Patterns

My friend gave me a belated birthday present a few weeks ago, and I decided to try it out today. She gave me a kit to customise a mug which I think was from Paperchase. She didn't tell me, but I saw one in there the other day, but can't find it on the website if you want to get one. I love how she got me something crafty to do, I love presents like that! I thought up a few patterns to draw on it but was too scared to actually do them! So I bought some other plain white mugs to use for practice, which is the one you see above.

I'd seen this pattern somewhere before ages ago but I can't remember where, and decided to recreate it. Now I don't have a steady hand at all, so my lines were thick and wobbly which hopefully adds to it! And drawing on a mug wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but it wasn't too bad. I can't wait to add to this collection, and the pen that comes with the mug is supposedly dishwasher safe after 72 hours. However I don't have a dishwasher so I won't know if that works!

If you don't have a kit or fancy getting one, Elsie at A Beautiful Mess gives some tips to draw on your mugs with sharpies which I'll definitely try out for different colours, you put them in the oven to set the pattern and then you have to wash everything by hand. If you attempt or have attepted to draw on mugs, plates, bowls or whatever let me know, I like checking out things like that :)

Hope everyone has a lovely week, looks like the Sun has decided to visit us so enjoy it while it lasts!

Day Zero Project

Considering this is my second time doing the Day Zero Project, and the whole reason I started this particular blog as I said in my first post, I'm surprised I haven't really written about it more (apart from the occasional mention and tag). If you haven't clicked on any of the links I'll quickly explain what it is. It's a bit like a bucket list, but instead of adding loads of things you want to do in your lifetime (which you can also do) the aim is to make a list of a 101 things to do within 1001 days. You write this list online and share with whoever and mine is currently over on the side bar, but also here.

I keep changing it now and then because even when you try to think of goals or things to do for the (almost) three years, you obviously change your mind and might not want to do those things any more. The first time I did this was when I just turned 18 and I had SO many ideas, and kinda listed more than I should have within just one goal, I took on too much, way too much and also hated half of my goals. I only crossed a third of the goals off by the end which I am sad about, but to be honest I forgot about it after the first year. When I remembered towards the end I didn't have enough time to finish and they'd changed the system.

That was really important to me since it was easier to reorganize/add/delete/cross things off and say if you were half way through doing something, which makes you feel better that you're half way through a goal or a task rather than doing nothing. Plus you can add friends and "watch" other peoples lists. So far I'm just friends with my boyfriend lol, but every now and then he's really sweet and helps me cross things off. If you feel interested to do this add me! My username is lisamello.

Anyway! My birthday is next month, I'll be turning 22 and that means I've been doing this list for a year and I'd like to have more crossed off my list than I do now, where I'm only 21% of the way through the list with less than two years to go, if I proceed at this rate i'll never finish it!

My day zero list, or 101 Mission (I call it by lots of different things, sorry!) is a mix of fun, crafty, educational, financial, serious goals. A lot I took from other peoples lists which you can browse on the website and others are more personal. They may seem silly or stupid but I still want to do them, well for now at least. If you're like me and love making lists, then you'll love doing this project. It's like an epic new years resolution list (which I've forgotten all about until now, ooops!). If you do read this, I hope it inspires you to do one as well, and if not, I hope I haven't bored you with this post!

Adventures in Baking

I've recently started baking, which is a huge thing for me. I am terrified of the kitchen! Or well, doing things without supervision, and yes I am 21 years old and decided this needed to change! When I moved out for uni (just one year) I only knew like two dishes, but I usually microwaved things, or cooked with my flatmate who would help me, shocking I know. I've managed to learn a few dishes off by heart now that I can do by myself, but not that many. I've baked things by myself before, but not from scratch until this month! My boyfriends drama society was having a bake sale and I wanted to bake things for it. 

I practiced making a few things first, which I had crappy cupcake holders and no proper cupcake/muffin tray, they looked ugly but were yummy. I then bought some pretty cupcake holders and double lined then for the above attempt which are melt in the middle chocolate cupcakes. They are heavenly! They were like mini cakes since they were quite large, I only made four. They were best warm, since the next day the chocolate had hardened in the middle so was a bit awkward to make. They're really simple, make your mixture, spoon half of it in, then put a dark chocolate chunk in the middle and cover up with the rest of the mixture and bake, and voila! 

