Oh look, green! Again!
Yeah, I need a bit of green this week. Autumn is here and the plants are turning red and yellow. It's very pretty, but I do miss the green. *sigh*
Welcome to Morrgan's Creatures, a place on the net where I show off handmade creatures and creations of my own design.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday Finds: Teeth
Hallo again! Those of you who have followed me on Twitter might already know that the recent blog silence was due to me having a couple of wisdom teeth pulled out. They were the last two, both bottom ones. Everything went pretty well, despite them being a bit infected and despite the dentist having to drill them both to bits before being able to get them out. I think the main feeling I've had from all this is a sense of relief to finally get them out. (There was also joy at being able to eat icecream with no guilt whatsoever, as it was one of few things I could eat without trouble last week.)
I've been feeling better each day after the operation and today the stitches were removed, which officially marks the end of all my wisdom teeth. Woohoo! I shall celebrate with more icecream!
I've been feeling better each day after the operation and today the stitches were removed, which officially marks the end of all my wisdom teeth. Woohoo! I shall celebrate with more icecream!
Labels:
other crafty things,
Tuesday Finds
Friday, September 17, 2010
Minecraft
Now for something a bit different than the usual posts on this blog. Today I bring you a game recommendation! The indie game in question is Minecraft and it has given me more excitement and intense adventures than most games I've played recently.
Oh my, look at those huge caverns. Who knows what riches and dangers await inside.
You start off with nothing in a randomly generated HUGE world (apparently the surface area is about 8 times larger than earth) and your goal is simply to survive. It's a bright day and everything is peaceful, maybe with some cows, chickens and such wandering around. However, at night when it's dark, monsters will come out and it's a bad idea to be out in the open at this time. In order to live through it, you'll have to gather some resources and make a few basic tools, so that you can build a shelter lit by torches (light equals safety). You'll want a safe place that the monsters can't get into. Once you have one and have made more tools (including a weapon) and gathered supplies, it's time to start exploring!
Some worlds are snowy ones. Behold my house built on a cliff by the seaside. On the right you can barely see my greenhouse, growing crops for food.
For me, the appeal is two-fold - creative creation and danger-filled exploration. First of all, everything that you have in the game are things you've made yourself. There's a certain pride and satisfaction you get from that, even in a game. You can build a house (or a fort, or a mansion, or an underground lair with a moat of lava...) for yourself, in any shape you wish. You can use a variety of materials and decorate the place with things like paintings and bookshelves. For example, you can collect sand and clay to make glass for windows and bricks for walls, respectively, by heating them in a furnace. Use your imagination to your heart's content. How about a rollercoaster?
The scary scary dark night. The greenhouse is on the left and on the right is a big lighthouse I built because it seemed like a cool idea. I'm also hoping it will help me find my way back as I explore the surroundings. But mostly I built it just because it seemed like a cool idea.
Actually, there's a nostalgic element to this too. The blocky look of the game reminds me of building secret bases and such out of Lego when I was a kid. Back then I'd always run out of pieces before I was finished, but in Minecraft I can go out into the huge world and find more. Awesome.
Mr Morrgan enjoys the game too. Here's his house by the sea, complete with a manmade stream and planted trees and flowers.
Second, the world is full of cool caverns and cave systems to explore and mine for useful things like iron ore. The deeper you go, the better materials you find for making better quality tools, weapons and armor. It's dangerous, as these are dark places and monsters could be anywhere, but oh so exciting. I have had several great adventures in such places.
These waterfalls lead into dark caves below. Dare you go in and explore?
And after a scary adventure in the deep, it's a big relief to get back to your house by nightfall. Then you are safe in your home while zombies and other creepy things roam the land outside, and you can fry some bacon for dinner and work on more tools and weapons for your next expedition while you wait for morning.
Darkness falls and the moon rises as I return to my house just in time before the monsters come out. What a welcome sight.
