I've got pins and needles....

Yea and they are literally all over my floor. I have been meaning to buy a pin cushion for a while but today I was feeling like I needed to be productive and followed this tutorial to make a teacup pincushion.

It's not quite as good as the lady's in the tutorial, but mum had this lil cup in the cabinet downstairs and I had this liberty print material from a bag of scraps I was given.

It looks very cute and will look extra cute on my new desk. OOOOOO I am sooo excited to have a desk. I am soo excited to have new work place full stop! AHHHH.

P.S: I am so very sleepy but I have got the ebay buzz and placed a bid on a item that ends at 2.30am.... zzzzzzz

OOOOO I love Emek

So I have been looking for an artist who did some work on an album in the 90's and it wasn't even the cover so it is has been hard to find.
But it has been easier to find was the artist who does the artwork for Erykah Badu - Emek. I love, love, love his work and I actually plan to try and do my own piece of artwork based on one of his pieces.. (but don't expect it anytime soon)

Turns out Emek and Erykah have just come together to make a beauty lotion. He has done the gorgeous packaging and she has made the lotion. I want it because his work is sooo stunning and her skin is bloody amazing - you just want to sink into it but the cream is $55 a bottle- come on Erykah i'm a pauper!

If only I could knit like a trooper I would knit this fancy lady!

How cute is this knitting kit, my old boss Maggie just sent me a link too. It is from a company called knit picks in the U.S. Soo cute - She is called Carmen Banana- comes with everything you need to create this little beauty and is a bargain at under 20 dollars! (Well it would be a bargain if it was converted to pounds and didnt't have to be shipped half way across the world)

On a positive note.....("note" you get it?)

After I completed failed in my attempt to get a job I would actually enjoy I called my best friend (who was actually still sleeping at 2pm - you gotta love her)
I needed tea, cake and sympathy. As we were driving to our cakery of choice we past the shop from one of my early posts " In all her finery"
They are having a cupcake and cava night on Thursday with an optional clothes swap upstairs and they had lots of super cute things in it.

My BFF saw me drooling over my necklace and brought it for me for my birthday.

Her cakery choice was naff but she cheered me up by just being her and buying me this lovely gift. I love her lots!!!!!!!

P.S I hate using BFF but it works and you get it...

I messed up :-(

So today it's raining hard and I just am feeling a little blue (don't worry won't last too long). My nerves got the better of me. I messed up on a job interview for a position I really wanted. I just bumbled on and stuttered my way out of a job.

I could do this job, I really wanted but I am hoping that the big man upstairs knows what he is doing.

What can you do but smile and move on eh!

Picture taken from Flickr -" it's raining here without you"

When life throws you bananas.... You make banana cake!

Last week dad came home with this huge box of bananas - My parents can not resist a bargain and I knew we could not use them all. In fact I think I told him so in a brat like kind of fashion. They started off green and then within days they were all speckled and as anyone who really knows me well knows I cannot stand a speckled banana. Despite giving lots away and eating copious amounts in the house we still had too many but today I decided to make some banana cakes for the family. I got my niece mashing bananas and before tea time I had four lovely cakes and a house that smelt gorgeous, sweet and spicy.

My bff was queen taste tester and she demolished half a loaf in less than 3 mins!
It was soooo moist and fluffy I don't quite no how i did it as I don't have any scales to measure any ingredients! I made Dad a special one with walnuts in and that looked divine. The whole box was about £2 and I only used 10 or 11 from a box of around 70.

Now most of the loaves have gone as friends and family all took goodie bags home - but I must say I did good with these ones. I might get a slice now with some tea :-)

Err I think I love this site and they sell my Ice Cream bubbles too!

I brought these Ice cream bubbles for my neices and nephews when I was in New York and they love, love, loved them. They smell delicious you just want to eat/ drink them- but we did indeed just blow bubbles with them instead and now they are all gone :-(

But upon discovering this amazing online shop today, I had a browse and discovered they sell my ice creams here!!!!!- I am very, very happy. The shop is called Cloth Ears, It sells everything you could want to make you and your home look as cute and kitsch as can be and it is pretty reasonable too! There are great gifts on there too! I mean look at this tool box, my nephew would love that hmm maybe I cud try and create something like that myself one day? (Let's just add that to the ever growing list)

Polly George - Cake stand - Could i do this?

