So I failed on writing up a Good Mood Mondays post yesterday but here I am, bright and early on a Tuesday morning writing a replacement, hereafter known as a Totally Awesome Tuesdays’ blog post 🙂 I wasn’t sure what to write for my good moods post this week, not because I’m not in a good mood, but sometimes it’s hard to pick one.   First I wanted to show this comic from Questionable Content. It was a filler comic for valentine’s day but Oh My God is it cute 😀 so here, revel in the cuteness of holo-animals 😀

Secondly, I have finally finished and photographed my line of Jane Austen inspired home wares. I am hoping to get the shop relaunched properly on the 3rd of March, and it is now going to include a few lines of literary inspired items. This makes me happy because it allows me to not only expand my customer base but to indulge in one of my very favourite activities: reading. Business wise things are going very good, putting me in a good mood for this week at the very least 🙂  I am in talks with small business funders, and a few boutiques in and around Edinburgh possibly interested in stock my products.   Plus tonight I get to see Flash Gordon in the cinema 😀   I hope this has been a suitable replacement for my Monday’s post, regular service will resume next week 🙂   ♥

It was strange trying to think of a topic for this week’s Good Mood Monday as today marks the 3 years anniversary of my gran’s death. I want to make this post a feel good post but need to discuss a few things first, so bear with me 🙂

The day I found out my gran died was a Friday, Friday the 13th in fact, but it didn’t feel like it was terribly bad luck thing to happen. The date didn’t correlate with the idea of bad luck; she could have died a week later and it would have still been horrible.

I was in Wales at university when it happened and wasn’t sure what to do, I couldn’t jump on a train straight away, partly because it was about 8pm by that point but also I had uni work to do over the weekend. My first response was to see my friends, to not hide in my room. We decided to rent a film to take my mind off things. Wandering round the rental shop, I struggled to find a film. What film wouldn’t make me cry? What film doesn’t deal with family and/or death? Which film is totally unrelated to everything that was going through my head? The film I came up with was “Drop Dead Fred”

I LOVED this film growing up, as a child (and adult) with a fertile and somewhat overactive imagination, the idea that your invisible childhood friend could come back and help at the most difficult points in your life was brilliant. Plus, I would argue it is an example of Rik Mayall at his insane best 😀 The strange thing is, when watching this film recently I finally got a lot of references that went over my head as a child, making me question why I was allowed to watch this film as a 6 year old. However, I would argue that this film is the perfect pick-me-up for anyone needing to escape reality for an hour or so.

It has become a tradition of mine now to sit and watch “Drop Dead Fred” at least once on February 13th. So after this post, I’ll be making a hot chocolate, wrapping a blanket round myself and settling down to watch the movie and remembering how awesome my gran was.

So after that little heartfelt message of love I bring you the real Good Mood Mondays post.
I want to talk about two things, both related to cats.

First the art of cat breading please click this link because every cat in the land must at least once be breaded and the results shared on the interwebs for everyone to see 😀

Secondly, and I won’t say much on this except Cat Yodelling is epic:

That’s me done for today. Hope everyone has a good Monday and an awesome week all round 😀 ❤

I spent a lot of this weekend thinking about what to blog about for today’s post and originally I was going to post about Sherlock and more specifically Benedict Cumberbatch, because if anything is going to help me into a good mood on a Monday it’s Benedict Cumberbatch and his mysterious cheekbones 😀

BUT as I was checking Facebook this morning I found one of my friends had posted a link to Superhero Valentines Cards. It was so epic that I needed to share.

It really doesn’t matter if, like me you are a bit unconvinced by the point of Valentine’s Day ( a discussion for another day) because this set is worth it just for the cheesy messages and the fact it has BATMAN AND SUPERMAN SAYING HAPPY VALENTINES!

This makes my inner geek very happy, and my outer geek giggle a lot 😀

The actual site can be found here so not only is it a fun  idea but you too can cut them out and spend a fun filled afternoon assembling classic DC valentines 😀

Hope everyone is having a good day, and that’s it’s a start of a good week.

See you in the future ♥

So another week has passed and it’s Monday again. Don’t worry though because my Good Mood Monday’s segment is here to save you from a day filled with bleakness and sleep-deprivation 😀 This week I wanted to share a video I found a few weeks ago. It’s been making the rounds globally and I can understand why. When I first watch it, it nearly killed me with its utterly loveliness and sweetness. If you like it PLEASE share it and help the cause. I’ll put a link to the web address after it too.

