Shakespeare with a 90's twist

Our first trip of the year to Shakespeare's Globe was to watch my favourite play, King Lear. I studied it for my English Literature ‘A’ Level, and have seen as many versions of it as I’ve possibly been able. The last version we saw was while we were in Jersey last year, where we were embraced by an actual storm halfway through the performance.

This version is The Globe’s touring play - and the main reason I wanted to see it was because Lear is being played by none other than Joseph Marcell!

You might not recognise the name, but I kid you not – King Lear was played by GEOFFREY from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! Can you believe it!?

the official assigning of flower fairies

When I was about 5 years old my family "assigned" me one of Cicily Mary Barker's Flower Fairies. All children born into the family are given the sets of Flower Fairies books, so this was quite normal to my mind, and just a part of everyones' childhood.

It soon became evident which Flower Fairy each of the children would be - though this was somewhat based on looks rather than preference of flowers or even seasons. I was given the blackberry fairy, as she had a chubby-cheeked face and wild mass of curly hair, just like I did at that age. There are three of us in the family very similar in age, and after I was given blackberry, Clare was given celandine and James was given acorn.

not exactly the nicest choice of fairy for a 5 year old...

I remember after having had "my" Flower Fairy for a little while I was given another one by my mum - the pink clover fairy. I don't think it was ever decided which of the two I would have, so for my entire life I've had two, and for every birthday and Christmas since I have received at least one gift relating to either of those two fairies. I have quite the collection, as you can imagine.

So apparently, it's just my family who do this (?) - and I kinda always just assumed that everyone did it, and that everyone knew who "their" fairy was, but I have recently discovered, much to my upset, that this is not the case.

Upon asking my boyfriend which fairy he had as a child, the look of befuddlement was enough to make me realise this was not a thing that families did, it was just a thing that my family did. I wouldn't say I was crushed, but I couldn't hide my obvious upset regarding this revelation, and I'm not even sure why I was so a) surprised or b) upset by it.

So this isn't something everyone does - so what? Surely that makes it all the more special because we do it - like a family tradition. In a way that makes it more special and I'm glad I was born into the kind of family who does do stuff like that. I can't wait for more children to be born into the family and to help assign them their own Flower Fairies, and maybe if they're lucky they can even help choose their own.

Alas, I've not seen any pink clovers yet this year, but I'm keeping my eye out for them!

In the meantime there are plenty of other pretty clover goodies to look at...

♥ pink clovers ♥

Bit of a long shot, but is this something any of your families did?

Do any of you have a Flower Fairy who you think of as "yours"?

La Roux vs Count Duckula

I went through a bit of a phase, after La Roux's debut album first came out, of listening to this song on repeat over and over, maybe a dozen times a day. It was a little strange, but when I hear a new song I like I just want to listen to it all the time for a while... nothing odd about that...

It recently came up on shuffle, and brought back a bunch of memories - not memories from 2009 when I was listening to it intently - but of something rather more bizarre.

In the middle of the song (at 2.20ish) there is a creepy man spoken word bit which when I hear just makes me think of this...

I mean, the voice is waaay less creepy and in no way resembles the La Roux creepy man - but I just can't stop linking the two now every time I hear one or the other.

It's been rather nice to reminisce though - oh, Count Duckula how I've missed you!

must have Monday: raccoons

I really like raccoons.

They have ace little faces and awesome tails.

If I had seen raccoons snooping through my rubbish or stealing things from my garden, however, I probably wouldn't be so fond of them - but since the only time we see raccoons in the UK is at the zoo, I'm really rather keen on their cute bandit faces and striped tails... and just look at this pretty variety of raccoon-y interpretations:

1// t-shirt from Grey Cumulus
2// tiny polymer clay necklace from Ku Ki Shop
3// raccoon ring from Spot Light Jewelry
4// raccoon brooch from So Little Time Co.
5// wooden brooch from One Little Red Fox
6// raccoon print top from Republic
7// silver necklace from Lulu Bug Jewelry
8// sweater from Lacoste
9// striped t-shirt from Mis Nopales Art
10// pin badge from xo Azuree
11// chevron raccoon necklace from Periwinkle Nuthatch
12// raccoon girl pin from Murmur Fremo

And of course, who can forget the greatest raccoons of them all???

inside my music box

When I was 5 years old I was given a beautiful music box with a picture of Cicily Mary Barker's narcissus Flower Fairy on the lid. When you open it up there is a ballerina who dances round to music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake when you turn the key at the back.

