snowflake centrepiece

I asked SuperD in december for an advent candleholder (when he saw that i couldn't wait, and just went ahead and made one for myself, he decided to take his time and make it a bit special. He made this up out of individual pieces (until the very point of attaching them all together, i did not understand the design at all!) But it is actually a giant snowflake.See?
He cut out all the little branches with his special christmas present scroll saw...i was delighted that it all worked out!
Then he was experimenting with decorating it...first with a wooden bowl in the centre, and then with a ring of little candles...
Then both...
...is this one a little much?...looks a bit like an altar of some kind!! lol
...or without the bowl.....hmmm no doubt we'll keep changing it!!!

plaited PVC

Making jewellery is not really my thing...it's too fiddly and not enough fun unless im stringing golf balls or making bible story bracelets or something. So when i comes to making jewellery for my goth-loving neice...i was pretty lost...

So basically i stuck with the key elements reckoning that i couldn't really go wrong in the goth-sphere with strips of black PVC, silver chain links and silver dangly pendants! So this is a wrap around bracelet for my girl. Haha i love how i have displayed it in the most homely-kitchy-type way on a heart-shaped chopping board and a hand-painted rosy table...lol!!!

Not much goth about me i'm afraid!
But i DO like the stars!!!

sky rockets in flight...coffee date delight!

Free pattern anyone?? How about a free pattern for a cute coffee date dress?? Or really it's a cute tea-party dress because that's where i wore it!! I got it at Burdastyle, click here to download the pattern and get stuck into some sewing fun!

I tried it in this stripey material that i had in the craft room and it worked really well for the kitchy party, but im thinking of a black version with a bright frill that i might be able to wear to work!! FUN!!

kitchen quote

I couldn't think of a more appropriate quote to go in our kitchen that is the scene of all chat, laughter, celebration, memory-making, culinary creating, crafting and movie watching that goes on in houseofspoon.

...And what amazing memories they are! (Wish my writing was a bit better though....o well, can't have everything!)

scarabeo sack

Being a bilingual household it is important that the scrabble tiles for each language are kept separate!!! Otherwise, the wrong balance of letters exists...with masses of O's and Z's which you are trying to use in english....you can only write "zoo" so many times before the game becomes a bit of a farce. And anyway...the letters all have different worths in italian so the scores would be off too. Enough! Time for a little scrabble bag (that fits inside the other bag) for all those crazy italian tiles.

Phew! Now i just have to focus on my vocabolario!!!

painted plant sticks

oooo i ♥ saltdough...especially the painting bit....too much fun!! We've had a number of painting parties and here are a few of my finished plant sticks which have been "planted" in pots all round my house. The 2010 heart was made on new year's eve night...it's a little wonky...that has nothing to do with the champagne and sherry we were sipping on....no really, i mean it! The gingerbread man looks like he's been sipping on something his eyes are a bit crossed and "zany" looking. That's my little blue car on the far right....but i think my favourite has to be the toadstool!!!
brilliant fun anyway!

custom concert clothing

Once upon a time my phone rang in work:

- hello..june speaking.

- june...it's gill, I have the best news in the world for you, you will never guess what is going to happen soon...

-what? WHAT?

-guess...

-WHAT?

-no..guess!

-gill, i have to make clear that unless this is something about kid rock, im gonna be disappointed by this hyper introduction.....

-IT ISSSSS!!!!!!!

-NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

-YEEEEEESSSSS!!!!

-NOOOOOOO!!!

......and so it went on.

And that's how it happened...kid rock came to UK, did a show in London and Dublin (both of which i went to...lol!) and we had a fanTABulous time at both.

So i bought a couple of t-shirts, including one of those big shapeless standard tour t-shirts...not the kindof thing i tend to wear. So i made some modifications...i cut off the side seams and sleeves and cut straight across the neck, hemming the front to the back with a straight seam horizontally (with a reinforced band so that the neck will not stretch or sag - important because these t-shirts aren't usually great quality material). I brought it in at the sides so that it would fit tight and (here's the cheaty bit) bought a cheap long-sleeved top, removed the sleeves and sewed them into place in my tour t-shirt!!! This was because i didn't have enough material to make sleeves and couldn't get the right shade of black in my material shop!

Now this is something i WILL wear!! Yay!!!

cosy cowl

Well the chilling winds continue on the little island of ireland so it was time for some fast craft to produce some kind of neck protection!!!

I found a pattern on ravelry but really i made so many little changes to it that i'm not going to bother linking to it. Basically, i cast on 45 stitches of mega chunky wool with 1mm needles and knitted rows in moss stitch (seed stitch in the US) until it measured 8.5". Twist the piece once and sew ends to secure. Easy-peasy and quick..uhhh...quick.....(less easy to rhyme something here)But it sure is cosy!!!

dough dollies!

What can i say?? I couldn't help it!
I had some dough left over from something else and was approaching the 1 hour mark (when everything gets dry and crack-y) and panicked and had to do it. And stuck them on a very classy (not!) gold heart plaque. Why can't i help making little versions of us in every medium??

Is it weird??

cold hands - pink hearts!

BrrrrrrRRRRrrrrr!!

O man, it is cold these days!...my fingerless gloves were really not cutting it. My fingers have started to die off...quite literally actually!!! The blood drains from them and i'm left with ghostly white, stiff little fingers!!

Time for mittens!!! I don't have a pattern so just drew the shape and then knitted it. It was about 34 stitches round and the thumb was 12 stitches round, and i have normal-small hands. I actually find knitting quite boring and was dying to finish them (took about 2 days of casual knitting the odd time i watched something on tv) but as soon as i'd finished i wanted to make a new pair with different shapes and colours...typical!I find normal gloves leave each finger dreadfully isolated so i needed to go old-school with a pair of kid-style-mittens (without the string to hold them on...although if i lose one the next pair will be on a string!!!)