Dear Sweetlings

February Frivolities

2012-02-01T11:21:00.000Z

Good Morning my sweetlings (I hardly ever get to say that it seems!)
Happy February, I hope you're all having a lovely first of the month. I love February, something about it always feels so hopeful and fresh to me, knowing the biting winds will soon begin turning into lovely spring breezes, the flowers poking their heads shyly above the earth, the morning frost that melts as the sun hits it. I have to be honest and say I'm an absolute Valentines fiend as well, I've always loved Valentines day. When I was little I used to get a Valentines gift for my mum, did anyone else do that?
It's also Imbolc tommorow (I finally found out how you say that, apparently it's imm-olc) and I'm looking forward to having a fire and making some offerings. I had to pop into work this morning to sort some things out so I decided to get in the Spring Spirit and have a colourful celebration of the new month, an early tribute for Imbolc tommorow, and generally to cheer myself up. Life has been rather manic lately but I'm hoping it will start to right itself soon.

With my coat on, I love this coat so much. It only cost me £6 and it's so great, warm, thick but not too heavy. The bag was a birthday gift from my dad, it's like a bottomless pit!

Without the coat on, I got this amazing pastel jumper at a charity shop for a couple of pound. The dress is vintage and I'm going to be selling it soon (along with a whole boat load of other things, keep an eye out!) and I was so psyched to find out I can still fit my beret over my dreads. So great!

I love the yellow polkadot collar poking out from the jumper and the coat. Collars seem to be really popular at the moment which rather makes me happy.

Now I am going to go and get my sharp taloned babies out before they dig themselves out of their cage with a spoon (I fear they must be doing this somewhere...)

Rat Crochet Kings

2012-01-29T20:54:00.000Z

Good Evening my sweetlings,
Since so many people here seem to love seeing my boys so much I thought I would make a post with my big boys in it :) I've been sharing the babies a lot lately but my old men need their love too!

They think I can't see them doing this. They are yet to learn that I have eyes in the back AND sides of my head.

Dumbles ultimate destination any time he comes out of his cage is my bedside table. There he can find favourite items such as cough sweets (that's what he's eating here, I did stop him!), my cups of tea and anything I have the audacity to dare leave on there.

Rat pile! I can only imagine what madness this is going to turn into when Kingsley is introduced as well.

Dumbles curled up eating his snacks.

Ganny and Sev hanging out on the Canopy of Magic, probably discussing plots to take over my bed. Also behold my beautious mismatched socks.

Ganny nibbling... something. I don't know, he seems to do this a lot with blankets.

This photo is cracking me up, Ganny was in full on posing mode tonight.

Then I started working on Naomi's blanket (almost finished now!) and they decided they wanted in on that in a big way. Ganny took the role of 'sit in mums lap and weigh everything down' whilst Sev and Dumbles wriggled around in my wool bag. Check out Sev giving Dumbles a kiss on the nose there, he is sweet sometimes (when he isn't trying to wrestle him).

Ganny looking positively drunk. Drunk on crochet of course!

I love how he looks like a perfect ball. Just perching on my lap, you know, you usual.

The slide into the wool bag was inevitable, Sev decided to take over the 'sit all over the work' duties.

Snuggling up with his eyes closed. He looks so perfectly happy, I love it.

Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle. Naomi I hope you don't mind having rats help me out with your blanket!

Vlog Part 1 : Blogging

2012-01-27T14:09:00.002Z

Good Afternoon my dears,
Well here it is, my first video blog ever! I'm slightly nervous about posting this, it feels strange to be in motion here!
I've decided to make a series of videos instead of trying to pack everything into one, it was just way too long and I wanted to answer all the questions in enough detail. So, this is the first one which is about Blogging. I'll be posting the rest over the next two weeks (look out for an appearence from monster rat Sev!). I hope you enjoy.

Oh such a flattering screen capture!

Little Rat Kingsley

2012-01-25T23:40:00.000Z

Good Evening my sweetlings,
I wasn't originally planning to make a post until tommorow when I'll (fingers crossed) be uploading my first Vlog but I've got something too exciting to keep quiet! A few days we got a new baby rat, bringing us up to a total of 4. It's going to be absolute madness, it already is and we haven't even introduced everybody yet. Still, I adore my little family (I'm severely outnumbered by boys now, they still know who the boss is though!).
Rats are honestly some of the sweetest, most amazing animals I've ever had the priveledge to keep as pets. I've had 6 in total now and they've all been the most wonderful creatures to have in my life with their own personalities, quirks and silliness.
So, I introduce you to baby Kingsley! He's named after Kingsley Shacklebot, in keeping with our Wizard theme for names.

Hiding in my dreads. After just a few days of being with us he is such a cuddle monster, he loves sitting on your shoulder or curling up on your chest and he hates being put back in the cage. He just wants to be out all the time.

He majorly enjoys kisses and will come and rub his head up against your lips and nose.

He is an explorer of bristly beards...

and a crooner! Doesn't it look like they're both singing here? I spent this evening singing a range of Disney songs to him which he loved, definitely one of my boys.

Trying to get some form of family portrait with all of us.

The dreads were discovered when we were trying (and failing) to convince him to go back in his cage.

Stew Sunday

2012-01-22T16:57:00.000Z

Good Afternoon my sweetlings,
How are you all today? Fantastic I hope! Sunday's are always a little strange for me, I never particularly liked them which I suppose is from years of having to start a new school week the next day. Even though I didn't really mind school I still hated going back on a Monday. Luckily my Monday Woes have since ended and I'm starting to realise that Sunday's can actually be really fun!
Today Steven and I made a stew, a tradition of ours that we only break out when it has officially hit Winter. The weather has been unseasonably warm up until this past week so we've had to hold off our stew making ways till now, but the winds have picked up, the frost dancers are out and we were getting antsy.
I also took the opportunity to photograph some of my dear plants that live in the kitchen and one of my favourite quick meals, Sweet Potato Slices, which I'll tell you how to make :)

My 'outfit' from today, and usually the sort of thing I wear to lounge around the house. You can see my beloved head sock (as Steven calls it!) in the first photo, I wear it to bed, work and generally all over the place to stop my hair from eating everything I walk past.
These photos demonstrate a few things, the first being that I have ridiculously short legs, the second being that I am kind of ridiculously short all over! The third photo is a silly out-take, Steven walked in when the camera was on timer, I have no idea what I was doing. It sort of looks like I'm showing him my teeth. Bearing in mind that Steven is a pretty short guy (the actual height is a close guarded top secret!) you can see that I'm a rather small individual.