The box has been in storage for about 10 years, but I finally got it back a couple of weeks ago. It's interesting and rather enlightening to see what kinds of things were deemed by me (between the ages of 5-18) special enough to make it into the music box.

Want to see the treasures it contained?

1// half sixpence friendship necklace from my best friend Violet (1995)
2// a tiny stitched owl I made when I was 7 (1989)
3// ladybird button from my dressing gown (1988)
4//crosses belonging to my mum, which I guess she gave to me at some point (unknown)
5// owl charm from my uncle Hector (1990)
6// an old necklace belonging to my mum which I adored when I was little (1989)
7// my first ever Sylvanian Families figure, her name is Melissa and she's a beaver (1988)
8// a bracelet given to me by my first serious boyfriend Matt (1998)
9// dog tags friendship necklace from Kesha, leaving present when I moved schools (1995)
10// I was obsessed with silver rings when I was in my first year of high school (1993/4)
11// ...and before that I was really into unusual brooches, this was from my daddy (1991)
12// a piece of rock from Chamonix in France (1996)
13// my cousin Clare and I used to collect pigs, I tried to collect the smallest ones (1991)
14// a piece of Tiger's Eye from my daddy (1993)
15// this necklace spells out 'dumb' - my friend Claire and I loved Dumb & Dumber (1995)
16// 18 key from my Godmother (2000)
17// black cat brooch from a friend of my dad's (1994)
18// butterfly hat pin from my Granny B (1989)
19// an old crazy 80's earring belonging to my mum, it's so sparkly (1988)
20// iridescent rock (I think it's peacock ore (chalcopyrite) from my daddy (unknown)
21// "blob ring" made by my daddy's friend Tanya (1990/1)
22// my brother William's wrist tag from the day he was born (1996)
23// the gold I found while panning for gold in Australia (1997)
24// silver Christening bracelet from my baptism (1982)
25// a charm I bought the first time I went to the US (1992)
26// feathers from the birds who lived in the flat next to ours when I was growing up (1988)
27// my favourite green hairclip (1988)
28// the first badge I made using a badge machine (the excitement!) (1987)
29// a necklace of my nickname during my first couple of years of high school (1996)

What an odd selection of "treasures"!

Did you have a "special things" box when you were younger?

Do you have one now? 

What's in yours?

saying goodbye to my biggest phobia

A bunch of things happened in various swimming pools, seas and other bodies of water when I was a child that meant that by the time I was about 11 or 12 I was terrified of water. Like properly scared of it, so much so that if I was forced to take a shower instead of a bath it would always end in tears. To normal people that might seem ludicrous, and yeah, that's what phobias are - they are irrational and this one caused me to feel irrationally unsafe in water.

You would kind of expect that since the names of phobias take the form of Greek words, that the fear of water would be called hydrophobia, but no, apparently that's what rabid animals suffer from, with the foaming at the mouth and everything. I don't get that, I just get panicky.

Fear of water is actually called 'aquaphobia'. It's a weird little mix of Latin and Greek, and I've never particularly liked it, it doesn't seem severe enough to describe the utter panic I feel when there's water on me and I have no control over it. It's hard to explain the feeling, but it's easy to convey exactly what I feel when I hear the word "aqua"...

...and I'm certainly not afraid of those charming Danish boys and Lene, the sweet singing Norwegian!

Anywho, so despite having never successfully learned to swim, having experienced panic attacks in the sea and crying fits in swimming pools -

- I just spent an hour in a swimming pool and nothing bad happened!

The last time I went in a pool was when I tried to get over my fear of water at university, and a friend immediately dunked my head in the water. Not cool. That put a quick end to my wanting to get over my fear, and yet again I left the pool a tearful mess. 

