Finally added the Crafty Book Addicts community on LJ.  You may not be aware of how much I like to plan things, but I really like to plan things.  So instead of planning, I decided just to create it now (instead of sleeping) and worry about the fine print later.  that’s what happens when I don’t go to bed at a decent time!  So if you are a Book Addict (ie person who loves books) and a crafty one at that, then please go join up.  You must also be a member of the Book Addicts Book Group since we are a community for Book Addicts (and there would be no point if you weren’t now would there) and you must be crafty.  See the community for more info.

Zazzle has *finally* sorted out their email notification system and I got 267 emails from them today :p  Oh joy!  Every email I should have had since it “broke” arrived in my inbox this morning, and they just keep coming, so quite possibly it’s still not working quite right, as I know for a fact I have not had 32 new orders today lol but they keep insisting I’ve “just made a sale” *head spins*  Anyway, nice to see some emails instead of nothing.  Now I don’t have to keep checking manually to see if anyone has bought anything, or commented or “joined my fan club”.

Christmas mail delays are irritating me no end.  I am waiting for presents I ordered online to arrive in time for me to post them elsewhere, and I am (and this is a BIG worry) waiting for craft supplies to arrive in time for me to make other presents *chews lip*

Speaking of Christmas, I currently have negative money, and I found out today that I might also not have any heating for Christmas.  It is beginning to sound a bit like a Dickens novel, but I rang the oil company today and due the the “Christmas rush” they might not be able to get to me by Christmas!  Who’d have thought there would be a Christmas oil rush, it’s not exactly like a gold rush I suppose *strokes chin*  Anyway, should there be no heating, then I may be offline due to it being too damn cold to type, or sew or knit or read books.  I will be hibernating or perhaps moving me and the kitties in with the rele’s.

I bought one of these last night in the supermarket because a. I liked the colour and b. it was pretty cheap. It occurred to me once I got it home and examined it that this would be quite an easy craft project to do yourself.

All it seems to be is a simple box file covered in fabric on the outside and paper on the inside and padded on the top. You just need to get hold of a new or old box file, some fabric scraps, some paper – maybe the thicker handmade paper – and something to pad the top with and a little ribbon for the side and fastening. It could be a gift and also a box for a gift.

Photos under the cut/more tag
Read the rest of this entry

I saw this a few days ago and I think he’s really cute.

Check it out here at the Etsy DarkSide Team LJ community There are some cute photos of the little guy and while you’re there why not check out what else the community are making. There’s a cute little pink monster that’s just adorable.

Arrived yesterday. Not sure what I’m going to do with it but it’s a great colour and really supersoft. Kitty coats? A Michelin man suit for me to protect against the cold?  A range of quilted bags?  Still undecided at this point.  I will have to mull it over and keep looking at it some more.  Of course that tends to happen and then I run out of time to make anything.

Other fabric arrived yesterday.  Had to pay customs handling charges for it and wait an additional three days for delivery which made me a bit less enthusiastic about it, but the fabric is great.  I got 8 yds of fabric from fabric.com which btw has a 30% sale on now on fabrics that they only have 20yds or less of, so a great time to pick up a bargain.  Just remember the costs if you are ordering from outside the US.

I spent some frustrating hours last night working on a new purse.  The frustrating part was caused by the fact that it’s tiny and very fiddly and if I charged by the hour the purse would be unaffordable.  After breakfast I’m going up to finish it off but I’m already hating it and I have two more of the little buggers to do today.

At least I stopped to watch Come Dine With Me, Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Cookalong (with Gok Wan pashing on with Gordy) and the IT Crowd.  Quality stuff.

Photos behind the cut/read more tag.  Basically my workroom and the kitties

Read the rest of this entry

Day 5 in the big blood eye house.

