not much today!

i have not achieved alot today!. the weather is miserable and that just compliments my mood at present!. i have begun the packing in preparation for moving, and boy, i cant wait to be out of this miserable place!. i love my room....i shall miss it....loads of sun all day, when the sun bothers to shine, and i doubt i'll be lucky enough to have that again!. i have so much crap!. i really need to figure out why i need so much stuff, or cant throw things away!. i am determined to get ontop of that in the new place as its going to be a small place, plus, am i moving back to NZ or not?, which will mean i have to cull big time!. i havent done any more crocheting for the blanket edges this weekend....it will have to wait to next weekend!. at least thats a bank holiday weekend....so more time to play, and pack!. i have, rather foolishly, packed away my art journal stuff when i should have kept the pad i was using out so i could continue to dabble with drawing....will have to do that on scrap paper for now!. i want to come up with a figure i can use and some doodling that is unique to me, and i'm thinking something Maori inspired, and i want to play!. i am now in the 'less than a month' phase and while overall i feel down, and thrilled i have made it to the end. i'll be poorer, but thats another story!, but boy will i be happier!. life lesson - dont live with humans!. finally, i have to share this with the few of you who read this, it made me laugh out load and given my current statement on my goal in life, it fits beautifully.

i found it on pinterest my current goal in life is to be the crazy cat lady with 387 cats and purple hair. its gotta be easier that living with a human!.

25th April - Lest We Forget

'' they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them, We will remember them''. Laurence Binyon.

Decisions, decisions.....

i now have 3 rows of granny stitches round the edge of my blanket, and am kinda thinking its ok as it is. not sure, if the other 2 are necessary!. thoughts on a postcard please!.

Crochet and Sport do mix!!

this morning i started with one half of my blanket joined, from last weekend, and 3 rows to join up. During the Crusaders win over the Hurricanes, i joined those 3 rows up, and took a photo....

then i joined the 2 blocks of 3 rows together during an all aussie super 15 game....

then, during qualifying for tomorrows Grand Prix, i begun the granny striping round the edges......

i'm aiming for 5 rows...1 orange, 1 white, 1 light pink and 2 navy, then i'll see how it looks. i may consider a decorative edge, but i'm at a point of wanting to finish this before i move so i'll review that after the 5 rows. i'm pretty pleased with myself as this is only the 4th crochet project i have finished (cos it could e finished now, i just want more rows round the edge!). i wont do anymore today now, as i have a headache, and will hopefully get 2 rows done tomorrow during the GP, as i find doing trebles very theraputic!.

Play time!!

have been having a small play!!. still liking the credit card swiping technique!. have played a little with the watercolour paints i got off ebay, and the jury is still out. i also tried out the digitial stamp i got from etsy, printing and colouring it in!. i rather enjoyed the colouring in bit!. maybe i should get a colouring in book!!. anyway heres a piccie from just now, of creations on the floor drying and waiting for the next step...whatever that maybe!. i did try the bubble wrap and thats quite cool!. who knows, by sunday there might be something more to show from this lot!.

Creating Things

This morning, whilst watching the Shanghai Grand Prix i managed to join 3 rows of the blanket together...took the whole race, only stopping for one loo break and whenever Martin Brundle got excited!. i have 3 more rows to join to this then the border can begin. At the moment i am thinking i will do a row of white, light pink and 2 rows of navy as the border, then decide about a decorate edge. the first half joined up....

Yesterday i went to the Stamp and Scrapbooking show at Ally Pally for the first time in a couple of years. i've been getting the itch to make something with paper for a little while now, thanks to all the inspiration on pinterest and my mate Ally's blog re art journalling. I treated myself to some stamps and some new inks, as the ones i currently have, i've had for about 7yrs and are probably well past their sell by date!. when i got home i started to play with the glimmer mists i have.....i wont show you attempt one....it got a bit dark in colour!. however this is the second attempt, with some added stamping....

its an A5 size journal from Oz (kikki k, whos products i love!). then this morning i decided to try a paint technique i read about last night and this is what i've come up with, which i really like!....

its blue, yellow and white initially, then a bit more white and finally some red, all scrapped round the page, with the shell rewards card....it might as well be useful since i have no car now!!. the brush was only used to stir the white paint that was a bit gloopy!. really like this technique. i shall wait for it to dry before i think about the next stage!. if only it was a 4 day weekend again, cos there isnt enough time to play!!.

Easter Holiday Hooky!!

Phase 2 of the blanket has begun!. I finally got the last of the 30 squares completed yesterday while watching rugby on the telly!. then last night i got inspried to make something else that i had seen on one of the blogs i follow!. i made a ripple dishcloth, and i love it!. it took about 2hrs last night, and then this morning i decided to stitch the edges to seal in the ends and tidy the piece off!. i think some more of these are on the horizon!. today i have begun the joining of the squares for the blanket. i laid out and played with options for the pattern and then piled each set of 5 together. i found a joining tutorial i liked and set off!. it takes me about 1/2hr to join the 5 squares, and so far i've done 3 rows....i kept getting distracted!. i've also been busy in the kitchen cooking up two batches of food for the freezer....i need to run down the meat in the freezer in prep for leaving this place!. when i have finished the blanket i'll do a post with the links to the patterns i followed. and now for the piccies.... the piles of squares waiting to be joined

laid out on the bed

first 3 lines joined up

and finally my current pride and joy!!...

i followed Lucy's instructions for the ripple