Jute Heart Bunting

Last week I began to dismantle these jute gift bags that have been hanging around the house for a while. The fabric was quite stiff as the back had been coated, it looks like a layer of dried glue.

I was limited as to what to reuse use the fabric for due to the size of the pieces and I settled on making some bunting.

I marked out a triangle and heart shape on to the fabric

and chain stitched around the heart shape with some DK cotton yarn.

I cut out the triangle shapes and using a sewing machine, sewed on the crocheted edging

then glued some buttons on to the top corners of the triangle.

Crafty Catch Up

Today I'm sharing a few things that I have recently finished making. 

I began to crochet this blanket quite a while ago and after a quick look through my old posts I saw it was July 2013 (I didn't realise it was that long ago). I did start with the intention of it being a large blanket but it seems I got bored.

The blanket is made from 95 hexagons and measures approximately 31in x 42in.

I sewed some black fleece on to the back to tidy it up abit and for extra warmth.

The wool arrived to make the zig zag Hilda mitts from the Pretty Knitted Hands book.

The pattern was very easy to read and I'd finished them in a couple of days. I've been wearing them out ever since as it is still quite chilly here.

At the moment Little L loves to play on the tsum tsum game app so I made these Chip N Dale coasters inspired by the game.

For the pattern I used some free Disney colouring pages which I resized in Photoshop.

At the moment I'm in the process of dismantling some jute gift bags but I'm not sure what to use the fabric for yet.

Olympus Trip 35

The Olympus Trip 35 was I camera I had wanted for a while and was lucky enough to receive one as a gift last year. Both sets of our parents oohed and ahhed and reminisced about the TV ad's during the 70's. While looking for information about the camera I found there is a way to date it. Mine was built in July 1979 (as long as it is not refurbished using other camera parts that is). 

My first set of prints from the Olympus Trip came back this week and I'm delighted the camera is in working order. The film used Agfa Vista Plus 200 which I was purchasing from a pound shop (the shops no longer stock 35mm film, I'm down to my last 2 films)

All the photographs I got from the film were taken in Wycoller last August. 
The only trouble I had using the camera was when I came to rewind the film the rewind button stuck in. After a quick search online it seems there is a way to remedy this so that is something that I need to sort out. 
Besides the film rewind mishap, I think the Olympus Trip may be my new favourite camera to use.

Kodak Tele-Instamatic 330

I've started this year as I always mean to go on (yet never do) by sending off some films for developing. The first film was used in this Kodak Tele-Instamatic camera which Anders had purchased with the case for 99p.

The camera takes a 110 cartridge film which pops straight in to the camera. I chose to use redscale film as it was no more expensive than using a normal colour one. 

The effects can't be seen on some of the photographs so maybe it wasn't bright enough when I took them. Caleb commented that they just look like they have had an Instagram filter applied.

Some turned out OK though.

I'm not sure if I'll be in a hurry to use this camera again as the cost of developing a 110 cartridge is almost double that of a 35mm film.

Happy New Year

I know that it is a bit late but I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Everything is almost back to the usual routine here. Little L has gone back to school today donning a not so great hairstyle. She decided to give herself a hair cut with her paper scissors on New Years Eve.

 I don't know what goes through her head sometimes. I wouldn't be so bad but she had only had her hair cut a few days before Christmas so there wasn't a lot there to begin with. I've straightened it up the best I can and I'll have to let it grow a bit until I take her back to the hairdressers.

Today I received a lovely surprise parcel, a book from a giveaway hosted on the Cut Out And Keep site. The book Pretty Knitted Hands features 27 designs of mittens, fingerless mitts and wrist warmers split in to seasons accordingly. The patterns have easy to follow charts. Also at the beginning of the book there is a section explaining different casting on and off techniques some of which I've never used before.

Not being a person to hang about I have ordered wool to start a pair. The pattern I have chosen to knit first is Hilda.

A couple of my other favourites from the book are the Ivy pattern

and Astrid.

