Mini Shop Update

These little guys are in my little shop.

Last night we went to see Nizlopi. They were so fab that I decided not to take the camera and just enjoy the show. So you will have to imagine a picture of a small bespecatacled chap with long hair, playing "Nanny" his double bass, and a tall blond skinny chap dancing around like a chicken, but singing with the voice of 1000 folk singers.

Baby Ninjas

I spent Saturday in the company of 30 4 and 5 year olds, herding them around a sports hall, supposedly teaching them martial arts. In the end, not a lot of martial arts went on, but it was all good fun. I'm not sure my ears have recovered from the shrieking!

I also bought this



in red hippos and green hippos. Green! Hippos!!

The Wanting

Oooh I luff him! He would go lovely in my not-quite-yet-bought house. You can get him here. If you've got more money than I have ;-)

Damn price! Damn postage! Damn no money!

Also:



Happy Friday, from Natalie Dee.

Chocolate and Bed and Graphicness

My parents were visiting this weekend for Mum to take advantage of the Christmas present I bought her - a voucher for a walking Chocolate Ecstasy Tour. The whole experience was decadent and I would recommend it to any chocoholics out there! We started off in Fortnum's with a cappuccino dusted with posh chocolate, then tried out as many samples as I could get away with in Prestat. Prestat is really brightly decorated and exactly like a chocolate box chocolate shop should be, not unsurprisingly, for the man who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it was Roald Dahl's favourite shop. Next we headed to Charbonnell et Walker, who sell fancy perfumed sweets and those famous champagne truffles. I wasn't too enamoured with Charbonnell, even though one of my friends goes into raptures at the mere mention of Charbonnell! We stopped off in Sketch for Valrhona hot chocolate with pastries and funny pod-shaped toilets. Sketch was amusing, and I loved the art. Someone has had fun being too pretentious for their own good with Sketch. We also called in at Godiva, which wasn't particularly interesting, but their 85% chocolate was pretty nice, and I think we got some prailine things to try, but on the whole a little boring. I did buy some orangettes there and some creme brulee chocolates, which I have yet to demolish! The last stop on the tour was Rococo chocolate on Marylebone High Street. Let me tell you! Oh my! I would live in the chocolate shop! They had such fun, almost like Prestat in their fun values, but also a little more serious and adventurous because they have plain bars made from the rarest cocoa beans and roasted cocoa nibs and 100% chocolate. Among the serious and oddly flavoured orange and geranium and white chocolate with cardamom were painted chocolate cats, aligators and quails eggs. The packaging is quite something to behold too. Not only was all the produce fantastic, but the ladies who were talking to us, giving us samples and generally entertaining us were amazing, and friendly and clearly had a passion for chocolate, without being overly intimidating like the harsh-suited staff in Godiva!

I think the rest of the weekend was spent in a chocolate stupour! Although I did manage to unintentionally drop a ton on clothes on Sunday. I did buy a hat for two weddings though, and a cute, long, stripey "weekend" cardigan that shall see me through the chilly summer. I also paid a visit to the land of slave labour that is Primark, I got a couple of blouses and a very sweet T-shirt.

The past couple of days has been spent designing posters for the next craft fair. I'm going to be putting a few up on etsy when I can gather up enough courage to confront Ikea. Or I might wuss out and spend a tenner on a proper A3 frame online.

Grown Up!

We have a mortgage. Ugh. How grown-up!

I felt like I'd been lobotomized after an hour on the phone discussing our financial details, then an hour explaining why I'd missed the impromptu meeting that sprang up while I was on the phone and discussing houses further.

I got to martial arts with no mental function whatsoever, the fact that I'd actually managed to ride there without falling off is a miracle in itself! We were doing groundwork and at one point I just curled up into a ball on the mats and giggled like a lunatic in an asylum!

I'm now furnishing the place, in my mind! Anyone got any spare furniture?

update!

Our offer has been accepted!

Wahey!

Flora London Marathon

I didn't win (would've been a stretch, since I wasn't running!) but I did have a fantastic time watching. Even in the wet and the miserable, it's still a magical event.

Because I am doing the moonwalk in a few weeks time we decided to walk home from Liverpool Street station (where we'd been to Spitalfields market, which, by the way, is nothing compared to what it used to be 3 years ago.). 6 miles later and my left hip is crying at me! Hopefully it will calm down enough so we can do some more walking on Wednesday.

Er what else? Oh yes, I would've got up to some arty farty bits, but the cartridges for the printer turned up and they were the wrong ones! Sob! I am so not impressed, because I ordered a bundle of 5 cartridges, and the 2 wrong ones they sent were the 2 I most desparately needed. Le sigh!

Also, I'm in the process of making an Adipose from Dr Who! Stay tuned for cute pictures!

In housing news, not something I've really been blogging about because it is horrendously boring, but we are just about to have an affer accepted (fingers crossed) I've been told the vendor will accept £260 000 and so this morning I offered £260 000, I am just waiting to hear that it's all official and then we can start panicking about the mortgage!

1 down, 8 to go

I sold one of my little sheeplings. Baa! It's going to fly all the way across the pond to America. Bye bye Barry!

I'm developing a list of developments for the next craft fair in May. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

Last weekend we spent a few days in Peebles and I found a lovely woodworking shop. I bought a cute little bowl and some wooden hearts for no apparent reason! The guy was saying how the poor weather had affected his sales as well as the craft-fair turnouts, so I just really really hope someone's ordered up some sun for the Spring Bank Holiday!

In kickboxing news, my new class is going to start on April 30th since my CRB check came back ok. I'm going to get some flyers printed out and get shlepping round the houses to promote myself! Also I have news that my 3 regular ladies have stopped training with me because they say they aren't getting a good enough workout... And because I always put them with new people. I have had a lot of new pupils recently and I like to put the more experienced people with them to help them out - I can't be everywhere at once! I'm teaching tonight and I want to introduce some sparring, and also some grading technique. We shall see who turns up and then how to plan the class. Joy!

Skanky

I have joined a few crafting communities online, and the other day someone complimented me on some stuff I'd made, then asked how to make it.

I directed her to my etsy shop where there will be kits on how to make it.

Although on reading this I am having second thoughts. I mean, I know we all need to get our inspiration from somewhere, but selling someone's kit as your own is just lazy, and downright skanky. So if you eve find yourself buying anything from Alimrose Designs I wouldn't bother!