed to harvest a pod containing a single pea, which was mildly exciting, but honestly, at this point I don't see myself repeating this shit next year. I'll probably go for more tomato plants and leave it at that.

Bogies and other delicacies

2010-05-06T20:57:00.002+01:00

I've spent quite a lot of time drawing recently, as opposed to sewing, which I had almost gotten used to being my main occupation these days. Some of this was spurred on by a conversation about t-shirts, and some by random doodles that slipped out in between making wheat bags.

At first, I wasn't sure what he was going to lean against, but in the end just framed the whole thing, which works quite nicely, I think. It was later suggested that some sort of text could be incorporated, but as I couldn't think of anything clever, I just ended up making up some...

And then this one happened:

The end.

Our lesson for today: Garden disasters can happen indoors as well

2010-04-26T09:19:00.004+01:00

...with generous support from your local stinkin' mouse.

Yesterday I returned from Germany, just to find that my tomato plant is doing well and starting to flower, and my cucumber has been joined by a second one, and that... umm... mice appear to have eaten everything else. I've sowed some more rocket, but the peas look like they may be sprouting new leaves already, so I've left them for now. Here's hoping they come back!

Anyways, on to happier matters: Holidays. It was lovely, as usual, and, also as usual, I managed to score big time at the flea market.

This was a whole pile of old Schachenmayr magazines, probably more than 70 (I should count them, really...), published from 1935 to 1943. Aside from the wealth of knitting and crochet patterns (lots without imperial eagles on, too...), they're really interesting to look at from a historical standpoint. In most of them, the writing is limited to the patterns, and totally non-political. The longer the war goes on, however, the smaller they get, due to the paper shortage. Shortages in general are taken more and more into account in the later issues, a lot of them focusing on re-using old and unused items, and mending or reworking used clothing. Whilst in the early years there are still bigger and fancier looking patterns like long skirts or costumes, in the later ones there are more 'useful' and everyday patterns, particularly for children. Issue 8/42 is a special edition with patterns for soldiers, and in 1943, finally, production of the magazine is stopped - temporarily according to the blurb, but I'm not sure if it ever came back...

There's lotsa nice patterns in there (even though the instructions are not exactly detailed...), but these two are probably my favourites at the mo:

It also has some excellent adverts:

[The text reads: Both dolls were exposed to severe moth attack for the same amount of time. The clothes made from Nomotta yarn were not damaged at all. The clothes made from ordinary yarn were, as the picture shows, very badly damaged. Therefore use only Nomotta yarn for all your needlework. It stays completely moth-safe, even after washing.]

Veg news

2010-04-10T18:06:00.002+01:00

Just thought I'd post an update on the indoor garden. It's amazing what difference a little bit of sun makes!

The rocket is looking a bit flimsy, but seems to grow alright. There's some proper rocket-shaped leaves showing now.

The peas are certainly looking like peas now - will have to come up with a climbing structure for them before long. The radishes are also growing proper prickly radish leaves.

The first cucumber seedling has joined in the fun and a tomato plant was also purchased today.

What happens on the inside of my head when nobody's looking

2010-04-03T16:05:00.003+01:00

Tooth curtains. We've all fantasised about them, right? Ok, then. Maybe not. One night after fencing, at the pub (where else?), the topic was discussed in great detail, however, and due to the forthcoming birthday of the head fencer, led directly into the production of a musical box with tooth curtains.

The mouth contains a tiny vase with a flower sitting on the tongue. Unfortunately the curtain opening system is a bit wonky, as I ran out of time, but all in all I'm rather pleased with it.

The other random thing that was recently discussed was knitted tentacles in combination with monsters. Which made me think about battles, which made me think about epic stuff, which made me think about stained glass windows. Obviously.

Pulling the finger

2010-03-22T13:42:00.003Z

As mentioned before, I recently was lucky enough to meet Cassandra Harrison at the Maker Faire in Newcastle, and this morning we met up for coffee. It was lovely to see her again, as she's very nice, but also because she's a true fountain of knowledge. (I know. "Fountain of knowledge" sounds weird to me, too, but I looked it up, and that's what she is. So there.) Turns out, she was involved in setting up the Newcastle Craft Mafia, which comes in handy for me, as the idea of setting up an Edinburgh one has been banded about for yonks now, but nothing has come of it so far... No excuses now, though!

If you are interested in joining forces, please get in touch: carmen *at* carmenland *dot* com.

On the craft front, I've been monogramming again, for a friend's birthday present (guess what letter her name starts with!). I really like this M. Came out a bit wonky, but we're just going to ignore that, right?

In Indoor Gardening News, the rockets are sprouting like crazy, the radishes growing like nuts, and the peas are all peeking their little tips out. No sign of the cucumbers yet, but they've been buried deeper so have a bit longer to go.

Getting out the green thumb

2010-03-15T15:25:00.004Z

So, fed up with not having a garden, and inspired by this, added to the fact that it's Spring, I decided to try and grow some stuff this year. A trip to IKEA led to the discovery and prompt purchase of these planting bags, and then there was no stopping me. I doubled up the bottom of the bags with some bin liners, to avoid water leaking out. I've sowed peas, radishes, cucumbers and rocket, and can't wait to see if and how they turn out! I wonder if I'll have to introduce some insects to the flat, to help with the production of peas and cucumbers, or if it'll do to leave the window open occasionally...

Yesterday, relatively spontaneously for our standards at least, we got on the train to Newcastle to visit the Maker Faire. It was brilliant!

Mike's put some pics up on flickr, though I have to say, half of the stuff he photographed, I didn't even see! Saw some cool stuff, though, including Shapeways, a 3D printing place. I'm particularly interested in their stamps - they seem quite reasonably priced, particularly given the worldwide free shipping.

I also met an artist and printmaker, Cassandra Harrison, who's just happened to move to Edinburgh recently. We had a long chat about gocco printing, and possible alternative supplies, now that they're not produced anymore and prices keep subsequently going through the roof - it was great!

We came away with a bunch of books and toys, including some Blinkybugs and Mike even managed to wangle some free sugru for a bike project. It was well worth going. Nils, admittedly, wasn't too blown away... A lot of the toys were a bit too complicated/ fragile for him to play with, but I'm hoping that in future he'll get more excited about it.

WIPing the night away

2010-02-22T19:56:00.002Z

I like those little musical windy thingees, but I wish I knew what they're actually called. I have used one before, to make a musical box for my cousin's birthday, and now I'm doing another one.

This is actually the second go. The first one was slightly... umm... unexciting. So when I then accidentally scribbled the guy with the star in his hand, I took it apart and started from scratch.

The box was a lucky antique shop find - I got quite a few of them. They're old display boxes the museum threw out, and I managed to get 12 for a tenner! Yay! They're all different sizes and have a glass-fronted lid. Very posh, even though slightly under paper bug attack. Oh well.

The other thing I did today was come up with a Nils-friendly pattern to use for sticking on boxes.

No dwarves involved

2010-02-15T09:17:00.002Z

Of course, I'd forgotten about another bunch of illustrations for The Future Fire I did recently. The current issue is the first part of a special feminist writing edition. It's well worth a read!

Snow white ended up looking a bit scruffy... Pencil drawings are quite hard to scan, but oh well. Kinda pleased with the overall result. Most work, of course, went into the drawing of the mirror cabinet, which is hardly visible, as I ended up using it for the background of the second pic.

Back!

2010-02-13T15:24:00.002Z

Back from the long dark teatime of the soul I appear to have had, but guess what! Camera's broken again. Not that there's anything to photograph round here. Aside from a few hats and mittens and some stuff I made.

Most of that is a lie, actually. The camera did break, but we've got a new one (it's shiny and barely visible to the naked eye, and makes photos that don't look crap, wahey!). And that teatime thingee was mostly laziness and involved an awful lot of hot chocolate. Anyways, people, I have plans. Plans that I won't reveal to you just yet, (in case I run out of steam before realising them) (and also just in case I come up with even better ones in the near future) but nevertheless, my head is full of them. Kinda.

What I'm currently working on is a cardy. It's knitted. It'll be my first successful (yes it will) "big" (read: bigger than mittens and hats) knitting project, and it's made out of some lovely don't-know-what grey yarn, which came from an oversized old cardy inherited from my gran in my oversized teenage days. I love it already and have picked out some nice purple flowery buttons for it.

*Will* post pics at some point!

Freebies!

2009-12-17T08:18:00.001Z

Here, have some gift tags to colour in and cut out:

(Click on them for bigger versions)

Happy Christmas, Solstice, winter, weekend, or time in general!

Result!

2009-11-10T15:36:00.001Z

I think she turned out rather nicely.

