Alpacas and The Doctor

My right index finger hurts.  I'm not sure why other than I've been pushing my needle in and out of some felt.  I finally got around to making some alpacas.  Of course first of all I had to design a pattern, but I had met these gorgeous creatures not so long ago at Amazing Graze Alpacas in Stirling, so I had a good starting place.  

Whilst I was there I bought some roving.

The roving on the left is called Pralines and Cream, and the one of the right is blue/purple/green.  I wasn't ready to go straight into a punk version, so first I used some tan felt and the darker, nutty brown roving and voila, my first alpaca which I am calling Pralines.

Then, as alpacas are communal creatures (just wondering if the plural is alpaca or alpacas?) - (ha, just googled it and the plural can be either!), I thought Pralines needed a buddy.  So I made Cream.

I even tried to do a division on the feet to show how they have two toes on each foot. Here is Cream in a close up.  The eyelashes are killer!

So because alpacas are very affectionate, with each other at least, here they are kissing.  

I hope you like my babies.  They will be available for sale, if you are interested just send me a message.

Finally, The Day of the Doctor!  I enjoyed it.  I liked when they were comparing the size of their sonic screwdrivers, and I loved John Hurt.  I also liked that the marriage of David Tennant's Doctor to Elizabeth I, and his subsequent running off before the honeymoon, explains why she was setting the guard on him in the episode "The Shakespeare Code".  I thought it was very clever the way they tied multiple threads together.  However, I did think it a shame that Billie Piper didn't interact with David Tennant as they have always had such good chemistry on screen.

What did Pete think?  He thought Tom Baker's appearance was the best thing about the show, but then he doesn't appreciate anyone else as the Doctor!

Anyway, enough of this nerdy talk.

We had our first snow yesterday, I can still see a little that remains on  the grass.  It was only a smattering, barely covering the ground, but of course it presages the winter weather to come.  At least it has warmed up a bit, it was minus 10 yesterday.  Ok my lovelies, take care.

Have a happy day!

Scene staging at home and craft fairs

There is a lovely shop in Madoc called Country Treasures.  At the beginning of the summer I bought a wooden wheelbarrow that Pat Shannon of Red Door Antiques and More had sourced (check out her page on facebook).  I had to have it.  Pete was very dubious, but once it was laden with plants even he admitted it looks great. 



 

 

 

I'm faced with the prospect of moving it from this space to about 8ft to the left.  Pete is ordering some gravel which we need to top up the driveway, and the spot that the wheelbarrow occupies at the bottom of the drive is the most logical space to have the gravel unloaded. 

 

Either side of the path to the house are two flowerbeds crammed with Jurassic sized hostas and day lillies.  Actually I should say there were two, the one closest to the house has been cleared, covered with weed suppressant and just needs gravel to finish it off.  Whilst it looked wonderful the flowers really took up too much of the walking space, so much so that you could barely see the paving slabs, and as I am capable of falling over an ant it wasn't terribly practical.  We have some low profile solar lights to bed into the gravel, and our wooden bench and two cast iron urns filled with begonias will then sit on the gravel.  Practical and pretty.  I'll show you a picture once its finished.

 

I bought another of Pat's finds the other day.  It is this cute little stool.

 

 
At 5'9" I don't need it to access the highest of high cupboards in the kitchen.  No, I think this stool is going to be absolutely perfect for staging on my Hetty Jean craft fair table.
 

 
T-Rex likes it, actually I think he's laughing!
 
Funnily enough when I got home I glanced at the collage of family pictures on the wall, and I was sitting on its twin (well not really, but it is similar).  My older sister Sarah is in the middle, and the blonde blur on the left is my younger sister Jane, who is still a person of perpetual motion. 
 

 

 
I have been doing some more stitching.  My softies are all hand sewn, and in the majority of cases I create my own pattern.  This time I wanted to make a "big" cat (all of 10 inches from nose to tail).  Pete thought it was a lion, but I had a different cat in mind.
 

 

 

 
So, I needle felted different colours of felt onto the blank canvas.  Then I worked on his face using embroidery floss to create his eyes and nose.  Then the stripes were embroidered on, and he went from the picture above to the gorgeous little guy below.   It took a lot of work but I'm really happy with the end result.

I love, love, love tigers.  I think they are the most superb creatures.  I took this little fella outside so he could lurk around in the jungle.

 

 

 
Bea was not prepared to let me outside on my own, but when I went to take her photo she refused to look at the camera.

 

 I must share Bea's happy dance with you.  So funny.

 

 

 
Have a happy day!