Happy New Year!

To all my friends and followers, may next year bring you everything you wish for.

I can't compete with the pyrotechnics around the world but from my little, Welsh kitchen I bring you this!

I know! It's the best I could do with such short notice. These events tend to creep up on me!

I don't make New Year's resolutions because I know I'm fickle and have no will power. Lots have people have put it better than me. Chose your favourite and cut and paste!

Have a great 2012!

Many years ago I resolved never to bother with New Year's resolutions, and I've stuck with it ever since.  ~Dave Beard

I made no resolutions for the New Year.  The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.  ~Anaïs Nin


The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk.  This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to.  ~P.J. O'Rourke


People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.  ~Author Unknown


We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.  ~Ellen Goodman


New Year's Eve, where auld acquaintance be forgot.  Unless, of course, those tests come back positive.  ~Jay Leno

New Year's resolution

I must lose weight!

My jumpsuits are beginning to rise up. Just look at the before and after Christmas photos!

Greater Manchester Police

That's like Great Britain as opposed to Lesser Britain. The main island containing England , Scotland and, most importantly, Wales and all the 1000 or so little islands.

It doesn't mean that they are the best but it means that they are bigger. They might be the best but I don't know because I don't live in Manchester so I can't tell you.

Anyway, what I was going to tell you was that GMP have posted a great (meaning simply the best) picture on their Flickr page.

They are girls apparently but don't mind being called guys.

Thank you GMP and Merry Christmas girls!

White Christmas

It doesn't look as if it's going to be a white Christmas this year. The temperature is set to rise tomorrow. Last week we had ridiculous weather, lightening storms and hail showers. This was followed by frosty nights.

There is still snow on the mountains although we had rain at lower altitudes. So I'm going to image a white Christmas.




In our household Christmas will be an occasion for the family to get together rather than a big shopping bonanza. Whatever way you do it have a good week.

Happy birthday

When you think that life can't get any worse you have another birthday and somebody gives you this as a present.

Happy birthday, Phil.

You can find Phil here. Now you know he's got a sense of humour!

Colour of 2012

Tangerine Tango

This is one way to brighten up a miserable Sunday afternoon in December. Let's take a closer look at the Colour of 2012. In Pantone's own words,
 
Provocative Tangerine Tango, an enticing juicy orange, is a vivacious and appealing refresher to enliven anyone’s outlook this spring.
 
I've got to say it's mouthwatering in its appeal. A hint of tangerine with neutrals is probably the way I'd go. I don't really want to look as if I've been tangoed.
 
As usual the sellers at Etsy have a fantastic range of items if you want to try this out before spring. 

 

Enjoy!

Double century

Thanks to the lovely people at Folksy I've reached 100 followers in my 100th post. Special thanks to Hippywitch, Ritzy Swish and Charlotte from Orange Blossom Felt.

Charlotte is in Spain teaching English at the moment. I'll feature her shop in the new year. Let's look at the other lovely ladies in the meantime.

Lorraine, from Hippywitch, loves to make things. She can sew, crochet, knit. Her cross stitch pieces are lovely. If you're still stuck for that certain individual Christmas decoration you'll find lots to chose from. You can see more of Lorraine's work on Hippywitch Crafts blog and at her Etsy shop.

I love this little mushroom house.
The sunny yellow door and turquoise curtains are appliqued to the house and then all the detail is carefully stitched. The fairy lights are lit around the roof too!








This pretty double heart hanging has cross stitch hearts in red on a white aida fabric for a two tone finish.





Ritzy Swish's work spans the realms of textiles products, textiles art and mixed media. She's environmentally conscious and has expanded into recycled fabrics. Check out her great blog

I love this circular drawstring wash bag. Made from turquoise cotton, with red and white feature fabric with coordinating red lining. It has four internal compartments to stand bottles.

 

In this piece an Indian silk panel has been combined with indigo denim. Pieces of patterned Indian silk have been appliquéd by free machining to form the decorative panel.

Have a great weekend!

Pantone Colour of the Year 2012

Tangerine Tango


As a way of celebrating my 100th blog post I'm looking forward to next year. What better way to celebrate than by having a closer look at the Pantone colour of 2012.

2012? I can hardly believe it's weeks away. I'm really excited by it.

As befitting a launch of such an important event Pantone have described Tangerine Tango PANTONE 17-1463 as a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.

