Rainbow Six? Rainbow Fish!

The local aquarium club is holding their third annual aquarium exhibition this weekend, which should be a fun event. I have some photos from last year's exhibition, if you're interested.

This year the club is also organizing a raffle and needed a bunch of small prizes for it. So, I looked at Eustace the tiny goldfish, then at my pile of leftover yarn in many colours and had an idea. The result you can see on the right: rainbow fish! I'll go look for keyrings today and make these into little key fobs.

Tuesday Finds: BioShock

This week's theme might be a more obscure one for many of you. BioShock is a video game that includes some of my favourite concepts: a crumbling underwater utopia, a visual style combining Art Deco and futuristic elements, plus a wonderful soundscape - all mixed together with genetic engineering gone wrong to create a survival horror game. All in all, it's very enjoyable. The screenshots on the right and below will hopefully give you an idea of the atmosphere.













Now, on to this week's finds. The item that started my reminiscing about BioShock is this steampunk wire ring by Catherinette Rings. (The screenshot above will give a clue as to why.) While this ring is the most appropriate for this week's theme, there are so many fantastic rings in a similar style to choose from in the shop that I just can't pick a favourite.
($40, CatherinetteRings.etsy.com)

Next up is a glass pendant featuring a 1933 Chicago World's Fair poster by ArtsNcharms. The pendant is two-sided, with sheet music on the back. In BioShock, you come across lovely Art Deco-style posters like this one, yet another thing I enjoy about the game.
($10, ArtsNcharms.etsy.com)

The third and last find for the week is another beautiful ring, made from an antique silver spoon with an Art Deco design. Revisions Design Studio has many more to choose from as well.
($18.50, Revisions.etsy.com)

Carnivores! I have them!

At the start of the month, I planted a bunch of seeds I got in the mail. Tiny tiny seeds, and lots of them. These tiny seeds turned into tiny tiny plants about a week ago. LOTS of them. My, I feel like such a proud mommy.

The seeds were from a carnivorous plant called Cape sundew or Drosera capensis, supposedly a good beginner's carnivore. The little ones you see in the photo are about 1-2 mm tall (that's really, really small for you non-metrics). I have no idea how fast they will grow, but I can't wait for them to get big enough to take care of the small, but annoying fungus gnat problem.

Proper care of these includes constant wetness with as pure water as you can get and high humidity. In other words, completely different from my usual plant care routine (water when I happen to remember, maybe once or twice per month). I'm making a real effort this time though, and so far so good.

So be warned, fungus gnats! Your doom is getting closer every day!

A mammoth like no other

(Below are this week's Tuesday Finds, inspired by the lovely Krisse. Remember to take a look at those too!)

This weekend was filled with much happy fun-time, celebrating a friend's birthday. Making the birthday present for this occasion must have been one of the most fun projects I've ever done, too. (Especially hunting for girly things all over town with Mr Morrgan, to get her dressed up just right.) I give you the world's one and only pissis mammoth, Krisse.

Now how to translate pissis into English. Imagine loud teenage girls with too much makeup, tight designer jeans (or alternately a tiny miniskirt in winter) and huge earrings, who drink too much cider although they're too young to drink and can't hold their liquor, have a preference for pink... You get the idea.

So here's Krisse, with her pink fur in a poodle hairstyle (very popular these days, she says), huge earrings and turquise nail polish matching her eye shadow. All ready for Saturday night!

The fact that we chose to make something like this for a friend's 40th birthday says something about us, and the fact that the little mammoth was much loved says something about the recipient. What exactly that something is I don't want to think about in greater detail. :D

(Fun fact learned at the party: Too much headbanging results in a really, really sore neck. Owie.)

Tuesday Finds: Mammoths

Mammoths? Why mammoths? Well, I'll be posting the explanation in just a little while. In the mean time, enjoy these cool prehistoric finds! I really do like shops that remember extinct animals as well. I also really do like these shops because they are awesome, so browse around them for a bit - you won't be disappointed.

Halloween is coming up soon, right? It wasn't celebrated when I was a kid and still isn't a very big thing around here, so I have trouble remembering when it is. Aaanyway, if it was celebrated here, I be sure to use these Showgirl Mammoth cards (along with the Triceratops Pirate cards, oh yes) by Melissa Bumstead of Smitten Invitations.
($2.50, mbumstead.etsy.com)

Have you ever heard of a Woolly Mam Moth? Neither had I until I stumbled upon the one by Joe Havasy. And had I heard the name only, I wouldn't have expected something so cute.
($13, joehavasy.etsy.com)

At Puzzimals, you can find hundreds of different wooden puzzle designs, mostly animals. The beautiful shapes are spot-on. The huge selection includes for example pets, fantasy creatures and prehistoric animals like this neat-looking Woolly Mammoth.
($12, Puzzimals.etsy.com)

Tagged again!