Tonight I ventured to my local pool with the encouragement of my lovely boy. Unlike almost everyone who I have ever confided in about this fear, he was completely understanding and kind about it, and even more helpful than that, he didn't tell me that I was stupid to be scared of water, like so many people have said in the past.

Even though I felt like an absolute idiot in the 3ft 6inch deep shallow end of the pool, he was completely patient and made me feel that I was doing superbly when I was able to glide just a few metres. Trust me, that was a big ask in itself. After that we held onto the edge of the pool and practised kicking our legs, before I tentatively let go of the edge (still in less than 4ft of water, mind you) and tried to use my arms in a way other than flailing about wildly, which is my normal water-based action.

It wasn't the most successful swimming trip ever, but at least I was able to get in the pool this time. I got splashed and didn't cry or scream or have a panic attack or anything. It doesn't seem like much, but for me this was huge.

Woo, go me! * proud face *

umbrella print dresses

When I was little I had the most amazing wardrobe - my mum was forever knitting me cardigans and purses, and my nana used to make me smocking dresses every year. It was pretty ace.

One of my favourite dresses was a gorgeous shade of jungle green with a cute collar and it was covered in tiny multicoloured umbrellas. I can't find a picture of me wearing it anywhere in my family albums, but I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it.

If you try searching for dresses with umbrellas on these days, you don't get a lot of choice. Here are the ones I found...

{peach dress} {red and white dress} {green and yellow dress*} {black and grey dress}

*I know this one doesn't actually have umbrellas on it, but it looks kinda like an umbrella and that counts, right?

The only other option when you search around for "umbrella dress" is this baby:

Fabulous as it is, it's not exactly practical for the mean streets of Walthamstow! 

What was your favourite item of clothing from childhood?

must have - nostalgic love: the spirograph

I've been meaning to get this bad boy out and play with it for ages, but I keep forgetting or being side-tracked by other pretties... and this week is no different. Instead of playing with it, I've been looking at pretty spirograph-inspired goodies...

1// Karlsson spirograph clock // Urban Outfitters
2// spirograph pitcher // Ninainvorm
3// string art // hownowdesign
4// spirograph necklace // miette
5// spirocycle cards // Nikki Cross Applesauce
6// spirograph necklace // Trincar Uvas
7// spirograph art // Lesley Halliwell
8// spirograph pendant // sushipot
9// spirograph and bunting plate // Ninainvorm

*oops, I forgot to number the spirograph tags from russianforest

Oh, the possibilities...!

And check this out for some inspiration... The Human Spirograph!

happy national stationery day!

There are few things I like more than stationery. That might sound ridiculous, but for as long as I can remember I have adored it. Every Saturday morning as a child I would get £1 in pocket money, and the first thing I would do was ask my mum to take me down to my favourite shop - it wasn't a sweet shop, or a toy shop, I called it "the office shop" and it was a stationers.

In those days £1 went a long way - I could buy a flip notepad, like the ones detectives had, for that £1. Or I could get a micro fine liner to do tiny drawings, or a pack of brightly coloured stickers. More often than not I would buy a notepad or a sketchpad - there was just something so beautiful about empty paper, it was clean and pure and wonderful. There got to a stage when my mum had to ban me from buying any more notepads until I had used some of the ones I had in a drawer in my room, but I could never bring myself to make the first mark - I didn't want to sully the perfect pages.

It's been a lifetime of stationery love, and yet this year was the first year I discovered National Stationery Day! I thought I would share with you some of my favourite arty stationery items. If I were to show you all of my favourite stationery items, we'd be here a very.long.time.

~favourite drawing paper~

Daler Rowney Fine Grain Heavyweight Paper

~favourite writing pens~

Uni-Ball Eye Rollerball Pen UB-157

~favourite drawing pens~

Sakura Pigma Micron Drawing Pen 01

~favourite drawing pencils~

STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph

~favourite colours~

Caran D'Ache Fancolor Water-soluble Pencils

What are some of your favourites?

Pokémon Battle Royale art show

I have never been to Minneapolis, and I don't know much about it. OK, I know nothing about it other than its location and that it's in Minnesota (I think).

