Totoro Tote Bag!

One night when I was feeling super blue and was unable to sleep, I decided to be pro-active and crochet up this cheeky little fellow! I didn't use a pattern (and unfortunately I was not in the right frame of mind to have even thought to write down what I did) but it was a straight forward double crochet (US single crochet) extended oval base and then rounds of treble crochet (US double crochet) until I reached the desired height. I used treble crochet for two long straps. I appliqued the eyes, nose and belly (with yarn used to make the little arrow bits) using felt. The bag is also lined using scrap t-shirt fabric. I keep meaning to make him some whiskers so the poor people who have no knowledge of this magnificent beast stop thinking he's an owl.

What a cutie!

Cute Cat Embroidery

 This is based on a picture I found on Pinterest from Pusheen and thought would be a cute way to cheer up my Dad :) Which it did and it is still (5 months on) residing pride of place on top of the TV!

I used my usual combination of satin stitch and back stitch, with some french knots for the eyes. I just used some random polycotton I had lying around and when it was done I put it into a simple wooden frame.

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Long over due blog award thank you post!

Last year the lovely and super talented Wendy from The Butterfly Balcony (Check out her blog, it's totally darling!) awarded me with not one, but TWO blog awards! Can you believe it?! And this is my very long over due thank you to her - Wendy, you're wonderful and you really made my day, thank you :)

So following Wendy's example I will be passing both awards along at the same time to the following people -

Charlotte from Heart's Cottage
Emily from The Cute Octopus
Nikki from Multibeavo's world

Maria from When Life Gives You Lemons
Sue from Sweet Pea Family Blog

And now for the (probably very boring) 7 facts about me....

1. I don't watch television! I do own a TV but it is used for computer games and DVD/VHS watching only. I do watch some TV shows such as Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives but on online catch up or DVD. I also watch science documentaries on online catch up because I'm a nerd haha!

2. I work as a "seamstress". It is killing off my love of sewing. I do not do glamorous dresses or anything fun, I repair and alter work wear (boiler suits etc). On the plus side of things I have a far better control of a machine (domestic machines seem so slow compared to an industrial!) and can put a zip in blindfolded!

3. I am a crazy cat lady - how could I not be with this fluffy munchkin?!

4. I have started up my own charity crafting organisation Hearts and Crafts. I have only managed to do one project so far due to a combination of being so busy and it being so difficult to find places which would like something other than money. I keep at it though and hopefully a new project will appear soon!

5. Nobody has ever taught me any of my crafty skills. If I want to learn to do something, I just do it! I highly recommend that if you are interested in any crafty hobby, that you just get on and dive right in! There are so many wonderful blogs out there with helpful hints and tips, not to mention you tube videos and the vast resource of pinterest there really is no need to wait!

6. I have a pet coconut. His name is Colin. I have had him for around 4 years now and he has featured on the blog before. Sometimes he gets a little wild....

7. I have a major book fetish! In our house there are hundreds of books, non fiction, fiction, graphic novels, art books, coffee table books......lots and lots of books! We really need more book shelves but have no room :( I have tried and tried to come up with a way to squeeze more in but folks, it just aint happening! I prefer to read non fiction nowadays, I just can't get enough of learnin' stuff ha ha!

So that concludes seven boring facts about me, which has taken about two hours to come up with. Lame I know. Any way, further thank you's to Wendy and I hope you all check out her blog and the ones which I have passed on the awards to.

The Pledge

Sounds a bit ominous..... but thankfully I am talking about the Seamless Pledge - check out the funky button!
I stumbled upon this by chance from  a cute little blog I ended up at called Heart's Cottage and was intrigued. I will be honest, I don't really buy clothes very often, it stresses me out and my "particularness" means I rarely find anything I like enough to shell out for. I either make from scratch or upcycle existing clothes from my "uurgh, I am not feeling that anymore, I'll shove it in this box and get around to sorting it out later" pile. I will also have to exclude bras from this as I am on the hefty side of things so only NASA engineered over the shoulder boulder holders are good enough to stop my boobage from going wild! So other than the exclusion, perhaps the pledge is a little wasted on me. But I would like to join in anyhow so....

I, Lucy Lovell, take the Seamless Pledge, and vow not to buy any new clothes (except bras) and stick to the rules laid out below, until I sort myself out and am wearing a UK size 12 clothes. Once I have dropped the 2 dress sizes necessary I will re-assess my pledge and set another target. I would like to be free from the tyranny of corporation and this pledge is one facet of a multi-sided endeavour to become self sufficient and stick it to the man.

The rules -

1. No buying new clothes for the duration of your pledge. By new, I mean any new mass-manufactured clothes.
2. You can buy second-hand manufactured clothes – so be prepared to get to know your local charity shops awfully well.
3. Vintage clothing is a-ok!
4. Anything you’ve made by hand is definitely allowed. Get your sewing machines and your kntting needles out, because handmade is definitely in!

So what are you waiting for? Get involved and be inspired!

Bloglovin'

Hello! It has been a while.... lets just say that 2012 was not my year, in addition to my nana passing away at the beginning of the year, my grandad also passed away in November.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, I started a degree with the O.U. in Astronomy and Planetary Science - exciting stuff! My immediate plans relating to this involve teaching physics, but I would like to continue and get a masters and a phd... a dream that seems so far away now but I'm sure will be realised in no time at all! So any way, I have been struggling with time management and everything that was not involved in the daily routine of work, homework and sleep didn't get a look in. I have still been up to some crafting so there will be some previous projects popping up here to fill everyone in! I have my exam in the beginning of June so from then until October I will be FREEEEEEEE!!!!! to craft to my hearts content and hopefully get a good volley of posts up before I am a slave to the textbooks again :)

In the meantime, there is some google reader thing people in blogland have been talking about, I will admit that I don't really know what the implications are or really what will change but I have followed everyone and jumped ship to bloglovin', so my dear readers, I hope to see you there!


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