My *other* new meerkats!

Happy New Year! I've been working on the X-Men Meerkats - who shall I do next?



I'm sure they don't need introducing, but from left to right we have Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit and Cyclops.

My new meerkat

This is Ringo - my kids adopted him for me for Christmas!

He lives at Whipsnade, so we're planning a trip to see him one day soon.

In the meantime, I can track him here, and indeed so can you!



Ringo's got a stumpy tail, so he'll be easy to spot. (You might want to remind me I said that on the day of the visit...)

Thanks kids!

NiftyKnits in Period Living Magazine!

Goodness me how sophisticated!




Period Living Magazine is Britain's best selling Period Homes Magazine - and in the February edition they've chosen to feature my upcycled brass pot pincushion!

You can see the piece here by clicking on preview, then finding page 5.

Happy Christmas Meerkats (and their friends!)

Nobody who reads my blog can have failed to notice the Meerkat World Tour.

They started making their preparations way back at the beginning of November. Since then we've been in the local paper and video'd for the local paper website!

Since then it's been one adventure after another: Treasure visited Cute Designs and then to Israel to meet Arosha and Inbaliya and celebrated Hanukkah with SpringDesigns

Meqanwhile, Etta went straight to North Carolina with MidnightCoiler and then spent Thanksgiving with CrazyDaisesDesigns. After Thanksgiving she went to New York to attend the "one of a kind show" with GocksFrocks (where apparently she earned herself a tutu!)and is now with ZaftigDelights, looking forward to Christmas.



So why have I chosen this video? It's something we used to listen to a lot when my children were small, so it's nostalgic - and you don't need much of an excuse to be nostalgic this time of year!

But also - it's all about pulling together. I have been more touched than I can say by the way my friends from ETTEAM have joined with me in this Meerkat World Tour - I certainly couldn't have done it by myself! Thanks for all the fun photos, the blog posts, the facebook messages and of course the souvenirs the meerkats have taken away with them. They still have a lot of visits to make before the final giveaways on our Etteam blog, so if you're not yet a facebook fan - join us now! May this Christmas time bring you all you deserve! xxx

World Tour Meerkat update!

Etta has reached California! Read about her adventure with Sandie on her blog

More snow!

I love snow!

News from Treasure Meerkat

Treasure has celebrated Hanukkah with Hadass in Jerusalem, read all about it on her blog

Treasure (and Etta too) are collecting so many lovely souvenirs, I can't wait to see the final giveaway!

World Tour Meerkats on Facebook ... are you a fan?

snow!

from my bedroom window this morning :-)



I love snow!

Christmas lights...

We always *intend* to put them away tidily. This was halfway through the untangling process on the first set of three :-(

Are you *good*? Do your lights come out of storage ready to go?

Closing down sale at CrazyDaisiesDesigns

We'll be sorry to see Jessica close her shop CrazyDaisiesDesigns but now is the time to grab a bargain!

Jessica makes beautiful patchwork totes of various sizes, bright and colourful to cheer up a winter's day.




She also has some cute fabric brooches!

Charity Auctions Sue Ryder

The winners of the Folksy Upcycle competition have been announced and t is now time to BID BID BID!

This is how Folksy described the competition: Upcycle Christmas is a competition for people to take second hand / charity stuff and make it into something ‘new’ and desirable to be sold at an online auction starting on the 7th December. All proceeds from the auction will go to Sue Ryder Care, the healthcare charity, our partners on the project.

Right now many of the auction lots are going for way way less than the charity shop could have sold the materials for (in my opinion).

Hopefully this is because people are hanging back to "snipe" at the last minute - but these auctions are for CHARITY, so please bid now, bid often, and push those prices up!

In case you're wondering about my motives, I didn't enter this time - but I am currently winning at least 6 of the auctions so have my fingers crossed I'll get outbid!

Sue Ryder Upcycle auctions

PUB CRAFTS TODAY!

You're all invited! Meet me (lucky people!) and pantsandpaper.folksy.com and AngieSutton.folksy.com and one more seller who didn't get into the poster: TwistedTrinkets

Folkestone

Perhaps not the best start to the day?



It was a *little* windy...



We saw what looked like a railway station.



It was a funicular to take folks to the level of the town...but it was shut.



So we walked by the sea...



...and admired the beach huts. These turned out to be beach huts in disguise - when the council demolished the "crazy golf", an enterprising artist used the "course" to clad some huts!



We had to walk up an outrageous number of steps to the town. Looking back down, we felt sure we could see pacman...

Rooftops

There are many beautiful buildings in my part of Kent - I showed you some a while back.

Recently though I've found I'm drawn by rooflines...



Why?



Why so many with this same shape?



Any ideas?



I find the line strangely feminine.

Mother-of-the-band

Yes, you read it correctly. It's similar to mother-of-the-bride, but more musical. Strictly speaking I'm only mother to half the band though - Soccer96 is my son's latest claim to fame.

I apologise for the quality of my pics - but it was a great evening, thanks Dan and Max!

Meerkat Thanksgiving!

Oh I was so touched to read about Etta's New Jersey family Thanksgiving - bet you will be too!

Read the story here and of course follow the meerkats on their facebook page.

Trouble is, the photos made me VERY hungry!

Etta was staying with Jessica of CrazyDaisiesDesigns, her shop is full of beautifully sewn quilted lovelies!

