Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum....I've found Johnny Depp...YUM!

To celebrate my latest piece I'm having a pirate theme for this weeks Shopping List Saturday! I was searching for pirate stuff and found what I was looking for right away - only it was better than I expected! I've found Johnny! Oh that he were real! Etsy seller Narayanworld has a shopful of these gorgeous dolls. She learned to crochet during a trip to India and has been going ever since. She says "Narayanworld is an expression of the images and worlds I see in my mind and imagination, combined with my ideal to make these beautiful worlds a living reality." I can honestly say that she has accomplished just that in these beautiful, beautiful dolls.


Her dolls are beautiful, original and inspiring. Perfect gifts for girls. Think about all the girls you know, then think about Christmas! Wouldn't one of these be so much better than something mainstream and plastic. In fact - get one for yourself! They are the best, loveliest, non-tackiest, best conceived, nicest, cutest, most desirable dolls that I have come across to date........... off you go! Shoo! Go see her shop!
P.S i've forgotten to put a pic of my pirate related item! YIKES! i'll add it later! And don't forget that you can see all the other "lists" either by visiting Fancypicnics blog here or checking the links in my sidebar...

A crab called Eddie, one christmas effort and a quest!

This is Eddie. Eddie the edible crab. As caught and named by my middle son, aged 6. That is not him in the picture - that is my eldest, aged 9. Aged 6 did not want to pick it up. Chicken!
Crabbing is a bit of an obsession/passion in our family. Check out this earlier post of mine - its my favourite! - all about catching the buggers. Getting a bit carried away I made a 'Crab Score' record book last year - couldn't resist illustrating it - it did look a bit blank and sad so I had to 'spot' it! This year our Grand Total is ...drum roll .... onethousandfourhundredandsixteen ... Yes, you said it right! 1416 of the little nippy suckers landed right in our buckets ... not all at once, that would be freekish. This year I am going to start writing my guide to crabbing in Seaview .... a publication of great authority, by me .... 30 years of crabbing off the same bloomin' rocks and i'm an expert I can tell you! People ask us what bait to use, how to do it etc so I thought I'd write a little guide and try to sell it in the local gift shop there. I've always wanted to write a book! I'll keep you updated as it progresses.
Onto more artistic things .... continuing with the beachy theme though .... I've made up four more Hag Stone Rounds. Stones all collected by me in between crabbing and dashing between raindrops. Two of them are similar to my original ones, all of which I have now sold. They are in my Etsy shop so you can check them out.
My latest one is a nod towards Christmas - GAH! Yes, I know, having to think about it sends shiver down me too! Tragic thing in that the garden centre nearest to me starts to put up its decorations on the 1st September - a disgrace - total disgrace - by the time it actually arrives I'm sick to the back teeth of it all and don't have any enthusiasm what-so-ever. So this is my only concession to Christmas! One hagstone round with whitish stones and a red star - that's it - just the one - that's all your getting this year from me! Hmm - that's very bah-humbuggish - I'm wondering - aha! a quest! yes - a quest! I'm going in search of refreshing christmas stuff! Hopefully all that Etsy talent out there will produce something to stir some festive spirit in me - I'll start early - ie now. So ......... I HEREBY ANNOUNCE THE START OF MY QUEST FOR NON-TACKY CHRISTMAS STUFF .... now I need a coffee!
P.S In case you are wondering... we do put all the crabs back and Eddie lived to see another day!

Hits the ground running....

I'm late! I'm late! A whole day late! I've missed two weeks of posting and I wanted to get my Saturday Shopping List in for this weekend - but I'm late! But here it is ...... QUICK! I'm still featuring new Etsy shops and here are three that I have discovered lately...

