The end of 2009...

This will be my last post of 2009, Second Fiddle is shutting up shop until the new year. I've got some pretty stressful exams fast approaching then Christmas and New Year so it's all a bit busy right now.

It's been a busy year but a good one. It's been hard work though and I'll be pretty glad to see the back of it. 2010 is definitely going to be a year to relax a bit more!

For the meantime though, here's some pretty pictures to cheer me (and maybe you!) up. I was going to go with Christmas photos but figured I should find something a bit different, Christmas is just making me panic at the moment, so much to get through before then!

I saw these when I was in Sweden 18 months ago for a friend's wedding and thought they were adorable. They're called Dalecarlian horses or Dala horse and they were traditionally made in the Swedish province of Dalarna as toys for children. These days they're symbol of Sweden and they're everywhere in Stockholm. Sadly they're super expensive so I could only buy myself and Andrew 2 little hanging versions for the Christmas tree, but they're really pretty all the same. They're not associated with Christmas in Sweden but since our versions hang on the Christmas tree, I personally associate them with Christmas.



Photo credit

Here's one of the ponies that the Dala horse is based on, he's a North Swedish horse. He looks kind of like our Exmoor I think. Any excuse to publish a pony photo! This one is to remind me why I'm doing all this bloody studying, that it'll be worth it in the end.



Photo credit

One last one for the fun of it, me on a Norwegian Fjord pony (see, there is a vague link!) called Morten.



Happy Christmas everyone, see you in 2010! ♥

Still more giveaway fun!

Whilst waiting for an ebay auction to end tonight (nothing exciting, just a new filofax. But brown leather, yum!) I wasted time browsing blogs. And stumbled upon this gem of the blogosphere, The Brocantess. Her writing style is lovely and she's all about flea markets and thrifting, just my kind of blog.



She's doing a massive French vintage giveaway over on her blog so I thought I'd have a crack at entering (though with currently 140 other entrants, I don't think I stand much chance!).

So here we are Ms. Brocantess, consider SecondFiddle entered! Hmm...maybe that's a poor choice of words...

MJ's prize purse!

Here it is (finally), the purse won by the lovely Mary-Jane from my 50 hearts giveaway! It's only taken me...2 weeks to make it....

In my defence, I have scary exams looming (4 weeks and counting) plus numerous Christmas presents on the go, but still, that's no way to treat your blog reading public. I definitely resolve to do better next time, promise.

Apologies for the orange-tinted photos as well, it's dark here and I wanted to take a photo so I can get it sent off tomorrow. Watch out for the postie MJ, it's on the way!





Partly why it's taken so long is that I was umming and ahhing over the design. Normally I put buttons on the outside for decoration but this time I tried the patterned material on the outside and so buttons seemed a bit superfluous. I thought it needed something extra though but I couldn't work out what so in the end I left it, thinking 'less is more'. I hope she likes it .

More giveaway fun!

I'm slightly hooked on giveaways now, I'm entering The Green Violet's vintage giveaway over on her blog.

As proof I've entered and to spread the word, here's a little screen dump of my link on my facebook wall. So I've now promoted the giveaway twice! Hopefully that'll bring me twice the luck when it comes to picking a winner :)

Shanay's wee Hello Kitty bag

If I do say so myself, this is my best bag yet! It's so cute, the pink velvet is lovely to touch and I'm really pleased with how the felt Hello Kitty face turned out. The bag is for one of Andrew's relatives, a sweet little 6 year old girl. Her mum bought the purse from this post and this bag for Shanay's Christmas present, I wish I could be there to see how she likes them!









The bag is velvet on the outside, polka dot cotton on the inside. It's got a velcro fastening top and one of my Second Fiddle labels. I'm pretty proud of it :)

And the winner is...

...number 1! M-J Fleming, thank you for your entry, let me know what design you'd like for the inside and outside of the purse :)

Everyone else, thank you so much for entering and keep an eye on the blog for future giveaways, I'm planning one to celebrate 10 sales (on 9 at the moment!) and one for 100 hearts (on 67 at the moment!).

♥

50 Etsy hearts!

Exciting news! It's Second Fiddle's first prize giveaway!

I now officially have over 50 hearts on Etsy and I thought I would mark the occasion with a giveaway!

The prize is one of my little velcro purses, you can see the one I have for sale on my Etsy shop or photos below. Except yours will be tailor (or Taylor!) made to suit you.

If you win, you can email me with your likes and dislikes in terms of colours, patterns etc (e.g. I like reds, blues and greens, floral, chintz and polka dots. I dislike yellow and cartoon characters) and I will try and make a purse to suit you personally.





Now, here's how to enter. It's pretty simple, just comment below to say you're interested AND (and this is the important part!) post a link to my blog or etsy shop on your blog/facebook/myspace etc. I know it's shameless advertising but I want to do another giveaway when I have 10 sales so all help is needed!

