The return of Mudmeddling...

Well hello there.  I am back at last from what has turned out to be a nine month break from this blog and shop.  What was supposed to be a two month break became rather a lot longer, ooooops!

So what's been going here over the last nine months?  Well our second daughter Phoebe arrived on the last day of November 2010 just as a snow blizzard hit Kent and brought the county to a near standstill.  The ten minute drive to the local hospital took over two hours, most of which was spent stuck on the motorway whilst in labour.  Fortunately we made it in time and I didn't become the local "Woman Gives Birth on Motorway" headline :)

What followed was an exhausting (and cold) few months and by Spring I was enjoying motherhood and being an at-home-mum so much that before I knew it summer had arrived!  But now with September fast approaching my thoughts are turning to my favourite time of year - autumn and winter!  And with those seasons comes Halloween and Christmas of course - perfect for witches, wizards, ghosts, santas and elves, just the things to fill my shop with :)

So today I have re-opened both my Etsy and Folksy shops and I have a brand new web address too!  If you are a follower of my blog you will need to change it to www.mud-meddling.blogspot.com (my previous address didn't have the hyphen).  You can also access my blog from www.mudmeddling.co.uk.... pretty good, huh?  I shall keep this blog running here at the old (non hypenated) mudmeddling.blogspot address for a wee while before deleting it, so you have time to change over.

I have plenty of old favourites to list, such as my spooky sparkly ghosts...

and cute toadstools...

Plus there's a few new items on the way too...

So watch this space for updates and ramblings from me...it's good to be back!

Ali
x

Folksy Friday - Blue

Good grief, considering I am now on maternity leave you'd think I'd be a better blogger! My time has been rather absorbed though with too many trips back and forth to the hospital. If you follow me on Twitter you will no doubt already be fed up of me going on about all the health issues though so I won't go into it here!

How about a little Folksy Friday to cheer us up? I couldn't think of a topic so hubby suggested "blue", no doubt in a vain attempt to counteract all the pink around here at the moment!








Top row:
Blue Daisy Pendant from Blue Daisy Glass
Blue Strawberry cupcake from Cupcakejojo

Middle row:
Retro Flower Tree Art Print from an Original Painting by Sascalia
Blue Mr Britain T-shirt from SheDraws

Bottom row:
Sea Pottery Cufflinks in Traditional Blue from Silk Purse, Sow's Ear
Amazonite Leaf Keyring/Handbag charm from NOfkantsCurios

Gorgeous things, eh?  All too tempting for my liking!  You can click on any of the photos or the links to be transported to shopping heaven :)

Making Friends

My friend at work asked me to make her a model of herself.

Her only specification was that the clay version of her should have sticky out ears. 

It's nice to make somebody you know as you can add the little things you know about them.  I gave her the designer pink flip-flops she often wears, and a motorcycle helmet as she's a biker.

I also added a little imitation moonstone necklace, as she wears one all the time. 

Lastly, in its own little box, I also made a carrot cake as her homemade carrot cake is bloody fantastic...

I do enjoy making things purely for friends or for pleasure.  This particular effort gave me a bit of grief, I dropped it twice and the leg fell off once whilst it was drying.  Jinxed perhaps?  It was all fixed and relatively sturdy by the time she got it though, I just hope it survived the motorbike journey home!

:)

 

 PS - like the new banner?  Courtesy of the very clever Bonnita Graphics.

Folksy Friday - Pampering

I have been a slightly bad blogger this week. My time has been very much absorbed with finishing my day job before I go on maternity leave from...TODAY! Woo!  Next week is half term then after that I have a few weeks before the birth to prepare myself, prepare the house and spend a lot of time on the sofa with my feet up watching DVDs and creating things, I can't wait!

Right now I am completely depleted of energy and I can't wait to rest. With this in mind my Folksy Friday this week is dedicated to the art of pampering. Just click on any of the images to be whisked away to the shops featured, happy pampering everyone...









Top row:
Pink Heart Felted Soap from The Rainbow Room
Marshmallow Fluff candle from One Stop Pamper Shop

Middle row:
Apple and Cranberry Candle from The Lime Garden
Sweet Orange Oil Bath Truffle from Beautiful Bubbles

Bottom row:
Natural Chocolate Orange Body Butter from Goodness Me!
Heart shaped Bath Melts from Olive & Rose

Happy Friday everyone!

Folksy Friday - Movie Night

It's movie night for hubby and I tonight!  So what better theme for a Folksy Friday?  Grab your popcorn, snap open that fizzy pop, and pause the DVD while you indulge in a little Folksy browsing (just click on the images to be magically transported to each of the shops)....










Clockwise from top left:

Ruby Slippers Wizard of Oz Necklace from Whimsical Wren Jewellery
Audrey Hepburn Handbag from Uniquely Different
Captain Kirk Star Trek meerkat from Nifty Knits
Vintage Movie Camera Linocut from Naptown Studios
"Life Moves Pretty Fast" artwork from Wall Envy Art
"I just want to be wonderful" locket necklace from Girl of the 80s

Happy Friday everyone!

(I must just say a big thank-you to Hilary over at CraftBlogUK for this fabulous tutorial for creating mini galleries.  At last I can do it!)

Wonky

Give me some fabric and a sewing machine and I will fuss about straight lines until the cows come home.  Give me paint and a paintbrush and I will agonise over each element being painted until I am satisfied not a smidgen is out of place.

But give me a lump of a clay and I don't really think about it.  Straight lines don't matter, little bumps and corners, the bits that create themselves, always seem to add to the overall effect I want. 

It's one of the many reasons I find making things with clay so soothing, it's stress free.

And everything always turn out really well in the end.  Well, almost everything.  Just occasionally there is a small...error...

:)

It doesn't mean I love him any less of course and he is still available, in all his wonky glory, in my shop at a bargain "wonky" price.  I think because of his extra added quirkiness I will miss him all the more when he goes off to a new home, after all we all have our physical/emotional wonky bits don't we?  Who am I to judge :)

Ding Dong the Witch is dead!

Last week I sold this pair of witch's legs...

I played around with this design initially as a playful little ornament for myself.  Mine are currently sat on my new bookshelfs in the living room...

I really liked them so made another larger pair for my shop and they sold really quickly!  I think they appealed to a lot of people's sense of humour and happy memories :) 

Why don't they show the Wizard of Oz on Christmas Day anymore? Those were the days, eh?

I think I will definitely be making some more, they make me smile whenever I see mine sitting there on the shelf :)