More Crochet Terrariums

Not the best photos, I'm afraid. The corner of the room that they're in never gets much sunlight. You can see a stand-alone one here too. I made that one about 3 weeks before these ones.

This is how I've arranged them so far, there should be a bunch of others going up in the next few weeks. The idea is to make a huge arrangement of them up on the walls so it feels like I'm living in a weird fungi-ifed cave-room.

More close-ups can be seen on my Flickr page. Anyone feel like getting me a pro account as a belated birthday gift?

New Work

More to come...

Baggins

But first, let's have a look at my the new member of my terrarium family! I found it in the same car boot sale in Battersea where I found all my other treasures. It was caked in dust and had grimy, grim plastic flowers glued in it. But I took it home, ripped out the gross flowers, and planted real flowers in it. Alyssum and lobelia, for a mix of purple and white when they flower. If, they flower...

And now, new little baby bagginses. This first one was my test run, and I'm using it as pouch for my digital camera. I've added padding for protection, and the outside made of 5 layers of plastic carrier bags fused together. Padded, and waterproof!

If you're running out of storage space for those plastic bags that every shop seems to insist on handing out to you, then making stuff out of fused plastic bags is probably a good way to get rid of them without adding to landfill. How very earth-friendly.
And fusing them together is strangely addictive - have some afternoon murder mystery (I like me some Murder, She Wrote, personally) playing on the telly for distraction, start the iron, and go!

These'll go into the shop too, I'll probably end up making heaps of them as they are strangely satisfying to make...might be all that padding. Like a little pillow...

Looms And No More Room

I made a loom! Although arguably not the most 'professional' looking loom, it's still pretty awesome, and still allows me to weave, which is all that really matters, don'cha reckon? And it cost me next to nothing (I only had to pay for the nails).

To make it, I followed Corvus Tristis' tute (if you count looking at photos and approximating measurements 'following'). It's really simple and takes up hardly any time at all, plus, if your idea of fun is banging things and making loud noises, then it's quite fun too!
First, you need to get two pieces of wood, roughly the same lengh. Or get one long piece and saw it in half. I used a long piece of wood about 2'' by 4''. Sand down the edges so you don't get splinters in it. See how easy it is? I'm even wearing a dress and scarf while doing it.Next, mark out where your nails are going to go. I followed Corvus Tristis' advice and made the markings half an inch apart.
Then - this is where the fun starts - hammer the nails into the wood, at an angle. I think this is possibly so your yarn/thread/stuff stays on better.

Ok, I know it looks like I've just hammered the nails into my floor, but, I haven't. The planks of wood are just a similar colour to the floor.

Oops, I think I missed the photos for the next couple of steps. Anyway, secure your pieces of wood to the floor or table (as far apart as you want the finished piece to be, plus a few more inches. I just guessed the length I wanted), then get your yarn/thread/ stuff and start winding it longways around the nails. I think the professionals call this the 'warp'.

Then, start weaving - over one thread and under the other, then back the other way. I'm not sure if I'm making much sense, you'll get it when you actually start doing it.

Things seemed to go well at first, but then something went wrong and the tension seemed to go awry. I tried to fashion a sort of make-shift heddle too, but it didn't work out too well...sob!
I stopped this piece and cut it off the loom after only about 30 cms, but I've since started another piece. This one has been taped to the top of the coffee table in the living room, so, no usable coffee table right now. Deal with it!

In other news...the car boot sale in Battersea is an evil, evil place. If by double-evil you mean 'getting lots of lovely stuff for not too much money at all!' place, then Battersea is the place to be on a Sunday arvo. Here's a rundown of stuff I purchased -
Box of vintage knitting needles (I think some of them are Bakelite), and a bell-shaped metal gauge, a plastic ruler, a random large safety pin, and a bone crochet hook - the lot for £2! I only wanted the bell-shaped gauge but, hey, a box of needles for £1.50 more? I couldn't resist...and they knew it.

A lovely princessy top that's fairly yellowed with age but has awesome sequinned beading. I'm gonna Napisan it and maybe add a skirt-y bit to it, then it'll probably go into the store. I thought of keeping it for myself but I'm a fatty and can barely squeeze into it...

Here's a close-up of the sequins

Right, I'm not too sure what this is supposed to be, but I got it anyway so I could use it as a lace trimming on some of the stuff I want to make. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions as to what this really is, then leave a comment please. It feels like very old, fine cotton lace and is only about 0.5mm in width.

I got this awesome large pineapple motif doily in the same £1 per item box as that princessy top. Strangely enough, even though I hate eating pineapples (they hurt my tongue!), I actually really like pineapple motifs in crochet. I got those two boxes of hankies from another stall, and that other doily from somewhere else. I'm collecting doilies and hankies for a new project so if anyone has any and wants to get rid of some...you know where to send them!