So - here we go! First up is a shop that I am very interested in! Stampingsisters. The shop sells decorative metal stamps - at present only a small selection but I love them already plus it promises more hard to find stamps and tools. I love stamps and tools! I'm a sucker for a tool! Hurry up Stampingsisters! Load more into your shop! I can't wait to see what else you have lurking! Apart from my wooden painted stuff I dabble with silver PMC and I need some tiny letter stamps - do you have any? Second up is JewelChunks. I'm feeling a bit autumny and chilly and these hats are the cutest and coolest ever. I love Jewelchunks' profile too! Lastly, this week, we have Danaruth, whose jewellery I would happily go bankrupt for! I am usually underwhelmed when it comes to jewellery as Etsy is oozing with it and much of it is a much of a muchness (!). I had real trouble chosing one piece to show you as I love so many of them .. oh, okay, I can't resist adding another .....

*PHEW*!! I've done it! I feel better now! There are loads of Saturday Shopping Lists for you to see - check out the list in my sidebar - great blogs featuring great Etsians. I'm off now to write up my next post about my holiday, a very large custraceon called Eddie and a bright yellow kayak! See you again soon!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside....

Just a very quick post - as I'm aware that I've missed my Saturday Shopping List this week. I'm on three weeks holiday on the Isle of Wight - there are some pics in an earlier post - Tomorrow is the hightlight of my year - a stall at the Village Regatta - YAY! I can't wait - I have a perfect audience for my things and I'm really looking forward to it. I have some cute promo packs made up for the Street Team and UK Handmade - I'll try and update this post later with some pics. I've had no internet access for two weeks now - it has been very odd! Now I'm using someone else's lappy with a remote plug-in access thingy. Get to the point, girl! Okay..... I got my WillyWaw t-shirts the other day - and i'm thrilled! The shirts are fabulous - soft, washed, gorgeous colours, great prints (they wash brilliantly) and i'm all round deeply impressed. Can't wait to get my Sand dollar bag too! Cheerio for now - i'll update this later as I go along.....
Hope you are all getting better weather than us Brits!! No wonder we do so well in the Olympic sailing and rowing ............. water, water, everywhere.....

Three kids, no telly and its war in our house!

Forget what I said last week about how I was going to do my Shopping List features with one seller only - as I'm away on holiday soon and really busy I'm combining my Saturday Shopping List post with one of my normal, rambling posts as I have serious issues to cover .... oh, yes.
I have three children .... boys and no TV ... and whilst we're at it ... no game boys, no X-box, no Nintendo and no other small boxy square things that entertain. When I was growing up there was a children's tv programme called "Why don't you switch off the tv and do something more interesting instead" .... yup, it was quite a mouthful.... so this post is dedicated to just that. My eldest son has just turned nine and we have been without a television for 10yrs now. It started because we moved to a house with terrible reception downstairs so the TV went up to our bedroom. We never watched it up there so we got rid of it. My husband and I are a total geeks because of it! We love jigsaws, scrabble, doing crosswords, reading, talking, painting Warhammer .......... but this is not about us adults it is about the children. Television has become the new babysitter. I know people who, on a beautiful sunny day, still have the TV on in the corner of the room and the kids are sat there glued to it. Or the kids are playing a game but with it on in the background - causing them to stop mid-game to stand and gawp when the adverts come on. TURN IT OFF!!! I am proud of my children - they play beautifully. There is something magical about watching them (aged 9,6 and 4) all engrossed in a game together. The 6 and 4 year old play board games together. Okay - in their own way! They get out the Monopoly and make up their own ways of playing. And they do it for hours - seriously. The 9yr old may be reading all this time - he reads and reads and reads - or he might be outside kicking a football or skateboarding around using an old broken broom handle as a punting pole. Then they write, and draw and colour and ask me to set them maths sums to answer. In the picture, above and to the right, my eldest and my husband are playing their latest obsession - a game called Memoir 44 - a strategy board game using real senarios from WWII. Not only is it a war game but there are tanks and men with guns to use as game pieces - oh, and sandbags. These are popular for some reason. You can also buy add-on senarios and different terrains for more Western Front anihilation. The game has won numerous awards over time and is good for ages 8 upwards although younger ones can join in too, with help. You can just see the feet of the younger two watching - they help to roll the dice and other er..'helpful' things! It all sounds sickly sweet and perfect but it is how it is. I don't 'school' them when they are at home - its just what they find to do when there is nothing for them to do. They are mellow, laid back, imaginative, creative, filthy, muddy, dirty, ripped, grazed, bruised and gorgeous. When they do say they are bored I tell them to stare at the walls until they think of something to do. When they have friends over I always get asked if they can 'watch something' - "NO!!! You've come over to play!" is my reply. To the left there is the little play house in our garden that my eldest has converted into a 'reading room' - we spent a great weekend cleaning it all out, painting it and hanging some of my wooden decorations up in it. Below are some great ideas, from Etsy sellers, for other things for children to do instead of relying on one of those box things for entertainment.

