Half an Acre comes over all smug ...

I'm feeling smug. Those envelopes? Those are made with oak leaves out of my garden. Half an acre leaves - except it isn't - half an acre, that is. See? Smug! Smug because I'm feeling all craftsy and eco-friendly. They even have a strip on the back saying "handmade using Ifold oak leaves" just to drive the smug 'look what I made' thing home! I want to slap the grin off my own face! Actually its not 100% oak leaves but about 85% added to some paper shreddings (bank statements etc). The leaves need to be soaked and then boiled. The boiling is meant to break them down - but it doesn't really- so you have to whizz it all in the a blender for extra time. The plan is to make my own Christmas cards. So this weeks Shopping List Saturday post is going to be combined with my Christmas Quest - my search for simple and natural festive things.

I've found that paint stamps wonderfully onto handmade paper. This year is going to be all about simplicity and economy and this is going to be echoed in my cards. Handmade with simple stamped designs on them. So for my Shopping List Saturday feature I went off to Etsy and this what I found ...

1) Corrabelle
2) Tommie77
3) Sugarskull7
4) Vozamer
5) Cupcaketree
6) RubberHedgeHog

I know that some of them aren't very festive but I got bored of the christmas ones and got diverted!

Also this week, I've been featured on two blogs Cinnamon and honey and Pennydog - Thank you ladies indeed! I'm thrilled when I'm featured anywhere - so important to get yourself 'out there'. I am totally addicted to Twitter now - I've made a few twitter pals who I see there most days - I love the easy chattiness of it - and the immediate responses you can get from your fellow tweeters. Tiny Fig 'tweeted' for opinions on her new website layout and immediately got a whole barrage of opinions for colour schemes - whether this has helped or just confused the hell out of her is out for debate!

The other exciting thing this week is the saga of my paper mache fish/whale/seal/dead baby. It came to me the other day that what the house needed was a large paper mache fish hanging over out kitchen table. Doesn't eveyone need one? So, armed with spiky chicken wire, I made the frame work. So far so good. Mixed up wallpaper paste - got newspapers out of the garage - and started to cover it. Half done - great - leave it to dry - turn off lights - go into living room for evening. La la la time passes. Thirsty. Go into the half-light of the kitchen "AHHHHHHHHHHHGH"!!!! Out of the corner of my eye there is a dead baby on my table!!! It's horrible! Be still, my imagination! In a desparate need to fix this abomination I quickly add some fins - only I put them on the side (what is up with me? perhaps a sketch first might have helped) and I now have a bloody seal! "Its a seal!" I wail to my husband and children. I then attacked it with scissors. Severing its nasty sealy flippers - Mwhahahhahahahahaahaaaaa. It is now a shark (apparently) - but that's because I haven't put the bottom fin on yet. Soon it will be a glorious fish - swooshing above my table. It's main colours, I think, will be black and white stripes. The jury's out.