Christmas Madness has begun

2009-11-08T21:58:00.002Z

Please, people, note that the Out of the Blue Christmas Market this year will be a 3-day-extravaganza, so there'll be no excuses this time! I'll be sharing a stall with Sharon Whyte and James Homer, on all three days, and there'll be lotsa cool stuff to buy buy buy! The dates are 5th, 12th and 13th December 2009, from 11am till 7pm, at the Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, I've been arsing around with ideas for a tattoo for the second doll. The very first tattoo I've ever considered getting was actually something very similar to this. As it stands, I still haven't gotten around to getting one, and not sure I ever will (visions of nasty old ladies with blurry tattoos on their forearms are still etched deeply into my memory from my time working at the bingo hall...), but my brain is currently furiously trying to work out how to adapt this to something small enough to go on a doll.

Results to be posted soon!

Madness, I tell you!

2009-10-26T11:10:00.004Z

Ye right. You knew this was going to happen. I think I probably did, too. When I made the first one, it was kind of an accident. Just a random afterthought which amused me. And I let it, and thought it would pass and I'd probably not make any more coz no one would buy them. And then, a friend came round and saw her and made a little squeaky noise and that was all it took.

So here's another one. And then there will be another one. And then there will be a Christmas Market, and somebody better appreciate them, or else!

Fabric! Yay!

2009-10-15T19:49:00.003+01:00

Fear not, dear readers, the love is about to be shared. Now *everybody* in the entire world (well... provided they have internet access and a credit card, I guess...) can be the proud owner of some Carmenland-designed birdie fabric.

Bet you're excited. I know I am.

What I did during my holidays

2009-10-03T19:39:00.003+01:00

Once again, we're back from Germany. Once again, it was lovely, but too short. Oh well. At least this time, we got stuff done. We had a timetable and everything. The German efficiency jokes have all been done already.

Craft-wise, I got pretty busy just beforehand. I made a last-minute baby quilt, which was super quick, as quilts go, and well received for a pregnant friend. Once again, however, it made me decide to leave the quilting to other people. We'll see how long it lasts...

After the very enjoyable day we spent with our friends in Heringen, I managed to drag my mum first through a hedge backwards, literally, on the hunt for rosehips, and then back to the local antique shop. I lucked out on both occasions, finding oodles of rosehips, as well as an entire mini tree full of these lovely little plums which I know as Marillen, even though the dictionary sez Marillen are apricots. Jam-making ensued.

At the antique place, I made a bee line for the lace, which I'd looked at last time, but stopped myself from buying, which I promptly regretted. Everything was still there, which was probably also the reason why I ended up getting it 5 Euros cheaper than the price tag said. As with the fabric I'd bought there previously, it turned out to be way more than I expected, getting me a whole 13 meters of vintage lace for 10 Euros - YAY!

The little polka-dot ribbon was just too cute to resist. I probably won't ever be able to get myself to use it for anything, though...

I'm also continuing to inherit bags and bags and bags of craft materials from an old friend of my gran's, who's decided to clean out her stash. I got two bin-liners full of lace, this time! I think I seriously need to go away and contemplate storage solutions.

A quick one, before we go off to granny-land

2009-09-24T13:50:00.004+01:00

So, we're all packed and ready to go on holiday. YAY! But before I go off on a week of not reading blogs and eating cake and getting into arguments with my mum, here's what I did in the quite considerable amount of time since my last post.

First off, I discovered Spoonflower. And oh, how long had I been waiting for this discovery! So, in an attempt to finally, finally, get that chair covered in a fabric that doesn't stain like mad and is nice and suitable for the cushioning of our royal behind, I got some upholstery weight fabric printed. It's *lovely*. I'm so impressed with the quality of the print... Granted, it wasn't the cheapest upholstery fabric ever, but it's not the most expensive one, either, and nothing really beats having your own design on your favourite chair...

Last Monday I spent writing another book. I'm rather pleased with it. I'm thinking of creating a mini-series in this style, with the same character, but will have to see if this can happen in time for the Christmas market, which, btw, will be on 5 December 2009, so come along! There'll be christmas cards, books, and another Spoonflower-creation: monstery bags. You'll see!

Wild young things

2009-09-07T19:57:00.002+01:00

You turn your back for one moment, and they run off and get botched tattoos from back-street third graders with darning needles in a fit of youthful giddiness.

Here's one for the laydeeeez...

2009-09-07T14:49:00.002+01:00

Every year for the last three years, I've seen this, and every year I meant to do something for it, and every year, until now, I failed. Yesterday, I had a brainwave, followed by doodles, followed by the production of this wee lass at the top, followed by the realisation that I couldn't send her all the way to Australia, selfish brat that I am, followed by the production of the wee lass at the bottom, which, I would like to point out to my dear readers, has *a pocket*. A pocket, people! I'm very much in love with this tiny pocket, and just to avoid having to make another one, I packed it all up in double-quick time and sent it off.

I do really like little projects like this, which allow me to get carried away a bit. All too often now, I come up with a little critter and wonder if it would be feasible to sell it. Not having reached quite the cult status I deserve yet, unfortunately few people have so far expressed the wish to pay 50 quid for a stuffed toy yet, so generally, I try and keep it simple.

Although, when I looked at commercially available dolls, I was quite surprised to find that a lot of them cost that much or more! Mind you, a lot of them cost a lot less, as well... Anyways. I'm rambling again.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your opinion please!

2009-09-05T13:53:00.003+01:00

Over on the other blog, you can let me know what you think of this latest thang to crawl out of the thickets of Carmenland. Your opinion counts!

Going all pensive

2009-09-03T21:05:00.002+01:00

I've been experiencing rather fierce pangs of missing my gran recently. I don't know where they're coming from, so suddenly. But it's mostly when I rummage through my buttons, most of which used to be hers. It occurred to me that buttons are particularly nasty swallowers of memories, as they're not something my gran would have passed to me during her lifetime, and now I want to know where some of them come from, there's nobody do ask.

Hmm. Now I've started to listen to Tori Amos, and it's not helping.

On to crafty matters, then. I'm working on a wee sequel to this, but that's still a secret. My reason today for rummaging through my box of buttons was another swap I've joined on Swap Bot. I made a couple of fox pins to go in.

The pattern's from this book, and I'm glad to finally have found a use for the patterns in there! Most of them are very cute, but don't really work for me as stuffies, as they're kinda flat, and the heads are usually stuck on one side. I don't know. Seems weird to me. They work well enough as pins, though, and this wee feller:

...is certainly rather charming. Quite faff to make though, with all them tiny bits. I'm very nervous about actually sticking him on my bag, as I don't want to lose him! Might have to make a dedicated bag and sew him on. Hmm... now, there's an idea!

Domestic god in the making

2009-08-28T12:51:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, Nils insisted on reading the Craft: Blog with me (as in, I insisted on reading it and he insisted on sitting on my lap whilst I did so...). Then we came across this, and he exclaimed 'I want a kitchen!', so who was I to argue.

Mine was way cheaper than $10. Given that it's made out of two cardboard boxes (which came 'free' as packaging), an old ice cream tub (ditto), some found cardboard and buttons, and string which I got from my mum, it probably cost me about a quid for sticky tape and 50p for the yarn used to crochet the tap.

Nils immediately went on to make a delicious imaginary strawberry cake, followed by some button soup. Then he turned it on its side and used it as a garage for his cars! Jack of all trades, that one.

I'm mostly excited because it's a good excuse to buy one of them miniature kids' cooking sets from IKEA.

2009-08-21T18:33:00.002+01:00

Hello! I'm not sure where the last couple of weeks went to. I appear to have been busy, partly with secret stuff, and partly with random boring non-crafty stuff, but mostly with small things. One small thing turned three last Friday! No idea how that happened. Gran is getting into severe hint-dropping mode with regards to siblings now. Geez.

Anyways. Yesterday, almost by accident, I stumbled across Swap Bot again. I'd kinda gone off it, as most of the swaps ended up being for ATCs (no offence to any ATC makers out there! Just not my thang...), and I felt their rating system was spiralling out of control a bit. Nichtsdestotrotz (there really should be an english word for this.) I had a look, and came across the Teeny Tiny Stuffie swap, and felt inspired enough to join. Then I spent half an hour making the little feller above and now I have to wait! For weeks and weeks! I guess that's the other part I didn't really like about it...

Also on the crafty front, I made a 'sugarbag' for our wee nephew, who started school last week.