Well, these are just some examples of the things you can do. If you're interested in the game, you can go to the Minecraft website to get the Alpha version that I have (a beta version should be available soon - yes, the game is actually still unfinished). There's also the older but free Classic version you can try out to see if this is your thing.
Inside Mr Morrgan's house.
You can also check out this series of Minecraft gameplay videos to get a better idea of the experience.
The view from the balcony of my cliffside house.
Oh my, look at those huge caverns. Who knows what riches and dangers await inside.You start off with nothing in a randomly generated HUGE world (apparently the surface area is about 8 times larger than earth) and your goal is simply to survive. It's a bright day and everything is peaceful, maybe with some cows, chickens and such wandering around. However, at night when it's dark, monsters will come out and it's a bad idea to be out in the open at this time. In order to live through it, you'll have to gather some resources and make a few basic tools, so that you can build a shelter lit by torches (light equals safety). You'll want a safe place that the monsters can't get into. Once you have one and have made more tools (including a weapon) and gathered supplies, it's time to start exploring!
Some worlds are snowy ones. Behold my house built on a cliff by the seaside. On the right you can barely see my greenhouse, growing crops for food.For me, the appeal is two-fold - creative creation and danger-filled exploration. First of all, everything that you have in the game are things you've made yourself. There's a certain pride and satisfaction you get from that, even in a game. You can build a house (or a fort, or a mansion, or an underground lair with a moat of lava...) for yourself, in any shape you wish. You can use a variety of materials and decorate the place with things like paintings and bookshelves. For example, you can collect sand and clay to make glass for windows and bricks for walls, respectively, by heating them in a furnace. Use your imagination to your heart's content. How about a rollercoaster?
The scary scary dark night. The greenhouse is on the left and on the right is a big lighthouse I built because it seemed like a cool idea. I'm also hoping it will help me find my way back as I explore the surroundings. But mostly I built it just because it seemed like a cool idea.Actually, there's a nostalgic element to this too. The blocky look of the game reminds me of building secret bases and such out of Lego when I was a kid. Back then I'd always run out of pieces before I was finished, but in Minecraft I can go out into the huge world and find more. Awesome.
Mr Morrgan enjoys the game too. Here's his house by the sea, complete with a manmade stream and planted trees and flowers.Second, the world is full of cool caverns and cave systems to explore and mine for useful things like iron ore. The deeper you go, the better materials you find for making better quality tools, weapons and armor. It's dangerous, as these are dark places and monsters could be anywhere, but oh so exciting. I have had several great adventures in such places.
These waterfalls lead into dark caves below. Dare you go in and explore?And after a scary adventure in the deep, it's a big relief to get back to your house by nightfall. Then you are safe in your home while zombies and other creepy things roam the land outside, and you can fry some bacon for dinner and work on more tools and weapons for your next expedition while you wait for morning.
Darkness falls and the moon rises as I return to my house just in time before the monsters come out. What a welcome sight.Well, these are just some examples of the things you can do. If you're interested in the game, you can go to the Minecraft website to get the Alpha version that I have (a beta version should be available soon - yes, the game is actually still unfinished). There's also the older but free Classic version you can try out to see if this is your thing.
Inside Mr Morrgan's house.You can also check out this series of Minecraft gameplay videos to get a better idea of the experience.
The view from the balcony of my cliffside house.Thursday, September 09, 2010
My Creative Space: There Be Monsters
The knitting (and crocheting) of warm stuff for autumn and winter continues. This week it's mostly been dreadful monster scarves. Rawr.
Looks like I'm all out of that blue yarn, so those will be the last two of this colour and material. Grab 'em while you can! I'll keep an eye out for a replacement yarn, though, so similar monsters may appear in the future.
(For those who might be wondering about the never-ending sock project, they're still not done. After all that knitting, unraveling and knitting again, I needed a break from socks. Wild monsters seemed like a much nicer project.)
