aaaarigami

This week's craft activity is nautical themed origami. I googled a long time to find origami pirate instructions, but no dice. Then I tried to find a whale, but couldn't find one that wasn't for the seriously advanced origamist.

Then I found the manatee. Always one of my favourite sea creatures. Now I just need to find the right origami paper. I made a test run and he is so cute. I'll post pictures later.

If anyone wants to make an origami manatee, here's the link.

And here's a manatee, aw:

a panda is a bear

As promised, I present to you, Matt's AMAZING panda, as well as Jazz's ghost zombie panda, hanging out at work with my two floral guys, and a late entry biro panda from Tim:



(photo stolen from Jazz's flickr)

I feel pretty proud of us right now.

panda panda panda

Let me say, first of all, I realise these pandas are LUDICROUS. But I still kinda love them.

So, let's start with the less ludicrous of the pair. This guy was my second attempt. Half panda, half penguin.




And here he is with his older, femimine brother, my first panda. I don't think you can even tell that pinky IS a panda.



Stay tuned for Matt's panda. I think it's going to make me want to give up panda sewing forever.

crafty weekends

My friend from work (Matt) and I decided two weeks ago that we needed more craft in our lives. Well, it wasn't really that conscious a decision. We started off by drawing a simple portrait of each other (from a photo, not from life). It was so much fun, I laughed the whole time I was drawing, because I was truly terrible at it. Then Matt suggested we make it a weekly thing, so I set the next task: make a soft toy. Matt knows I am currently obsessed with panda cuteness, so he suggested we make pandas. Oh yes, it sounded so easy.

It wasn't.

I made my first panda yesterday, and oh boy, it's a bit of a mess. I made another one today, learning from my mistakes, and I think this one is considerably better. But still quite a mess! It was really fun, and a good spatial challenge. It required all my planning abilities just to work out which part to sew first. I still think there must be an easier way.

Here are our portraits. I will put pictures of the pandas up in a few days when we have had time to photograph them.

Me (by Matt - as he said, I look like a character from Ghost World)




Matt (by me - please don't laugh - oh go on, you can if you want)

per square metre

Despite my feet being crippled by my shoes (as mentioned previously), I walked all the way to Per Square Metre gallery last night for the opening of the 'cups and cuddles' exhibition.



It was so worth the painful walk. There were so many beautiful pictures. I wish I had some spare money to buy some. I loved it all, but I think my favourite works were by Catherine Campbell. I have been keeping an eye on her blog and her etsy store lately, and I think sooner or later I will make a purchase.

ow

Apparently I always forget that my red flats are uncomfortable. Maybe I should just throw them out so I don't make the same mistake over and over. I don't seem to be able to learn, where shoes are concerned. They are just too pretty.