Workspace week 🙂

A big part of my first week back has been spent reorganising my studio. In all honestly I do this every month or so but this time I was gone for a full three months and left my parents with access to it. Last Thursday I came back to this:

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With my cutting table dismantled and hidden somewhere under the window.

I set to work…first on the agenda was getting some proper shelving. I have lived too long without proper shelves in my studio, so after a quick trip to B&Q I have somewhere to keep all my costume books and various bits and bobs.

 

Not nearly big enough but at least it’s a start 🙂

Yesterday included a visit to Ikea for storage items including this my new tower of fabric 🙂

Again, nowhere near enough space but it’s a fun way of storing some of it and being able to see what I have at a glance 🙂

I also bought this because it’s awesome 🙂

So now after a week of the shop being reopened and finally getting over the jet lag enough to do some physical labour I have a tidy and usable work space even if I am still sharing it with my mum 🙂

So I want to see your workspace 🙂 even if it’s just a desk with a pile of books and a laptop! Share in the comments and have fun 🙂

♥

I arrived home safely from my Canadian experience on Thursday. Despite travelling constantly for almost 15 hours and being awake for almost 30 I haven’t suffered from jet-lag too much which means my plans for reopening the shop today go ahead without a hitch 🙂

Apart from reopening the shop I’m hoping to start blogging more consistently, and to help me with that I propose a weekly segment called “Good Mood Mondays” I know from experience how difficult it can be to get out of bed really early in the morning especially when it’s below freezing and still dark outside. Any way the point of this segment is to give a bit of happiness and cheer to your early morning Monday starts. I’ll be picking things that make me smile, giggle or that I just find sweet. If you have any suggestions I welcome any comments 🙂

So our first instalment is at least a few months if not about a year old but it still makes me smile it’s from XKCD and it’s about the discovery channel 🙂

It’s so happy and upbeat that it makes me feel better every time I look at it. Ok so after that little interlude it’s back to work I go: lots of things to make and do if I want to earn money in 2012 🙂
Hop over to the shop and say hi! Wednesday’s Child Is On Etsy

♥

This year has been interesting in many ways. While some fairly major events have happened, both good and bad; this year has not been a year of complete highs and complete lows, for which I thankful.

One of the major events was me finally graduating from university. I knew from the age of about 9 that I would be going to university so as much as I would like to go back and get a masters or a PhD eventually it feels really good to say I have finally graduated with a 2.1 undergraduate degree. It also marked the end for now of my life in full time education. Apart from the year between college and university when I worked on my portfolio I have been consistently in education for 18 years and I am really ready for the next bit.

Which brings me to Etsy. Finding out about Etsy and deciding to open up a shop made a huge impact on my confidence levels. Come June, I will have been open and operating for a year. To be able to imagine actually making a living doing something I love is incredible and gives me belief in myself and my abilities.

While the start of 2011 was a bit rocky – losing 2 beloved cats in the space of 2 months – the majority of the year was fun. I completed a 13,000 word dissertation (was only supposed to be 10,000 oops ha ha ha) participated in the biggest anti-cuts march ever to happen in Britain and received my first “first grade” in a module at university.

The middle of the year hit a slight bump when on the return journey from my graduation ceremony my family and I were involved in 4 car crash on the motorway. 3 of the 4 cars were written off because of the damage but thankfully other than a few minor bruises no one was hurt. My parents’ composure and strength through that time was incredible, my brother had been sitting next to the point of most impact on the car and had the other driver hit us in a slightly different place we would have probably lost my brother. The echoes back to his first car accident were frightfully loud.

However, we came through this OK and now my mum has just finished her first term at university doing a fantastic Masters degree in Art Therapy while my brother has travelled down to London to attend a very highly acclaimed university for his BA.

The last part of the year has been the most exciting and unknown for me. I had planned to move to Canada for 7 months starting in October and while my plans got slightly changed thanks to Canadian immigration I am now coming to the end of a 3 month trip which has included getting to meet lots of new people, spend Christmas and new year with my best friend and her husband and meeting my gorgeous god-daughter as she said hello to the world on the 18th November.

It has been an amazing experience for me and I am preparing to leave knowing I will always have a home here if I wanted it. It’s been incredible watching my gorgeous god-daughter Anne grow up so much even in these 2 short months, from being new born to being so aware of what’s around her and watching her learn to smile.

And in a couple of weeks I will be heading back home, my plans include expanding Etsy, working on some interesting projects with friends and saving up either for driving lessons or another trip to Canada. 2011 was good to me so let’s hope 2012 is even better 😀

♥

I’ve been very productive this morning. Made a start on both custom orders I have waiting which brings me one (or two depending on how you look at it) step closer to marking them off my do to list for Canada.

