what i'd wear = flight of fantasy

Anyone else feeling like a big bag of shite?

I have done for the past nine months in my job. 

Am I going on about my crapola job again...

Well, I need to spend some serious doe to make myself feel better -

problem is the bank manager wouldn't agree so I went on Polyvore.

Rather than go to work tomorrow I would like to imagine something better...

Right this is what I'd do:

 I'm off to the Savoy Hotel in London for cocktails and I'm wearing this:

Anyone else coming?

Tinkety Tonk

DIY = necklace storage frame

Hello, people.

I saw this jewellery rack in a mail order catalogue and thought I can make that!

This original from Cox & Cox is £32.

 So I did.

Mine cost about £7 - Bargain!

Here it is:

You'll need:

A Picture Frame (You've cracked the glass of an old picture frame? Perfect! Waste not, want not.)

Nice fabric

A Staple gun

Paint

Sandpaper

I needed pliers to get the old backing pins out.
A ruler (optional - to line up the hooks)

I got this beauty at the Hospice Charity Shop £4!

Mine was an old frame and had these nasty-looking sharp backing pins.  Hence, pliers.

Remove the glass and lay out the backing board from the frame onto the fabric.

Staple it securely, stretching the fabric constantly to avoid wrinkles.

I made mine pretty secure.

Now onto the frame: rub down and paint (I used a mat emulsion).

Then get your hooks.  I liked these L-shaped ones.

Screw them on.  Make sure they are tight and won't turn about.

I lined them all up using a ruler but you might want them more random.

Then re-attach the frame (those pesky pins!)

The two bead necklaces on the left are my own creations, too!

 Tinkety Tonk

my weekend = newtown collage

Another Sunday goes by...

I have to say my weekend has been a bit meh.

I have been, once again, to my now rather ritualistic pilgrimage to Newtown; to calm my jangled nerves before return to the hell-hole that is my work.

("Only 12 weeks to go 'till freedom- stay positive," is my mantra.)

I also found another free photo editing site -ipiccy 

I can thoroughly recommend its collage facility.

I haven't got photo shop and this was really easy.

Easy is all I can manage on a Sunday night.

I know I'm really lucky to live near such a beautiful place as Newtown and its nature reserve.

 Sadly, most of the beauty is wasted on the 'inhabitants' of this town,

(it's actually the size of a hamlet-long story)

as most of the houses are second homes to the wealthy.

Us locals call them D.F.Ls (down from London).

There are only a few elderly 'natives' and after they go...I fear then the place will well and truly be a ghost town.  So sad that the divide between rich and poor could ruin what must have been and could be a warm and supportive rural community.

Still, us peasants can visit and bask in the beauty that our betters have on tap.

You won't be able to see that the post box has V.R (Victoria Regina) - it was not exactly the heyday of this place but it must have been still quite lively back then.  

Newtown's steeped in a very long history stretching back thousands of years.  

It was briefly the capitol of the Isle of Wight.  Now there are only about 15 houses. But the beautiful surrounding countryside is protected by the National Trust which is lucky.

Anyhoo, 

Tinkety Tonk

Flash Fiction Entry - Creative Writing

I enjoy writing, occasionally.

I've even entered two competitions. I wasn't selected for either.

Perhaps I should take the hint.

However, should you give up something you enjoy even if other people don't think you're wonderful? 

NO, damn it!
I've only ever written short stories.  I tend to think in terms of a snapshot of life rather than a chronology.

I especially like flash fiction because it's short and it's about all my butterfly brain can cope with before distraction happens...

I entered my most recent piece in a competition of sorts - to be included in an anthology to celebrate

 National Flash Fiction Day.

The only rules were that your piece was between 200-500 words and the title should be one word and reflect the content of the story.

Perhaps, I shouldn't subject you to it here, but I think writing is as creative as working with paper or material and comes as naturally to me as any other medium.

The title of mine was:

 'Frigg'.

(Yes, the connotations were intended.)

Frigg is also the name of Odin's wife and the goddess of married love.

I found this nuggett of information at the wonderful entymological website the Inky Fool.

Although I am unmarried, I wanted to portray a darker side to marriage, in contrast to the romantic ideal.

..................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................

 They don't give you feed back on your submissions.  

Perhaps one of you in the ether might tell me what you think.

Tinkety Tonk

DIY = strawberry bookmark

Sometime ago I share a step by step guide to making these little strawberry badge beauties. 

I had a couple left over and thought, why not make a stylish bookmark with it!

