Easter bunnies and new beginnings

The bunny in the top pic is a monda bunny. The second pic is a baby bunny in my mum and dad's garden, taken by my dad. Very appropriate for Easter time aren't they.

I've been a little absent from my blog these last few weeks. I didn't feel like writing very much because after much soul searching and internal deliberation, I've decided to leave my job. I've worked for the same company for almost 10 years, in various positions. The reason this was such a hard decision is because there is much about the job and the company I like, and I have lots of friends there too. On the flip side of this, there are also things which are making me unhappy. I had to remind myself that I don't live to work, I work to live, and as such, I need to do what makes me happy.
I sent an email to my colleagues today to tell them I will be leaving the company soon, and had such a lovely response - people were shocked and surprised, saying that things like 'please don't go' and 'it won't be the same without you'. The reality is, that things will be fine without me, and I will be fine without it. I was asked what I was leaving to do, and of course I've spent a lot of time thinking about this too. There is a world of possibilities for me really, but one thing is certain - I'll be hanging out around here a bit more, and making the most of any opportunities that come my way.

keep calm and carry on

So, I'm having a little spell of crappity crap - more on that later, maybe.
In the meantime, I'm seeking calm, and found these lovelies on flickr which just do the trick. I'm radiating calm now - are you with me?

 1. Blue green calm, 2. Moss, 3. grey moss stitch scarf, 4. Green calm, 5. moss, 6. ring_zinnia_green, 7. Petite Leaves Garland Lariat -- Women Cotton Blend All Season Summer Lariat/Scarflette/Fiber Necklace Jewelry - Lime Green, 8. Moss Heart, 9. Tranquility (53 of 365)

something old, something new

happiness today came in the form of 2 new books - well one of them is quite old actually, but still quite exciting for a nerd like me.

This ledger is a 'cash book':

 The first entries are in April 1926, and from what I can tell, this was a record of household spending. I don't imagine this was a normal everyday working household, but perhaps and small Manor house or country house. There are payments detailed for various dates in each month, and some of the things on the monthly outgoing list are:

House - 2 pounds

Gardener and Boy - 2 shillings and 6 pence

May Carpenter - 2 pounds (was she the housekeeper I wonder?)

Freda (monthly allowance) 1 pound

Higham Coal - 2 pounds, 6 shillings

Man (mowing grass) 5 shillings

Cleaning suit (oxford) 6 shillings and 6 pence

British legion xmas treat - 5 shillings

Overcoat cleaned - 9 shillings

Freda (passing exam) 1 pound

There is also something on one of the lists called X-box - I'm guessing that's not a games console - maybe it was a games compendium!

my second happiness today was my new print & pattern book:

 This is actually my second copy of the P&P book - the first one from amazon was damaged in the post so I had to send it back without even looking at it - torture indeed. I love the P&P blog - such a inspiring dose of eye candy each day - Bowie does a great job at showcasing some of the design talent out there.
I'm off to dig in to this now. Mr Monda will no doubt be wondering what all the oooh-ing and aaaah-ing is all about.

Owl City

I'm stating the very obvious here - but it is March already! That happened very quickly indeed.
As a follow up to my last post, and having had some time to think things through, I've come to the conclusion that I need to let episodes like the one mentioned only serve to make me a stronger and better individual. It's obvious, but I know a lot about the kind of person I am - what my values are and what my truth is, and I'm very happy with that.  Enough said.

Moving swiftly on - It's been owl city here this weekend:

There's nothing like giving yourself a deadline to get you going is there. I made these over the course of a couple of days - with interludes of making bread and soup, and doing washing.

Another kind of owl city:


Mr Monda thinks that it sounds like Kermit the frog singing this tune, so naturally I checked YouTube to see if the little green guy had done a version of this. I found this, which is not Kermit bit still midly entertaining - the best bit is the kid on the wii in the background - totally oblivious to what's going on around him. Perhaps this is an advert for Nintendo?

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.

on photography, part II

Last weekend, I was making a couple of new brooches. One was a gift, but I wanted to photograph it anyway to have a record and visual memory. It was late afternoon when I did this, so the light was not really at it's best. The pics below show my process of what it took to get a like for like (ish) image.
Fist pic - taken inside on my desk with my standard desk lamp. way too dark, and way too yellow
Second pic - taken outdoors. Way too cold and way too blue
Third pic - taken indoors with small photography lamps (a recent acquisition). Much more true to life but still not quite right (maybe I'm being too self critical). As you can see by the pic below, this one was taken on the dining table (please avert your eyes from the minging wallpaper - believe me, this was not the worst decoration in the house when we moved in, and is hence the last room to get decorated). I think the result would have been better with a white covering on the wall and table to reflect the light around instead of soaking it up.
This morning I've taken a couple of pics inside as it's a nice bright morning. These have come out ok too (I think). I especially like the jelly beans.It's a hard thing this photography malarky.

btw, thanks for all your recent comments and well wishes, I'm feeling much less bleugh than I have been. I won't be sad to see the back of January though, bring on February, a whole better month entirely.

on photography

Occasionally I take a picture that I'm very happy with, but for every one great moment, atmosphere, story or occasion I capture, there are countless more that are badly framed, badly lit, or I find myself unable to capture the beauty that I can see with my naked eye. I could happily spend a good few hours on flickr soaking up the wealth of interesting images, colours, textures, moments...

