Feeling Creative \o/

After all the goings on on Folksy its been a relief to get back to making jewellery again. I've been going through the stash I got from Oxfam earlier in the month and taking the broken jewellery apart and sorting out what findings I can salvage. So far I have managed to get some really nice copper jump rings and loads of pretty beads and spacers. Here's what I got in the jar.



It only cost £4.99 so I was chuffed to bits :) I've so sorted a lot of the beads and made a pair of earrings. I used some blue beads I got given a while ago and added them to some spacers I got in amongst the latest haul. I'm really happy with how they've come out and have just listed them in my shop.



Finally, a note to all my followers, I have decided to move over to my new blog permenantly on 1st December 2011. For the next month I will post all posts on both sites but from the 1st December I will only be posting at my new address on my site. The address for anyone wanting to make the move over now is here.

\o/ Fame at Last \o/

Just a quick post to share my excitement about finding out that my Recycled Business Card Holder is the featured project on Cut Out & Keep :)

She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for

I saw this via Treehugger and thought it was too beautiful and moving to keep to myself.

Back from Cornwall

We arrived back yesterday night after a wonderful week camping in Bodmin in Cornwall. We stayed at South Penquite Farm, which is where we stayed last time and had a lovely time. The site is a working farm with lots of eco friendly features, like the solar heated showers. The weather was a bit iffy and wet for some of the week but we had a wonderful and relaxing time in spite of it :)

We paid a return visit to Restormal Castle in Lostwithniel on the first full day and then visited Looe in the afternoon. The castle was amazing and it was so nice to see it in the sunshine.



The next day we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan just outside St Austell. The Gardens are absolutely enormous and it took us a whole day to explore and we still didn't get to see everything. We picked a great day to visit too as it scorching hot and the trees and gardens made for some cool shady spots.

The Jungle


The Fruit & Veg Gardens






We then went to St Ives the following day and had a good day checking out the latest collections at the Tate Gallery and then going onto the Barbara Hepworth Gallery. I wasn't overly taken with anything at the Tate but loved Barbara Hepworths' work. I wasn't familiar with her before the day so it was really interesting.

We also visited Bodmin town for a spot of shopping and visited Boscastle on our last full day. The weather was a bit of the blowy side so we had a wander round the Museum of Witchcraft. It was fasinating and well worth a visit.

Boscastle

Feeling Green (in a good way) :)

I've been feeling so chuffed this evening - our local Green Party candidate won a place in yesterdays elections and now has a place on the council \o/ I've voted Green for as long as I could vote (nearly 20 years) and it used to niggle me when people used to say 'its a wasted vote' and 'why bother'. It may have taken a little time but it definitely wasn't a waste. Well done to St Albans Green Party for all their hard work :)

I'm also feeling extra happy as I got my yearly butterfly fix today. I went to see the latest developments at Butterfly World and got to see some of the most beautiful butterflies. I always think there's something really magical about butterflies. They are all so beautiful and delicate. I took tons of pics so here's a few of my favourites.







I could have kicked myself on the way back - I'd seen that there was an Atlas moth about but looked all over for him/her and saw no sign of it. If you're not familiar with them, I think they're the biggest butterfly - about the size of a horse (well, maybe a slight exaggeration!) - After leaving with no sightings I found out it was on the ceiling the whole time. I should have looked up! Doh!

Finally, on the subject of butterflies, I also finished another painting. I'm not totally satisfied with it - the butterflies feel a bit flat :/. I may go back and tweak it later but here it is in its current form.

Earth Hour 2011

Show your support for Earth Hour by switching off your lights between 8.30pm - 9.30pm tonight. To learn more about Earth Hour visit the official site here.

I haz a win \o/

I got an email yesterday to say I had won joint first prize in a beading competition on Cut Out & Keep. I'm not totally sure what the prize is but I'm just so chuffed to have won something :) My winning entry was my tutorial for a crocheted wire bracelet (piccy of one I made for myself below).



