207 - Wrapping.

While I've been spending quite a lot of blogging time for the past few months talking about Christmas, there is one thing I haven't really touched on, and that is wrapped.

I do love wrapping and making things pretty, but I have a problem with wrapping paper...people don't keep it do they? I always feel if I make people cards, people are probably quite likely to keep them (well my mum would anyway) because they are quite special. If I spend time making wrapping paper and gift tags, I worry I will be upset when people chuck them out, as they probably would.

I feel this will be something I will work up to, but for this year, I've just got some normal Asda red and white wrapping paper, teamed with some bows, ribbons, gift bags and gift tags from last year, and then some lovely vintage looking gift tags that my gran used to own (which I'm still not sure if I'm going to part with, ha ha). I don't want to waste what I already have, but I suppose when I run out of all my already bought stuff, I may be more likely to make my own.

However, just because I'm not quite up to making everything, doesn't mean I haven't seen lots of lovely bits and piece from over the web!

Currently my wrapping paper and other decorations are stuffed down the back of my craft supplies boxes, with any greetings card I have in a folder on the window ledge. However, I have been drooling over this!


It's essentially a wicker washing basket that has a view bags and hooks added to do (check out the link for full details). It's amazing! I can imagine how much happier all my wrapping supplies would be in this! I am determined to find a cheap one of these and make it my own.

How about these lovely (and free) gift tags from Wild Olive!



Just print these bad boys off, add the names and your message, and you're done! They're so cute!

Or how about this amazing potato print wrapping paper from The Perfect Pear?



I have quite a lot of brown paper hanging around from when I sold a lot of stuff on eBay, and to be honest, I don't use it for anything anymore. But this idea would be amazing, and it would work for any occasion and not just Christmas!

Also, let's check out some other lovelies from my Xmas Pinterest board, which is currently sitting at 158 pins! Can you tell I love Christmas!















Far too much to drool over! I will definitely be adding a few of these to my make it list that I keep in my notebook.

206 - FINALLY!

I feel when you start a craft project and you start not enjoying it, maybe you should stop. I stopped enjoying making these baubles a long time ago, but I was spurred forward by how nice they would like when they were done. A week and a half or so later, and they're done. And I have to say, they do look very nice!



Phew! This kit was lovely, but oh lord it was hard. Fractionals, nowhere near enough thread to complete the projects, and piece of fabric that didn't really fit the mounts, so mine don't look as nice as the magazine. Sigh.

I got a free kit in Cross Stitch Crazy today, which looks a lot easier, and after I've finished those two I'm making no more this year! My hands are mauled!

205 - Crafty buying

So today me and Donald popped along to the Sick Kid's Christmas Fayre in town because Donald's mum works for the Sick Kids, and I'm always a sucker for somewhere where there might be a craft stall. We literally popped in for 10 minutes because we had to run off to go and see Dundee vs. Perth at the roller derby up in Dundee, but it was fun all the same.

I picked up a couple of lovely handmade Christmas decorations for our house (because you know, I've not made enough myself!).

First I got this little gingham Christmas tree from The Shoogly Table. I don't think this was homemade by the lovely stall owners, as it did have a tag on it with a link to another trade website, but it's still lovely and only cost £1.50!



I also picked up this amazing gingerbread man from Baby Name Bunting. I spotted him when we first came in, and knew I wanted him! I also couldn't believe he was only £4! There were a couple of options when it came to ribbon, but I picked this nice one that says Merry Christmas on it. Too cute right?



I am in love with him. He's quite big. Maybe like 15cm high. So probably too big to put on the tree, but I can hang him somewhere else.

I'm still working on my three Christmas baubles from Cross Stitcher. They're so hard. So many fractionals and it's quite boring doing just a random shape, but I know it's going to be worth it because they are so pretty there are no words. Hard work though.

On another note, the roller derby was awesome. I love watching Dundee play and I've only seen them once before, so it was nice to get see them. Perth were also awesome. Good derby times all round.

Though the weather is now rank, so I'm snuggled up on the couch with bad TV. Bliss.

204 - Tub of ice cream kind of night

Work is stressful right now. But in a good way most of the time. Though tonight I did come home and eat the rest of my tub of cookie dough ice cream and watch The OC. Good times. Some things just make everything better.

Earlier this week I finished the rose tree decoration that my mum asked my to make for her. I used the tutorial I found here and then just glue gunned the leaves and the ribbon on to the back. I also embroidered 2011 on to one of the leaves, because my mum asked me to make her something so she could remember each year.

I was very happy with the way it turned out, and I gave it to my mum last night, and she also liked it very much.

I've also been getting on my super hard Christmas decorations.All the green has been added to do, just one to go. The cream still needs to be added, but it's not very much, so hopefully get them done quite quickly. My last two decorations that I'm going to do come free in Cross Stitch Crazy tomorrow, so I'm almost done. Woop!

203 - Crafting Sundays

So while I've not posted in a week, I have been crafting! Derby birthday cards which I can't show you and Xmas decorations that are taking forever!



This one took quite a while because the background was quite soul destroying. I don't do well with huge chunks of just colour, for like no reason.

I've also started these three I got free in Cross Stitcher.




I've decided to do it colour by colour, so this is all the red stages of the 3 done. I have to say, the biggest one, was the worst one. It took ages and was loads of fractional stitches. Luckily I got through a whole disc of The OC while I was doing it, so it was quite fun, hopefully get the other two colours done this week too.

I still have two free decorations that I get this week which I would like to make as well, so hopefully I'll get them all done.

I also have two pieces which would need to go up on the wall or somewhere, and some gift tags which I'm still to get free, but I think I might leave all of those till next year and do something nice with them. I don't want craft to become a STRESS! (Which it already has for Xmas, sort of.) I feel like I'm always putting things off, but I have made a lot this year, and I think I've learnt some lessons for next year for definite.

202 - Knitting

This may not look like much, but it is the first knitting project I have ever completed!

Yes, it's not exactly the most complicated design in the world, but it is baby's first swatch from Stitch n Bitch, and is designed to get you to knit a square properly and not drop or pick up any stitches (which is what I tend to do).

The square was 20 stitches with 30 rows, and the goal was to go at least 10 rows without making a mistake. I managed to do the whole thing with the intended 20 stitches. I'm so happy. And I managed to bind off and sew my ends in. It looks pretty good, well for a square anyway.

So while it might not look like much, it is my first completed knitted project, and it shall live in my knitting bag from now on.

201 - Little piggy

So it's my Dad's birthday in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would make him something. I saw a pattern for this pig magnet in Cross Stitcher in the first issue I ever got and pretty much decided I had to make it for my dad.



I'm very happy with how he turned out, and I got to use my glue gun again (no horrific burns this time) and my magnets.

I tested him out and he stuck to the fridge perfect with four little magnets. Win! I think I need to make some nice magnets for our own fridge too.

200 - The wreath!

So it's my 200th post! Holy cow! And I thought it was worthy of something special. So here's my Christmas wreath.



So this was my inspiration for my wreath! I had a lot of ones I would have liked to make (and may do in later years) but I liked the look of this one the best.

Last weekend I went out and bought a jigsaw for like £1.20 from Poundstretchers, some green paint, some green glitter paint and some lovely Christmas ribbon. I used the box from my huge Amazon craft books order to make the base of the wreath. I also had to purchase a glue gun. Well I didn't need to, but obviously it made it a lot easier. I managed to go until the last thing I needed to glue until I squirted it all over my fingers. Ouch!

After all that, I'm really happy with the result (even if I did have to paint 45 pieces of jigsaw 3 times!).



Totally love it and another thing ticked off the Christmas make list.

199 - Derby birthday cards.

So, as you know I do roller derby, and we have a lovely thing called the birthday fund. Basically everyone who wants to take part chips in some money and we put together a lovely birthday gift bag for them.

As I have some crafty skills, I offered to make the birthday cards for this year's birthday fund.

So we decided this a while ago but I couldn't really blog about it until I'd given the first person their card. And here it is.



My aim is to try and do something different for everyone. Phew! It's going to be a lot of cards. I've made the next card too (a nice embroidered one which I love), but obviously I can't show you it till it is given to the derby girl in question.

So it may look like I've not been crafting, but really I have and it's just things I can't show you.

198 - Christmas again

Christmas crafting isn't seeming so scary now. I had a couple of Christmas UFO's (unfinished objects) and now they're done. Woo! Now I'm up to 5 cards, only 3 to go. Also 1 more tree decoration made, though it's not the best if I'm honest. I made a little cat cross stitch kit my friend Kiki bought for me, and wasn't sure what to do with it so I turned it into a little bauble.

I used heat n bond to put it together, but I think if I'd sewn it, it would have looked better. Oh well I still think it's cute.





The wreath making begins tomorrow! Can't wait! I bought a glue gun over the weekend, so I'm looking forward to breaking it out!

197 - It was a rock lobster!

It was my workmates/actual mate Jodi's birthday on Saturday, so on Thursday night I decided to craft him something for his birthday (basically so my craft will take over the office one day).



One of Jodi's favourite songs to put on the work playlist is Rock Lobster by the B-52's, so I decided to make an embroidery with that.

