March 21st 2013 :)

How on earth is it possible for my room to have got out of hand AGAIN? I hate having a messy room yet I always let it get out of control.

It's as soon as I get my crafty stuff out. Then chaos happens and I end up trying to do work in a space about 6 inches square!

A quick blitz will have to go on my to do list for today :)

Yesterday was pretty successful! I got a bunch of stuff done, and did two and half hours in the library where I actually managed to read and understand a whole article, and I figured out how it will relate to my essay. Huge relief! I need to attempt to read the other paper today, and also got other uni reading to do.

After I successfully did uni work, I came back, watched Hairspray (Have you seen it? It's very colourful and happy and just a bit of fun really! It took 2 weeks to arrive, silly post! But it was worth it when it did arrive.), and carried on with the cabochons I've been making. They're going really well and are about to enter the final stage of their creation, hehe! Had a bit of a setback, but I figured out how to get around it.



After I did a bit on those, I started making a very colourful french beaded flower bouquet :) After I made the one for my mum, I decided I would like to make a really colourful one. So I bought some pink, orange, yellow and blue beads and got started on the pink flowers while watching The Holiday (One of my favourite films! I think I must watch it at least once a month and I don't think I could ever get bored of it. If you haven't watched it and you're a fan of happy, chick flicky type films, you definitely need to see it!). I got petals for three flowers made, and one flower completely finished. I don't think one flower quite makes a bouquet, but it's a start :D



Happy Thursday everyone, nearly the weekend!

March 20th 2013 :)

Yesterday was pretty hectic. I made a to do list and told myself I wasn't allowed to make anything until I'd done everything on the list. So I actually knuckled down and did everything on the list, including spending a very boring but productive three hours in the library.

It was actually quite nice to get some stuff done. I've been finding it really hard to concentrate on uni work since, well since I started uni really! But my motivation has got worse as uni as gone on, and now the end is in sight my motivation seems to be at an all time low! So to actually get some work done made me feel like I'd achieved something. Now I just need to do the same again today!

After the boring stuff was done I was able to carry on with the cabochons that I've been challenged to make. They're looking pretty funky at the moment. I've got three on their way to being done but they need to be sealed so I can't show you yet! But when they're all shiny and finished I will definitely show you. I hope you'll like them :)

So today's challenge to myself is to read at least one article, if not two. I'd like to spend another three hours in the library and get as much read as possible.

I just wish the library looked like this!

Picture from here.

March 19th 2013 :) - Ink Playing.

Mondays are long, and notoriously boring. But Mondays at uni are very almost done, only one more left!

I had a couple of lectures and a seminar, but those weren't the interesting parts of my day.

For lunch I made sandwiches. I cut my bread, got it all sorted and put it together. turns out my bread was cut just that bit too thick - the sandwiches ended up about 3 inches thick! Oops! Tasty though :) I do love fresh bread.

Then in between my second and third classes of the day, my housemate and I went for a wander round the lake at UEA. It was so sunny and such a pretty wander which was nice. A very good break from lectures.

The evening was very slow until I decided at 9pm that I decided I was going to get my inks out and have a play. Possibly a tad late to start playing but oh well! I've had a request to make some cabochons, and as I haven't made any before I've been playing around with ideas before making something for real. This is how far I've got so far - plastic and ink. It's hard to get the ink to do what I want it to to make it look nice and I did have one disastrous attempt, but this photo shows the four pieces that I am happy with. Now I just need to make them into cabs without ruining them! Fingers crossed!

 

Today I neeeeeed to get work done. At least some reading so that I know where these essays are going to go. You'd think that the thought of only having a month left at uni would make me do the work and get it over and done with. Quite the opposite, it seems that I just don't want to do it anymore! Unfortunately I need to get these essays done, but after that, and in a month, I can stop worrying about uni for good (well, until results!) and enjoy a few months off before job hunting. The end is in sight, I just need to get my bum in gear and reach that end!

