Ghosts...

When we were swapping the flat around to allow more space for me to work from I found an undeveloped Holga film. I had absolutely no recollection of when it was from or where it was shot, so took it to be processed half thinking it wouldn't come out very well (if at all).
I was slightly surprised to find pictures of my ex boyfriend in here...but at least it dates the film somewhat to over 3 years ago. It's on a trip to Slains Castle which is possibly one of my favourite places ever.

Double & triple exposed, cross processed slide film. Fuji Velviva 100f

tagged!

I just realised I was tagged by chocolatecanary ( a month ago! whoops!)
So here we go....

Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I collect dead things - mice, bees, flies - you really never know when they'll come in handy!
2. I'm a vegetarian (although my mother still serves me meat!)
3. I have a ridiculous amount of cardigans - mostly black.
4. I've been dyeing my hair since the age of 10 - but it's been mostly black since I was 14
5. There was a huge poster of me pond dipping (for insects and fish- I just realised that makes it sound a bit like skinny dipping!) at the age of 8 wearing a yellow and white striped rain coat in the entrance of Kingsbury Waterpark for at least 10 years - it may still be there!
6. I like most types of music - just don't try and make me listen to free form jazz
7. I have at least 30 colours of eye shadow but only wear one.

Hmmm....now who to tag?
abibansal
sneddonia
kmcdesigns
thecuriousrabbit
fuzzydragons
hippyofdoom
quintessentially

out of control.....

Installation - view from above

My MFA application was finally sent off yesterday. The rest of my life now lays in the hands of somebody else.....scary! But I can now get on with things other than re-photographing my work and panicking about and constantly checking what I've written or whether my photographs are good enough. I can now just worry about all that unable to actually change anything! Installation - view from below

I'm not myself you see

Today has been spent helping out my parents, visiting DIY shops, looking at and choosing wallpaper as they're redecorating one of the bathrooms. I also picked up a few things for myself - some disposable gloves and some adhesives - exciting purchases! Pretty things (ribbons and buttons) turned up in the post this morning, which makes up for my boring purchases today!
This afternoon I have been baking - orange and poppy seed muffins and some honey & oatmeal cookies. Tasty!

But tomorrow, I have much more exciting and creative and productive things on my to-do list. And tomorrow they will get done.
The list includes, but does not stop at...
Putting an order in at Tiranti's - alginate, plaster & new respirator filters
Finishing off brooches & necklaces I've been working on
List new things on Etsy
Go for a walk down the path that goes to somewhere....I'm not sure where it leads....

Friday!!!?

I can't believe it's Friday already! I seem to have lost a couple of days. I did spend most of yesterday in bed, I really wasn't feeling too good (which probably had something to do with staying up till gone 3am the night before) so rested, read and watched awful TV. I did get up, make cookies, then I took them back to bed with a nice cup of coffee and read some more.
But really, where has the rest of the week gone!?

Oooh Puzzlecat I'm gonna grab your head!! Here is a picture of one of my fetchings - I should actually say here's a really bad picture of one of my fetchings. I'd have messed around with it a bit, or taken a better one, but I'm really all photo-ed out today. I spent the morning taking pictures of my artwork for my MFA application. I'm actually quite amazed at how clear they came out - the light here remains awful (or atleast did until I decided to go to the supermarket this afternoon - then in was beautifully sunny....until I got home and it was dark....typical!!)

just a small selection of pictures taken today. I really hope they're all good enough. They have to be really. They're all being sent off tomorrow. With a newly printed out application form, as right now Puzzle is sleeping on it!

Anyway, needless to say after spending yesterday doing nothing productive and finalising my application today, I'm still yet to finish off my resin things, my slip dress, some jewellery, brooches.....bad, bad Emily! But, instead of finishing those off tonight I'm starting off some new brooch ideas - similar to the tree one in my shop.

Tomorrow...tomorrow I am venturing to the next town to visit a new craft shop - it's not new, just new to me - I'm hoping they have what I'm after as well as other things that are pretty and/or exciting that make me want to buy them. I was going to go into Aberdeen, but really all I *need* is a couple of necklace clasps, and going on an 80mile round trip and spending £10 on the bus, plus food/coffee really doesn't seem worth it for 60p worth of findings! If only I was more organised when it came to buying supplies online. I just put in and received an order, and simply forgot I needed these and it also seems silly to pay shipping costs which are about 10x more than what I'm buying! Anyway, hopefully it's as good as the woman who recommended it to me says it is. And hopefully they sell ribbon too, preferably velvet ribbon in colours other than black or red. I really need to get my act together and order some online, but I'm unsure about the colours...I should stop thinking about ribbon - I'm probably getting my hopes up too much about this shop!

