freecycle

A few months ago, I joined a yahoo group called Greenock Freecycle where you can 'recycle' unwanted items instead of throwing them away and no money is exchanged.
I usually receive around 20 emails a day of people selling garden gnomes or electrical cables, but last week I came across an advert for an electrical typrewriter. I emailed back straight away and an hour later I was at a lovely woman called Christine's house collecting my new toy.





I was surprised to find that it was in perfect working order and that there was still some ink left.
I decided to use it to write a long-overdue letter to Katie Haegele who sent me some of her found poems a while back. When I was taking the second photo the flash was far too bright. I put my finger over the flash to dull it down a bit and I quite like the way this looks.

stylophone

I was in Glasgow last week and had some time to waste before I went to meet someone. I took a wander to Relics and got lost in there for over an hour. I found this amazing wee stylophone for £4 and was dying to get home to have a go. When I opened the box there was a piece of paper inside with a youtube link written on it.
This is what I found:



The strange this is, this guy lives in Leeds...

va-va-vintage! indie market

I think this is my favourite craft mafia poster so far.

pixel heart notebook

I love to write and to draw when i get bored on the train and was looking for a new diary today.
I came across a blogger/etsy seller/ crafter on a forum a while ago who goes by the name Lertsis. She makes all of these really nice journals and so I decided to make my own.
I did a test run before I used any expensive materials. Here's my first attempt:

I used strong brown wrapping paper for the cover,



white cartridge paper for the insides,



and a layer of grease proof paper between the two to mask the underside of the pink stitching.
I know 'grease proof paper' doesn't sound so nice but it does the trick!

songs for cake

From today, the new Firebrand Boy release is available for free download over at 8bitpeoples!

So what are you waiting for?!

boo-hoo etc.

I have my last ever exam on Wednesday and studying is proving to be a real downer. That and the fact that I've drank my way through all the green tea in the house. Ho hum.
But! A week today is Made in the Shade, a craft market being held in The Lighthouse which will be home to some of the best crafters around for a whole day. I'm pretty excited. I can't wait to start making things again.

Mark E Smith: Squirrel Murderer.

I don't read NME, but I found this link in the blog of a Fall fanatic who is a good friend of mine.

The RSPCA and PETA were up in arms when Mark E Smith was quoted as saying he would happily "set about an endangered red squirrel with a set of professional hedge-clippers... Squirrels mean nothing to me. I killed a couple last weekend actually. They were eating my garden fence.
He also laughed because his dad runs over seagulls. Did they completely miss the story on the news a few weeks back about the people in Wales capturing grey squirrels and shooting them in the face? Combined with their accusation that mark e smith has an inferiority complex shows just how wrong they've got it.

Read the article here.