oh my goodness

tomorrow is February! How quickly did January happen? but it's not all bad because I like February as a time of year. I'm more winter than summer really, although I have to say, today it is absolutely freezing.
I drove to work in winds that made the car wobble, then I heard the rain lashing on the windows at work, and now it's just freezing cold. I heard a little rumour that we might have some snow - that would be most exciting, especially as I'm not at work tomorrow :O) Also in February it is my birthday - I'll be just a bit older and 31 and not as old as 33 (so just whisper the number that comes in between).

I wasn't really at home yesterday so couldn't take a pic of my finished fabric collage, however I cunningly instructed Mr Monda to take some pictures for me. He kindly also photoshopped off the glare from the glass too. Bonus! I'm really pleased with the finished version - I'm usually self critical but had nothing to say to myself about this, so I take that as a good sign.


For Lina, Yes I will pop this is my shop - will probably do it tomorrow afternoon as long as I can get enough light to take some good pictures of the various elements of it tomorrow.

apple tree

this evening I put the finishing touches to my fabric collage - the backing is on, and it's in a frame ready for photographing tomorrow when we have some decent light.
In the meantime, the last sneak preview before the big reveal:

shameless self promotion alert!

These 3 didn't go to the shop at work. They're on etsy now if you want to purchase...

It's all about the cards

making cards can sometimes be a bit of a chore. I find I have to be in the mood for a good card making session and today I wasn't in the mood but progressed nonetheless, as the people who requested customised cards from me are expecting them tomorrow, and valentines day will also have been and gone if i didn't at least make some valentines cards today. This is one of the reasons why it would be nice to be a designer sometimes (and not a designer maker). I like the designing bit, but it's the making bit that is so time consuming.
The light was a bit crappy so I haven't taken many pics of my efforts but I will scan a few cards this week and pop them on etsy
Whilst I was in Windsor at the weekend I specifically wanted to look in the charity shops for bargain fabric/old curtains etc which I could use in some of my projects. Windsor has plenty of charity shops, but seemingly the charity shops there are a bit supreme compared to some, and I think anything looking like a decent bargain had been well and truly snapped before I got there.

For Lucy Locket, here is a pic of my wagamama - it's not the best pic because it was taken on my phone (and it does look a bit like worms!)
This was a tasty vegetarian noodle dish (which I did eat with chopsticks) and I felt like it was as much as I could do to manage the walk back to the car after eating it all!

monkey music

we've been looking for a new stereo/hifi for a while now. We wanted one that we could plug our i-pods into as well as play CD's and listen to the radio, and finally today we found the perfect specimen so promptly purchased it.
Our backs were only turned for a second when this happened:now you can't really blame him (he's called buttons btw - a monkee maker creation) because on closer inspection he is listening to something pretty cool:
Thank goodness it's Friday today. It's been quite an exhausting week at work this week, and I'm looking forward to not having to get up early tomorrow.

I must make a start on a few things this weekend. I need to get cracking with the valentines swap, start a birthday present for my mum, finish some cards which are mid way through progress, and start a stack of new ones - valentines and birthdays and a couple of requests for personalised ones for work colleagues, and if i can fit it in, I'm also going to Windsor to see the queen to browse the shops and eat a tasty wagamama

book envy anyone?

Today, I finally received 2 books which were supposed to be christmas presents but they fell off father Christmas's sleigh. They arrived just as I was leaving for work so I stashed them away in my work bag and had a quick peek at them during my break today. I'll be engrossed in them most the evening I'm sure.

This is one of the finished cards I have been making: I still have a fair few on the go which I also wanted to finish tonight but its already late so maybe they will have to wait until tomorrow.

I also just have to mention one of the kindest and nicest blog buddies I know.
I put in an order at the weekend with paper and string for some new felt and some other bits and bobs. They arrived very promptly yesterday, in lovely packaging (as per usual), along with a surprise gift for me of a little pile of linen. It always overwhelms me when people are so generous like this, especially when they are blog buddies you've never met before. So a public mention of gratitude is fitting I think - thanks Sarah :o)

Wednesday = Torchwood. Did anyone else find Torchwood a bit too far fetched and overly indulgent last week?

