I'm feeling inspired so why am I sitting at my desk?

Last night I convinced the mister that I needed to go to the craft shop for some decent glue. He looked at me sideways then agreed to drive me over. Paul took D into the electronics shop and I was able to wander all by myself. I thought that it was a bit odd that Paul and D didn't come and drag me out but apparently that was because they couldn't find me! Ha! I was very likely hiding behind the glitter :)

One bit of kinda/sorta bad news ... D found my luchador paintings. They were placed well above his head because I wanted to surprise him with one for his birthday. I'm terrible at secrets so it really shouldn't have shocked me when he came into the room and said accusingly "Mummy, what are those luchador paintings doing in there?" *sigh* I suppose I should add a 51 to my things to do... find a better hiding place.

Anyway, here is the 'tiny thing' I made from my 50 things to do list.



I feel like I totally should not be sitting at my desk pretending to work. I should be at home, on this rainy, dreary day, making lovely little things and playing with my crafty purchases.

The Birthday Bonanza

Our wee fella is turning 6 next Sunday. (6? Wasn't he just 2 three weeks ago?) We've known for quite a while that we were going with a hockey theme because I managed to swipe a bunch of tickets for the game on his birthday. Yesterday it dawned me that I hadn't done the invites! Wracking my brain it finally struck me... Hockey Card invites!



They are actual hockey card size and printed on a card stock. D loves them... I kinda do too :)

Now for the rest of the planning.

An update on "50 things to do"

So, I've actually managed to make a bit of a dent in my "50 things to do" list!

Here's an update...


# 3. Luchador Series
I've got a good start on 5 paintings. I have to finish at least one before March 8th because it's D's favourite masked wrestler and that's his Bday!:)


# 4. Fairy Godmother Book
Is done and was put in the post this morning! It took quite a while to finish but I think it was worth it.

#5. Clock
I bought an old clock a couple of months ago and had a round about idea what I wanted to do with it. The perfect push came when I read the craftster challenge for March... craft a favourite song. I'm probably 70% done!


#6. Knit something for D
This was my first crafted project of 2009... I did it on New Years Eve and finished in the wee hours of the morning, A skull beanie


#8. Knit a sweater
I knit a sweater. It's ugly and doesn't fit quite right but it's a sweater and I knit it. Job done.


#11. 'Gypsy' Quilt Block for charity
Done and sent!


#12. Finish Shrunken Heads
One head is still waiting for it's hair but the other is totally finished.

#30. Try to cook something new once a week (okay, maybe once a month)
We've been doing pretty well at this. Almost every Sunday a we (okay, the mister) have made a big batch of soup to heat up during the week.

#42. Make something teeny weeny
I made a wee fairy tin.

#46. Crochet something other than a grannie square
I'm about 80% through a shrug that weighs about 5 pounds.

I'm pretty pleased with the amount I've managed so far! Let's just hope that the momentum keeps up!

What I'm up to and other stuff...

I've been working long and hard on a swap item for fellow craftster Rackycoo. It's been a labour of love and I'm well chuffed with the results. Take a gander here! I think it's pretty spiffy.

I've also been working hard to use my craft area rather than letting my crafting take over the entire house. I've cleaned up my space a bit and taken a few photos...









I've got loads of projects that need to be finished. It's not that I don't want to finish them, it's finding the time to do it. The other issue is that current projects and future projects have so much appeal to them. Hopefully I can muster some the lost momentum of those past projects and get them done. My plan is to keep the items in plain view so that I can't forget about them any longer. Let's see how that works out...

A wee bit of exciting news to share too. Peanutbutterpie profiled little old me on her blog! How cool is that? Here is the lovely entry (on her lovely blog). ALSO the fantastic superhooker asked me if I would like to be a featured artist in the Misc. Topics section of craftster.org. Are you kidding me?! I gave a big fat 'yes'! You can see the 'interview' here.

A to do list....

I'm not a big fan of New Year's Eve, and I don't go in for resolutions, however I decided that it might be fun to draft a list of things I'd like to do this year. Most of the things on my list are crafty things I'd like to do, and some are unfinished projects.

