50 Foot Woman Attacks Crafting World!!

Just when my mojo was flagging Apryl at Meridian Ariel has announced a new swap.








Flying saucers and aliens, swamp monsters, vampires and robots - anything goes. Think of all those fabulous 1950s B-Movies and away you go.


Pop over to Apryl's blog and follow the instructions.

Number 8

The lovely Emma tagged me to do this meme in an effort to get me blogging again. It's taken me over a week to get my answers all done, and each time I've attempted it I've had to start from scratch because it was a new day.

Here's the rules, just in case you want to follow them:

1. Mention the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Do the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 bloggers of your choice. (OK I'm breaking this rule cuz I'm rubbish and lazy and good-for-nuffink. If you have a spare few minutes or you're stuck for what to blog about, give it a go, then let me know cuz I'm really nosey as well as lazy and want to know all about you).
4. Let them know that they have been tagged!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To....

1. My 40th birthday in September – yes really.
2. The next issue of Coast magazine
3. The promised hot summer (yeah right!)
4. My next visit to the seaside
5. Morris dancing tomorrow
6. Working on a new swap and a doll competition (will blog about both soon)
7. Winning the Premium Bonds (maybe one day)
8. Getting stuff listed and sold(?) in etsy/Folksy

8 Things I Did Yesterday... (well OK Thursday).

1. 4 loads of washing
2. Mowed the lawns
3. Finished my book – Notes from an Exhibition – fabulous!
4. Christened our new swinging barbecue
5. Tried to sew the gusset into one of my little bags (way too hot!)
6. Watched Springwatch
7. Sat in the sun - briefly
8. Drank lovely pink wine *hic*
.
8 Things I Wish I Could Do...
.
1. Lose weight
2. Have a BIG win on the Premium Bonds
3. Blog more frequently!!
4. Bring about the end of Big Brother! Talk about flogging a dead horse…
5. Be as supple and bendy and fit as I used to be several years ago
6. Own a camper van – I’m working on it (well on him)
7. Live in Cornwall – one day…
8. Whistle really loudly with my fingers in my mouth

8 Shows I Watch...
.
1. Dr Who (recent convert)
2. Q.I.
3. Mock the Week
4. The Mighty Boosh (nobody said it had to be current telly – I’ve got DVDs, you know)
5. Green Wing
6. Ashes to Ashes
7. Springwatch/Autumnwatch
8. Have I Got News for You

I really, really will do a proper post on Monday when the kids are back at school/work. There's lots of catching up to do. 'Til then,

ttfn
xx

What?! She's been sewing?! Never!

Yes really. I have.

Many, many moons ago I was a member of the Embroiderers Guild in Lichfield. I loved the monthly workshops we used to hold with visiting luminaries of the world of embroidery. One such was with Hilary Bower who, at the time, was making highly encrusted, multi-media type bags and panels and 3-D towers. The workshop was to make a small bag and below is the result.



At the time we were very much into green and terracotta so this fitted in our lounge perfectly. I was (and still am) pretty proud of it, not least because it was something I actually finished!!! How many UFOs do I have?

Following on from the workshop I decided to make a second bag at home and work commenced on the Ray of Sunshine bag. (It had a name long before a needle ever touched it.) The probably dates back to the mid/late 1990s and is still not finished!!


Earlier this week I suddenly remembered my little yellow bag and had the urge to finish it and make some others in a similar style. So - SHOCK HORROR - I got out my sketchbook. I doodled and sketched and cut and stuck and doodled some more...

Then out came the fabrics and threads. Little bits of felt and silk and cotton; even the titchiest scraps can be used up.

This is the early stages of the blue one. The background felt has been stiffened with dilute PVA and stitched to give a base texture (running stitch in this case). The scraps have all been tacked in place.

The background of 'colourful' one is felt stiffened in the same way but covered with some hand dyed muslin. Some of the motifs have had a a bit more hand stitching applied. I have now set to work with the machine, blitzing them with free-machine embroidery, and the beads have also started to fly (literally on one occasion!). I'll put some more piccies on in a day or two to show how things are progressing.

*****

And now here's a small meme if you've got nowt better to do over the coming Bank Holiday (let's face it, it will probably rain at some point - or maybe you'll be sitting in the scorchio sun under an umbrolly thinking of your answers). Whatever...

...Let’s Play

Let’s Play rules:

Copy the list, erase my answers, add your own then post the to your blog, Facebook, etc. Use the first letter of your last name to begin the answers to each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names, etc. Nothing made up! Try to think up different answers if your initial is the same as the previous person.
Enjoy!!

1. What is your last name? Smith

2. A 4 Letter Word? Sewn

3. A Boy’s Name? Sam

4. A Girl’s name? Sybil

5. An Occupation? Silversmith

6. A Colour? Scarlet

7. Something you wear? Smalls

8. A Beverage? Shandy

9. A Food? Scallops

10. Something found in the bathroom? Scales

11. A place? Sharkham Point

12. A Reason for being late? Sloth

13. Things you shout? SH*T THE BED! (sorry *sheepish grin)

Thanks to Apryl who I pinched that one from.

