Who lives in a box like this?

A l’il eBay purge

Yet again, I am peddling all my extraneous worldly goods on a ‘well-known internet auction site.’ I started with these shoes.

I only wore them once. (To a funeral, with a striped pirate style cardigan, corduroy skirt with straps and a Vivienne Westwood skull and cross-bone necklace. I was the best dressed mourner in town, although slightly in the vibe of a Michael Hutchence girlfriend). And then when I put them on this weekend, I realised that I towered over poor l’il John, looking more drag queen-esque than statuesque. Those babies gotta go, girlfriend!

And then in a strange twist of fate, I have ended up selling a fair few other bits and bobs. I’ll keep the reasons why quiet for now, but if you really want a clue, check out my Flickr…

Doin’ it for Charideee!

After Christmas I do tend to find myself quite poor, as I’m sure a lot of us do. But this year’s even worse as, technically, I don’t have an income! For the past year I was aware of this pending situation of doom and – get this- stopped spending and started saving. I’ve always spent too much on stuff. I have designer handbags, fancy costume jewellery, and a wardrobe bursting at the seams. And this is after selling off the excess on a ‘well-known internet auction site’ (as they say on TV). And if you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I have a penchant for fancy wool and the stuff in my house could is more Selfridges than Argos lol! To be fair, I’ve worked extra hours for the goodies and have not had other things such as holidays (carbon footprint – hello?!?) and meals out (I’m on a diet anyway). But despite this terrible shopping-based affliction, I managed in January 2007 to cut the umbilical cord and separate myself from the plastic inside my purse which had been feeding my spending. I stopped going to shops, and I started to buy all my clothes second-hand off eBay. Then I stopped this and actually sold a tonne of stuff! Such sacrifice! Such willpower!

Last year I also discovered charity shops. If you haven’t been in one in years, do try them again – they’re ace! And most of them now use air freshener too (although perhaps too much – a hazard for us asthmatics!). You would not believe some of the bargains I’ve found over the years. My digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 5000) was found broken for £3 and only cost £25 to repair. The vintage B&O radio in my bathroom, £8 broken, with £50 of repairs making it worth £140 (that was a real Antiques Roadshow moment, I tell you!)!!! The glass bottles in my kitchen a tenner for the lot. Tons of vinyl, personal favourites including Gazza’s Fog on the Tyne and Anita Dobson’s Anyone Can Fall in Love (to the Eastenders theme tune). Honestly the list goes on!

You have to be patient with charity shops as there’ll often be nothing but novelty mugs and royal memorabilia. But this patience does pay off, as yesteday’s haul shows!

Wonderful CDs (Guns n Roses, Supergrass and The Doves) and an amusing book about the perils of Labour Party activism (of which there are many, let me say, lol!). But best of all, this wonderful, fabulous, super-duper Miffy Stationery Box. Isn’t it brill?!?

It’s jam-packed with writing paper, envelopes and greetings cards!

As much as I love the World Wide Wait, there is something to be said about an old-fashioned letter and I can’t wait to use it. Although it might be like when you’re given fancy soaps, staying in their wrappers because they’re just too lovely to use… But best of all, all this stuff came to a tenner. Now that’s how I like my spending to be nowadays!