1. orangemoontoys, 2. sallyscreations, 3. mykangaroo, 4. craftpudding, 5. bombus, 6. babypop

Orangemoontoys makes fabulous shadow puppets in all designs - turn off the lights, rig up a torch and re-create a sea-battle with these wonderful underwater ones. Get them outside and running around with this clever game from Sallyscreations or send them on one of Mykangaroos scavenger hunts around the house and garden. Craftpudding supplies all sorts of rubber stamps for putting stories together or making cards to send to friends. Bombus covers notebooks in wonderful decoupage cartoon strips and maps - let a child write and draw in their own - keep all the notebooks somewhere safe so you can look back on them when they are older - remember to date them. Come rain or shine chuck them out in the garden - they can make a camp and take up residence in this fantastic teepee from Babypop. Switch off the entertainments, provide a few basics and leave them to it - it is amazing what they will invent, how much calmer and how their concentration will improve.
Don't get me wrong - this isn't a perfect household - I don't sit down for hours and play with them, I don't bake with them or let them learn by helping me doing things round the house - and I shout at them a bit too - I'm a forgetful, scatty, paint-splattered mum who should spend more time with her children but I am proud that I have given them the 'boredom space' to become these wonderful individuals that they are starting to be.

SATURDAY SHOPPING! Go on, have a little spend...

Today is Saturday!! YAY! And in honour of such a fantastic day I introduce.......... *drum roll* ........ 'Shopping List Saturday'!!!!!! A fabulous idea by fellow Etsian Fancypicnic .
Basically I show you some lovely things - there will be pictures and links to the sellers and their shops. Etsy is sooooo huge that its easy to miss thousands of gorgeous things. The idea is to make a mosaic of around 12 items with links to the shops. HOKAAAAAY. I tried but couldn't master the Flickr Mosaic Maker because I'm pants, basically! So each saturday I'm going to feature one or more Etsy shops. It will be a shop that is either new or has yet to make a sale or both. I know how hard it is to get noticed on Etsy and if I can do a wee bit to help someone then I will feel all warm and smiley inside!! But it will be a shop selling stuff that I like, that I am very excited to find and think that you will love too. So, don't expect much jewellery as its not often I get wowed - and this is my blog so you'll have to get what you're given ..... Mwhahahahahahahahahhaahha! (that's my evil laugh BTW)

This week it is WillyWaw.

Willywaw is named after the ferocious arctic winds that sweep down coastal mountains and slam onto the ocean. Designer Ashley van Etten lives in Narragansett, Rhode Island, which to a little British gal like me sounds impossibly exotic and awesome. Gah! I'm jealous especially as when she is not creating she skies, she paddles around in Narragansett Bay and artistically hangs out in such a wild, romantic sounding place. She has also published "Willywaw's Avalanche Booklet" which is in its fifth printing designed to promote avalanche awareness. Good grief, she is one cool chick! On to some products ........... Bags to die for!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous ...... one more time...... GORGEOUS bags in two sizes, a shopping size and a smaller tote. Hopefully to come are some shoulder bags too. Ashely screen-prints the fabrics as a whole single bag shape with the writing included in the design. I love the bottoms of the bags almost as much as the bags themselves. "Rhode Island" just sounds magical and far away to me - so the bottoms have sealed it - its a love affair, I'm afraid *sighs dreamily*. And if that isn't enough ..... there are t-shirts! YAY!