Wow how lovely is this designer ceramic pretty stuff this lovely lady makes! She is called Polly George and she has a shop on Brick Lane in London and other stockists too. I particularly like her little cake stand above and her butterfly and roses collections but I am unfortunately waay too poor to afford lovely stuff like this. On the plus side I think that I could make something like this to put my cakes on and for a fraction of the price. I would definitely put some of those cakes on them they are the from the sainsburys 6 pack - wow I am showing off my cake geekery. I am such a fatty. I know this only because I used to live opposite a Sainsburys and me and niece always got these cakes for our deserts, snacks, tea parties and picnics ( yes ok any excuse). There was way too much icing but she would only eat the icing and this would leave me more cake so hey I'm not complaining.
Man, why did they have to shut that Sainsburys down? Hmm maybe because I moved away and sales drastically dropped?

I'm on a roll!

I am trying to sort out my NY junk. By that I mean I occasionally look/go through the bags of stuff that I have just piled up in one huuge bag.

In one of the bags within the bags I have lots of used film- that I was too poor to process and some new lovely jubbly film that I still am yet to use.

I am still too poor to develop the film now that I am home, but I am researching places to get my film processed in the cheapest, slow boat fashion. I will link the places I find here so that one day I can come back to this post and develop my film.

I will probably find nothing spectacular as I left the lense cap on a lot lol.

O.K first up London Camera Exchange Ltd - This place has a Manchester Branch on Parker street and is open Monday to Saturday.

Mate that is torquoise!

Yesterday I went to get some paint for my new study/craft room but they didn't have duck egg blue in stock - they did however have a mixing machine so I got them to mix it for me!

I have taken it home and given my wall a few coats and errrrr my wall is NOT duck egg blue it is a pretty colour but not what it says on the tin! Grrr I can't be bothered to paint it again because it does look nice and fresh but it is definitely more of a turquoise or aqua. Ho hum! I will get the duck egg shade one day.

Pay It Forward

Ohhh go on then I might as well join in, I don't think I have 5 readers so i won't even have that much to make....

I am entering into a contract with the first 5 people who comment on this post and then commit to do the same on their blog. Just read below and if you feel up to the task, leave me a comment. Anyone can enter, as long as you make stuff and have a blog.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make - whatcha get is whatcha get
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009)
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not cyber
5. I reserve the right to do something strange or weird
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

Flashback: Kerry James Marshall Exhibit.

So I wanted to take some of the posts from my old NY blog and post them here as part of my newly named "flashback" series. The blog was private and had lots of stuff that was relevant to me in New York at that time but I also had lots of nice posts and memories that I would like to share and record over here. So here we go a past post written after I visited the Kerry James Marshall Exhibit.

On Saturday I went to see the Kerry James Marshall Exhibit at the Jack Shainman Gallery. It was absolutely amazing seeing it up close and actually quite overwhelming. It was just me in the gallery and I was in total silence so it actually felt a lil scary. There was this one piece which was a painting of an artist and I had seen it in a smaller print but up close it was huge, this big man towered over me looking me dead in the eyes. He was so there, in your face, because he paints everything so black and so bold it is just soo impactful, you cannot hide, there is no getting away from it.

It is beautiful looking at his work, almost like he has drawn it on Black paper rather than white and because he uses the white ontop of the black it makes everything stand out even more. The guys eyes in the photo really stood out as they were a lighter brown and he was following me everywhere. I was such a geek I started talking to the painting I was like "can’t you just smile a little." His sternness was killing me he was just looking me straight in the eye with an expression that I couldn’t quite work out.

The love/black romantic collection was the best though (well for me personally). They made me so happy to see as I have a book of this collection. They screamed freedom and pride and it was just a smidgin of cuteness. Daniel says my favourite word in the world is “cute” as my inarticulate self describes soo many things as cute and likes art to be just a lil "cute." It’s such an in apt word but such a good one. There is nothing wrong with cute lol.

Addenda P.S: I used to be in love with this picture too

These bad boys have got to be my new chocolate biscuits....

This is the plum tree that my dad planted in our back garden a few years ago. It bears quite a lot of fruit and this years plums are extra juicy and delicious. So I have decided I need to cut back on the sweets and chocolates. I am the biggest I have ever been and I am at the stage where I am soo addicted to sweets I might aswell blend them down and inject them through my veins- I swear I don't even chew them anymore!

So yea these plums are my new alternative, they are sweet and made with love- the plums aren't the only solution but I definitely have to start somewhere. Fingers crossed I last longer than Wednesday I start a new diet every week and I have guests here this week so I am a tour guide :-/

Watering Cans belong on my wall!

