Teddy Cushion

Quite a lot's happened since I last blogged. For one, my favourite author died. As I was mentioning in my last post I wanted to make Discworld bookends and the man who wrote those books was Sir Terry Pratchett. He died on 12th March and I found out whilst at work, one of my colleagues just blurted it out having read it on a news website. I was shocked, as although I knew he had Alzheimer, I don't think it was that expected as he was only 66. However, I then made the mistake of going and reading about it myself and there I saw those last Tweets that announced his death. They were so appropriate, the exact way that his death should have been announced, they made me cry. I had to rush into the toilet at work so my colleagues didn't witness me sobbing my eyes out. I've never been one to cry at the deaths of celebrities, after all it's not as if I personally know the person but those tweets just moved me. Possibly there's something about the fact he was an author which made me feel somehow closer to him. For example an actor you tend to like because of the characters they portray but you don't have much connection with them as a person but with an author they tell you stories in their own words, you go on a journey with them in your head. 

From the first Discworld book I read I became a fan and have read and re-read most of his books several times. It's sad to think that he's gone and there will be no more new books but his legacy will live on.

Onto some personal news, I'm currently in the stressful situation of putting offers on a house and waiting to hear back from the estate agent. Must admit it's all happening a little sooner in the year than I was expecting, but my boyfriend and I found somewhere we really like so are trying to secure it. I'll update when I have more concrete news.

Now onto something crafty, last year I was browsing for cushions and came across this picture on google:

This is the link for the website the image comes from: Link

I thought it was really cute so wanted to try and recreate something similar. I ordered some fluffy material online, pale brown to match my room and a creamy suede effect material for the nose. We already had some dark brown suede effect that I used for the ears and paws.

It maybe didn't go quite as well as I'd have liked. My mum helped quite a bit as the fabric was so thick, my sewing machine would have been no use, even hers struggled.The ears for some reason we thought might look better if they were not right in the corners, this was a mistake, and to try patch that up the corners had to become rounded. Also the button eyes, although I quite like the buttons I'm still not sure about the positioning. Possibly the nose/mouth part needed to be smaller like original but oh well it's these things that make him unique.

Least he's quite happy looking, like he wants to give you a hug. His current residence is on my bed and I sleep with him next to me.

Christmas Presents

Last week I got round to finishing a Christmas present my sister gave me. It was a Proggy Baby Penguin craft kit.

It was a little disappointing that the kit didn't come with the little wooden 'proggy' tool which you use to poke holes in the hessian and push the material through. It's a really rough bit of wood so I can't  imagine it would be too expensive to add it to the kit. I assume the reasoning was that if you bought multiple kits you only need one tool.

As per the kit's suggestion I added my own toy stuffing to give him a better shape. Looking at the picture I reckon theirs has got it in too.

Now I've just got to decide what to do with my finished penguin. Possibly it could become a Christmas decoration. I have plans for how I want to decorate for Christmas if I have my own house and he'd fit in with the theme.

Also for Christmas I was given this sharpener pencil pot.

I’ve always liked these when I’ve seen them in the shops so was pleased when I got it as a present. When I decorated my room last year it became less blue and more brown so this has replaced a blue plastic pencil pot holder. I like it because it's a bit more sophisticated but still funky. 

This lives on my bedside table as I'm the sort of person who can't live without a pen nearby in case I want to jot something down.

One last thing I wanted to share was actually a late Christmas present for myself. They came after Christmas as they were shipped from America but it's these dragon bookends. Maybe a little odd to buy yourself presents for Christmas but it seemed the best way to justify having them shipped from America.

 

I did have some plain black metal bookends previously but I came upon these by chance on Etsy from this seller: FePro  and really liked them because they were simple flat bookends but with a fantasy theme. 

I'd quite like to make some bookends myself with a Discworld theme but I have too many books on my shelf so I need thin bookends like these.

I like trying to replace normal looking items for these more designed pieces, it gives a bit of interest to my room and that pleases me. Why be boring?