My First Week At University!!

I have been a bit lax in updating the blog lately, but there has been a massive upheaval in my life and I am now in my first year of university!!! I have gone to De Montfort university in Leicester and it is absolutely fantastic!! We haven't started lessons properly yet, we have to have Fresher's week first of course(!), so I have had lots of time to wander around and get to know the area. There is a fantastic market with fresh fruit and lots of fabrics and ribbons for me to drool over. The shops go on forever and there are lots of things to look at and do.
Today as part of my pre-lesson lesson, we went on a tour/walk of the more neglected areas as well as a few key shops which may be useful for me in my course. I thought I would share a few of my favourite photos with you!

Crochet Bonanza

Having started experimenting with the crochet apple holders, I then moved onto crochet flowers (also from the Mollie Makes mag)- which are ridiculously easy to make!

You start with crocheting a circle, then move on to the inner petals, then work backwards. The larger petals are not full blown petals but worked on a chain stitch, which I think looks just as nice as the front.

From this flower success, I decided to try my hand at something else. I came across granny squares on the Internet and found a great set of Youtube videos to help me along. The guy who does it is called mikeyssmail and he has made quite a few crochet related videos. Here is a link for the first video to watch which tells you how to start off your granny square. Then the second, and the third to finish off.

And you may think a granny square is a boring thing crochet, but you could use it as a table mat, coaster, jam jar decoration....and if you join them together...you can make a blanket!! Which is exactly what I have been working on for my chair at university (to try and make it more comfortable to sit on). It isn't finished yet and there are several more granny squares to crochet but I am well on the way! What do you think?

And of course, there are many different patterns and ideas with granny squares, which not try making different sized squares and arranging them together...

...or just keep adding layers and making one giant granny square...

...or not making squares at all-- how about hexagons??

Bentley Wood Fair

Thank goodness the weather was OK today! Despite the gloomy predictions from the weather people. My family and I went to Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum to the wood fair they have every year.  It's the third year for us, and we love it! There is always something new as well as some regulars, and most of the stalls are real delights!
Although I didn't buy anything made of wood, they also have some antique 'bits and bobs' stalls and I found some lovely old local bottles from Brighton and Uckfield. My favourite one is the medicine bottle which doesn't have a flat bottom, although the Uckfield brewery bottle with its original glass stopper is also quite cute- I didn't even know Uckfield had had a brewery!!

The first time I saw bottles shaped a little like light bulbs was on Kirstie's Homemade Home, a programme my mother and I are totally addicted to!
Caution: watching the programmes (which you can do by clicking on the link) gives you a hankering to spend lots of money at auction fairs, antique markets and charity shops! Still, I really love my little bottles and will continue collecting them I think!!

Hungry Hamsters

Anyone ever had a hamster? No? Put off by all the cleaning out of cages? Well this is a clean and cute solution from Mollie Makes-- felt hamsters!!!

These cute little critters are smaller than your thumb and come with their own little personalities. You can mix and match the colours and make lots of tiny friends to play with.

So far I have only made two but they are so easy to make I feel a whole load more coming on! (What's the collective term for a group of hamsters??)

Aren't they cute??!!!

Jellyfish Fancy Dress

I was recently at a fancy dress party where the theme was literally 'The Sea'. You could be something on the sea, in the sea, by the sea, on the beach....anything you liked.
The costumes were all very good, but I think the costume of the night was the handmade jellyfish!
Made out of an old straw hat, some cardboard, crepe paper, bubble wrap, glittery fabric and lots of dangling ribbons, ric rac, sequins and netting it looked fantastic and sparkled and swayed all night!

Although not the first of it's kind, this outfit is definitely one of the better looking ones. Here are a few similar ideas people have tried...

It's not just fancy dress costumes that have been inspired by jellyfish. Here are some fashion ideas:

In fact, we are just generally obsessed with jellyfish!!! And why not? They are beautiful yet sometimes deadly and come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colours- providing heaps of inspiration!

Lighting Designs:

Architecture:

Electronic Gadgets:

Ceramics/Scultpures/Art: