Crafty hearts

Oh Valentine's, I'm a romantic at heart so I can't help but love this day. I had fun making a pop up card for Gallant Sir Papillon, despite me, as usual, being devoid of 'proper' craft equipment. I really needed one of those sort of rubbery green cutting pads, must get one soon. Oh, and a sharp craft knife would have been good as well, my blade is, well, dangerous. Very. ***LOOK!! No cuts!!***. I can take no credit for the following card design, only the construction. The I♥U card tutorial was reposted by Paper Kawaii (originally from the Korean blog Tweety Atelier) so, being as my Korean is not that hot,  it was guess work. In the first place, I found the  link  posted on Everything Etsy's 101 Handmade Valentine's Day Ideas feature- an absolute treasure trove of craftymania. 

Craftivism is catching, I not only made but received
a handmade card. And nano twitting birds, oh my. 

It worked! Although you can't exactly fold it shut. Here in Papillon Land, we don't mind small details like folding shut-ness of cards, so all is well. 

I love the shadows just as much. 

And then I found this, perfect for Valentine's Day and crafting, a being alone video. Oh! This is good. This is so, so good. 

Tanya Davis- How To Be Alone

I must be mad (tutorial)

Well, not many would dispute the above but it is good to have some hard evidence. Witness: a week to go before Christmas; a draft of 10,000 words to finish; no Christmas shopping done; no tree; rest needed in advance of a Geography departmental party (roughly 12 hours of hardcore drinking and thinking: Yikes/ Hallelujah) ... and yet, The Papillon decides to start crafting at exactly 1am and doesn't finish until 3am. Why? Because she had an idea, of course. She dreamt of Christmas Tree Bunting made from newspaper and string  and thus set to work forthwith.  

The Guardian makes perfectly Woolly Liberal trees.
Right on!

These are simple, yet slightly fiddly. Make your template (I used a Cod Steak in Butter Sauce packet - these things matter), cut out your trees (choose newspaper with the correct political affiliations), use a hole punch to make holes in your trees, grab yourself a good yet manageable length of string and find the centre point. A couple of inches from the centre, tie a couple of knots in one half of the string only and thread your first tree. Then, gently secure the tree with two more knots and move on 5 inches or so, repeating the process until one half of the string is a Garland of Glory. Go to the middle of the string and repeat the whole process on the other half of the string. My trees are not held rigidly in place yet they stayed put surprisingly well. Threading them in this manner allows the paper cut-outs to hang in a really lovely way. 

We discovered that the ceilings are made from asbestos, Grrrr.

Somehow, I did accomplish my mission, handed in my work and made the insane academic drinks and thinks festival. Then I collapsed and in truth only got the bunting hung after Father Christmas had done the rounds with the stockings!  Actually, it was poor Mr Papillon who discovered that the ceilings  are made from asbestos since he was unfortunate enough to be recruited at an ungodly hour in the middle of the night to hang the bunting (Ms Papillon is such a delicate and frail creature). Sleep? Who needs it? 

I love the shadows, which are cast everywhere. 

Thus followed a lovely yet slightly zombie Christmas Day for Los Papillinos Negros. 

More trees and the biggest bauble, ever!

Yet, the tide turns and we fail to make our daily homage to The Shrine of the Advent Calender  as it is now devoid of all chocolate - so sad, so sad.

Not one choc left.

And so, The Cat

Beautiful cat, lovely cat, furry cat, purry cat. We have a wee problem. The Cat has taken up full-time residence in a new sleeping pitch: exactly halfway between my keyboard and my screen. The Cat is very happy with this situation. I, however, am distressed and filled with cat-induced guilt. You see, The Cat doesn't actually have its own bed:- by and large because I suspect that it will not really like whatever I procure. I have searched the shelves at Pets At Home for something unoffensive, but drew a blank. 

Never one to miss out on the zeitgeist, The Cat has Occupied my workspace pretty much continually since the valiant protesters pitched up outside St Paul's and certainly since I started sewing up a family of iPhone cases. I'm guessing The Cat is trying to tell me that it needs its very own iCat Case. Or perhaps it has decided to Occupy my desk?

Poor cat, has no bed.

Anyhows, here I go, vampirically stealing awen from Cath Kidson, more-cycling vintage style IKEA fabric  that I had already made into a duvet cover a few years back. Using experimentation as my methodology, I shall attempt to make an Acceptable Cat Bed. 

The first cushion layer (yes, there are TWO cushion layers).

Never does my crafting turn out to be financially viable.  Here are my calculations: 

Cat beds sell in pet shops for around £15-20. Cath Kidson dog beds are much prettier and would set me back about £35, including postage. So, using some old fabric is the way to go, right?  Hmmm, not so sure. First I had to buy stuffing, which cost £10, then the bed really, desperately needed fabric covered buttons, which were about £1.10 for the kit but add to that fuel costs... Of course, my fabric was 'free' as it was old but originally it cost me a trip to Cardiff because IKEA won't deliver to west Wales, us living at the very Edge of the World, and all that.

My dorky love of fabric button making.

Seeing as I had to work out the pattern whilst I sewed, unpick mistakes, make  my own buttons, what would perhaps take someone more competent a couple of hours, took me a good 8 hours. So yup, 8 hours labour, £10 stuffing,  £1.10 button kit,  fuel costs = would have been more cost efficient to buy.


Aye, but where's the joy in that?

I'm a sucker for paisley, vintage and roses, can't help it.

And there we have it, one, I think, pretty delightful cat bed. The only problem left is how to convince The Cat to decide to sleep in it.....

If The Cat doesn't want it, my daughter wishes
 her bed were as comfy as this.

Bonkers for Barnacles

Back in Lab Papillon, a good day to hide  from the rain and gloom means a great day to bust some stash, and how better to do so than to make a whole family of Yo Yos? Also know as Suffolk Puffs, or Barnacles, as they are known in west Wales (name courtesy of Super Seamstress Carys Hedd of Raggedy and Wench),  these little treats are cute, jolly and sweet. Oh, did I mention easy peasy too? Yay! Here's how you do: 

Gather:

* your fabric stash

* needle, thread, scissors

* tailor's chalk

* round things (why, vintage saucers, of course)

* a soundtrack (I went for Lady Gaga, Born This Way)

* herb teas and the like (I had licorice and cinnamon Pukka tea)

Iron your fabric and using a saucer, or something similar, cut out a bunch of circles. As some of my fabric is from a Sea Salt organic skirt I once owned, I think I score ten billion gazillion eco-points. The gorgeous taupe and spots fabric in the middle is a squirrelled piece of Kaffe Fassett (he's a star, dontcha think?). I would guess that the finished Yo Yo is perhaps half the diameter of the circle you start out with.

A Dolly Mix of thrift, Kaffe Fassett and Sea Salt

Holding the wrong-side uppermost, start off by simply sewing a running stitch all the way around , folding the fabric over as you go. 

Right-side down, wrong-side uppermost

Then, gently pull on the thread to gather your fabric, at which point it seems all a bit Pete Tong, but not to worry, it'll work out...

It's a funny looking thing

Well, now you need to squish and squash and ruffle it into shape, gently easing the gathers round as your pull on the thread. 'Ruffle the Puffles', I always say. Once you are getting a good barnacle shape, you can start sewing it into place. I like to use sneaky, hidden stitches, in a horizontal fashion. 

Sneaky stitches

Secure the end of the thread and you're done. HURRAH!

I ended up with a noisy gaggle of barnacles, all snuggled together. Oh look! They have found some friends- five perfectly purdy Amy Butler covered fabric buttons!

If you listen closely, you can hear them squeaking

Autumn, but not as we know it

Well, with this unprecedented good weather, it got me out of my grouch-pit (for the afternoon at least), and this is what the Papillon did find.

One fecund apple harvest

The unusual combination of sunlight and warmth

Secret coves, bestowed by the tide

Limpets, barnacles and Pilgrim Places

And, even some birthday presents 

Cupcake Kitsch in the kit-chen

Once a year or so my fiance has his birthday, which means that I try very hard to be a bit cuter, a bit nicer, a bit sweeter- at least for a few hours. Generally, I attempt to bake a cake, but I have discovered that cupcakes are less hassle so this year he landed  Tiramisu Cupcakes,  à la Cookie Girl. 

Eat Me by Cookie Girl

I really heart Cookie Girl:- she has re-ignited my baking fervour; her recipes are ridiculously indulgent yet sort of healthy; and her book is arranged into seasons, which satisfies my pagan underbelly. Cookie Girl does have a sweeter tooth than I so in some recipes I use a reduced amount of sugar.

Magic, magic, magic cakes

 

Faux vintage apron, true vintage mixing bowl... worryingly cracked

And below, another  example of a rare vintage treasure... circa... um... well... not sure....

"OK, Honey, it's ya birthday, I'll do the 1950s housewife thing"

"But be good, be very, very good or I'll getcha with my wooden spoon"... those who know me well know this is not an idle threat.... Anyhows, the miracle occurred and they didn't burn nor sink nor puff too much. I had a wee, teensy tiny spot of bother with the topping but once Mr Noir had (ahem) re-made it, all was well.  Could have been down to me radomly substituting  ingredients,  as does generally occur when I am at the helm, but no matter. 

Thrifted plate, black muffin case from Aberystwyth cake shop

These are rather yummy but they'll be even better tomorrow once they have had 24 hours in the fridge to get all mergy with the generous amount of Disaronno that I ladled onto the sponge.

Finito!

A little bit of Romance