Updates and shenanagins

I have been awful at updating this blog recently. I think I've just been seriously lacking in motivation and whenever I start writing a post I feel bad about ignoring other things that should really be prioritised over this such as uni coursework. I also haven't been really coming across anything I feel like writng about really or I run out of things to say halfway through writing then forget to come back to finish a post (or if I do I don't think to make a post about it).

I didn't realise that it had been such an unbelievably long time since I wrote about anything and yes, I am procrastinating by writing this but I have found a really nice cafe near my flat with free wifi and really comfy sofas so I don't particularly care.

I was at DoJ-con (formerly Dee-con and D-con) on the 13th and had such a good time. I also got to meet Princess Peachie who is a Lolita I really look up to and admire (I think I may have alarmed her by recognising her in real life). It was also my first foray into wearing a wig with my Lolita outfits.

I still have some coursework left this semester then exams but I'm hoping to be able to write more posts and get this going again after that.

The warm fuzzies

I love the feeling you get when you do nice things for people and make them happy.

I sent out a whole load of cards to people on Thursday. I filled the inside with little observations and thoughts like a proper letter then doodled pictures and wrote little quotes and sentiments all over the envelopes personalised to whoever I was sending it to. My sister got An Cafe, teen wolf, and tumblr silliness, my friend got flowers and My other friend got a Dr Who style crack and representations of some of her fandoms, my Mum got little sentiments on hers because she is sensible. I sent them because who doesn't like getting nice things in the post? They should be getting them today! (maybe tomorrow of the post is being slow)

I have also been sending out buckets of anonymous love on tumblr to anyone and everyone I can think of (I just love seeing how happy it make them in their replies).

Postcards

I really enjoy collecting postcards from all over the place and adding them to the collage on my wall

Like this!

The collage is a mix of photographs, postcards, card fronts and small art prints. I keep getting told that I should take them down and arrange them in a frame but I don't want to. Isn't it infinately more fun to arrange them on the wall and test yourself to get as few spaces and overlaps as possible?

I often feel guilty buying postcards now as I'm running out of room the I can reach on the wall to put them up but because I'm home for the summer I have access to postcards other than veiws of the scottish higlands I feel I have to buy a lot while I can.

I get my postcards from all over the place. Most commonly they come from gift shops in museums or other visitor attractions and prints I buy when I'm at conventions. I'm always on the look out for more from different palces, especially from outwith the UK (if you feel like sending me any you're completly welcome to).

apologies and updates

I've been feeling a lot of blogging guilt this summer as I've not been posting as much as I would have liked.
I had an excuse up until two weeks ago with an exam resit for Uni but now I have nothing to do until September.

Sorry guys, blame tumblr.

I will be posting later today about stuff and I'm just going to throw some of my book review posts out even though I'm not completely happy with them.

crafty day

I got my own sewing machine at the beggining of the month. I havent had the time or the space to be able to get it set up and actually do somthig with it. I finally found some time today and I've been sewing and crafting since midday.

I started with trying to fix a little bag I had bought at D-con 2011 that was put together very strangly...

It's lined but the seams are not inbetween the layers

I unpicked all the stitching and then pinned it all together ready to sew then promptly got confused and forgot what I was supposed to do to sew it up without sewing the top up.

While waiting for that knowlage to return I did some work on a skirt I have been wanting to make for a while but haven't had either the time or access to a sewing machine. The only thing I don't like about doing these is he level of gathering that needs to be done. I also find the hems on thse skirts to be a bit dunting as they just go on and on for several meters all of which needs to be pinned and pressed to make sure it is all straight and it doesnt come apart when under the sewing machine.

after puttting in the stitches for the gathrs I had a look at the bag again and had another go at it. three hours and numerous mistakes later I decided that it should be left until tomorrow (it is currently inside out and sewn up in such a way as it is impossible to turn it out).

I'm probably just going to knit for the rest of today (and watch The Hollow Crown). Currently I'm working on a light but really warm scarf.

The yarn is Wendy Wisp in Cinder and Carbon

  It knits up so quickly but it is very easy to drop stitches when using a very loose tension (I somehow managed to go from the twenty stitches I cast on to sixteen stitches less than half a meter into a project with a single ball of this).

Polar Bears and Other Such Things

Over my winter break I went to the highland wildlife park. I saw a polar bear there and got closer than would be safely possible with one in the wild/a town in the Arctic circle. 

The bear who is currently there is called walker and his favourite toys are hard hats like this one

the bear that was there before was called Mercedes and she was a repeat offender in the act of coming into the town of Churchill in Canada where they have a polar bear prison

the prison operates in a three strike rule. if they catch a bear in town they knock it out and take it to their detention building where they are released when winter starts and they can hunt on the ice again.  if a bear is caught a third time they are put down as it means the prison is not working as a deterrent to them entering the human settlement.

Mercedes had been caught a third time in the town and either had to be put down or sent to a zoo. Edinburgh zoo had a lone male at the time and offered to take her as a companion for him.  The car company Mercedes sponsored her travel from Churchill in Canada to Edinburgh in Scotland so her name was changed from "number 39" to Mercedes.