That mermaid t-shirt is such a fabulous blue! Oh no, I'm gushing - it's bad when I gush! I really want the Fish one and the Kraken is a definite for the 9 year old - who is ploughing his way through the Pirates of The Caribean films right now - (any excuse for me see Johnny Depp wearing eyeliner) - printed on soft, washed cotton too. I find it even more appealing that each design has a story behind it. The Mola Mola design is inspired by her husband's love of free-diving, the Squid after their boat of the same name, the Sockeye to celebrate the incredible migration the fish undertake. I've had a blast reviewing this shop - and will be slightly poorer after I've ordered some t-shirts and one of those sand dollar bags - I've got a thing about sand dollars ever since I spent a few summers on Ocracoke, NC. Ashley is also planning other fabric items to in the future too. She is multi-talented in a way that I am totally jealous of ... have a look at this beautiful print of hump-backed whales.......

She will be adding note-cards soon too.........
I've just ordered a bunch t-shirts for my three boys who are in wardrobe crisis ....... there are some fantastic colours to choose from and Ashley has been helpful and lovely coping with my "Do you do it in blue?" emails..... you've seriously got to check out this shop because I say so ..... so, off you go ..... shoo!

Click here right now!

I'm looking forward to next week already - I've got another treat instore for you for Shopping List Saturday - and a mid-week post coming up too - thrills and spills with Half an Acre ... *coughs*...

For more Etsy finds to read over your saturday morning coffee check out the link list at the side here.

Bleurgh ... My eyeballs are arid.....

Bleurghghgh! It's been a promo week ....... I tend to do big wodges of it and then go all yucky and refuse to do anymore! My eyeballs dry up and stick to the lappy screen. Yesterday was the turn of Linkreferral.com. The site is as ugly as hell - ignore that. Actually the whole thing is pretty grim - but it does drive people to your shops - which is all we sellers care about, right? Basically you add your shop URL. It gets listed and people review your shop! Ta-daaaaaaa! It's true. So there. I had 3 reviews within an hour of signing up. To get the most out of it you have to review sites. You can search for the topics you are interested in. You simply rate it using a 1-5 scale and then write a few sentences to prove you actually looked at it!. There is major dross out there - serious dross - and loads of emo-teen blogs to avoid. I've driven nearly 200 people through my shops in the last 4 weeks and had about 30 reviews. Some people have favourited my shops so you never know, they might come back! If you very bored, with nothing else to do (yeah, right!) you can help your ratings by viewing 30 sites (just open the links and close again) and write 5 reviews for the day. This pushes your shop up to the top of the site so more people see it and hopefully review it. If you have a nice shop you will get good reviews etc because everyone is so relieved to actually find something nice to look at! Basically, its free - its quick, its easy, its promotion - get on and do it.
Here endeth the Half an Acre promo tutorial!

Beware the Butt-slap Elf.......

As promised........... but first I must answer a few questions! Yes, Florcita, the soup bowl did make it to the dishwasher. Chukka Stone, you may laugh but labels are next! Lemonshortbread, thank you for the ebay tip - I'm absolutely going to get some more! I've had a lovely amount of comments on here and I'd like to say 'Thank you' and 'I'm glad I've made you chuckle'.
Now ... the Butt-slap elf. Indeed. He's not alone. We also have the dishwasher elves. It's my fault. I married the man responsible. The Butt-slap elf is an irritating fellow. You'll be quite innocently washing-up, going up the stairs, simply walking along and he'll get you ....... slap! slap! slap! right on the butt! You'll turn round ... nothing there ..... except my husband. "Did you see him?!!!" he exclaims, "The Butt-slap Elf, did you see him?". *SIGH*.
The Dishwasher Elves are less annoying, even helpful. They live, obviously, in the dishwasher. "How do you know?", I asked my husband. My husband raises his eyes to the heavens, "How else do the dishes get clean?". "What do they look like?", I ask. "How on earth do I know!", he replies, "when you open the door they vanish, that's what all the steam is. They don't want you to see them. All the steam is made of little bits of elf ". "Do they wear little hats?", I ask. "Don't be ridiculous, that would be silly", he says. *SIGH*.
UPDATE: as with the crabbing I've just been told that once again I am technically INCORRECT. Pah! My husband says that you should NEVER open the door mid-cycle because the light vapourizes the elves - hence the steam. More have to then run up the pipes to carry on the cleaning. Also, now he tells me that there is a BIG pipe that runs under the sea to the Isle of Wight - otherwise how would the elves get there. GIVE ME STRENGTH.

