poison apple tree shop

I took one little empty blog I had and I have now opened it as an experimental little shop. If it works it works, and if not well then I shall be off to dream up the next little dream. The shop is called poison apple tree after a little story that I wrote and never quite finished (but its on my to do list for getting done by spring ...honest. So please pop by and have a look round. There is only one little item in the shop now but I will add more over the next few days. I still have a few items in my etsy shop if you want to nose round there, I'm not shutting it altogether but for the small amount of crafting I do the fees are quite hefty.

thank you so much for reading my blog, commenting and purchasing my creations.

a zombie, a key and a button

I haven't done much crafting so far this January, I have been working on a little zombie doll with a loose eyeball and made a few cards and a little necklace made with a vintage button and rusty key. I'm not sure if I'm keeping the necklace for myself, listing it on etsy or parceling it off to a friend, but it was fun to make and got me thinking creatively again.

zombie in progress

The little zombie doll isn't quite finished yet, she needs a few more embellishments and staining with tea/coffee and possibly giving an arm or two as she is pretty much a skinny little brick shape. I shall have to think about what she needs doing to her, she is far too clean and neat to be a decent shambling zombie...it won't do at all. Little bits of creativity to keep me going.

My friend Selena has a fabulous idea for selling some fantastic vintage finds on a separate page of her blog called Little Shop. Each item is listed and the first to comment claims the item to be paid via paypal, which I think is a brilliant ideas. Selena said that the idea might work for my crafting as an alternative to my etsy shop. I do love etsy but it takes a lot of work and eats into your profits quite a bit if you are a small fry crafter like me. I haven't decided what to do yet but I do have a bunch of badges that I made that could do with finding new homes. and one or two dolls that need homes too. I don't know what I shall do but these thoughts are swirling round my head and I thought I would share them with my lovely readers.

lists

I was never one to write in diaries, I did get one or two diaries for gifts and as much as I ever wrote was...

Dear Diary,

Today I

...at which point I couldn't fathom writing any more to this 'Diary' person and never opened the diary again. Notebooks I love and covet and usually have several on the go. I have always liked making lists, filling little notebooks with lists of movies, music, recipes, books read, books to read, dreams (literal), dreams (not so literal), quotes, ideas and odd little doodles. Notebooks are grand places to use the pens I also hoard collect.

I like to think of this blog as one of my notebooks in the digital realm, its filled with the oddments of what makes me tick...or at least the censored not quite as depressive version of my exploits through life, the craft world and pottering in my kitchen. As its the new year... well still January I thought I should do some resolutions but I find resolutions difficult to adhere to so aside from the stand by of loose weight, eat less pudding and be happier... I'm going to put a list here of things I want to try this year (or the next) nothing major, I'm not talking jumping out of planes or swimming with sharks, this isn't a bucket list (or end up as pieces swept up into a bucket list).

so here goes

A list of list-y things:

*have a proper design for my blog

*write more ~stories, drabbles.. start small I'm not ready for novel writing.

*draw ~I haven't doodled much in the last few months and though my skills as an artist aren't legendary I still want to draw more.

*make a zine ~I need help here because I have ideas and stories and a few doodles but cannot wrap my head around printing them... so please help and harp at me.

*letterpress printing ~ I badgered the lovely jax to print an Ansel Adams quote for Matt's Christmas present and it has got me thinking that I would love to go to a workshop letterpress day to play with letters (no idea what I would make a print of...probably a Firefly quote *geek*)

*learn to crochet *again*

*make a small quilt (I started some blocks last year but that's as far as I got.

*paint and distress (farmhouse - americana - shabby chic sort of thing) the chairs and table from grandma's house that nobody wants.

*make jam (as I only have had one failed attempt at blackberry jam... and I actually don't really like blackberries.

*probably some other things to be added later but I need to get the house work done and bake some cakes...

what's on your list?

the Nightmare Before Valentine's Day Craft Swap

Tim Burton the Man Himself

The Nightmare Before Valentine's Day

A Tim Burton Craft Swap

I love Tim Burton's movies and find them very inspiring and so I thought we should have a little Tim Burton Craft Swap.

Jack Skellington one of my favourite characters

Details:

*Sign ups from today the 4th of January until Friday the 14th of January (I will email you on *Friday the 14th with your partner's details).

*Parcels to be sent out by the second week of February (I'm hoping that things will arrive for Valentine's day but I don't believe it's essential. )

* The swap will be international, so please don't sing up unless you are willing to post a parcel internationally.

* participants need to have a blog or flickr account so that your partner can stalk you.