Me: oooo I am soo excited
Mum: Gives a dirty look and is saying in her head "you damn fool"
Me: ITV told me where I can get the wallpaper for my new Kitchen
Mum: Mum looks at me like I am mad.... But you haven't got a kitchen
Me: I saw it on Corrie and need it in my life, they replied to my email enquiry today.
Mum: hmmmmmm
Me: But mum when I do have a Kitchen won't it look soo pretty, Shall I just buy a few rolls and put it down ?
Mum: I guess it makes sense.
Me: Will you buy it for me as a gift ?
Mum: Walks out of the room!

She genuinely thought I might have gotten some amazing job offer as I was that excited but nope smaller things amuse this small mind lol

One day my Prince will come...

Well in 72 hours actually! My lovely friend Emily sent me this lovely Frog Prince the other day. You pop him in water and in 72 hours ( without even having to kiss him) I get a lovely handsome Prince ( all be it a bit of a short one)

If only Prince Charming was available for mail order... I think it would be the only way I would get a look in right now.... ho hum at least this one won't be soo demanding and won't mind that I have paint in my hair at the minute.

Thanks Em xoxo

Ikea Wall Hangings

The big shops are definately picking up on this crafty resurgence. Today I went to Ikea (Yay meatballs) and these wall hangings caught my eye. I don't know if I want an animal staring at me in my living room but maybe just one day when I have the time and skills I could create something like this.....

These wall hangings were inspired by the fairytales of the designers youth and are part of a wider collection which uses stories as part of it's theme. The new collection is called the PS collection and I can see how it links with dreams and childhood inspiration their was a huge lamp in their that my niece loved it because it looked like a wish flower. Hmm is that it's proper name? lol.
Ikea say The PS collection is about “small, fragile, growing ideas,” about “increasing our responsibility for our world… empowering people” and about “design that is more than just design.

What's even better is that are produced in collaboration with craftswomen in India — “creating work for women in workshops so that their children can go to school.” I think this is also a project with UNICEF (don't quote me on this one)

P.S: These lovely pictures and the quotes are taken from the ikea site and this post about the new hangings.

I love me!

Blogs are sooooo amazing If you haven't heard me say I love them already I love them, I love them I love them. They are such a wealth of knowledge and keep leading me to things I would never find any other way.

For example - (Lindz you will remember this story). In Seattle my friend and I went into a cute boutique shop selling clothes and jewlery.

I fell in love with this lil brooch which was an envelope with a love letter inside (I love letters... I never get any love letters but I love to send them) I know it says I love you and really some who loves me should buy it but I am NOT going to let lovely stuff pass me by because I am single duh!

I was poor and the brooch was too much for what it is so I decided to resist temptation but look what a blog led me to today. This is the same letter but on a necklace and I planned to turn it into a necklace too and furthermore guess where the shop is .... 10 minutes down the rd!
The shop also holds cupcake and cava nights and you can buy online too ! Visit the shop - In all her finery for a gander. I am thinking that this Made in Manchester necklace needs to be in my life too!

Addenda: Who knew Urban Outfitters sell the envelope necklaces!

Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie!

It's not wrong that I fancy George Clark is it...?

He is sooo lovely I will miss my home show now it is off the air. That man is a lil genius (although the large doors opening onto the garden from the new open plan kitchen diner thing was getting a bit of over kill) He knocks down the insides of your terrace or your bog standard house and makes it look like something you could only dream off.
The new void in my life for emotional life/home makeovers will be filled by Channel 4's "How the other half live"

These are the ones.. Where do I get them

O.K I came across these pieces years ago and then totally forgot the artists name. Now I have seen them in two random bars and the photo below but I still cannot track down where to get them or what they are called? I love there kitsch beauty and the lil glow they give me.

So as a child my grandparents used to have 3 of these ladies in their very blue living room - I was only about 6 or 7 at the time but I loved them and they remind me of my Grandad. When Grandma dies they disappeared but I need them back in my life. Anyone know who the artist is?

London's calling.....

Look at this yarn bombing done on a London telephone box... Lovely job.. I love these communal projects. When my knitting is half decent and I can make something semi fantabulous I want to contribute a square or two.

A couple of months back when I was in New York there was a project where people donated squares for a jumper. But I am not talking any old jumper it was a jumper for a shed in my Dad's allotment. If I would have been in my room I would have been able to see it!