The closing date for entering is Halloween, so I'll be picking a winner using a random number generator on the 1st of November.

So remember, all you have to do is post a link somewhere back to my blog or Etsy shop and then comment below to say you've done so. Maybe linking me to where you've linked me might be an idea!

Good luck everyone! ♥

Elderberry Wine

It's taken me weeks, but last week I finally managed to get my elderberry wine started. It all began when driving to uni one day, I noticed a massive elderberry bush by the side of the road and had a sudden urge to make homebrew. Using this recipe off the BBC's H2G2 website (Douglas Adam, you are sorely missed) I set to work.

I gathered my berries, got the spices, raisins and yeast and borrowed a demijohn off Ellie.





Soaking for 24 hours:



In the process of simmering for an hour:



In the demijohn to ferment for 2 weeks!

Quince brandy and finally finished beetroot

So, I know I'm super sad, but I've started making Christmas presents already. Only because I've got a week of exams the week before Christmas and so from now until then I'm going to be stressing about studying, rather than wanting to craft. So I thought I'd get a head start this weekend.

I got the idea and recipe for quince brandy out of this lovely book given to me by my good friend Vicky. I thought it would make a perfect gift for my grandparents, since they've got everything they'll ever want or need, plus more besides. And they both like drinking, as all true Taylors do.

I got the quince off a sweet guy on Freecycle, bought the bottle from Ikea for £2 and used Tesco own brand brandy and spices. All together the ingredients and bottle came to about £10 so it's not too bad for those on a budget.







Whilst I was busy making labels for the brandy bottle, I thought I'd make one for the beetroot I pickled a week ago. I didn't really like the label since my handwriting is a bit boring, if I could write in a continental-style swirly cursive then I'd be sorted.

Upcycled tin can pencil pot

I made this over the summer, I can't remember where the idea came from but I'm pretty pleased with it. It needs some tweaking, mainly with dimensions since it seems to always come out either too large or too small but eventually I'd like to make a couple more for my Etsy shop.

In the meantime though, I use this one in my study and another one (photos to follow) in the kitchen. I keep planning on making Andrew a Transformers themed one but I've yet to find the right fabric.







This one came out too big and so when you fasten the velcro there's a large overhanging lip. It looked a bit silly so I tied the ribbon round it to hold down the flappy bit and I thought it looked quite cute like that. Just goes to show, sometimes cool ideas come out of mistakes!

It's just a piece of scrap material, backed with white cotton with batting in the middle. It fastens round an old tin can, cleaned out obviously. I like the way you take something you were going to throw away (well, recycle) and turn it into something pretty and functional ♥

Andrew's birthday present

Last summer Andrew went on a charity car rally, driving from London to Mongolia for Save the Children. He was gone for 6 weeks in total and came back hairy and smelly but full of exciting stories about exotic places I'll probably never have the chance to visit. Since then he's been obsessed with the idea of getting a large world map, sticking it to a wooden backing board and putting map pins in it, to show the route they took. His idea was that we would both add to it with our future travels and holidays and he's been searching Gumtree pretty much every day since he came back for the perfect map.

But I got there first

I found a guy living in a newly built estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh (so newly built that the TomTom and street map combined couldn't get me there and I had to ring the poor guy every 10 minutes to work out where I was going) selling a large world map for £15. "Bargain!" I thought, completely discounting the measurements and frequent use of the word 'large'.

When I turned up with my little Corsa, it swiftly became obvious that this monster of a map wasn't going in the car in any great hurry. 5 feet long by 3 feet wide, the only way I could get it in was by bringing both front seats as far forward as they could go and taking the head rests off. The back seats were then folded down and the map slid in at a diagonal until it was resting on the top of the front seats. I drove all the way home with my knees up by my ears (almost) and the map floating precariously about half an inch above my head.

It was all worth it in the end though. I collaged some photos and ephemera around the edge and presented it to Andrew on his birthday last week. He was delighted and is already planning on spending next Saturday carefully plotting their route in map pins. Small things eh?







Oh, I almost forgot to say. The hat in the last photo is one that I knitted him as part of his going-away pack. It came out the weirdest shape but he took it all the way there and all the way back. It's an exceedingly well traveled hat, even if you can't see the weird pointy end that I cunningly tucked behind itself. F7 F7 was their team name by the way and Dyce is obviously Andrew's surname.

Beetroot

Here we go, the promised photo of the finished pickled beetroot! Not that it's anything spectacular, but just because I want to share.

I wish I could print my Second Fiddle banner onto labels and type the contents underneath, it would look super professional, even though it's just for me to eat!

Nom nom nom...

Oh my goodness it's been almost a month since I last updated! I would be much better at updating but real life keeps getting in the way :-( I'm also rubbish at remembering to take photos of things I've made and seen *hangs head*. But! I resolve to be better so watch this space, it's a work in progress...

Recently I've been quite into baking, especially with home grown food. I've decided to put in a veg garden in the shared garden downstairs so look out for future gardening posts! In the meantime though the Windowsill Farm continues to flourish, with a pepper plant being the latest addition.

