Happy Anniversary

I normally reserve this blog for craft related things, but seeing as I haven't updated my other one since January, and this one feels much more like my 'normal' blog these days, I thought I'd post something here.

Today is my first anniversary with the Boyfriend. A year ago today he asked me to be his girlfriend, after a weekend of wooing me with trips to the pictures and the zoo! And that was after a year of us emailling back and forth, so we took our time!

It hasn't always been easy, and we've had a few bumps, but on the whole, I'm happier than I think I've ever been, and despite the fact I'm now 140 miles away from everything I know and love, I don't regret moving here for a second!

So, Happy Anniversary Pete. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

First Embroidery Attempt

Embroidery is something I've wanted to have a go at since I was a little girl. I've been cross stitching since I was about 8 years old and I guess I've wanted to embroider since then too. I always thought it was so delicate and pretty.

After some pointers from the lovely people over at Crafter...oo, I looked at some links, and did a few practice stitches:



And once I thought I'd got the hang of it, I decided that I was going to actually try and make something pretty! I had an old t-shirt lying around; one which I loved the pattern on and so was loathe to throw away (it didn't fit!!), and so I decided to attempt to embroider around the pattern:



Here's a close up of the Dragon's head:



And of the flower:



Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, and I think it's a pretty good first attempt. There are a few bits that I'm not too happy about, and would change if I had the chance, but I guess it's all a learning curve!

Monkey Madness!

I'm on a bit of a monkey making spree at the moment, after having spent lots of time making rabbits and monsters, I've gone back to monkeys.

At the moment I'm making a monkey for the Monkey Swap, so no pictures of that yet! I'm also making a dark striped monkey, and I bought some more fluffy socks this morning which I plan to turn into monkeys, as I think they look really quite cute made from fluffy socks.

In other news, I've set up a Coriandr Shop, which hasn't much stuff in yet, but hopefully will do soon.

Also, the Pirate sock creatures I've made are up for sale in my Etsy shop. I also have some better pictures of them too:

Things I Covet...

As I am seriously lacking anything of my own to put here right now (working stupid hours is seriously cutting down my crafting time - I don't like crafting in the morning!!), I thought I'd make a post of pretty things from Etsy that I covet!

Anyone who really knows me knows that there are three things I love above most others - Wenches (and wenching!), Pirates, and Corsets! So guess what...that's what this post is going to contain!

First up is this amazingly pretty lunch bag from Proletariat Bags



As someone who takes lunch to work every day, in a very boring lunchbox, this would seriously make my lunch much more fun!

Next up, we have these really cute cards by RatherCrafty



I write a lot, to my dad and my best friend, and pretty stationery, with a pirate twist would probably make them smile just as much as me!

I just realised I lied...or rather omitted. There's something else I love more than lots of other things. Or someone...Lord Byron! Yes, it's cliched for a goth girl to love the Mad, Bad Lord, but I do, so ner!

And so, I want this:



It's a Byron necklace by FunckLoveDesigns

Right...next blog post will be something I've made...promise!

Pirate Socks

I love Pirates. I love anything to do with Pirates. And so, when I found socks with skulls and crossbones on, I knew I had to make Pirate sock creatures. I've made two so far - a monkey, and a rabbit.

Before I post any more, please excuse the pictures. The weather here's awful, so I've had to take the pictures indoors. The light's really bad. Hopefully I'll get better pictures soon!

Here we have Captain Blacktail, the most evil Pirate Rabbit known upon the seven seas:


And here, his friend and ally Captain Bananas, who is an equally scurvy dog (or monkey, as the case may be...):


And here's one of them together:

I Am Bad...

At blogging it seems.

I seem to have lost a bit of my mojo at the moment - I'm trying to think of ways to revive it at the moment. I am still making things, but I'm not enthused by them really. I'm hoping it'll come back!

I haven't got any (decent) pictures of anything new, but I have added an Etsy Mini feature to the left, as you may have seen.

And here is a (bad) picture of the last sock monkey I've made. It's made of fluffy socks! I don't recommend making creatures from fluffy socks - the bedroom is covered in fluff that's fallen off the socks!