woo hoo too!

Imagine this scene - you're at work, you have a project that is over deadline (out of your control) and everyone is telling you, 'you can't do that' or 'this won't happen until that happens' and it feels like the world and his brother are really doing their best to mush any morale and enthusiasm you have left well and truly into the ground. Well today I had quite a sucky day which pretty much resembled this.
So what gets you through a day like this?
Grit and determination? yes it's true I had a bit of this
The thought of your potential year end bonus? well this was an unconscious thought
An envelope arriving on your desk with a nice freebie in (thanks Sarah) and some stuff you ordered all accompanied by the calming and relaxing fragrance of lavender? TOTALLY!This couldn't have come at a better time and I kept sticking my nose into the envelope periodically throughout the day to make myself feel better. It worked.

Also, I wanted to mention a designer whose work I found on ebay a while back. She is Jane Foster, and below you can see a pic of one of her bags I bought a couple of months ago now. She has some lovely prints and hand made items incorporating her prints too. She was happy for me to post about her stuff which you can also find on ebay hereShe said that there is not so much going on in her shop right now as she is taking a break, but I've added her to my fave sellers so I can check when she adds new items.

something cool for your blog

I have just found out by reading print and pattern's blog that you can get a free hit counter for your blog.
I really like this because I often wonder how many people see my blog and lurk around on it. I usually only know if someone posts a comment for me. You can get a free counter here
There's only one problem with this though, I've just added a counter to the bottom of my page, and I don't actually like the style of it - I should have gone for something much simpler. I'm now trying to find out how to change it. grrr. Blogger should have a counter built in, or perhaps it does and I just haven't found it yet.

I thought I might post about a card designer that I really admire Most of you probably already know or have seen cards by Caroline Gardner. I buy her cards for inspiration and for sending to people if I'm too short of time to make my own.
If you don't know her work, then you can find it here

bits and bobs for cards

A delivery of bits and bobs for cards arrived today. I'm like a kid in a sweetshop when I go into craft/scrapbook shops, and almost always have to buy something, it could be an obsession. eek. I mostly buy ribbons, buttons and papers and here are just a few of the bits and bobs from todays delivery. The cat didn't come in the delivery, she is mine, but she has this strange/cute thing of having to sit/lie/sleep on something that belongs to me or Mr Monda. Here she is sleeping on a craft book I had put on the end of the bed. I think it's a security thing, like if I can't sleep on my people, then something belonging to them will do. We love our baby cat.

etsy store is now up

take a look over there... just to the right, Can you see it? It's my etsy store and it's full of monsters.

more monsters and an etsy store on the way

A couple of people have suggested getting an etsy store, so I've given in to the pressure (thanks) and have set up my store this weekend, although have not had the time to list anything for sale yet. I think that will probably happen at some point this week though. Watch this space. In the meantime, another couple of monsters have emerged. and finally after a busy but productive weekend, all I can say is 'roll on next weekend!'

monsters and frogs

Today consisted of a lie in (ahh finally), reading harry potter - refreshing my memory before the next book comes out, going around my back garden looking for baby frogs, and making monsters whilst watching/listening to live earth (best thing was the foo fighters who quite literally rock!) Quite a nice day all in all.
Here are my latest monsters, and I might just be making a few more tomorrow. The grass has probably not been cut for 2-3 weeks due to the excessive rain, so it needed a cut, but yesterday we found baby frogs all over the grass, and lots of them (at least 50). We couldn't bear the thought of kermit style carnage when baby frog met lawnmower, so we spent the best part of an hour collecting the baby frogs in the trug. We can't be sure we got all the frogs before the mowing happened but we gave it a pretty good go. The frogs were happily released into our neighbours pond, where they had come from in the first place.

baby shower?

