Found the Icing Eyes: More peppers

I was going to give the pepper-pics a rest but I was having a hunt through a drawer yesterday and found some icing sugar cartoon eyes I had been given. Not sure I'm ever going to eat them but they REALLY suited the peppers!

Excited pepper!

And its Zany brother!

I WILL now give peppers a rest but I have found SUCH a cute turnip that I HAVE to share it with you... so look out for The Adventures of Cute Turnip-Head!

A Couple of Happy Peppers?

I do love cutting a pepper in half and seeing if there's a face inside (see previous blogs of peppers in various states of emotion)

Actually this one looks rather concerned!

But the second one is paralytic with laughter - tears running down its face... or is that drool?

Rotten Apple or Golden Apple?

Here's the amazing apple I found in out back garden, fallen from our little centenarian apple tree...

And here's what Prisma did with it...

It looks like something out of a fairytale.

Sherlock ATCs part two

Here are the other three Sherlock-themed ATCs I promised you yesterday.

Can't believe the last time I drew Sherlock ATCs was 2013!! 

Time flies when you're playing with other craft!

New Sherlock ATCs

Just finished watching the new series of Sherlock and the second episode was a fascinating mix of scary menace and unexpected humour. Its amazing how the writers can make your emotions jump about between the two so quickly.

Here are some of my favourite scenes as ATCs (please forgive the inaccurate likenesses).

1. Sherlock after shooting photos, greeting a frightened Mrs Hudson.

2. John and Mrs Hudson with the fake therapist.

3. Mrs Hudson and Sherlock swap what they are carrying.

4. Sherlock is handcuffed in the boot of Mrs Hudson's smart new car and brought to John.

Three more tomorrow...

BTW if you want to see the ATCs I did from previous series, check out 

http://socklet-world.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sherlock-in-atcs.html

and

http://socklet-world.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sherlock-in-atcs-return-to-scene-of.html

Moomin Collage

I love Moomin stuff. The pictures Tove Jansson drew are as fantastic as the stories she wove.

I was given a colouring book as a present 

but, as Moomins are all white and I couldn't bring myself to colour them any different colours, thought I would cut up the book and do some collage with it instead.

From there I had to Prisma it up a little...

and

They are so atmospheric.

Fog and Frost

Got a pedometer so I set myself the joint task of collecting steps and taking frosty picks this morning.

All that and 3,000 steps- YAY!

The Tower at Midnight

Here, at last, is the finished tower that I started telling you about a couple of blogs ago.

There's little black lantern in the top (part of a set of six in the pound shop's Christmas lights which work by battery but I just took the outside shade off the set and put an LED in it.

The clock face has hands which move and is from a Tim Holtz set I've had for a long time, knowing there would one day come a project perfect for them. I think the legs are Tim Holtz too.

Here's a reminder of how it comes (from Hobbycraft stores)
http://socklet-world.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/midnight-tower.html

And here's a bit of Prisma

I cut the back open so I can decorate the inside, so will keep you posted when I get to doing that!

Tardis on a Cow

Sorry I still haven't uploaded the finished tower from phone to laptop to show you the finished article... but in the meantime here is a Tardis on a cow!

It was part of an exhibition where various cow statues were painted by different artists and then placed in locations all over the area like a kind of trail. This one was in out local leisure centre.

Close up on the artwork before I tell you its terrible pun of a title... any guesses?

Dr Moo.

I think there was a Dalek on the other side but I'm a bit obsessed with Tardises so I only photographed this side (sorry Dalek fans).

Cardboard Tower

Hobbycraft had a sale of their pressed cardboard shapes just after Christmas and I had had my eye on this tower on a previous visit but not at the original price.

Hooray for sales! 

So I bought it and covered it with little cardboard brick shapes made from cereal packet.

I'll let you know what the finished product looks like when I've uploaded the photos onto my computer.

Cute Reindeer

Not made by me but by a lady who makes everything out of papier mache and sells it at craft fairs!

This is the little deer I bought, looking in awe and wonder at the wooden Christmas tree model on the mantelpiece.

And here is the rest of her stall (she let me take photos).

All the shelving for display was also card and papier mache too!

The animal faces reminded me of the illustrations in the Phillip Ardagh books. 

 If you look up https://www.facebook.com/boolienooinc/ you'll get a flavour of her ideas.

The Phillip Ardagh books of the Eddie Dickens Trilogy have characters with big bulbous eyes like these

Frosty Pics

Its always good to get out with the camera on a frosty morning. I would have liked to have gone further afield but here are a few from the patio - the only frozen bit of the garden.

Bells and Scoobies (remember those?).

Crunchy leaves.

The frosty smile of the chiminea lid.

 And Ivy being rather artistic and decorative.

Pugs on the Christmas Tree

My daughter loves Pugs and vintage stuff so, when I saw this tiny bit of fabric remnant covered in vintage type pugs, rabbits, cats and chipmunks, I just had to buy it...

and then spend a happy evening listening to Neil Gaiman's Stardust book on the radio while sewing the cut out fabric shapes into these lovely little weirdos for her Christmas tree.

Each one was sewn, stuffed, corded and then had a bell added on top. Boy, have I missed sewing!

Blinging the Christmas Tree

I bought these simple wooden tree shapes from the Christmas market in Kingston upon Thames

which were whitewashed (but I painted them solid white) and had a rough string through the hole at the top.

I decorated each one with sticky-backed ribbon and shiny stickers or gemstones,

then used the hole at the top for an LED light with a battery at the back, held on with a plastic coated paperclip (thus easy to disconnect when not wanted).

I had to photograph them at a bit of an angle as the LED light can be a bit savage.
And I couldn't show them to you before Christmas because I was making them as presents, but they are all given out now so here they are.