Wednesday 30 May 2012

Cake scoffer

One very good thing about my job is the amount of cake I get. Barely a week passes by without a yummy slice of something or other being gently pressed upon me. I think it must be an admin thing and it's definitely a public sector thing... it pays to be the gal who orders the envelopes sometimes. (Well, it pays in cake anyway).

Excitement is building in the household (I say 'in the household' - it's just me really - it merely means that I have gone into mess-making overdrive) with the approach of the Jubilee Worcester Flea - hoorah! I have a stash of jewellery and random items to sell that has grown like a big scruffy mushroom over the last few weeks and grand plans for making a beautiful cloth for my stall (if I can do beautiful in the limited time I have left before Sunday) and making myself some bunting, naturellement.

I had a bit of a quandry about whether to make jubilee-themed items or not. I'm not a royallist and not a fan of the Union Jack and many of the sentiments that go with it. But it seems sort of churlish not to get into the spirit of the thing and have nothing jubilatory (yes, that is a word - it is now, anyway) on my stall. Boyfriend came to the rescue and suggested making red, white and blue items that can be cunningly sold separately and not look like left-overs at all if they don't go. He has all the best ideas :-)




Thursday 24 May 2012

It's all happening in Worcester today....

Well, today we have the Olympic torch passing through Worcester. Apparently there will be thousands of people lining the streets to see it. (They must all still have been in bed when I was walking to work this morning, or perhaps at home doing star jumps in their living rooms to psych themselves up for this tremendous event!) I know I'm going to sound like a right miserable bugger saying this, but I'm just not excited about the Olympics. I've never been the sporty type. Years of being shouted at by short, manly - indeed one reminded me rather of a well-established tree - female PE teachers to stop being so lazy and stop slouching round the edge of the boggy sports field more than put me off. The only enjoyable moment I can recall from PE lessons was almost spearing one of said teachers with a javelin. It was an accident though - honest!!

The other excitement of the day, for me personally at least, is that I have an interview this afternoon for an admin job with the fire service. I say excitement - terror would be more accurate. I HATE interviews - I turn from being a competent, efficient administrator into a gibbering, verbal diahorrea spouting (apologies if you're eating) wreck. I only passed the interview for the job I'm in now because I was so depressed beforehand having failed lots of interviews that I just didn't have it in me to be nervous. It seems that the giving-up-before-I'd-even-started attitude actually worked for me.

On the creative front, the green silk dress is coming on a storm - I'm really pleased with it. It's going to have a number of strange, slightly sticky-outy bits but for a first attempt at dress making it's not too bad at all I'd say. I don't think Vivienne Westwood needs to get worried yet though. (Saw her on the news last night - she is FAB!)


Wednesday 23 May 2012

Summer

Summer seems to have arrived - myself, I suspect it's only temporary. Very negative of me I know, but I've been fooled too many times by the flirtatious summer days that lead you up the garden path, tempt you to throw away your old winter coat and then they leave, just like that.

Talking of seasonal clothes, I have discovered that none of my summer clothes fit - none! I'm still in corduroy and thick cotton, just with the sleeves rolled up. I've expanded from being a slip of a thing last year to having the figure of a slightly weedy hourglass. It's a good thing (even though it doesn't sound like it). So since money is tight this month (sometimes it feels like this lifetime) I've decided to turn my creative 'talents' (cough cough) to dress making. I have a large piece of beautiful green silk at home just begging to be hacked up, destroyed and reconstructed into something beautiful. I hope.

Friday 18 May 2012

Unfinished business

I'm getting rather bad at finishing my projects. I have such a large stash at home of beautiful materials, beads, charms for bracelets and all sorts of stuff that I keep on starting things and then get so excited over a new idea that I leave things when they're about three-quarters of the way through and start something else (with the exception of the snakes and ladders board which is such a lengthy project that I've picked it up and put it down numerous times over the last few months, and it's still nowhere near finished!) I think I need to enforce some discipline on myself, make a written list (very important, this, writing things down - makes them official in my head!!) of the things that I need to complete and just get on with it.

The lady in Florida has asked me to make her another teapot necklace!! I'm so chuffed - it's so lovely to know that someone likes my stuff that much :-)

We have no children around this weekend - I've gingerly asked my long-suffering boyfriend if we can go for a poke around in some charity shops nearby for pretty plates that I can use for displaying my stuff at the next flea market/fairs. I feel kind of bad - I spend so much of our evenings stitching and cutting and bending wires and making a terrible mess while he sits next to me and tries to hug me - poor guy. I must lavish some attention on him this weekend as he is great and he more than deserves it :-)

Have just noticed that I have spilled coffee and also wet biscuit crumbs down my white blouse. Oops - never mind, it's Friday!


Thursday 17 May 2012

Zzzzzzzz.......

I'm a sleeeeeeepy bunny today.... some weeks seem to go so slowly. Isn't it Friday yet? Really? Haven't we had about 18 days of this week already?

The black grosgrain ribbon did indeed make a nice brooch - here it is....


Wednesday 16 May 2012

My cat thinks he's Rocky

The ginger ninja has been at the vet's again, third time since we got him in June. Despite having only three legs he seems to be under the impression that he is some sort of prize fighter. It was just a scratch on the cheek this time, but I took him along anyway as these things to tend to turn nasty with cats. He gets around pretty well most of the time with a funny sort of loping/bobbing motion, apart from when his invisible enemies are out to get him and he races up the stairs like a greyhound before looking around him wildly and racing back down again. Our cat is wonderful, but utterly unhinged.

