First Craft Against Cancer Event Organized!

I absolutely love the weird and the unusual, especially in relation to classes. (Keep reading for why this man is wearing this mask.) Since coming to London, I’ve taken what I thought were the most unusual classes I could find: tiara making, children’s illustration, mosaics, feather headpiece class, palm reading, off the body chakra healing, animal healing, etc.
Thus, when I learned that the first event where profits would be donated to the Extremely Crafty Craft Against Cancer campaign for the Royal Marsden was going to be from a “Make Your Own Gent's Cane or Personalise a Parasol” class at The Making Space in London, I was overjoyed. Thank you very much Simon for the generous offer. I absolutely love that people will be crafting canes and parasols for charity.
I never dreamed of making such items, but why not? They look gorgeous. I think more ladies (and men) should personalize their own parasol and twirl them while they walk through the daffodils in the park. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people actually did that nowadays? What a treat it would be to see.
Simon has the cool job of being an art director on films and TV projects. He trained at RADA and also has held other classes in London such as mask making. How cool. Even if you’re not in London, check out his site and if you’re in London on Thursday 16th July from 6:30-9:30pm, how about joining in the fun at The Making Space, Gales Gardens, behind Bethnal Green Tube Space, London.

London's Naked Bike Ride & More Glitter Butterflies

(C) 2009 Peter Marshall

I've recently taken up cycling, but I can assure you my legs are not strong enough to have cycled in Saturday's Annual Naked Bike Ride through London. There were about 1,200 cyclists who participated in protest of emissions on the environment. At least, that's what some said. I think a lot just wanted to get their kit off.

These photographs are from Peter Marshall's cool site. Check it out here for more great photos.

Now onto crafts. I know I said last week I would show you what I had made with my Martha Stewart glitter butterflies, but I'm afraid I'm going to keep you guessing a little longer. I went wild this weekend and made a whole bunch more new butterflies and started finishing off some of the earlier ones. I won't reveal yet what I'm doing because I want to make sure they look good in an unusual sort of way, not just unusual in an unusual sort of way.

So if you had a naked bike ride in your town, would you cycle naked? I won't ask if you think I would.

Jet Surprize!

I was madly glittering away at my work table near the front window when I heard a thunderous rumbling in the air. I’m on the flight path to Heathrow, so my first thought was a plane was coming down.

My glue stick fell.

The windows started rattling.

Trembling hands knocked over glitter.

Pedestrians on the sidewalk pointed toward the sky.

ROAARRR!!!!!

Three red arrow jets zoomed past my window in formation.
Now I remember – the guards were practicing outside Buckingham Palace two weeks ago.
It’s the Queen’s official birthday!!!! Happy Birthday Your Majesty!
So where’s my invite? Am I the only one who didn't receive her invite yet in the post?

Giveaway, Cheese Rolling, & Crafts!

Thank you Shirley, Merry, Gvendalen, June, Dawny, Julie, Bev & RockerJewlz for adding the Extremely Crafty button to your site.

If you would like a chance to WIN the “How to Sell Greeting Cards 101” 28 page pdf e-book (as per below post), copy and paste the Extremely Crafty button to your site and le me know you’ve done so via a post. Winner to be announced next Sunday!

As for recent crazy British events, the annual Cheese Rolling event happened once again at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, England.

Image courtesy of Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Contestants chase a Double Gloucester Cheese down a steep incline of Cooper's Hill . Thousands gather to watch, a few chasers usually end up in hospital and the winner - well, he walks away with the cheese.

Would even Wallace of Wallace and Gromit throw themselves down a hill for cheese? This tradition dates back hundreds of years and has seen countless of broekn bones. Does anyone out there know the significance of chasing cheese?

As for crafts, I was busy painting Babushkas this weekend. Is anyone else out there Babushka mad?

Crystal Mouse

Late one evening when the moon was dancing high above with the stars and the crickets were just beginning to chirp, I spotted this rhinestone creature standing guard just inside the door of a ribbon shop near Sloane Square. He's delightful, but who the heck would spend time making a crystal mouse?

Buses All Come at Once

You can wait for a bus all day and then they all come at once.

This was yesterday on Oxford Street. There's a credit crunch, but there were still a million people out shopping. I went in Primark for the very first time. For those of you who have never heard of it, you can buy clothes for a few dollars each. There were hoardes of people pushing, shoving, and grabbing things off the shelves. It was like the day after Thanksgiving sales in the States. People campaign over here against child labour, but who do they think is making all of these $1 fancy knickers?

While we're on the subject of clothing, I went to the Czars exhibit at the V&A museum today and saw the costumes of the Russian kings, queens, and courtiers. The gold and silver embroidery was fantastic. The clothes were so lavish. I would love to have a jacket like the one below, wouldn't you?

Valentine's Day Lights up the Eye

Happy Valentine's from London

This Valentine's light display is in frontof the London Eye. The blue lights in the background are fairy lights in the trees. Happy Valentine's Day!

p.s. - one of my friends gave me a handmade Valentine's bear today. I'll have a photo and instructions tomorrow (early for next year). xo

Rainbows over the City

Although there are a lot of grumblings in the city what with slashed bonuses, the recession, etc. there's still always a rainbow in the sky.

More Snowy London

Took this snap of Queen Victoria outside St. Paul's. She looks spooky with those glasses on, doesn't she? As for my brand new old sewing maching. I have already managed to bugger up the zig zag stitch by trying to use metallic embroidery thread. I got so frustrated, I gave up with the fancy thread and used plain black. It seems to have made the stitching go out of whack for some reason, so must endeavour to sort this out tomorrow.

Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum in London is off the South Ken museum beat, but well worth traveling south of the river. Check out the website to see what exhibitions are on. I’ve seen an exhibit about Children during WW2 and another on Animals in War. This photo was taken at that. If you look real close, there’s a dog (not real of course) at the bottom of the parachute. Dogs used to be dropped over enemy lines to take messages and help the soldiers. There was also a James Bond spy exhibit on one time which showed all the workings of MI-5. Beware – if you take a husband, boyfriend, son, or dad, you might not be able to get them out of there for a long, long time. The cafeteria was quite good – even their fish and chips which is unusual for museums. The shop is lovely – packed with old fashioned replica toys and a vast amount of interesting history books. They often publish their own book with each exhibit. I’ve bought both the animals and children ones and have loved them. Highly recommended.

Neal's Yard Street Art

Art in the most unexpected places. Someone stuck fridge word magnets to the side of a building in Neal’s Yard. Only a few people had started added poetry with the words. I remember being in New York years ago and seeing the work of mosaic man up the lamp and street posts - gorgeous mosaics with colorful cracked pottery and the Shadow man, another NY artist who used to spray the shadowy outlines of people on random walls. Some might say it is graffiti, but I think it's an inventive form of expression and makes people think twice. Is there any unusual street art where you live?