Meet Bella!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce....

Bella!

Just finished today, she's the Monkey with the Mostest - in terms of cheek and attitude, at any rate! 

She started life as a pair of brown socks, with pink heels and toes.  Her head, body and legs are all one sock... Her nose is the heel part of sock #2 and her arms and loooong tail are also cut from the second sock.

The tail is cut from the whole length of the sock, toe to cuff, using the part that was left after the heel was cut out.  It is stiffened with a long chenille pipe-cleaner and has a little stuffing to give it more shape (boy did that stuffing take me ages - sitting with a long bamboo skewer, using the blunt end to push tiny bits of stuffing doooown that tail!).

That tail is long and bendy, can be twisted into shape and will stay there.  Bella can swing it and swing from it too. 

That tail is going to get Bella into a whole lot of trouble - I can just tell.

I introduced her to the Boys... Bro', as ever, was cool about it, but Mon looks pretty fed up in the photo. I don't think they hit it off very well.  I mean, you've heard of "Boogie in the Barnyard"?  Well, we've had "Dancin' in the Dinin' Room" and "Swingin' in the Sittin' Room", followed, I'm sorry to report, by "Chaos in the Craft Room". 

No-one is impressed (except Bella).  Even Sherlock is not happy - she biffed him in the nose and he sent her to Coventry!  Bella doesn't seem to mind though - she's happy in her skin (or should that be sock? hmm...).  She loves her green hair-bow and kneck-tie; she's happy with her ear-rings and her tail makes her squeal with glee.  She's a Happy Sock Monkey and intends to live life to the full. 

I daresay she'll settle down in a day or two.  The other Sock Pets will see to that - she'll be squashed a few times and that will sober her up a bit!

But you have to admit, she's cute!

Shimelle's Sketch of the Week - The Lizzie Made Version

Inspired by Fay over at Beautifullilly's Ramblings, I had a go at Shimelle's Sketch challenge for this week:

Here is Shimelle's Sketch...

...and this is my version! 

I've had this photo on my desk for ages, meaning to scrap about it.  We went out for a meal together and the Boys were chatting and messing around, I got my camera out and J. & D. just spontaneously posed like this.  But it sums up so much about their relationship as Father and Son.  The love is so obvious - as D. said, it doesn't really need words to explain it!

You should take a look at Fay's and Shimelle's layouts too - they are both really great.  Fay's made me laugh - go and see for yourself!

Oh, oh! Forgot a list of materials used (in case anyone's interested!):

Bazzill Kraft cardstock (for the base), brown collage-style paper by Dream Street Papers, Red and White spotted paper by Cosmo Cricket, Houndstooth check paper by October Afternoon, green paper strips by Basic Grey.  The small paper strips on the right are the reverse of the October Afternoon and Cosmo papers.

Metal embellishments and letters all by Papermania, as are the "scrabble tile" letters. Green letter stickers by Basic Grey.  Black chipboard circles are Thickers by American Crafts. Small script word stickers by MLS.  Mulberry paper hearts & cork heart from my stash. Punched hearts & flower made by me.

There I think that covers it! :-)

Nearly Spring?

Note there are a couple of short videos at the bottom of this post, which seem to load a bit slowly. I suggest you scroll down to the first and set it loading, then read the first bit of text while you wait!

* * *

We're having a spell of mild weather; earlier in the week there were high winds and it was still pretty chilly, but for the past two or three days, we've had much milder weather and even sunshine on Tuesday (it rained all day yesterday). 

This morning I was in the kitchen, making breakfast/lunches etc.  Sherlock asked to go outside - he's been enjoying the weather also and spending chunks of time outside in the garden.  I opened the door to let him out and this is what was outside:

The sun was coming up behind our neighbours' houses, there was dew on the grass instead of frost, the border was filled with snowdrops and even an early iris.

Sherlock went scouting around the garden, enjoying the mild weather and hunting for mice!

 

The birds were singing and hopping around, having their breakfasts (you can hear a robin, chaffinches, blue tits, blackbird, starlings and even a collared dove cooing somewhere outside the garden).  If you'd like more information about British garden birds  follow the link!

 

This is our Robin, giving us his own little concert.  It sounds so lovely that I have included it despite the odd picture. (I'm sorry this is sideways - I forgot that I don't have any software that will edit videos and I turned my camera to "portrait"!)

Perhaps it will be cold and windy again tomorrow, or raining this afternoon, but it's mornings like this that remind me what I like about living in Eastern England! 

I Won a Prize!

Hello All,

I wasn't going to post anything for a couple more days, as I still have a yukky cold (which isn't really very newsworthy!). On the mend though, after a lazy weekend (with no housework done for days, I feel a bit guilty, but it will have to wait until I don't get wheezy and dizzy from doing no more than loading the dishwasher!).

But I have been blog-hopping this evening and found that the awesome Megan and Jake at Nerd Nest have given me a prize! 

A place on this new course from Alexandra Rae Designs! 

How exciting is this?  And yes, it is the same Nerd Nest who awarded me a great prize in a giveaway they had last spring.

