Green Hair and Sprinkles ~ Vlog

Just a nothing-ey ol' vlog from Wednesday afternoon. It's funny how even though I worked all afternoon it doesn't look like 'a lot' got done. It's often the little extras and finishing touches of a piece that take the most effort. I thought it was interesting to record a part of my work process you might think is just a tiny quick detail but actually takes a lot of time. Like sticking handmade sprinkles on crochet ice cream :)

Toy Haul ~ Video and Photos

We have a bottle where we throw all our loose change and when it gets full I count it all into bags and put it in the bank and it just merges into regular bill paying money. Seeing as we're a little less poor at the minute than we have been over the years this time when the change bottle got full we took it out toy shopping! (Changed into notes, obviously, I didn't carry around bags of pennies all day!)



We spent all day in the city looking at all the toys, making mental notes of what was where and then we stopped for drinks and snacks and made a list of all the stuff we wanted and how much we could actually afford. Having to think so much about spending money can be hard work but we ended up with a really great selection of smaller cheap bits so it was worth it. Maybe next time we'll spend it all on one new game or something (Langley's in the Royal Arcade has some really cool versions of Fluxx we're quite keen on), balance it out.



Or maybe we'll have to get these for Will. They're both so cool, that Stitch Tsum Tsum jumper is so cute and he was too excited about that Fallout Nuka Cola baseball cap. One day Will, they will be yours, one day.

We filmed the video at the end of the day so it's a little dark, we're tired, I had a headache, I haven't figured the best camera set up for such things yet so the focus is a little off but never fear, here is a clearer look at what we got in case you're interested (or aren't the watching videos type).



We started our toy buying with Happy Meal toys, we never eat at McDonalds but Adventure Time is too hard to refuse. We have five of the sets now with no doubles so yay! Adventure Time merch is always really well done. I really just wanted the Num Noms blind box because it comes in a yoghurt tub that you open like a yoghurt tub and interesting packaging excites me but they're actually really cute too, I'm pleased with our little ice cream and lip gloss. I had actually ignored Zelfs because I think I'd seen the advert and thought it was boring or something but then I saw some (I think in a Nerd Burger video) and away from the marketing I actually thought they were really sweet so we got a blind box. This one is Daisy May and I now want them all. This Mikey is from a TMNT Mega Blocks blind bag, we spent ages squeezing all the bags trying to figure out whether the ones with the big piece would be the one to get or not, turns out the big piece is turtle shell and Mikey is Wills favourite ^_^



The other blind box we got was My Little Pony (they had blind bags for the mini figures too but were sold out D:) and we got Sweetie Belle. She's so cute and it's really small and squishy which makes it even cuter.



We spent ages in the Television and Movie store looking at all their cool merch and went back later in the day to buy...two packs of 20p X-Files series 1 trading cards. They're much more interesting than we were expecting to be honest with a lot of them being actual art rather than just screenshots. I wonder if the art was made for the cards or if it was used elsewhere?



We also got two packs of My Little Pony cards. I think these were series 2? Pretty sure they're not the most recent ones anyway, they were in a tub near the counter for a pound each. I can't wait to use our super cool temporary tattoos. I might have to fight Will for the Pinkie Pie one (I might have to get Will to give me a real Pinkie Pie one).



Our biggest purchase was the My Little Pony Welcome Wagon that came with a Cranky Doodle Donkey! It's amazing, I love it so much it's such a cute set. All the flags are detachable, the door opens and closes as does the oven in there. Cranky Doodle's party hat is detachable too, not that you'd ever not want a party hat on. Plus it came with a party cannon!! (I just realised the photo I took was bad and I'm lazy but you can see it next to the Zelf). The party cannon is really what pushed us to get this set.



And we couldn't have the Welcome Wagon without having a Pinkie Pie and luckily we found this amazing Pinkie. She's wearing a present, has balloons in her tail, has fancy shades, a balloon animal hat and flippers. It's so over the top it's brilliant. In case it isn't coming across, Pinkie is our favourite so we were pretty glad to find such an awesome one.



Now we just need to actually buy some shelves we've been needing for a while so we have space for everything ^_^

A Walk In the Meadow and Our First Geocache

These pictures have been sitting on the computer for a while being forgotten about. Last month I signed up to the Geocaching website and realised there was one in the meadow down the road so we headed off for an afternoon stroll and to find our first geocache.



It was only a tiny one, just a piece of paper in a tube to date and put back but it was still so exciting. The idea that there's all these little boxes all over the world and if you don't know to look you'd go straight past but all these other people have looked and have found it and returned it for you to find. I don't know, there's just something awesome about it.