Mercedes stayed in Edinburgh for many years before coming to the highland wildlife park in 2009. The first winter she was there she saw snow for the first time since coming to Scotland and was apparently very confused by it.

Unfortunately Mercedes had to be put down last year because she was in severe pain from arthritis but the other polar bear, walker who joined Mercedes from a zoo in the Netherlands in November 2010 is still up there but many visitors call him Mercedes because they don't know that it's not her.

The wildlife park has other animal such as tigers, wolves (who were displaced by Mercedes), Arctic foxes, wildcats, monkeys, beavers, a capercallie, three types of owl and red pandas (who were sooooo adorable!). 

Polar bears (Ursus Maritimus) are mostly found within the Arctic circle and are the only bears who will actively hunt and kill humans for food. This is one of the reasons they are so dangerous when they come into towns and villages.  People living in areas with polar bears all carry rifles when going anywhere near the edge of town and are completely prepared to shoot a bear.  The reason polar bears are endangered is not as a result of hunting but rather from a loss of habitat as they can only hunt when there is sea ice covering the majority of the Artic Ocean.


You can find out more about the Highland Wildlife Park here and more about polar bears in general here.

I feel really bad for not taking more pictures but the SD card in my camera was completely full up by the time I got round to the tigers.

I got most of my information from these sites:
BBC News article Mercedes death
STV News on the same story
Mercedes' Life story

Some nice pictures can be found at:
Guardian Newspaper website Walker Joining Mercedes
A Flikr users shots of Mercedes first snow

How to Make a Star Jar

These look really pretty sitting on a shelf or on a table ready to be tipped out and played with when you feel blue.

First of all, Assemble your materials!

You will need
Paper (I like it best if there is a selection of colours but single colour jars could work)
A jar or bottle or your choice (smaller ones are easier to finish but bigger ones look very impressive) Charity shops can sometimes yield real gems for these so keep your eyes open (the bottle I use here came from from an Oxfam shop for 99p).

A pair of scissors (optional but I think you get a better look using them)
Glue (again, optional. It can be any sort but I find the tippex mouse style dry glue dispensers work best here)

If you don't know how to make origami lucky stars this video is good (it's not in English but there is subtitles)

For my bottle I used two sheets of A4 printer paper cut into 1cm and 1.2cm strips which I then coloured in with promarkers.

The 1cm strips worked well when cut both length and width ways whereas the 1.2cm strips worked best when they were cut length ways but were manageable when cut width ways (It is good to remember with this is that the wider they are the longer your strip will have to be).

Fold your paper strips into the stars and 'puff' them up (you may want to have a pin on hand in case some don't puff up and instead crush themselves into oblivion).

like this!

Fill your jar with the stars but make sure youhave room for the lid if you are using a cork. Sit the jar in a place where you can see it and feel proud at what you have done.

A lot of the time I dislike simple origami as they tend not to look very good but the lucky star model is very simple and looks very nice.  I got the idea for this after seeing it online and I wondered if it would work as well in real life.  I think it did but what do you think?

I'm so very sorry

I have been woefully neglegting this blog for the last few weeks. My whole course at uni went a little crazy because of the assesment load that ment there was five assesments due in the last two weeks of term before the exams.

I have been more active on tumblr by doing live blogging revision and being caught up in the fangasm that has been the Avengers. I was so happy I got to see it before it came out in America and I will not spoil it for anyone (other than the fact you should go see it, like, right now). What I am even more happy about is the fact that I'm going to see it again tomorrow and possibly in IMAX... (insert uncomrehensable high pitched fangirl noise here) I can't stop grinning when I think about it.

I have got an idea for a post in the very near future: a star jar tutorial and maybe I'll finish the Dublin trip post that has been sitting in draft form since november...

I just realised as I was typing this I have ben blogging here for over a year!

Happy (very belated) birthday to surrounded by pretty things!

I will be doing more posts in the next few months as I have some projects that I want to do and several book reveiws that need finishing.

First post of the year

This is my first post the year (Hooray!) and I want to thank anybody who has been reading my blog that I haven't (literally) prodded into doing so.

I've been meaning to write a post since the first of the month but I have had no idea what to write about.

I have several posts in draft form that I need to finish for this blog and my other blog. These include posts covering my trip to Dublin in early November (I think I might split that into two posts rather than keeping it just as one), several knitting projects (like an accidentally mobius snood), cross stitch, the finishing of my Knives Chau inspired scarf (I'm on the last section), and weather or not I will be going ahead with D-con knitting as it seems it might not be happening this year (I may just start knitting anyway and try to get a table at Auchinawa instead).

I spent my new year in with my sister in Stirling we were originally going to go to the top of the Wallace Monument to watch the fireworks from the castle but we got scared halfway up and on our way down we realised there was just as good a view from the bottom of the hill so we just sat on a wall and watched the fireworks from there.
I hope that all of your celebrations of the mid-winter and new year/hogmany sort went well (that is, if you can remember them)

Part book reveiw part nefarious plot

I've been kind of busy recently but in the down time I've been really bored so I got this book today.