Question: Why are you looking so sad?

Answer: Because everyone is leaving :o(
Here are a stack of sad 'things' I have made for cards. We have quite a lot of people leaving us at work at the moment - one of the perils of seasonal working. This is a stack of toppers (not quite finished though) for leaving cards I am making for my card shop at work (card shop sounds a bit fancy doesn't it. My card shop is a little basket on my desk!)

still a WIP

I had half a day off work yesterday with the intention of working on my latest fabric collage piece but as we all know things don't always go according to plan - I ended up reading and sleeping.

I have made a bit more progress on the fabric collage though, here are a few pics:

today is a good day

This is a rare non craft related blog post today.

Last night I had a really good sleep - well at least 6 hours which is much better than what was becoming the pattern of not dropping off the sleep until 3am and having to get up for work just a few hours later. Maybe the Nytol herbal sleeping tablets are actually working.

So, I was feeling in a pretty good mood today on arrival at work. I then had one of those days where everything goes to crap. I managed the crap, stressful as it was, and was glad when I could come home.

Before Christmas Mr Monda took redundancy from his job and has been at home since the start of January. We're not really worried about him being at home because he is a talented designer and he will be snapped up soon enough but he's in a position where he can be choosy about what he goes for next. Anyway, the thing that is nice for me is that he is actually at home when I get in from work (which never ever happened when he had a job - he often didn't get home till 7.30 most evenings). Today he was waiting with a gift for me of a pair of new shoes - which he paid for and which I had wanted for a while. Nice.Stevie promptly took up residence in the shoe box where she has been for the last few hours:they are puma shoes - and it actually looks like I have bought a baby puma

Today is also good because the long awaited new series of torchwood starts tonight.
If you miss it, you can catch it on BBCiplayer which is really fab. I love all this new technology, especially when it means you can watch television shows on your computer.

BBC have also been running a series called Elephant Diaries. It's about elephants that have been orphaned, mainly because poachers have killed their parents (for ivory). The orphaned elephants are looked after until they are old enough to be put back into the wild. It's heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time. If you missed it you can catch it again on iplayer here (each show is about 25 mins).

Now to answer a few questions from comments on my last blog post:
dottydesigns, I bought my linen on etsy from Namolio
Picciolo - thanks for de-lurking :o) As you have probably seen, a much better sleep last night, so I would recommend Nytol Herbal (I never got around to the hot chocolate as we ran out of milk!) and also a good book might help too. I'm currently enjoying this one

insomnia

as faithless once said 'I can't get no sleep' (are you singing that now too?)
I've had quite a few nights of late where I have been unable to sleep until around 3am despite desperately wanting to sleep. I'm definitely an 8 hours a night girl and I really can't seem to do this right now. I've tried listening to music, reading, listening to the dulcet tones of Paul Mckenna, sleeping in the spare room, sleeping on the sofa, rubbing badger sleep balm onto all available pulse points and countless other known remedies. Tonight I'm going to try hot chocolate and herbal remedy sleeping tablets (and a read thrown in for good measure).

I've decided not to do any sewing tonight as it seems to stimulate my brain and I go to bed with a head bursting full of ideas.
I made a start on this yesterday. I find it really hard to photograph red without it looking totally shocking so apologies for the pic. This WIP is my next mini picture:

feeling brighter

my cold seems to be abating at last and generally I feel a bit brighter. Thanks for all the lovely comments from everyone - I can't reply to comments from everyone directly (I think we are too security conscious and have a 'no reply' setting to our blogs comments - I know I do, and I don't know how to remove it).

Firstly I want to say 'hello' to Julia who has found my blog - you know who you are Ju and I'm saying no more about it.

So, lots of good things to report today:
my limby monsters have finally made their way into my esty shop:
my fabric stash has arrived - its all linen in varying weights, colours and sizes:
and I've already used some of the green linen for my tree in this:I think I might frame this one and keep it, but there will be more in varying designs on the way for my shop.

my new print from TskTsk arrived too:
and the other thing I was going to show you were these really lovely pouches:I bought one for my mobile phone and one for my i-pod. You can of course find these on etsy here

If you're up for a valentines themed swap then get yourself over to Lucy Locket before 8pm tomorrow evening and join in I'm off to get my hands on my new fabric...

what cures a serious dose of the January blues?

This is a real question, and one I wish I knew the answer to because quite frankly I'm fed up of feeling like I do right now.
I have been feeling 'under the weather' (a big fat cloud) for a few weeks and I'm also run down because I haven't been able to shake of my cold and mouth ulcers either.
I was not at work last week and really did nothing but sleep late and veg out - which I think was fine but it didn't make me feel any better - proof that rest and relaxation is a myth.
I know I'll snap out of this soon enough, and I do try to stay upbeat and positive but even making the effort to do this is hard right now, so today I have given up and I am having a moan. phew.

Now onto better things. A few of my latest crafty thoughts and ideas:
I am going to do an embroidery course at the local college. It won't start until October sadly, and I'm not doing it for the qualification - but more so I can hone my existing skills, learn new techniques/skills, and focus myself to achieve something very tangible.

I've decided that I just don't have enough time for making due to the day job. I've got a few days holiday stored up, so starting next week for a month, I'm going to try to take one day a week off work to dedicate to me, doing things I want to do and making things I want to make (like new cushions for my sofa).

I've been doing a bit of drawing and whilst I love my monsters, there is more to Monda than monsters. This is a WIP and something that needs more time and love before it is finished:
In my attempt at curing my blues, I have also ordered myself a stash of fabric, a TskTsk print, and something else which I'll show as soon as it arrives. Shopping therapy indeed.

I also found this pic on the camera which Mr Monda must have taken whilst I was at work today. How can you not smile at this? Stevie in the sink:

tiny terrier

last night I made a really small dog from my 'cute book' which I got for christmas. I'm pleased because it does resemble the picture in the book but this was one fiddly little project and the legs were quite hard to stuff too - the pencil is just to give you an idea of size. I've no idea what to do with it but it was a fun little distraction for a hour or so
All traces of Christmas were removed from the house today, back in the loft for another year, and also my festive blog banner has gone too.

festive version:
non festive version:

I'm off to make the evening meal now - we're still using up all the things that were slung in the freezer over christmas - so we have some pigs in blankets tonight!

not quite perfection

having not quite perfected this long armed, long legged monster design, I decided to make another one, this time with jersey cotton fabrics for the arms and legs I like this better than mark 1, and the arms are a bit lower down and I think it looks a bit better for it - it more resembles the original sketch where the arms should be longer than the legs I like long arms and I think I'm going to add some hands to the next one I make.

The Christmas tree and decs will come down tomorrow, so I wanted to take some pics before I did this. This is just me messing around with no flash whilst moving the camera. I took loads of these shots but this is one of my faves - I like the shapes the lights make and also that you can see a slightly ghostly christmas tree decoration blending into the background too

new year is weird

I actually don't like this bit of limbo we're in right now. There's all the build up and hype before Christmas, then the big day, then it's downhill with a big bump and no one is sure if it's still christmas time but everyone still has decorations up and shops still play christmas songs. It feels weird.

It's fair to say that I haven't had that much Christmas spirit this time and this makes me feel a bit sad because I love christmas time. Perhaps it would help if it snowed. We were supposed to have some snow here today which I was really excited about - I'm a snow kind of person - I'd rather go to Iceland than to Hawaii on holiday, but alas no snow arrived.

Today I made this little guy - here he is posing by the sewing machine that was instrumental in his creation
He didn't quite turn out as I had planned but he has some nice elements and has given me a few ideas for some more things to try. He'll probably make it over to my etsy shop in a day or two.

I'm off into London tomorrow to spend some money! I was given quite a few vouchers and some money for Christmas. I have no idea what I'm going to buy but I'm sure I'll find something to take my fancy - as often turns out when you're not looking to buy anything special.