But I wish I lived close-by so I could go visit this show which is currently on at the Light Grey Art Gallery. 151 artists have each chosen one of the original Pokémon to represent in their own style. I was a little too old to be into Pokémon when they first came out, but my brother Rich adored it/them, and still does.

How awesome would it be to be able to afford to fly us over to the US to go and see this show? He'd love it! Perhaps I'll just have to make do with getting him a print from the gallery shop instead.

If you're local, go check it out! For more information, see the exhibition details here.

Do you still like Pokémon? I hope I'm not the only one who feels too old for it...

happy birthday Seymour and Clarissa!

One of the first films I ever remember watching was Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors. It was released in 1986, and I can't have been older than about 7 or 8 when I first saw it. Ever since then there has been a little place in my heart for Rick Moranis, who plays Seymour in the film.

When I was a little older I started to prefer TV to film, and my favourite show was, quite obviously, Clarissa Explains It All. Oh, the joy that show brings - the most amazing outfits ever, the most amazing best-friend-with-a-ladder scenes, the best cartoon graphics, the most ridiculous storylines. I just loved everything about it, and with good reason. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like Clarissa.

The thing linking these absolute favourites of mine together is today's date: today is the birthday of Rick Moranis, Seymour in Little Shop and Melissa Joan Hart aka Clarissa Darling. What an awesome day it is too.

Let's have some treasuries to celebrate:

~Little Shop of Horrors~

~Clarissa Explains It All~

must have Monday: shades of grey and ambiguity

When I was 17, my mum was invited to a teacher-parent meeting by my 'A' level Psychology teacher, in which she was told that they were worried about me being "too full of extremes". For every essay I had written in class I had achieved a very good grade, but apparently my arguments were too one-sided.

To put it more tactfully, I believe they had suggested that I "had very little grey" in my personality - I was either black or white in my opinions and never quite embraced the middle ground.

I always thought that my strong opinions showed strength of character, personality, beliefs etc. but hey ho. I'm slightly better nowadays, and even when there is an obvious correct side of the argument, I do at least try to see it from the other point of view.

I have recently taken the accusation that I lack grey, and I have defied it!

I'm a new grey convert, although admittedly that is only aesthetically rather than in my opinions, but at least it's something, right?

// desk organiser by KarolinFelixDream // heart cardigan from Dotty P //

// corduroy slippers by Molipop // carrier pigeon by what. no mints? //

// raccoon cardigan from Urban Outfitters // peacock tights from ModCloth //

// kitty cat pillow by Regan's Brain // circle rug from Anthropologie //

 

// embroidered brooch by squirrellicious // ring by Saloukee from boticca //

// bed covers from opkop // bow pillow by bedbuggs //

// rabbit eye mask by squirrellicious // kissing wolves necklace by Kim Sujo //

// owl print by Michelle of UnitedThread // shoes from Irregular Choice //

the first butterfly of the year

Last night I had an amazingly vivid dream involving chrysalids and butterflies, and then this afternoon I saw my first butterfly of 2012. Years ago, this momentous occasion would have set me off on a wild buzz of excitement, in which I would phone my Granny B to let her know I'd seen a peacock or a tortoiseshell, or even just a cabbage white; at that age, all butterflies were exciting beyond my little belief.

I can't phone my Granny to let her know I saw my first butterfly today, but I'm sure she'd be utterly thrilled that it wasn't a peacock, or a tortoiseshell, or a cabbage white that I saw: it was a majestic red admiral.

photo by Brian Stone

If I were more of a hippy than I am, perhaps I might think that by dreaming of butterflies, my subconscious is telling me that something is transforming, or has transformed recently, in my life. It'll have something to do with metamorphosis or transition, certainly... what do you think?

But tbh I'm more interested in pretty butterfly things...

You are too? Well, let's get on with it then!

{one} {two} {three} {four} {five} {six}

Have you seen any butterflies yet this year?

must have: pom-poms galore

When I was little, one of my favourite things to make were pom pom animals. My mum showed me how to make them using spare wool from her many knitting projects and 2 cardboard rings, adding features and details after the pom poms were fat enough.

