Crafty longings

For as long as I can remember, I've always had an appreciation for handmade goods. I really like the idea of someone putting their time and imagination into something and being able to bring it home.

With all of my enthusiasm, I figured I would be pretty good at crafting. I had the gist, surely that coupled with a giddy splurge on a rainbow of various wools and some ambitious hat and scarf combo ideas would be all I would need to get started.

I was wrong.

Bit of background - In primary school, we were taught to knit and sew. Not just the girls, boys too. Our teacher's logic was that anyone could be a fashion designer, seamstress or simply enjoy creating their own crafts. I remember being OK at knitting. What had faded from my memory was the ability to start knitting and how to finish or 'cast off'. The bit in the middle I was grand at.

So maybe knitting isn't for me. What about jewellery making? Maybe! Pottery? I once made a punk style ceramic cat, it now serves as an ugly jewellery stand. Maybe not. But then I see something like this and get all inspired again. I could definitely make zombie cups, or mug shaped hands or some sort of quirky door stop.

If anyone would like to treat me to this, you can get it from Etsy

You can only imagine my excitement when I came across a shop in Temple Bar called MayFly who specialise in handmade curiosities, including (but certainly not limited to!) handcrafted jewellery, felted teddies, repurposed crafts and lots of one off pieces.

I know where I'm heading on pay day. At least until I magically become accomplished at crafting. Until then, I'm perusing Pinterest, May Fly and Etsy. 

Warning - Rant

Alright, I will hold my hands up. I am a spelling freak. Not only that, but I can be pretty finicky about grammar. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

What brings me to write this blog post?

Well, as part of my new job, I'm using the internet even more than before (less lolcats and general nerdiness being downloaded sadly) so I've been accessing a lot more websites than usual.

It has been an experience. Some of the grammar and spelling errors on all kinds of websites are unbelievable! Whatever about the old school dancing baby style graphics and broken links etc., I'm talking about basic grammar and spelling here.

Although spotting things like this on Facebook puts my teeth on edge, it's a social media site where people engage with each other, not a spelling bee.

But surely on a business site, you'd think there'd be someone there to proofread things before it was put on the site?

Personally it puts me off the page or company, one particular wedding supplier actually used a capital letter for each word, which completely put me off. Can you imagine if they made wedding videos?

'The Beautiful Morning Of June Sixth When David And Laura Became Man And Wife At The Church Of St. Paul.' 

It hurt to type that.

Luckily, the folk at the Oatmeal have put my irks into a fun cartoon. Full link here.

Yes, I know I'm a complete and utter nerd about this, but it grinds my gears! In short, try hitting F7 to check your spelling and grammar. Go on, it feels good! 

Tick Tock...

Awake for the third night in a row at 4 am. I sense a pattern emerging:

 

Lie down and try to empty mind of all thoughts.

Gah! Itchy foot.

Listen to himself snoring happily, silently jealous!

Wonder if there's a new episode of Family Guy/American Dad/South Park etc. Go check.

End up on Wikipedia, crap!

Have song stuck in head, must find it on Youtube. It always seems to be an obscure song that I know four words to, and they may or may not be in the correct order. But I have the tune!

Look for headphones so I don't wake himself.

Can't find headphones, I'll keep the search tab open for later.

Too hot. Kick off duvet.

Too cold. Wrap half of self in duvet.

Have headache. Oh God, what if I've some obscure head related ailment?!

OK, shut up brain and let me sleep.

 4:30 am -  Urgh...

Pillow too warm, flip pillow to the 'cool' side, repeat.

Plan out tomorrow (today?) in head.

Try again to drop off to sleep.

Name of person/song/movie title etc. pops into head from earlier conversation when said information was relevant but evading memory.

I should write that down. No, don't turn the light on, it'll trick the brain into thinking it's time to get up.

Meh, I'll remember it later.

Give up on sleep attempt, stream episode of something nostalgic online.


8:00 am - Wake up with laptop beside me. Oops, you sleep on the floor Mr. Laptop.

Put laptop on floor, now back to sleep.


8:30 am - Still awake, feck!

Fussy, moi?

The wedding plans are in full swing, oh yes! The dress has been bought, photographer booked, we've almost settled on a venue, DJ sorted etc.

All was going swimmingly, until I started looking into getting  a videographer. "You'll regret not getting one." echoes in my mind from several wedding forums. So I start pricing around. On one particular site, they have 52 suppliers listed nationwide. I looked at each and every one of them and liked a grand total of 6. Showed them to my betrothed and we narrowed it down to two. TWO!

To be fair, both myself and himself are media trained in different fields, so this was bound to be a minefield from Day One, but we've seriously restricted ourselves here. But hey, it's "Our Special Day"*

What I found shocking was the difference in price, we saw some technically awful wedding video samples. White balance being off, out of focus shots, dirty lenses! Basic things people! And I will now sit on the inner Bridezilla.

Yet this doesn't reflect solely in the land of weddings. Shop around people,bargains are to be had. Check out sites like pigsback.com, livingsocial etc. You'd be surprised what's to be had if you're lucky.
 *Tongue firmly in cheek

Christmas Shopping Craziness

I am currently present shopping for Christmas. If anything, finding and buying presents for our nearest and dearest should be a piece of cake, thanks to the internet. I currently have my eye on a few items, and have morphed into a bargain hunting Queen. I am becoming adept at pitting eBay, Amazon et al against each other for my business. I'm calculating the currency exchange, virtual shopping trolleys and baskets are filling up.

But more than anything I'm looking forward to spending time with my nearest and dearest, watch a few corny Christmas movies and relax. Bring it on!