The face of evil

Since I havnt included a gratuitous cat picture for a while thought banjo in a drawer would hit the spot.

For some reason hes not so cute at 5am this morning when he had decided it was breakfast time.

Poor excuses and Red Death

Well I dont have any proper excuses why its been over a month since I have written anything but life has been a bit hectic with two family Christmas gatherings and the ledgendary friends Christmas (Which was fantastic and really lovely to recive some handmade goodies from my lovely girl friends) plus I was miserable with flu for nearly three weeks including Christmas day so thats the best I can do.

When things get busy I always forget to take pictures and since Matt has got a new good camera hes taken to hiding it under the bed - not sure of the logic but its away from muggers and not to handy for me either. So point being my attempts to make presents for my friends this Chrismas has gone completely undocumented.

I did treat myself to a new sewing machine (that is so easy to use, actually light enough to carry, and doesnt fight back every time I use it) and as im a complete begginner I opted for a pretty basic model with 14 different stiches. Thought this seemed alot after the previous machine had three but been having a little bit of decorative stich envy after reading moogsmums blog. Oh well probably more important to focus on sewing in a straight line for now as I find that hard enough.

So as a close friend got engaged over christmas the idea arose to throw a surprise engagement party. Have to say I wasnt sure about this at first due to organising party overload but my friend Renee is so amazing and took on all the hard work so it turned out to be a great night. Think this was the first surprise party Ive been to that was actually a surprise and the engaged couple looked pretty shell shocked for the first ten minutes so it was obvious they didnt know. The room looked beautiful with ballons, streamers, candles, fairy lights, flowers, and a hand painted congrats sign - Renee again - Isnt she clever!My one responsibility was to make the cake and as julie is texan and as a homage to steel magnolias I thought I would try a very scary southern recipe known as Red Velvet cake. Bit of a joke really as it basically boils down to being a slightly chocolatey cake with lots of red food coloring but thought it would be fun. Did try to ease my issues with food colouring by using natual red first but you wouldnt have known there was any red in there so if you want RED cake its has to be as unnatural as food colouring comes. Isnt it scary - Well it actually tasted really nice and it was all gone by the end of the night so the red didnt seem to put people off. Im future I think ill steer away from, brightly coloured cakes but it would certainly be a winner for valentines day or halloween!

Is its Christmas yet??

It’s my last afternoon at work until the New Year and im going to celebrate this fact by wasting some time on the internet.

Im starting to get that anticipatory feeling! It’s all cold and icy today and almost looked like snow this morning - look at the neighbour’s tree isn’t it prettyI’ve got the day off tomorrow to go shopping for all those last bits and for the awkward brother-in-laws who are impossible to buy for, Oh and to eat Sushi (very festive I know).

Really looking forward to a break from work I feel like I have been killing time for the last week and its definitely time for a holiday. AND - I finally managed to make something last night that wasn’t a disaster.

Wanted to bring in something to work as I have an aversion to Christmas cards. Especially work ones which involve more office politics than any other sentiment - just what I need - 20 pieces of card with people’s names written on them!

Christmas cards are a strange tradition and I do think it’s very nice when you don’t see people or want to keep in touch but bringing in a stack to work and expecting a stack to take back seems like a horrible waste of time and paper. I know im a horrible ungrateful girl but I hate all traditions that people follow without thinking about why and generally end up ruining them in the process.

So I made a batch of Nigellas Chocolate pistachio fudge and it’s gone down really well. Think I might be whipping up some more after Christmas to put in those stockings. Almost feel a bit of a cheat because its sooo easy to make.... but I won’t be telling anyone if you don't. Recipe is here if anyone wants to know and I highly recommend it as both an easy gift or just to indulge in over Christmas.

Holiday grump

Along the lines of "If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all" I have been avoiding this blog for a little while. Seems that there is some kind of conspiracy to keep me from completing the few simple Christmas crafts that I set myself. Mostly because I have been poorly for the last week, my job insists on having away days at random hotels and my boyfriend thinks that I would want to spend an evening going out to dinner with his horrible boss and family and lastly but most annoying the piles of ginger bread and coconut ice I made came out hard and unappealing.

So the only thing I have to show for myself is a gaggle of mini stockings that I was intending to make for my friends Christmassy get together in January but somehow managed to get roped into making them all for someone else’s friends Christmas party. Not sure how that happened as it was supposed to be a joint effort and I seemed to have pulled the short straw.

Anyway before they go I wanted to show off my little stockings which if I get some time I will be making another 20 of to give to all those friends I don’t buy presents for. They will eventually be filled with (edible) coconut ice and gingerbread and any other small and inexpensive Christmas goodies that I can think off. They are made from corduroy trousers that I had in the attic and ribbons and buttons from my stash so at least im doing my bit for recycling

Sorry about the state of the photos did I mention that my boyfriend was mugged two weeks ago and the nice camera was stolen - can I add that to the conspiracy theory.

So hopefully next time I blog things will be looking up and in the mean time im going to do my best to cheer up, get over this annoying cold and think about all the wonderful things I have to look forward to!!

Back to Life.

Well I managed to get through my exam!! and although im not really sure how I did, all that matters is that it’s over. I have felt like a martyr to marketing for the last few weeks which is my own fault as if I could make myself work over the whole term I wouldn’t have to spend so much time cramming before the exam.

But there we are, I don’t think I will ever learn from my own mistakes and I don’t get the result till February so I can sink back into my comfy denial until then. I hid my sewing machine away so that I wouldn’t be tempted so I haven’t made anything in ages but I still have lots of plans and as I don’t celebrate Christmas with my friends until the middle of January im not going to panic yet.

Bit in the midst of all this self sacrifice and studying I did manage to take a little holiday in Prague and go to see my most favourite comedian Bill Bailey on his Tinselworm tour so I really do have it hard :)




and a little clip from a old Bill Bailey show as all the ones from Tinselworm so far are terrible phone recordings. Enjoy.

60's, 70's, 80's

Wandered past the Children in Need sale at my work today and thought i might have a look and this is what i came accross!

A Jem Annual from 1988: Real blast from the past I used to love jem and flicking through the pictures it fightening to see her hair and clothes and think what a fashion nightmare the 1980s was - so fun and over the top.

Fuzzy Felt - looked it up and it was made in 1966 which probably accounts for the Gay costumes.

Not really sure what to do with either of these finds- I could make them into cards... but I would rather put them on something less disposable - maybe notebooks or something (Any ideas??)

And lastly a 1970s toy making book which has some really cute patterns in for me to have a go at.

Yea!!

Tutu to you

Been trying to think of something to make for a very pink little girl (another niece I seem to have quite a few) - when I say pink her bedroom has recently been redecorated with pink walls, carpet, curtains, bed covers and all other accessories - It looks like a fairy exploded!

So before she gets all grown up and changes her tastes to black with pictures of grungy boys I thought a tutu might be appropriate.

I got the idea from someone on flicker (if anyone is interested in making one) and as it was really easy im sure to make ill be knotting up a few more. Only problem is the netting I used is quite scratchy so I might put a bit of lining at least around the top but it’s only to play about in so not to worried. So ill be on the hunt this week for some pink tights and pink sparkly shoes to finish off the outfit.