Mwahahahaha...... Christmas present attack!

This year we were kind of lost with the whole presents thing, neither of us wanted to buy rubbish for each other, and to be honest, most of what was in the shops was rubbish. What came about was a toy crossbow for him (it hurts..*rubs rear end*) which is something I really wouldn't give to kids... For me a glass painting kit....(insert evil chuckle here! )

After assaulting a couple of the household tumblers for practice efforts, I came across a lovely nightlight in the place of supreme evil..(tesco). It's an energy saver so i don't feel bad about leaving it on all night, and certainly don't feel bad about not treading on any of the "her Highnesses" which usually results in yelping/hissing/severely lacerated feet.

Myself, giving the super bright white L.E.D the gimlet eye, decided it was a little too bright for night time ambiance. Actually it was shining through the door like a searchlight..:| Well what else could i do?
Serene blue glow FTW! The paint is Pebeo turquoise vitrail, and the stars I made by taking my punch to sticky back plastic. Peel, stick, paint over, wait a few hours... peel stars off.. Yayyy!!!

Happy feet, Happy kitties, Happy puppy :)

Soap on a Rope (well my old tights actually)

This year i am aiming to downsize a lot of the things we would usually not think about, so my first step was to recycle all the old bits of soap I have in the house. These involved...

1. Bits of soap that have been used and are sitting forlornly in a container in the bathroom.
2. Bars of soap that are so old they have lost the scent they had.
3. Bars of soap that have come our way from gifts (there's always one.. every year....), Hotel toilets (shamefaced but it came in handy at the time)and funny shaped "guest soaps" that are really only meant for display and smell horrible..

Now myself and the other half are a bit picky when it comes to soap, we like Lush products because our water kinda causes our skin to fall off. So once or twice a year we splurge and buy a load. This however makes me loath to lose even the tiniest piece of it, mainly because it's expensive, and secondly because they are like good memories, i can remember when i got each bit, and what occasion it was for. So the reusing begins....

First grate all your soap into a plastic container, add a little water about 3 tablespoons (we flavoured ours with some leftover vanilla pods steeped to make a strong vanilla tea). Microwave and stir, microwave and stir,adding water as necessary to make a nice thick gloop. Careful hot soap is painful if it gets on your hands! After the soap has reached the gloop stage, and there are no more lumps, leave it to cool until it reaches a doughy texture. Scoop it out and mould it into the shape you want. :) I used old tights to make them into balls, and also to add a little more "squish" to make the hardening process easier. Once they are shaped and in a nice warm place, leave for 2 or so weeks and your done :)


The only problem is that Math thinks they look like testicles.......:(

Framed work

I managed to pick up these frames from the evil of all evils (tesco). They were selling them off for £1 each, so i snagged a few for experiments...


The actual pictures are undyed cotton painted with gold fabric paint, bronze poster paint and brown artists ink. The puffy heads were especially fun to do as they involved stippling which is always fun :) Serendipity took a hand in the creation, as i was unaware that one of my brushes had purple glitter ingrained in the bristles, so when they catch the light they shine with bronze/gold/purple speckles. Altogether a great result if unplanned :)).

Sootsprites

If you can't make your plasterwork look neat.. install Soot Sprites (Susuwatari).

These cuties come from the Miyazaki film My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away. I used a hard charcoal pencil to draw the hard lines in them used my thumb and a rubber to smudge and tidy where necessary.

Tennis balls, dog biscuits and a few hours peace...

If you slit a tennis ball a little way, squish it open and fill it with little dog biccies.. the daft mutt spends ages trying to get them out. Not a hard concept i know, but having just acquired some cheap tennis balls i thought i would give it a go.. cue blissful peace :)

Happy new year everyone :)

I"m working up to a post.. honestly :)