flotsam business card holder

flotsam business card holder, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

wire crochet for your business cards - a little obsessive?

discuss

design-a-day d26; beachcomber collar complete

design-a-day d26; beachcomber collar complete, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

This is a completely new design - ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce "beachcomber".

My husband describes it as what you would see washed up on the beach (but with fewer flies and not smelling of seaweed).

In a nutshell, it is freeform wire crochet with a mixture of huge beads in glass, jasper, shel and bone, with a double ultrasuede thong.

It's big .... it's bold .... it's totally new for me ...... and I like it!
I want one in copper.

Design-a-day April challenge day 26.

design-a-day d25

design-a-day d25, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

yes, still slogging thru a different design everyday though i'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that april has been wire crochet month, with only the arrangement of the beads differing between projects.

i really hate finishing off projects - and this is what faces me for tomorrow!

there are two orbital bracelets, one orbital necklace, one collar and one constellation cuff in this little pile

back to the pliers!

far from home

OK - this one had my a little teary-eyed this morning as I struggled to thread beads onto wire for some crochet projects.

Right now (and for the last seven years almost) I've been 8000km away from my family and where I grew up. Most of the time this is OK as we keep in touch by phone, email and letter.

... but sometimes I'm reminded that I can't just drop in on them.

... and this song (even though it's written for the singer's dog!) reminds me.

There is something quite extraordinarily special about my tiny home country, and it's getting more amazing each year I visit. There's a real buzz in the air, from a new level of self government, to a sense of national identity and pride which didn't exist while I was growing up. At school the undercurrent was that to be scottish meant you had to be ashamed of your culture and be prepared to laugh at it. Now people take pride in being a Scot, and still laugh but this time at the humour in life rather than the racial slurs. BTW, the best thing to come out of Scotland is not the A1 you bigotted english twit (and you know who you are!).

2009 is the year of homecoming for Scotland, when expats from all over the world are encouraged to go back home. Events are being planned to welcome back Scots from all over the world (and we are a widely emigrated race!) and I for one, plan on being a homecomer that year.

I miss my home and family.

, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

Sk8er boy!

, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

Sk8er boy!

artichoke season! time for soup

artichoke season!, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

at last!
a source of jerusalem artichokes in the neighbourhood (they were on the exotic veg rack in safeway and they are called sunchokes)
so artichoke soup - here we come!

please note, i don't do quantities in my recipes - i just use up whatever is around.

ingredients are sunchokes, a potato or two and a medium onion plus seasoning, olive oil, butter and stock

- chop the veg into half inch dice

- meanwhile, melt a good knob of butter in a generous quantity of olive oil

- add the diced veg and stir to coat (i usually add parsely or mixed herbs here too)
- sweat over a low heat for about 15 minutes until soft
- add a couple of pints of chicken or vegetable stock. season and - gently simmer for 20 minutes until veg are ready to puree
- puree in liquidiser or by pushing thru a metal sieve

heat, serve and enjoy!
bon appetit

the resulting soup is a gorgeous smooth creamy pale green which does not photograph well! best served with cream or plain yogurt.
freezes well

design-a-day april challenge still going strong

design-a-day d17, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

am really smug here
managing one new design per day for april

but

falling behind on the photography

photography is 'one of those things' which cannot be done when the wee guy is in residence (add this to making telephone calls, working on the computer, taking a private shower, eating chocolate without guilt, etc.)

so i'm batching the pics and it looks like i'm cheating cos they all have the same date (but i'm not)

(honest)

hailstorm Friday

hailstorm, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

crazy weather currently
this afternoon the wee guy and i walked back from the post office thru a heavy hailstorm. we walked along heads thrown back, catching giant hailstones in our mouths

"they taste yummy like ice"

Griz was not impressed. it's been a good day for her 'deck watching' - a small bird stayed a while out side the windows, recovering from hitting a window. Griz watched and twitched until it flew away

then on saturday morning we woke up to this scene
there was easily about 2 inches of fluffy snow on teh roof and deck. it stayed for a lot of the day and is still looking good in the north facing crevices of the house today (sunday).

crazy weather! is it spring yet?

design-a-day d12

design-a-day d12 , originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

these are destined to be little promo charms for the spring Got Craft fair being held on May 4th in the Legion Hall on Commercial.

the first lucky 30 people through the door will get these and other amazing items in goodie bags.

this is part of my contribution!
also featuring in my April design-a-day challenge (yes, i've managed to create a design everyday so far! check here for projects completed so far. most of them will be for sale at Got Craft!

yum!

April design-a-day day 9

design-a-day d9, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

... still going strong!

These are yesterday's offerings - silver earwires with vintage plastic cabachons glued on to the fronts and citrine glass dangles to complete.

very fresh!

wire conundrum elegantly solved?

wire conundrum elegantly solved?, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

sounds a little like a crossword puzzle clue? .... but it's not!

yesterday at the warehouse i discovered that my supplier was out of the wire i need!! so i had to substitute. it isn't spooled and is an absolute nightmare to work with. for wire crochet you need a wire that will unspool easily, not run riot as soon as it is out of the bag!

so this is my solution - a Gaultier perfume bottle as my spindle. it's not very portable - i'll have to work on that one so i can get out and about as usual, but i have managed a few more earring designs.

you can keep up with what i'm producing in my design-a-day challenge here

and when i need inspiration i just take a sniff! i must be the most exotci smelling crafter around.

design-a-day day 4

design-a-day d4, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

...... and this is the result!

Only the lemon yellow amber nuggets made it into the final design along with the copper wire beads and the chunky chain.

The necklace is as yet unfinished, similar to the tinned copper version of ethereal as I can't yet picture the final length (short vs. opera).

... but I'm happy with what I've done with my balls!

what's next?

what's next?, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

For April I've set myself a little design challenge, courtesy of the flickr design a day group.

But why?
Well, this weekend I got the most bestest goodest news ever - I've been accepted for Got Craft's spring fair at the beginning of May.

..... and now I need to make even more spring/summer inventory. Did I ever need an excuse to make more stuff?? No

So to document the progress I decided to follow the action by posting a photograph of something I make everyday. I'm hoping that there will be more than one thing made everyday ............ or I will have a somewhat sparse table!

So follow my progress (or lack thereof) here and, if you're in the area come May 4th, feel free to reserve your favourite piece!

PS: the photo above shows the next project - stay tuned for a sneak peek later!

a sneak peek!

..... just a heads up!