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Looks like I'm all out of that blue yarn, so those will be the last two of this colour and material. Grab 'em while you can! I'll keep an eye out for a replacement yarn, though, so similar monsters may appear in the future.
(For those who might be wondering about the never-ending sock project, they're still not done. After all that knitting, unraveling and knitting again, I needed a break from socks. Wild monsters seemed like a much nicer project.)
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Labels:
crochet,
knitting,
Morrgan's creations,
My Creative Space
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Thursday, September 02, 2010
My Creative Space: Yarn trouble
This week I bring you a tale of woe, misery and broken dreams. And socks.
Remember the beige and green socks I'd just started on last week? Well, that project failed miserably.
It wasn't anything to do with the pattern or the knitting itself. One sock turned out just lovely, and the other was going well. And then I ran out of yarn. Yarn I'd bought about 5 years ago, so I can't get more of it now. Arrrrrgh.
I undid the 2nd sock and started again, making the sock a bit smaller this time. And ran out of yarn again. I then undid the finished 1st sock and am currently making it in the smaller size too. Hopefully there will be enough left over from that to finish both socks, and all this yarn puzzling will result in two fine, albeit smaller than planned socks. Hopefully.
So that's the reason why these socks are still in the works this week.
(Well. That and the fact that I may have gotten myself addicted to Soulcalibur 4 and Borderlands, taking up most [er, all] of my time. Again.)
Want to see the (more successful) creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Remember the beige and green socks I'd just started on last week? Well, that project failed miserably.
It wasn't anything to do with the pattern or the knitting itself. One sock turned out just lovely, and the other was going well. And then I ran out of yarn. Yarn I'd bought about 5 years ago, so I can't get more of it now. Arrrrrgh.
I undid the 2nd sock and started again, making the sock a bit smaller this time. And ran out of yarn again. I then undid the finished 1st sock and am currently making it in the smaller size too. Hopefully there will be enough left over from that to finish both socks, and all this yarn puzzling will result in two fine, albeit smaller than planned socks. Hopefully.
So that's the reason why these socks are still in the works this week.
(Well. That and the fact that I may have gotten myself addicted to Soulcalibur 4 and Borderlands, taking up most [er, all] of my time. Again.)
Want to see the (more successful) creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Labels:
games,
knitting,
Morrgan's creations,
My Creative Space
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
My Creative Space: Slippers and socks
Here's what I've been working on this week: knitted footwear for both men and women. It'll soon be the season for warm slippers and socks around here, alas.
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Labels:
knitting,
Morrgan's creations,
My Creative Space
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Tiny Dragons - The 4th Batch
The 4th batch of five tiny dragons is ready for introductions. From the left to the right:#16. Crimson - red and dark red
#17. Cindy - light purple and beige
#18. Cyril - light blue and purple
#19. Cecil - turquoise and dark green
#20. Celia - light green and grey
Here's how it works: Every now and then I make a batch of 5 dragons. Each dragon will have a unique set of colours and they will get a signed hatching certificate with their name, number and date.
When they're ready to list, I post an introduction on this blog like the one above. During the following few days, I'll list them in numerical order in my Etsy shop. Should you happen to spot one you must have, let me know and I can reserve it for you.
Labels:
crochet,
knitting,
Morrgan's creatures,
Tiny Dragons
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Solving a Fruit Fly Problem
A few days ago I discovered that a cloud of fruit flies had appeared in the fruit bowl.
Ack! Ick! Yuck! What to do?!
Fortunately, I have suitable minions, also known as Drosera capensis or the Bane of Fruit Flies. They were more than happy to help me set a devious trap for the flies.
Muahaha. Feast, my pretties!
(Aaaaaand considering the topic of this post, I just have to link to this animation again.)
Ack! Ick! Yuck! What to do?!
Fortunately, I have suitable minions, also known as Drosera capensis or the Bane of Fruit Flies. They were more than happy to help me set a devious trap for the flies.
Muahaha. Feast, my pretties!
(Aaaaaand considering the topic of this post, I just have to link to this animation again.)