The following few photos were take by my dad, who has taken photos both professionally and personally for many years. When I look at these they evoke quite an emotion in me - I really think he really has captured the moment in each of these pics. I think they are amazing. I wonder if I would enjoy them so much if they had been taken by anyone other than my dad? What do you think?My conclusion: Photography is a skill not to be underestimated.
I'm also on the look out for a photographer to capture the moment on 29th January 2011 - the BIG day, I think they call it!

and the bleugh goes on...

Not the most upbeat post from me today I'm sad to say. I have a really stinky cold - my nose is red and sore, I'm coughing and sneezing, my nose is bunged up so I can only breath through my mouth, and the worst, worst, worst thing is that I cannot taste anything. I do question the point of eating if you can't taste anything - it's just no fun.
I realise that I need my vitamins a plenty at the moment however, so today I made a fruit smoothie containing almost every piece of fruit I could find in the house, and I've made a big pan and vegetable soup for tea tonight - to feed the cold, as they say.
I haven't been feeling terribly creative at all this weekend - I've just put a few ideas into the mental sketchbook.
Something I have been picking up and putting down sporadically is a little bit of hooking - a pressie for my mum's birthday in February:On the topic of hooking, if I was to make a new years resolution (which I'm not by the way) then I'm quite determined to increase my hooking skills this year - I want to make a ripple blanket, and maybe have a go at amigurumi too - not least to make use of the really cool book I got from my sister for Christmas:

just getting on with it

I find January to be such a bleugh month. Christmas is such a nice time with so much happening and then January rears it's ugly head and sends you right back to normalville. I don't feel very motivated to do anything - my day job, the housework, cooking, making... Thankfully I just know that this is a symptom of January, and that it won't last.
I've been indulging in some much needed retail therapy to get me through such tough times (a tad too dramatic perhaps?). I've been spending the Amazon vouchers I recieved at Christmas time on some lovely new books with pretty pictures to inspire me. We have also bought ourselves a new mattress - not a luxury but a necessity - we've had our old one for over 10 years and a sign of this is the countless nights of late I've ended up sleeping on the sofa because it is more comfortable than the bed! Buying a mattress is a mine field though, there is so much choice these days. I'm not ashamed to admit I was fished in by the Silent night hippo and chick - they just appealed to meOf course we have had a little bit of excitement in the form of a snow covered UK this last week I do like snow, but driving to work on snowy icy roads is a bit scary. I also realised that I don't own appropriate snow footware, so shopped around on line for a new pair of wellies. The wellies have not arrived yet so I hope we get a bit more snow so I can test drive them properly!

A little bit of creativity this weekend came in the form of this doggy Birthday card. I do like a spotty dog!

Jme

Do you actually like trawling through the January (December) sale racks in the shops?, No me neither. As a young whipper snapper, I LOVED to go and grab a bargain but these days I just can't be bothered with it - it's too much like hard work and frankly other things are more important.
Just before Christmas I discovered the new online Jamie Oliver shop Jme. Wow - this totally appeals to me. I didn't buy anything at the time, but just oggled at all the lovely homewares/kitchen items I'd like to have in my dream house. The branding is very nice too, very craft/graphic/homemade style.At the weekend I accidentally stumbled upon the Jme shop again, and luckily they are having a sale. This is the kind of sale shopping I do like - shopping from the comfort of my sofa! I placed an order on Sunday and it arrived today - well packaged, and the quality of everything I bought was outstanding. I really cannot recommend it highly enough.I bought some Christmas cards, tags, tissue paper, cooks and gardeners crackers and a tea towel - I went mad and of course will be squireling away most of this for next Christmas! The calendar is lovely - printed on really high quality card stock, and is really nice to look at too (it's just £5).
They've added some more items to the sale pages since I shopped so it's definitely worth taking a look. There is also free postage if you spend over £35.

The best thing of the day: seeing a few snowflakes falling, and knowing there is more on the way.
The worst thing of the day: finding out the fridge door had been left open all day when I got home from work tonight, and smelling the stinky (but tasty, but stinky) Camembert that has been lurking in the fridge.