They are all really small projects and worked in DK so they shouldn't take very long or take up much space if I'm knitting on the go.  Another reason for getting it is to leave around various places just to see peoples reaction on seeing a slice of pizza, a burger or some sushi sitting where they wouldn't expect it.

The projects include: Burgers, Sandwiches, Pizza slices, Bacon, Fried eggs, Pitta breads, Hot dogs, Sushi, Ice creams, Cupcakes and several types of pies.  Most of the projects are knitted in parts which makes it very easy to transfer bits between projects (such as knitting the bun for the burger but putting bacon, egg or chips into it rather than the meat).

I haven't made anything out of it yet but it only a matter of time before I do just wait. Keep checking back and you may find pictures of weird coloured foods (like a purple and pastel blue burger) when I can't be bothered finding the right colours.

I got the book in Waterstones for £4.99 and it can also be found on Amazon.

Sewing Cravings

I know this is impractical and liable to cause procrastination but I really want a sewing machine of my own to sew things.

I don't have my own despite all my waffling about the stuff I made over the summer. I was using my mum's machine but as I am back at uni I no longer have access to it and I still really want to sew clothes and bags. Near the end of the summer I sketched a few designs based around modification of the pattern used to make the skirt in this post.
I'm planning on combining the three teirs of the skirt into a plain gatherd skirt of three or four panels. The good points of this is that I can use fabrics with bigger prints and theres less work involed as there's only one gathering session needed for it.  The bad points is that with fewr areas of gathering any mistakes would be more obvius, it would need a much greater amount of lining and both the gatherd fabric and gatherd lining would be on the same seam meaning very heavy going for the sewing machine when it comes to sewing the lining.
Another possability of this modding would be having a skirt like the one above but with a ruffle at the bottom of it with a slightly shorter main body.
These two designs have near limitless potential for decorations like embroidery onto the skirt itself or sewing on fabric patches and applique of felt or ebroiderd Aida fabric

Just a quick note

My summer has properly finished now and I am back at uni so theres gonna be fewer posts unless I'm procrastinating but that might not work as well as it does for some others.

I'll probably do more stuff on scenery or little things about the place.  I may even do some more on knitting and other such stuff.

Koi-Koi anyone?

I have a set of hanafuda cards from Nintendo.  They came with a set of instructions for the game Koi-Koi and now I really want to play a game with someone.

Nintendo originally started as a company manufacturing hanafuda cards in 1889 which seems so far from what most people associate with Nintendo now.  Hanafuda (flower cards) cards are divided into twelve sets of four each representing a month with a different flower.  The images on each card are different so almost none of them exactly match.

I got my set through the points exchange with club Nintendo and they had specially redesigned sixteen if the cards replacing the traditional designs with Mario characters such as...

Mario, Yoshi, Luigi (and Waluigi) and Lakitu

Blooper, Paragoomba, Donkey Kong and Boo

Toadies, Piranha Plant, Wario and Peach with Toad

Koopa, Bowser and the club Nintendo logo

Koi-koi is played by trying to obtain sets of cards usually the four cards to make a whole month or other sets like the "five lights" or "moon viewing" where you can either end the round there or call koi-koi if you think you can collect another set before your opponent to earn more points. In each game there are twelve rounds and the person with the most points  at the end of the twelve rounds wins.

So... anybody up for a game?

The Magnetc Feilds: love songs as they should be

This may not be visually pretty and you may not agree that it is audiably pretty but I really love these two albums by The Magnetic Fields.

i

69 Love Songs

i has fourteen tracks all begginning with the letter i like "I thaught you were my boyfriend" and "Infinitely late at night".  The album is relativly calm untill you start to realise the lyrics and just what they are saying.

69 Love Songs is exactly that, sixty nine love songs spred over three disks containing twenty three tracks each. These are not all about nice happy love and many are about the loss of love, unrequited love or love that never existed.

More info in The Magnetic Fields can be found here and here

As far as I know most songs from these two albums can be found on youtube or possably other music/video sites.

Why hello thar

so... my first ever blog
I have to warn everyone now my spelling and grammer is not the best (beware of huge long sentances) but I am attempting to improve but if you see anything you think should be spelt or worded differently just tell me and I will see what I can do. I'm always open for constructive criticism.

now that's out of the way I'll tell you a bit about what I'm wanting to write about
  This blog was started so I could share all the amazing things I come across during the course of my daily life. A large proportion will be internet based such as online stores, DeviantArt users, blogs or webzines. I will try and intersperse that with real, tangable things such as clothes, beads, buttons, jewellry, fabric, wool(yarn) and anything else I think is worth sharing. every so often I may post an entry on manga and anime cons that I go to but they are gonna be few and far between.

I like making my own clothes but am terrified of buying fabric as I keep thinking I would never wear the bold prints that are so tempting in the shop. I am a knitter as well but so far I haven't made any kind of clothing (increasing the number of stiches scares me) and I can almost crochet (but thats more for adding decorative edging to my knitting). I am also a fan of Lolita Fashion but don't have the money for branded pretties so  expect cheap-ass stuff I have found in discount stores or made myself.

Most posts in future will probably be rather image heavy (but the clever people reading this will probably have already figured that).