The press release says,
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Catable?

My thoughts on dressing up pets have changed over the years. Our first cat Mickey (after the mouse) liked to be dressed up and pushed around in a pram. He looked good in a baby bonnet and could really carry off a frilly dress.

I'm a grown up now and Mickey went to cat heaven a long time ago. I hadn't thought of him for a long time until I read Marilyn's blog and I found this,

Simply gorgeous from Getting stitched on the farm.

Now do you think Dizzy would oblige? Or perhaps Posie? Oh, heck I might just have to 'borrow' a lamb from my friend Jan!

I've bin wheelie busy!

I love a challenge so when I was asked to make baby toys I said, 'Yes, please!'

This was the brief;
1x green wheelie bin
1x learner driver L plate
1x dumbbell/weight
1x traffic cone
with rattles or bells

Now, when I said I love a challenge, I'm somebody who has never, ever tackled aruga amiga amigurumi. So where to start?

For lots of reasons this week I'm loving Etsy. You can find just about anything. I found a pattern for dumbbells in my first search. Bought, paid for and completed in one night. How's that for service? Thank you, Celina from Simply Collectible

Next the L plate. It turned out larger than I planned but it is a good compact, pillow size. Something to cwtch up to.

Two down!

The next two presented much more of a challenge. Just where to start? There is a free pattern for traffic cones somewhere but it didn't work out for me. So I found a basic cone shape, fine. For the base I made a circle. You know, one of those flat circles where if you put the increases in the same place all the way round you actually end up with an octagon type flat circle. I made two for a firmer base and stitched the corners for support.

Weally? A wheelie bin? Celina has a great Oscar in a garbage can pattern but there's something quintessentially British about a wheelie bin. At least I had the basic shape. I started with a square and using Celina's back post idea for dents I marked the corners. It was straight crochet until I reached a sensible height. Made another square but slightly bigger for the top and decided to join it to the bin on one side so that it flipped back.

All of them have rattles. All finished. Mission achieved!

Have a great weekend!

Treasury Sunday

I haven't done one of these for a long time so here are two. Just like buses!

There are so many gorgeous handmade items available for Christmas that I can't see me trawling around the high street shops. After a shopping trip on Friday and experiencing appalling customer service I've decided to take the handmade pledge.

Here are two collections of gift ideas for bunny mummies and cat lovers. Chosen to appeal to different tastes I hope there's something here for everyone. Lots of my favourite people have been included. You know who you are!





Have a great week!

My week

consisted of a wheelie bin, a traffic cone, L plates and dumbbells. Plus Dizzy and a polar bear. Yes, a polar bear.

Oh and a few penguins! You'll have to wait to see just how these are connected.

It also saw a raging battle between me, Google Analytics and a certain online shopping site. I refused to surrender. After downloading new browers, adding codes, changing codes, entering new codes, deleting sites and a lot of swearing I think I've won.

It helped that I had the massed weight of the Folksy forum on my side. Thanks go to Mary from Polkadots and Posies and Dave from Gelert Design for their help with Google Analytics. If you are using Internet Explorer and click on their link try Chrome or Firefox. It will look much better.

Remember my list one a day pledge? You won't be surprised to find out that I haven't kept it. That's where the wheelie bin et al come in. I have, thanks to Folksy bootcamp, kept pinning, tweeting and stumbling. Still no Facebook but why rush things? As I'm in the mood, special thanks to Natalie from Nofkants Curios for oragnising and keeping tabs for November Nexus. Also to Mairi from Maram Jewellery from running bootcamp.

Now for some lovely gift ideas. All available from those lovely sellers on Folksy.

This week I have been ...

all yoyoed out!

suffering from RSI after making 648 said yoyos

really not wanting to look at a crochet hook for a while

busy cleaning (yuck)

getting to grips with social networking
(you're impressed now!)

I have signed up to the Folksy bootcamp. It's a lot less threatening than the Etsy version.

On Monday I grappled with Stumbled Upon.

On Tuesday I tweeted at Twitter.

On Wednesday I pinned at Pinterest.

Today I'm reinforcing my learning by doing all three but not all at the same time because that's just plain dangerous. I've also added the little buttons on my sidebar. Have a go. See where they take you!


I don't really get Stumbled Upon. I quite like tweeting. It helps if you follow people like Alan Carr. I'm addicted to Pinterest.