1. Paint portrait of hubby's grannie
2. Portrait of Dawn French
3. Luchador Series *started on 5 paintings!
4. Fairy Godmother Book *back stories started
5. Clock
6. Knit something for D *Done! Skull Beanie
7. Knit something for P
8. Knit a sweater *only one sleeve left!
9. Finish Alex's Quilt
10. Portrait of Blackadder
11. 'Gypsy' Quilt Block for charity *done and sent!
12. Finish Shrunken Heads
13. Ferret Painting for Nathan
14. Magnificent Halloween Window
15. Do something with the zillion glass xmas balls that are in my stash
16. Create a coven of witches
17. Create a "Sin Eater"
18. Start a Grimoire from the stampbook
19. Knit a Dr. Who scarf
20. Finish fairy box series
21. Create side-show themed something
22. Finish the black shrine on the go
23. Create a large shrine for the House
24. Make pineapple-upsidedown cake
25. Luchador costume for D
26. Make skirts from stash
27. Make outfit suitable for fancy attire
28. Make fabulous brooch and accessories for fancy dress items above
29. Make D's Halloween costume
30. Try to cook something new once a week (okay, maybe once a month)
31. Create a giant collage of D's drawings and school work
32. Make t's for Paul
33. Tree Man Box
34. Create 'memory boxes'
35. Photo's for hallway
36. Finish painting walls/ceiling that are sitting half done
37. Create an experiment with colour
38. Finish oil paintings (ug!)
39. Make book of D's photos
40. Make Fruitcake for x-mas
41. Make something spectacularly Halloweeny
42. Make something teeny weeny
43. Finish Christmas snowmen
44. Make Michelle's recipe box *box bought, now on to the making
45. Paint a bigger painting
46. Crochet something other than a grannie square
47. Make a family cookbook
48. Make some monsters
49. "Last Supper" pillow
50. Fondue!

I really want to bust my stash of crafty supplies this year. I want to see just how much stuff I can make. How far can I push myself? I have loads of things that I've picked up from second hand shops and I really need to do something with all of it. It will be exciting to see just what can be done in a year.

Yule is on the way!!!!!!!!

I'm really, really, really excited about Yule and Christmas this year. I can't wait for more snow and for that real wintry feeling. It has snowed here but now I'm greedy and want more! I love the white stuff... just enough to have fun in, not enough to leave me waist deep in a snowbank.

Last year most of our gifts were hand made and it was great to give prezzies that were so well received but it took A LOT of time and effort. This year I'm scaling back and concentrating on the two other Knickertwists. It's so hard to reign it all in but when the wee fella says what he is most looking forward to is our feast... well, I know where to put my efforts.

I'm hoping to start a few new traditions this year including
- not lighting the Christmas tree until winter solstice to represent the coming of the light
- leaving gifts (bird seed/twine balls) for the nature spirits on winter solstice... I have an idea and I'll post it if it happens to turn out.

What I'm really hoping for is nice, cozy and happy. I think those are pretty good hopes.

It's 1am and I'm afraid to go to sleep.

I've been having nightmares lately. Over the past couple of weeks I've had some doozies where I wake up, quite literally, scared stiff and don't really want to go back to sleep. Being the total sleep hog that I am, I do manage to drift back off.

Tonight, I'm not looking forward to what awaits me when I close my eyes.

Earlier today I had heard a number of accounts of a body laying in one of the main intersections downtown. I thought that it was a terrible thing but really didn't give it too much thought. That is, until someone gave me an account of the gory details. Apparently someone she knows saw the accident first hand and she felt compelled to share. I really didn't need to hear it.

I love movie violence. I adore Hollywood blood and gore. I root for the zombies. The more disgusting the better as far as visual effects go, is what I say. Real violence and gore... not so much. Christ, if I were a witness to anything like that, I'd need therapy for life.

I'm not exactly the most sympathetic person you'll ever meet. After people relay a sad story to me I've often been told that I'm heartless or mean. I think that people misinterpret my reactions as cold when they are really just logical. After all, most of those sad stories could have a completely different ending if someone had just applied common sense at some point.

Despite what others may think, I'm not totally indifferent to the affairs of others. This accident has really gotten to me. What about the poor driver who hit the girl? The victim? Her family? Her friends? The people passing on the street? The police who had to work the scene? There must be hundreds of people affected by this. I was nowhere near the place, don't know a single person involved, and yet I still do not want to go to sleep for fear of having a dream about the damned thing.

So, I've been trying to keep myself busy tonight by making things, but glue needs to set and paint needs to dry and I must go to bed at some point because there's a meeting tomorrow and loads of work to be done. If only it weren't so hard for me to clear my mind. Perhaps I'll try focusing on something pleasant instead. Pumpkins. Lovely, pumpkins. Fingers crossed I'll only dream of lovely orange pumpkins with Jack-o-lantern grins.