Some obligatory Christmas-time whine. But also good times, sharks and chompy hearts!

It's Advent Sunday, but the Christmas frenzy in the shops seems to have been in full force for two weeks or more. It really seems like shops start with the holiday decorations and music earlier and earlier every year, so that by this time of the year I get an allergic reaction whenever I see a plastic Christmas tree full of shiny stuff or hear another "cheerful" song about Santa's reindeers. *shudder*

There are a few Christmas traditions I enjoy though. One of them is the Advent Concert by the Florakören and Brahe Djäknar choirs and the Academy Orchestra. We went to hear them yesterday and it was just beautiful - this year was even more enjoyable than usual. Also, my brother joined the Brahe Djäknar choir this year, so that made it extra special.

Today I've been trying to keep the faint holiday enjoyment going by making what I think are suitable decorations for the season: hearts gone wild! The sharks may be in the forefront of the photo, but it's mostly the hearts I've been working on today. Those red and white pieces in the background have become four wild, chompy hearts (and the orange ones are now a couple of foxes). Not a bad way to spend a Sunday, all in all.

Another fun Christmas-related event I've taken part in this year is the European Street Team's Secret Santa game - I'll post more about that next!

Happy 500th to Morrgan's Creatures!

A few weeks ago, Morrgan's Creatures on Etsy reached 500 sales!


For me, this is a significant milestone. The little shop I started just to see if I could do this selling-on-the-internet thing has become a successful one, something that gives me pride and joy. A big happy thank you to each and every one of my customers for making this possible!

A big happy thank you goes to Mr Morrgan too, who made the most excellent picture of Freddie and Oliver above and took me out to dinner to a Nepalese restaurant to celebrate this event. Morrgan's Creatures would not be what it is today without his help and support. <3

(By the way, in this restaurant I had pistachio and cashew nut sorbet. It may sound like a crazy idea, but it is a thing of genius. Delicious, delicious genius.)

So, what's next? Well, another 500 I hope! Design-wise, I've got all sorts of neat plans and ideas for Morrgan's Creatures. Hopefully I'll find the time to realise them all!

Oh, and while we're talking about the shop, note that the holiday shipping deadlines are up. There's still a few weeks left to do some shopping before Morrgan's Creatures goes on a Christmas/New Year's break!

Tuesday Finds: Black & White

Peacock by
WireDreams.etsy.com

Coal and Ice by
paintedmetal.etsy.com

White Nuno Felted Clutch by
Crafts2Cherish.etsy.com

White Rings Clutch Purse by
retrospettive.etsy.com

Thar be sharks about!

A few days ago, shark pups were born in an unusual way at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland, New Zealand. A grumpy shark took a bite out of another, which ended up being a Caesarean delivery of eight baby sharks. Quite a surprise, as noone knew the attacked mommy shark was pregnant, and lucky since both mom and the sharklets survived the incident. The little ones were moved to a "nursery", the mother has been stitched up and as far as I know, both are doing well. Quite incredible.

This story inspired me to finally get around to making a tiny shark magnet, as I'd been planning to do for a while. This little guy was made with a combination of knitting and crochet and I'm very happy with how he turned out!

The Magnetic Knitted Shark
Considering the voracious appetite of the common knitted shark, it was no wonder that a magnetized form would appear, making it easier for these sharks to stay close to the fridge and its delicious contents.

Tuesday Finds: Green

Tuesday Finds, remember them? I used to do them some time back, but stopped due to lack of time and whatnot. I liked them though, so I thought I'd try to bring them back in a slightly abbreviated form - I'll just show off a few items that have caught my eye the past week. No babbling, only photos and links. I'm hoping that this way I'll be able to do it even when my time has been sucked away into some black hole of work and such. No promises, but hopefully you'll see them more regularly from now on.

I'll still choose a theme each time and this week it'll be the colour green. Autumn may be my favourite season, but I do miss the green stuff. The greener the better!

Secret river 3 by
kittynel.etsy.com

Felt Beads by
StemellinaSupplies.etsy.com

Grass by
kyleannemetals.etsy.com

Green Christmas Notebook by
susanholland.etsy.com

Where have I been? No, seriously.

Oh man, where did the last week or two go? I try to think back and I can honestly not remember what I did on Wednesday, for example. I'd like to think that this was due to me being abducted by aliens and going on wacky adventures in faraway galaxies, only to have my memory erased when I was brought back to protect mankind from knowing too much, but that seems unlikely, alas. It's more probable that a combination of too much work, too little sleep and not enough guilt-free fun is the culprit. The recent days have been so mind-numbingly dull that they've all blended together into one long, boring afternoon of tapping on a keyboard at work in my mind. *sigh*

Anyway.

I've decided to fix that this weekend by sleeping a lot, starting some neat knitting projects that I've had in mind for a while and watching silly funny stuff (such as half a dozen episodes of Arrested Development). Gaming, fine crusted port and icecream may also be involved. But mostly, I'll just be sleeping. Brain. So. Tired.

However, as my brain is currently buzzing with too much caffeine to sleep, I figured I'd get things started by making a knotwork headband. I'll be making a few more soon too. This is a style I've done before, as I figured it'd be smart to start with something familiar. I've really missed knitting something intricate like this, few things are more satisfying to do.

So, here's hoping for a relaxing weekend!