My newest addition, a little Cyclamen that was making eyes at me from the market plant stall and was in the reduced section.Cyclamen are actually one of my favourite flowers ever, I love their petals and leaves.

Sweet Potato Wedges. I may have lost most of my cooking ability but these are one of the things I am awesome at making! Steven doesn't like them either so I get to eat them all, yum.
They're really simple to make, just cut a Sweet Potato into large round chips, put them on a baking tray and add some oil and seasoning (I like Salt and Pepper). Then just stick them in the oven for half an hour at Gas Mark 7, turn them over half way through, and you're done.

The man in his element, preparing the meat for the stew.

Meanwhile I took care of the regular potatoes and the sweet potato.

Our bamboo has grown a lot, I love having them in milk bottles so I can see their roots growing. I find roots really fascinating to look at.

My little Bay plant that I rescued from the garden just in the nick of time. Most of him (he tells me he is a he!) had died off but I managed to take off all the dead leaves, we cut him back and now he is growing lots of lovely new shoots and fresh green leaves.

The Aloe Vera has had babies! At first we just thought this was grass growing in the pot with her, but on closer inspection I realised they're actually new tiny plants.

She herself has grown rather fine and lovely since we first got her. I've yet to use her for anything but I've heard Aloe gel is great for dreads so I might try some soon.

My orchid has also been busy making new buds. Steven's is fast asleep on the other end of the windowsill, they tend to flower at different times from one another.

The finished stew ready to start cooking. I'm so looking forward to tea tonight!

The Case of the Rainbow Rat and the Magical Onion

2012-01-21T21:59:00.001Z

Hello my dears,
We discovered something so strange in our bedroom the other night that I had to share it with you.
Let me set the scene a little bit. I made a sleep charm to hang above the bed about 4-6 months ago when Steven was having a particularly bad episode of insomnia and to chase off nightmares which I can sometimes be prone to. One of the things that I put in it was an onion, they're really good for calm sleep.
Anyhow, I never took the charm down. Technically you're meant to take it down once everything has been used up but I just left it because I liked the look of it hanging above our heads.
Fast forward to last night. Steven turned to me and this was the conversation we had.

Steven: 'Huh, I would have thought that onion would have gone rotten."
Me: "Has it not?"
Steven: "Not... exactly. Look."

So I sat up and looked at it and lo and behold it's sprouted! Not just a little sprout either, this thing is tall. My jaw pretty much hit the ground when I saw it, I have no idea how it could do this with no soil and no water. So strange. We've decided to just leave it up there, surrounded by dried mint and polkadots, it seems rather happy.

I spent most of today in bed with my crochet feeling incredibly tired. A little gremlin helped me (and by helped me I really just mean squirmed through the holes of the blanket I'm making for my friend, and licked my hands excessively)

I love this picture with the vibrancy of the blanket (that's the Canopy of Magic by the way) and Sev on top. He is really growing fast now.

A sneaky peek of Naomi's Blanket in progress.

Preparing for my first Vlog: I need your questions ♥

2012-01-19T15:23:00.000Z

Artwork by Cliff Briggie, isn't this totally amazing and beautiful?

Hello my dears,
After years of thinking about it I've finally decided to bite the bullet and orchestrate my first Vlog. I'm kind of nervous that people will laugh at me, or that I'll be a total bumbling goof but I think it's finally time to go for it and make a video for you lovelies!

First though, I need something to talk about. I could just talk about everything (and believe me, I can) but I thought it would be more fun to see if you have any questions for me and I could answer those.

I'd really love it if you could leave me a question (or questions, the more the merrier!).
You can ask me about whatever you fancy. Maybe you'd like some blogging tips, or you want to know more about how to make yourself into a rainbow haired fancy thing. You can ask me about my job (acupuncture), crafting, clothes, faeries, books... anything you'd like to know :)

You can leave me a question here in the comments, or if you'd prefer there's always Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Formspring .

I'll be making the video next Thursday, I'm really excited to try something new here.

A Little Green Fae Creature

2012-01-15T15:59:00.000Z

Good afternoon my dears,
Today is just a quick update to show you my new hair! I'm super excited about it, Green and Blue is probably my favourite hair combo colour ever and I always feel great when I come back to it, it's so bright and cheerful and just makes me feel like a big walking happy tree. Or an Oddish! My Oddish impression has gotten pretty excellent after all the times I've had green hair now and now I have green dreads it feels like I might have almost reached my pinacle of Oddishness! Exclaimation overload is going on a lot here lately huh? (!!!)

You can see my natural hair really starting to grow in now, since I got dreads I decided to stop bleaching my hair and basically just keep dyeing over the already bleached parts whilst letting my natural hair just do it's thing. Steven and I always call my hair colour 'Dragon Silver' because it is such a strange shade, it's technically a sort of mousy brown but it gets a really silver metallic sort of shine to it that makes it look almost grey, despite me not having any grey hairs at all. Strange huh?
The coloured dyes are vegetable dyes which means they're not harmful to the hair and luckily for me they don't do a thing to dark hair so they don't change my natural colour in any way. They will however dye your skin, my hands look like they belong to martians currently.

Side view and a makeup view. I love how the green cascades into the blue, it makes me think of a waterfall or a tropical rainforest.

A back view for you, the back of my dreads is absolutely crazy, super loopy, fat dreads that pretty much have a 24/7 party doing whatever they like. I think it might be because I don't do anything to them, I don't really palmroll them, I don't put anything in them, I kind of just let them be. I like them that way though, I really believe everybodies dreads are different and they're just going to do whatever they like anyway, I'm not really bothered about trying to train them into any specific style.