Right, I'm off to fit 3 days into the next few hours!

bad light

I've not got as much done as I'd really hoped to do today, well I did everything, with the exception of taking pictures of new things for etsy! By the time I got round to doing it, the light had gone, so shop updates have been put back another day! Here's a sneak preview anyway (with bad light!)


Oooh pretty round corners - after a discussion on etsy forums yesterday I found this wonderful tool roundpic.com for those of us who want rounded corners without Typepad accounts and who don't have time to be messing around on Photoshop! Enjoy!

So why the lack of update? Well, today has been mostly taken up with applications for post grad courses and trying to write a decent proposal! I wanted to get it all sorted and emailed off to be checked before everybody went home for the day. It took longer than expected, having to phone up my old college to ask silly questions, and have a chat with my old tutor, phone up my sister in a bit of a panic, write loads of drafts and then end up emailing off a draft I was less than happy with. Hopefully somebody will get back to me with some constructive critisism, soon, as I want this to be sent by the end of the week!

This evening I shall be painting tea cups, watching some Hitchcock and reading through 100's of pages of guidance notes for funding.

lacking mytholgical inspiration

I have a dilemma on my hands. My sisters birthday party is fancy dress. The theme is mythology. Of any kind. I thought I had the perfect idea for a costume, I was going to be Idun, Norse Goddess of immortality. Golden apples and a beautiful dress is my kind of costume, I thought nobody else would think of that. Except they did! I had a phonecall from my sister today, who heard about my plans from my eldest sister. She thought she'd phone to let me know that her flat mate was also planning to go as Idun. After a three way conversation between flat mate and myself with my sister as the go-between, we decided that the flat mate should be Idun...afterall, she is actually Norweigan. So now, with 1 day left to prepare I have no idea what to go as.

I have a room full of fabric and wikipedia for inspiration, but nothing is happening! I'm just in a panic.

One thing I'm glad of (kind of) is that I spent the afternoon making my sisters birthday gift instead of the dress which would have been Idun's. Unfortunatley, the gift was a distaster, so I wasted my time anyway, but had I made the dress I'd be more inclined to put my foot down and have both of us, or just me be Idun! And that would not make a nice Emily!
Last resort is a generic fairy. I do not want to be a fairy!

hello..welcome...hello

My first post on here...so hello, hi, how do?

Everything is a little sparse right now as I try to figure this thing out!

Today, I am in search of Christmas gifts, but I'm having a lot more success in finding gifts for myself...although I am not buying, only looking and wanting.

I am in love with this...

Glass Chickadee Vase from Three Potato Four it would look beautiful on my dressing table....but alas, it is not a Christmas gift, so unfortunatley it has to stay where it is.

Also, this Shinzi Katoh Alice in Wonderland tea set, it doesn't need explaining really as I love both Alice in Wonderland and tea cups separatley. Alice in Wonderland + teacups = amazing! Also from threepotatofour i'm quite in love with everything they have actually, i'm browsing in the background....Oooh more pretties!

Apple bowl by Shinzi Katoh, which reminds me of some fabric I have that needs making into a skirt before I go to Edinburgh.

This year, I'm finding gift making/buying difficult. I've usually got hundreds of ideas for everybody, but for mother and my sisters I'm getting quite stuck. Dad was easy this year, he was sorted in August, I found the ideal thing in a junk shop in Birmingham, then last week me and mother went to the garden centre, where I also bought him a book about porridge! I wasn't really convinced, but mum said it was ideal. He was later overheard telling my yougest sister that there was a book about porridge he really wanted - mother then convinced him he didn't want it (atleast he didn't want my sister to get it!)
I think my problem is that the past couple of months seem to have vanished, what with moving house and 'settling in'. I know there is still two weeks until Christmas, but it just doesn't seem long enough! My art and craft things are mostly still in boxes, with some things being un-findable which is hindering the creative gifting. Lack of transport and decent local shops are hindering the commercial gifting. I'm sure it will all come together! And there is always Edinburgh, which is where I'm off to this weekend for littlest sisters birthday party. Littlest sister makes her sound very young! But she'll be 22!!

I have made a start on her birthday present. It shall be finished tomorrow with a coordinating thing to, well coordinate!

It is very cold here right now, although apparantly 7degreesC it feels a lot colder than yesterdays -4, so I think I shall go and wrap up warm and save my cat from the hoards of hair straightening electricians that are staying here tonight.