The Great Glitzy Craftoff- Confession Day!

Guys, I have nothing for today.

The project I had scheduled turned out a bit more time- consuming than anticipated, so I gotta let you down on that front.

Alas, not everybody was such a letdown, so at least I can save the day by showing off what other participants who are less of a loser than me came up with.

Shall we?

Danni over at Silo Hill Farm is lucky enough to enlist this most handsome dude to do all the hard labor she required in order to make something so gorgeous, you'll want to go and find your own handsome dude to drag into the workshop (to CUT THINGS! Get your minds out of the gutter, will you?) straight away. I won't tell you what she made, but let's just say she saw the light. LIKE A BOSS.

And Her Royal Goopness herself thinks nothing of using child labor (oh wait, this particular handsome dude happens to be 21 now! So that's ok) in her crafty schemes.

What are they toasting?

Shells.

Why does that sound odd?

Anyway, go see what they all did, I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Poor Sunny seems to have some issues with her blog not showing up in Google Reader at the moment, so if you are a regular reader, just go there old- stiley via a bookmark or direct link. She's still posting VERY regularly as usual!

Did the ladies redeem my utter failure? Please, please say yes.

Does a picture of a yawning cat make up for being a loser?

Yeah, he thinks I suck, too.

Why does this sound odd, too?

I'll have my act together tomorrow.

Promise!

Not playing the blame game, but...

... if I find out who did this, there will be words!

Gimme a jellyfish, will you?

Guys, I had this post all planned out.
I meant to present you with some perfectly crafted jellyfish, in honour both of Mich L and Saraccino.
Now, have you ever produced an utter FAIL? I mean, something so dang bad you can't even sell it as kids' craft, recycling, upcycling or repurposing?
Check out my Jellyfish.

They jelled their way into the bin, without even getting the benefit of doubt tentacles.
After failing with model clay, I decided that one fail isn't quite enough, I had to fail with the needle felting technique, too. On the upside, I got a pretty flower and some really decent felt beads out of it! But on the whole, there will be no jellyfish in the Three Bed Semi at any point in the foreseeable future. Boy, am I cheesed off!

In order to rescue todays post, I have something that I would love to share with you all, if you'd allow me. Nothing I had planned, just one of them little LOL moments that make jellyfish seem quite unimportant, even if you've spent a whole day off on creating a jelly disaster.

The Man and I went on a little stroll today, exploring charity shops and generally enjoying the nice weather. I came home with a bag full of fun finds, he came home regretting he ever took me for a stroll. Bless his cotton socks, he took it like a man and stopped crying about an hour ago, I am SO proud of him!

To cut a long story short, when we came home, I went upstairs to change into something comfy and found this:

Brownie points if you find the kitteh. I called The Man upstairs, and I swear he did not notice her! Domestic bliss on a mad cat lady scale.

She eventually emerged, and I managed to get some shots of her and Bob which I am really proud of, for no reason whatsoever. The light played into my hands, the camera is pretty much courtesy of my insurance (hey, a D40 was all I asked for, cheers!) and the models seemed to be in the best mood ever. All I did was click, and I was blessed with pictures that, in my book, capture the very reason why we put up with hairballs, spraying, hissing, cat fights, a bannister that is reduced to a mere toothpick and no room whatsoever on the couch, bed, comfy chair and pretty much anywhere else.
Meet Erin and Bob, people.

There are two more supermodels in the house, but apparently they were unavailable for this shoot. Divas... If this wan't too much for you guys, I will happily post glamour shots of them as soon as I manage to get an appointment in. As I am writing this, Shannon (skinny black slinky cat) is trying her upmost to sit on my lap, so I reckon I might have a foot in the door.
Sorry for another utterly non- crafty post, but if anyone feels the need to say JELLYFISH anywhere near me, I swear I will hurt somebody. Badly.
Love y'all, have a great weekend!

Put a price on happiness!

Necklace: £1. Fancy little bottles: £1 for the lot. Frames: £2 including yarn.

"Meow" unique artwork: £1, candle holder £0.50.

Incredibly gorgeous, slightly disturbed ginger kitteh: free to good home rescue kitten from a family in Castleford.

Have you added up? £5.50 for the things you see pictured. Quite good, right?