Just Joined a new book club!

Well actually they call it a reading group, I am actually pretty excited about it (is that sad? nooooo?)
I am not going to go this month as I will only have a week to read the book but I will go for the next month where the book is one of my faves " Their eyes were watching god" I remember the summer I read this the first time and I was soo in love with being in love and in love with the main character too and the strength of the characters depite the current climate.
I recently saw the film with Halle Berry and my husband too. I actually quite enjoyed it. Man Michael is hot!

New Desk vs Old Desk ?

Ok So I am torn. Do I get a new a desk or do I try and fix up an old desk that is donated to me?
So at first I was all for a lovely old desk - I was going to do something like the clever people have done in the pictures below..
But I am now thinking a nice plain Ikea desk in white would do the job quite nicely... I can always decorate the top at a later date and they are soo simple to put up and move with.

Miss you .. NYC blog

O.k, my last post before bedtime because I am going a bit over the top tonight with all these posts.

I just went back for a nosey on my old blog and It made me smile :-).

I think what I will do is re-post some of the posts about things I saw and did and loved in NYC over in this blog from time to time. Let's keep my NYC life alive just a little longer eh!

Will this book push me over the edge?

When I see things recommended by authors of blogs I like, I tend to check them out read a few reviews and see if they might be worth a read. This one is a group of is a "unrelated short stories, each of which revolves in some way around fate and free will. I'm stunned by the author's ability to write from so many different perspectives - her main characters are both male and female, and young and old."

but an amazon review says it is really depressing in the kind of depressing that makes you feel like " You Can Never Be Happy Or In Love and Life Is Utterly Terrible kind" - Ohh geeze! It could be that i chose to read the only 1 star review in amazon but I am intrigued to read this and 'Hunting and gathering' by the same author.... So many books such little time.. Library you better watch out... I'm comin to getcha!

Cake is for life not just for christmas.

Speaking of the same things going around I love these prints that are around at the moment inspired by the "keep calm and carry on" print.

These two statements are basically law in my book.. add to this " when in doubt turn left" and you have the basic rules I live each day by.

These prints are available from the Catherine Colebrook site. A lovely find! Infact I was inspired by this lady's cards but I didn't even know they were by her. The lovely card I have was sent to me by my darling friend Lindsey. I have posted it below for you to have a gander.. I love the handmadeyness and texture - plus it has a cupcake on it- need I say more...

Once you start you just can't stop but ......

You notice now that there is the internet and blogs and things, how many people are thinking the same things, liking the same things etc?

I like that ideas get recycled and that there are lovely big communities and free flowing ideas and stuff in fact like is to meek a word I love it. But sometimes you feel like the community is very small and some things aren't even that different or am i just ranting...

Yup just ranting.... but now i come to think it... is that the reason I want a beautiful old typewriter in turquoise or pink?

My stairs... to be

I am thinking more and more these days about different ways to decorate your stairs instead of bog standard wood or carpet.

No I don't have a house but it pays to think about these things early so that when I actually own a house when I'm 65 or something I have more than a mental note of my thoughts and ideas.

I have this book on homemade ideas I got few years ago and it shows how you can cover your stairs with mirror mosaics- interesting but not quite my thing.

I also loved the kirsty's homemade showwhere she used mosaic tiles on the stairs, but it takes a certain kind of house ( a big lovely one) or some steps in Brazil to carry off lovely mosaic tiles.

Today I came across these wall papered stairs on a blog-I think I got my stairs idea down... Bring on my lovely house... You are all invited for tea! (when I get a house that is)

Monday night = The Street

Now I have love for the other street - good old Corrie. But I love Jimmy Mcgovern's The street on BBC one on a Monday night - I always record it ( As I don't know what I am doing on a monday night but I never get a chance to watch it in peace)

I really enjoy it- it can be a tad cheesy but is generally well written and filmed- I also love the issues that it brings up with out being too much if you know what I mean.

When I watched the first series I really believed and wished that I would like to write a series like this or just be involved- now I am just happy to watch it I guess.

"They are very yummy Auntie Tasha"

Cornflake bits from the end of my pack
Chocolate
Caramel swirly chocs
Double cream

= chocolatey, creamy, flaky, calorific, goodness!

P.S I am too lazy to take a picture so I grabbed this from a website - my baking cases are prettier!
P.P.S: The beauty of these is that they don't even need to look too pretty and they are easy for the kids to make - my nieces (and nephew) did an excellent job!