I did a couple of things I haven't done before with this. I think this was the first time I had stitched with any of the orange thread I own and I also transferred the pattern with a transfer pencil. I have to say, I loved the pencil! I've heard some bad things about it, but I found it much easier to control than the pen (no random blotching) and because it was really sharp, the lines were really fine. Loved it!

196 - Christmas!

So, obviously I've had quite a few Halloween posts going up over the past week. But while my blog may have been going all spooky, I have most definitely been crafting purely for Christmas.

So let's take a peak at what I've done over the past week or so.









I also have a card and a decoration which are almost finished, so hopefully should get those up over the next couple of days. Phew!

I've made a decision regarding Christmas, and it's one that makes me feel better and worse at the same time. I've got all my cards mapped out, and I've got my kit for my cake skirt, I know which wreath I'm making and I've chosen a cake. The problem is...tree decorations.

I had plans for making as many as I could make, but it turns out, I probably left it too late in the year, and now I don't have as much time left as I would like. I bought some Christmas craft books, which are full of ornaments I would like to make, teamed with the list I found on Pinterest of 101 ideas of things to make.

So I've decided, the only decorations I'm going to make are ones I get in kits, purely because it will prevent a million trips back and forward to the craft shop in the next week and stress when I don't finish things/can't make the things I want. Plus there are some big pieces (like some Xmas bunting) that I know I wouldn't have the time to make even if I didn't have other stuff to be doing.

I just got some lovely baubles free in Cross Stitcher today, and I'm getting some more free in another magazine in a couple of week. I've also finished 5 and have another 2 to finish, so I should still have lots. The only ones I might make that aren't from a kit will be some salt dough ones, purely because I already have my Xmas cookie cutters and making the dough is easy. I think one of New Year's resolutions for next year is going to involve making Christmas things throughout the year. I look forward to it!

So while my tree may not be over the top homemade this year, next year I should have more decorations than I know what to do with!

Finally, we had to move around our bedroom a little due to my clothes being in front of the windows and getting badly faded. The rails are now pretty much blocking out the bookcase in our bedroom, so I moved all my craft books into the living room. They look very pretty!



All my Cath Kidston books look very nice together. I think I have too many craft books, though I have asked for another few for Christmas. Tsk.

195 - ARRG roller derby bout

So on Saturday evening I was helping man the merch stall/cheer on my man at an ARRG vs ARRG roller derby bout. Basically our two travel teams played against each other and it was very fun to watch (well what I saw of it anyway).

I took some photos of the boy outside pack reffing. He was very nervous but very good and I was mega proud of him!







So proud in fact, I made a sign, which I waved about like a mad woman every time there was a time out (so as not to distract him from his official duties.)

Finally, I went shopping, and got some lovely things, including some crochet Christmas decorations! LOVE!

194 - October update

Completed goals will be struck out when I do them.


Goal in progress are in bold.