But have you ever tried to purchase the perfect light in any shop? The way only the morning sun at 8 o'clock before a 13 hour shift makes your random garbage look like a million bucks? The way it puts a golden glow to a ginger kitties' fur? How a few minutes of pure, undiluted bliss in the morning can set you up for a whole, long day in the treadmill?

No shop, catalogue, website can ever offer this. When you wake up an hour before waking- up time and the birds are singing their little hearts out because spring has finally arrived, and when your significant other gets up even though he doesn't have to just to sip a coffee with you before you set off and how everything seems to be just right.

This morning was really some sort of wake up- call. Hibernation is over, my summery self is coming out again. The world hasn't changed, but I am in the right kind of mood to appreciate the "small" things again. Like the two ladybugs I evacuated from the bathroom yesterday. And the wonderful little old guy with the atrocious handwriting who was beaming like pictured morning sun when he came to my shop today, giving me a bite size Mars bar just because he likes me. (and I ate it, pretending I didn't have the most terrible chocolate- induced toothache in the history of toothache, and I loved it. Loved it like the first chocolate bar ever.) And the starlings that, I swear, grow out of the tree across the road from my shop in their dozens.

What makes you happy, guys? Which are your "million bucks moments"? I could list so many more, but I thought I'd just give you a glimpse of one nice day. Not a perfect day by all means, but memorable for nothing other than the way the morning sun turned it into something good.

There is more crafty stuff lined up, if you can tolerate more yarn- related posts. I'll move from decorative items to jewellery, and you are invited bear witness to my most recent fail.

Love y'all, have a sunny day!

Night of the bunnyrabbit!

I told you yesterday that The Man came up with and idea.
When I was sketching simple stuff I thought I could make out of felt for the Easter Tree, he looked at the bunnyrabbit- face I had drawn and said "That's be cool as a cat nip toy!"
Bless him, I hadn't even thought of that. So here it is, the birth of the catnip bunnyrabbit.

Sketch yourself a bunnyrabbit on an old wine box.

Cut it out.

Draw outlines on felt of desired colour twice, flip over template after first one.

Cut out, leave a bit of felt around the outlines- you'll use them to sew along them. Sketch and stitch on a cute face. Stitch together with the sides with the outlines on the outside. Begin half way up the chin, go 'round the ears and face till you arrive on the other side of the chin. Turn inside out, a chopstick might help to accomplish this.

Stuff with dismembered pillow, add catnip and sew the opening together.

Place in front of picture of soon- to- be- ex husbands utterly adorable doggie and take a shot together with new best mate Valentine, the Voodoo zombie.
Be proud of youself, crack open that wine and relish looking at your kittehs enjoying themselves with a good, healthy dose of pacifying catnip!

Thanks to The Man, he was a real star during conception and birth both of Valentine and Bunnyrabbit. Credit where credit is due!

Folksy Friday: Meow!

OmG... A week passed, and I hardly noticed it.
Well, there was a birthday to be celebrated- The Man turned 37. Look at him, wrinkles and all:

Your friendly neighbourhood bum. Isn't he adorable? The hat was an impulse buy, £10 from Scope. Gotta love it! Love it so much, I had to... improve its ownership:

Yeah, that's band aid round my thumb. Nearly chopped the bugger off trying to open The Mans new pool cue wrapping plastic thingy! (leave it to me, darling, don't cut yourself. I know what I'm doing. Err.)



Crafting- wise, I have been kinda lazy... up until today.
I will leave the details for a soon- to- come post, but I shall give you a teaser:

C'mon, who knows what this is?

Now, let us proceed to this weeks Folksy Friday.

As some of you might know, we share our life, house and everything else with four cats. Shannon, Erin, Hope and Bob. Penny in our hearts.
For me, life wouldn't be complete without them furry buggers shedding hair all over the place, stealing items, puking up so you step into the mess first thing in the morning, gnawing away at everything remotely string- like and taking up so much space in bed that you'd rather sleep in the garage if you had one.
So, this week I will dedicate FF to all things CAT. Because they have taken over my life anyway.



Clicking the pictures will take you straight to the shops- I recommend you check them out, because Xmas is coming up, and there's (almost) nothing better than hand- made gifts.#

Meow.

 

This one for charity:

I could go on and on.
Hope you found something for that special cat person in your life. Always remember:

"Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain