Saturday Scavenges ~Week 5

Well, we all know how this works by now so shall we check out a few of this week's finds? While I was away in Devon I went nuts finding stuff so it'll probably be those I'll be posting for a couple of weeks XD

A Part of Something you Ate / Add some very Tiny Decoration
I was avoiding putting food on this page, and when I was tiding up around my room I found these old Maccies Monopoly stickers that I'd saved for like a scrapbook page or something. So I figure it was kind of part of something I ate!
The alteration of some very tiny decoration is kind of hard to see on this small pic, but I just scattered little crosses and dots around the page.

Something that is Broken or Damaged / Add as many things as you can
Although this looks like the kind of thing I picked up on holiday, I actually got this little piece of rope from the daytrip around the welsh coast I went on with Dad a couple of weeks ago.
as the alteration was to add as many things to the page as I could find, I added a bunch of nautical things from around my desk, some specifically ocean-themed, some other things that I just thought would fit in X3

Something that can be Dragged and Leaves a Mark / Turn into a Landscape
I found some burnt wood from a beach fire on one of Budes beaches in Devon, so that seemed about right for this page.
The alteration was to turn it into a landscape, which I kind of took as to draw a kind of landscape...I did a kind of interpretive beachy scene to go with where I found the charcoal :]

Something that was Created by a Machine / Build it Up
This was kinda weird as loo roll isn't really something I have a habit of collection to keep, but this one has puppies on it!
I was supposed to 'build it up' so I just kind of stuck on sheet over another over another? I think i could've probably managed something better for this page :x

Something that was Made by Hand / Add a Grid
I made this little skull thing as I described on Wednesday's post x3 So it was a pretty easy choice to stick on this page.
The grid I chose to make into like a cross-stitch xp
Well, that's it for this week. Sorry I'm not particularly descriptive at the moment, I'm trying to fit everything in around moving atm and it's not balancing very well. Plus I don't have the net at my new place yet!



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Project Wednesday ~Crochet

I really wanted to write about this one as it's something I've only gotten into in the last couple of weeks, but i'm really having quite a lot of fun with it (when I'm not frustrating the heck out of myself for missing stitches or having to undo my entire idea cause I messed up....more on that in a min). If you've been crocheting for a while, or even know the names of a couple of stitches, you many want to leave now cause I have barely any idea what I'm doing but I just wanted to show off my no0b progress :x

My friend taught me basically all I know- a chain stitch and some other stitch you use when you go back on yourself to make the piece bigger, I think of it as 'making a wall'. A-hem. Totally technical. I started with a couple of balls of wool she gave me- a light grey and a dusky pink. I knew what I wanted in my mind and after practicing a bit I soon found out I just wasn't coming up with much. So of course I did what anyone would do in the situation- head to Pinterest! I found this super easy tutorial that didn't include and confusing stitch/pattern thing, just a few pictures of what to do to make a skull, so that's what I did!
As a first attempt at making anything I was pretty pleased with myself, but it was only when I asked my friend to teach me to make a circle did I realise how little I understood what I was doing. No matter how many times I tried to follow exactly what I did as she did it in front of me, I just wasn't coming up with the same thing. Now I know how people feel when I try to teach them to make origami lucky stars x.x

Then I went on holiday. I took a ball of wool so I could practice, but because I had very little internet connection, I stuck to what I kinda knew- the skull. I made another out of the pink wool, but whereas the time before I'd looped the wool twice on every stitch to some very frustrating results, this time I stuck to single stitches and it came out so much smaller, and I didn't think there was anything I could do with such a small, wonky skull.
I did though, I stuck it in the Pocket Scavenger! Yay for something badly homemade! However, it had kinda put me off as in my mind I wanted a really chunky end result and I could see I just wasn't going to get it with the wool I had.

The next day we went to Barnstable in Devon, and I don't think I've seen so many charity shops in my life. While we were mooching a Sue Ryder though I found just the wool I'd had in mind, and bought a couple of balls of cream and grey. It's so plushy and I knew I needed a bigger crochet hook to deal with it, and luckily just round the corner was the famous Barnstable pannier market, which had a haberdashery stall where I found a massive hook!

I started playing as soon as I got back in the car, and it wasn't long before my ball of wool ran out, chunky wool is so easy to crochet! But it hadn't turned out quite right- it was all curly and I only had a mild idea why- my inexperience had messed it up. So I unravelled it and started again, and this time, I used my hands only to crochet, using a finger as a crochet hook XD It worked really well and before i knew it I'd made a fair sized 'wall', but it was only as I was admiring it the next day I realised my next noobie mistake- I'd not been keeping an eye on the edges and my wall had started to become a pyramid, here it's folded in half so it looks like I got one side super straight XD I was pretty gutted, but after thinking about it realised the best thing to do was to unravel it again and start over, so that what I did.

Round 2 of my 'couch blanket/throw' seems to be coming along well so far now I learnt from my past mistakes, in fact I've run out of wool and think I'm going to have to get some more online! I guess it really helps that although it's frustrating to unravel what you've spent ages on, it's not that difficult to build it back up and I can admit that every that's gone wrong has been my own fault and not some confusing instructions I'm trying to follow!
Have you tried crochet, or any other woolen craft? I'd love to hear your experiences!



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Project Wednesday ~Mallorca Travel Journal

Well, a couple of weeks ago I said I'd give you a peak into my Mallorca travel journal, so here we are x] I'm so bad at keeping up with travel journals as I either get back into the room exhausted or find the TV being on too distracting. I also don't want to be antisocial to write about what a great time I'm having hanging out with everyone...

I got this travel journal from my sister who sent it to me from NZ. How cute? x3 It was really well organised too, already containing a pocket for extras and sections for things to pack, stuff to do before we leave and at the back, mini review spots for bars, shopping areas and cafes. Oh a few pages to keep addresses too so I know who to send postcards to x3

I decided to use this book for both my week long Spanish-island trips I took last year, so the first half was for my Mallorca holiday with Face's family. Every page had really nice but muted backgrounds to keep things interesting, and the first couple of pages sets I only wrote on. I'd taken my instax mini with me too though, so those pictures got included in the journal more often than not, like this one of the view from our hotel room.

  I'm always on the lookout for things to include to add something different to the pages and although I usually will keep anything, this time I was aiming for a slimmer journal so I stuck to things that weren't so bulky. The monster/mallorca sticker I got from a souvenir shop but I also have a thing for keeping receipts, particularly if they are in another language or have the shop (or in this case, restaurant) name at the top. On this one I even wrote who had what!

This is something I really enjoying doing for travel journals but almost never find the time- little sketches! This page had a prompt for sketching so I had the excuse to sit and do it while Face watched TV one afternoon/evening. I sat on the balcony of our hotel and just doodled the view. I've never been good at realism so true to my style, it looks a little cartoony. As you can see, I also didn't get a chance to finish my sketch, but I think I got the more interesting part in, of the harbour :]

I also cut up a few leaflets from places we had visited to include more pictures for interest and context. On this page I also stuck in Face & I's mini tren tickets after a ride we took which toured us all around Porto Cristo and some other nearby beaches.
I did quite a few more pages than this, but I think these were the most interesting ones. Quite a few of the others were just text, but even just now I got caught up reading as I tried to type this, so I guess that works for me!
I did most of this while I was in Mallorca, not bad for me! I admit though I had to complete it when I got back :x On the other hand, I still have my Japanese travel journal sitting on my desk waiting to be completed...I always need more time for craft! So I didn't do a bad job to get this one all done before I went off on my next trip.
Do you like to keep travel journals?



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Scavenger Saturday ~Week 6

Well, we all know how this works by now so shall we check out a few of this week's finds?

A Piece of Red String / Smudge Something over it
I found this red string at the beach when Dad & I went earlier in the week. I guess technically it's not string, but it's so close, and it took me so long to find something red and string-like!
I 'smudged something over it' with watercolour paints. I was feeling a little rushed and this was all I could come up with :d

A Found Note / Add a Blob
Dad leaves me notes all the time and so when I had to find a note I thought not only was this an easy scavenge for an unlikely to find 'in the wild' task, but a good way of keeping the note x3
Dad found this shiny gold vinyl stuff while out on a bike ride and as it was his own scavenge I thought it was pretty appropriate when it came to the alteration x3

A Found Note / Add Something Shiny
  A few days after I'd completed the above page I went to the pub for one of our friends birthday. Our pub has tons of old books on shelves that no one ever looks at, but of course being a little drunk and with a bunch of people I didn't know, we started looking at the books, and in one I found this note! It was by the author to some friends he'd gifted the book to. Sadly, I can't remember the title, even after googling the author. Because it was so unusual I felt I had to put in a 50a page to include it!
I carried the theme on once I got the 'something shiny' alteration, cutting the something shiny into little blobs to put around the page XD

A Ticket / Combine with a Photo
This was the ticket for the Kast Off Kinks I went to see with Dad. This book seemed like an obvious place to put it :]
The alteration was to combine the scavenge with a photo, so I printed off one of the pics I took while I was there, even though I wasn't supposed to be taking pics :x

A Piece of Origami / Turn it into a Pattern. Repeat it.
I used to like placing origami around work. I'm not sure why, I just like leaving things lying around I think! So I learnt to make these throwing stars- I have no idea how to make them anymore, but I found this one in a bag I used to use for work a fair bit.
With the alteration, it made sense to me to try and carry on the pattern using the shape of the origami. I didn't practice it before I started doodling on this page so I was pretty pleased to find out it did form a sort of pattern xD
Are you using a Keri Smith book at the moment? I'm enjoying this one & how it doesn't seem quite as in depth as the others :x



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Project Wednesday ~Future Map Projects

I love maps! The colours, details and most of all what they represent! I don't have many items at the moment with maps on actually, but I plan to decorate with them when I'm settled into the new house ^^; I'm hoping to make them myself, so I've been mooching around the internets for inspiration. Here's what I've come up with~


Etsy via Pinterest This one is super simple, although this example pic isn't so great XD I'm thinking what would be really cool would be a copy of the house key set in front of a map of the area, it could just be that simple or have something like 'our home' written on it. I think it would be really cute, but I am a little wary that it may make my housekey a little too accessible? Or am I just worrying too much? :x

 
Amazon This idea has been on my mind since I saw the wooden stag head in a shop last christmas :] I thought it was a really good idea, and since then I guess a lot of other people do too as they're all over the internet now, in many, many different patterns! However, although I like stags I've really had more of a thing for ram's skulls recently, particularly as tattoos so when I saw that you can get a ram's head version...well, lets just say it came together x3 I'd probably buy some map paper from Paperchase if not online and cover the pieces myself before assembling it.


Etsy I think this would be a simple one to do as well, the hardest part would be deciding what the three hearts were to represent! This one is kind of based around marriage, but I think you could also do childhood homes and the current house, or maybe even holiday destinations. As it's kind of small I think it would be good by the entrance, just something small to decorate with :3


The Cupcake Architect I've seen this one around pinterest so much it feels kinda old, but I've never actually seen one in someones home. I really like this one of the UK that I found on The Cupcake Architect's blog, and I think one of just my home county would also be pretty cool, although not sure even many people from Shropshire would recognise it by silhouette alone. I don't think people in the UK are quite as county-proud as those in the USA! The world map ones are good too, and I would maybe like to make one of those as a feature of a room, with photos taken in some of the stringed countries included too.


Not on the High Street Another easy one, only complicated by having to find somewhere that'll print local maps cheaply XD I'm not sure where exactly I'd put a map set like this, but I don't think I'll be getting it from NotHS, where it's £89!
Ahhh, I'm so inspired! Are you big on maps or do you prefer different patterns? I'll be sure to let you know if any of my plans based on these come to fruition xD



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Seven Awesome Stationery Must-Haves

Stork Scissors: eBay ~ World Washi Tapes: Hobbycraft
Two-in-One Pen/Pencil: Muji ~ Stapleless Stapler: The Journal Shop
Guilded Feathers Journal: The Fox & Star ~ Dino Stickers: Paperchase ~ Kraft Box: Paperchase

I'm starting to feel that crafting itch again, as at the moment I'm only playing with my Pocket Scavenger. I usually have a bunch of things on the go, so it's pretty weird to only do one! However, I do have a Smashbook upstairs waiting for me to be ready to start cutting things out and 'smashing' them in! Many of the pages already have things between them just waiting to be stuck down! :x
Of course, because I've already got all the components to do that I'm thinking maybe I'd like to play with some other things, however I'm trying to save for stuff like fridges and couches now, so I thought I would just go window shopping!
In my mooching about I found seven things that are almost too good to pass up! Just look at these things x3 I've wanted stork scissors for some time now, they have such a cute vintage feel, and in fact I think I may just make an exception to my no-spending rule for these, I can totally imagine myself using them in winter when I'm hoping to focus more on cross-stitching x3 *daydreams*
Aha, anyway, I also found loads of other cute things! The washi tapes are Tim Holtz, a brand that I usually find very 'samey' but I think I can let that slide for these washi, travel themed stuff is one of my weaknesses ;o; Sadly, the price of these puts me off the most, at £8 for the three tapes, ouch!
The pen/pencil combo is a cool idea that I've enjoyed in the past. I bought a pen similar to this last time I was in NZ at Smiggle, and I loved it so much I ran the pen out. Sad times. Another cool idea though is the stapleless stapler, although I may be thinking a little too much of work as this would be really useful! Our stapler frequently has no staples so this would be perfect. I think I would have to attach it to either myself or our desk though as I would fear it disappearing :x
And just look at this beautiful feathers journal, like I need another journal to sit to one side until I decide to write in it 5 years down the line....but the pages edges are even guilded. I think it would've looked even nicer with a few metallic highlights on the cover image to match the pages, and I'm not one for an excess of shiny. The feathers just sell this for me really though...
The journal was looking quite mature, so what better to complement it than shiny dinosaur stickers? x3 How cute are these!
Lastly I was looking at the kraft box as more of a memories box that I could decorate. I've got one of my pinterest pins stuck in my mind- using a box for every holiday we go on to store trinkets and a travel journal of the trip. Maybe I would be the only one to look at them, but I still think that they would be worth putting together x3
Would you like anything from this little collection, or are you more into something else?



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Saturday Scavenges ~Week 2

Back again, this week hasn't been too busy on the scavenging front, but I've got a few pages to show you, so lets jump straight in :]

Something you can see through / Collect more items. Add items.
I thought this one was going to be a little more difficult than it was, although everything I managed to find turned out to be practically white for some reason. I have a thing for plastic cards that have see through bits in them, so when I saw KFC had started doing loyalty cards I was pretty pleased to find it had a see through bit in it. However I don't go to KFC all that often so I thought a better home for it may be in this book XD

A paperclip / Create a funny character
Another one found at work, I'm pretty sure this funny looking paperclip is from a christmas cracker last year. So how it's managed to last to August and just now make itself found I'm not sure! When I found it I knew I had to use it in the book x3
The alteration was to make a funny character, but I really wanted to draw a girl when I got that as a challenge, but she isn't really funny looking other than not really being in my art style, so I put in the description 'in personality she has a very good sense of humour!'.