I baked this yummy apple and bramble crumble a few weeks back with bramley apples from my grandparents garden and brambles picked whilst out with the dog. It was scrumptious even if I do say so myself!



I had a very domesticated weekend that weekend and pickled some beetroot, also homegrown by my grandparents. I've just got to write a label for the jar and it'll all be finished! In the meantime though, here's the photos of the pickling process...

Boiling the beetroot (what a lovely colour)


Cutting it up ready for pickling


Photos of the finished product over the weekend, promise!

Midnight feasts and new tablecloths

I know you're not supposed to take photos with unnecessary clutter that will distract the viewer, but I had to show you all my new tablecloth in it's natural environment i.e. hidden under piles of rubbish.
Last night Andrew and I decided to have an early night but lying in bed awake I happened to mention I was peckish. Next thing you know, we're both back out of bed making cheese toasties and eating chocolate-covered hobnobs (a king amongst biscuits) in our pyjamas, having only brushed our teeth less than 15 minutes earlier. It was amazing, cheese toasties taste so much better when you feel like you're scoffing them secretly, lest matron find out a la Malory Towers.

Anyway, this is a roundabout way of introducing my new tablecloth! Here it is in all it's glory, under the remains of last night's midnight feast. I'm quite impressed with this little tablecloth, I bought the fabric in a sale in Ikea for £2.60 (we went for a futon but never mind), came home and just threw it over the kitchen table. It was like they were meant to be together. At some point soon I'll have to hem the edges but for the moment I start back at uni tomorrow so hemming will have to wait.

Windowsill in bloom

So here we are, the updated Windowsill Farm. The peppermint is sprouting away, the strawberries have new leaves, the aloes are loving their new holders and Amy is a happy little gardener. I'm about to potter off and plant my Grow Your Own Christmas tree from Change the world for a Fiver, a sweet little book Frances and Vicky gave me for Christmas one year. I hope they're still viable seeds, they've been sat in the packet for about 4 years now!

RIP teapot

Today is a sad day. Today is the day that I must announce the passing of the World's Greatest Teapot. In his short but happy life, teapot brought joy to many people, especially Amy and Andrew. He never dripped, was easy to clean, always bright and cheerful. Amy has a special bond with him, having rescued him for £4 from the Bethany Shop. Ironically, a week before she carelessly broke him by dropping a mustard pot onto his head, she found the exact same teapot for the exact same price in the exact same charity shop but didn't buy it. What a mistake. A week later we must mourn the passing of the World's Greatest Teapot and reflect on our stupidity for not buying a spare when we had the chance.

Farewell faithful friend, we barely knew ye.





For those who subscribe to the Buddhist faith, you'll be pleased to know that teapot was later reincarnated a plant pot holder.

The ongoing saga of the windowsill farm...

I've recently been inspired to start growing my own food. And by food I mean anything that will grow in a planter on the kitchen window sill. This is proving trickier than I anticipated as I'm now onto my 4th batch of herbs. They just keep dying! I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, I'm not over watering, under watering, they get plenty of sunlight, they're not in a draft...I'm beginning to think there's some conspiracy afoot.

I just came back from a fruitful trip to Dobbies and now have a very smart plastic planter installed, complete with my 2 strawberry plants that I just got free from a lovely lady on freecycle (plus some amazing windfall apples that were quickly made into a crumble and devoured by all my friends). I took a gamble and bought myself another rosemary plant, with the intention of making rosemary-infused olive oil as part of my grandparent's Christmas present. I repotted up EVERYTHING after a strange outbreak of black flies from the cheapo Asda compost, all my plants are now happily sprouting away in Miracle-Gro-infused compost so if anything dares to die I will not be impressed.

Photos of the new set-up to follow, but in the meantime, here's photos of the sad looking creatures pre-Dobbies trip:

The peppermint is the only remaining herb from the first ever attempt at growing herbs. It looks pretty healthy here but let me assure you, it was plagued with flies. The latest photos will show, it's shot up since being repotted!



The aloe, a totally useless plant that you can't eat, was given to me by my grandmother so I don't really feel like I can pass it onto someone else in return for something edible. Ah well, it's pretty resiliant so I can't complain. I've started potting up its babies into vintage teacups with a vague idea that I might sell them (not sure how, they won't post well).



The saddest of the lot, the basil and coriander. The third in the list of Herbs I Have Killed, not long after this photo was taken they were consigned to the compost bin. But not before I discovered they were the root of the fly infestation. Hopefully no more flies now they're gone!

Toothbrush pot

My mum made this pot back in 1995 when she was taking a pottery class. It hung around the house for ages until I appropriated it and took it to uni with me and it's been mine ever since. It spent the last 4 years as a pencil pot until this year where it was reassigned to the bathroom and now holds toothbrushes. What a marvelous little pot, I salute you!