The nappy bag of swirliness

Both my friend and the sister of He Who Shall Not Be Named are expecting the patter of tiny claws hooves feet and I have decided to sew stuff for them.

I found a pattern and instructions for this hip mama diaper bag on the blog A Mingled Yarn. Of course we don't call them diapers in the UK so I have christened it the nappy bag of swirliness

It's almost really straight forward except for sewing the corners which I only perfected with my second last one so there was a lot of unpicking and swearing going on. At least for the next one the amounts of F's and C's I utter should be fairly limited.

So here is the finished product of the one I made for my friend who is due in July.

I also created a tag by using a iron on transfer however it's not very flexible and I doubt it will stand the test of time so I might fork out some dosh and get some made so I can add them to everything I make.

I love skulls :)

I have a bit more time until the sister of He Who Shall Not Be Named pop's out her bundle of nappiness so that's taken a back seat as I get ready for the Star Wars party I am organising, however I will post pictures when I am done.

Felting - my new craft interest

So, one of the crafts which has been distracting me from my little old blog is felting. It's pretty amazing actually as it's sculpting with wool and it''s not as hard as it looks.

I bought a woolpets kit of a bumble bee and was quite impressed with the fact that it didn't take that long to create and well it actually looks like a bumble bee and not some type of mutated beastie.

Here are some photos:

hmmm......nectar

here's a close up

I'm in the process of felting an eyeball & a brain but at the moments that have become UFP's (UnFinished Projects) which is a little sad because they will be awesome when they are finished.

Neglected yet again

Once again I have neglected by blog and it is the love of shiny things that makes it so.

I start out with the best of intentions, committed that I will stick with it this time.........but then, oh look a shiny thing and then I'm off, searching the internet for something, learning a new craft, obsessing about finding out as much as I can about jellyfish - you know that sort of thing.

So since my last entry we have finally finished the house. We are still talking to each other, the artex effect is gone and my arms are the same size.

I've been back to oz to visit the family, have holidayed in Ireland and Spain and done more dreaded walking here in the UK than I like to think about.

I re-purposed this blog along time ago to show of my photographs so here are some random ones from the last couple of years:

a gecko in the light at our hotel in San Pedro Spain

The tip of the rock of Gibraltar

Dundee Beach, Northern Territory, Australia

The highest point in Shropshire*

I promise I will be back soon

*just a note to add here - once again I was 'conned' by He Who Shall Not Be Named and told this was a gentle walk on flat terrain - THIS WAS TO THE HIGHEST POINT IN SHROPSHIRE! Flat my arse

Kinver Edge, UK

I'm not a fan of walking ......or any exercise for that matter. I think of myself as subscribing to the anti-exercise movement. I don't like sports either, which in turn makes me feel a little un-australian. As a society we are suppose to love exercise and sports. We excel at growing tall in the sunshine and beating other countries at 'their' sports. I can't understand either of the rugby's, cricket bores me, swimming and athletics -excuse me while I supress a yawn. Tennis is all right in small doses, say once a year - except for all that unnecessary grunting, the mute button is my friend when Wimbledon is on. But I feel more than a little un-australian and I'll tell you why:

1. Hatred of almost all sports and exercise (see above paragraph for pre-ramble)


2. I'm not that tall


3. I hate the beach...and the sun. Going to the beach is torture. You get sand places it shouldn't be, you are suppose to lie there cooking your skin in the HEAT risking cancer and the sea is like hot salty water. Why I ask you, Why?


4. I hate beer


5. I have to admit that when I first go home to visit the accent grates on me a bit. I know, I'm ashamed of me too


6. Going back to number one and I'll say this quietly I like watching soccer. Though Australia did make it to the last World Cup, something I was very proud of. By the way, we were robbed by the cheats that are the Italian team.....that's all I'm going to say on the subject because I have been known to 'get nasty' when riled up about this

So what has this got to do with Kinver Edge I hear you ask - well we went for a walk there yesterday and it wasn't that bad. Thinking about posting about it made me think of the above and well whatever happens to be at the front of the cue in the mess that is my brain needs to be expressed first.

The edge allowed great views of the Staffordshire countryside. Great rolling hills and lots of green. The UK might have 60 million people in it and be seen to be bursting at the seams, but I for one thank whoever there is to thank that most of the inhabitants of these isles are concentrated in congested cities. It's great to go out and see space.

Even though I enjoyed some of my outing it was still exercise so I was concentrating so hard on putting one foot in front of another without becoming angry* that the camera rarely made an appearance. However I did get a couple of shots and here they are:

On the site are the Holy Austin rock houses where people lived until the 1950'sA thistle.......and it's purple :)

* I get angry when I have to do anything remotely exercise like - it's stupid I know but I feel like a little kid who's being punished for something. He Who Shall Not Be Named loves climbing mountains and hills and spends hours badgering me into it. By the time I get to the top I'm ready to explode - I just don't see the point. Sure occasionally the view will be nice, but this is England so most of the time the weather is shitty and you can't see a thing. I'm meant to feel a sense of 'achievement' or something, but I always feel somehow cheated.