Labels:
plants
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tuesday Finds: Dinosaurs
If you're a dino fan like me, you may have noticed the recent news about Triceratops and Torosaurus. A recent study suggests these two are actually the same; that the Triceratops fossils were young animals and the Torosaurus ones were adults.
It's a world gone topsy-turvy.
It's a world gone topsy-turvy.
Labels:
art,
home decor,
jewelry,
other crafty things,
Tuesday Finds
Sunday, August 15, 2010
New Creations for Fall - Scarves
The first new designs for fall/winter 2010 are now available in my shoppe!There's a simple idea behind this design. I like wearing shawls as scarves, but often they aren't ideal for the job. The shawl might be too short to properly go around my neck. Or if it's long enough, it's also too big and bulky for comfortable wear.
Designed to combine the best qualities of a scarf and a shawl, my triangular scarves or mini shawls can be used as both - layered around the neck or keeping the shoulders and upper arms warm on chilly nights. The main body of the scarf is knitted in a pattern that looks beautiful on both sides - I love the effect, to be honest. I decorated the edges with cables, my favourite thing to knit.
I've made a number of these now, each a different colour. I also used several kinds of materials and made small changes to the pattern for many of them, making each a little different from the others. They will gradually show up in this section of my Etsy shop.
Labels:
knitting,
Morrgan's creations
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Roses are red... and pink!
During the two brief vacations I've taken this summer, we went to visit my parents up north. As usual, I spent as much time as possible in their garden together with my mother - digging, planting, weeding and just enjoying the pretty views. I thought I'd share!
This little beauty is called 'Sommerwind'. I love those kinda scalloped petals, they give the rose such a lovely, romantic look.
The reds on this rose and dahlia are so vibrant!
There's plenty of red raspberries too, as well as strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries. Yum!
Another pink beauty.
These lilies were planted a couple years ago and some of them we got as "surprises" - we had no idea what colours they would be. Due to a lily-eating meanie, this is the first year we actually saw them. They turned out to be rather fantastic surprises. =)
This little beauty is called 'Sommerwind'. I love those kinda scalloped petals, they give the rose such a lovely, romantic look.
The reds on this rose and dahlia are so vibrant!
There's plenty of red raspberries too, as well as strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries. Yum!
Another pink beauty.
These lilies were planted a couple years ago and some of them we got as "surprises" - we had no idea what colours they would be. Due to a lily-eating meanie, this is the first year we actually saw them. They turned out to be rather fantastic surprises. =)Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday Finds: Mushrooms
Is it mushroom season yet? I wonder if there will be any mushrooms this year, after such a hot summer.
(I wouldn't want to eat the ones that look like these, though.)
(I wouldn't want to eat the ones that look like these, though.)
Labels:
jewelry,
other crafty things,
Tuesday Finds
Saturday, August 07, 2010
A recipe tip: Ratatouille Pie
In our household, Mr Morrgan is usually the chef. He enjoys it and is much more imaginative in the kitchen than I am, so having him do most of the cooking was a natural choice. Baking is more my thing.
However, since I've lately spent more time at home than he has, it didn't seem fair that he'd have to work all day plus cook dinner, especially as just walking to work and back takes him 1-1 1/2 hours every day. So I decided to be brave and venture back into the world of cooking.
I've never been very interested in cooking, so I haven't bothered to learn that many recipes. It only took about a week to go through the usual suspects. Alas and alack, it was time to learn a new recipe.
Fortunately for me, I happened to spot something interesting in a magazine: a ratatouille pie. It was a pie (=baking) AND it had goat cheese on it. Perfect!
It was time-consuming, but I'm happy to say it was a success! Delicious both when warm and fresh, and when cold the next day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to use homegrown veggies, but we only had our own lemon basil to put on top. It did make a very nice addition to the flavour, though.
