Relativity

Isn't it funny that the same things that make superglue a really good thing when applied where it is supposed to be - is the very thing that makes it bad when applied where it is not supposed to be.

This is what happens when friends of mine get children

They get things with the poor kids face plastered all over them. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Things that I find scary

What good light and a macro setting can do...

Yesterday at 5 o'clock the sun shining into my living room caught my eye and I took some pictures of ordinary household object in a macro setting. I like the way they sort of take on a whole new meaning - seeing them so much up close - and turning ornamental rather than functional. If that makes any sense...

I want to change this page layout to have three columns rather than two - having the slightly more static elements on one side and the changing ones on the other. The way it is at the moment makes the page a bit loopsided. You sort of have to scroll down far beneath the blog text element to get to the end of the archives/links/etc elements. It's just not estetically pleasing.

So how do I go about doing this - well, there are tutorials out there (this one for example) but it entails doing some of your own coding. And that feels a bit daunting. Well, actually it is more copying coding but still...

It comes down to this - is my displeasement with the layout bigger than my fear of me messing up the blog and not being able to correcting it later if I have to?

Hmmm...

Shiny things

Have been playing with resin again. Made some test samples yesterday and it didn't turn out half bad if I may say so myself! Have to make some small adjustments - to make them even more shinier - before turning them into jewelry though.

Found some YouTube clips about resin that was really good to watch - since I'm a bit on my own here (well, not counting all the folks on Crafsters resin board I ask questions to...). Sometimes you just have to watch how things are being done rather than only reading about it.

Unfortenately, the americans seem to be using quite different brands of resin than I. For example, in many videos they were mixing and handling the resin without a mask - I tried that the first time and had a killer headache for three days... And that makes me wonder if that was only for the benefit of the camera or if it - oh, joy of joys - really exists "fume free" resin?

If anyone knows please drop me a line...

Let's go shopping

The tallberggoesint.etsy.com update is done. I think I managed to upload one item before two o'clock so I will give me the credit of making the deadline... It then took me 2,5 hours to upload and manage the rest. Puh! But since I was beginnig to doubt if I would ever be able to update anything at all after being sooooo way behind at one o'clock I think I did okey!

Will be doing absolutely nothing at all for the rest of the day now, methinks.

You, on the other hand, should put on your fancy shoes and go shopping! Look into my eyes, not beside my eyes...

Sneak peak

Am really tired, have loads to do before I can display anything at Etsy and I'm due for a birthday party in an hour. Stress in bucketloads in other words. What on earth possessed me?

Good thing I have told a few people about my Grand Opening (tomorrow at 14.00!) otherwise I would be forgetting about the whole thing right now with a Gimlet in my hand. But no quitting now. A sober (well, pretty sober) party for me and then back to work.

Thought I should entice you with a little sneak peak of the things that are going for sale before I go though. Enjoy!

Tallberggoesint.etsy.com opens saturday

Am working my fingers raw to stitch together a couple of items that I, myself, is very proud of so that I can offer them to you in my very own shop at Etsy.com. My plan is to be up and running by saturday - look out for an invite to the Opening coming soon!

The 2nd Annual Softie Awards

Softies Central has announced its 2nd Annual Softie Awards. Last years entries were absoulutely stunning and I can't wait to see what people come up with this year!

There are five categories: Picnic food, elephant tribute (did you know that the first ever softie was an elephant), cutest face, pink or plaid and embroidered to death and the contest closes on april 18.

I have an idea for the embroidered to death-category. Will see if I get a chance to finish it before the closing date.

A yellow purse

So I had this piece of scrap yarn that I wanted to do something of and made it into a purse. Well, first I didn't know that I was doing a purse I just started with crochetting a rectangle. As part of a stashbusting move (yeah, how's that going? I can hear DBF ask in a rather sarcastical voice far away in Maryhill) since I'm about to move in the summer.

Did some projects from Amy Karol's wonderful book Bend-the-rules sewing and got over my fear of using zippers (a fear thet turned out to be easier to overcome than my fear of the BIAS TAPE. See post bellow. And more to come...). So I decided I needed more zippers (hmm, the stashbusting you ask? Well, at the moment it is more of a one-step-forward-five-steps-back-kind-of-thing. I'm working on it okey!) and picked up some for cheap at the local thrift shop. (Because zippers - it turns out - is not so cheap to buy on the new as you would think).

And do you know what - one of those zippers matched the crochetted rectangle I had made of my lovely yarn perfectly! Coincidence - I think not... More like divine intervention telling me that I did the right thing buying those zippers after all!

So add zipper to crochetted rectangle, stitch them all together and then add resincoated picture of baby Kelvin with crochetted flower and, hey presto, you have got yourself yet another Kelvinrelated present for your cousin. Well, my cousin actually.

Planning to post a tutorial on crochetted purses sometime in the future*.

* Future= sometime after sunday.

Alone again

Forgive me of my absence but as the rather drastic headline suggests My Loved One has been to see me for ten glorious days (and now gone back home to Glasgow). And that means no time for blogging. Priorities, my dears, priorities.

The man is good for me though for with him in the room I get more done and feel less intimidated of trying new things. It has been a good week for crafting - I even conquered my fear of using bias tape.

Soooo, my dream of trying to start a little something of my own businesswise has been rekindled and work is now in progress for that to happen. Watch this space for more!

Where there is sun there will be cats

And, yes, that is the disarray that is my desk...

Paperhouse

Found this amazing site - The Toymaker - where you can download a whole lot of paper toys for free. A great thing to do if you have kids and nothing to do! Or, as in my case, no kids and lots of far more important things to do...

Homemade stuff

You likey?

Arty farty photos

Presents for my cousin

Yesterday my cousin finally received her birthday presents - her birthday is in january(...) - so now I am free to post the pictures here. I have been reading a lot about resin on Crafster and seeing all the wonderful things that other people have done with resin made me want to try it too. For a long while I had the idea of making my cousin a bracelet with pictures of her son Kelvin. My first idea was to make it with laminated pictures but then I realised that resin was the way to go. So this is what I did. And am quite darned pleased with it too for a first try!

Exterminate: A Dalek for my Valentine

What says LOVE more than a crochetted Dalek? Make one for the person you love too - you can find the instructions here.

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday it snowed

A sweater for a little one

This is a sweater that I made from a book by Erika Knight. The swedish title is "Stickat och sött" (unfortunately the english title isn't printed in the book). It is in fact the first real garment that I have knitted (scarfs, mittens, socks and headwear doesn't count...) so YAY! me. I had the hardest time understanding the instructions though and I will blame the translation before I blame my lacking skills in reading knitting instructions. But I prevailed despite sometimes not knowing at all what the hell it was that I was supposed to do knittingwise and made things up as I went - thinking that it at least will turn into something approximating a sweater even if I didn't do every thing exactly correct. And I think it did so hurray for prevailing!

Now who to give the sweater to?...