Someone I work with asked me to make them a card for a baby shower. I don't really think baby showers are big business in the UK and come to think of it I'm not sure if I've ever seen a baby shower card before, so I took a rather literal approach to it, and fortunately the person I was making it for loved it. I'm really looking forward to the weekend, no work, some sleep, and some making afoot. Yay.

feeling fruity

I can't really believe that a full week has passed since my last post. eek.
My day job is pretty full on right now, and I've been feeling totally exhausted when I get home everyday, however I have managed to make a few bits and pieces this week.
I've been seeing lots of fabrics and prints recently in fruity designs and because I needed to make a batch more cards I decided to try out a few fruits as card toppers. They haven't made it as far as the cards yet sadly but hopefully they will in the next couple of days or so, that is, if I stay away from facebook - its totally addictive (if you haven't already registered on facebook, be warned, you will become addicted!)

Here's a few of my fruity treats

it's fixed

HTML. Done.
I feel all smug, like Gordon Ramsey :o)

my blog header is finally here

After some help from Mr Monda (who is a designer) my blog header is finally here, and I really love it! It's taken a while but I really think it was worth the wait (I am biased of course). I need to sort out the HTML around the border at the top but that may take me a bit of time because I'm still a virgin as far as HTML goes. Maybe a job for tomorrow.
I'd be happy to receive comments about my header though so please post away until your hearts are content, and if anyone can tell me a quick fix to remove the border from the header without removing it from the rest of the blog that would be much appreciated too.

***NEWSFLASH HTML now Fixed!***

so now maybe a bit more time for making

I've been pretty busy this last 5-6 weekends, and knew I didn't really have any time for crafting and the like. I've been helping my sister out as her house is in a state of disrepair due to renovations, and also she was about to pop out her second baby.Thankfully yesterday Rory popped out!
I've had loads of ideas floating around in my head but no time and no energy to do anything about them so have decided to dedicate tomorrow to just crafting, drawing and making, and hopefully make a start with all the fabric and findings that have been arriving in the post over the last few weeks.

Whilst trampling through the blogosphere, I did find this interesting blog though - good thing if you like Japanese food and culture - and handmade cuteness of course

some nice things from the postman

I mostly always get things I order (or win) sent to my work address as I tend to go into work before the postman reaches my house. The only problem with this is, you get lots of nice things that you cannot do anything with until you get home. Some of my recent eBay purchases included reels of cotton and buttons - all things that make me want to create. Ive taken a pic of my freebies from paper-and-string, nice freebies and lovely packaging.

my blockheads are now for sale on eBay!

As I suspected not much time for blogging, or making or anything really. I've made a couple more blockheads and the crew are on sale on eBay now.They are a combination of hand sewn and machine sewn, but mainly hand sewn.

the list

I did manage to get quite a bit on the list done, and a few things that weren't on the list too. I've still not had the time to put together my banner for my blog, but have done some sketches and made some flowers and birds and a mini blockhead which may form part of it.


I'm not seeing an awful lot of time on the horizon for crafting in the coming weeks - weekends and week nights after work are already looking choc-a-block, although I have stolen myself a little time by taking an afternoon off work next week.

I thought I might also mention the textile network in this post. I studied at Cumbria Institute of Arts (formally Cumbria College of Art and Design, and soon to be University of Cumbria). The textile network is work from past students and tutors at the college.

making a list

I'm borrowing some inspiration from paper and string, and making a plan of action, a list if you like, of things to do this weekend.
They include:
*cleaning the house - boring but necessary
*planting my plants - finally a nice day to do it
*watching Dr Who
*tidying my workspace and readying myself for a day of crafting tomorrow
*making a list of things to do, which already includes making a banner for my blog, and a stack of new cards to sell at work
*learning a bit more about illustrator and indesign (with the help of Mr Monda)

Maybe if I make a list I will actually get some of this stuff done. I tend to make lists at work all the time, but never really think to do it at home - I find myself drawing on scraps of paper and then feeling inspired to make something. Lastly because it's nice to look at a blog with a picture or two, here are some of my random drawings