Also awesome, this vandalism, I'm not sure why I love it so much but I do. I'm guessing it was kids, there's just something about the jokes that seems like that kid humour of not quite being an actual joke. Awesome.



The meadow is always good for a wander. They got rid of our little 'beach' though. Where Will is lying on the jetty is new and used to just be a small drop then a crescent of flat when the tide was low where various shells and bits of ceramic would wash up but now it's all been reinforced so it can be used for canoes or fishing I guess. No more finding bits of old pottery down there probably. Nevermind, it's still a decent place for a wander.

Picture Party ~ Line Camera Edition 002

Pretty cat doesn't like us anymore but she's still pretty // working on new crochet bits // getting a new tough sticker // I spent money on the bus because it was really rainy (then snowy) and felt guilty, also my hair was being cute

Best recent charity shop find // cute doughnuts // we made fairy cakes ^_^ // kawaii croc

My hair is a little different now.

Comics and crochet // crochet and comics

Collecting from kinder eggs, I only need Raphael now but he is proving elusive // testing some glues // angel delight and buttons for post cervical screening comfort // huge glass for cheapest drink

Easter times // packing orders on the floor // more kinder egg goodies for my new obsession // trying to get better at embroidery, to edge or not to edge...

Illustration ~ Pretzel Patterns and Society6

Salty or sweet? Both probably. I've been wanting to start up a Society6 shop for a while and now these two patterns are the first things on there. Obviously that's quite a specialist shop at the moment (if you like pretzels then you're set) but I will be adding things regularly from now, and will share here whenever I do. You can get all sorts of things on there, leggings, clocks, shower curtains, pouches and loads more so go check it out.

One day I'd love to get items like this made and sell them myself but until I can afford the upfront bulk prices for such things this seems like a really good way to make my designs available. I am also listing things that are in my Society6 on Art Rookie which don't have so many different products but are UK based which might be handy for any postage/customs/time type restraints you have (I think Society6 is in the US?). I haven't (so far) bought anything from either of them but have looked around at reviews and it all seems good quality.
I'm pretty excited, and might have to get myself some pretzel leggings. It's cool to wear your own designs right? It's ok, I don't care :)

Sketchbook ~ End of '15/Start of '16

Another finished sketchbook, some of my favourite pages...






And a video of me flicking through. Excuse the tripod legs, I need to invest in a new set up so I can film downwards without anything in the way.

Shop Update ~ Patches and Amigurumi

A quick post to let you know patches and amigurumi have had a bit of a re-stock in my Etsy shop. Two peas in a pod (regular and custom) are back along with cthulhu, octopus and Percy the cat. Plus a lot of patches. I'm almost on top of re-stocking and will hopefully have brand new things to show off soon ^_^

Hope you have a good weekend.

Norwich Gaming Festival 2016

Last week the Norwich Gaming Festival was taking place at The Forum so we found a tiny piece of afternoon on the Wednesday for a quick nosey. Even with no time to actually play games or spending money to buy games (and toys and sweets) it was still pretty cool. We just had a quick run round followed by a peek in the nearby Television and Movie Store then back to our various works. I spent the next two days listening to the live streams of the talks they had on youtube while I worked because I couldn't go see them in person. Hopefully next year I'll be able to give it more attention. I'm sure there was more to it this year compared to last year, I can only imagine it'll keep getting better.

 

Obviously seeing all the old games is fun (as well as old consoles, they have all kinds of new games to try out too) but even seeing the old tv sets was quite enjoyable. It's crazy how quickly tv's changed, when we moved to Norwich almost 5 years ago our set was massive. Not that we're ever at the forefront of technology but you get my point.



And here's some video snippets too. It's a little wonky but I'm still gaining the confidence to properly film things while people are about. Practise makes perfect ^_^

One Second Every Day March 2016

March was definitely better than February. I spent it mostly exhausted but I've been doing a lot of planning and I definitely felt more productive. Especially towards the end with the evenings getting lighter again. It's amazing the difference light can make, I love the clock change. Plus I had some final medical results come back from a check up clear so it's good to have something like that that's been on my mind for months finally over. More brain power to plow into something happier.
I finally, after years and years and years of wanting to but for various reasons not being able to, bleached my hair. I've gone with green but want to try all the colours at some point.
I started watching My Little Pony on Pop and got totally addicted and now spend my time figuring out which bits of My Little Pony merch I'm going to have to get. The pony at the end of the video came with this months magazine. The collection has started 😊 Luckily Will is as obsessed as me so we can join forces on acquiring stuff. I think I might get myself these leggings.



I only missed one day of video this month, go me! A few of them are last minute before bed type seconds which seem to be the bulk of my 365 projects but I'll get better at it I'm sure. Feeling positive 👍