I've also stuck to my promise to list an item a day. I did have a slight wobble on Saturday. I got home late and Dizzy had been left out in the dark. Bonfire Night and cats are not a happy coupling. She was terrified and I spent the night with her in my arms like the baby she is. I was forced to watch Strictly, X Factor, X Factor Extra and series 6 of my Sopranos boxed set.

These are just some of the items I've listed

I know I've gone for Christmas overload but this is the first Christmas that I've not worked and I'm getting really excited. It's made me realise that all those year in education ruined Christmas for me. But not this year!

The little crochet hoop at the bottom has been chosen as a potential entry into the spring lookbook for Etsy Europe. I'll have to get more photos done.

I'll be back tomorrow with my favourites of the week. Have a great 10th!

Yoyos finished!

OK, I failed my October promise of a listing a day but I did have a very good reason. I finished the yoyo blanket and it's winging its way to Australia as I write.

Of course the light was awful but there are very few places I could have put it to get good light. The colours are gorgeous and almost jewel like. I'm glad I didn't add the white.

So that brings me to November and the daily listings. It's also a chance for me to put all forms of social networking into play. This week should see me fully signed up.

Today I have Stumbled Upon. When I work out how to add the button to my blog I will link them.

Promise!

Have a great week!

Busy yoyoing

I've been very quiet on the blogging front for the last few weeks. I can't believe it's been so long. For the last two weeks I've been surrounded with crochet yoyos.

It's nearly finished. One last push over the weekend and it will be cot size.

Have a great weekend everyone! You can guess what I'll be doing!

Art in Wales

Kevin Sinnott is an artist whose work can be found in several leading galleries in London and major galleries in America and Europe. His work is featured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. One of the most popular paintings at the National Museum of Wales is his large canvas, Running Away with the Hairdresser.

I might not be lucky enough (or rich enough) to have an original but I do own a signed print of this particular painting.

Kevin trained in Cardiff and at the Royal College of Art. He spent many years in London before moving back to Wales. His new paintings can be seen at the  Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff. This collection has brought back so many memories. The paintings capture a moment in time, a fleeting look at life against the backdrop of the crumbling coastline near my home. The figures in the paintings appear carefree but they are too close to the cliff edge. For me the paintings represent that fine edge between life and death.

I know these cliffs so well. I fear that drop where many lives have been lost. I can hear my voice now as I've shouted to my children, 'Stay way from the edge!'

Your allegories might be completely different.

The last painitng I love. The young mum with two children, the crochet skirt from this year's collection. Kevin Sinnott does high fashion.

.

Pantone colours

Orchid Hush

It's rather a sad day as this is the last offering of the Pantone fall 2011 series. The new colours for spring/summer have been released but I won't focus on those until the new year.

What does Pantone say about orchid hush?

Orchid Hush, a unique tone of gray with complex orchid undertones, blends well with any other color in the palette.

Another informative description by Pantone. It has a definite undertone of lavender or lilac making it a warm grey. It hasn't the coldness of an ice blue.

I've put together my interpretation of it. Included is another print by gorjuss because this one reminds me of Beth.



Have a great weekend! I'll be off to London.

Do you know, I've got an awful feeling that cat has been in this room.

Psst! Oi, you!

Do you like my shiny winter coat? Nice isn't it? It's the best I've ever had!

You don't know me but my name is Dizzy. It's a stupid name I know but it's better than the last one, Sunny. Now, come on, do I look like a Sunny? I don't remember the one before that or the one before that. I do remember the one before that but I'm not allow to use bad words.

That Cat, the one that's always blathering on, well, we played a good game the other day. She didn't enjoy it much but I thought it was fun. Shall I tell you how to play it?

You need a very tall tree and a very stupid human. Tall trees are hard to find. If you haven't got one use a roof or a post or something high as the sky. You can find a stupid person anywhere. Maybe you even own one.

First thing. Spy on them. They're used to it. They won't notice.

 

Next climb the tree.

Higher than that!

 Can you still see me? Yes? Not high enough.

Higher! They can still see you!

 Nearly there!

 

Gone!! Now when they pass the tree in their muddling thoughts you do this. Drop and land on them! You won't hurt. They are stupid and soft.

If you can go RRRAWRRRRR! They'll think that you are a lion or a panther or something and they'll really squeal. Just like a big mouse!

I've got other good games. Have you?