*the swap will consist of one or two handcrafted items, 1 craft treat (a bit of fabric, or buttons or whatever your partner likes) and one Valentine's Day treat (chocolates or jelly beans or whatever your partner loves best). Please email me the following questions at meridianariel @ hotmail . com

QUESTIONNAIRE:

Your real name:

Email address:
Mailing address:

your blog:
What is your favorite Tim Burton Movie? :
Favourite Burton Character?:

Favourite colours?:

a Favourite book:

favourite Valentine's day Treat:
A little bit about you :

Who's with me?

love is...

...spending 25 minutes in the freezing cold scrubbing dog shit off your sons favourite sketchers trainers* with an old kitchen scrubber. Because your stubborn seven year old had a strop and stomped off across the park and though a pile of shit that must have been left by an elephant or possibly a bear that at a diet of wheat-a-bix** and super glue. I may have got crap on my jumper and my hands have only just warmed enough to spread the joy of the new year with you all. So Happy New Year!

* sneakers

**grapenuts or other cereal that is impossable to remove from a cereal bowl.

I'm calm now and warming by the fire while I wait for the kettle to whistle at me.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope you have a special day tomorrow where ever you are. Friends old and new, real, and the magical pretend friends that live in my computer. It's been a long year and I think I'm ready to raid the chocolate box before Santa visits our house.

Best Wishes,

Apryl (Meri)

a little window

On my trudge to the post office today I saw a little window sitting in a skip. I coveted it immediately and with a little encouragement from twitter I decided that if it was still there when I walk back home that it was meant to be mine. I braved the hostile queue at the post office, ran around getting chocolate, oats and milk (cold weather essentials) then flounced back in a huff, slipping and sliding on the icy pavement while my ipod blared in my ears.

Low and behold there was the little window still in the skip with a layer of ice and snow on it. I fished it out and trudged the rest of the way home. I narrowly avoided falling on my ass in the street and dropping my new prize possession. I unpacked my shopping, had a warm by the fire then wiped down the window and found a spot for it on my dresser. I love that it is battered by the weather and a bit junky (aka Flea Market Style) it suits me and my mood and when there is some sort of decent light I think it will photograph beautifully in the background of blog pictures.

I think I may pin some fairy lights on it tomorrow if the fancy takes me. For now I have used it as a pin board and stuck two little cards on it for inspiration from the very talented Deborah of Champignons . She says one day she will conquer the world, and I believe she will do just that. And speaking of pin boards have you found pinterest yet? Its my latest obsession when I have my coffee breaks, its very inspirational. My pins are here

I may have overdone it with the edible glitter

One of Harrison's teachers is leaving the school for greener pastures so we needed a present sharp. The last few weeks have been manic and I was in a panic because I didn't think anything that I crafted would be suitable. How can a doll compare with bottles of expensive bubble bath and the like. So I decided to do something quick and edible (in the zero amount of spare time I have with sorting out the book and toy sale at school, wrapping presents and maintaining my grinch-ly demeanor.

I got a Christmas themed Wilton cookie mold from Jo-ann Fabrics store while in the states and had been waiting for Christmas baking to begin. The molds are cheap and fun for kids to help make them (H helped with a Halloween themed mold I was sent in a swap) but had no interest in helping me make a gift for his teacher. Possibly because they weren't for him to eat. The first batch I made last night was a horrific mess the bag I melted the chocolate in popped and dark chocolate went pretty much everywhere. Only two of the 8 cookies were decent enough for a gift, the other six were a disgrace and had to be eaten right away.

This morning after coffee (and everything happens after coffee0 I made this batch of white chocolate covered oreos with edible blue glitter. I may have over done the glitter a wee bit but they looked ace in the jar I put them in. I know they did because Matt was worried it would be too *nice* for a gift. I growled and said it was simple and nice and is only a jar, they are cheap enough at Ikea and something that is useful when empty of the cookies that is. Harrison thought the jar looked great and said his teacher will love it I suppose I will find out after lunch while I set up the tables for the book and toy sale to raise funds for new school equipment. Wish me luck.

sugar and spite

sweetness and light

I finished two dolls today... and by today I mean last night and just now. Today is a relative term, I'm not entirely sure what it is relative to but anyway I finished them. One I love and one is an evil spiteful creature that hates me. This isn't a story (at least not yet), both dolls have sat unfinished on my desk since mid October. I kept picking them up and putting them down. The flowery one (who is still nameless but needs a vintage-y sort of name to go with her Cath Kidston sample fabric self) turned out great, after I swapped her eyes around 3 or 4 times, and now I think she has a personality and I love how she turned out.

spiteful...don't let the matroyska fool you

The other doll however did not want to go the way I thought she should, no matter what I did nothing worked and I was ready to scrap her all together, rip out her guts and salvage her buttons. In the end I thought it best to finish her so she wasn't in UFO* purgatory. I still think she is a spiteful cow but something of her reminds me of Hyperbole and a Half (which you should totally read because it is a fantastically awesome blog) so she is finished and I have no idea what I will do at her. She still needs a name like Veronica or Agatha or something slightly more malicious... Marigold maybe...