I've mailed back with my address so hopefully a prize will be winging its way to me. I can't wait!

I've also had a fun and cheap day today visiting some of the charity shops in the Fleetsville area. They're a bit of a stroll but usually well worth the walk. Today I picked up a new work bag for £1.99, some more beads and chain for £2 and a book by Joanne Harris. I'm pretty chuffed with the bag. Its just the right size for work and has lots of handy compartments for my phone, purse and other assorted stuff I carry round with me.



On Friday I was also able to pick up some more seeds for the plot. I've picked up some cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, lavender and courgettes. They should go nicely with the ones I fished out of the shed last week. I found tons of squash and pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, parsnips and onions (red and white). I just need to get my arse in gear now and do some digging and weeding so they are ready to go in when the time comes. Fingers crossed it will stay dry.

More fimo fun :)

I've been busy with fimo again. This time I've been making keyrings. I've been using the stamps I picked up a couple of weeks ago in one of the charity shops and using them with fimo to make some pretty flower charms. I'm really pleased with how they've been coming out.
I used to find having no local craft shop a real drag but I think I've learnt that if you keep your eyes peeled you can find crafting items all over the place. My favourites are the local charity shops and car boot sales. You can pick up beads, jewellery findings, fabric, wool and all sorts of crafty goodies. I particularly like these as I like recycling. I also like knowing that the bits I've picked up aren't in abundance so the bits I make will be one of a kind.
I'm also pretty lucky in St Albans as we have a good market. I get most of my felt and ribbon from either St Albans or Watford market. I also buy a lot online and love beads unlimited and ebay.
In other news I'm also reading a couple of books at the mo - Robert Winstons 'The Human Mind' and Jane Austens' 'Emma'. I've been slowly plodding through Robert Winstons' book for a while now but its a good read. I started reading Emma last weekend and I'm really enjoying the story and I'm whizzing through it.

Budget Crafting :)

Today I visited my first ever Scrap Bank. Wow, what a find - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. If you have never been to one before, they are places where you can pick up materials for crafting at little or no cost. The idea is that people/companies/schools/etc donate any left over craft materials or general waste that can potentially be repurposed and crafted into something new. I can see that these places are not everyone's cup of tea as you need to be prepared to forage, but as far as I'm concerned it was like visiting Aladins' Cave. I came away with a small stash of fabric scraps and offcuts, some buttons, 3 rolls of stickyback plastic, some broken jewellery and some sticky back foam sheets, a tiny ball of orange wool and some broken Christmas decorations. I really like the heavy duty, laminated fabric with daisies on. I thought I could make a few purses/wallets from that. Also the little scraps of fabric and broken Christmas ornaments will be great for inchies. The best bit of all was that it didn't cost me a penny. Most of these places work by having you sign up a yearly subcription and then you can go along whenever you wish. The place we went to today charges £20 a year and I was lucky as my bf is a member through work. I'll definitely be back. Just the thing as I love turning old stuff into something new.

More making & doing

I've just been checking my bank account and its fairly safe to say that its looking barer than Old Mother Hubbards Cupboard! I think I must have been spending more than normal so next month is definitely going to have to be a quiet one on the spending front.
I'm guessing that a large chunk of my cash going on lunch when I'm working and coffees when I'm out. With this in mind I think I'm going to need to dust down the lunch boxes and start bring my own lunch in. Same with coffees - if I want nice coffee then I'm going to need to bring it in with me.
On the positive side though I've been extra creative this month and have made quite a few new bits for the shop. I've mostly been using up some of my stash of beads and making earrings and a necklace from some wooden beads that I've picked up at car boot sales recently. I prefer making my jewellery by recycling, it makes me feel a bit greener and also keeps the cost of materials quite low and means I'm able to get some more unusual bits and bobs. I picked up some wine glass charms a few months back as they had some really pretty, little leaves hanging from them and they were only 10p. I've already made one pair of earrings from them and there is likely to be another pair in the pipeline too :)
I've also found out about a craft fair running in my area and they are looking for local artists and artisans to hire stalls. I'm certainly going to giving this a bit of thought. I just need to come up with a way for displaying my jewellery.