Plumbing Pandemonium

As ever, the never-ending DIY train is hurtling on at full speed, stopping this week at Bathroom Central. Yes, I’ve had the plumbers in all week and no, that’s not a euphemism for that time of the month (you know, ‘I’ve got the painters in’, as your Nan might say). Nowadays John and I are posh, fancy types, and have two bathrooms (main and en-suite) so that’s double the effort and double the expense, oh yay. You’ve heard of John ‘Two Jags’ Prescott? Well I’m Flissy ‘Two Bogs’ 666! There was nothing wrong with the old bathrooms – they were white, clean and quite new. But there was nothing right about them either – just complete B&Q cheapy nonsense. Oh, and they were painted blue. Yeuch – I hate that colour on walls sooooo much. If I were the PM, I’d make blue bathrooms illegal. Sorry – I realise that the majority of the world adores blue bathrooms but I DON’T. So there Oh, and there would be a series of by-laws which banned the sale of the attendant nautical-themed accessories. Punishable by death. I have a half-demolished photo to show you, but avert your gaze quickly if your aesthetic sensibilities are easily offended. BTW – those wavy lines on the wall are where some hideously naff wavy Ikea mirrors had been stuck up with no-nails. I told you it was bad.Progress has been okay this week. In the en-suite, the shower cubicle has been fitted and tiled out and the new lav is in. In the main bathroom it is all fitted, and the chrome towel rail has been installed. There have been a few problems – the shower cubicle needed to be re-built because the walls were out, the en-suite sink had been cast poorly so needs replacing and the pipework to the heated towel rails had to be re-routed. Oh, and the house flooded. I kid ye not. It’s Friday night and I’m plonked in the new bath, and suddenly I notice a ‘tap, tap, tap’ sound. Then I realised it was a ‘drip, drip, drip’ sound. John runs down the stairs and water is rushing out of the ceiling into my lovely new kitchen! He shot outside to turn of the water; and I jumped straight out of the bath to start bailing out the water using the bathroom bin into the basin, as I knew that didn’t leak. Fortunately the plumber came back in 5 minutes and the problem was easily fixed (dodgy plug seal). Nonetheless, it was a scarring experience. It could have been a lot worse though and at least I remembered to put my clothes back on admist the chaos!In non-house related news, I’m still plugging away at Mum’s Christmas present. I can’t understand why it’s taking me so long! Curse those 3mm needles! Is there some secret knitting skill that no-one’s told me about? I look at the sites of such talented people as Julie and Jenny and wonder how the hell they do it! Perhaps they have special prosthetic limbs that they wear for knitting to speed the whole process up. Anyhow, I’m so slow that the Christmas WIP list is going to have to be reviewed.Also had a little spend on some fabric. I’m getting a sewing machine for Christmas, so am gathering supplies akin to a squirrel gathers nuts. The spotty cord is going to be used to line Mum’s bag.Right – off to crack on with that bag. We’ve an extra hour today because the clocks went back, so I may get at least an extra centimetre done. If anyone would like to share the knitting secret, please do!

Bears, bears, bears (and some cake for good measure)

The past week has been bear-tastic in this house! First of all some bear-related purchases, starting with this beautiful wristlet, decorated with yo-yo flowers and a small bear softie, from Isa’s Etsy shop. I’ve long admired Isa’s embroidery and sewing skills, so when she added some new bags to her shop I was quick to grab one!

Then, I just couldn’t resist this little vampire bear called Spook and his bat friend Pampy in Mumka’s Etsy shop. Before you think I am draining her shop of all stock and keeping it to myself, I must explain. John and I got together on Hallowe’en way back in 2000. Since then, I have has a soft spot for anything Hallowe’en related, and tend to go in for it in a big way. In any case, it’s a long time between our brithdays (Feb/Mar) and Christmas, so it’s nice to have something fun and celebratory to look forward to during the long, dark winter months.

As usual, though, work has stymied my creative activities and last week’s WIP using the vintage buttons remains unfinished and gathering dust. But another WIP is on the go (mental note – must finish one project before commencing on another). I’ll not reveal too much, but here’s a taster.

And from ‘taster’ to ‘tasty’ (d’ya see what I did there?!?), I baked a cake! A real treat in our household as with only two of us, there’s not always the stomach capacity for a full cake. But, sod the cellulite – it was raining and we needed a treat, so I delivered one in the form of a cherry and almond loaf, taken from Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. She *so* had me in mind when she named that!

My Bear Family is Complete!

Now I’m in the final stages of my PhD, I am really beginning to feel the pressure – so much to do and not enough time in which to get it all done. The other week was particularly horrid, and the force of (yet another) 55+ hour week was really taking its toll. Luckily for me I have a lovely boyfriend who knows just how to cheer me up, and in this instance he bought me a little girl bear from Mumka to keep Poiko and Johny company. Girl Bear Cream and her little friend Carrot Bunny arrived from Poland the other day, and are now sat happily on our vintage radio with Poiko. They make such a happy pair, and they cheer me up every time I see them.

I thought I would also share a close up of Johny and Carrot Bunny, as the detail on such wee little things is wonderful.

As is always the case with such things, I couldn’t resist ordering something else from Mumka (her stuff really is great) so ordered this little bunny called Curly.

Finally, also in the parcel was the cutest little stitch marker that Mumka had made as a extra treat for me. I think he may be related to Croque Monsieur

All in all, a complete result – lovely toys and a very happy Fliss!

First Purchase from Etsy

Well, I thought I would kick off my blog, and the learning curve that it will be, by showing you all my first purchase from Etsy. Please say a warm hello to Poiko and his little friend Johny who have come all the way from Poland to be with me!

I bought these from Mumka’s Etsy shop – you really should check it out as her stuff is so lovely and beautifully hand-crafted. They’re even sweeter in the flesh (or should that be fur?) than in the photo! The parcel was so beautifully wrapped and even contained a little Polish treat for Poiko and I to share!

I love him so much and to keep him company, I have also bought a little girl bear from Mumka (check back to see a pic of her when she arrives).

I hope that when I grow up I can make such beautiful things too!