Making and Doing

Made a couple of new bits for Ginger in the Recycle swap. I'm making a pin cushion ring and have made a skull and crossbones stamp. She's really into pirates so I thought that might be up her street.
I've also made a couple of pairs of earrings to add to my Etsy site to sell. I'll post some piccies of them later.
I've also started trying to crochet. I vaguely remember learning to crochet when I was really small and have remembered how to get started. I've even made myself a few little squares and I'm getting neater :). I have been trying to move onto crocheting a circle but its not going so well. Its coming out more like a little hat for my thumb. I may have to return to the drawing board on that little experiment and have a little look online to see where I'm going wrong.
Also had a potter round town today and got myself a couple of nice stones from the crystal shop. I got some lithium quartz and something else really pretty that I seem to have forgotten the name off. I also got myself another meditation CD which I'm looking forward to trying out later. This one is a Chakra meditation CD. I really like meditating at night, it helps calm my mind and helps me to sleep. Its also really good for improving concentration. I got into it years ago when I was at uni. I visited some mind, body and spirit festival when I was in my 2nd year and got chatting to one of the stall holders and she gave me loads of info on how to get started. This was back in the days when I used to do yoga as well. Thats something I would also like to get back into. Its really good for toning muscles as well as for stress.
I checked the plants on the balcony earlier today and the Labelia is starting to flower \o/. It looks really pretty :) The sunflowers are also just about to flower. It should look really pretty in a few days.

Old to New

Had a productive and crafty evening yesterday making a few things for the recycle swap I am in on CO&K. Made some earrings, a necklace and a bookmark. So far I have used an old coaster, some stray beads that came from charity shops and the card that held new legwarmers on. Lots of recycling :), just need to come up with a few more bits and pieces. Bought a hello kitty mirror and some hello kitty patches to as my swap partner is a hello kitty fan and I only need to use a minimum of 5 recycled items so new is okay so long as there is plenty thats not.
Also been back down the plot today and harvested tons of onions :) They're looking brilliant but were covered in weeds so I did a spot of weeding too. Thought I was being really clever using my kneeling mat and moving myself around the plot. Then I stood up and realised I was totally covered in mud!! Came back home and got straight in the shower and jeans have gone in the wash. The sweetcorn also looked pretty good and so did the parsnips. The lavender has also grown tons too and the bees were going crazy all over it. Last years leeks were also looking pretty as we left those that we didn't eat to flower. The flowers are lovely balls of mauve and light blue flowers. The bees were enjoying those too :).
Got a whole bundle of friendship books in the post a couple of days ago so I've been filling those in today too. A few on them will be going back out in the post tomorrow. They look exceptionally cool. Its amazing to see how people have taken the idea and created something really individual and creative.
Also started reading P.S I love you last week. I fancied something light and its hitting the spot. I'm already half way though it. I've even been reading it the last few nights in the bath.

Swap 3 winging its way to Oz

Finished my 3rd swap on Cut Out & Keep and posted it off today :) It should be with Miss Dee in a week or two. This swap was the New Age swap so I made a selection of bits and pieces, mostly on the theme, although that was harder than I initially thought it would be. I made a bracelet and pendant with rose quartz, a joss stick holder, a Capricorn/Yin Yang coaster, a draw string bag (as she said she didn't have anywhere to keep her tarot cards), some earrings and added some Chinese coins and some stickers from my flickr photos which I had done by Moo earlier in the year. Hopefully it will all reach her in one piece and she will like what I've made. I'm a little worried as its going to Australia and I know they have really strict quarentine rules and will apparently open any packages coming in from out of Australia to check that things comply with the rules and will remove anything that doesn't. This threw me slightly as this includes anything made with plants - she likes herbs and I wanted to make her a lavender bag like I did for Sugar in the first swap but this would have been removed so thought better off it.
Anyway what else have I been up to. Made my first proper post on Wardrobe Refashion (my bat vest) and got good feedback :)
I've totally stalled with the two dresses I'm making. I've got a terrible habit for starting things and then getting distracted before finishing them. Hence there are always several things on the go. Thats where the swaps has been good - it forces me to finish things :)
I need to start making a few more things for my Etsy Shop. The teabag earrings in there look a bit lonely on their own. Hmmm what to make :/
Finally the weather here has been very unsummerlike - mostly grey clouds, rain and wind. As much as I quite like a minimal summer we're not getting down the plot as much as we should. Its been looking a little neglected the last few times we've been down. We've done tons but with all the rain the weeds are having a great time. Friday afternoon (if its dry) will have to be allotment day, even if all we do is empty the compost bin!

