Yipee, it's raining and I can get back to my doms!

It's too wet outside to want to be playing out there so it's given me a chance to play with my dominoes. The UK Etsy team have a Swap group on Flickr. The purpose of the group is to pass on crafting supplies that are, in our eyes, no longer of use, to someone else who feels inspired by them.

One such find for me were some map 'scraps' from Lupin, please visit her shop to see what she did with the rest! Below is a photo of some mini doms now adorned with mini maps. These were going to be earrings but now I'm pondering over another idea - but you'll have to wait to find out what it is.

These doms show two London Underground stations but I also have maps for the Welsh countryside and Paris. So urbanites and ramblers alike can be accommodated.

I have also been working on a custom order for a 'sun' domino and this is what I've got so far:

Lovely warm colours and a nicely tanned sun!

And now for something completely different. These are my metal leaf dominoes and donut. The dominoes are the mini sized ones but are metal so they have a little more weight to them and are super slim for an added bit of class.

I've used abalone metal leaf which has a lovely range of colours in random patterns. The Gold ones have great copper tones mixed in while the more silver coloured ones also have hues of blue. These are my favourite dominoes so far and I'm really tempted to hang on to all of them as they are each unique. I think I may well keep the donut.

The Etsy group has now come up with an idea of creaing items in the style of another team member. I've already had a few ideas and I love the way it's maing me look differently at my dominoes and at the ways I decorate them. I hope to be able to share my efforts with you soon.

Being Kept Away From More Crafting By A Surprise Win!

I live very close to Eastbourne which is currently hosting the pre-Wimbledon grass court Ladies Tennis tournament. I've never been, but each year I mean to go. So when our local BBC TV News programme had a competition to win a couple of tickets, how could I resist?

And to my great surprise, I won!!! So I dragged a couple of neighbours (actually, they nearly bit my hand off) and off we went. Unfortunately the top 4 seeds, including Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo, had byes and weren't playing but we did see two British girls fighting for a place in the next round. Elena Baltacha and Anna Keothavong put on a great show and it went right to a tie-break in the third set.

In the end Baltacha was the victor but it was close all the way and very exciting to watch.

Along with the tickets, my prize also included a hamper. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't what I got! Below is the lavish spread:


There was smoked salmon and goats cheese and caramalised onion tart for starters, tarragon chicken, potato bean and olive salad along with a green leaf salad for main and strawberries and cream for pud. Wow, we felt very indulgent. And there was even more. Just in case we were getting peckish later on, a strawberry tea was thrown in to quell any hunger pains!!

It was actually hard work fitting in all the food around watching as much tennis as possible.

I can recommend the Eastbourne tournament to anyone who likes tennis. It's so much smaller than Wimbledon that it has a very friendly, personal feel. I had such a good time that I'm thinking of returning on Thursday!

All this excitement has kept me away from my beloved dominoes. I had hoped to get some really good photos today of my latest dom. This time I've been playing with metal leaf and I love the results. Well, I did take a lot of photos but in a moment of madness, I clicked the wrong button and have managed to delete them all! Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. And I have a custom project to work on so I must put aside some time to come up with ideas for that. I promise my next entry will be back to things artistic.

UK Etsy Secret Swap has arrived

The wait is over and I'm chuffed to bits to have received my UK Etsy Secret Swap from honeybeedz, here's a photo of my haul:

She makes some amazing jewellery using Celtic Knots and I'm a very happy bunny to be the proud owner of these. Thank you Honey. I sent my swap to Arty Allsorts and you can see a picture of it on her blog.

Creatively, I've been a bit distracted of late and have been concentrating on more edible exploits. The warm weather has made my thoughts turn to salad and to that end I've been growing some lettuce. It's grown very quickly!

You can't beat fresh salad leaves and with this sort you just pick the outside leaves and let the rest grow. I wish I could grow a lot more of my own vegetables but this will have to wait until I have a garden of my own. It alway tastes better straight from the ground.

I am lucky to have several elder trees in my parents garden and rather than wait for the berries, I thought I'd try my hand at Elderflower Cordial. Of course I am completely biased but the first batch has knocked my socks off. It tastes fantastic. I've always liked the shop bought stuff but this is so much nicer. As I write this, the second batch is already on the go (along with some Elderflower Champagne). The beauty of it, is that it lasts indefinitely but somehow I don't think I'll be able to keep it that long. Try adding it to sparkling wine, it's a real summer drink.

Sometime ago, I was waiting on tenterhooks for my Dremel drill to arrive. Well, I finally tracked one down and I've been like a kid in a sweet shop ever since. If you look in my shop you'll see some of the results. I haven't tackled anything too complicated yet but have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use.

It all looks a bit 'serious' to be used on a small domino!!

I am sorry that I haven't written for a while and I've just made a mid-year resolution to be more active, so watch this space.