As of today I have only 5 weeks before I hop on the plane over there so I’m trying not to hit panic stations too soon. But in general this is a busy time as I’m starting to get things ready for the Halloween and Christmas period on etsy. I also have a ton of things to make for presents and clothes for going out there too. But I have my lists so hopefully it’ll all go to plan. 🙂

I was going to end this post by showing you my studio or a picture of our tiny little chicks, but my studio is a mess and it’s gale force winds and rain outside and I don’t want to venture out 🙂

Instead here is a picture of my kitty Josephine hoarding her gold 🙂

♥

So I like making harry potter wands. This Christmas just passed my university friends and I had a Hogwarts themed Christmas party so I went a little mad and made about 7 wands for everyone.

My wands are usually very simple. Willow grows in our garden like crazy so I’m never short of easily carved lengths of wood to play with.

I of course had made myself a wand to go with my Hogwarts robes, this one was hazel and although simple I liked it. Except that 5 minutes before I went in to watch the final Harry Potter film this happened:

I was kind of upset by this but then I thought it was the perfect chance for me to make a new fancy one for myself.

This is the first time I’ve properly tried to use a dremel for an actually project. The others ties i was just trying to figure out which attachment did what.
I started by sawing a new piece of willow and stripping it of the bark. I picked a slightly thicker piece that usual because I new I’d be carving into it quite deeply.

I drew a simple design in pencil and used a stanley knife to carve out a basic cut line for the design.

I then started using the dremel to sand away from the outline to create a smooth design. unfortunately near the end when I wasn’t paying attention the sanding attachment came loose and spun off, hit the wall and broke. thankfully it didn’t hit me or any of the cats and I was almost finished the sanding anyway 🙂

v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} b:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

<!– [if pub]> 281 1 7560000 10692000 359410 259 261 257 276 262 279 1 0#Z'+W=DYC$N<*"!#/3/RR` 5 1 1 285 282 1 False 0 0 0 0 -1 304800 243 True 128 77 255 3175 3175 70 True True True True True 278 134217728 8 Empty 8210719 5066944 12419407 14806254 16711680 8388736 16777215 75 Office <![endif]–><!– [if pub]> 22858575 22852950 (`@““““` 266 263 5 110183775 110178150 <![endif]–>

I then used sand paper to finish off and smooth the rest of the wood. I then highlighted the design in gold metallic paint.

I decided to stain the wood with brown watercolour paint and redid some of the gold, where my hands had slipped 🙂

I had planned on varnishing once the paint had dried but decided against it. I might come back and do it but for now I’m happy with the slight rustic look. Also it turns out that the design I chose was exactly simple for my first dremel project but at least i’ll be more confident next time. And now the finished product, I used black leather thonging to wrap around the handle. Next time I think I’ll sand and shape the handle before doing the rest of the wand as it would be easier 🙂

Although the most fun part of this project was chasing my cat through the house after he had stepped in a glob of gold paint. I managed to catch him and wash it off before too much damage was done, he wasn’t happy lol 🙂

Stole this survey from Kristina Horner’s blog

1. What’s your Pottermore username? CatStone95
2. What House do you think it sounds like? I want to say Gryffindor, but that’s kind of obvious. I’m not really sure what house it sounds like. Cats are kind of stubborn but lovable so maybe gryffindor after all 🙂
3. What House do you want to be in? Ideally Gryffindor, since that’s the house I have identified with for the longest. But having read various psychoanalytical readings of the house like this one I would say I could kind of fit into hufflepuff or ravenclaw aswell.
4. Does your username relate to you at all? Absolutely! my cats are a huge part of my life. Not quite sure about the stone part but hey I like the beach, I even kept a few cool stones from the beach near my university as mementos. So that part is cool with me 😀
5. What kind of wand would you wish to get? I always though willow or hazel, with unicorn hair or dragon heartstring. But I’m really not bothered 😀
6. Are you pure, half-blooded or Muggle born?  You know, I never actually thought about that. I guess muggle-born
7. Which day did you get into Pottermore? Day 2. I managed to get the clue on day one but too late! 😦
8. What shape is your Patronus? Quite probably a big cat. all cats are gorgeous.
9. What does your boggart look like? I’m not really frightened of anything but I hate clowns so that would probably appear :s
10. Would you rather be an Animagus or a Matamorphmagus? Tricky I love being able to dye my hair but it completely messes up the quality so I would love to do that at will, but being an animal would be awesome too. Yay for not making decisions!
11. If you were an Animagus, what animal would you be? I would be a cat for sure.

See you in the future! ♥