This and That

Finally finished A Passage to India this morning. Very good but nothing like A Room with a View, much darker. I'm not sure what to read now so reading a bit of Issac Asimov. Some short stories just to keep by brain occupied. Picked up a couple of books to add to my pending shelf today which I might have a look at. Another one by Mark Haddon (who wrote A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night time) and another E M Forster, this time Howards End.
Also been working on the current craft swaps. I just need to finish off a couple of things and then I can send off the New Age swap to Australia and come up with a few more bits for the Global Village one. I'm also in a Recycle swap too but hopefully that should be a little easier as its what I do anyway.
I've nearly finished one of the dresses I'm working on. Its made from 2 of my boyfriends old t-shirts. I just need to hem around the sleeves. I've kind of stalled on the bright pink one so I'll get back to that one pretty soon.
Also picked myself up a nice box to store my jewellery making stuff in. It was in some tray before but the tray was baskety and pots of beads kept falling through the gaps, so far from ideal. The new box is brown and fake leather and holds everything together and is much tidier.

Raspberries :)

We have had the most amazing year so far for raspberries. We've had absolutely tons of them. Today we came back with a big bowl full from the plot and I bought back a few Wednesday too. I might have a go at a recipe I found for raspberry muffins. One small hitch though, I don't have a muffin tin :/ I'm wondering if I could make a loaf out of the mix. It looks quite filling as it has oats in it so it might be worth a go.
Did tons of weeding too while we were down there. Found the peas I'd planted a while back. They looked like they hadn't made it but were there after all underneath all the weeds. I have tied them up a bit to the poles as they don't seem to want to climb them by themselves.
I'm also working on a short dress from an old t-shirt. Its one of my bf's old ones that he said I could cut up so I'll have to see how it goes. I figured it might make a good nighty if nothing else. A bit of fun :) I just hope I've made it big enough.
I have made my first post of the wardrobe refashion site. No piccies as yet but if one of my creations comes together I'll get posting pics too.

Shopping at the plot :)

Went down the allotment today with my carrier bag and came back with 4 onions (3 red & 1 white) and some fresh raspberries \o/. Really chuffed. I would have stayed and done a bit of weeding but it started to rain while I was picking raspberries so I thought I'd better head off. Yesterday we had the oddest rain. Really heavy for about a minute and then it stopped, then in about 15 minutes it started again. It was like someone emptying a bucket in the sky!
Also set up my profile today for Wardrobe Refashion. I have started making a dress at the weekend out of the shocking pink flat sheet I bought a couple of months ago from PDSA charity shop. It was only £3 so I figured it would be good for practising on :). At the moment I'm doing all the sewing by hand. I've had a total mental block about threading up the sewing machine and I'm actually quite enjoying just sitting sewing. I had one FAIL moment (well actually two - the same one twice!!) and sewed the two front panels on back to front. I unpicked it and then did exactly the same! Doh!!!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to having a play around with old clothes and seeing what I come up with. It should be fun and save some cash. Every little helps.

Totally Batty

I got my swap goodies in the post yesterday from Kiddo :) I love them, especially the little bat which is very cute. I'm so glad I found Cut Out and Keep and the swaps have been really good fun and I have met some cool people online from all over the world.
I'll post my swap stuff to Kiddo Monday. I've got everything done, I just need to get myself a decent sized jiffy bag and get to the post office.
I hope she likes my stuff as much.
I've decided its time again to have a bit of a clear out of clutter. I also need to find a better way to organise my craft stuff, especially my jewellery making bits and pieces :/. It seems to have expanded over the last couple of months and be getting everywhere!
I also want to investigate the sewing machine this weekend. I've totally forgotten how to thread it so when I try it just snags and breaks. Maybe if I look online I'll find something. If not get my bf to have a look. He's very practical and seems to have no problems using it when he needs it.
Still really hot and muggy. Its cooled a little bit today so I'm hoping for a bit of rain. We had an amazing thunder storm last weekend which ended up with us having no power for 15 hours. Apart from the food shopping turning up (which had loads of fridge and freezer bits) it was quite cool. Thankfully everything survived okay. It was just a pain having a cold shower. I didn't realise our heating is partly electric.

Busy busy busy.....

• 

I've been busy crafting again for another swap. This ones one for newbies and veterans, me being a newbie :). I'm swapping with Kiddo in the US and I've finally finished all the bits I was making. I'm also working on 2 other swaps, one new age themed one and a 'global village' swap where you make your partner items relating to where you live and they do the same. I've got some ideas so far but this is going to take a bit of thinking.
I've also been baking again :) Scones and rolls. I figured it saves us a bit of money on lunches and they're pretty tasty. I still need to perfect my tweaking of the scone recipe. Its from a cookbook I bought years ago but the recipe has far too much liquid so I've been adjusting the flour and milk the last couple of times. Almost there.
Its also been roasting here. Not my kind of weather at all but all good for the vegis I suppose so mustn't moan too much. Also without summer you wouldn't get butterflies.