Eclectic Muffins

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Munchkin is having his last day at kindy before we move house to another town, so cakes were on order. Didn't have anything fun to decorate with so ended up being creative with the lemon icing.

Another session at eBay

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Well, we are going to be proffesional lunch-makers for Munchkin. After having read about some fancy egg-shapers in an blog for parents, I had to check them out myself, so I ran to eBay. And of course, eBay did not let me down, and I found the egg-shapers as well as tons of other stuff you need to have in order to make creative and lovely lunch boxes to your offspring. After having browsed and compared I finally decided on these: Egg-shapers in the shape of a fish and a car…

…and a rabbit and a bear. You take a freshly cooked egg, while it is still warm, de-shell it and then pop it into one of these molds. Then let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes, and voila, fun-looking eggs. Can’t wait to try these :-).

Additionally, as Munchkin is a small rice-fiend, these can also be used to make fun-shaped rice-balls. How fun is that. Kiddy-style sushi!

I bought the egg-shapers from ctriasha on eBay, and they set me back $6 and $3 for shipping from Japan (all the way from Jaaaapaaaan).

And then I also ended up with some sandwich cutters. You make a sandwich, and then you squash this mold down on it, and you en dup with lots of mini-sandwiches in fun shapes. This turns the sandwich into a bird, a heart, a tulip, and a fish…

… and this one makes a car, a boat, a lorry, and a bus (methinks, the picture wasn’t too clear). Munchkin is going to love me! These ones were bought from kaczan*bento on eBay, and set me back $3,49 a piece, so $6,98 total for both, and $6,98 for shipping all the way from Hong Kong.

And of course, then mummy had to buy something as well. So I ended up with three Konad image plates. The real stuff this time, and not fauxnad. So far I am quite happy with my fauxnad, and I am sure I will purchase more of them, as they are a fraction of the cost of the real Konad. But, I really wanted some designs that covered the whole nails, and I couldn’t really find any fauxnad which did that. Fauxnad tend to be shipped on random, so the pictures shown on eBay might not be the image plates you are actually receiving. I had a look at Bundle Monster, and they do have som designs which are supposed to cover the whole nail, but there are several comments around about how small they are, and how they don’t cover the whole nail. So, therefore decided to shell out for some proper konads with BIG designs :-).

So, these are the ones I ended up with. Konad image plates M70, M73, and M74. I am so excited, and am so looking forward to get them. I bought these ones from konad2u on eBay, and they set me back $6,80 a piece with free shipping from Malaysia. Got to love Asia – so much fun stuff to be had from there.

Blue flowers with a blue french tip

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I put on a base coat and then a light metalic blue over the whole nail. I love this polish and have used it a lot. In the picture it doesn’t seem like the bottle I am holding is the same one as the one I am wearing on my nails, but it is.

I then made a darker blue french tip. I used tape to make the edge nice and crisp. Just normal scotch tape will do. However, make sure that the firt layer of polish has properly dried before putting the tape on, if not the tape will dent the polish.

Finally I stamped on blue flowers using the fauxnad, and then adding some rhinestones to the middle of the flowers.

I do like it. It’s a bit understated while giving the impression of a complicated mani. But, am not soo sure about the rhinestones. I love the idea of rhinestones, but am not too happy about the 3-D quality of them. I like my nails to be flat, lest they snag on everything and the stones fall off.

Got stamps?

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My nail stamps arrived from Hong Kong today, and I had to try them out. A tad difficult as I was also making munchkin's birthday cake at the same time. But, I am not unhappy with the result. With a bit more practice it will be perfect.

But, I had to make the same mistake as countless before me. I sat down, so excited, with my stamp, my nail polish, and my image plate. I put the nail polish on the plate, and swiped off the rest of the polish. But the damned polish didn't stick to the plate, and there was no chance in hell it would transfer to the stamp. After about 10 tries, I was really upset that I had managed to get the one bad set from Hong Kong, and was whining to Hubby. And then it hit me. The plastic! Yes, after having read about others who forgot to remove the plastic from the image plates, and sniggered a bit of them, I myself do the same mistake. So good that I can never learn from someone else's mistake, even not when I intend to.