A free pattern from the Pretty Knitted Hands book can be found here at Cut Out And Keep.

An Odd Choice Of Gift

When being asked this year what I would like for a Christmas present I chose something that I've had my eye on for years, a siamese fighter (betta) fish. Judging by peoples reactions when I tell them that I am getting a fish, it seems to be an odd choice. The present is from my parents and Anders because it is not just the fish, it's the tank, heater, etc. which all adds up cost wise.

Before making my decision I looked on the internet at various web sites and forums for information about betta fish. While much of the information is the same there does seem to be some conflicting advice around. It has been the same in various pet shops that we have visited too. We asked about betta food in one shop because we couldn't see any to be told they don't have their own food, they just eat generic tropical flakes (I had already found out that you can purchase food especially for bettas, thats why I was looking). Anyway we came to the conclusion that some of the chain pet stores don't know a great deal and are happy to just make a sale. After visiting every local pet shop for the last three weekends, I managed to find an aquatic shop not too far from us so we nipped in for a look. It was the brilliant. By far the best selection of fish and equipment that we had seen. The staff were friendly and helpful and answered any questions that we asked. We set up the tank then when it had settled we returned to get some little catfish as tank mates for the betta. 

The fish that I chose were these Julii Corydoras. Cute little things with lovely markings. They seem to have settled in nicely and are very active, always zooming around the tank. They can do a thing with their eyes which makes them look like they are blinking at you. A bit of a shock to see at first considering fish don't have eye lids.

We picked up the betta fish this weekend (I've named him Scaramanga after a Christopher Lee character). I chose this one as I loved the colours and he seemed to have a larger tail than the other fish (we were told he was a half moon type). He was very alert, trying to fight with the betta fish in the next tank. 

As soon as he was placed in to our tank he went to investigate the plants straight away. Must all be a bit strange because the tanks in the shop were completely bare. He seems to like them and even lies down on them for a little rest. I'm hoping that I will be able to hand feed him as he comes straight to my fingertip if I place it in to the water, he's certainly not timid. I hope he doesn't mind a lot of attention, he's had a fair few admirers today (even if my Mum said he reminded her of a guppy)

The Boy's Room

At last we have finished redecorating the boy's bedroom. I did begin to sort through their belongings earlier on in the year and as they are older now (aged 19 and almost 18) they were willing to part with more stuff.

These were just the books the boys no longer wanted to keep, some of which we kept for Little L and the rest we dropped off at a charity shop.

It took a while for them to decide on a colour because they knew that they didn't want a shade of blue or green again but nothing else was springing to mind. I suggested grey and they both said no chance. I went off and returned with some colour cards and funnily enough they both chose grey and agreed on the same shade.

This was the old colour in the room ( the hole was caused by my eldest boy when he helped me to take some shelves down. A rawl plug had got stuck in to the wall and he thought the best way to remove it was to give it a big tug )

and this is what it looks like now. The shade is called Bottlenose Dolphin. We replaced the blind but the lampshade is their old one.

The geometric print bedding set was from Matalan.

Anders made this shelf unit for Caleb to display his bits and pieces.

Anders also made a new TV unit because previously the boys had a portable TV then when my eldest first started to work he bought this one and the old unit was far too small. Another reason why they needed a new one was because their old game consoles used to be stored in the loft but if Anders ever went up there for something one of the boys used to ask for one of them to be brought back down for them to play on. Over time they all ended up just shoved under their bed. The unit has made everything more accessible for them, given them a spot to store the laptops (I used to just tip toe around them on the floor) and cleared out under the bed.

Above the TV unit there used to be four shelves but with those removed Caleb had a space to put his Jaws poster back up. My sister bought it for him years ago and I can't see him ever getting rid of it. Caleb had some Zelda tea towels that he had got inside one of his arcade blocks so I purchased a black picture frame from Ebay and mounted one of them for him.

Now all the bedrooms have been done I love to peek in the rooms when I go upstairs. Next year we need to tackle to living room.