What to give your iPod for Christmas

Here's a small selection of iPod cases. You could give one of these to your iPod for Christmas, (i.e. to yourself), or if you're feeling particularly kind, you could even give one to a friend of family member.

This case is by Jonathan Adler and is available from supernice for £30.

Midnight Peacocks iPod Cover, available at The Lighthouse for £12.00.


Leaf iPod Case by feltgiraffe at Folksy £4.50

Berlin iSockit by blytheking at Etsy $10.00

Deluxe iSockit by blytheking at Etsy $20.00 (This is my absolute favourite. I love it! blytheking sells a variety of iPod cases similar to the two above, click here to check them out.)


Netanya Luxe Collection iPod case by thejunebride at Etsy $20.00 (Free/discount shipping atm!)

Mini Gadget Zippered Pouch by blissful at Etsy $18.00

I could go on, so many lovely little pouches available. I definitely recommend checking out the Etsy & Folksy sellers above, they have a variety of different shapes and patterns for Sale.

Word of the Day: 'anguine'

Photo by Dragonwoman

anguine adjective

1. Pertaining to snakes or serpents; snakelike. (Source: Wiktionary.org)
   

Word of the Day: 'futile'

Photo by dæxus

futile adjective

1. Incapable of producing results; useless; not successful; not worth attempting. (Source: Wiktionary.org)

Tesco and Cath Kidston

You are probably well aware of this, but just in case, like me, you don't shop at Tescos here is the low down.

Tesco has been working with Designer Cath Kidston to create a range of re-usable grocery bags. At a cost of £3.50 each these are well worth collecting. Most people have probably been sensible enough to get each new design as it is released. Sadly, I missed out, and have only just realised that I would quite like to own them all (Imagine how fun it would be to do a big shop at the supermarket, and then pack it all into these beautifully coordinating bags!) This realisation was triggered by the release of the 'christmas themed' final Cath Kidston bag.


A selection of the bags are available on ebay at inflated prices, but the Christmas design, and possibly some others are available at larger Tesco stores now.

£0.50 from each bag will be donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care. The bags are produced from nine recycled plastic bottles each. The recycling process is explained on Tesco's website as such:

• Plastic bottles are collected and cleaned
• Bottles are crushed into pure clean flakes
• Flakes are reprocesed
• Yarn from reprocessed plastic is produced in the Cath Kidston design
• Fabric is stitched into the bags
• The bags are transported to Tesco supermarkets

I will definitely be getting one of these bags! The Christmas themed bag would make a really great alternative to a stocking, or hamper, or could even be used instead of wrapping paper.

Word of the Day: 'synchronize'

Photo by ingirgiro

synchronize verb

1. To make two or more events happen at exactly the same time, or at the same rate. (Source: Wiktionary.org)
   

Christmas Card List

The Christmas Card List - a long list of people, who you hardly ever have any actual contact with, but whom feel obliged to send a Christmas Card to. Do you have such a list?

My parents have one, in fact most people of my parent's generation seem to have one. I have memories of my Mother writing out what seemed like hundreds of cards. More recently we had a family newsletter, which gets sent out to all contacts on said list. I rallied for a spoof newsletter, declaring that my brother had become a ballet dancer, and the rest of the family had joined a commune and now worshipped garden gnomes. Anyhow, I digress.

I currently do not have such a list of my own. It may be a requirement to have one if you wish to qualify as an officially responsible adult. Or perhaps I will wake on my 40th birthday (in 15 years time) and realize that a list is now in order. Or perhaps it's a sign of the ages (cliche alert!) that we no longer have actual lists, but rely on our email address books to contact people.

Last year I did design a little digital Christmas card, which I thought was great, but no one else seemed particularly impressed with. Meet Christopher, the Christmas Robot. It doesn't show up here, but his antennae, eyes, the stars and the writing flash. What's not to love.

This year I'm planning to design another (more tasteful) e-card, but am also hoping to send out some 'proper' cards. And I just realized I better do it soon! ( I am finally coming around to the actual point of this post...)

Here is a small round-up of some of my favourite Christmas Cards available out there:

Jo Jo The Dove, details from an original French political poster from the 50s.
Available at the here V&A Shop, £6.50 for a Pack of ten. (Image via vandashop.com)

Christmas Card (Tree) by The Home Press at Folksy. £3.00 (they have a really great range, different designs, printed with hand carved Japanese plywood, which sounds really fancy and fun)


Reindeer Christmas Card by Tikki Tembo at Folksy. £1.50

Screenprinted Christmas Cards by paperleaf at Folksy £4.50 for pack of 5


Hawaiian Christmas Card by twoguitars at Etsy $3.00 (Many other lovely designs available)


Season Greetings Pod Cards by thecraftpantry at etsy $ 8.00 for eight.

All images via the respective sellers.

Folksy Angels

The folks over at Folksy are hosting a lovely seasonal competition at the moment, called Folksy Angels. The brief is to create handmade Christmas Decorations using recycled materials. For more information about the competition, prizes and rules visit the Folksy Angels Flickr Group. You still have until the 30th November to enter, so get crafting!

After trying to crochet plastic bags into ornate patterns for a while, I decided to run with these heart ornaments for my entry.

The paper is from old damaged children's encyclopedias. The yarn is from an old wool acrylic mix sweater, which I (painstakingly) unraveled. I really enjoyed working with the paper from the encyclopedias, the font is beautiful, and the age shows nicely. It's quite heavy paper, and by combining several layers the ornaments became sturdy and hang nicely. I tried to include topical illustrations and text in these ornaments (it's mainly about trees).

The Sweater

Halfway through unravelling.

After separating the various parts of the jumper, I unravelled it all, and then separated the white and red yarns. (This took the longest, and although I tried to convince my boyfriend it was really fun, strangely, he didn't take to it ).

Visit the Flickr group here to see other entries, there are some really great ideas floating around. Once you get in the mindset of thinking about recycling, you start to see possibilities everywhere.

You can vote for the winner of the competition between 1st and 3rd December, so make you visit the Folksy blog then to cast your vote.

When I win the Lottery... Polar Bear Bookshelf

This cheerful and utilitarian chap is yours for only £2128.00 from nest.co.uk. As a child I always wanted a pet woolly mammoth, or a polar bear, so I would really like this book shelf! It's a whopping 1.5m high and 2.06m long, so Joe (that's his name) would be like an additional member of the family. Isn't the design enticing? I want to stack my books and DVDs on there! Joe is designed by iBride (they have a beautiful website, well worth a visit).


If Joe's price tag is a little out of your price bracket, then fear not, iBride offer some beautiful designs for the smaller budget. These trays are stunning, and available in a wide variety of colours and motifs. (All available at Nest.co.uk)

ibride Ambroise The Courtier Serving Tray £80
ibride Stag Serving Tray £35.00

iBride Bear Serving Tray £35
(Look it's Joe again! and he brought you some flowers. How could you resist!)

Images via nest.co.uk

Wor d of the Day: 'quaquaversal'

Photo by cameraslayer

quaquaversal adjective

1. Going off in all directions at once. (Source: Wiktionary.org)
   

Word of the Day: 'southpaw'

Photo by carlo th btard

southpaw noun

1. A left-handed person, especially in sports. (Source: Wiktionary.org)

(Babe Ruth)

Doily o'clock

One thing I have particularly struggled to source is a wall clock. So I was extra pleased to come across these beautiful clocks by Brenda Rose. (they were blogged somewhere, but sadly I can't remember where. Thanks anyway!) Click here to visit her Etsy shop.

Images via www.andfurthermore.etsy.com