Tag. You’re it.

ttfn

xx

Take That Tickets and a mini catch-up.

Oh pants! It's already a week since my last post. I'm not going to disappear again it's just that I've been a bit busy and haven't got photos of anything I've been up to.

This morning I've been trying to attain the halo of a Domestic Goddess. I've reached that point where the house is A Pit. Enough is enough. Let the cleaning frenzy begin. My kitchen is now spick and span (great phrase!). My bathroom is sparkling. I am now having a small break-ette before hitting the rest of the house. If you really want me too I'll post some photos in a bit. We're not talking Country Living here you realise...

Last Sunday I danced at Etwall Well Dressing as I mentioned. Again I am photo-less as the weather was less than desirable. I am dancing at Moira Canal Festival this coming Sunday. Let's hope the barbecue summer 'they' keep promising begins this weekend. I don't fancy another 'dance out' in the cold and wet. It makes my marabou trim go all floppy!

Oh I mentioned Take That tickets. No. Sorry that is NOT my belated 200th post giveaway (more about that soon). A friend of mine bought two tickets too many and she's starting to panic as they are listed on eBay but haven't sold yet.

IF you would like to go and see Take That on 10th June at the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry then email me/leave a comment.

Some of the more observant readers amongst you may have noticed that I've recently passed 200 posts on this little blog of mine. In view of everything that's gone on here I think I'll postpone the customary giveaway until 250 posts. Hopefully by then I'll be better organised (and receiving an income of some kind so I can afford to give stuff away - lol).

I'll try and get some photos taken and uploaded so I can show you my hard work - both domestic and creative. 'Til then,

ttfn
xx

It's not just me...

...it seems that loads of Bloggers have been taking a break. But now - in response to worried emails from Bloggy friends and nagging from my family - I am back!!

OH started work on Monday. Yay!!! It's been a HUGE culture shock for him after 2+ months at home but at least he gets continuity of employment for his CV, and he's no longer a government statistic (I can hear strains of UB40s 'One in Ten').

So what have I been up to?

Well I haven't been very productive at all on the craft front, but I have managed to sell two of my rose brooches through incy wincy's website. Cheers Sam! You're a star.

A red one went a few weeks ago now.
Then on Monday an order came through for this coral coloured one.

I'm going to have to whip up a few more of these before too long as stocks are dwindling.

Apart from that I seem to have spent most of the time dressing up!! My friend Maria's birthday party had a Wild West theme. I struggled for weeks to know what to wear. The original plan had been to all go as showgirls - flouncy skirts, corsets and feathers in our hair - but then redundancy struck and pennies were tight so I had to make do with what I had at home.

The result was a hillybilly affair complete with freckles and blacked out teeth. Nice!

OK. I confess. The cowboy boots were from eBay but I'm putting them right back on there as I'll never wear them again. If you're interested in some red and black Wrangler cowboy boots in a size 4 let me know...

The next event was May Day Bank Holiday weekend when we went to Upton on Severn Folk Festival with t'Rabble.

Sunday is parade day and they always go in fancy dress. This year the theme was 'Myth and Magic'. After some pondering I decided I fancied being a mermaid (anything to do with the sea is fine by me). But how the Hell does a mermaid do Morris dancing?!? Well this is the result...

I covered the bra with some fabric (see I've done some sewing)and stitched loads of beads and sequins to it, then the tail was loads of strips of fabrics stitched to the knee of the trousers. It's not as good as I'd hoped but it did the job.

On the Saturday we wore normal (?) rags and hats.

We are dancing again this Sunday at Etwall Well Dressing. Our spots are at 3.30 ad 4.30 if anybody is in the area...

Last weekend our school PTA had organised an 80s disco with optional fancy dress element. So of course I had to dress up didn't I? More deliberation but in the end I decided to go as me back then.

I didn't wear make-up like this all the time - just when going to gigs and stuff - but it was such a laugh doing it again.

And the clothing..? I lived in floor length black skirts back then, or shorter ones with black and white stripey tights. I had fake Dr Martens shoes not the genuine 8-hole boots I now own, but the fishnet tights on the arms are exactly the same!

With me is Julia (BDB) dressed as one of Strawberry Switchblade. Now who remembers them?

And that's it. Well of course there's been belly dancing class but you've seen the rainbow skirt in past posts. I have been wearing it a lot recently as we've been learning a new gypsy dance - first in Tuesday class then on Thursday. It's fab. May have to get it videoed so you can have a small peek.

I can't remember how much else I may have missed but that's going to be it for catch-up. As from now it's onward and upward. I have actually been doing some 'designery' stuff today. I'm going to publish this then take photos ready for my next visit to the World of Blog.

It's so nice to be back.

ttfn

xx