Genetics Crafting

I finally got to watch Amelie all the way through last night. Hooray!! I've only ever seen snippets before and, coming to the film halfway through it makes no sense at all... Mor than anything I love Audrey Tatou's hair. I went and had mine cut in the week 'cause it was driving me mad. My bob is now inverted!!

It cost me the grand sum of... NOTHING! Tamworth and Lichfield College have a beauty salon that Joe and Joanna Public can go to for all manner of pampering and many things there is no charge for. How cool is that?! A cut and blow dry for nowt!! But now I've had it done I wish I'd stuck to my guns and had the much shorter bob that I had planned for in the first place. I even had photos off the 'net to show the stylist, but then at the last minute I changed my mind. Doh!!!
And now, how can I go back there and get it redone? The girl who did it will think I don't like it and she was so pleased with her work. Her tutors were keeping an eye on her but they were all raving about it to. The only option is to go somewhere else and pay for it. Grrr!

So today is yet another hectic one. It is Lichfield Medieval Market today. Part of Lichfield International Festival, they have stall all round the cathedral close selling homemade goodies, crafts, plants, food, bric-a-brac, books, you name it. There is also scrummy food and drink - pig roast and so on. And for entertainment there are several teams of Morris/folk dancers and Evie and her Irish dancing chums are amongst them; dancing in front of the cathedral. The only nuisance is that at the time she has to meet everyone, I need to be at my next belly dancing exam! Sorry daddy! You're going to have to miss yet another week of golf and do some parental duties!
Sorry the belly dancing picture is a bit duff quality - I swiped it from our group's website and it was only titchy. I'm actually a bit nervous this time. Well I do have standards to uphold. Last time BDB and I won the Special Award for getting top marks. No pressure!

Still on the belly dancing front, I can now announce that on Saturday 25th October we will be putting on a professional show, and tickets have gone on sale. It's going to be amazing. We can all get up on stage and make a show of ourselves in fabby costumes. Unfortunately Maria is panicking like mad already, worried that she won't sell enough tickets to cover costs. Pah! She doesn't know the selling job that BDB has begun already. :o) If you are local and would by any chance like to come and see us perform then click on this link to get more details. It should be a really great night - not just sitting watching a load of women dancing, you can get more involved if you like... :o)

So it seems that my mild insanity is definitely genetic... I received yet more parcels in the post yesterday. I'm getting seriously embarrassed to blog any more to be hontest. I'm just glad I'm doing a giveaway to "share the love". Sorry - I digress. One of the packages contained a letter from my sister (who doesn't think she has a creative bone in her body). She explained that she wanted to join in with a craft swap and, as luck would have it in Brixham she had been to a "woodworking class specially for people who love charity shops". At this 'workshop' she had created something that would enable her to participate in the Russian Doll Swap...

?

How cute are they? And "what an incredible coincidence that such a specialised class should be running in her town". OK if you haven't sussed it (as if), she didn't make them at all. She found them on one of her charity shop visits. In that respect she is perfectly sane - she is as addicted to bargain-hunting as the rest of us :o) They are so sweet and it's hard to show just how tiny they are. This is the smallest one sitting on a standard computer keyboard. I couldn't quite believe that there were 5 of them. Each time I opened one I thought that had to be the last 'cause they were getting so tiny.

The note did stipulate one thing - 'not to be stolen by nieces', so kiddie can keep her sticky mitts off. Of course, being part of a swap she is expecting something back, and even went so far as to ask for a nautical-themed Silly Girl to sit with her other doll, Brixham Belle. The cheek of her!! She'll just have to wait and see what she gets...

My second parcel yesterday was my giveaway goodies from Sian at Diary of a Tinyholder. As soon as I started to unwrap the package I could smell lavender. And once inside I found...

...a handmade bag with a heart applique, a cute teddy (which may possibly be heading kiddie's way), a distressed frame with a vintage piccie in it and 2 gorgeous lavender pouches - 1 embroidered fabric and one Cath K. My newly-organised room (well nearly) will smell lovely as well as looking great. You can have some of this goodness yourself from her website Lavender Hearts.
Thanks so much Sian. I am one very lucky blogger. :o)

Right I'd better go and make myself look glamorous and jangly. Have to wake the other up too. Pah! Saturday mornings should be spent in bed.

ttfn xx

PS Glad to know that Swirly is OK now.

Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam
Originally uploaded by shadowqueen

Just a quickie cuz I'm up to my armpits in fabric and threads, trying to sort out my room. I'm getting there. The floor has been sighted more than once...
I can't make a post without a piccie but (up?)downloads from Flickr are quicker than doing my own.
Here's another gem from my Faves. Love Eddie Vedder. Aaaahhh... that'll keep me going for a bit longer now. :o)

Happy 4th of July to all American readers. Whoop! Whoop!!!

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Van

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Van
Originally uploaded by sambailey

This is for JB*JB.

How fantastic is this?! A B&J's and VW combo - perfection....

Oh I want a camper soooo much it hurts.

Embarrassment of Riches

Well I did tell you that I'd had some fab post, so now I can show it to you all. And what a lucky girl I am.

First up is my Parcel all the way from Americky. Molly (apple cyder) has been fretting so much about being late with my Toadstool swap parcel, but it was truly worth waiting for. The sweetie sent it all wrapped up in this box


Even the paper she used was nice, and really interesting with all the stamps and stickers on it. Of course, it has been kept for something...

And here is the toadie. It's fab 'cause I think it really reflects the fact that it's from an American quilter. The cap is actually a yoyo (or Suffolk puff as I was always taught), which to me seems a really American technique. Molly chose fabby fabrics in pinks and greens just like I asked. And, although she says she added the grass fringe to help it stand up, I think it looks like a little hula skirt and yet another American influcence. It's lovely and I can't wait to get my room sorted so it can go on display.


In addition to the toadstool Molly also sent me a mini example of her true style of working - a mini quilt for one of my Silly Girls. Again it's in pink and green. Here is one side...

...and here is the other. I can't decide which I like most. I love the green polka dot border fabric.

She also picked up on a comment I made about how much I love swaps and the fact that it's like Christmas coming early. She sent me this great Michael Miller fabric, again in my fave colours, but with a Christmas tree design. I can't wait to use this!

Thanks so much Molly. This was a truly fab swap.

A while ago I entered a giveaway competition on the blog of Beadsbydesign (Crystal Velvet Weddings). The prize was a necklace and pair of earrings in the colours of my choice. How cool was that?! I decided on turquoisey bluey colours as my belly dancing gear is in those colours and many of my normal stuff is too. Unfortunately Mr Postie lost them. I didn't realise but I just kept waiting and waiting. In the end I contacted Karen as I was worried something had gone wrong. Bless her - despite being a really busy time for her she got a new set off in the post and I got it a couple of days later. I think you'll agree that it was worth waiting for. Aren't they beautiful?

She has used genuine Swarovski crystals and Balinese silver beads.

They are so gorgeous I didn't wait 'til belly dancing class I wore them the next day. :o) Thanks once again to Karen for such a fab prize.

OK so onto the final parcel. Well about 10 days ago I won another giveaway (call it a lucky streak :o) hehehe) so, knowing what was in it, I was expecting a largish package. However this huge Jiffy bag proved not to be from Diary of a Tinyholder. It was from JellyBelly*JellyBrain - my swap partner in the Russian Doll Swap. Ooooh... excitement...


When I opened the bag I could not believe my eyes. In fact I actually emailed Emma to make sure I'd got the right parcel. There was just so much in there! Look!
Here is the Russian doll part of the swap. How fab is this? A personalised canvas. Definitely one for the wall. And a little Russian doll pin. Cute.
But that is just the beginning. Emma had to decided to have a destash and I have been on the receiving end of her generosity. How lucky am I?!! Fabric covered buttons, funky leopard print tape,
handbag charm, ring, beads, little painted bells,
vintage buttons, pretty patterned napkins, maribou trim, ribbons,
beads, heart hanger and on and on. I am overwhelmed! What a generous lady she is. And what a massive challenge I have on my hands to send her something equally as fantastic in return.

At least I have some good news on the crafting front. IT'S HERE!! I have my bookshelf! And my books are on it already. Sadly I'm out on a trip with school all day so I can't get stuck in 'til later. Oh well. Soon I will be able to get productive. And in the meantime I have all these goodies to look at and stroke.

Thank you sooooo much to all my blog buddies who have sent me these fab prezzies. I am extremely grateful. I just hope you're all entered into my giveaway so I can do a bit of giving to balance all this receiving out. You've got until the weekend to enter.

Oh last thing. Went to SW weigh in tonight. Boo hiss! I put on 1lb. I'm not in the least bit surprised though. We had sooo much food left from the party and there was no way I was throwing it all away. It's all gone now though. No more cake or quiche for me.

ttfn xxx

PS Back luck Andy. Better luck next time :o(

LET ME IN!