Garden Variety Pixie

2012-01-13T14:35:00.000Z

Good afternoon my sweets,
The weather is so lovely today! Bright sunshine, clear blue skies. I went out for a wander this morning to pick up some post (my first Glossy Box, I can't get over how fancy it is!) and it was so great, I felt so refreshed, peaceful and happy when I got back. I decided to dress up and get outside to take some pictures, this is the first time I've been able to go out and really take pictures in the garden this year. My tootsies sure were cold though, brr.
This is also the last day of my pastely light hair before I dye it tommorow, I'm going to kind of miss it but I'm also really excited to dye my dreads for the first time. That says how long it's been since I dyed it last too, far too long for me!
Also I wanted to mention that I've completely overhauled my layout and I LOVE it! It makes me so, so happy whenever I open the page now and I think it looks much fresher and cleaner. I also put some handy quickjump buttons on the right hand tool bar, now you can jump straight to my tags for outfits, photographs and paintings so I hope that's helpful to you.

I'm a garden variety pixie you see so the signs of the flowers waking up and the sun shining makes me super excited!

A pixie who also loves to crochet! This is a sneak peak of my latest project for you ♥

Winter sunlight does nice things to my eyes, thank you Mr Sun.

Also now with the wider layout I can finally make the wider pictures Extra Large so you can see them in a lot more detail. Yay!

Waterfall of colour waterfallin'

Beauty Review for January

2012-01-10T17:23:00.001Z

Good Afternoon my sweetlings,
I've been thinking of ways to improve Dear Sweetlings as I head towards my 3rd year of blogging here. As well as planning for a major layout overhaul which I'm super excited about (fingers crossed it all comes through!) I've also been thinking about new features and regular posts I could make this year.
One thing I'm sure you'll know about me is that I'm a bit of a hair-dye monster. My hair is probably on it's second or third cycle through the rainbow as we speak. I also like colourful makeup and getting dressed up ♥ so one of the features I thought I could start would be a Beauty Review focusing on hair dyes, makeup, skin care and dreadlock friendly hair care. I recently signed up for Glossy Box so those items would also be up for review.
I also thought something like a monthly Book Review might be fun, I'm trying to encourage myself to read more and this would get me motivated. I started dedicating more time to reading last year and I was really happy to spend more time with my papery friends, I was thinking of something like a star rating out of 5 and a brief explanation to go with each book I read that month.
I'd also like to try a Monthly Craft-a-long where I could post tutorials on fun little things to make and include some brief reviews of things like yarn with that. I might also include making teas and lotions in this section.
Lastly (for now) I'm looking to bring back a reincarnation of my Magical Monday/Magical Sunday link round ups each week, everyone seems to really enjoy those and I always really love them on other people's blogs. For those posts I'm also going to look into finding a widget that allows you to share any links you really like that week as well, that way we can all share our inspirations.

Without furthur ado heres my first beauty review for January:

My soon to be new hair colours! Directions hair dye in Apple Green, Turquoise and Daffodil Yellow. Just in time for Spring ♥
This will actually be my first time using Directions, not counting a failed experiment with it when I was about 13, and I've heard lots of good things about it. I'm hoping that the packaging being little pots instead of bottles these will be easier to apply than the Stargazer dyes which tend to get stuck in the bottle and come out in blobs that are hard to work with. I'll report back on these once I can convince Steven to give me a hand (he hates dyeing my hair but hes a trooper about it)

(left to right) Laura Paige (LP) in Raspberry Diva and Fuchsia Surprise, Rimmel Astral and Nouba shade 54.
The LP Raspberry Diva and Fuchsia Surprise are really nice to use and first caught my eye due to the packaging and shape. They're taller and slimmer than the regular lipstick which makes them easy to slip in your purse and I always like the older styled clear lipstick casing. They go on really smoothly and have quite a creamy texture, they feel quite moisturising to the lips whilst also being heavily pigmented and long lasting. I'm not usually one for super bright pinks but this one really works for me. I also quite like the smell of these, it's that sort of old fashioned powdery smell.
The Rimmel Astral is a slightly sheer berry purple shade which always seems to work well for my complexion. It's matte enough to avoid being super shiny but without being overly drying. The pink casing is pretty simple, but pleasing all the same.
The Nouba shade 54 is probably my favourite of these 4 for both packaging and colour. It's a really unusual metallic and slightly glittery red, it's definitely an interesting take on the regular red lipstick. I really love the square black casing and the typography of the name on the side, I've never seen this brand before so I'm really interested to see if I can find more.

Cyclax Nature Pure Vitamin E Face & Body Cream
I'll be honest and tell you I never really understood the hype of moisturisers or why anyone would care that much about them. I always thought they were basically the same thing and wondered how many different combinations there could possibly even be out there. I also never managed to find a moisturiser that ever got along with my skin which seems to enjoy being on a constant rotation of greasy, dry, spotty, clear... ridiculous! If I ever found something that could help with one of them then it would set another off and it'd just be a constant cycle.
All in all it's pretty surprising I ever managed to find something that would keep my skin happy, but this seems to be the magical stuff! Even better it's super super cheap at £1, I get it from Savers which is basically a discount shop, kind of like Poundland or a dollar store or something like that.
I put this on my face at night and also use it on my hands after I've been working with too much scratchy wool. It makes my skin really soft and seems to calm any spots I have. It says on the pot that you can use it as a daily moisturiser as well as a base for makeup and it certainly seems to live up to that. I also suffer from eczema on my shoulders and it seems to get along with this cream as well which is rare. Lastly I really love the smell of this, I'm not sure exactly what it is but I find it really comforting.

Wearing the Raspberry Diva lipstick in these, it's a dark pinky red.

Lastly my lovely friend Bryony sent me this book as a Christmas gift after seeing it on my wishlist, I'm so excited to read it since it's been on my wishlist for about a year now!

How are you all my dears? Are there any new features you'd like to see?

Flower, Gleam and Glow.

2012-01-05T15:18:00.000Z

Good Afternoon my sugar dumplings,
Happy 2012! There are a lot of good vibes buzzing around about this year, everyone seems so optimistic and full of hope and certainty that 2012 is going to be amazing. Have you noticed it? It's so great to see everybody so happy and positive.
I hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve and Day, Steven and I cuddled up together in bed with Sev and watched The Scorpian King to see it in, it was a really good way to start the new year.
Yesterday was my birthday, I'm now 22 years old! The period between the end of December and the beginning of January is so short and yet I manage to cram everything in there. To celebrate my parents came down and we all went out for Japanese food. I dared Steven to try Octopus, but it had a minimum order of 2 pieces on it so I ended up having to do the dare as well! It wasn't too bad actually and that can go on my list of new things to try this year. Last night was spent listening to really awful cheesy 80's music and dancing our butts off. Nothing makes me laugh like Steven's dancing, it is the best and strangest thing I've ever seen (mine makes him laugh too.)
I wanted to share some of the lovely things I got for Christmas and my birthday and also something new I've been working on with my hooks!

