Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

I want a friend with a cafe and other pressing needs.

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As I was reading Meet Me at Mikes by Pip Lincolne, and how Pip was helping her friend out who owns a cafe, I had a huge joyful feeling that I want to be involved with a cafe. I don’t have aspirations to own one, but I would love to be able to help someone with one, not even work for them, just help out as and when.  I can help with recipe ideas and I am a very excellent taste tester.  I can carry, waitress, wash, dry.  Also decorate, paint and choose the music. This came as a very strong feeling and a positive one.  Isn’t it strange how a feeling can overtake you for a moment.  I like it. Now, who do I know who owns or wants to own a cafe?! Maybe we serve these hot chocolates?   I also want to make a random bead necklace for my friend. Sounds easy?   Of course, grab a handful of beads from my various jars and bowls.  No.  I don’t do random very well, …

January 2013 photo a day.

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Day 1. Today. Connect Four on New Year’s Day. Day 2. Something New. New Feast magazine. Day 3. Heart. In the snow. Day 4. The View from here Day 5. Movement Day 6. Mine. Some of my favourite beads. Day 7. Street. Always a handy place for a toilet! Day 8. Something beginning with T. Day 9. Paper. Vintage Fox River Onion Skin paper. Day 10. 1 o clock. Day 11. Water. Reflection and Swim. Day 12. Suprise. Lots of lovely books from the library, full of suprises. Day 13. Circle. Day 14. Something yellow. Day 15. An ordinary moment.  Frost on a pile of leaves. Day 16. Two things.  Garlic cloves. Day 17. Ready.  For my January jewelry sale. Day 18. Shadow. Day 19. Delicious.  I love finding bonkers stuff in the antiques mall. Day 20. Something you saw Day 21. What you do.  Sometimes I make zombies. Day 22. Corner.  Snow on a roof. Day 23. Electric. Day 24. Stripes. Day 25. Landscape.  At Laumeier Sculpture Park. Day 26. Together.  Bodhi and Max’s …

Hearts abound at Handmade Happy Hour Sweetheart Edition.

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Hearts hearts everywhere and lots indeed to wear! I have been a busy bee making lots of new jewelry which will be debuting at the fabulous Handmade Happy Hour Sweetheart Edition.  I will be with a wonderful assortment of  handmade vendors at Home Wine Kitchen in Maplewood on Friday Feb 1st from 5pm-9pm. Come along, get dinner and peruse some lovely local artist’s hard work. Bring along boyfriends, husbands, wives, girlfriends and be sure to get beautiful gifts for your beautiful people this Valentine’s Day.

Art Dharling

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A trip out with friends is always a joy, just us, no kids. We went to Laumeier Sculpture Park not far from us in St Louis. There are lots of great places to visit here and most are free, Laumeier is one of them. The sculptures are all striking and the place was empty, so I got lots of snaps with no extra people in them! The day started cloudy and of course I have to take a ton of photos and I prefer a blue sky.  Never fear,  as we got there,  the sun came out and I couldn’t have asked for a prettier sky.  A chilly day with a magnificent blue sky, just what I like!  I prefer the cold to the heat, a scarf in the winter sunshine is ideal.  St Louis summers are a hot humid sweaty affair which I would like to avoid.  At least the houseplants like the summer on the porch I suppose. Do you like day trips?  Where do you go?  Any recommendations?  Do you prefer Summer …

Dye dye dye!

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I am dying my hair today, but it has only been a couple of months since the last attack of chemicals on my ever strengthening army of grey. But dye it I must as I have an expanding band of glowing oldness across my head. Did you ever say that you would go grey gracefully, let nature take it’s course with your hair? Ha. I did. Never never never. I would look about one hundred and ten if my hair grew out naturally. Not to mention the twangy hideous wiry hair. So to the box of dye I go. I get to play hair stylist and smack on some bleach based paste with a little mascara brush. Ta dah! I have different colours in there! It usually works ok, I haven’t had green hair yet. I would get slapped around my grey rooted head by every hair stylist I know if I dared call my attempts at hair colour ‘highlights’. So I won’t. ‘Variations in colour’ is a better description I think. What can go …

Let’s make a Zzzzzzooooommmbie!

