Oh so quiet...

So I had great plans for posting something absolutely fascinating this week to compensate for my terrible lack of blogging of late, but alas I have succumbed to an absolutely miserable sinus infection that's being doing the rounds here in the south and am completely incapacitated for the foreseeable future :(  I've been in bed feeling horrible for the last four days now, dosing myself with refined carbohydrates and watching shamefully bad Disney movies from the nineties in an attempt to make myself feel better ASAP before I run out of holidays to actually have some fun with (I'm on two weeks holidays from work, woo!) Even though I feel like someone's beaten me round the sinuses with a sledgehammer I can't get over the incessant urge to get on with all the plans I had for my time off, so I'm probably working way harder than I should.  I'm just glad I got on with one or two things before I got all manky and sick. My to do list for the next two weeks looks something like this;

* Organize my craft space
* Get lots of tags and boxes made for my shop
* Figure out how to make decoupage brooches
* Spend a few days traveling the ring of Kerry with my boyfriend and visit my parents for a night or two on route
* Get my Etsy shop up and running, including taking lots of product pictures and figuring out postage  rates
* Get the Little Ruby Robin Facebook page up and running
* Finish a dress I cut out and left to gather dust months ago
* Write up a tutorial on altering thrifted dresses for the blog
* Do a decoupage brooch tutorial for the blog
* Visit friends in Wexford
* Make lots of stuff and then sell it all at The Fair Alternative on Saturday(I had a really good day there last week, so fingers crossed that it wasn't just beginners luck)

After a week of brutal decluttering and flogging of un-needed craft supplies at the flea-market it feels so good to have my craft space in a half-way civilized state. I got myself a little table and stool for my overlocker which has made a crazy difference to my peace of mind when I'm working. I absolutely hate working in a messy or disorganized space. Now my space is all ready to go I'm itching to get on with some  sewing so I am going to do my best to get the tutorials up for you all as soon as I'm feeling better.

After coming across this amazing Etsy shop and having a snoop around all her amazing designs, I really want to recreate this lovely little number for myself, only in red..

The one benefit to being housebound for the last few days has been that I have made lots of lovely little trinkets just in time for the Fair Alternative tomorrow, including lots of brand new designs! Here's a little sneak peak..

Decoupage brooches, this is my favourite, I'm obsessed with Blue-Tits, they're just so cute.

My new range of 'Key to my heart' pendants, featuring patina bird charms, Czech glass sparkly bits and tonnes of vintage charm...

And the piece I am most excited about by far, my new 'Time for Tea' rings, featuring a teeny tiny cup of tea (with lemon like your grandma has it) served in the most delicate floral bone china and two delectable little chocolate chip cookies, hand sculpted my moi! I spent all day yesterday fiddling about with fimo and glue and my oven which only has two settings (off' and way too hot) until I got these guys bang on. It took a while to figure out colouring the fimo and how to not burn the crap out of it in the oven but it was so worth the heartache in the end, they're so sweet aren't they!?

 

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 Miniature cups of tea side, my most exciting little bit of news is that we've decided to expand the fluffy portion of the family and fulfill our long term ambition of getting a miniature Dachshund :) 

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My boyfriend's been desperate to get a dog for ages even though I've been steadfast against it because of all the extra responsibility it would inevitably lead too but seeing as we have a lovely flat and garden, great neighbours and it would make him so happy there's not much to argue against it anymore. Not sure what the cats are going to think about it, but I'm sure a puppy will make great Bengal fodder for Sputnik upstairs!

I've had a soft spot for Dachshunds for years so it seemed like the perfect compromise as they are so teeny tiny (the Kaninchen type, which we want, stand a piddly 5-7 inches tall, seriously), cuddly and easy to transport on a bicycle. Seeing as they generally like snuggling under the blankets, they're also pretty much as close to a cat as a dog can get!

We want a black and tan long-haired female but it's seems to to be really hard to find one in Ireland, they're not a very popular dog here. I hope we find one soon, I'm not sure how much more anticipation P. can handle. I've been in touch with all the clubs and big breeders but haven't heard of any pups going any time soon. I guess we'll just have to be patient.

 In the mean time I've been shamelessly researching adorable little woolly jumpers to dress her up in, P. even wants to knit her little tiny scarves for cycling around town in the bicycle basket :D The pattern for this specially designed extra long dachshund jumper is available from Lenas Legacy HandKnits on Etsy.

That's it from me for now, I have made a promise to myself, that if I get nothing else done in the next week or two I will finally get myEtsy shop up and running, even if I only list one thing, so I'll keep ye posted on any updates. Hope you guys are having a satisfyingly productive week!