Cat Therapy

I love Bank Holiday weekends. They seem to go on forever :) In spite of the rain we had a little party this weekend for my bf's bday. We started at 1pm and finished about 1.30am, so it was a bit of a late one.
Today we went down the allotment and I did loads of weeding. My legs were killing me by the end but it was great. I took the Pansies down too and have put them in position so I can plant them out when we go down next weekend. We also got visited by both allotment cats too which was the best bit. We can't keep a cat where we live so we love topping up our cat stroking time down the plot. The ginger tabby is called Hastings and we've been seeing her since we took over the plot about 3 years ago. The black and white one is new and only been visiting for about 6 months. We think he's quite young as he's quite kitteny still. It was stalking mice and Hastings and even my bf's leg at one point.
The oregano has grown loads since I was last down. So too have the leeks and onions and I was weeding between the onions today. Our bulbs still haven't flowered yet but the dafs look pretty close. Our parsnips are also really big now and probably pretty close to harvesting :)
I've also joined up with two new swaps this week. I've joined the Newbie/Veteran swap as a Vet this time so I'm working on that. I'm also working on a Journal Swap too. I just need to send out my T-shirt refashion as thats practically done. I'm enjoying all the extra crafting. It keeps me inspired which I like.

Spring has Sprung (fingers crossed)

I've just come (well a couple of hours ago) from our allotment and spring is definitely looking like its here \o/. The raspberries have lots of fresh shoots and don't look like giant, dead sticks and the lavender looks like lavender again, rather than a pile of dried twigs and our neighbour had daffodils and tulips flowering. Our bulbs appear to be a bit more laid back and don't even appear to have buds yet but that's fine. They'll be flowering soon. Unfortunately the weeds are also back but, well, ho hum you can't have it all. Also weeds are only weeds because they are growing somewhere you don't want them to grow. They're also incredibly tough and often quite beautiful so I shouldn't be too hard on them.




I've also been making more jewellery bits and bobs. I'm making some sweet inspired bits for Rhibi, who I'm partnered with in the 2nd round of the sweetie swap. We've set a limit on ourselves as we are both on pretty tight budgets so I bought a fivers worth of goodies yesterday and thought I'd make some other bits and bobs to add to it. I didn't seem to have my mojo for the first round which is a bit of a shame but hopefully Rhi will like what I've made. I've made jelly snake (except made from fimo) pendant and earrings and a lollipop pendant and a rainbow beaded bracelet.

Lights off

On Saturday 27th March at 8.30pm the WWF will be asking people to switch off all lights to demand action on Climate Change. To find out more check out the website.

Almost done.....

Had a mad card making panic yesterday as I realised after today I wouldn't see any of my work colleagues until after Christmas. Made all of them and got up today to see a whole ton of snow and couldn't get in - Arse! Snowfail! I was nice staying in bed though and wrapping up nice and warm.
I still managed to post a few cards and 3 Christmas pressies though so not a complete FAIL. :)
I still have 3 to post off so I'll get onto that early tomorrow. Apparently there is sunshine tomorrow!
Got well and truly stuck into White Fang. That's a thoroughly dark read. Good though.
Also signed up for another 6 months of the Wardrobe Refashion. I must do a bit more refashioning this time round though. I think I only made about 3 items in the last 6 months. Ooops.
I've been a little bit of a slow crafter too over the last few months. I'm almost done with the animals swap. Thats taking way longer than planned. Bloody Christmas got in the way! Ho hum.