Short Night

2009-08-07T21:08:00.001+01:00

My own exhibition, Kunst im Klo, is now open to the public, and has just been joined by James Homer and his fantastic photographs. Don't worry, we're not all crammed in one tiny toilet, but all at the Glasite Meeting House, weekdays from 10 - 4.30. Entry is free, and you even get the chance to win a Carmenland goodie bag!

The probably least environmentally friendly craft in the world...

2009-08-01T18:54:00.002+01:00

That's right. I'm talking of Shrinky Dinks (available in the UK here, amongst other places...). But who can resist tiny little colourful stars? I know I can't.

The idea, indirectly, came from Just Something I Made, which is my favourite blog at the moment.

Too many blogs...

2009-07-25T22:34:00.002+01:00

I've blogged about the background story to this illustration here already, but I like it so much that I'm putting it up again, and you can't stop me!

Stitching away

2009-07-18T12:57:00.003+01:00

Another one got finished. I liked using that fancy lace stitch on the rectangular bit. It's quite cool. The monster itself turned out a bit hmmm. Not quite sure. But Mike assures me it's cool, so I'll be going with his opinion.

The fabric I used for this one is different from the first one (slightly thicker), and was an enormous stroke of luck. Back in Germany on holiday, I dragged my mum through a few antiques shops, and in one of them (the local one), I rooted through the basket of linens and eventually came across what looked like a bolt of plain linen. It was very yellow with age, but seemed in good nick (and yellow just means it's *vintage*, anyways... :^), so I took it home for 7 Euros! I guessed it was about 4m at first glance, so considered it a bargain.

Now, imagine my excitement when I got home and measured it and it turned out to be 13 (thirteen!) metres of lovely (and after a quick stint in the wash white) linen! It's only 75cm wide, but still, that's a whole lotta fabric.

So ye, as I said, it's a bit coarser than the cotton I used for the first hankie, but it feels really nice and soft.

Also, yesterday I came across, like, the best vegan lemon sugar cookie recipe, like, ever. I adapted it slightly as I didn't have all the ingredients the recipe called for, but I'm totally in love with them.

Here's the recipe (my version):
Mix
1/8 cup soya milk with
4 Tsp lemon juice and set aside.

Mix
1 1/4 cups flour (I used wholemeal)
Pinch of salt
1/3 Tsp Baking soda and set aside.

Beat
1/3 cup sugar
(bit more than) 1/3 cup margarine
Zest of 2 lemons
(and 1/2 Tsp lemon extract, if you have/ can be arsed)
until light and fluffy.

Add soya milk mix and beat a bit more, then mix this with the flour 'n' stuff.

The dough should be quite soft and silky. Make balls and roll them in sugar, then bake 10 mins at 200C.

Yummy!

Lacy days

2009-07-11T18:58:00.002+01:00

(Yes, yes, ok. I apologise for that god-awful pun in the title. I hate coming up with titles.)

Anyways, I mentioned before that on holiday I tried whitework for the first time. I was quite honestly surprised I stuck to it until the end. I kinda would have expected to run out of patience, but I found it really quite relaxing to be stitching away at it whenever there was some time.

So, when I had the idea of combining this with monsters, I just went for it.

By my standards, this took a loooong time to finish. I worked on this almost every day for the last two weeks. I had to have a couple of days' break in between to not go completely nuts. But I'm so pleased with the result!

Spontaneously...

2009-07-01T19:57:00.003+01:00

...I'm having an exhibition. I wonder if I should just give in to the fact that long-planned things come to nothing, and that last minute works best for me. Not that this is particularly last minute, in the scheme of things, but given that we were planning to organise an exhibition for the festival at the beginning of the year, and then gave up on it because nobody really had the time or inclination, this came as a bit of a surprise to me.

I've been wanting to find a way to use the Glasite Meeting House for a while now. It's such a lovely building. But the space, unfortunately, is a bit unwieldy. The upstairs room is perfect for exhibitions, but used by yoga and dance classes. The hall is full of pews (which are lovely in themselves, some with graffiti from the 1800s!), and even if I had more stuff to hang on walls, I could never dream of filling the vast amount of space available in there.

But then, suddenly, it struck me: there's quite a large toilet on the ground floor, supposedly accessible for the disabled. I say supposedly, because the building in itself is hard to get into if you have trouble with steps, as all the entrances have stairs on them.

So I liked the idea of using this, but then forgot about it again. Until I mentioned it at work, and it was rather more enthusiastically received than I expected.

So, there you go. An exhibition. In a toilet. Why not, it's the Festival, after all...

Still sorting through...

2009-06-27T20:32:00.003+01:00

Just back from hols, and I'm still sorting through stuff. Once again, I went into needlework overdrive, starting a pair of socks (knitting patterns, people! Suddenly, I'm getting them!), getting THE most exciting embroidery book I have seen in a long time, having my first go at whitework (and having a brainwave, too - more on that once I've actually got some results...), and then making a lovely summery skirt as well. Being round my mum does that to me, and I like it.

The weather was being funny, playing nice whenever it was needed, but no more than that. And I discovered that 'tis a great year for blueberries. Nobody believed me, but if you happen to hang round a german forest in the near future, check'em out!

Enough for now, but there'll be more reports of findings and experiments soon!

Up up and away!

2009-06-05T23:32:00.002+01:00

It's done! The new website is up! I'm *so* chuffed with it... So, check it out and marvel at the delights it holds in store.

Sometimes I find myself in a love/ hate relationship with ideas. Obviously, having them is kinda essential to doing cool things, but sometimes they get in the way of each other, or completely take over your brain. So, today, instead of preparing for the market tomorrow, making another Minimonster Musical Mobile, as I had planned, and doing the dishes, I faffed about with a dress all day. Meanwhile, it has gotten so late that I won't even bother trying to take a photo of it, and technically, it's not even properly finished.

Well. I may not have anything much to sell tomorrow, but at least I've got something to wear. Gotta get your priorities straight, I guess.

Nee-naw nee-naw!

2009-06-04T23:15:00.001+01:00

I'm spending so much time these days drawing police cars, I ended up putting some on a ribbon.

Monster House

2009-05-31T11:50:00.002+01:00

Look! A house! With monsters in! It's a wee bitty tight, so I hope some punters will show mercy and buy some (or all!) of them. I kinda thought I need to come up with a better way of displaying them at the art market, so when I came across this on the Craft: blog (where else?) a while back, I though I should make one. So, last night, realising that, apparently, I've done most of my stuff for the market, I turned to display matters.

I kinda made it up as I went along, using an old cardboard box as a base, rather than following the instructions. As a result, it's not collapsible. But it's got wallpaper!

Whilst I was at it, I also revisited the packaging for the bags.

It could do with a bit more fiddling, possibly, but seeing as I'm now out of those patches and the fabric, too, I'm not sure how many more bags there will be. I kinda like them, and they sold well at the Christmas market, but I'll have to see how they do this time.

Art Market Countdown (that time of year again...)

2009-05-22T09:02:00.002+01:00

Oooooh... I do like me a good faff with packaging.

Things are kinda taking off, suddenly. Last weekend I was all chuffed for managing to convince Mike to do me a nice fancy wee website, and he was actually willing to do it, if maybe a bit stuck for time in which to do it in, and then suddenly an in-between-jobs friend offered to help yesterday. Yay for geek friends!

Now, friends, time to get your calendars out along with a big red pen, cross out Meadows Festival on the 6th of June, and put in the forthcoming Art Market instead.

Art Market
6 June 2009, 11am - 7pm
The Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, EH6 8RG

New Moo cards

2009-05-14T16:52:00.003+01:00

Here they are! I like how they turned out, but I wonder why it is that my brain just conks out whenever I've got to decide what to put on the back of things like these... So, a random collection of information there, but oh well.

Will it ever end?

2009-05-11T22:54:00.002+01:00

I've been spending a bit too much time with Photoshop recently. This is the aforementioned Happy Hitler illustration, even though I've looked at it for so long now that it doesn't look like Hitler to me anymore.

I went to the cinema for the second time in three days today! Wooot! Finally got round to see Coraline, and suddenly a lot of stuff I've been seeing in the swap made sense. I thought it was absolutely amazingly well done, even though it's very different from the story in the book.

Monster systems are go!

2009-05-10T21:51:00.002+01:00

Hey - I went to see the new Star Trek movie yesterday and it was ace. I never use that word usually, but it seemed to fit there. Really enjoyed it.

The monsters mentioned recently got me a bit obsessed, so I came up with some more. The one on the left is my favourite, for some reason. Mike doesn't like it. I guess I like this one a lot, too, which surprised me, actually. Anyways, I got so excited about these, that I ordered some Moo cards and stickers! With, like, my website address on'n'stuff, and even the folksy shop address. Even more incentive to get my ass in gear.

