The town of Books

Well, winter has set in hard this week, we have had a hint of a white Christmas but it didn't last....only the black ice did! My partner and I took a drive to see family in Hereford and stopped off at the town of books (Hay-on-Wye) on the way to continue my hunt for appropriately cheap and old-looking books for the clock project.

There were some lovely books in the marquee but they were REALLY expensive!!! I think I'll stick with the 25p each or 5 for £1 Salvation Army shop in Carmarthen!!!

The honesty bookshop at the castle wasn't bad but the frost had stuck most of them together...

I really liked some more books in another shop but they were over £12 each!!! I really think my 15 books for £3 at the charity shop back in Carmarthen was an absolute STEAL compared to these!!! I got so many books that are PERFECT for making into clocks...I have 2 old copies of Pride and prejudice and a really pretty copy of Wuthering Heights with gold inlay writing!

The first book I made into a clock though, was this really old Welsh Hymn book- it looks so vintage!

I'm off to enjoy my birthday cake and finish reading one of my birthday presents!....happy boxing day everyone

xxx

Laser-Cut Acrylic Rings

While stocking up my stand at the Aberystwyth Christmas Craft Fair the other day, I noticed these quirky 'Soop-Group' rings in the gift shop. I really wanted some but they were a bit too pricey for my purse (pre-university bursary). If I didn't have to spend my crucial pennies on petrol, I would have bought some (£6 per ring), but as I needed to get home a little more than I needed accessories, I decided to have a go myself with the scraps of acrylic at school...(they were only going to be thrown out until I decided to start using them for smaller projects)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/soop
These were the originals that inspired me- you can buy them in their etsy shop, this one is part of the 'enchanted forest' range.

Okay so, before we go ahead, let me put a little disclaimer...these designs are in NO WAY my idea, nor am I 'ripping them off' to make a profit, I have merely made some for my own amusement from FREE scraps as I couldn't afford to buy myself some, they are for self-indulgence purposes ONLY. All credit for the design goes to The Soop Group....although I have seen this done with silver rings somewhere before and I can't, for the life of me, remember who made them!




The ones on the far right are the same as the ones I wanted to buy and the three designs on the left are my own. Two of them are enchanted castles and the middle one is an Alice-in-Wonderland tea party theme, with a jug, teapot and teacup.

I want to try some bracelet/Napkin Ring versions to brighten up my dinner table...maybe after christmas, I have some cool design ideas in mind....

Keep Crafting! xxx

Book Hunts and Brie

Hello there all,
First of all, let me say the Chrismas bug has finally bitten me.....mostly because of the lovely day I had yesterday...that started with SNOW! Having finished my PGCE course/school placement for the year ( I start back on Jan 11th-whoopee!) I have decided to get on with the hundreds and thousands of things I want to make and do, starting with this amazing-looking 'antique' book-clock from Disney over at Ruffles and Stuff. ( I have spent HOURS looking through her wonderful Blog!) http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2009/11/time-for-good-book.html

So, first task of the day was so nosey my way through the charity shops in town looking for some old-looking books to cut up...just one tiiiiny snag though...when I visited the book stall in the market, all the lovely-looking, battered, old books were ones I would rather read!!!

I bought all of the above for less than £10! The titles are: 'Costume' by James Laver (1963), 'Sweet Witch: A tale of smuggling in the time of Scarlet Capes & the Red Tricorne' by Richard Llewellyn (1955), 'The Wide Wide World' by Elizabeth Wetherell (No date), 'The hound of death and other stories' by Agatha Christie (1933), 'Parables from Nature' by Margaret Gatty (1921), 'The story of a red deer' by J.W.Fortescue (1898)- this one has some flowers pressed in the front of it and tissue sheets covering the illustrations (it's too lovely to cut up!), 'Among the forest people' by Clara D.Pierson (1898) and finally 'The Lady of the Lake' by Sir Walter Scott,(I'm not sure of the date in this one) I started reading this last night and got most of the way through 'the chase' and found it breathtaking!

I also found this one second-hand in OXFAM....apart from the tea-stain it is practically new and has some really interesting superstitions in it!