Oh noes, tagged again! Twice actually, by The Princess Next Door this week and 1337 Art waaaaay back (sorry for taking my sweet time to get around to it!). I shall be lazy and do both at once, as the rules are the same:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now, let's see if I can think of something I haven't mentioned before.

1. I first started drinking coffee when I was less than 10 years old. Yup, an early addict. I sometimes spent the time after school at my Dad's business and all there was to drink there was coffee. Black, black coffee. I don't know what possessed me to do it, as I can't drink coffee black nowadays.

2. While knitting cute, happy little creatures I tend to listen to "dark" music. Metal mostly, often labeled with delightful tags like "doom" and "funeral". Don't want to overdose on cute, I guess. ;)

3. I enjoy baking, but not cooking. I always end up burned or cut or otherwise injured. Besides, I consider cooking to be a man's job, as my Dad did (and still does) most of the cooking back home. Fortunately, Mr Morrgan has no problem with that.

4. I used to fix computers and exchange parts in them, both my own and family members' machines. Then I got married and lost my skills, as it's easier to lure Mr Morrgan to do all that. With cake.

5. I can use fancy machinery like ultracentrifuges, thermal cyclers and autoclaves, but I don't understand microwave ovens.

6. I enjoy weeding. Weeding while having a glass of lovely red wine = bliss. There's something very relaxing and satisfying about seeing the fruits of your labour immediately and, once finished, being able to enjoy what's left of the wine while taking in the new, weed-free view. We don't have a garden of our own, but my parents are more than happy to let me loose in theirs.

7. I'm currently obsessed with planting seeds from fruit I eat. If it's got a seed (or the possibility to get a cutting), I'll stick it in some soil and see what happens. I've planted satsumas, bell peppers (in the photo), pineapple and avocado, some of which have already sprouted. I also have uneaten grapefruit waiting for its turn, plus honeydew melon and kiwifruit on the list of ones to get.

So there you have it. Finally, here are the 7 (un)lucky winners!

1. Karlita
2. X by Leina Neima
3. Arctida
4. Jenn Maruska Design
5. ArtMind
6. PP Designs
7. Mr Patrick

Tuesday Finds: Yummy Soap

Long time no see, Tuesday Finds. It's been a while, with all that travelling last month. But here they are again and this time I'm showing off soap. More specifically, soap that looks so good I might just eat it.

I'm starting things off with my favourite... well, everything really: chocolate. I can seriously see myself taking a bite out of Morgan Street's dangerously delicious-looking ChocoTherapy Soap. That deep rich colour, that (I imagine) irresistable scent... *sigh*
($5, morganstreet.etsy.com)

Here's something that looks like a great gift idea: the Neapolitan Soapsicle from Soapylove. Each layer is scented the classic Neapolitan way: strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Yum!
($8, soapylove.etsy.com)

Finally, may I tempt you with a slice of (soap) cake? This one has a scent "reminiscent of a fruity gin drink". Really, how can you not try to eat SudsMuffin's soap cakes?
($6 per slice, SudsMuffin.etsy.com)


Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go find some cake.

Pineapple Adventures, including muffins

I decided to bake again. This time I went for a new muffin combo: pineapple & lemon. For this recipe, I used half of a fresh pineapple and I've got a pro tip for you: don't. It's just much more hassle than it's worth, when you can get decent stuff in a tin.

The reason why we just happened to have a fresh pineapple at home was that I'd read you can plant the leafy part and get your own pineapple... tree? Bush? Well, whatever they're called. (Biologist typing here, can you tell?)

I cut off the top part and broke off the remaining pieces of fruit. I'll leave the thing alone for a few days to let the cut dry up and then I will stick into some soil. Then, it will hopefully take root and grow. Oh, the excitement.

Anyways, on with the recipe! As usual, the less you mix the batter, the better they'll be.

Pineapple & Lemon Muffins (makes 16)

1/2 a fresh pineapple, chopped into small cubes (or just go for a tin)
3 eggs
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 dl (~1/2 cup) milk
100 g (~1/2 cup) melted butter
4 dl (~1 1/2 cups) flour
2 dl (~1 1/4 cups) sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together. Whisk the eggs, then add pineapple, milk, lemon juice and melted and somewhat cooled butter. Fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Divide the batter into 16 muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes at 200°C (392°F).

For perfection, I recommend some type of lemony icing.

Enjoy!