Btw, did I mention, that in an incredible stroke of luck, I came across somebody who'll make my website all fancy in return for some fairies? Well, I did. How exciting is that?

Productive times

2009-05-07T20:46:00.002+01:00

Last weekend, for the first time in a good while, I felt the madness again. You know, that urge to make things. It was really good. I'm determined to get my ass in gear now, and sell things, so a new bunch of monsters was called for. A couple of them are still waiting on eyes, but the other two are done.

I like this one. The front is made from an old coat, which I bought for the equivalent of about £3 at a fleamarket ages ago. It was one of those pieces of clothing where the idea of wearing it is far more amusing than actually doing so. It got me quite a few stares, and several lots of desperate sighs from my mum. I didn't wear it often. The back is a particularly crazy type of plush, which seems to be mega-static. It gets absolutely *everywhere*. But it's just the best shade of pink, too.

Nils tried to adopt this one, but I've got to be strong! I think we're doing really well on the avoiding-to-buy-every-piece-of-crap-he-asks-for-front, but when it comes to stuff I make I give in far too easily. Flattery will just get you pretty much anywhere with me...

On Monday, I finally made a dress!

When I saw this fabric in the shop, I bought it without even thinking about it. Somehow, it just seemed to have decided to follow me home and resistance was futile. I had no clue at all what to do with it, and for a while it just lay in the bottom of my fabric box, and only occasionally came out to serve as a tablecloth or photo background. And then, about a month ago, the idea for this dress came to me in a dream (no, really!). Since then, I had been playing with how to do it in my head, and on Monday I finally set to it. I adapted the top half from this pattern in Burda magazine (11/2007), and did a circle skirt for the bottom. I'm really pleased with it.

Now, I'm aware that sewing snobs who look closely, or see it in person (Hello mum!), might feel tempted to point out that the fabric is squint at the top. I know that, and yes, it was, with hindsight, a mistake. But when I cut the fabric I honestly couldn't work out if the funny crinkly bits were supposed to be level. When I tried to straighten out the fabric it went into all sorts of wrong-looking folds, so I went with it the way it was, which turned out looking a bit... well... wrong. But oh well. Most people I know aren't sewing snobs, so I think I'll be fine.

The picture above doesn't actually make it look particularly exciting, and I tried to take a picture of myself in it, but the best one I could come up with before my camera died is this:

Maybe I should just pay somebody to do the photographing for me.

Happy Monsters

2009-05-02T23:34:00.003+01:00

I thought colourful happy monster notecards could help make the world a slightly better place.

So, people, I think this is it. I think this will be the item with which I'll finally be leaving etsy and defecting over to folksy. I have no quarrel with etsy. It's a lovely place, and I like how easy it is to use. It's simply the fact that it's all based in the States, rather than Britain, that has brought me to the decision to move over. I never got that much business from it so far anyways, and it seems to make sense to be dealing in pounds.

So, farewell then, etsy for sellers. I shall remain a devoted buyer, I promise!

Don't mention the war

2009-05-01T15:51:00.002+01:00

I've had a whole litter of new monsters today. The air in this flat is thick with pink furry fuzz, and I fear my nose may never stop itching ever again. I wonder if there's a condition called Monstermakers' Lung.

Mike is fully responsible for me not having any access to a camera. The details are too boring, really, but it means that I can't take pictures of the monsters, which makes me sad.

If I had a camera, I could also show you our lovely new couch, which is comfy! And has also been covered by yours truly, after IKEA refused to give us the cover we wanted.

So, instead of photos, here's some doodles I did for colouring in purposes for that kid that keeps hanging round here.

Yesterday, I did an illustration which involved one hundred million (almost) tiny swastikas and a happy Hitler. I'm strangely nervous about it. Luckily, it is for a guy who routinely calls me a nazi, so I'm hoping he'll get the joke.

It's actually very cute and I want it on a t-shirt, but I'm a bit too scared of the Don't Mention The War brigade.

Singin' in the rain

2009-03-31T21:42:00.002+01:00

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!

2009-03-26T09:28:00.002Z

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!

2009-03-23T20:35:00.004Z

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

2009-03-13T20:15:00.002Z

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!

2009-03-10T19:43:00.002Z

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!

2009-03-06T15:29:00.003Z

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.

Spring has sprung, and I'm not afraid to say it

2009-02-19T21:17:00.003Z

One day, a couple of weeks back, Nils went into superwhinge mode (he does that now sometimes. It's very annoying.) I managed to distract him by showing him embroidery. It was quite fun, and he got very excited, although the joy of pushing needles with colourful thread through fabric was nothing compared to the utter hilarity of cutting things! With scissors! As you can see, he did quite well, though he's still got a bit of practicing to do when it comes to holding it still for the camera.

Back home on the craft range, the news is that, suddenly, I'm apparently into knitting. I learned to knit in school, like, twenty years ago or so. Since then, I've always avoided it. My mum/ gran/ aunt/ every other family member happily spend every waking minute making clicky noises with needles, but I always found it too much of a faff. Then, at christmas, my mum introduced me to bamboo needles and the secret easy way of knitting sock heels, causing me to knit a pair of socks for myself that were actually as long as I wanted them. (Hitherto, my gran had been the sock knitter, but when it comes to socks any longer than, say, mid-calf, she tends to be a bit 'zach', as we say in Germany.)

Then I lost my bamboo needles for a bit, but a friend introduced me to this pattern, which got me very excited. I made one, which turned out not so nice, so I started another one, which has now been abandoned in favour of mittens! I really liked the idea of making up your own pattern, and came up with this owl thingee.

Not sure how recognisable it is, but I like it. I'm tempted to put this oak leaf design on the other one, but not sure yet. Might make up something else.

Of course, you know what this means, right? Spring is here! Because of course, it would be completely ridiculous if I made myself a pair of mittens at a time of year in which I actually get a chance to wear them. I'm not complaining, though. This winter was a bit rough on me, for some reason.

Anyways. I shall go back now to thinking about the second mitten. And don't worry, I'll finish the fish hat, too. Eventually.

Domestic goddessing, but not much else...

2009-01-26T20:13:00.003Z

Did I mention that I have one of these little friends now? I'm still getting used to it, but it's quite fun. It also led me to create yet more ribbon. Which isn't too bad, seeing as I'm all out, having sold it all at the last market. I kinda like this one. I used some in the cover of the book I'm in the process of binding.

Also, for the first time *ever*, I am the proud owner of some ridiculously cute japanese fabric. It's even more cute in person, and I just can't see myself ever actually taking a pair of scissors to it. Having said that, I managed to get myself to use a little bit of the three little piggies one for the aforementioned book, but only it allowed me to cut a straight strip of the top of the piece, so that it still looks whole. Nope, doesn't make sense to me either.

Anyways. Tonight I'm baking bread. Tomorrow I'll be baking more complicated things.

'part from that, not much.

Crafty weather

2009-01-18T13:56:00.003Z

It's all shit outside. The rain just keeps coming down like nobody's business, and when it doesn't, the icy wind makes you want to stay inside anyways. Good weather to catch up on all the crafty business, if only the light wasn't so crap!

Anyways, I've been making Sauerkraut and did up another toy box for Nils, for create52. The Sauerkraut is being a bit confusing. Even now, two days later and after a vigorous re-mixing with some more salt, there's no sign of brine forming. I wonder if the cabbage was too old and didn't have enough water in it anymore. For the moment, it just looks and smells like cabbage salad. We'll see how it goes.

Nils' nursery keep asking everyone to label all of the children's belongings clearly, so I finally made the long-planned Nils ribbon. Next up is a fox equivalent to this cat. Also, I brought back an old battered kids book of mine which needs re-binding. I'm dithering about what to bind it in, though. Still looking for the perfect fabric.

Now I'm beginning to wonder, however, with the flat getting colder by the second, and Nils finally napping, and the rain drumming against the window, if this crafty weather isn't actually rapidly turning into sleepy weather.

Hmmm.

Happy new year everyone!

2009-01-10T16:09:00.002Z

I had, like, the laziest christmas ever. We arrived in Germany on 21 December, and I think the first time I got up off the couch after that was 4 January, when it started snowing and we had to get the sledge out. Learned how to knit socks, though!

On the presents front I did quite well. Dr Mikenstein got me these super-lovely earrings, coz I'd favourited them on etsy and he went and found them without me saying anything. Nice, eh?

My mum got me a Roemertopf, because I wanted something to bake bread in. We tried it already, and it worked much better than the soup pot I've been using so far.

I came back with lots of ideas for create52, which I've been neglecting a bit recently...