I had a lovely surprise in one of the charity shops I visited, there were these lovely Victoria Plum curtains which were only £2 -So I bought them to make up some bags and maybe line a cape with. They are from a very thick fabric so would be lovely and strong as a bag! As soon as I saw them I remembered that my Aunt used to have a doll of Victoria Plum and I used to be fascinated with it because she kept it mint in the box and I was never allowed to play with it... anyway...so cute!

After all my nifty-thrifty shopping I decided to try a sandwich from the new Delicatessen on King St. I have bought loads of their amazing cupcakes but never browsed the rest of the store. They had a chiller full of paninis and one that caught my eye was the salami, Brie and sun-kissed cherry tomatoes...so I decided to give it a go as I was starving by now!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOW! I swear that was the best toasted panini I have EVER had!!! They also had some lovely Spanish chocolate bars so I thought I'd try one of those too...OMNOMNOM, Christmas presents decided! *Reminds me I haven't watched 'Chocolat' for aaaaaaaages- must do today*

Oh, by the way, the Deli is called 'Blasus' (Welsh for 'Tasty') I must remember to get one of their calico shopping bags next time I go in too....

All-in-all, I had a very inspiring day and the lovely couple at 'Blasus' teamed with the beginnings of snow just broke the ice and let the Christmas feeling in- so if you saw a weird-looking girl, with more books than she could carry smiling in the street yesterday, that was me!

Love to all xxx

Christmas wishlist and Marshmallow snowmen

Well, I've definately decided on what I'd like for Christmas/Birthday I have seen some of these lovely bags by Tracy Watkins http://www.coteriedesign.com/designers/profile/default.asp?id=27 in the Oriel Myrddin Gallery shop and really like them, Fingers crossed...I hope I've hinted enough at my other half!

Having been inspired so much by Tracy Watkins' bags, I have just bought some lovely old keys from ebay...not bad either, they only cost me £2! I'm thinking of making some jewellery with them soon-ish.

On a completely un-related side-note, look at this sweet little mallow snowman I got in the bakery today. I can't wait to gobble him up (after I've taken some better photographs, of course) I finally put the tree up today, after delaying for days...I'm just not feeling too Christmassy yet...it happens every year...I'm always completely 'off' christmas until the very last minute. I had to giggle though, because as soon as I put it up, stitch started to tear it down, little menace that he is! But who can stay angry at this face for long...

Snug as a...

Meet Stitch...otherwise known in our house as the little Sh*t, ginger ninja, pain in the bum, Buggerlugs (Don't ask...that's what my other half calls him when he's misbehaving) among many other nicknames. He was given to me by a complete stranger in the street back in September and is a little sweetie (60% of the time). The other 40% of the time he is busy ripping the shower curtain, playing with the dangly light cords in the house, knocking my work over and dragging his toy snake around the house. We love him all the same and are looking forward to his first christmas with us...I can see it now, turkey, wrapping paper, melted chocolate....the possibilities for disaster are endless. He is currently snoozing in his starry bed on top of the radiator, watching me type. Bless

Breaking The Blogging Cherry

Okay what to write....where to start......

Where do you usually start when you finally get around to blogging?

Well.....the beginning of this blog has just been decided for me...the kitten's bed just fell off the top of the sofa and he's currently starting at me with an expression that can only be described as "what the fu....."

I have spent the weekend Chilling out after my panicky, nervous assessment on friday. I'm typing up my lesson plans for the next (and final) week of school before Christmas. I'm a little sad as I feel like I have started to 'fit' into this school and now it's time to leave for my next placement.

We are having a Christmas buffet for the design department tomorrow lunchtime and giving out the secret santa presents! I'm a little nervous as the Christmas themed assembly I have been practising with my form is tomorrow too- and I'm not even on stage!

I have nearly finished getting all my christmas presents together- I will post pictures after they have been opened as I have been really good with my making this year. So far I am most proud of my dad's presents.

A side benefit to the school placement I'm on is free rein to use the laser cutter...

This week I have been playing with the 2D design program and really getting to grips with it's potential. I have just started playing with leather and managed to make some really nice cuff bracelets. I have drawn out some designs for a leafy garland leather necklace that I'm going to try out too.

That's all for now, more from me soon xxx