1. Watch 50 films I haven't seen.
(1. Basketcase 2.)
(2. Basketcase 3.)
(3. Eat, Pray, Love.)
(4. Blades of Glory.)
(5. Toy Story 3.) 
(6. Despicable Me.) 
(7. Megamind.)
(8. The Batman vs Dracula.) 
(9. Serenity.) 
(10. House of Wax (original).) 
(11. Hellboy.) 
(12. Hellboy II.) 
(13. Bee Movie.) 
(14. Husk.) 
(15. Tangled.) 
(16. The Holiday.) 
(17. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.) 
(18. Insidious.) 
(19. Wall-E.) 
(20. Kill Bill Part II.) 
(21. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.) 
(22. Definitely Maybe.) 
(23. Pineapple Express.) 
(24. Paul.) 
(25. Day of the Dead.) 
(26. Adventureland.) 
(27. Jackass 3.5.) 
(28. Easy A.) 
(29. Scream 4.)  
(30. Planet of the Apes (original).
(31. Black Swan.) 
(32. Rise of the Planet of the Apes.)
(33. Be Kind Rewind.)
(34. The Devil Wears Prada.) 
(35. The Blob.) 
(36. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.) 
(37. Yogi Bear.)
2. Read 50 books I haven't read. 
(1. Needful Things by Stephen King.) (Started it last year but I read a good 75% of it this year.)
(2. Whip It by Shauna Cross.)
(3. Dead Until Dark (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.) 
(4. Living Dead in Dallas (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.) 
(5. Club Dead (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)
(6. Dead to the World (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.) 
(7. Dead as a Doornail (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)  
(8. Definitely Dead (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)   
(9. All Together Dead (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)    
(10. From Dead to Worse (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)     
(11. Dead and Gone (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)   
(12. A Touch of Dead (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris.)     
(13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K.Rowling.)   
(14. Cujo by Stephen King.) 
(15. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood.) 
(16. Pet Sematary by Stephen King.) 
(17. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.) 
(18. Misery by Stephen King.)
(19. About A Boy by Nick Hornby.) 
(20. The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern.) 
(21. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.) 
(22. The Travelling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon.) 
(23. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.)
(24. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange.) 
(25. Currently reading Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King.) 
3. Read 20 graphic novels I haven't read. 
(1. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley.)
(2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley.) 
(3. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley.) 
(4. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley.)
(5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley.) 
(6. Scott Pilgrim's Finest  Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley.) 
4. Buy and read 50 comic books.
(1. Predators - Friend or Foe?! No.1.)
(2. Daredevil - The Man Without Fear. No. 507.)
(3. The Expendables. No.2.) 
5. Go to the theatre 5 times. 
(1. Idiots of Ants -  03/08/2011).
(2. Frisky and Mannish - 05/08/2011).
6. Go to 5 gigs. 
(1. Gay for Johnny Depp, The Computers, Secta Rouge, Shields Up - Sneaky Pete's - 21/02/2011. I only stayed for Shields Up and Secta Rouge, but then I was only really there to see Shield's Up.)
(2. Eras mini-gig - Studio 24 - 06/08/2011. Literally played 4 or 5 songs, but I think it counts.) 
(3. Jimmy Eat World and We Were Promised Jetpacks - Corn Exchange - 25/08/11.)
(4. Panic! At The Disco and Fatherson (I didn't see Fatherson, as I tend not to bother with support acts - HMV Picturehouse - 27/08/11.)
7. Watch 10 TV series that I have and have never watched the whole way through (I do this a lot).
(1. Father of the Pride - The Complete Series.)
(2. American Dad!: Volume 5.) 
(3. The Big Bang Theory - Season 1).  
(4. The Big Bang Theory - Season 2).  
(5. The Big Bang Theory - Season 3).
(6. True Blood - Season 1).
(7. Family Guy - Season 10). 
(8. Gossip Girl - Season 1).  
(9. Pushing Daisies - Season 1).  
(10. Currently watching The OC - Season 1).
8. Pass my minimums at roller derby.
9. Read 10 biographies/autobiographies.
(1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.)
(2. Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg.) 
(3. The intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle De Jour.)  
10. Go to a bout for all the Scottish teams (Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow (and maybe the central team/Inverness if they get going by the end of the year but they're just starting out). 
(1. Aberdeen vs Perth - Taco Hell - 12/02/2011.)
(2. Edinburgh vs Wakefield - Crashablanca - 26/02/2011.) 
(3. Edinburgh vs Glasgow - Live Roller Derby - 7/08/11.) 
11. Make my way through my French lesson CD's.
12. Learn to play 10 songs off-by heart on my keyboard.
13. Learn how to knit. (When I've done 5 completed projects).
14. Learn how to cross-stitch. (When I've done 5 completed projects).
(1. Cross stitch keyring.)
(2. Cross sitch kitty in frame.)
(3. Russian doll card.)
(4. Flower pin cushion.)
(5. Jack Russell card.)
15. Make 10 crafty kits. 
(1. Dreaming Kitty - Cross stitch kit.)
(2. Mackintosh Rose Keyring - Cross stitch kit.)
(3. Bat - Soft toy kit.) 
(4. Vintage pincushion stitch kit.) 
(5. Bentley Bear card kit.) 
(6. Crab cross stich kit.)
(7. Royal Guard stitch kit.)
(8. Funky fox stitch kit.) 
(9. Fizzy Moon Card kit.) 
(10. All Our Yesterdays On the Beach card kit.) 
16. Fill my sketch book.
17. Fill my owl notebook.
18. Go on holiday in a caravan.
19. Go to Glasgow for a night out. 
(1. Going to Rufus T Firefly's for dinner and then Classic Grand for dancing.)
20. Get a new tattoo.
21. Learn to play poker.
22. Learn to read my tarot cards.
23. Learn to read my rune stones.
24. Learn to play chess so I know all the moves.
25. Eat at 10 places I've never eaten at before.
(1. Compass in Leith.)
(2. The Constitution in Leith.) 
(3. Rufus T Firefly's in Glasgow.) 
(4. Delicious Chinese in Davidson Mains.) 
(5. Illegal Jack's in Edinburgh.) 
(6. Pierinos take-away in Leith.)
(7. The Oaks Hotel in Alnwick.)
(8. The Castle Inn in Bamburgh.) 
(9. Taste of Italy in Edinburgh.) 
(10. The White Lady in Corstorphine.) 
26. Go to Paris.
27. Learn to crochet. (When I've done 5 completed projects).
28. Pass my rules test at roller derby.
29. Get my gamer score to 15,000.
30. Try and have a blog and actually keep it.