My growing collection of My Little Pony figures, Steven bought me Fluttershy (the one on the left) for my birthday and I bought the others a few months ago.

Hello 22 year old face! Not much different from my 21 year old face as you can see and I still have dimples you could hide boulders in, but my face is slowly starting to change shape as I get older.

You can see how my dreads are coming along, they're 3 or 4 months old now (I'm terrible at maths, every time I try to figure out exactly how long I've had them I get so confused!) and super feathery at the ends but I kind of like that. The dress was a Christmas gift from my parents, Steven says it makes me look like a French Fancy.

A wild close up of my recent project appears! I've named this the Canopy of Magic, when it's done I'm going to hang it above my bed.

The pink and grey wool is a Colinette One Zero.

3 balls of Araucania, these were real monsters to wind up!

Noro Kureyon.

Currently worked up are 2 skiens of Colinette One Zero and one of Noro Furin.

Makeup! A huge pallete, a small handbag earth tones set and some new foundation from my parents. You can't see it too well but there's also two of my newer lipsticks on there, one is Bordeux by L'oreal (my favourite shade ever) and Passionate Plum from Mabelline.

I'm something of a perfume fiend, can you tell? Ganesha Patchouli and Tree of Life Shalimar perfumes from the gothy shop in town. Vanillary, Karma and Lust solid perfumes from Lush, Celebrate and Chilli Tingle lip tints are from Lush too.

A set of 2 pink Moleskines and 2 sets of Copic Markers that I bought for myself. I'm SO psyched to use these it's a little ridiculous.

Food for Thought Heading into 2012

2011-12-31T22:25:00.000Z

2011 : A Year in Review via Outfits

2011-12-29T15:08:00.000Z

Good Afternoon my dears,
As 2011 winds to a close I can't help but feel a little mushy over the happenings of this year, it's been one of the biggest and most life changing I've ever been through! When I think back on everything I've done this year my mind boggles, there were definitely times when I didn't think I could keep going, when I was bogged down by University work or the months I got stuck in an emotional black hole and didn't feel like I would ever be able to get out again, but here I am, alive and happy and well.
This year saw me completing my University degree and graduating (trying to keep that mortar board on my head was an exercise in futility), attending my first interview ever (so nerve wrecking, but I got out alive and I smelt awesome for weeks), finding my first job ever and starting to treat patients, going to the cinema more than I think I've ever been with some of my best friends, reading lots of new books, surprise new additions to the family in the shape of tiny rats, meeting some amazing online friends for the first time ever in person, making brand new friends, finally getting dreadlocks after wanting them for years, learning all the time, reaching my 2 year anniversary with the best boyfriend I could ever wish for, painting and crochet frenzies.
2011 hasn't been easy, huge things have happened, challenging things, some painful things, but I've come out of it stronger than I went in. There are two things I've learnt this year, the first being that the things you want the most are very rarely the easiest to get and you will be tested (and it feels amazing when you triumph), the second being that when you feel as though you can't keep going amazing people will be there to take care of you and love you, and you will know it. To everyone who has been with me this year, you have done more for me than you may even know, you held me when I needed holding and cheered me on when I needed cheering and then you celebrated with me. Thank you.

I wanted to do some sort of recap of the year but I wasn't sure what to go for, I tried to compile posts but it seemed like there were too many so I went for something a little easier, a year recap through my outfits. It was fun to do this and each of the pictures reminds me of the day it was taken which turned out to be a great way of documenting my memories.

To everyone who reads my blog, thank you for being here with me. Here's to a wonderful 2012 with many new adventures and an infinite amount of magic. May all your wishes come true.

Adventure Time

2011-12-27T22:10:00.000Z

Good evening my dears,
I come bearing more rattie joy and playfulness for you tonight, Sev is definitely in his element playing with his big brothers and seems to have well and truly established himself as 2nd in Command. Dumbles is slowly getting to grips with having him around and finally seems to have learnt that it doesn't take much to get him to leave you alone, as long as you can pin him down. Admittedly Sev seems to be pinning Dumbles most of the time, which logically should be impossible due to a pretty massive size difference, but that doesn't deter the mini monster in the slighest.

Sev and Ganny in particular are like two peas in a pod, Sev has learnt that if he chases Ganny and jumps on him Ganny will pin him down and groom him which is exactly what he wants. He's obsessed with trying to get Ganny and Dumbles into a big rat pile so that he can get in between them, he's very cuddly and affectionate with them.

Ganny on his part has become Mamma Rat, though he's practicing his best Old Man Face in the bottom left picture here...

Ganny can be surprisingly vain, he starts posing whenever he sees the camera. I guess being gorgeous helps with that.

Dumbles in the tube that Steven bought for them when he bought Sev, technically it's supposed to be for Ganny as well but Dumbles has totally claimed it for himself.

and a picture of my face, mostly to try and document my dreads. They're almost 4 months old now, you can see how much my roots are growing! I'm happy that it's growing so quick because I'm heading into awkward none-dyed territory now, the quicker my roots grow the quicker it will look more normal. Also I'm so excited for them to get longer, I dream of super long lovely dreads.

Merry Christmas ♥

2011-12-26T11:30:00.000Z

Good Morning my sweetlings,
I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday, I definitely did! My parents came down for Christmas day, Steven cooked dinner and we all watched Fraggle Rock and Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

My parents opening their presents. I bought Season 1 of Fraggle Rock and a book on Cooking for your Dog for my mum, and 2 sets of braces with spiderwebs and skulls on them for my dad (since his official present didn't arrive yet)

Dog madness was happening for most of the day, she was pretty determined to run about everywhere.

Steven opening one of his presents which my parents and I got for him, a figurine of Optimus Prime. He had a very Transformers Christmas since I also got him a T-shirt that says 'Stay Calm and Call Optimus Prime' on it. Boy loves his Optimus!