Not everything I touch turns to gold or silver or even tarnished copper... sometimes what I touch turns to crap, and sometimes that crap has a mind of it's own. I have no idea what I'm writing any more. I am now going to put the kettle on because its snowing out I'm cold and I have been a busy bee all day... and now I'm a grumpy bear or something.

*UFO =unfinished object

brown paper parcels

The first few presents are wrapped up neatly in brown paper and stamped with fat snowflakes... er well its a doily stamp but it looks suitably snowflake-y. I'm happy with them anyway and though I don't feel all that Christmas-y yet I did string up the lights outside and put the tree up (with much internal swearing). As a family we all put the ornaments on (which I rearranged quite a few because I'm ever so slightly crazy). So far only two have leapt to the floor in a bid to escape. I love the lights but I have never been much of a fan of Christmas music (Matt says its because I'm a grinch) so we listened to Planet Rock while decorating and hoovering pine needles.

and this is a picture of my craft space, tidy isn't it? With two mostly made dolls (one in need of eyes and one I don't really like as she didn't go the way I wanted and I keep abandoning her various places around the house). Last night Matt hung the two frames above my desk, the smaller of the two is a button art piece by Megan (Vintage Violet), it has a Halloween theme but I loved it so much that I had to have it framed and finally up on the wall.

The larger frame makes me both happy and very sad as it is a tatted doily that Matthew's grandmother gave me for my birthday. She passed on a few months ago and she was a very special lady. This is the first I have blogged about it as we have all be very upset and its been a very stressful and upsetting time for all the family. She was lovely and always made me feel like I belonged in the family and always thought about my mother and loved the See's candy we would bring bake from the states though she wasn't supposed to eat it.

It will be a sad christmas this year. But we will try to make it special for Harrison who in typical child fashion takes things better than we grown up do.

I am crying now and I meant this post to be light and airy and I fear that won't happen now. And my laptop battery is nearly gone. So I'm going to watch something silly while curled up in bed and tomorrow I am making pancakes for breakfast.

the one where I swear via a typewriter and badges

I am bad... also I hate dishes

I don't as a rule swear a lot... I try not to.. to be a good influence... and seeing as my parents are umbeatable in the game of creative swearing I am mostly an angel.. *shines halo*

You all totally believe that right? I am totally sweet and innocent and kind and...er whatever. Anyway I had a commission for some geeky badges (aka TGI Friday's flair) from the awesomely talented Amanda of Kitschycoo... she told me I could do whatever I wanted *paraphrasing* and so I did... if you don't get the TrueBlood and Big Bang Theory geekery than there is no helping you.

The dishes badge? well this is the second I have made as the first one sold before I had a chance to actually blog about it.

time to trudge out to the garage to sort out the laundry and recycling while freezing my buttocks off.

pie chips and a mind lost

pie chips in paper cone

I saw a recipe on a blog somewhere weeks ago and I have no idea where it was and I didn't think to keep it but the idea stuck in my head that I could make my own.... especially as there was a lump of pie crust sitting forlornly in the fridge being ignored day after day. So I rolled out the crust sliced it and arranged it on a non-stick baking sheet, dabbed a bit of melted butter, sprinkled some sugar and popped them in the oven for....er 10 min on a moderate heat. I then put some strawberry jam in pots for dipping.

Matt thoughts it was awesome, I thought it was fun, the Boy was not impressed in the slightest but that's ok, after a week of being stuck in the house with me due to snow I'm pretty sure I can't do anything right by him. Luckily school is open tomorrow.. otherwise I would have to spend the day rocking in the corner... I'm not entirely sure he would notice that anyway.

New badges have been flying out of my etsy shop as fast as I can list them. So have a look at my shop via the side bar and see what I've been up to with a little help from Harrison. Right now I'm tired, my mind is lost, I will finish listing these few badges I made today, and then I'm making a pot of tea and turning into a couch potato. *cough* *cough* oh and the boy saw fit to give me his cold...so very generous don't you think?

rogue robin

Today was just a normal day...a normal day where I got brained by a rogue robin.

Imagine the scene, its snowing outside and I'm curled up by the radiator in a nest of papers, packaging, and badge making components happily crafting away. Harrison is in his room happily writing out some Christmas cards and singing to himself.

Suddenly from out of nowhere...thunk... something hits me on the head.. no warning. I look around and there beside me is an angry red robin.

I heard the thunder of tiny paws as Alys the cat comes running into the bedroom covered in snow.

I scooped up the cat handed her to Harrison and made him shut the door.

I slowly crept up on the robin, who eyed me with loathing and suspicion. I opened the windows. The Robin glared at me with its beady eye. I bent down and the robin went for my eye. Lucky for me I wear coke bottle glasses.