A piece of a puzzle / Scribble with your eyes closed
This one I thought was really interesting. Dad found this mat and gave it to me out of a box of beermats. When I looked into it it turned out to be quite a Midlands mystery. This guy has been going round the Midlands for over 50 years hiding these draw-on beermats in pubs, charity shops and supermarkets, just for people to find them. In all that time, very few people have ever found out who the artist is, and when they do find out they refuse to reveal his identity. Now that's quite a puzzle!
The alteration was to scribble with my eyes closed, so I made it the background for this page :]

A coupon / Turn it into a sign
I had considered trying to find a coupon in the newspaper for this item, but as I was mooching round my desk I found this one that I'd been saving for if I had decided to get anything else from the garden centre. But as my garden buying is generally done in spring, the coupon kind went to waste on my desk so here seemed a pretty good home for it.
I took 'turn it into a sign' literally just cause I wanted to draw it as a sign :x Easily pleased I guess!

Several different kinds of grass / Tear shapes out of paper to add
I think this is one of my favourite pages so far, just for the colour scheme! I was out exploring on a tiki-tour drive when I came across this field full of wheat which also had loads of different grasses growing along the side, so it seemed a pretty good opportunity to get this page done. The advantage of grasses gone to seed is they're so dry they don't even really need pressing before just sticking them in a book XD
For the alteration I had considered just shredding some yellow papers into random bits and making a sort of camo background, but then I really felt like tearing triangles for some reason, so that's how this came about XD
Well, that's it for this week, do you have a Pocket Scavenger? What sort of things are you finding?



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Saturday Scavenges

I said a couple of weeks back that I'd officially started 'The Pocket Scavenger' by Keri Smith, but since then not said much more about it! Well, as I'm all done with the July photo challenge now, I thought I'd have a new weekly feature x3
I'm going to do this every week hopefully by just posting pictures of the pages where I've found a few of the things I've managed to collect while 'scavenging'. I'm not actively hunting for anything in particular a lot of the time so some weeks may be busier than others.

Something That was Discarded / Colour Outside the Lines
This week is my first week doing the challenge on here, so I'll show you a few of the things I collected first x3 I've actually had this book quite some time, and just over a year I think, with it playing on my mind as I completed my 'This is Not a Book'. Every now and then I would pass something by that just struck a chord, I felt like it needed to go in the book! So this item was found at work, a book thrown in the bin, and not just any book but The Hobbit! Sacrilege! Though I have rather large book-wrecking guilt, I tried not to think about it too much when I took some of the images and footnotes for this book and the TiNaB :x
I actually haven't done the alteration on this page yet, even though I've already flicked through the pages for it :x

A Feather / Make it Inviting
I have a terrible habit of picking up feathers whenever I'm out so this was not a hard find XD It is prettier than the usual pigeon feathers I find though. Dad reckons it is possibly a kestrel feather, so that's pretty cool x3
For the alteration, I found this cool washi tape at Paperchase that I thought would be perfect for bringing attention to the feather. I didn't want to do too much that would overpower it, so I kind of left it simple.

Something with Text on It / Add String
I found this massive playing card while mooching around an old office at work, and one of the beauties of the scavenge is that some of the items are a little vague so they can be used by multiple findings.
The alteration was to 'add string'. Not too difficult x3

Something You can only Find in your Local Environment / Add Circles
I wasn't sure what I was going to have to try and find for this one, until I was sat at my desk one day eating some fresh cherries picking from one of the trees nearby x3 I bit one in half and left some cherry prints over the page! Sadly the pages on the Pocket Scavenger are pretty porous but I'll have to deal with that when I get to it :x
The alteration to 'Add Circles' was an easy one too- I just added a bunch of cherries to decorate the pages XD

A Wrapper / Consider it Complete
Face bought me a Double Decker, and true to form I save practically everything I come into contact with...at least it was for a reason? And Double Deckers are pretty awesome!
The alteration wasn't really an alteration on this one! XD It's complete!

So that's this week scavengers, what do you think? I'm really enjoying myself, and quite enjoying the more toned down theme this book is getting after the mass of colour that my last two Keri Smith books inspired XD



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