For at least a few consecutive Christmases my grandparents must have been thoroughly unsurprised as they fondled their squidgy gift from me, knowing full well it was going to be yet another pom pom animal to add to their extensive pom pom zoos. I have never forgotten how to make them, though I must admit it has been about 20 years since I actually tried my hand at it. 

1//easter pom poms 2//pom pom owls by Melanie of Whimsical Ways

3//pom pom mouse in a leaf boat by Myko Bocek 4//pom pom bird DIY by Elizabeth

I've seen loads of pretties involving/lined by/trimmed with pom poms - they are just about everywhere at the moment! With the knowledge that pom poms must be "on trend", I would like to share some of my favourite pom-pom-containing items with you.

Before we start though, I just want to get one thing clear - although we call these fuzzy balls 'pom-poms', they are actually pom-pons - derived from the French word 'pompon' meaning a small decorative ball made from fabric or feathers. There's your fact of the day. You're welcome.

// bib necklace by Jess Quinn // cat hat by bitchknits // glass pendant by Jenn Goodale //

// pillow tutorial from living with punks // cake topper by ShortcakePartyShop // garlands by Tetyana //

// purse by Neslihan of craftsbynesli // shoe clips by BusyBeeFlowers // wreath tutorial from Pickles //

// cake toppers from CupcakeWishesStore // scarf by ForYouDesign // socks pattern from The Purl Bee //

Phew! After all that awesomeness I'm so tempted to make everyone pom pom animals (or other pom pom goodies) for their birthdays and Christmas to bring back all those memories!

Oooh, or how about making pom pom animals like these bad boys by Troy Emery?

Have you ever made pom pom animals?

Would you like me to make you one?!

an introduction to some of my collections

Most people, at some point in their lives, have had a collection of something or other. My Granny B was a sucrologist - she used to collect sugar packets. She kept some of them in a large jar on the highest shelf in her warm, cosy kitchen and sometimes she brought them down for us to look at together and admire. The majority of them were from when she lived in France, their paper wrappers were all beautifully illustrated and it was no wonder she collected them.

The first things that I remember deliberately collecting were butterfly things - anything with a butterfly on it. When GB was teaching me French at the age of 5, the first word I asked to learn was 'butterfly' and I was forever drawing them on absolutely everything. I wrote books about them, designed 'new' ones, and learned all of the different types with their caterpillars and everything. I could not get enough of them.

Then when I was about 6 years old it was owls. I kept the butterflies, obviously, but now I had a collection of owls too...

In fact, I had/have a whole bunch of collections... wanna see them?

//1989 - Sylvanian Families//1990 - fruit stickers//1991 - stamps//

//1992 - stickers//1993 - POGs//1994 - Take That memorabilia//

//1995 - pin badges//1996 - kinder toys//1997 - Star Wars stickers//

//1998 - drinks cans//1999 - candles//2000 - passport photos//

//2001 - lists//2002 - keys//2003 - discarded playing cards//

//2004 - discarded credit cards//2006 - snowglobes//2007 - nuns//

//2008 - travel tickets//2010 - Momiji dolls//2012 - dice//

I'm pretty sure that most of my collections are sensible. The only weird-ish ones were those I started during my university years - discarded passport photos, discarded lists, discarded keys, discarded playing cards and discarded credit cards. Basically, just any discarded stuff. I had a real fascination with the concept of loss, lost items and secrets and stuff, so they do kinda make sense.

I can't remember a time when I haven't collected something, and I still have almost all of the collections. Some of them are tucked away in memory boxes, some of them are safe in folders, and a couple of them are proudly on display. I'm thinking of a couple of new ways to display some of my currently undisplayed collections, and, of course, Pinterest is a great help...

// 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 //

I really want to display some of my collections like this - how awesome do they look!?

Do you collect anything? Do you display any of your collections?

must have Monday - spatterdashes (or 'spats' to you and me)

I know I’ve written about some of my favourite kids TV programmes already - here and here, for example - but I recently remembered another great one: Spatz. 

It was set in a diner in Cricklewood, and that’s pretty much all I remember other than the awesome theme song… 

I was never really sure why the show was called Spatz, and even now I’m not sure... I think perhaps the waiters wore spats as part of their uniform…? That could be it.

