one of those days

I've had one of those days today. I rarely discuss my day job here - I like having the separation between my worlds. As a rule, I would say that I'm proud to work for the company I work for, I believe in the company values, and like the people I work with. On top of my own job, I've been asked to take on/cover another role whilst the role holder is on maternity leave - I'm doing this with no financial gain or reward.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not an outwardly emotional person, and certainly not a crier - not even at really sad films - I get a throat lump, but I don't cry. Today at work I cried - in a meeting with my boss.
I cried out of sheer frustration and disbelief at what was being said to me. I won't go into details but I'll say that I feel massively under appreciated at this point.  I find this hard because despite my job not being my dream job, I always put a lot into it.  I care about what I do, I care about doing a  good job and getting a good result. I feel very let down. sigh.
Tomorrow is another day and I'm sure it will be better.

On a brighter note, I've just received my lovely new CK bag. I received some money for my birthday so purchased this in the Sale:

It's a huge bag - much bigger than I anticipated but it's great - and lined with a pretty teal spotty cotton.

It struck me that it would be quite simple to make a similar bag myself. I think I have enough fabric in my stash for the job (slight understatement!). I just need to purchase some of these and I'm away!

mini monsters

It's been a long time since I loaded some new items into my shops, but with my new photography lamps to assist me, I really don't have any excuse now.
Over the coming week I'll be loading a few items each day - these mini monsters are now available for sale in my etsy shop:

 

  

  

do you make owls?

a question I'm often asked at craft fairs. Until now the answer has been no. So yesterday I thought to myself 'why deny the public what they want?'. It's all about demand and supply isn't it - or is that supply and demand? not that it really matters

 This one, and a few others will be available to purchase soon.

I'm not often asked for a cheeky cat in a natty bow tie, but I had to make one. This little fella has been in my head for a while

 

Orgasmic rice pudding

This is kind of my own recipe, for the best ever rice pudding. I say kind of, because it is a mash-up of a couple of recipes, and of course the name is my own, and I didn't misspell organic :o)

4oz pudding rice
½ pint double cream
1 ½ pints of milk
2oz sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1oz butter


Put all the ingredients (except the butter) in the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins then take off the heat.
Pour into an oven proof dish, that holds 2.5 pints
Tear butter into knobs and place all over the top of the pudding. Put in the oven for 30-45 mins – stir after 25. It’s ready when it has a light brown colour on top.
Leave to stand for 5 mins before serving. It should be quite thick, with little running liquid left.

Serves 4

a bit of everything

I'm an erratic blogger at the moment. I have plenty to blog about but can't seem to find the time (or energy) to do it, which kind of defeats the point a bit. So this post is a mish mash, a bit of everything that happened during my last week.

I received a huge bunch of flowers at work on Tuesday - they are very pretty, and were an early birthday gift from Mr Monda:

My birthday was on Wednesday. I had a really nice day - I took the day off work, slept in and pottered about in my PJ's, opening cards and pressies. My sis and nephew surprised me with a visit too. At the time I was in the bathroom and I had no idea they were standing outside waiting for me. I'm pleased to say that I wasn't naked when I came out of the bathroom (more for my nephews sake) but they did catch me singing the ever so catchy advert theme tune 'moonpig.com'! We all went out to lunch, and then in the afternoon I went to the cinema with Mr Monda to watch 'The Wolfman'. A good film, but I found myself hiding in my scarf at times - there were a few jumpy moments.
I had some great cards:

 

  

  

 

I especially like the hand drawn card from my nephews, which is me apparently in the new jumper they had bought for me :o)

My sis made me this very pretty hat (from an original 1920's pattern). Yes, that is me, looking very tired in the pic:

 

 

 I also have some matching wristlets and a scarf on the way too. So in all in, a nice way to celebrate 34 years.

We don't really celebrate valentines day as a rule - it's all very commercial and the sentiment seems to get lost somewhat in all the fluff and red roses. You shouldn't need a special day to to say 'I love you', but any occasion that warrants a handmade card gets my vote. This is the one I made for Mr Monda this year:

and this is the one he gave me:

We often behave like a pair of monkeys so this was quite apt.
Brunch today was scrambled egg on toast - the ever so classy tomato ketchup heart is a regular feature for our Sunday breakfast/brunch meal

My mum also celebrates her birthday this coming week - I finally got my butt in gear and finished the trio of crocheted scarves for her - I hope she likes them, and if not, well they do go quite nicely with my cord jacket don't they!

vintage treasures

I've collected a few more vintage treasures recently - all of which I bought with a (sort of) purpose. I'm finding myself really drawn to and fascinated by anything that has a bit of history - old postage stamps, knitting/sewing patterns, postcards, doilies...

These postcards were sent in 1928 and 1931, to Dear Little Bobbo - I wonder who Bobbo was?
I was really drawn to the illustrations. The illustrator of both postcards was Mabel Lucie Attwell - you can read more about her here

I'm pleased we've moved out of January into February. I'm feeling a little more inspired with my creative work but not finding an awful lot of time for it. My thoughts are quite occupied with ideas for the BIG day, which is still a year away yet! I've started another blog where I can scrapbook ideas and thoughts.