Have a good day everyone :)

March 18th 2013 :) - Mother's Day Flowers

I had a lovely Saturday with my mum. We went shopping and had a wander around Hobbycraft and then the normal Tesco shop that we do when she comes up :) As we were going round we realised that that would probably be the last shop mum did for me while at uni! The three years have gone crazy fast. And we noted how my first ever shop at uni where I bought everything needed to make food interesting cost around £45. This shop we did cost £40 and it wasn't even half a conveyor belt full! Can't believe how much food prices have risen.

I also gave mum her mother's day present finally. She loved it! And that means I can finally tell you what I've been up to :)

I have started learning how to make french beaded flowers, and made mum a bouquet.

Got a busy day today so I will leave you with some photos of the bouquet. I'm very pleased with it, and even happier that mum loved it!

March 15th 2013 :)

Bit of a later blog post today. I've had absolutely not motivation or want to do anything today, it has been highly unproductive! Which now means I have to do a bunch of stuff this evening - not clever!

Yesterday I did quite a good bit of tidying and decluttering! Got rid of about 4 bags of rubbish, and found a bunch of stuff to give away to peeps so it was pretty successful. Not completely tidy, but a lot better than yesterday morning :)

So this morning was unproductive, then went to uni for a bit, then came back to wait in for a lady who was picking up some craft storage from me.

What a palava! The lady couldn't find my house to start with, and then her car broke down right outside! She came in with her son and had a cuppa to warm up and wait for the AA man to come fix her car. We had a natter though and eventually she got back on the road, craft storage drawers and all!

That has been my day in a nutshell.
I may not be able to post tomorrow - my mum is coming up and we are going to do a bit of retail therapy, wooo! Then got a pizza date night with my housemate which will be really nice :)

Phew. Right. I better get cracking with the things I should have done earlier, oops!

I shall leave you with one of my all time favourite photos - Meet Bert, who has just got out of his bath.

March 14th 2013 :) - Messy room!

It's Thursday!! Which means it's nearly Friday!! Which means it's nearly the weekend, wooooo!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. My mum is coming up to see me on Saturday so we're going to do a little shopping and I can finally give her my Mother's Day present. Not that my card ever arrived :( I sent it first class last Thursday and it still hasn't arrived at home. Really not happy about it.

But hopefully it arrives at some point!

I also need to start thinking about moving out. I'm not sure exactly when it'll be but I definitely need to start culling the amount of 'stuff' I have if I ever want it to fit in my room at home! I also realised this morning that it has got to the point where I literally have too much stuff as I cannot keep my room even slightly organised. Every new little thing that appears in my room seems to create complete and utter chaos. Tis not good! I have a new DVD player now (My old one skipped constantly. So frustrating, especially when I use it nearly everyday!) so I think I will pop on DVD or two, enjoy the non-skipping films, and get on with organising chaos.

So today the plan is to get a little order in this room. Ha! I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes!

Wish me luck! :P

March 13th 2013 - Scrunchie Time!

Mornin'!

I can now show you the little sewing project I made last week. It was a present for my Aunt and as she received it yesterday I can now show you :D

It's a scrunchie!

This was the first time I've made a scrunchie so it is a little rough around the edges.

This is how I made it:

I cut a strip of fabric about 3 inches wide and about 12 inches long. I folded it in half and sewed down the side. Then I pulled the inside out so the sewing was all on the inside. This was quite fiddly but I got there eventually.

Then I took some elastic - about 6 inches long and 8mm wide and threaded it through the fabric tube. Also pretty fiddly! After this, I overlapped the two ends of the elastic and sewed back and forward across it a few times to make sure it was completely secure.

The next bit didn't work perfectly but worked kind of ok, if a little messy. I folded in the ends of the tubes so there were no rough edges and then sewed the ends together, just by sewing through both ends and pulling them tight so the ends attached and I ended up with a complete scrunchie with  no elastic showing. You can just see the join in the top right of the photo above. It's pretty neat, but not neat enough as you can still see quite a few stitches!

I reckon there's a tutorial online somewhere showing how to join the ends perfectly, but I didn't even think to look, I just started making and sewing!

Anyways, I am very pleased with it for a first attempt, and my Aunt really likes it too so that's what matters!

And to finish, huge **HAPPY BIRTHDAY** to my cousin who is 16 today! Very proud of you in everything you do :) xxx