Today, though, the winter's getting to me a bit and I'm feeling sleepy and cold and a little bit restless. So for now, I'm just faffing and not thinking about anything that requires brains.

Busy busy

2008-12-11T12:38:00.002Z

A friend recently said that pre-Christmas is in a different time zone which works at twice the speed and I fear she may be right. With nine days to go before we head to Germany all I've done about getting presents for the family so far is having ideas...

Meanwhile, commissions are rolling in, which is so exciting! But also so time consuming! It also leads to some crazy straying-from-the-pattern-of-the-moment-path right into the production of robots!

I'm so pleased with this little guy. The picture is shit. Really. In real life he's so sweet, I just want to hug him! All day! Of course the making of robots had occurred to me before, but, like, the whole world is making robots these days, so it didn't seem that much of a challenge. But now I can think of a hundred kids who might get one for christmas!

Aside from that, the Flumptwizzle pattern got re-purposed into a fancy pink kitty cat.

I know. Let's not talk about the quality of these pictures... It seems that my photographic abilities, never hugely exciting, disappear completely with the hours of daylight in the winter. On the good side this means, of course, that with the solstice right over there about to come up, things should start improving soonish again.

On a different, completely random note, and just because I'd like to say it, it was the last fencing class of the year yesterday, and I went to the pub with some of the guys afterwards, and it was really pleasant.

That's it.

Tired but happy. Oh, and rich.

2008-12-06T22:48:00.004Z

All that griping, and for what? The market went really well, people seemed to go crazy over all the ornaments, in particular. Must remember that for next year...

Also, Frederic the Sprout may just have gotten his first foot onto the ladder to movie stardom. We shall see what comes of that. I'm rather excited about the possibility.

Last minute brainwave

2008-12-05T12:55:00.003Z

You know, I'm really quite worried that nobody will show tomorrow. Oh well. Last night, as was, I guess, to be expected, the Last Minute Brainwave [tm] Hang on. As I was trying to finish that sentence, I got distracted by crazy numbers of birds trying to all land on one tree simultaneously outside my window. So I had to go and take a picture, and here it is:

A quick trawl through the Concise Encyclopedia of Birds (Bertel Bruun, 1974, illustrated by Paul Singer) identified them as Waxwings. Just as well I started at the back... The book (bought for 80p in a charity shop, mostly to have something to copy when drawing birds) sez: Waxwing: a member of the family Bombycillidae. The three species of waxwings are found in the forests of the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere. Waxwings are medium-sized, crested passerines. They are social in habits outside the breeding season. Waxwings often perform irruptions of areas outside their normal range. They live mainly on berries [which explains why they were going crazy over the rowan tree...] Well. Irruptions, indeed.

Now what I wanted to say seems all boring in the light of these punky irrupting birds.

Foo. Monster. Box. Mini. Blah.

Breaking News

2008-12-04T17:23:00.004Z

Just because I *know* you're burning to know this: After a few weeks of getting worse by the minute at fencing, and after just 13 months, yesterday I took *and passed* my silver award!

Yay me!

Counting down to the Christmas Market

2008-12-03T16:36:00.002Z

I'll be truly glad when Saturday is over. The last few weeks have been spent in a bit of a tizz, doing bits and bobs here, and dithering and swithering there, having ideas, throwing them out, trying them anyway, declaring them a waste of time, all with the vague feeling that it'll all be over in a flash, and then the real Christmas will be here to panic about.

I didn't get as many of the monster ornaments done as I had planned. Might be a good thing... not sure how popular they'll be. I'm pretty chuffed with the gocco-printed cards that happened, once again in conjunction with Sharon. I've still got some of the packaging to sort out, and then keep my fingers crossed that people will be in a bit more of a spending mood than last year.

Meanwhile, Nils is slowly being introduced to the idea of Advent calendars and Christmas baking, the latter catching on pretty fast.

Pirate Chickens!

2008-11-27T11:36:00.002Z

Sometimes I like how things look in pencil. But scanning them is crazy difficult. I kinda want this on a t shirt or something.

The last couple of weeks have been a bit hectic, and my brain appears to have packed up and gone on holiday somewhere.

That's all I have to say for now.

Got anything planned for the 6th?

2008-11-25T21:01:00.001Z

Poster design by Kate of Boxart fame.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blog post appears...

2008-10-18T11:13:00.002+01:00

So, people, I've been quilting. And I can tell you this: how anybody does this, voluntarily, without going insane, is completely beyond me. The cutting up of tiny pieces! The sewing! The ironing! The sewing! The ironing! And then the sewing again! And then! More ironing!

I only did a little one, for Nils. Because I thought that would be a good way to try it out without committing to a huge project. It was supposed to be all pinwheely things, but as you can see, I lost the will to live about halfway through making them. This was about 3 months ago. Fortunately, the treasure trove that is the IKEA fabric department came to my aid in the form of this fabric, which finally got me to put it together.

The corner edging turned into a bit of a disaster, now more or less gracefully hidden behind those... umm... corner things. The back looks pretty terrible, but I will spare you. I won't even mention the pinwheel square I managed to cock up, as you'll just go looking for it.

Apart from that, now that it's finished, I'm quite pleased with it. Nils carries it around a lot and insisted on sleeping with it (rather than in his sleeping bag) last night.

But the worst thing is, now I want one for myself! AAAAAAAAAAARRGH!

I guess that means it's Autumn, then

2008-09-17T16:17:00.004+01:00

Edinburgh kinda redeemed itself on Monday, by throwing an unexpected bucket of blackberries at us. Jeez. I hadn't had blackberries for aaages! Well, four weeks, I guess, but they don't count as they were grown deliberately in my gran's garden and don't taste like wild ones. So, I haven't had *wild* blackberries in any significant amounts for at least 10 years.

It was a really wet and grey day, but in the afternoon, a parcel from my mum arrived, which included this book. She'd let me borrow it after I suddenly got intrigued by rosehips - what's up with them? They're obviously edible, but nobody does!

The book is mostly about wild mushrooms and what to do with them, but it's also got a section on wild fruit (raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, some other stuff and... rosehips!). I leafed through it for a bit, and then, as so often, just had to try stuff *right away*. So I set off, totally the idiot hippie, in a skirt (obviously) and wellies, with Nils on my back and a bunch of bags under my arm. It was enormous fun, but carrying Nils on my back made me quite wobbly, so I had to forego some of the elderberries that were growing too far in the gorse. And then! Suddenly! I found myself in the biggest patch of blackberries I had seen for, well, 10 years! Nils was a bit suspicious at first, but soon I couldn't pick them quick enough for him.

We came home with three big bags of elderberries, and one each of blackberries and rosehips. The blackberries were mostly gobbled up on the night, but the rest was made into a lovely cobbler. The elderberries are currently being made into christmas secrets. The rosehips are waiting for some apples to be joined in some jam.

So, it's official: Autumn has begun.

Monster in a box

2008-09-07T20:58:00.003+01:00

Somehow, Sharon's birthday is turning into the main creative event of the year. This year, for various reasons, it had to be a monster sitting on a toadstool in a mini cocktail bar, drinking cocktails.

What will it be next year??

Making faces

2008-07-29T21:37:00.002+01:00

I've been looking at bento boxes a bit too much recently. I really love the idea of opening your lunchbox at work and having something fun look back at you! And, fortunately, kids are a great excuse to play with food anyways.

So, on Monday night, I couldn't sleep, so I got up at one in the morning and made a little teddy bear sandwich for Nils. It's got yeast spread on it, and ears and a snout made of cheese. The eyes and nose are raisins, and the mouth is a little sliver of veggie sausage. The stuff at the top of the pic are little stars cut out of the leftover sandwich.

For tomorrow, I made him a kitty cat. Again it's yeast spread (I'm not a very imaginative sandwich filler... It's always either yeast spread or cheese...), but with tofu ears. Cucumber eyes, apple snout, raisin nose, yay! It also comes with some extra apple stars.

I hope he likes it. He ate all of the other one, according to the nursery. No mention was made of weather he gasped in awe beforehand.

Too orangey for crows

2008-07-12T19:52:00.004+01:00

My achievement of the week: A dress! I bought this a few months ago, when my cousin was over. I had no hopes of ever fitting into it, (I had trouble getting it on with the zip wide open, closing it was completely out of the question!), but she was dithering over whether she wanted it, and I thought that if she decides against it, I could always at least stop somebody else from wearing it! Err... and re-use the lace.

So, in my huge trunk of fabric it went and there it stayed until Thursday, when I was looking for some usable fabric (unsuccessfully - I only seem to have crap in there...) and stumbled across it. Oh, did I mention that it was white at that point?