In the red \o/

Horray for payday! \o/ For some reason this month has seemed especially long so I'm extremely relieved to have some cash in my account again. Probably going to Craftacular wasn't one of my wisest moves but it was really nice to see what other people are making. There were some really cute things out there, especially the sock monster (which I forgot to take a piccy off). Doh! Also some really nice jewellery. I didn't buy anything though but did find an art and crafts supply shop round the corner so stocked up on some more fimo. I also paid a visit to the Museum of Childhood Experience. That was just down the road from the hall Craftacular was being held in (in Bethnel Green) and was free admission. They had some very cool toys that bought back a lot of good memories, especially the sticklebricks. There were some stuff from childrens films too, including a robot which looked extremely familiar but I can't place my finger on where I know him from :/.
I've been working away on the multi coloured crochet hat too. Thats looking a little odd but hatlike. Its coming out a bit like one with a floppy brim rather than a pull on one, which was what I was originally planning.
I've been good with my wardrobe refashioning though and, although its been hard, I haven't slipped off the wagon yet. I'm a third of the way into my 6 month stint now and I've made a couple of things and bought about 3 things from charity shops. My most recent purchase was a couple of t-shirty tops from a charity shop in Bethnel Green. They were only 50p each and the money goes to a local charity to raise money for building a memorial for those who died in the Bethnel Green Tube Station during an incident during the 2nd World War. Everyone who was working in the shop lost family so I had no problem parting with my £1.
We've been doing more harvesting from the plot - this time onions, sweetcorn, garlic and herbs. The sweetcorn was lovely and we had it for dinner the night we got it so it was so sweet and tasty. The onions are also doing really well too. We haven't bought any for over a month and have just been using our own from the allotment.

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.

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.

Rain dancing

Its been really hot and muggy the last few days and I'm feeling all sticky and horrible :(. A thunderstorm has been forecast tonight and we should get some rain tomorrow and Sunday :) Hopefully that will clear the air a bit and give the vegis a bit of a drink too.
Crafting again for 3 swaps I'm involved in. One New Age one, One Newbie/Vetran swap and one Global Village swap. I'd been running a bit low on inspiration for a while so I'm glad my crafty brain cells have kicked into life.
I should start the wardrobe refashion next week so no more clothes buying for 6 months. If I fall of the wagon I have to apply for parole! I'm not quite sure how this works but I'm going to try and stick to the pledge.
Picked up some cool wool the other day from Oxfam. A big bag of mohair wool in pinks, dark green and dark purple. I'm not quite sure what I'll use them for but it was £1.99 for the whole bag. Bargain! Also picked up some pretty beads today too. Nice glass ones in mauve and purple. They were £2 a bag :)

Wordrobe Refashion

Signed up a couple of days ago to a 6 month pledge of the wardrobe refashion challenge. The idea is that you don't buy any new clothes for that period of time and all new clothes are made from existing clothes or second hand. The only exemptions are underwear and uniform (if you wear one for work). I was going to sign up for just a month then I though sod it. I buy most of my clothes second hand anyway and I want to get back to making some stuff myself so I thought I'd do 6 months. One of the other conditions (which will probably be harder) is that your meant to post something on the website every week. Hmmm. I can but try :)
What else?..... I've been back making rolls again. They're just rising at the moment and will put some in the oven in a bit. I also made some fruit scones which are yummy :)

Onions and Leeks

Had a very productive and cheap day today. Got up early and went down to our local Watercress Gardens, had a bit of a chill at home 11.30 - 2.30 and then went down the plot for 3.5 hours work. I did absolutely tons of weeding. I think the Parsnips will be happier as a result. Got rid off any competition for water! :) Also pruned the stinging nettles a bit. We've got a patch at the end of the plot which we're leaving for the Peacock Butterflies. There are tons of caterpillars nomming away. We've got a feeling that our 'crop' of Stinging Nettles isn't quite what our neighbours would like us to grow but such as life. I'm sure I read something a while back that was encouraging people to keep some Stinging Nettles, if they had them growing, for the Butterflies. Another month or two and they'll have done their thing so we can cut it back.
I'm now worn out and quite achy but its been a nice day. We also got our first proper veg crop - some leeks and a couple of big onions. Ate those tonight it our own adaptation of Bubble & Squeak :) Very tasty :P.