Latvian baby blanket

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Almost, almost half way. I think this blanket is so so pretty, but I wish I had chosen more bold colours. When I went yarn-shopping, they didn't have this yarn in any bold or vibrant colours, so it wasn't bc I chickened out. But, pale and powdery colours nonetheless, I am still very happy with how it turns out. Not to mention that it is like a hundred times quicker a knit than what I thought it would be. I was worried I wouldn't even finish it in time for little niece's arrival in December, and now it looks like I will be finish with the knitting by the end of this month. Yeay me!

Rhinestones from eBay

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I bought new nail polish from elf, and I got some rhinestones from eBay. The rhinestones set me back $1,53 and $4 for shipping for 3600 stones in different colors. Yup, you heard me :-). I am addicted to eBay now. I'll find stuff I didn't even know existed, and they all cost a pittance, and is shipped free from Hong Kong. So amazing!!

What I think of the rhinestones? Well, I like them, but maybe mostly because they were 3600 pcs for $4,50 incl shipping. How can one not like that. For the stones themselves, well, they are not that sparkly. They look sparkly in the box, but as soon as they are one the nail and you give them a coating of clear nailpolish, they lose almost all of their sparkle. I tried to put them on and not put a topcoat on and it did look better, but more prone to fall off though.

Additionally, the back of the stones are flat and smooth, and I found that to be kind of tricky to put them on the nail and give them a good push into the nailpolish without them sliding a bit. It got better with a bit of practice, but still some sliding occured. I am not sure if there are other solutions to this, as these are the first rhinestones for nails I have ever had. Although I did buy som nail art ages ago which admitely weren't rhinestones, but they were cut in the same way thus being sparkly, and the back were hollow. I guess you can say they were more like tiny jewel-shaped shells in pretty colours. I liked those as I was able to really push them into the nailpolish, and they stuck like nobody's business!

Anyway, I will def buy these again though. I have already been on eBay looking at smaller sized rhinestones. The ones I got was 2,1mm, and I do like the size, but it would be fun to have different sized ones. I found someone who is selling the 1,5mm ones for $1,34 for 1800 pcs with free shipping, and I am really tempted to buy them. Now, how is that possible? How can they possible earn anything with that price? I mean, just to post a normal letter from Hong Kong to Europe would at least cost $1,34.

Eyes and teeth for Grumpybum Monsterlongies

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Several people have asked me to post a pattern for eyes and teeth for the Grumpybum Monster longie, so here goes :-). The eyes and teeth are sewn on using duplicate stitches. Google it :-).

Eye

Upper tooth

Lower tooth

Latvia garden blanket #2

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This is so pretty, but oh so slow...

Latvian Garden Blanket and 2,5mm needles

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Inspired by my younger brother’s soon to arrive first child I knew I had to make her something awesome! In addition, when I asked my younger brother whether or not they liked knitted stuff, he answered rather diplomatic (or not so) that they liked *insert pause* quality… Which I assume is he’s way of telling me that he do not quite think me able to make something of “quality”.

Which of course just made me even more determined to shower knitted stuff over my little niece as soon as she enters this world. But, I knew that my first gift had to be amazing! IT. HAD. TO.

After researching a bit I decided on Drops Extra Fine Merino, as it is just so so soft and it doesn’t need to be handwashed. Got to love that for new parents. Actually, I can’t really understand why you have to handwash most babywool. I mean, if there is anyone who need to be able to just stuff clothes into the washer it has to be new parents.

Anyway, a while ago I came over this beautiful beautiful pattern, Latvian Garden Baby Blanket. Not to be deferred by the fact that I hardly have ever knitted with multiple strands of yarn, nor have made anything requiring a steek, nor lined any knitting beforehand, I decided that this would be the perfect gift for the newborn.

This blanket is on tiny tiny 2,5mm needles. And I am quite apprehensive about making a whole – WHOLE – blanket using such tiny needles. I love the way the pattern looks when using tiny needles, but the time people, the time! But alas, nothing but the best for new (and only) niece to come.

I have knitted two repeats of the heart pattern and am already feeling bored. I mean, the blanket is going to be beautiful – for sure. I chose natural white for background color, lavender for the hearts, and limegreen for the pattern in the middle. And so far it looks lovely. But it is so boring…

So, decided to cast on something that can be knitted without having to think so much. Because of the different colors and tension and whatnot, the blanket is quite a mental exhausting task for a novice such as myself. So, decided to cast on Steggie in wool for Munchkin. I wouldn’t really claim the Steggie to be a mindless knit, but as I made one earlier this summer I am pretty sure this one won’t take to much thinking on my behalf. Which is perfect.