Here's how - it's a piece of pee-pee:

Get your pre-made strawberry badge and a length of binding or ribbon.

Hot glue the badge onto a piece of binding. You could sew it if you prepare.

Now allow it to beautifully adorn a lucky book.

Tinkety Tonk

paper + card = bunny card

It's my little goddaughter's 2nd birthday.

So, I made her this card.

Want to make one too?

You'll need:

• Card Blank (mine are from Paperchase)
• White pen (as above)
• Pencil
• Black waterproof pen (Letraset)
• Pretty Paper ( I cut mine out of a magazine)
• Scissor
• Bit of ribbon 
• Glue or double sided sticky tape

 

 

 

 

 Adorable! Don't you agree?

Tinkety Tonk

doodle day 8 - modern cameo + pic monkey

Everyone seems to have this massive pash for silhouettes.

You can't move for the modern cameo, don't you know.

I was trawling the internet for images of cameos and found a couple I liked and then found  my way to this MAGNIFICENT board on Pinterest actually called 'modern cameo'...whoa...

Well, it just so happens I was sketching my own profile,

(I'm not a COMPLETE egotist my affliction is merely partial)

and I thought I'd jazz it up a bit and at the same time try out the newish free photo editing site, 'Pic Monkey', which seems to have burgeoned from the phantasmagorical site 'Picnik'.

I loved Picnik cos I don't have photoshop and was getting worried as it's closing in few days.  Pic Monkey was mentioned on someone's blog I read (if I could remember who, I'd French kiss them) and now all I can say is I love it more than CHEESE!

Take a look at what I did in about 15 mins!

Here's my original sketch (yes, I CAN look less than gorgeous).

Uploaded to Pic Monkey: I just used an effect called 'daguerreotype' - giving a charchoal effect.

This has a 'daguerreotype' effect with 'edifice' texture

 The last one is so brillig! 

It really looks like a bit of hastily completed graffiti with zero effort,

 and, oh dear, talking of having a pash, Pic Monkey is my new wanton plaything...

 Tinkety Tonk

Black Sunday

 I have had a lovely Easter holiday but I have to go back to work tomorrow and I am disturbed.  

I don't use that word lightly.

For years I have found my job reasonable, if challenging, and at my last school really enjoyable, but my current school is torture.  I can't wait to leave but I need to endure for another 3 months and, although I'll leave even if I haven't got another job frst, I would like the security of having one.

I have never cried so much since starting there (I'm not the only one - colleagues feel the same).

At times like these, I could think of the good things in my life but I hate fatuous 'uplifting' platitutes, you know, the ones you see on Pinterest, everyday:

  

Am I the ONLY one to think shut the (insert your own expletive) up you self righteous (add another)?

The only things that makes me feel better is a good laugh. 

So here's my search for funnies to try to avoid thinking of tomorrow:

Tinkety Tonk

DIY = turquoise bead bracelet

I am quite chuffed with myself today.

I haven't made much jewellery before but I really LOVE beads.

I've collected LOADS over the years and thought it was about time I made something before I drowned in them.

So, I made this simple bracelet.

My sister's birthday is coming up and I would like to give this to her as part of a 'present pack'.

It was really easy (I reckon).

Here's how:

 Supplies:

Seed beads (mine were turquoise colour and metal)

A complementary bead thread (nylon)

Crimping ends

A fastning of some kind (Bar Clasp/Lobster Clasp (jump rings needed for these) or Ribbon)

Supplies

Thread your first bead onto the nylon and tie a knot round it.

Tip: To make the knot more secure 'cement' it with nail varnish.

Thread your beads (see you next century!). 

Make it easier for yourself - use a beading board (don't make your own like I did!)

Offer it up against your wrist to regularly check the length.

Put the bead with the knot into a crimping end and sqeeze it together

Put your jump rings and your clasp on with pliers (or use your nails) and YOU'RE DONE.

OR, like me, thread a bit of ribbon through the crimp end ring and thread a larger bead through (or knot it) to secure it.

 Then present it to a happy recipient!

Tinkety Tonk

Let's celebrate!

To some really successful bloggers it will mean nothing, but I had 101 views on my blog yesterday.

I'm well chuffed.

101 perfect strangers came to my blog and thought  

that's good or that's a pile of buttocks or meh

Still, they CAME.

Huzzay!

I LOVE anything fizzy so to celebrate I'm going to crack open the Prosecco.

Chin, chin.

Tinkety Tonk