RhianCaroline

5 blogs of Christmas: #3&4

 
 
 

Home made tags and crochet coats for gifts.

 

The glorious return of the Christmas wire. More details here.

chains

 

i am doing this.
i am waking up before the sun and sleep walking my way through the stretched out days.
i am dressing myself and feeding myself
and not being violently ill from the food.
i am listening to songs that are so beautiful they can't help but remind me of what i am doing
of the beauty i believe i can bring
of the voices each of us have.
i am drowning in subjective pronouns and curriculum targets
and sitting in classes taught by talented and brilliant teachers.
i am trying to figure out how to get my ideas on to the page
and how my ability to make things pretty
can make this stuff
pretty
and inspiring
and creative
and something that needs to be learnt.
i am missing dog walks and movie nights and chocolate on weekdays.
because i am certain i can do this.
i am determined to do this
well.
i am going to do this.

goodbye summer

 

The sun finally came out to let me get shots of my 'goodbye summer' etsy stuff. I had three updates planed for this year, Cloth, Paint, and Yarn. The yarn was always planned for around now, when the nights get cooler, and you need to start wearing a hoody at night again.
Of course, if you live here, you wear a hoody all year round.
But the point is, crochet doesn't feel so crazy this time of year. I don't think crochet bunting feels crazy any time of year, but that's just me.

 

The colours of these items are all summer inspired, but the texture gives them that autumn feel.
I am quite sure the Cloth and Paper updates won't happen. I start Uni on Monday, so i'm preparing myself for no time for making pretty things, or painting necessary stuff.
The Zine will continue though :)
Anyways. Happy goodbye summer. The happy little flower packs are so pleased to finally be packaged up and on etsy they made a video of their selves.

watch as the sunny day drifts by

 
 
 

I always have multiple journals on the go.
Like my thoughts can't be kept in one book. Like they are too big for two covers. Like they need to be compartmentalised into many many subjects.
Home and tiredness and memories and lists and time and grace and questions.
Always so many questions.

I've got more pages from a circle journals project I started years ago with some marvellous ladies. But I'll do that another day.

I've got a mini etsy update tomorrow. A goodbye summer inspired yarn affair. Including these.

 

WIP it

So I've been doing a lot of this...

because it pretty much hasn't stopped doing this (stop motion link),

but then this arrived,

so i am now officially afk until further notice.

p.s. if you haven't read these books yet. do. i've been waiting 2 years for the complete trilogy, so i envy those of you who will only stumble on to them now, thus being able to read them all back to back.  
  

live and love for 30

It's the geeks 30th birthday this month. 30! I remember hearing about his 21st party! I was 17 and we were mostly conversing via the internet back then. He had a bouncy castle if I remember correctly. I always wanted a bouncy castle. 30 is kinda special. Aparently it's the new 20, only better, coz we are all supposed to know what we're doing by 30, have a job, a house, money. He's not doing so bad with those I guess. Better than me that's for sure!
Anyway. 30 is special. So special it demands a present a day until his actual birthday on the 23rd. So that's what's going on. Some shop bought, a lot of stupid, and many handmade.
Thankfully, he is a geek who is appreciative of men with bearded side partings and crochet hearts. Otherwise he would run out of gifts about 4 days into the month.
I'll try to keep up to date on the photos of the handmade bits.

 

shots from around the desk

Reasons for lack of blogging.

<3
 
 
 
  

issue #2

Etsy is stocked and loaded with The Housewife Edition. There are just 20 of this edition available, once they are gone, they are gone. (Unless I am pressured into printing some extras!)

The first five people to purchase one, get a free crochet flower pack! Make sure you purchase the right one, it has free crochet pack in capitals in the item title!

These are just a sample from a little etsy update I have on the cards for later this month. I though I would make the zine extra happy with some freebies. Everybody loves freebies, right?

 
  
I'll leave you with this editions playlist. You can download it here. Happy Easter all!

1. Straight to Hell - The Clash
2. Instrumental I - Noah and the Whale
3. Love of an Orchestra - Noash and the Whale
4. Whole Lotta Losin' - Monsters of Folk
5. Coffee and Cigarettes - Augustana
6. Muscle 'n' Flo -  Menomena
7. Cartwheels - Reindeer Section
8. Communion Cups and Someones Coat - Iron and Wine (Not on the download)
9. If Not Now, Whenever - Lost and Safe
10. DLz - TV on the Radio
11. Sleep, Eat Food, Have Vision - Four Tet
12. Professional Daydreamer - Over the Rhine
13. Sister - Mumford and Sons
14. Fine for Now - Grizzly Bear
15. The Walls are Coming Down - Fanfarlo
16. Janglin - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
 

drive-by fyi

This little journal that I made a few months ago just went up on Creative Therapy.

It's all about my London, where I grew up, the house that homed me, and the landscape that shaped me. I love London, I am London. There may well be a version #2 of this coming up this year, when my parents leave for good later this summer. Only this time, it won't just be my family home I have to say goodbye too, it will be London Town itself.
That is something I can't really think about, and therefore am not really thinking about.
The whole book can be seen on my flickr account as well as the crochet technique on the Creative Therapy site :)

 

things that make me happy; a list

- Skyscrapers
- Trees covered in snow
- Beautiful cards
- Pretend names on parcels
- High pitched piano music
- Blurry fairy light photos
- Getting emails
- Watching terrible terrible TV programmes with people who also know how terrible it is, but being able to make a running commentary on it, therefore making them brilliant

 
- Being surprised by people in a good way
- Trees covered in fairy lights
- Crochet granny square garlands
- Moleskins full of lists
- Christmas cards with scotties on
- At home hair dye that looks good
- Antlers
- When people re-tell a conversation they have had, but it is so utterly boring you can't do anything but laugh and tell the person that it was completely boring, and then they laugh, and you both laugh.

 
- Starting a new calandar
- Watercolour pencils
- Brilliant books
- Baths
- Dreaming up 52 things to do in 52 weeks
- Old vintage christmas jumpers
- Polaroid supershooters and 669 film

* Inspired by this brilliant book. Read it if you love lists. New York. Are a 20 something wondering what on earth you are doing, and what the point of it is.