Gripped by sudden madness, I tried it on, and wahey! it fit! And there was space to breathe and everything! And then I thought! White! Messy pigs like me shouldn't be left alone in one room with white dresses, never mind being allowed to wear them. (Quite apart from the fact that me knickers showed through....) So I went to my trusted dye dealer and bought some Dylon Rosewood Red fabric dye. And proceeded to be amazed at the lovely brightness of the colour. The pic, as usual, doesn't really show it like it is. It's kinda too browney to be red, but too orangey to be brown. It's utterly lovely. Waiting to see how it survives the next wash, though...

Plinkyplonk!

2008-07-08T20:19:00.002+01:00

Yes, the chair is doing well. The back is still languishing uncovered, because I never look at the back, but the front is done. Pretty much. Oh well.

But! Look at the Minimonster Musical Mobile thingee! It goes plinkyplonk to the tune of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' when you pull the little star at the bottom. It is made out of beautiful beads, and scratchy sticks, and fluffy fur, and flowery fabric. It's going to go up on etsy as soon as I manage to take some decent pictures of it.

Late wonkiness

2008-06-28T00:03:00.002+01:00

So it's midnight (waaaay past my bedtime, these days), and I'm out of staples and have lost the will to live. I wonder if upholsterers, as part of their training, have to do a test where they have to cram as many nails as they can into a tiny piece of wood.

It's wonky, I know, but it's still comfy and, seeing as I'm making it up as I go along, it's not too bad. Time to sleep now, though.

Say hello

2008-06-19T14:49:00.005+01:00

...to the first ever piece of clothing made of yarn, started and finished by me, which is also wearable! I'm kinda pleased with it. It was really quick to do (key to the aforementioned finishing bit), and finally made me use up the Debbie Bliss Maya stacks of yarn I bought quite a while ago (when it was cheap[er than before...] because it had been discontinued by that time.) I kinda started from this pattern, but changed it round a bit.

Also, the fabric has arrived. And it's true, it's not purple. It's like, nothing like purple. It's got a funny colour which I know has a name, but I can't think of it. It may be platinum.

The back is really quite yellow/ pale bright gold, if that makes any sense. I do like it, though. It shall be used to cover the chair, and it shall be sat upon for eternity. Lets just hope there's enough. I guess the reason it was cheap were the faults in part of it, so I'll have to see how much I can salvage.

OH! HELLO! Almost forgot... (That self-promotion thing is something I gotta work on....) The exhibition (remember?). Well, it starts today and will be on until 11 July, so come check it out!

And here's some doodles from last week - cards for various friends' happenings.

Hot bread, I love you so

2008-06-07T21:19:00.005+01:00

I used to make my own bread and, for a while, I had quite the little sourdough factory goin'. But then I couldn't be arsed anymore, particularly as I could never get the right floofyness, and crusts just didn't appear. Recently I wanted to try again, though, and then I came across this recipe, which sounded good.

Floofy? Yay! Crusty? Hooray! No knead? Indeed!

It is by far the easiest and floofiest and crustiest loaf I ever made. Thank you, Bryanna Clark Grogan, you are my undisputed hero of the vegan kitchen! I halved the recipe again, as there's no space in my fridge for three loaves worth of dough, and I used linseed oil, having run out of any other kind of oil. Next time (and yes, there *will* be a next time), I would maybe slightly reduce the water (just by half a cup or so), as the dough was very wet. I'll also try and incorporate sourdough in it somehow. It must be possible!

By the time it was done, I was pretty hungry, so I ended up eating it hot, which is one of those things your mother warns you about, of course. It was delicious, though, and I regret nothing.

On the chair front, the trip to IKEA was completely for nothing! What a disappointment! IKEA fabrics may be cheap, but they look nicer online than they do in person. Schade. So now I'm waiting for my mum to send this one,

which my gran picked up at a sale for €2.50 per meter! I'm still a bit dubious, as I haven't seen it in person yet. It's a bit posher than I'd planned, and it looks purple, which I like, but according to my mum it's not purple. So, I'm waiting with bated breath for the mystery colour of the fabric to be revealed. Royal Mail, hurry up! None of that "you're in, but we'll just tell you you weren't" nonsense this time!

Finally, I suddenly realised that I'd forgotten to brag about this one.

The apple was initially supposed to be a strawberry, but well. I'm kinda flexible on the fruit side of things.

No, not the chair again!

2008-06-05T21:54:00.003+01:00

I got a new cushion for it today. It was really quite pricey for a piece of foam. It is very comfy. I don't know if a better solution could have been found.

But really, enough of that. Have some chicken.

A friend of mine just got a new job, and one of the first problems posed to her was procuring a chicken. Naturally, being a bit of a chicken-making pro, I offered to make one. Not sure they'll actually use it (it's for a window display), but I quite like it. I mainly used white corduroy and some cream coloured upholstery fabric with a dot pattern, plus some lace and felt. I put rice in the bottom, to make it more stable, and filled the top half and neck/head with styrofoam beads. That's it.

Chair news

2008-06-03T22:00:00.003+01:00

The chair. I cannot get over the luckiness of it all. I got me a heavy duty stapler and went to work - First I stapled in some webbing (bit wonky, I know....), so now you can sit in it. Nils has already done a lot of lounging in it. I also decided to sand the legs, and they're almost done. I'll re-varnish them, but the old varnish had worn off and was scratched in a few places. The wood looks so beautiful freshly sanded...

I also went to John Lewis and fell utterly in love with completely the wrong fabric (in red). It's so lovely and so not suitable for upholstery! It's also £14 a metre, so not cheap enough to make mistakes with, really. A trip to IKEA has already been planned, and I'm tempted by the red flowery one of these. We'll see. IKEA prices are definitely much friendlier than other places'.

In other news, after my last post, I made a strawberry for the mobile I was on about. But now I need to get thinner sewing machine needles, as I've only got huge ones that mangle thin fabrics. And obviously I can't possibly sew anything by hand. That would just be ridiculous.

That last market, btw, was sadly a bit of a waste of time. Although having said that, I sold *all* of the notecard sets. Just not much else... Hopefully the next one will be better.

Back from the land of visiting parents

2008-05-30T13:43:00.004+01:00

They left absolute ages ago, of course, so can't really be used as an excuse for not blogging, but oh well.

So, we've got a new camera! I'm still trying to befriend it, though, so excuse the crappy photos in the meantime...

There's another market coming up, tomorrow. Once again at the Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, once again from 12 - 7, so come along and buy stuff! I've been tinkering with little notecards. For this time, though I had to make them bigger than I wanted, as I'm still looking to find a not quite so high maintenance way of making the correct size of envelopes. They're coming though, don't worry...

Also, I did some packaging magic. It's quite fun!

Apart from that, I appear to have lots of *big* projects goin' on. I'm steadily crocheting away at my 400-granny-square-blanket. Oh, and I cleverly decided that I really need to make a quilt for Nils. And sew him a jacket. And, well, that mobile from this book is not going to make itself either, I guess. And then, today, this little radgo followed me home:

(The chair, I mean. Nils follows me home a lot, too, but I've kinda gotten used to that by now. In case you're wondering, Nils' pants are wet there because he's been leaning against the chair, which had been standing in the rain, not because he had an accident...)

So, Mr. Comfy Armchair needs to be de-gunked, and re-seated, and re-covered in something that doesn't remind me of bin. I'm thinking polka dots.

Look at the foot!

Oh, I can't wait to sit in it and read a book! Or, well, crochet...

Excuses, excuses....

2008-05-08T22:46:00.002+01:00

This is currently a household lacking a camera. So, obviously, there's no point in making anything, 'cause there's nothing to take pictures of it with. I've been a bit lazy recently. Had some grand plans for more gocco prints which haven't materialised yet. I really wanna get me some fabric inks and print on t-shirts or something. But! Printing up to 50 t-shirts? What am I going to do with them? Apart from the obvious thing, which is trying to flog them, I mean.

So, yesterday I used the need to make some more granny squares for the hilariously ambitious project that is my fourhundred-grannysquare-throw, as an excuse to make a little cloth bucket type thingee to hold my crocheting stuff. Today I did some crocheting. I also attempted to make one of these, but failed (too small) and couldn't be arsed to start again. That's it.

'Course I can't prove any of this as there's no camera.

Moop map

2008-04-27T22:20:00.004+01:00

That was a funny word Nils made up ages ago.

I never new about Pachelbel's Canon (Gasp!) until we had Nils. In fact, I still didn't know about it for a few months, which I instead spent wondering what that lovely waiting music on the NHS 24 phone line thingee is. I then stumbled across this, and it all became clear.