Opening my presents from Steven, he got me some Fuzzy Felts with Dinosaurs, Ghosts and Beatrix Potter characters on them...

He also got me a Totoro! I pretty much died of excitement when I unwrapped him, I've been wanting a Totoro in my life for quite a long time.

Snuggly, snuggly Totoro! I love that he is the smiley one. Steven also got me a huge granite Mortar and Pestle for my herbs and a beautiful statue of Ganesha for my altar.

My dad's exact words at this point were 'you're not getting incriminating evidence of me are you?', yes dad I am. Always.

Steven cutting up the hugest cabbage in the world, he had to resort to using a mallet on it in the end.

Relaxing in the evening, I wasn't feeling very well so it was really nice to just snuggle up with one of the books my parents got for me (Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, amazing!). They also got me a book on the philosophy of Alice in Wonderland and a book on the connection between tea and Taoism (Cha Dao), some beautiful wrap skirts, a tank top, some lovely knitted dresses, a new headband and a candle that changes colour(!)

It was quite impossible to keep a serious face yesterday, as you can see.

My dad's expression here was pretty much the reaction to watching Fraggle Rock. Did we watch it anyway? Totally.

Severus was out in full force yesterday, we bought him downstairs to see my mum and he ended up coming out later in the evening as well. I was pretty much falling asleep by this point so he curled up on my shoulder to clean himself.

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape... Dumbledore! Annnnd Gandalf!

2011-12-24T06:46:00.001Z

Good Morning my dears (how rarely I get to say that!)
Over the past few days we've been introducing baby rat Sev to the significantly more giant and brick like structures that go by the name of Ganny and Dumbles. So far so good! Everyone is getting along swimmingly, although Dumbles doesn't seem to care much either way (he is a little self centred though, just between me and you...) and mostly just looks completely bemused by the existance of this tiny little creature that keeps trying to wrestle with him.
Ganny on the other hand has gone into Mother Rat Hyper Mode, obsessed does not cover his feelings. He and Sev get along like a house on fire, Sev chases him, tries to wrestle with him (the idea of this is just ridiculous, but very cute) and Ganny spends nearly the entire time out of the cage cleaning him from head to toe (literally, last night he was giving a very thorough cleaning to paws and ears). It's so sweet seeing them together, and I remembered to take my camera upstairs this time so I got pictures to share.

Forever and always my blanket rat you'll be. Oh Dumbles, purveyor of crochet, wriggler of wool. For some reason he has always been really into my blankets, which I can't say is a problem!

Time to investigate dad methinks!

A bag! There are few things, if any, in this world that Ganny and Dumbles love more than a paper bag. Dumbles looks like he is giggling in this picture, which he probably was.

The cleaning begins! Sev seems very happy to be cleaned, if Ganny stops he just chases after him and sits down in front of him, waiting for him to start again.

Now we clean the sides... This picture is a pretty good representation of just how small Sev is next to Ganny. Ganny is a huge rat though, to be fair.

Onto the ears...

Now the face... I love this picture, it looks like Ganny is kissing him.

Foot-five mum! Foot five!

This picture kills me every time I look at it. Ganny's face is just excellent. A baby mum? Where?!

Oh there! Come, let me clean your tiny, tiny feet.

And on a completely different note, here is an ointment I made for my mum over the solstice to help mend her broken knee.

Lots of herbs!

After marinating for 3 days, I'm really happy I got to marinate it over the Solstice night.

Strained and ready to heal some broken bones and swelling!

Last but not least, I hope you all had a lovely Yule and have a wonderful Christmas ♥

Little Severus

2011-12-18T16:34:00.001Z

Good Evening my sweetlings,
Yesterday my little family gained a new, tiny and adorable surprise. Let me introduce you to tiny Severus, and tell you a little bit about him.

Yesterday morning I was completely unaware that by lunch time I would have a new baby ratkin in the house, another addition to what I like to refer to as 'My Boys', Ganny, Dumbles and of course Steven (he might not be a rat, but he's still my boy!).
Steven had been pretty thorough in asking what time I would be back from work, though I thought nothing of it. It turns out he had set up the little cage, hidden it under some blankets, and gone out to find something small and fluffy to put in it. When he got home I was already here and saw something hidden in his coat, when I asked what it was he opened it and showed me a box with little airholes in it, apparently my jaw hit the ground, I was so shocked! I had no idea he was planning to get another rat. Steven named him Severus, in keeping with our wizardly rat names theme. He's a Dumbo (which means he has big sticky out ears), Steven got him especially because my first rats were both dumbos.

He's 10 weeks old at the moment and already really friendly and rather tame. Especially compared to when we got the others who were completely unused to humans, Sev has luckily been around people a lot more and seems a lot happier about being touched and picked up. This morning I spent a few minutes stroking his head, which he seems to like rather a lot since he started bruxing straight afterwards (I've never heard a little baby do that before, he's been doing it on and off all day!) and we've given him lots of nuggets and seeds which he has been eating like a mad man, for being so tiny he can definitely put them away somewhere.

Today I took him up to my room and laid on the bed with him for about an hour, I was still really surprised at how easily he let me pick him up and how calm he was just laying with me. He nestled into the folds of my dressing gown and laid down, occasionally going for a little explore and then snuggling back up. He also let me stroke him a lot and I sang him some Disney and Christmas songs which he seemed to like, a sure sign he's definitely one of our boys who all love being sung to and seem to especially like Disney songs and lullabies.

We've put his cage next to the boys bigger cage to let them smell eachother and see eachother, the older boys definitely seem very interested in him and keep going to the side of the cage nearest him and sniffing enthusiastically. Ganny in particular seems really excited about him, though we haven't put them face to face yet. Over the next week we're going to slowly start introducing them together by letting them out on the bed to play together and putting one anothers things in the others cage to get them used to the smell. Yesterday I put the box Sev came home in into the big cage and they both promptly got inside it and went to sleep so that's a good sign!

I'm so happy to have this sweetkin as part of our family, he's a great addition already and I can't wait to see him grow up with his big brothers.

P.S: To my own mama, who fell and managed to break her knee yesterday (you numpty!), I love you and I hope you are making everyone get you lots of coffee! Feel better soon and take it easy.