For the bake sale I went to Hobby Craft (and spent a lot of money on things), and bought a cupcake/muffin baking tray which is awesome! I made chocolate chip cupcakes, with butter icing and added various sprinkles on top. I really like the fun cupcake holders, they went really quickly for the bit I was there. The drama society were raising money for charity and the play they were putting on. I made these, the above and a bunch of other things from a cupcake book I got from the works for like £2, they are really simple and easy to do.

I also bought a cake pop making kit from Hobby Craft too. I've wanted to make them for ages! If you haven't heard of them before, they are an American thing where you bake a cake and mush it all up to make cake pops and stick them on a stick and add melted chocolate. I followed A Beautiful Mess's guide to making cake pops. Since I was short on time I stuck them in the freezer, but next time I won't do that as I found them too hard sometimes, and they would crack and fall into the melted chocolate boo. In Hobby Craft they had the melted chocolate Elsie suggests, but were quite expensive so I may look online next time. I probably won't buy the kit again unless I'm giving them to someone again. I didn't try them cold, but people liked them so that makes me happy!

Anyway that's a little bit of what I've been up to. It's amazing how easy it is for me when I tell myself I can do something, since normally I'd always ask for help before I even needed it which I need to stop doing in life. I just want to bake all the time now!

Bead Bracelet DIY

I've had this hobby for a few months now, but only do it every now and then. I'm not great at making bead bracelets, but its fun, they're cute, easy and addictive! I have to stop myself from buying beads, but buy them in unexpected places ( like H&M for the coloured square box below)I made a few for my friends this Christmas and thought I might try doing a tutorial on making a bead bracelet. I would have posted this earlier but my internets been down all day, but I was going to Winter Wonderland today anyway!

Beads and lots of them! When I first started I picked specific beads for specific bracelets and counted in some extra but now I just buy loads of whatever colour I fancy. I particularly like multi packs and silver packs, most of the beads aren't in their original bags, as I have a little system going on so the prices on the packs aren't accurate. You'll also need some elastic thread which you can buy in any bead shop, it was about £2 for a whole roll, which will last me for ages. Scissors are needed for cutting the thread, and clear nail varnish is handy as it keeps the elastic thread in place.

This is simple, just wrap some around your wrist and give yourself extra room for tying the knots, you cut the excess off later. Don't be stingy because tying knots with short elastic thread isn't easy later on! Make sure the knot is big enough so the beads you want to use won't fall off, triple knot it or more (or you could always put a small bead on the ends and then use normal sized beads after them). Then put clear nail varnish on the knot, as mentioned above, the clear nail varnish helps keep the knot in place. Go for clear since if you use a coloured one it looks weird.

Pick the beads you want and sort them into a pattern that you like. The amount of beads you need depend on how big the beads are and how big you want your bracelet to be. Roughly try to make seven one inch patterns, it should fit a wrist, but add in a few more just in case you drop and loose some or its a bit tight. I like to use those 'made with love' hearts on the end just because they look cute.

Make sure the first bead won't go over the knot since the weight of the other beads might make it slip over if its big enough and then you have beads all over the floor. Threading the smaller beads can be annoying but you just have to have patience. 

Once you've finished threading the beads on, hold the top end tightly and wrap around your wrist to get a general idea of it it'll fit, you can add or take away some beads if you need to, then tie a triple knot and put nail varnish over it. This knots just keeping your beads in place for the next step.

Tie both ends together, make sure its really tight and secure as this is holding the bracelet together and coat the nail varnish all over it. 

Then you cut of the excess elastic so it looks nice and neat. You will have a knot there though, but there are beads you can use to cover them up. I'm too lazy to do that though usually, and you don't tend to notice anyway.

And there you have it! A very easy way to make bracelets. I think they're fun little presents to give, among other presents and to make for yourself. Sorry for the flashy pictures, it was dark when I did this. I'm always more productive in the night and leave blogging till last minute so I have to manually change the time to fit into the "right" day haha!

Penguin Owl Howl Thing

I think I need more practice.... he was meant to be an owl, but I choose penguin colours, and he's a bit lopsided, and I was too tired to finish the beak (which I did by hand, can't you tell? As well as his tummy). Note to self, don't attempt to make things at 1am! But I am glad I finally got out my sewing machine. I set it up downstairs as there is no room in my room! That's why I've been putting off sewing. My brothers will just have to get over the fact that their games room is now my sewing room (used to be a dining room - only on Christmas now!). But I know where to improve now, like using a template for one!, and hope to have a few of these by Christmas, but of better quality, and more stuffing. I'm going to call him Howl, geddit? It has "Owl" in it!