Only yesterday I realised that Johann Pachelbel was German, and that the canon is the only one he ever wrote, which makes it completely non-representative for his other (shitloads of) work. So there. I wrote an article about him for Emmeline.

Apart from that, I've not been up to much. You?

Kikeriki!

2008-04-13T22:03:00.003+01:00

Nils is getting really good at knowing his animal noises. His version of 'Kikeriki' (which is, for all you non-germans, what *proper* cockerels say) kills me everytime. So, clearly, a cockerel demanded to be made.

Not the sturdiest feller I ever made, and most comfortable lying on his side, rather than sitting, but oh well. I like him!

Erst kommt der Sonnenkäferpapa...

2008-04-05T12:19:00.003+01:00

This ribbon thing may be on the verge of going a bit too far. I just can't stop myself from wanting to fill the world with ribbon! Look at the ladybugs!

Also, this morning I bumped into our unreasonably friendly postman, and he handed me this package, which I'd almost half-forgotten about.... A while ago, just after discovering the loveliness of gocco, I discovered this shop on etsy, and just couldn't resist. It's all so nice! I didn't take very many photos of the contents, because too much other stuff was going on, but oh! The tiny little "Thank you" tag! So cute!

Well, heLLO, there

2008-04-03T12:11:00.006+01:00

This is what I've been doing this week:

Make this little guy: 1 hour
Fiddle with his hair and moustache: 5 days

I made a few (well, four) of these the day before the craft market last week, and I loved them all so much that I wasn't sure if I could sell them. (I could, and I did sell 2 of them).

Then the moustached one happened, and he'll just have to stay with me for the rest of my days. I cannot, for the life of me, get over his moustache. And that top hat hides a tiny bald spot where I've been brushing his hair a bit too much.

But, cheesy peeps, doesn't he look dashing!

[Edit: I almost forgot to say: I've entered him into the 2nd Annual Softie Awards, so keep your fingers crossed for him, if you can stop stroking the screen for a bit. (Flickr group here)]

It's mine, but you can have some.

2008-03-29T22:42:00.002Z

Another arts market today, and it went pretty good. I shared the stall with Sharon this time, and that was a good idea.

Another brainwave had called this new kind of monster into existence yesterday, and I couldn't stop hugging them, whilst Sharon fantasised about making them walk on their stringy legs. Fun alround!

52/9 - Easter bread

2008-03-22T10:08:00.002Z

Well, this was supposed to be a create52 post, but it doesnae seem to be working at the moment.

So here goes. In Germany, my cousin can usually be relied on the make a scrumptious vegan easter bread big enough to feed a small country, so that everybody can happily spend the easter weekend eating. Here, I'm on my own, so I had to finally get off my bum and get my own.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but couldn't be arsed with the potato faff in the dough, and left the prunes out of the filling. I added about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of toasted oatmeal, to thicken it up, though. Oh, and I halfed the recipe, as well.

If this doesn't make sense to you, here's the recipe:

Dough:
500g flour
100g sugar
100g (I think) margarine
1 packet of fast action dry yeast
about 3/4 cup of handwarm soyamilk
Mix everything together and leave to rise, either in a warm place for a couple of hours, or over night in the fridge, which is what I did.

Filling:
3/4 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
3/4 cup poppy seeds
3/8 cup sugar
1 heaped tablespoon of margarine
1/4 cup soyamilk
1 1/2 tablespoons of oatmeal, toasted
grated zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

After it's risen, split the dough in 3, roll each third into a rectangle, spread with 1/3 of the filling and roll up. Place the 3 strands onto a baking tray and braid them - you can stick the ends together by brushing them with a bit of soyamilk.

Bake for about 50 mins, at gas mark 4 - I turned it down to about 3.5 after about 30 mins, though, to avoid it getting too dark.

Ice with a simple icing sugar/ lemon juice mix.

As you can see, it split a bit during baking. If you want to avoid that, maybe keeping the dough quite thick and the rolls quite loose might help. It tastes yummy, anyways!

And the final 25:

2008-03-19T16:43:00.002Z

76. Make some paper.
77. Have a computer-free day each week and actually stick to it.
78. Paint a mural.
79. Decorate a flat.
80. Find a butterfly pupa and keep an eye on it until the butterfly hatches.
81. Go on holiday to Norway.
82. Watch a lunar eclipse with Nils.
83. Write a Wikipedia article.
84. Be an expert in something.
85. Grow my hair really really long (it probably won’t play along, but I can try, at least...)
86. Once my hair is really really long, cut it off on a New Year’s day.
87. See the Leutratal orchids.
88. Learn about edible weeds.
89. Make jam.
90. Stay in Frogg Manor’s Lady Guinevere Suite.
91. Re-read ‘Die Söhne der großen Bärin’.
92. Find somewhere that has fireflies.
93. Make a donation to a worthy cause.
94. Train myself to just know what time it is.
95. Make my own cough sirup.
96. Figure out how proper pop-ups work and use the knowledge in books of my own.
97. Own a bonsai.
98. Own a grandfather clock.
99. Make a kilt for Nils.
100. (Cheating again:) Actually do everything on this list.

100 Things to do before I go: Nos 51 to 75

2008-03-17T21:34:00.003Z

51. Stop being scared of spiders.
52. Grow some mushrooms.
53. Try out moss graffiti.
54. Have an environmentally friendly toilet.
55. Live completely without sugar for at least 2 weeks in a row each year (including weekends).
56. Dye something using plant dyes.
57. Own a craft room.
58. Have a garden with a vegetable patch.
59. Never own a TV again.
60. Make some really fancy truffles.
61. Read the Communist Manifesto.
62. Take Nils and Mike to the Fairytale Forest by boat.
63. Own an insect hotel.
64. Learn to recognise common birds by their songs.
65. Find some ant lions in the wild.
66. Learn to recognise birds of prey by their shape.
67. Make a herbarium.
68. Learn about animation.
69. Own some designer wallpaper.
70. Try out Fastenwandern.
71. Knit something bigger than a scarf.
72. Finish my granny square blanket.
73. Have a big kitchen, preferably with some humongous antique kitchen furniture in it.
74. Sleep outside again.
75. Keep Emmeline running for at least another 5 years.

100 Things to do before I go: Nos 26 to 50

2008-03-16T11:21:00.001Z

26. Visit some other buildings designed by Hundertwasser.
27. Make some buttons and use them in a project.
28. Learn how to do basic html magic.
29. Do some voluntary work.
30. Get the silver fencing award.
31. Learn to ride a horse.
32. Earn actual money from selling handmade stuff.
33. Make some wine.
34. Make some beer.
35. Teach my gran a new skill.
36. Live in Germany, at least for a bit.
37. Invent a holiday and celebrate it annually.
38. Finish this list :^)
39. Build another pinhole camera.
40. Make a wedding dress for somebody.
41. Have pets.
42. Get family and friends to contribute to a book.
43. Start and finish a project other people benefit from.
44. Be unreasonably kind to strangers for a whole day.
45. Teach a child (not my own) a skill.
46. Make [a vegan version of] pelmeni from scratch.
47. Own some snowdrops.
48. Go sledging.
49. Translate ‘Room on the Broom’ into German.
50. Go somewhere from where you can see the Aurora Borealis.

You started on yours yet?

100 Things to do before I go

2008-03-15T14:39:00.003Z

Recently, this lady posted about 100 things she wants to do with her life, and of course, as these things go, challenged all readers to do the same.

I've been thinking about it ever since, and have finally started my own list. Here's the first 25 things. Some are of course more likely to happen than others, but I've tried to keep them as realistic as I could.

So, go on then, your turn next!

1. Build a kite and fly it with Nils.
2. Learn a musical instrument (Like, properly, with a teacher’n’stuff).
3. Learn another language.
4. Teach Nils how to cook.
5. Teach Nils how to sew.
6. Make some skin cream.
7. Make some ice cream.
8. Stay at Bad Blumau in Austria, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
9. Sing ‘Dona nobis pacem’ with Jenn in the hall of the Glasite Meeting House, Edinburgh.
10. Start a family tradition and keep it going.
11. Bake my own bread again.
12. Build a doll’s house.
13. Learn how to re-wire a lamp.
14. Make some shoes.
15. Own an orchard.
16. Own a telescope.
17. Live in a place where it’s worth owning a telescope.
18. Sort out my driving license.
19. Stay on an island smaller than mainland Britain.
20. Grow a tree from seed.
21. Have another child.
22. Embroider some bed linen with monograms.
23. Be bold enough to introduce myself as an ‘artist’ to people.
24. Tat a piece of lace long enough to actually be used in something.
25. Make a hoodie and wear it to death.

We're on a roll!