The recipe can be found here, though it seems to only be available in Finnish. Basically the filling is a ratatouille made of eggplant, zucchini, capsicum (bell pepper), onion or leek and crushed tomato. The crust is rolled out thinly into a large circle, the filling placed on it and the crust edges are folded over the filling. After 20-ish minutes in the oven, goat cheese and olives are placed on top and the pie goes back into the oven until the cheese has melted.
As usual, I changed the recipe a little bit. I didn't have the graham flour the recipe asked for, so I made my own version of the crust:
Pie crust
1 1/2 dl (2/3 cup) wheat flour
1 dl (~1/2 cup) rolled oats
3 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp oregano
a pinch of salt
75 g (~2 1/2 oz) butter
about 3/4 dl (1/3 cup) water
Mix the dry ingredients together. Add cubed butter and work into a dough. Add water and stir/mix until you have a smooth mixture. Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in fridge while you make the filling.
However, since I've lately spent more time at home than he has, it didn't seem fair that he'd have to work all day plus cook dinner, especially as just walking to work and back takes him 1-1 1/2 hours every day. So I decided to be brave and venture back into the world of cooking. I've never been very interested in cooking, so I haven't bothered to learn that many recipes. It only took about a week to go through the usual suspects. Alas and alack, it was time to learn a new recipe.Fortunately for me, I happened to spot something interesting in a magazine: a ratatouille pie. It was a pie (=baking) AND it had goat cheese on it. Perfect!
It was time-consuming, but I'm happy to say it was a success! Delicious both when warm and fresh, and when cold the next day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to use homegrown veggies, but we only had our own lemon basil to put on top. It did make a very nice addition to the flavour, though.The recipe can be found here, though it seems to only be available in Finnish. Basically the filling is a ratatouille made of eggplant, zucchini, capsicum (bell pepper), onion or leek and crushed tomato. The crust is rolled out thinly into a large circle, the filling placed on it and the crust edges are folded over the filling. After 20-ish minutes in the oven, goat cheese and olives are placed on top and the pie goes back into the oven until the cheese has melted.
As usual, I changed the recipe a little bit. I didn't have the graham flour the recipe asked for, so I made my own version of the crust:
Pie crust
1 1/2 dl (2/3 cup) wheat flour
1 dl (~1/2 cup) rolled oats
3 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp oregano
a pinch of salt
75 g (~2 1/2 oz) butter
about 3/4 dl (1/3 cup) water
Mix the dry ingredients together. Add cubed butter and work into a dough. Add water and stir/mix until you have a smooth mixture. Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in fridge while you make the filling.
Labels:
recipes
Thursday, August 05, 2010
My Creative Space: Preparing for autumn
Yeah, I missed the Tuesday Finds this week, sorry about that. While I did get back on Tuesday, we arrived close to midnight, so I just collapsed in bed as soon as we got home.
But enough of that and on to what's brewing in my creative space this week, with a sneak peek of this autumn's winter wear! As I am at times physically incapable of letting the knitting needles rest even on holiday (needleless fingers = restless fingers = unhappy fingers), I made the bottom three during these past few internetless days. I have used an eclectic mix of lovely soft wools, bamboo and even a funky vintage cotton-acrylic blend, in all sorts of fun colours. Neutral, dramatic, colourful, sweet; there's pretty much something of everything.
None of these are completely finished yet, but once they are, they'll find their way into my little shoppe.
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
But enough of that and on to what's brewing in my creative space this week, with a sneak peek of this autumn's winter wear! As I am at times physically incapable of letting the knitting needles rest even on holiday (needleless fingers = restless fingers = unhappy fingers), I made the bottom three during these past few internetless days. I have used an eclectic mix of lovely soft wools, bamboo and even a funky vintage cotton-acrylic blend, in all sorts of fun colours. Neutral, dramatic, colourful, sweet; there's pretty much something of everything.None of these are completely finished yet, but once they are, they'll find their way into my little shoppe.
Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!
Labels:
knitting,
Morrgan's creations,
My Creative Space
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