Star Man & Mushroom Girl

2011-12-16T18:23:00.000Z

Good Evening my dears,
I hope you're all having a great day and aren't having to deal with too much holiday madness. I spent today with my parents and next week they're coming down for Christmas Dinner with Steven and I, I'm really looking forward to it! I've also been drawing a lot again lately, I bought myself some watercolour pencil crayons a few weeks ago and I've been playing with them pretty much none stop, it's taken me years to find them again (last time I had them was when I was 9 years old).
Lots of faeries have been jumping out into my books so I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

I think I showed the drawing of this in my last post, now she's coloured as well.

A very cheerful goth faerie.

and a rare male fae too, I don't seem to draw boys as often but sometimes they appear. I think they're a little shy usually.

And my tools, basically any paper you can get your hands on, a couple of different sized paint brushes, a regular ball point pen and some watercolour pencils or paints.

Fingertips

2011-12-08T12:21:00.000Z

Good Afternoon my dears,
I've been doing a lot of journalling and drawing of late and it made me realise that I haven't shared my drawings here in a very long time now. I wanted to remedy that, so I took some pictures of a few of the things I've drawn lately, and the later pages of my art journal. I also thought I'd share how I store my earrings, deer figurines with big antlers are really useful for this it seems!

With the mini connifer Steven bought a few weeks back for about 50p, you can also see the bamboo in the background there which we keep in 2 milk bottles (they really don't drink much it appears) and a geode that I bought at The Natural History Museum.

An onion has decided to start sprouting in the middle of December out in the open, I have no idea how. Perhaps onion faeries are afoot or perhaps the mischevious folk that have been making food grow in random places of the garden all year.

Some gorgeous mushrooms that have sprouted, I love their colouring.

The Aloe Vera continues to grow, it's amazing to see how big she is now compared to how tiny she was when we first got her from Steven's dad.

The Chinese Lantern plant is growing nicely after we cut her back a while ago. It's so good to have plants growing in the depths of Winter.

My current work in progress, I'm attempting to make a poncho by figuring out everything myself. I hope it goes well!

Moon Goddess. This was my first time using paint on my black paper book and it was quite difficult, but I like the way it came out.

Playing with white pen, I really recommend a black paper book if you can find one (I got mine for about £1 online), they're so much fun.

Maybe this is who has been making everything grow in the garden?

Taking notes from the Spring/Summer RTW collections, and herbs.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2011-12-07T21:16:00.000Z

Good Evening my dears,
December is well and truly marching on and I, as per usual this year, am in slight disbelief at how fast time is moving. This Monday Steven and I finally got a day off together so we went and bought decorations for our first Christmas tree ever. For the past two years we've either been at my parents or Steven's parents house for Christmas, this year we've decided to stay at our house and my parents are coming over. We're cooking Christmas Dinner (I'm probably just going to be helping to cut things up, my cooking skills seem to have... perished slightly) and watching the first Harry Potter movie, I'm really excited to give everyone the gifts I've gotten for them.
Our Christmas ritual seems to revolve heavily around The Pokémon Christmas Album, we bust it out on December 1st every year and to me that really signals that Christmas is here, nothing is more festive than listening to Team Rocket sing 'Merry Christmas To You' or the Pokémon version of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas', the album is so cheesy and awful but so joyful and silly at the same time, it's perfect.

I can guarentee that tree will never fit into that box as neatly ever again.

We may have gone a little mad with the decorations but a ridiculously busy tree is the only acceptable kind of tree in this house.

Every concieveable colour of tinsel, the white one on the top looks like snow which makes me happy. Also you can see that the ends of my hair are still rebelling, I'm not sure they're ever going to comply with the general dreadlocked policy of the rest of the hair but at least the tops are behaving.

The tree master at work, I pale in comparison to his awesome tree dressing skills.

but I DO yeild the star! I may have been wobbling precariously on the edge of the sofa whilst trying to do this...

and a fiend in the shape of a Steven may have had to correct it afterwards anyway...

The clear baubel and the big blue baubels (try saying that 10 times fast!) were my choice, the clear one looks like a bubble.

and a little extra I forgot a while ago, I am the wool fairy!

What are some of your Christmas traditions my sweets?

Enter the Mists: An Interview with Naomi Nowak

2011-12-01T13:54:00.000Z

Good Afternoon my sweetlings,
Today I'm excited to share with you an interview with the wonderful artist Naomi Nowak. I first became friends with this lovely lady around a year ago and had the pleasure of spending time with her and our fellow faeries at this years 3 Wishes Faery Fest. Her artwork is gorgeous with a dreamy and mysterious air, there is something gripping and enthralling about her subjects, an undeniable sensuality. I hope you will enjoy reading my interview with her.

To start things off, please could you tell me a little bit about yourself?
I'm Naomi, I'm a freelance illustrator/painter/comic book artist living in Vallentuna just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. I've got a fat black cat and a lovely husband out here and a lot of horses around the corner that i go visit when i feel like it. I spend my days drawing and painting - for paying clients as well as for my own enjoyment. I love fleamarkets, everything eco and DIY and I have this passion to change our consumer culture which I believe sickens not only the planet but our souls, too. I try to do my bit by living a good example and occasionally blogging on those subjects. It all sounds a bit too idyllic the way i just described it - I chose this lifestyle and I chose art but it's not easy to stick to what you believe in or to make a living doing what you believe in. I've always struggled financially and the past two years suffered bouts of depression, but I believe I am back on track, at least for the time being.

When did you first start creating art? Has your artwork changed since you first started?
Art started at two points in my life .. as a very little girl (5-11 years old perhaps) I was obsessed with drawing, painting, knit, crochet, sewing, sculpting -- I was always encouraged to do those things and luckily, though i grew up poor, my parents are art lovers and there were a lot of inspiring books around the household. With puberty I gave up art for a while but I kept this self image that i was a creative person. Around 15 years of age I got sick of my drunken punk ass friends and started staying in, drawing and posting art online. I was horrible at it at first, but I was so inspired and so sure I would 'get there' that pretty soon I started showing progress - and that's the same track I'm still on 10-12 years later. My work has changed but I don't think it's essence has changed. When you first learn to draw, unless you're a total genius, you usually emulate your favorite artists, draw from life, have a fluid style that helps you find 'your' thing - so what's changed I guess is that i now have a style recognizable as my own, I've dabbled in different media and become technically more proficient. But that's about it..