2008-03-14T18:55:00.002Z

*Another* great week here in Carmenland. I wonder what's goin' on. Maybe this year is trying to make up for the last one. I can live with that.

First off, Dave agreed to take my portrait, for the press kit I was supposed to put together. We went out last Sunday, and, though a bit weird at the start, wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected it to be. And I did end up with a portrait I kinda like, too.

This was followed by me, after a week of chewing my nails, finally finishing off my bio. My relief at both these accomplishments was, of course, tempered a bit by the fact that I learned today that the gallery doesn't want them anymore. Oh well. At least I've got them now. I'll prolly put at least the bio up on my Carmenland website (which links to my etsy shop, but otherwise is very boring and currently also horrendously out of date...).

Fencing was really quite pleasant this week, and followed by (finally!) a brainwave. I'd been meaning to make another skirt for ages, but just couldn't decide what kind of fabric to use. On Wednesday night, suddenly it was very clear to me that it had to be light blue, with the lovely Elephant trim I got a wee while back. Even Nils obliged and had a 3 hour nap, just so I could finish it. I love it so much!

And finally, today I went round Sharon's and we finally tried out the Gocco printer, as we'd been meaning to for a good two years now. Well, you know all those people raging about Goccos? They're right! It was so much fun! I'm addicted.

Enough of this now.

Japanese rabbits

2008-03-06T22:16:00.003Z

Say hello to Mr Rabbit! That is an order! I ordered some books from amazon.jp, partly because it was such a crazy experience, and partly because the books looked cool. The one above is definitely my favourite. It's got the cutest mobile, like, ever, in it, and I just want to sit and make tiny strawberries all day! Ok, so in the end Mr Rabbit won over the strawberries for the first go (and, well, the second one, too...) , but just you wait! There shall be fabric fruit all over the place soon!

The other ones I got were this one (ok, but not quite as cool as I thought it would be), this one (lotsa cute cross stitch patterns) and this one (funny mostly for it's random bits of japlish, but with lots of cool stamps).

The most amazing thing was how fast they got here. They were only shipped on Monday.

Well anyways. Giddy with desire for corduroy slices of watermelon, I shall leave you now. Good night.

Wheee!

2008-02-29T13:22:00.002Z

So, it's been a good week here. It all started with our noisy bastard of a downstairs neighbour apparently moving out. I say apparently, because nobody has actually come up to me and said, he's moved out. He was just seen with a car and lots of stuff in the hallway, and since then the flat downstairs seems to be empty, and is definitely quiet. I saw him in the street the other day and couldn't help giving a mad cackle of cautious delight.

Then on Sunday, I ended up having a good excuse not to fence. Crazy neck. I know that it's really quite sad and stupid to get so het up about something that I'd prefer to be in pain than to take part in what, essentially, would have been a day of friendly poking, but after last week, it was what I needed. I sold raffle tickets instead.

And finally, on Monday, I got word back from a gallery, who accepted my application for their forthcoming artist's books exhibition! Oooey. My first proper exhibition! As in, the first one not organised by me or somebody who knows me. It's exciting and scary. Suddenly I've got to think about insurance and wholesale prices. Oh, and write a bio.

I know you're waiting for it, but no. I won't give in to the temptation to whinge about it. It's a good thing. So there.

Pooey

2008-02-20T23:15:00.002Z

That ol' fencing thing isn't working out. I just seem to get shitter at it each week. Nevertheless I managed to get talked into taking part in a competition (A COMPETITION!) on Sunday. ON SUNDAY! How?

So, basically, I'm vaguely tempted to pack it in. Part of me, of course, is shouting, Don't run away from THE CHALLENGE[tm], you wimp!, but the other part of me is shouting, louder, Why the hell not? This is supposed to be fun. Lately it just makes me want to cry. I could go back to doing life drawing. It's much easier, and I'm actually quite good at it.

I don't know.

On the plus side, another book has happened. More pictures will appear later, I'm sure.

Oh! Oh!

2008-02-07T11:58:00.000Z

Did I, btw, mention that there is a shop? With, like, stuff for sale in it? Off you go then, guys, I'm counting on you!

Completely by accident...

2008-02-07T10:51:00.000Z

...I clicked on the blog button. Honestly. And then the buzzer went, and I got the parcels (Yes. Plural. I'd just finished tidying up, too.) my mum sent over, with the stuff we left at Christmas. I'd completely forgotten about this fabric...

I really like it. Oh and talking of fabric, I got myself some funny glances the other day in the fabric shop. Because this one

actually made me squeak. It's so cute it makes your eyes bleed. Of course, I immediately bought it and made it into another underskirt. Hehe.

Apart from that, I've been experimenting with heads and ears. Not very successfully so far, but I think I've worked it out in my head now, at least. So now I've only got to make it work in real life...

Finally, before I forget, everybody say YAY for the achievement of the week!

Btw, in case you were wondering, that faces thing I posted about last time isn't really happening. I still think about it, but I just can't be arsed. What a surprise. I did some doodling, though. This is what Nils looked like this morning.

I think he may be ill.

Vintage and other monstrosities

2008-01-30T22:17:00.000Z

So, last week I discovered how easy it is to make petticoats! Always one to fall for the latest fad, me. And as soon as I fell, I had this fabric in mind for it. I love it so much. I got a whole load of it (used to be bed linen) from my gran, on the condition that I wouldn't make any clothes out of it. Does that make me a bad person, going against my dead gran's wishes? I mean, come on - look at it! It screams to be worn, don't you think?

It was quite a busy week, really. Amongst making petticoats and other things, I also started doodling again. This one was a happy accident.

I'd been meaning to try out those ears for a while.

But the main reason for picking up my sketchbook was that the idea of trying to base creatures on all the faces that aren't really any and get published in books like this had been kicking around for a bit. Like, you know, making it a regular thing. Not the grandest of ideas, I know, but I've started, and the plan is to do one each day. Although, I missed yesterday already.... Anyways, here are the first two. I guess I should maybe include the pics they're based on, but its too much of a faff now, so I'll leave it. Maybe later.

Mine! All mine!

2008-01-26T13:57:00.000Z

Ooooh! I got it today and it's all lovely! I can't wait to use it on something! But! That means cutting it! Oh no!

My Son!

2008-01-18T20:43:00.000Z

Nils has always been fairly intrigued by the sewing machine. If I leave it out, he amuses himself for hours, well, a good few minutes at least..., by standing on the pedal, before trying to pull it off the table. Today was SuperTetchTime [TM], and eventually I figured I might as well do some sewing whilst listening to him whine. Sounds horrid, I know. He seemed to have quite a good time sitting on my lap and watching the sewing machine, though. He only tried to grab the needle while it was running twice!

Anyways, I finally stopped my sewing bit, and he grabbed a scrap of fabric and tried to push it into the machine, causing me to almost shed tears of joy at his creative ambitions. Of course I helped him to get it in and spent the next 20 minutes pushing the pedal whilst he pressed the backwards button and tried to change the needle position. Quite the little seamster!

But, dear readers, I bet you're all burning to know what I was sewing! And I shall not keep it a secret, oh no! I finally made myself a new bag, using my favourite ribbon in the world.

The bag's now finally finished, but it's too late now and dark and winter makes the photos I take even more rubbish than normal, so no more pics for now. Maybe later.

Oh, the ribbon, the ribbon! I got it from here. Oh, damn. Now I've looked at her website again, I'll have to buy more! The elephants! Look at the elephants! I need it! Aaaaaaaarrrgh!

Create52

2007-12-21T19:11:00.000Z

My challenge for the year 2007 was to make up a website from scratch without using smelly dreamweaver cheatiness. Mike's was to learn rummy, which later changed to poker. I guess there's still 10 days left, so what's the hurry? Plenty of time.

The challenge for next year has just been set in the shape of Create52, and may actually have a greater chance of being met with some sort of determination and enthusiasm. The plan is to create 52 project thingees and put them up here, one a week.

See how that one goes...

Why I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near proper nice yarn

2007-12-11T19:45:00.000Z

You know Sharon, right. She gave me a very nice book, along with some looooovely yarn, and knitting needles made out of pure gold for my birthday this year. So, off I went and made myself some pointless gloves, as I'd been meaning to do for a while. Now, their fingertip-warm-keeping performance was, admittedly, below average, but they were nice and fluffy and *SO* much more practical than other gloves or mittens when it came to folding prams one-handedly, or stopping that poisonous peed-on shard of glass from reaching a certain boy's mouth.

And then I washed them.

Carmen is...

2007-12-06T23:22:00.000Z

excited.
confused.
tired.
sore.
happy.
emotional.
weird.