* * * * Thanks Guys - You're wonderful. * * * *

(If you follow all the links here, you'll have a mini-adventure all for yourself!):-

If you have never visited the Nerd Nest blog, I would really recommend it.  Jake and Megan are a great couple, who have a gorgeous little girl and a new baby boy.   They write about all sorts of interesting things, such as their lovely thrift shop treasure finds, their home (was a great loft apartment, now a lovely new house!), fun music lists (Music Mondays), favourite movies, eclectic little bits & pieces, recipes, craft projects, books, as well as family news and adventures.  There is so much fabulousness squished into such a small space on their blog - they're definitely one of my favourites!

And for anyone who has visited recently and couldn't get their comments box to work - it has been fixed in typical Nerd Nest fashion!

Peter Pan, Pirates and “Reel” Treasure!

Today I am at home, resting and nursing a rather pesky cold, which sprang up overnight – I don’t want it to become a chest infection!

But yesterday (when I still felt fine!), I had a lovely day out.   My niece, Keri-Anne was able to get tickets for us to see Peter Pan on Ice at the theatre in Northampton:

Some highlights from You Tube of the show we saw.

 
The whole stage had been turned into a temporary ice rink. And it wasn’t that plastic stuff they use for kiddy ice-rinks in the local shopping centre, but real, proper, very cold ICE! 

We were able to go backstage after the performance (Keri-Anne’s husband works in the theatre – yippee!) and saw the huge ice-covered, glycol-filled pipes connected to the cooling equipment.  Apparently someone has to be on duty all night, to keep the ice cold and make sure it doesn’t melt (which means that theatre staff have to be there all night also, to support/supervise the touring company’s staff while they are in the building).

Anyway, we had a fantastic time. It was a really wonderful, professional and beautifully presented show.  The ice-dancers were athletic and skillful – they were obviously so well rehearsed, not a hitch, nor a slip-up all through the gruelling 1 3/4 hour show.  The costumes were so well designed and made – they looked flimsy and light, but could stand up to the punishment they would take from all that leaping, spinning, skating around, being lifted in the air etc. 

The show was like an ice ballet – no speaking or singing – but there were a few sections of pre-recorded narration, which were played to fill you in on what was going to happen in the next scene etc.
It really was a fabulous show and the whole Company – and support staff at the Theatre – should be congratulated.  It was worthy of big London theatres, not just provincial large-town theatres like Northampton. 

I am so glad I was able to go – thank you Gilles for organising it for us!

* * *

I went over to Northampton early yesterday; my friend gave me some lovely curtains for Keri-Anne, that her own daughter had grown out of (having reached the grand age of 10, she doesn’t want pink with flowers and fairies any more – she has exchanged these for hot pink and orange curtains, with little Japanese ladies on them). 

Elle has inherited these beautiful curtains for her bedroom:

However they are about 20” / 50 cm too short, as their house is Victorian, with tall windows.  As they are made in a layered design, with the strips of floral and dark pink gingham at the bottom, we thought it would be very simple to lengthen them by adding a 50cm strip of pink gingham, from her previous bedroom curtains.

So, I went over to help Keri-Anne, as she has never made or altered curtains before.   Problem – when they got the bag out of storage, the curtains were damaged and had to be thrown away.  We went to the Market, looking for suitable curtain fabric, but sadly there was only one fabric stall yesterday, with a very limited selection.  No other places in Northampton sell fabrics – imagine!  I have promised to go into Bedford next week and find something suitable.

Meanwhile, we went for a little wander, to find a wonderful shop that Keri-Anne had discovered.  It’s called “A Most Marvellous Place to Shop”;

And it really is marvellous! They have a huge space, which is split into little nooks and crannies, which are let as small units to individual sellers. However, the shop has a general theme of Vintage items – which range from C19th right through to 1960’s –1980’s stuff. 

We found lovely things, that we would like to buy – but price and/or size were a problem. Some items were a bit over-priced to be honest, but much of it was good quality stuff, in excellent condition and at realistic prices. 

This is the Treasure that I bought:
 
 
A large pack of genuinely Vintage buttons (rather than the copies you can buy just now); five huge reels of sewing threads – which I think are cotton - with a “satin finish”, which I think must mean they are mercerised, as they certainly are shiny;
 
Seven little packets of needles – a good variety of types. There are Sharps, Betweens and Crewel sewing needles, then a packet of repair needles for silk stockings (that certainly dates them!) and two packs of “Egg Eyed Sharps”, which I think are just a brand gimmick, since they look much the same as any other type of Sharps to me!  

They are beautifully packaged, in paper wrappings, with a black, protective coating inside.
 
There is a layer of waxed brown paper, then the needles are pushed into a piece of soft fabric;

All of them are still as shiny and sharp as the day they left their factory – which must be a good 50-60 years ago!

Wonderful Treasure indeed!

So, you can guess where I may be wasting more hours in the future… good thing it is a 20 mile drive away, or I might be there far more often than is good for me (or the bank balance!).

I did have a lovely day – thanks to Keri-Anne and her lovely husband.  Thanks very much, you too! X