As promised

As promised, what my work desk looks like on a Friday afternoon. Note that blogger is open, all my crochet is everywhere (and my files are all over the desk, in unorganised piles)

I do actually have a note on my desk now telling me to tidy the files I don't need away! :)

Autumn rain

Eventhough I'm still sat in my less-than-comfortable office chair, I'm quite enjoying crocheting on my lunch break, listening to the rain on the windows. It makes a nice change from studying too!

Friday is my one day a week where I give myself a break at lunch time to do what I want, instead of studying or revising for my AAT level 3 qualification.

I have a picture of my desk on a Friday lunch to show you later, but I can't plug my phone in to upload the picture here (and I don't have a clever android with a blogger app..).

Incomparable Buttons

I was given some lovely handmade buttons as part of a tutorial swap, and thought it was high time I actually did the tutorial.

So, how to make button earrings!

Here's what you need:

 Some bits closer up:
The gorgeous buttons I chose (from incomparable buttons):

Some epoxy resin glue:

I got a pack with both of these tubes (you need both) in a 99p shop.
The earring stems:

I bought mine from a shop on ebay...http://stores.ebay.co.uk/kittypink

Okay, so, once you've got everything together, you need to put a small amount of the glue on a piece of cardboard.

There should be equal amounts of resin and hardener.

Mix the resin and hardener together using a cotton bud (Q-tip).

Apply a thin layer of the glue mix to the back of the earpost using the cotton bud.

Then place the earpost on to the back of the button. Try to make it relatively central, unless you want your earring to hang below your earlobe a little.

Repeat from adding the glue to the post.
You should now have 2 earring post-ed buttons!

Leave them to dry overnight, sometimes longer, and then they should be ready to wear!
If you're not sure if the posts are fully adhered, pull them gently to see if they hold firm.
If they don't, leave them a little longer, if they do, you're good to go!

I've only made mine tonight, so I can't show them in yet, but I will post another picture when they are ready :)

I hope you all enjoyed my first tutorial, let me know if you have any questions!

Teddy Two: Hope

I actually managed to finish the teddy before I move! (That may have been helped by the fact that our move date was moved to Monday instead of Saturday)

 I used the same pattern as my last bear, but used 100% wool that was dyed in 3 different colours, and a 4mm hook, instead of 5mm. That explains the different widths of the stripes. At first I thought that might make him look a bit odd but I actually think he looks quite sweet :) I also embroidered "Hope" in to his chest as a surprise message for my Mum.

If you haven't seen my last bear, this was made with a pattern in

"Let's get crafting! Knit and Crochet" magazine from August. I'll start on projects from the September issue soon :)

Knitting!

I've been re-teaching myself to knit. My plan was to make some socks, and give them to my nan as a present. This plan didn't work, because my yarn wasn't stretchy enough, but I do have a sock to show you!

So the sock's yarn wasn't stretchy enough for it to be worn, but, I'm going to turn it into a pretty decorative christmas sock later in the year :)

Could knitting a sock be much more confusing?

I'm still really not sure that I'm knitting this sock right. I'll keep going, I promise, but I just don't understand how you'll ever be able to put it over a foot yet... unless you drape it, and don't move your foot!

I'm sure I'll find out (or find out I've gone wrong) sometime soon!

Penny Pinching Polish Part 2

Lots of alliteration there!
Last weekend I popped into a poundland to look at their beauty products as I've been seeing reviews pop up in the blogs I follow saying that you can get good quality stuff that is obviously, only £1.

After quite a long browse, I picked myself up a cheap concealer as I thought I could do with one, but wasn't sure how much I'd use it, so there's no point me buying something with a big brand name. I bought "chit chat"'s light concealer, which comes in a stick and has tea tree oil in the formula. So far, it seems to be working to hide the bags under my eyes a little, and I'm hoping the tea tree will do me some good in the long run too.

Anyway, to the polish!
I picked up a crackle polish, which I've been dubious about for a while, and didn't want to spend £3/4 on my favourite nail polish brand barry m for a product I wasn't sure I'd like. I'm glad I didn't because I picked one up in poundland.

I used the black crackle over the same pink I blogged about a while ago. I only kept it on over the weekend, but it looked great and dried very quickly!