Your work has a very ethereal, dreamy feel to it and features lots of elements drawn from nature, are there specific emotions or messages that you want to convey in your work? Does nature have a special significance for you?
Do you know the feeling of being in a deep forest or by the ocean and it's so beautiful that it hurts and you almost can't look? Small things can do that to me as well, not just the roaring sea but the eyes of a cat or a mushroom circle in the garden. For me the only way of dealing with that strange pain, that overwhelmed feeling, is trying to convey that beauty in drawing -- breaking it down in a way that I can understand, working through the longing to become one with those things. I love the places where nature meets civilization too, the in between places - train tracks, overgrown fences, abandons hovels. They seem like portals to another layer, another realm just behind and beneath ours -- I don't need to look further than nature to have a very strong sense that the world is brimming with magic. I've always felt that way but there was a time in my life (before I went full circle to basically being the same person I was at seven years old) where I would try to forget it and be a Rational Atheist. I can't be one, it's just not in me.

What is your favourite thing to draw?
Cabbage. -- ok, there's more to it than that, but cabbage and it's cousins in the world of flora are so freaking gorgeous, the crinkled, layered leaves, the swirling shape. You could maybe guess from this that I was raised in an Eastern European household, we ate a LOT of cabbage Other things: Any plants, twisted, dead trees and tree trunks, half rotten planks, abstract shapes and geometry. Horses. I was more into drawing the human form earlier in life, I think because I was more self obsessed. There are still humans or human like beings in my work but they are less important.

What is your creative process like?
It's all in the mists really. Something goes on just beneath what I can put into words and when it has something it wants me to work on it presents it to my conscious mind, usually as a finished image. After that it's just craft, using whatever skills I have acquired and whatever tools are at hand to put it on paper while grasping for the initial image and adapting it in a way that the human eye, and not just the human brain, can fathom. Faery dust and the workings of the unconscious aside, the creative process is 5% inspiration and 95% work so I have to constantly negotiate with my inherent human laziness, and when I'm feeling depressed with voices that tell me there's no point putting ideas on paper because everything is crap anyway. When I feel ok I usually win the negotiation but it always takes more or less energy.

Who and/or what inspires you?
Nature, prose, poetry, music, people (sometimes). But mostly rare glimpses, 'aha' moments of looking at something and going .. that shape .. those words .. those colors .. they could .. and then it sinks into that place where I'm not sure what's going on and comes back as a painting wanting to enter the world.

Who are your favourite artists? Musically or otherwise.
There are so many! Musically my absolute favorites include Kate Bush, Siouxsie Sioux, Dead Can Dance, Fleetwood Mac, Popol Vuh, Einstürzende Neubauten, Goblin, Matisyahu .. I could go on forever. I also love progressive european 70s stuff like Afrodite's Child, Panna Fredda or Erkin Koray, dancy oriental beats, bhangra, klezmer, euro trashy Italo disco, Chanson and horribly dark, sexual kraut music a la Rammstein. Sticking to one genre was never my idea of fun and i don't believe there are any guilty pleasures when it comes to music so I'm gonna go right ahead and say I also really like Britney Spears. That was so long winded I'm just gonna wrap this up quickly and say that my favorite visual artists include Scandinavian, British and Russian fairy tale art, french comics, classics like Schiele and Fuchs, old mystical art and a lot of random things I look at and don't remember the names of..

What are your dreams for the future?
I don't really have any big dreams career wise, which I guess is a problem. I just want to be able to keep being creative, be it working for myself the way I do now or in some sort of company/organization - doing work that hurts no one, that is neutral or good. When I worked retail or did commercial illustration for big corporations I sometimes felt I was part of the problem rather than the solution. Never doing that again is a small dream of mine. Collaborating with inspiring artists in different fields - doing more comics where someone else writes the story (all of my graphic novels I wrote the script).

Where can we find more from you?
my blog - http://naomiii.livejournal.com/
my Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naomi-Nowak-Illustration/243256885724519
my tumblr - http://bluecohosh.tumblr.com/
my website - http://naomi.se/
my books on amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=naomi+nowak&x=0&y=0

Is there anything else you would like to mention?
Yes - the following: Juli, thank you so much for this interview. It was fun! Keep being your wonderful, inspiring self -- and also, hello Juli's readers, I hope you enjoyed reading my art-related ramblings :)

Thank you so much Naomi for agreeing to this interview!

Winter Wandering

2011-11-30T17:50:00.000Z

Good Evening my dears,
I apologise for the lack of updates this month, I've been working nearly every day and have mostly spent the rest of the time sleeping or working on my crochet. We've also been watching lots of House and Star Trek.
I've been trying to take some photos of my walk to work because it's so lovely but the weather has been rather tempermental, or else it's too dark when I get out, but today it was clear blue skies.

Beautiful winter trees, I love the way the branches look so much like roots when they lose their leaves, reaching up into the watery blue sky. It seems almost as though they're mirrored perfectly, roots in the earth and roots in the sky.

The pigeon sitting in this tree took off just as I took the picture, you can see it starting to fly.

The fields opposite my work, it's been so nice walking and seeing it change. It seems different every day.

This looks like hawthorn to me but I'm not entirely sure.

Lots of horses are kept in the field so I often stop by and pet them, today they were all very interested in seeing what I had for them (unfortunately I didn't have anything I could give them).

I love this one's hair, up close you can see that it also has plaits in it.

An acupuncture model on one of the desks in our reception with some of the meridians shown.

The garden at work is lovely, there are bird boxes everywhere.

and a cooking apple tree that grows hundreds of apples.

Peskipiksi Pesternomi!

2011-11-19T17:22:00.000Z

Good Evening my dears,
I took these pictures yesterday of the clothes I got from Camden but I wanted to share the museum with you first so I delayed posting these till today. I felt like a little elfy-pixie creature that had fallen out of a Legend of Zelda game in this outfit, I want to live in it (not the game though, no matter how nice it might be to hear Ocarina song at random intervals, to have faeries to help you or to be able to turn into a wolf I could not handle the possibility of the moon from Majora's Mask!).