I put up a brooch for sale yesterday - here it is - http://www.etsy.com/listing/99873846/rosette-ribbon-brooch?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=rosette+ribbon+brooch&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=GB&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=handmaderosette+ribbon+brooch

I was in two minds about whether to put it up really - it just seems so simple that it almost feels wrong to try to sell it, but on the other hand I really like it and I would wear it myself, so I figure that maybe someone else will like it too. One of my friends spotted it and said she loved it which was so sweet of her and made me really happy - yay!

Having looked around the site a bit at other people's similar items, I have to say that I think some folk really do charge a lot for them... they really aren't that hard or expensive to make. I suppose, though, that if you price something too cheaply you risk making people think that your items cannot be that good. It's a dilemma alright. I'm too unsure of my talent and too modest (even though that sounds big headed!!) to slap a big price on anything I make. Besides, I'm not in it for the money, I just like making stuff :-)

It's all kicked off (in a good way) day job-wise. I can't say too much, but suffice to say it's all looking good for at least the next year. It's a big relief and I'm very lucky given the state we are all in right now. I've been unemployed enough times to know how miserable it is and how soul-destroying job hunting can be.

I'm going to make another ribbon brooch tonight - I have some lovely black grosgrain ribbon that will make a very elegant one I think. And get some more antibiotics into the cat.



Friday 11 May 2012

Mild excitement

Bit happier today. A very nice lady (actually I don't know whether she's nice or not - but judging by her artwork, I'd say that she is probably lovely) included me in her circle on Etsy this morning, only the second person to do so. I've been adding people to my 'circle' with grim determination in the hope that one of them will look at my shop and say "WOW"! Anyway, the lady in question is called Linda and here's her shop:

http://www.etsy.com/people/cloudberry

I absolutely love her illustrations. When I get rich, having made my fortune with felt bunnies etc, I'm going to buy myself some of her watercolour dioramas, starting with this one

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95312198/watercolor-diorama-cafe-belle-comme-toi?ref=pr_shop

Is it me or does adding people to 'circles' sound a bit spooky? It could be though that I am mixing up 'circles' with 'covens' in my head. Or thinking of the Magic Circle or something.

 This weekend, there will not be much production going on as we've got all of the children with us, so instead I think I will be mostly separating squabbling ankle-biters and getting the tortoise out into the sunshine - she's been a bit peaky, bless her.


Thursday 10 May 2012

I'm a little concerned about my future.....

I watched 'The Graduate' with my boyfriend at the weekend. I love 'The Graduate' and I really wanted him to see it. Unfortunately he fell asleep, though I wasn't sorry that he missed the bit with the nipple tassles. He did wake up in time for my favourite moment though - the beautiful scene at the end where Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross (soooo gorgeous) are sitting on the bus - they're laughing as they sit down, and then they seem to get lost in thought.

Like Ben, I'm a little worried about my future. My job (my day job, that is) comes to an end in six weeks' time. At the moment, since I can't afford to work part time, I can't find anything else. I'm looking, oh I'm looking, and I'm not even that picky - I just can't find anything, even though my requirements are pretty bog-stand and my office skills boringly transferable.

What I really want to do is to make and sell things, all day long. I'm just not sure how to make this happen. I get the joy and satisfaction from making things that I've always wanted from a job - even when I see that someone has viewed something I've made in my Etsy shop I get a small glow of pleasure. It's hard to explain - I feel like I'm sharing something with the world.

At the moment I am making a big, beautiful cloth cube toy for a small child, which will have a tinkly bell in the middle. It's going to be awesome :-)



Wednesday 9 May 2012

A sticky issue

If there is anyone out there (unlikely), and if so, if there is anyone out there who, like me, enjoys sticking glass and metal together (even more unlikely... but hey, you never know), I have a question. What's the best way to do this? I have found that my beloved glue gun makes too much mess and I inevitably end up pulling strands of rubbery glue away from the objects I'm trying to fix together and end up smearing them and myself with it. Superglue is just too damn runny and leaves and nasty rough film over the surfaces which will not come off no matter how much you scratch at it with your fingernail. And PVA, as wonderful as it is, is as useful as a chocolate teapot in this kind of serious, grown-up type sticking situation. Quelle dilemma!


Tuesday 8 May 2012

A slight hiatus

It's been a while. This is because I actually feel a bit shy about blogging. Silly eh? I'm not very likely ever to meet anyone who will read this (as far as I know....) and I am still keen to share my excitement over making stuff with the world.

Talking of which, I have made my first international sale.Woo hoo! A blue teapot necklace will be winging its way to Florida this afternoon after a delightful lady saw it on Etsy and was so keen to buy it that she ignored the ineptitude that led me to set up my shop wrongly so that she couldn't pay first off. It's such a good feeling that someone has not only seen something I've made and liked it, but even more than that, liked it enough to buy. Nothing but nothing would please me more than to make my living like this. To sit in my nice, peaceful living room every day sewing, fiddling with buttons, stabbing myself in the hand with bits of wire and trying to stop my cat eating various jewellery bits.