OK. So I've whinged and moaned since the weekend about the state of my room. Well now you can see just how bad things are.

Come with me into my domain...


Here we have the now lovely tidy landing with no stuff piled up all along it. And there at the end is the door (and please note that it is closed) to my little cupboard.

But open that door and this is what lurks behind it...

Piles of stuff unceremoniously dumped in every little bit of space. My chair is piled high. My table is unreachable. My floor has gone.
Oh if only the lovely lady on eBay would send me a message to tell me I can come and pick up my bookcase all would be well. Then I could spend tomorrow moving all my books onto it, and after that reorganising all my fabrics, threads, paints, etc, etc, etc, etc..... I'm beginning to wish I'd just gone to Ikea and bought a brand new one. It would've been £30 more but I could be up and running by now. Herumph!

Here endeth this rant.

"Where do I begin... da da da da da da da da da da da da..."

I have soooo much to write about that I think the only way to do it is to do several posts, otherwise you'll all be bored to death. So first things first - many people have been asking if I've blogged about the party yet so here it is.

In case you didn't know this little sweetheart was 40 on Saturday.



Aaah! Who'd have though that he would end up looking like this (he's the one on the left btw).


After much deliberation (and persuasion NOT to be Max Headroom from me), he decided to be Robert Smith from The Cure. He had quite a distinctive look but it's easily achieved, as long as you have hair! Sadly OH doesn't have an awful lot so it had to be a wig. I bought a rock star shaggy permed mullet style thing from Asda for £4.50. He put it on upside down so the longer stuff was on top of his head, then I backcombed and hacked it into submission. It looked pretty good in the end. Most people knew who he was meant to be anyway.

I was one of 4 - yes 4!!- Madonnas. That's me on the right below.

As ever we ran out of time so I couldn't make my hair curly like I wanted to but more hairspray and backcombing seemed to do the trick. Oh and a rag tied round it of course.
There were so many other amazing costumes but I think the prize (if there had been one) would have gone to Steve from OH's dive club. He came as Maggie Thatcher and he was fantastic! Everyone was gobsmacked, especially those who didn't know him and hadn't seen him in drag before. (What is it with OH and his mates, dressing up as women? There does seem to be a bit of a theme developing here?) Here he is posing with my little sis who was Tina Turner. Outfit very kindly loaned by a mate of hers who does a Tina Turner impersoantion act in the hotels around Torbay. Nice wig luv, oh sorry - it's your real hair! hahaha

Then we had The Hoff, complete with Hoff pants (which are still lurking around our house somewhere) and his mum who was Princess Di. The outfit she wore was a genuine 1981 ensemble bought for a wedding in that year. It was in amazing condition and apparently Lesley(Diana) had a choice of outfit from several different years in the 80s that she has kept. Yes! People really did wear these clothes. :o)

The Blues Brothers - Jake and Elwood - turned up, trying not to look too much like Ali and Tony of the previous 40th fancy dress. Remember the Spice Girls/Village People one where the police turned up? (Hi Tony as you'll no doubt be reading this at some point.) These fab people loaned us their marquee to put up in the garden and it just fitted. Thanks guys xx.

In the picture with Ali is Brian May from Queen , aka Neil BDB's husband.

And here's the slightly intoxicated woman herself as Siouxsie Sioux. Hope your knees are alright now and the bruising has gone down. ;o)

There are many more photos on Facebook apparently. I'm going to pop over there and take a lookie. I may post more here later.

It was a really good night in the end. OH was v chuffed and had a whale of a time, and that was the main point of the exercise so - success!!! I just have to start planning mine now. It's not long 'til September 2009!! hehehe

Oh one thing before I go...

Yay!!!!!!! Go Andy!!!!!!

What a match?! It was sooooo exciting. OH was round at T&A's returning the marquee and they think they heard me cheering and shouting from their house in the next road. I was a bit excited :o). How will he fair in the next one I wonder? I've got everything crossed.

Oh one more thing... I never put an draw date on my giveaway. You can leave comments up until this weekend. I'll make the draw and announce the winner on Sunday evening.

Right I'm really going now. Will post again either later today or tomorrow and show you the fantabulous goodies I've received in the post over the last few days.

ttfn xx

PS The title was supposed to be the theme from "Love Story" but I couldn't remember any more of the words. Click on the link to hear it. Sorry a bit of a blast from the past. I used to secretly love Andy Williams - not cool when you're a Goth!!!

OK. I'm gone.

Wimbers

COME

ON

ANDY!!!!