Going to hear my son's band tonight!

woohoo! Details here

My son is half of Soccer96 *is proud*

Meerkat Treasure is in Israel

Treasure can't seem to leave Israel, there is so much to learn! Metal-smithing with Arosha, a trip to the Sea of Galilee and now a family Shabat celebration with Inbal.

I won't spoil your fun - go straight to Inbal's blog!

Muppets or Wayne's World?

Which version do you prefer?



It's the Waynes's World version for me - reminds me of watching the film with my kids, all "head banging" on the sofa together!

$2 earrings - really?

May I introduce my friend @5erg?

I suspect she's badly in need of some marketing advice as she has recently opened a new shop called 2 dollar earrings.

Can you guess what she sells?



Can you guess how much they are?



Can you spot the catch? NO, you can't, can you - because there isn't one.

I have already bought my first pair - indeed, they took me on a trip to London to meet @raisinlike

This pair!

I really like this pair too



- I already bought a matching bracelet from 5erg's other shop a while back, and these will go so beautifully.



Because 5erg is my friend, it maybe wouldn't be fair for me to say QUICK! Go take advantage of her outrageously cheap prices before she comes to her senses! 2 Dollar Earrings!

Where are those meerkats?

Etta is about to experience thanksgiving in New Jersey - check out CrazyDaisiesDesigns blog

and Treasure is in Israel - on a trip to the Sea of Galilee!

follow the meerkats on facebook!

it's in the bag!

I entered a giveaway on HautTotes facebook - Melissa of HautTotes.etsy.com invited participants to choose a bag for a friend, and say why. I entered twice!

One entry was for my daughter Sarah and the second entry was for Lenny, my son's girlfriend...and we were so thrilled to hear that Lenny's name had been picked!



Lenny chose this gorgeous cowgirl bag, she said "The fabric is lovely, cowgirls and pinups is a winning combo in my eyes! Fun and just the right amount of rockabilly, yay!" (Looks like the meerkat likes it too!)

I couldn't leave my poor daughter bagless - so she's getting her choice too.



The bags are beautifully made, really strongly constructed, nice and roomy, and so so pretty. I didn't know there were so many fabulous fabrics out there!

Check them out in HautTotes and if you're like me, keep a close eye on Melissa's facebook page and Twitter

It's London, baby!

While my meerkat was on its way to meet Arosha in Israel, my friend Sharona was flying in the opposite direction to meet me! Well, not *just* to meet me, there was shopping involved - read more in Sharona's blog.

Most importantly - would meerkat and flutterbutt get along ok?



So well colour-coordinated, aren't we?



There were cakes - oh my, the cakes were GOOD!



and there was a bar...



and we can now conclusively say YES, flutterbutts and meerkats can be best of friends!

It was so nice to meet my virtual friend - next year in Jerusalem?

Check out Sharona's blog about this same day!

I won a prize!

I've been meaning to show you my prize for a while, but life (and those blessed meerkats) keep getting in the way.

I entered a giveaway on Veryan's blog Beadypool and had to make a decision...necklace or bracelet and earrings? Teal or purple?

I'm not good at decisions, but finally decided on the braclet/earring combo and asked Veryan to choose the colour for me.



My prize came beautifully packaged as you can see, and inside was ...



not just a bracelet and earring set in fabulous petrol-purple but an extra pair of earrings in the teal, which I am giving to my daughter. The purple is stunning, my photo doesn't do them justice. The colours change as they catch the light - so I spend my time waggling my wrist around!

If you also find Veryan's work irresistable, why not check out her shop, Beadypool?

Meerkat World Tour Update!

Little Etta has arrived in North Carolina!

Read all about the latest adventure in MidnightCoiler's blog and don't forget to become a fan of the Meerkats Facebook page.

Newspaper coverage part 2

click pic to enlarge

World Tour Meerkat meets Arosha!

Little Treasure in his journey to manhood

Time has come for little Treasure to leave his home-land, his safe haven under mom's guidance and support, and start his journey of self-exploration and growth on his way to become a self-assured and independent man.

And what better place to start than in Arosha's studio and home on the beautiful Carmel mountain in Haifa, Israel?

The guys introduced each other, and Treasure immediately adapted to the warm November sun, and together with Arosha spent his first afternoon lazing around, tanning and watching the view – While Arosha is gazing at the beach, little Treasure is trying to figure out what is going on



Things became even more intimate as Treasure wanted to get a better view of the passer-bys… (should we mention the girls in bikinis?)



After a Falafel lunch break (Treasure found the balls to be a little too big for his size, and didn't care much for all the tahini that kept dripping), they went on to the main purpose of the visit - which was to teach Treasure a craft that he could develop into a profession.

Arosha was trying to explain his metal-working techniques:



But Treasure lost his patience too soon, and started playing around with AroshaTwists plastic cuff bracelets:




After an evening at the pub (pictures have been censored due to the misbehavior of both guys after their third beer), Arosha and Treasure bid farewell, and promised to meet again in a few years.

With much sadness, Treasure packed his stuff (which now includes an acorn from his previous visit and a plastic black and gold brooch which Arosha has given him with love), and left for his next visit on his world tour.



We'll miss you, little guy! Arrivederci!

I'm sure that's whetted your appetite for Arosha's work:
Arosha.etsy.com
AroshaTwists.etsy.com
Sleeks.etsy.com
Arosha on twitter
and his spanking new Facebook fanpage

and of course, last but not least, the world tour facebook page.