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As the kids were off school today and it has been freezing cold outside, we decided to concentrate on indoor activities! ‘Ice Age, Continental Drift’ seemed an appropriate movie and we have just borrowed it from the library. Fake fur stuffies were the plan, so I dragged all the furry fabric out. Bodhi started to draw the stuffie he wanted to make and it turned out to be a zombie.  A zombie with a saggy head no less.  So the Zombie was sketched, and a ‘pattern’ was cut.  Very Project Runway, but we don’t need L’Oreal hair and make up for a zombie! Paper zombie Flat zombie He has a heart of course. Bodhi stuffing Zombo the zombie. Zombo is made from fabric from the Upcycle Exchange and recycled clothes from our charity pile! We never did use the fake fur!  Next time.

Oh, I say!

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Well well well, looks like I got me an award!  Whoop! I have been nominated by the lovely http://www.blueribbonfair.wordpress.com for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award and shock, gasp  The Versatile Blogger Award I must (no really, I must, it is in the rules) nominate others for the same awards and it has been an easy and joyous task picking these blogs out! I have to confess when I saw that I had to find 15 deserving blogs, I thought I might have to start digging about.  Absolutely not, all of the blogs I have listed I have read and I enjoy reading them and the photos,  stories,  photographs,  crafts, recipes and general fabulousness contained within each. Some of these bloggers I have met and started to read through participating in the JustB blog school headed up by Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mikes.  Without the blog school I am almost certain that I would be posting once a month at the most and my blog would be a wandering mess.  As it is, I …

New

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New. These beads are new and I am so happy with the colours. I usually have a pretty good idea of the colours I am ordering so I don’t get a nasty suprise. Sometimes when there is an unusual finish on the glass it can be spectacular or spectacularly awful! I have to say that I was hopping with joy when I saw these gorgeous colours. Love love love them and I can’t wait to use them to make new jewels! More new.  Books, DVDs and a CD from the library, new to me, but borrowed for a couple of weeks.  I have to say I am almost always impressed with a trip to the library, so many resources and bang up to date.  What to do first, make something, bake something, read, listen or watch?

Ten on the 10th. January 2013

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I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance of getting 10 photos today, unless you fancied a wonderland view of rain, damp, then fog and back to rain, then dark. Fear not! I started off with stuff I am reading and stuff I am making, I snapped the melting giant snowball in the back garden and off I went on a photo extravaganza! Here are January’s ten on the 10th. The last of the snow, in a convenient ball. Itsy Bitsy wire hearts all going to grow into earrings. In a vintage Ponds cream jar we found in the woods last year. Check out my Etsy store for the finished product. Bodhi and I are reading ‘Mr Stink’ and I love it as much as he does! I am listening to ‘State of Wonder’ by Ann Pratchett at the minute, ‘The End of your Life Bookclub’ is jostling for next in line with ‘Grace’ by Grace Coddington. I’m reading ‘Mr Penumbra’s 24 hour bookstore’ and enjoying it no end. Good stuff. My Instagram prints stored …

2012 in review.

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This was so hard, choosing one, single photo per month to cover 2012.  I love the ones I have found and remembered all the great stuff we did through the year.  Thank goodness for the daily diary I keep, otherwise I would never had remembered half the  dates and events.  It has also made me realise how time zips by!  I am taking part in my first link-up ever and it is with Farewell Stranger which I came across as I was reading Writing Wishing blog. January starts top left and the months follow downwards.  I made a collage of the photos and I like to see them together like this. January we found these wicker huts in Clayton.  They are still there and I still don’t know why.  Are they art?  Does someone live there? Or are they just because?  Jan 4th-update-the huts are called Double or Nothing and are by an artist called Patrick Dougherty who makes these wicker installations all over the world.  Thanks to Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mikes for the …