Close-up of the hankies

A huge bunch of lace and some reels of vintage crochet threads. I've become a little obsessed with covering manky old buttons in fine crochet thread over the last fortnight. More pictures of those buttons in another post. That big wodge of white nylon lace, which probably comes up to about 20 metres, cost me all of 50p.

Like I said, Battersea car boot sale is an evil, evil place. I have hardly any space left in my lil' flat now.

Girls Can Do Anything

Anyone remember these?

Girl's World - Fashion Designer!

If you were a girl growing up in the '80s then you very well might recognise that sickly shade of pink - reserved for the manufacture of every toy marketed at girls between 2 - 14 years old.
I had one but my mum threw it out when we moved - that's why I live a good 24 hours flight away from them now (am I kidding? Who knows?)

Inside view

But it's alright, I found one - with all parts included - in a second-hand shop last year, so all's well with the world these days. Strangely enough, the shop decided that the box needed one of these warnings.

Of course it's suitable for children! It's called "Girl's World". It's a kids toy...for kids! It even has that cute little Tomy logo in the corner with the happy children! And it's not even like there's tiny pieces in it that kids can choke on. Unless you knew a kid with a monstrously wide mouth - maybe an 8 year old Steven Tyler?

Sexy lady

Back of lady

When you turn the front bits over, you'll see textures on the back pf the plates. Once you've traced the outline of the outfit, you can then fill it in with patterns and textures. Not just a pretty face.

Mine even came with already coloured-in drawings from the little girl who owned it before me. She seems to have given them all names and personalities too.

Serina SmartiePants - Bahahahaah, my favourite

This one's my favourite picture coz it looks like she has hyper-trichosis. It's actually a picture on the side of the box, so I'm guessing it wasn't drawn by a kid. What the fuck's going on? Maybe the product designer had a crush on Jojo the Wolfboy?

All the single ladies...

Now I wanna go get awesome vintage fabric and make 70's tennis outfits. Instead, I made a little owlie.
This little guy was meant to go into the store, maybe as a pincushion, but I dunno if I can bear to part with him. And I don't like the thought of some random sticking pins into him. I might give it away to someone I know will treat him well.
Speaking of the store, I was getting all depressed coz no one had bought anything for over a week, and no one even seemed to be looking at any of our stuff, then I logged on yesterday morning and saw that I had sold two aprons overnight!
The buyers will receive their aprons in a very nicely wrapped up package. Coz I like wrapping things up.

And lastly - are those weeds growing in my terrarium? Can someone with more plant knowledge than me please let me know? I was excited when I saw little green things sprouting, but now that they're bigger some of them look suspiciously similar to those weedy things you see in cracks on the street. I dunno what to do! If they look like they're going all Triffid-style in the mossararium I might pull them out.

Pooping Crochet

I got poo on my mind. Poo, and moss. But mainly poo. I think I just like saying it. It just rolls off the tongue so easily. Go on...say it -poooooooo...

So I made one. Well, actually, I've made more than one (of course!) but I've only made one so far that doesn't stink up a room and isn't messy. Behold the crocheted poop!It's really easy to make, single crochet all around, and if you've been crocheting for awhile, you'll be able to make it without any instructions. If you're a beginner and need to be told how to shit, then simply google it. The interweb is full of crap. Quite literally.

And while we're talking about nastiness, I thought I'd throw in some pictures of my bruises for you too. I acquired these while cycling down Victoria Road about 4 days before I left Sydney. A parting present, perhaps? I actually burst into tears after I got up, mainly because I was a little shocked at having found myself on the ground, just before unnnecessarily-large 4-wheel-drives started zooming past.

Anyway, besides making poo, I've been surprisingly productive this past week. Not having a job is great! It allows me to do all the things I never could while I was working. Not that having to sit in reception and check in grumpy Euro-touros every couple of hours was a particularly exhausting job.

I started and finished this bonnet, which I got from a Patons booklet from the op-shop. The pattern was actually for a doll's bonnet, but dolls are creepy and I don't intend on buying them, much less making clothes for them. So I simply used a bigger hook and made it human size.
(I look fairly sheepish in the photo because I just realised I looked like a giant baby. That's enough to make anyone look sheepish. Or maybe that's just how I look in all my photos anyway.)

I've also finished a couple more aprons, and two skirts made from big old-lady scarfs. These, and the bonnet, are going into the Etsy store that Googy and I have set up. And also some ear stretchers. I've only made three for now coz I ran out of Fimo. I'll include a link for the store at the side or something. There's nothing in it now anyway. Except for a picture of Nugget. Nugget is hot. It's our mascot.
And just for my own viewing pleasure, I've made a little moss terrarium. A mossarium? I found the perfect jar for it in one of the op-shops in Camberwell on Sunday, then dragged the poor, sick boy to the park with me so I could scoop up some lovely green moss.
Another op-shop find was the tiny little Ful-Vue camera - looks like a half-sized version of a medium format twin-lens reflex...but so cute and so little. It's supposed to take 620 film, so I'm gonna try and look for some medium format film and modify it/ squeeze it in.
Small things are awesome.