I had never thought about spats as anything other than those shoe cover things that are normally worn by members of the mafia - and 90's diner waiters, I guess - but I have come to realise that they are so much more than that, and I’ve become a little bit obsessed with them…

{one} {two} {three} {four}

{five} {six} {seven} {eight}

{nine} {ten} {eleven} {twelve}

{thirteen} {fourteen} {fifteen} {sixteen}

...and is it any wonder? Aren’t they gorgeous!?

I also found some patterns so I can make my own! Wanna join me?

<<<patterns>>>

{1} {2} {3} {4}

always sunny in the rich man's world

Money. Dosh. Wonga. It's something most people have and yet no one talks about. As a culture, the British, especially, tend to find it difficult to talk about money. Whether it's because it's seen as a vulgar thing to do, or simply because all of us are far too reserved, it seems I'm never able to discuss any financial issues in a social context. So I'm going to do it here.

{money hats seen here}

Let's start here: when one leaves university it is expected that one will find a job and a house and take the first few tentative steps along the path towards adulthood; part of that involves earning money. Almost everyone does it.

As a child my family didn't have a lot of money. I never went without, but nor was I given every single thing I asked for. If I wanted something badly enough I was taught that I should save up for it myself. Sometimes I may have wanted things just because they were pretty, but other times it was completely worth going without trinkets at the weekend if it meant a bigger gift at the end of it...

The first big thing I ever saved up for was a Sylvanian Family windmill. It was so expensive that I couldn't possibly have asked for it as a birthday or Christmas gift, nor even as a joint birthday and Christmas gift. There was only one thing for it: saving up my pocket money week after week, not spending any of my birthday money and hoarding away, like a magpie, any shiny coins I was given by the ladies at church.

It was so worth saving up for - it was the best toy ever, and I adored it. I had hours and hours of fun with that windmill, making the rabbit family potter about the place, playing with the simple pulley system, opening the entire thing out to play with it in it's full glory. Plus it was a pretty impressive toy to have on display - I felt like I had won some great prize when I finally had one of my own, and to think I got it for myself, with money that I had saved up, was just astounding.

I've always been pretty good at saving, which might come as a shock to anyone who knows me. Yes, I have the odd day when I get really excited about a particular crafting project and spend £40 on glitter, fabric or beads, but more often than not I'll only treat myself to crafty bits when I've made a few sales or I've had an exceptionally bad day and need something pretty to perk me up. Sometimes I will come home from work to be greeted by a package of charms or similar, forgetting that I had bought them in a moment of great upset or annoyance a week or so beforehand...

But despite these tiny lapses in financial maturity, I do have savings. It was drilled into me that saving a bit of money every month is a good thing to do. And it's not just because of memories of this, though it might have helped:

get one of your own on ebay here

~~~~~~~

This year is going to be a big year. I have a lot of things I want to do, and I think it might be the year I completely blow my savings. New years are typically for setting up a saving plan of some sort, but I'm going to be setting myself up a spending plan instead...

Breakdown of Vixie's 2012 Spending Plan

The Basics

Luckily, I have no real debt. So I'm basically starting at £0.00.

Objectives

To purchase everything I set forth, and still end the year with more than I started with.

The Savings/Spendings

I am moving house, that's almost always expensive. Plus home improvements and furnishings etc. for the new house. Plus rent, which in London is just crazy money.

One of my 30 before 30 objectives is to set up a pension, so I should probably look into that.

My Mummy and Daddy are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in the summer and I would love to send them to Venice for a holiday. I might not be able to pay for the entire thing, but I would at least like to help them out.

I always like to save something from every paycheck in a 'just in case' fund, so that if anything comes up I know it can be dealt with.

I want to continue giving money regularly to charity - whether that's through sponsorship or what, I don't know yet.

That's already a fair amount without taking into account food, stuff for Yoyo, daily travel, medicine/toiletries, holidays, business stuff, birthday gifts or pretty things. This year looks set to be tough, but if I can remain flexible and try to control my urges to buy sequins and other (supposedly) non-necessary items, it should all be OK.