I used to absolutely hate harem pants but I have to say they are super comfortable and unlike every other pair of pants ever they're never too long for me.

I think they are forgiveable? I also really like the colour of them, brown is definitely under-rated for clothes I think.

My favourite part has got to be my new boots though. The only way to improve black boot-sneakers, which are already my favourite kind, is to put a cats face on the front.

Meow Meow Miaow!

Adventures at The Natural History Museum

2011-11-18T16:50:00.000Z

Good Evening my sweetlings,
I hope you all are well and wrapped up safe and warm, I also hope not too many of you have caught this horrible cold going around! If you have then I recommend lots of tea for it and also if you get a nasty cough then Meltus Cough Medicine is really great for shifting it, it'll blow your socks off, but it works really well!
I spent the last few days down in London with Steven and my parents visiting The Natural History Museum and then a very brisk run through Camden Market yesterday. I'd never been to the museum before and Steven and I were both really excited to see the dinosaurs, we went to see Jurassic Park when it came to the cinemas again a few months ago and Steven in particular loves dinosaurs so it was a great trip.
I took lots and lots of pictures to share, and also purchased a rather excellent dinosaur hat and some crystals there.

Warning: There are lots of skeletons and pictures of taxidermied animals in this post, if that upsets you or you don't want to see it then please don't read this post.

Dippy the Diplodocus greets you as you step through the door.

Mammoth skeletons.

My mum avidly watching one of the informational videos there, it was really cute seeing how into everything she was.

Giant Ground Sloth skeleton, this thing was absolutely massive.

Frilled lizard, I love these things, wouldn't it be great to have one of those neck frills for days when you're feeling especially grumpsome?

A furry frog? A furry frog indeed!

A Fire Salamander, I remember watching a program on these and finding them strangely cute.

Angler fish... I find myself strangely fascinated by deep sea fish, they're so strange, so alien and so scary.

Female Angler fish.

I can't remember this ones name but it has eyes that always look upwards.

Whale skeleton, isn't it amazing? When Steven first called me over to look at this part of the display I didn't even notice the Whales because their skeletons are suspended, when I looked up my jaw dropped.

There is something so amazing about being able to look at skeletons like this, and something strange too about the juxtaposition of the skeleton with the museum behind it, knowing the animal that it once belonged to roamed the ocean.

Tiny little rhino replica.

A twin horned narwhal, or a duocorn narwhal? Duowhal? The name possibilities are endless.

I love his little face, isn't it the cutest thing ever?

So many cute little faces all over the place.

And of course the dinosaurs! There was a moving T-rex model, this one above, and it was so cool to watch. There was a sign that said sometimes it'll recognise you in the crowd...

Which is exactly what happened to me! It was really odd having this thing looking right at you, it's unbelievably big, I can't even imagine what it would be like to come up against a real one.

Raptors, these were really scary! Both of the pictures I took of them, the one on the left looks nothing short of pure evil.

Amazing architechture, these were entwined snake heads.

And a little squirrel that you could easily miss if you didn't look up.

This bit reminded us of Hogwarts.

Steven was taking pictures of me looking at crystals it seems! You can see the dinosaur hat I got a little.

I love all the different textures of the crystals, how they can be pretty much any shape.

Beryl, this was Steven's favourite.

Opal, one of my favourite stones. Also your birthstone if you're born in October.

40 Ways to Have the Best Day Ever!

2011-11-13T23:27:00.002Z

I love lists, really, really love them. I'd go so far as to say I'm a total list fiend! I really like lists of fun things to do, they're so useful when you're feeling bored, listless or a little blue. So, I thought I'd put my own list together for you my dears ♥

40 Ways to Have the Best Day Ever!

1. Make up a story and tell it to somebody, make it fun and dramatic and silly.
2. Read a book out loud, do different voices for all the characters. Bonus points if you try an accent.
3. Sing along to your favourite songs.
4. Clear a big space and dance, dance, dance!
5. Get some pavement chalk and do a drawing in your yard and/or pathway.
6. Put a movie on and turn it on mute, make up lines for what they're saying. Alternatively try just playing some music, it's weird how well it'll fit!
7. Stargaze, see how many constellations you can find. Make up your own, give them an awesome name.
8. Get under your duvet and pretend you're in a spaceship, alternatively you could be in a cocoon.
9. Learn a new skill, youtube and google are fantastic for tutorials on nearly everything.
10. Bake or cook your favourite meal.
11. Write a long email or letter to your best friend.
12. Tell your friend you love them, don't be afraid to get a little mushy! Other people you could tell? Your partner, your parents, your siblings, your pets.
13. Climb a tree.
14. Roll on the grass.
15. Curl up with your favourite book.
16. Take some toy dinosaurs to the park and pretend you're in Jurassic Park, bonus points if they're tiny dinosaurs.
17. Give a huge, soul tickly hug.
18. Write your favourite quotes out on post it notes and then stick them in random places for people to find.
19. Go and try on perfume samples, or manly fragrances! Try both if you like.
20. Make something with paper maché.
21. Build a fort, have a picnic inside it.
22. Go and watch the birds (on a river, lake or even just in town) and make up dialogue for them. Give them names and a little biography as well.
23. Sing to your pet, take a song and replace some of the words with their name.
24. Collect some bottles (milk bottles for example), fill them with different amounts of water and then blow over the tops to make music.
25. Go out for a walk in the sunshine. Find a nice spot to sit in.
26. Write a 'Love List' of all the things you adore in big writing and stick it up somewhere you can see it every day.
27. Try a simple meditation, there are lots of great guided meditations and music for meditation on youtube.
28. Have a movie marathon (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are great for this)
29. Eat some old fashioned sweets.
30. Go beachcombing and dip your feet in the ocean.
31. Watch your favourite childhood cartoons or television programs.
32. Find a rock in your garden and paint a little face on it, give it some friends.
33. Make a sock monster.
34. Buy a piece of fruit, eat it, plant the seeds.
35. Learn how to make a paper crane.
36. Wake up early and listen to the birds sing.
37. Watch your best friends favourite movie with them, then have them do the same with you.
38. Listen to the sea in a conch shell.
39. Make your own band t-shirt with a stencil.
40. Try a new brand of tea.