Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

‘I like’ Fridays.

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For the month of November and maybe forever after, I am going to do a Friday post with a few things I like.  ‘I like’ Fridays,  see what I did there! What are you liking this fine Friday?  Let me know in the comments. This week I have been liking these things Reading – ‘Us’ by David Nicholls, I am only just starting this book, but I really like it.  I had better hurry up because it is from the library and I only have two weeks to read it which is not my usual speed.  My usual speed is about two months per book! Watching – Project Runway Allstars season 4.  We have no cable (thinking of ditching it altogether) at the minute, so I am catching up online on Fridays.  My little Friday treat.  I have to admit that I don’t like Allstars as much as regular Runway.  Heidi and Tim, I miss you! Listening – Serial podcast.  I am obsessed with it, I can hardly wait from week to week.  If you …

Through The Lens Thursday 45. Stripes.

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  I had a few ideas for this week’s Through The Lens Thursday, but I settled on the stripes I have been painting like a stripe obsessive for a class I am doing though Studio Calico.  The class is called ‘Paint. Plan. Play.’ and is instructed by Ashley Goldberg.  I am looking forward to learning lots and maybe branching out from stripes.  I seem to like the stripes though…. To make these I used a sumi paint brush and black gouache.  I love to use the sumi brushes, but I do see a trip to the art supply store in my near future to widen my brush repertoire. I really like to paint but I don’t.  Do you have something which eludes you like this?  Every time I get the brushes out I love it, I am no artist, but I would like to do more and try and get a bit better.  Paint and colour and shapes, love it all! I just want to grab a pack of blank cards and paint paint paint, …

I have new business cards.

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Since I changed my blog over to Girl Fifteen, I have not updated my biz cards with all of my new info, I have now! I also use the cards to tag my jewels when they go off to customers.  They are a matt finish, so I can write little extra notes on if I need to. This is the first time I have used the Instagram square style in a card and I really like them. I got them printed at Moo which is usually where I get my cards made.   I punch holes in them to hang lovely earrings (these are for the school principal, I hope she likes them!).  To be honest, I planned to make them all different photos, but I messed that up!  Having said that, I quite like that they all have the photo of the statue of Saint Louis with some amazing clouds taken at the St Louis Art Museum a couple of months ago. Do you use business cards?  Isn’t it difficult to decide what exactly …

Learning a new language. Still.

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I have lived in the States for 11 years now and I still sometimes forget to translate words into ‘American’. Good job I don’t live in France or Germany! I wouldn’t be communicating so well if I did. When I moved here I knew that some words were different but nothing to confuse, right?  Wrong. Lots to confuse and no, watching every episode of ‘Friends’ and ‘Sex in the City’ does not equip you with enough language ability to manage in the big wide Mid West world. Some differences are pretty well known both sides of the pond and cause no problems like candy/sweets and Mom/Mum although I still don’t use Mom ever, I am a Mum all the way! So let’s look at some more of these words which don’t match.  Clothing always confuses me, should I wear a vest if I want to be warm or cool?  Don’t get your pants mixed up with your trousers!  Always remember to wear your fanny-pack on your bum. I have had some very interesting conversations which …

Weekly Photos 44/52, 2014.

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          1. Soldier helmet, all ready for the Halloween costume. 2. The first frost of the season arrived this week, so I harvested all of the green tomatoes before they got frosty! 3. The last Lavender harvest which is now hanging in the basement.  I have a jam jar full of dried lavender all ready to make into pretty Lavender bags. 4. and 5.  Playing conkers in the back garden. How was your week?  Very good I hope and here’s looking forward to a new week.  

Photo a Day October 2014

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This month’s prompts from Fat Mum Slim were the alphabet up to the 26th and finishing the month with the numbers 1-5. A is for acorn. B is for birds. C is for conkers. D is for dried out sunflower. E is for elephants. F is for fir tree. G is for goldfish. H is for Helmet. I is for inside one of my boxes of supplies. J is for jug. K is for knitting. L is for leaves. M is for magazines. N is for nest necklace.  A special customer order. O is for octagon.   P is for purple pillar and pile of chairs. Q is for quartz.   R is for round (ish). S is for shell.  We found this in the creek, I suspect it is not a native! T is for trees. U is for utensils. V is for violet skates left on a bench.   W is for web, on the hedge for Halloween. X is for eXploding candy! Y is for yellow sign. Z is for zombie finger …

Six Word Saturday

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  I am starting ‘Six Word Saturday’ on my blog again.  Mainly because I miss doing it and also to help me fully participate in National Blog Post Month.  I did NaBloPoMo last year and I really felt like I had achieved something by the end of it. This month will consist of the regular posts I do, like ‘Through The Lens Thursday’ and ‘Weekly Photos’ as well as more ‘What I am Wearing’ and CatsEatDogs jewelry posts.  I wonder what else I will be writing about?  I think I will see how the month takes me and maybe we can have lots of chats in the comments! In case you are wondering, the tentacle is part of a Christmas present for my cousin’s 13 year old son!  Have you started Christmas shopping yet?  I like to get an early start as I have to mail lots abroad and it can take a while to get there. All of the Six Word Saturday posts will go on Instagram too, so come and join in if …

Through The Lens Thursday #44. Play.

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  Today was the Halloween parade at school, so a chance to play at being someone else!  The kids were Ninja Turtles, bank robbers, soldiers, Hobbit characters, rock stars and every character from Minecraft. The parade goes in a square on the roads around the school led by the local police which is very cool for the kids, they love it! Today’s Through the Lens Thursday was ‘Play’, so I snapped the legs and feet of some of the Halloween characters as they passed me by. Have a happy and safe Halloween night tomorrow.

Halloween cookies – Witches fingers and Zombie fingers.

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It’s the age old question around Halloween, What do witches and Zombies taste like?  Never fear, I am here to help! Here is a lovely recipe for witch and zombie fingers. Yum. Halloween Finger Cookies 1 cup butter softened 1 cup Confectioners sugar 1 egg 1tsp vanilla 2 2/3 cup flour 1 tsp baking soda Whole unsalted almonds for the nails Red icing (I used red writing gel) Green and Black food colouring Oven 325F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream butter, sugar and add the egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and baking soda.  Divide the dough into half and add a small amount of green colour to one half and a small amount of black to the other.  Mix in the colour. Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes.  Roll out the fingers using wax paper using about a teaspoon of dough for each. Use a butter knife to mark the knuckles and press an almond into the end of each for the nail.  Don’t worry about perfect shapes, the more bumps …

Weekly Photos 43/52 2014

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1.  Mushrooms are few and far between at the minute, so I was happy to see this bunch nestled in an old fallen tree. 2.  There was a partial eclipse of the sun this week, but it was around sunset, so the sun was disappearing as it got eclipsed and it was cloudy too!  So, all I managed to glimpse was a very pretty sunset with a partially eclipsed sun behind some clouds! 3.  Our local YMCA has a Halloween ‘Spooktacular’ every year and the kids get to go in a canoe and fish a pumpkin out of the diving well of the pool.  I love the colour of the pumpkins against the water. 4.  The old Shoe International Company building in St Louis city, looking good against the blue October sky and with the yellow tree too. 5.  We picked up a vintage postcard and this is what is said on the back.  I think all trips should be ‘swell’ and ‘elegant’. 6.  Art on Cherokee St in St Louis. We had a good …