The other day I was feeding money in to the parking ticket machine, busily explaining to my nine year old about how the goblins inside took the payment which lead onto how the Postage Elves get the mail overseas when the lady behind said "You should write a book ......". I don't understand this. I was just explaining how things are.
We live with elves, goblins and other little people .... we have no television ..... our imaginations are in over-drive..
On more mundane levels, I listed this itsy-bitsy ACEO in my Etsy shop today. It's called "Two Hearts" and is a pencil drawing with watercolours. I really like this theme for ACEOs as they are just right for framing and giving to someone you love. It'll need a wide old mount though so you are drawn into the picture. There is something so appealing about the shape of a heart and they are infinately variable. I've got quite a few hearts going on at the moment. I'm trying to put another picture in here but it keeps getting moved down with the text! All the pictures here are on by trial and error! I can't work out how to get them in the correct places half the time. Any tips would be much appreciated. I'll try again. ARGGHGHG! What am I doing wrong? Let's go again....... I can't get the text next to the picture! Look at all that space to fill! Can anyone help?...... any elves out there?

I've had to put the picture in the middle now! Although Florcita did offer me some help - I'm over-tired tonight and can't work stuff out as easily. I've had a question from her - "What about gnomes?". I asked my husband and he replied "Gnomes? Don't be silly, they don't exist". OKAAAAAAAAAAY.
Great hearts, aren't they? Just right for a girl's bedroom wall. Or ditch that idea and have them in your kitchen like the first picture. Not my kitchen, but a friends. Great kitchen! I'll get them into my Etsy shop soon - click on the pics if you are in the UK as they are available from Not On The High Street.com. Back soon!

Smudgy pens, soup and a lime green fish ...

Right - I'm on my computer WAY to long. Do you know how I know this? (that's a lot of ows). I know this because I have worn the letters of a quarter of my keyboard. Yup. Today I did something dumb. It seemed sensible but it is dumb. I wrote the letters back in with permanent marker. Which it isn't. Permanent. Now it is all smudged over the place. It's worse than the picture. It's ten times worse than the picture. What was I thinking. Today I'm painting as well as catching up on line. Yup, I can multi-task with the best of them. But something smells bad in my workroom - not the soup (read on for that bit) - that was spicy sweetcorn chowder - looks like hell, tastes great). It's not my chicken paint either - see an earlier post - its a bit 'pig farmy'. I'm hoping they're spraying the fields round here and its not something rotting in here. Worring. What rotteth in my room, I wondereth.

Over to the right there is a pic of my workroom complete with soup bowl - I'm so scummy. Wait a minute! There! I've put the bowl on the floor by the door ready to go to the kitchen. Will it every get there? Pass. Right now I'm custom painting a fish. A friend of mine wanted one of my pointy fish - in lime green. This is very bold for her, I reckon, as she's a classic creamy, muted kinda girl. Lime green, blue and lilac too! Very nice. Its a slow progression as there's always something online to be doing - like, er, writing blogs. One day I'll spill water in the keyboard and that will be the end of it all! I can't afford another. I'll have to write letters to my flickr groups instead. Here's a pic of it finished. I did a quick pic so I could show you - and its not going into my shops so I haven't gone to too much effort for you (what a meanie I am). It could do with a white background but I don't have any white walls in my house. I've got loads of others though - check them out here.

I like painting these ones. Although this lime one is on its third mouth. I either get it right first time or we're in for the long haul. I also dropped my brush on it and splattered paint blobs everywhere. Cue swearing and much wiping. Eugh, this keyboard gets worse and worse. I can touch type really fast so it must be the combination and friction and heat!

Got to go ...... will be back later to finish!

Crabs, screwdrivers and limpit brains ....