~~~~~~~

Do you have any financial goals or plans for this year?

Happy Birthday, Gary Barlow!

{Howard Donald} {Mark Owen} {Jason Orange}{Robbie Williams}{Gary Barlow}

When I was 9 years old I was obsessed with a certain boyband by the name of Take That. In those days, it was the cheeky-faced Mark Owen who made my heart race, but since their reformation that has all changed...

In 1991, Gary Barlow was 20 years old. He had spiky peroxide blonde hair and a nose stud, and was my least favourite member of the band. When my little brother was still pretty young, about 3 years old, he adored Gary Barlow. It was a peculiar feeling to argue, at the age of 12, with my 3 year old brother about who was the best member of Take That. My mum sided with Richard, as she'd always had a soft spot for Gary too, but I was adamant that Mark was my favourite, and therefore the best member of the group, and that was that.

I was devastasted when they split up in 1996, but in 2005 Take That made a comeback.

Mark Owen still looked almost exactly the same, a little stubblier perhaps, but Gary had blossomed into a dashingly handsome grown-up man.

I tried to fight it, but there was no denying it - Gary Barlow was officially a hotty.

Today is Gary's 41st birthday, and he's still looking good!

Who do you think has aged better?

a very brief history of haircuts

For a few years from about the age of 5, every time I went to have my hair cut I would ask the hairdresser to save my curls. These were dutifully kept and, back at home, carefully placed in an envelope and sent to my bald Grandfather who I figured might appreciate them. In fact, I'm not really sure what I was thinking, but considering I was only 5 I'm going to just assume I was being ludicrously cute.

By the time I was 11 years old I had a long, thick mane of hair, which reached half way down my back. In an act of stupidity/rebellion/pre-teenage angst I had my beautiful hair cut right back, until I looked a bit like Duncan of PJ and Duncan...

{awkward posing at all, Dec?}

It wasn't a good look on Duncan, and even less so on a slightly chubby pre-teenage girl.

Unbeknownst to most, one of my superhero powers is super-speedy hair-growth and since it normally took no time at all to grow, it would have only taken about 3 or 4 years to get it back to the same length again. But the foolish/lazy part of me decided to keep it short for nearly 2 years. I was a huge tomboy for the next few years, and it wasn't until I was about 14 that it started to look anything like "proper girl-length".

Since that one Big Cut I've never done anything drastic with my hair. At university it was tropical green for a year or so, but length-wise it's not changed too much at all. It is currently the longest it has ever been, and I'm getting a bit fed up of it again. I'm planning on having it cut next week, but I'm wondering how short to go... should I be cautious and sensible, or slightly more reckless considering the speed at which it'll grow back if it's a disaster?

One idea I was toying with was having a fringe cut in... but Kaz has told me I'm not to go crying to her when it ends up looking ridiculous* so perhaps I'll give it a miss, and just dream about it instead...

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*unfortunately she's right - it probably would look ridiculous with my round face and chubby cheeks, grr.

Do you have any haircut regrets?

Greenclaws seeds and temari balls

Any chance that any of you remember a kids TV show from the early 90's about a large green caterpillar type fellow who lives in a greenhouse? His name was Greenclaws and he had an awesome tree and a mechanical owl and a big box of seeds.

Every week, a girl named Iris went to visit Greenclaws and after a little bit of story introduction they would plant a beautiful "seed" - never knowing what kind of plant it would grow into. The planted seed was watered and placed inside a hatch in the tree until the mechanical owl declared it was ready.

The choosing of the seed was always the best bit of the show, and after seeing these mini temari balls it brought it all streaming back!

I couldn't find any pictures of the actual seeds, but in my mind they were something like these felt balls and temari balls:

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Aren't they gorgeous?

I know they were probably nothing like that, but in my flawed memory they were exactly like that. I've never tried making temari balls, but I think I might add it to the list for the new year. There's a tutorial here if you would like to have a go at it yourself, and why not have a look at the Temari Challenge Yahoo Group Gallery for some inspiration!

Have you ever tried making temari balls?

Do you remember Greenclaws?