Ellie is turning into a vampire

Yup I can actually feel when it’s bleeding now, and it seems to bleed a little more every night.  Hmm usually after talking to Jack *wonders if there’s a connection* *eye starts twitching*

Went a bit mad last night on a fabric shop that someone from Etsy linked me to because I wanted to know what fabric she had used on something that I ended up buying.  OMG the shop had a sale and shipped internationally.  Many dollars, a seven page wishlist and some hours later, I logged out and went to bed dreaming of all the prettiness and ruby slippers.

This morning the postman delivered some parcels but still not enough (!) and also a card demanding more money for customs charges for something they haven’t/won’t deliver until I pay *sigh*  I think it’s probably my sexy topless men fabric.  I hope they didn’t open it or they may think I’m some kind of pervert.  I guess I can look forward to at least another 3-4 similar cards for all the rest of the stuff that is on its way

On the bright side, I did the rest of my Christmas shopping online this morning and it should all arrive this week.  Then it’s only a matter of me making the rest of the things I want to give people – once the supplies arrive from the four corners of the globe.  Hopefully I am not cutting it as fine as I think I might be.

Also thinking of throwing in free tablet with orders on Etsy once I get organised and make stuff to sell there.  So far it’s only book covers and mousepads.  It should be many other things which should be easier now I can see the room I’m supposed to be working in, but probably too late for Christmas orders.  Timely for January sales though!

Oh and later I will post some photos of the new improved sewing room now that I can see it lol

So my eye has been bleeding again. It seems to bleed at night when I’m sitting down doing nothing and not exerting myself, sneezing or being stressed – unless of course it’s just a delayed reaction to what I’ve been doing during the day!  I took more photos of it this morning, it’s looking more vampiric by the day and the good news is I will probably still have it at Christmas and I will be able to scare small children and repulse people while they’re eating their Christmas dinner – see everything has an upside!  I made another batch of Tablet last night but I’m not eating it, nuh huh.  I will have to hide it from my sister though lol

When I stocked up my Zazzle shop a few weeks ago (3 almost) I set myself a little test target just to see if anyone would want to buy anything that I created, and also because statistically less people know about Zazzle than Cafepress.  Well I exceeded the target I set for the month in just under three weeks, so thank you everyone who bought anything from the shop and especially to all the crazy Twilight obsessed fans who are just buying everything I have.  Thank you all!  I’m really surprised at the popularity of keychains btw, I guess they make good stocking fillers.

It might be a bit of procrastination on my part but I am still trying to reorganise my sewing/craft room workspace instead of doing any actual sewing.  I’m taking a break for lunch (even though it’s 3pm) as I just managed to dig my way out of mountains of fabric. Remind me why I think I need more fabric?  Speaking of more fabric I am fretting quite a bit that some things I ordered at least 2-3 weeks ago have still not arrived from the US, whereas a beautiful bracelet (a present and unfortunately not for me) I ordered via Etsy arrived today, also from the US.  I just hope they aren’t holding my fabric up in customs as I REALLY NEED IT and it’s very sexy.

Still also waiting for my recent ebay purchases but since some of them are from Saturday I know I’m being unreasonable.  I just want them now. (like I don’t have enough fabric lol)

Photos of the new and improved sewing room will be posted – maybe a before, during and after makeover lol.  I found stuff up there buried deep within the depths of the spare room that I forgot I even had, but also I found fabric that I bought in Glasgow last Christmas and that reminded me that the shop (Mandors) will be having another sale this Christmas so I definitely need to put that on my to-do list.  I seem to remember last year having to enlist the help of a couple of family members to carry everything I bought.  Fabric is heavy you know.

Book Group

Just a quick mention about the book group since this isn’t the book group blog!  1984 – George Orwell and Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer are the books for this month, and in the Paranormal Social Club we are reading Pleasure Unbound – Larrissa Ione.  And of course you can read whatever you want and come talk about it with us.  Virgin Suicides and Time Traveler’s Wife discussions are still going if anyone wants to jump in.  Plus also we have very sexy Rules of Book Club designs on a bunch of items on both Cafepress and Zazzle.