Getting away from toilets and chicken paint - we all upped shop (me, literally), hopped on the ferry and set sail for Seaview on the Isle of Wight. My family have had a holiday home there for about 104 years. You see the ugly building the the middle? It used to look like the one on the left until someone visually challenged ripped the front off in the '70s. Our pad is the bottom flat - we get the garden (teehee). As you can see we are literally within spitting distance of the beach! I've been going there every year of my life - every year - seriously! Now I take my own children there. I feel old.

When we're there pretty much all we do is go crabbing! We have a log book for scoring our catches and we try and set a new record each year. Last year we caught 988 before we had to make a run for the ferry home! This year we're up to 800 odd already so we're definately going to blow the 1000 mark.

Don't listen to this next bit if you are squeemish! We are expert crabbers - and crabbing purists! This means we only use limpits for bait. Do not use those little bags you fill with bacon and CHEAT with - yes, CHEAT with. The crabs get their little legs hooked into the mesh and its a sure thing to land one. No element of danger - no crab sky-diving and smashing onto the rock as you head for the bucket. The purist method is a fabulous hook contrived out of an old coathanger. You also need ....... a limpit, a screwdriver, a medium sized stone and a nine year old boy. Send all out at low tide to get bait. The nine year old finds a limpit (poor thing), shoves said screwdriver under it's shell where it clings to the rock ,er ... like a limpit .... bangs end of screwdriver with medium rock, limpit flies off. Next chisel a hole through the top of the shell - repeated banging needed. You'll know when you are in as you'll get gut splurted up into your eye. DO NOT LICK YOUR FINGERS or you will be sick later. (Its true.. trust me). Stick the rusty coathanger hook through this hole in shell, out through the limpit flesh and wrap round tightly. Lovely. Survey lovely view to take your mind of the limpit murder. DO NOT LICK YOUR FINGERS.
UPDATE: my husband has just read this and has informed me that this information is technically wrong. Typical. The above is how I do it (the correct way) and the other way is the way that men (pah!) do it. So, guys, the bloke way is to smash the hole in the limpits head BEFORE you get it off the rock - this is easier as the limpit does not move (apparently). Move? Good grief, its not like they run off.

Mostly you will catch boring, docile shore crabs. Yawn. For some real crabby action you need low tide. The lower the better. Out on the seaweedy rocks you'll catch (if you can) Velvet Swimming Crabs. BE VERY AFRAID. Shore crabs grab your bait and sit there eating it - Velvet Swimmers grab it and drag it under a rock. Try and pull them up and they let go - they have brains and they are watching you with their scarlet eyes. Some of them swear at you. You need cunning, stealth and nerves of steel. They tangle their legs round the seaweed and pull - you on one end, it on the other. Do not call it obscene names because you will have your children with you. Get the net under it and gently scoop it up. Once in the net - shake the net! They climb out! Shaking gets it on its back in the bottom of the net - quickly get it in the bucket. Once in the bucket DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND IN! It will go for you - big time. They hate you and want you to know it.
Next up are the edible crabs - but don't. Eat them that is. They are smooth and pretty and really not that big. They sit under the rocks and WILL NOT come out. If one gets your bait you have to scoop it with the net but it WILL let go and you'll keep missing it. Yawn. Nice to catch, pretty to look at - just not as much of a thrill as the Velvet Swimmers. Really, really, really low tide and you might spot a lobster. Or find a spider crab in a rock pool. Spider crabs are really slow and dopey - they cover themselves in seaweed as a disguise. It's a treat to find one - more likely you will stand on one first. *shudder*.

Enough of all that murder and mayhem. A crafty interlude approaches. The beaches are great for pottering around on and we collect seaglass, little yellow periwinkles and hag stones. Hag stones are ones with natural holes in them - really cool to find. Traditionally they were hung around horses necks to ward off disease and over the front doors of houses to ward off evil but are now a symbol of protection. I've used them to make my Random Rounds. Each one is, of course, totally different. I've made two, the one you see to the left and another, slightly smaller with red beads. Both are for sale.

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