Britain in a Day

Did anyone watch a film called Life in a Day? It was in the cinema a few months ago, and most recently on BBC 2, which you can still watch online here, last day to see it there though sorry. If you haven't watched it, you should! I went to see it in the cinema, and watched about an hour of it when it was on TV, I would have watched more but missed the start and had to leave before it finished. It's amazing. Basically, it shows little snippets of peoples lives across the world, all on the same day, the 24th of July 2010. It is so interesting, and I remembered quite a lot of it when I re-watched some of it, asking my brother if certain people had come up yet. I remember thinking when it came out that I wished I had participated in it too. I'd probably not get any of my footage shown, there was so much footage, but it would be fun!

Now, here's my chance! And yours too if you want to. The BBC are doing a project called Britain in a Day, you can find out about it here. They want people to film their lives on the 12th of November and send it in to their youtube channel here. I'm really excited about this, have no clue what I'm going to, will try to rope in my boyfriend, and am glad I'm only working a short shift on Saturday, maybe I could film there too? I know it's not much notice, but I only just saw it on the TV now, and ran upstairs to check it out!

If you're still not sure, watch this video :D

Polkadotty

It was my friends 22nd birthday today and this is what I gave her for her birthday. A cute little purse, her initial and I painted a card. Can you sense a polka dot theme? I tried the card a bit in the style of the outfit posts I draw, but changed the feet. I don't like how the legs and feet turned out but oh well. I really like how the hair turned out, and prefer it being simpler with less lines. The scene makes sense to us, a memory from the Summer, so it doesn't really look like a typical birthday card. She said she always looks forward to my cards on her birthday, so that makes me feel like people do enjoy my home made cards!

I was meant to be doing something small like ice cream if warm enough, or coffee if cold enough for her birthday, but I'm ill. Bleh! I have horrible cramps and the left side of my hip is hurting when I move, so I'm walking with a limp. Why yes I am an old woman it seems! I'm hoping I pulled something without realising and it'll be better soon if I rest, so yay to having a few days of work! Ideally I'd love to clean my room, like a huge spring clean, or rather Autumn clean but I am relying heavily on pain meds at the moment!

Anywho, my plans for today are to put my pajamas back on, and to snuggle in bed watching films, maybe reading and checking out teh interweb!

Making bracelets

A few friends I used to work with make their own bracelets, and they told me about this cute little shop that sold loads of beads. Eventually I went to go find it and it had moved, so I gave up trying to find it, I'm not good with finding places, when I happened to walk past it with my boyfriend the other day! Well more like two weeks ago, and I forgot where it was again, still not sure but I get my boyfriend to tell me where it is.

When I was bored the other day, I dragged him round with me to to find it again, and spent quite a while picking out beads. I only picked out enough to make one bracelet but have been back there once more to get a whole load more of beads!

I know it's not much, but that's the first one I made. I liked the colours and I love the big white ones, they are so sparkly and magical. I picked the heart since its cute, and the other silvery things are animals. They won't show up clearly on my camera, plus lighting's not great since its night, but I have a lion, an owl, a turtle and a duck, random yes, but they were the only ones they had. If I'd had gold there would have been a cat too though... it was tough making decisions :P

A jumble of bracelets!

After making it, I wanted to make more bracelets! Since it's fun and I want to get better at it, like judging the length, and how many beads I need and finishing the end bits etc. I decided to make some for my two of my  friends from America and I asked them for three of their favourite colours without telling them why. When I was in the shop, I saw these cute little teapots and decided to use them too, like a mad hatters tea pot type thing and to tie in the friendship bracelets.

This is the first one I made for my friend, it turned out softer than I thought it would be when she said black, pink and purple.

I had more trouble making this one since I used smaller beads. I'd counted out how many I thought I would need with one or two spare, but that still wasn't enough to cover a wrist nicely, it would be too tight. I'd bought two mixed bag of beads and had to sort through them finding similar colours which worked out quite well if you don't look too closely. It looks a lot nicer in person, this one is my favourite of the tea pot bracelets, when I thought the colours would never go together.

With the mixed bags of beads, I decided to make myself one! Again. I don't really have a favourite colour, they keep changing so I mixed them up without really thinking about the colours, just getting rid of all the odd colours and two of other colours etc. I like it, it reminds me of Howls Moving Castle, the film, if that makes sense.

Anyway, that's my little foray into jewellery making. I bought little bags to put their bracelets in and should be sending them off soon, I hope they like them, I had fun making the bracelets.