In a flash it was gone. In the opposite direction to the gaping window. Snow drifted in covering the windowsill and the floor beneath. I stalked the robin. I looked high and low, but could not find the robin anywhere, so I called the boy and made him help me search for it. We finally found it under the wardrobe.

It flew out towards the windows... but not the one that was gaping wide open and letting the snow in... the robin perched on the closed window behind the curtain and stayed there. With a sigh I opened that window and shooed it out. With a last glare at me it flew outside and disappeared.

May the Geek be With You II

Harrison and I made a few more Star Wars pin badges and I have popped them in my little etsy shop. Just three to start off with but if they sell I will make some more to add to the shop while I still have the badge machine on loan from a truly fantastic friend.

The fourth Doctor

I'm the Doctor

Sometimes my brilliance even astonishes me- Tom Baker the 4th Doctor

I didn't knit the scarf, Harrison bought it on a trip to London. Then he never wore it because its too itchy. But we collared him and made him stand out in the cold with a dripping nose till Matt got a few good shots and then we marched home to the fire, the kettle, hot chocolate and badge making.

Cute little bugger isn't he ?

Sour Cream Cherry Cake

Sour Cream Cherry Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

1 ¼ cups caster sugar

1 cup sour cream ( soured cream if you are in the UK)

2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup cherries (pitted and sliced in half)

Directions:

mix the dried ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl mix the sour cream vanilla and eggs. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly .

fold in the cherries.

spook the mix into a cake pan (grease and flour if needed. I used a non-stick pan)

bake for 40 - 50 min at 350 F (180 C )

cook's notes: the cake turned out great for being a lazy stir in sort of cake... by lazy I mean that it was cold out and I was out of butter and I have made muffins before with yogurt/sour cream so I googled around to find some recipes to read through then did my own thing. I do that rather a lot. Everyone enjoyed the cake so it worked out great... but I'm really going to have to do the shopping today. The cherries did sink but that didn't bother me or anyone else that had a slice. :o)

I best go get some house cleaning done before lunch and cooking Thanksgiving dinner... its a chicken this year as it was lurking in the freezer as we are having a low key holiday season this year... its been a long year and everyone needs a break.

Coconut and Almond Bark

Coconut and Almond Bark

Ingredients:

2x bars dark chocolate (150g bars )

1 cup almonds (toasted)

1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon butter (or marg)

Directions:

line a baking sheet with parchment/baking paper

1. melt the chocolate, sugar and butter over a low heat.

2. add the almonds and 1 cup of coconut to the melted chocolate and stir gently.

3. Pour the mixture onto the baking paper lined cookie sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.

4. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut over the cooling mixture.

5. Refrigerate the bark for 1-2 hours or until set then cut into squares or break gently.

cook's notes: While we were in the states Harrison was introduced to Almond Joy bars ( a Bounty bar with almonds for those in the UK ) he was addicted. So yesterday I got it in my head to make some coconut candy and add almonds to them... but that was more work than I had time for so I decided to make bark instead which I suppose is basically a thinner version of rocky road and all I needed to do was melt the chocolate and stir everything up. Easy peasy. There is a little bit of the bark left hidden behind some vegetables in the fridge all the rest has been nibbled up, so that must mean its good stuff no? I think so anyway. I may tinker with the recipe a bit when I make it next time to perfect it... it doesn't really need the sugar and butter but the cocolate was very dark and that would have lead to rebellion...although I would have been happy.

To Idaho and Beyond

he is drinking hot cocoa by the way...

he is too young to start knocking back the espresso

Now that the jetlag has nearly worn off I shall tell you the tale of an Autumnal trip to Idaho. It began with an early morning (5am) jaunt down to Heathrow (3 hour drive) with stops for coffee and to a Tesco Extra, due to me realizing I left the house in my tatty slipper boots with a hole in them. Tesco had sod all in the shoe department so I bought a new pair of black booty slippers that were actually comfortable. Away we went to Heathrow to check in and be told that H's carset (which you have to have your child in by law here and in the states) is considered check-in luggage and you are only allowed one suitcase each (it used to be two each up to a few months ago...bastards). Luckily I'm a most excellent suitcase packer and had put one case into another suitcase matroyska style so we squeaked through with 3 check-in bags and no outlandish extra baggage fees.

Moses Lake (view from outside Starbucks) Halfway-ish to Idaho

So we went through security and spent an age and a half poddling about the airport drinking coffee and shuffled aboard the old flying tin can and locked in for the next gazillion hours with H in motor mouth mode most of the time when he wasn't watching the start of the same 3 movies over and over again. Harrison and Matt managed to sleep a few hours on the flight but I tend to nod out then freak out when I nod out and wake again. I chose to watch a bunch of forgettable movies that may have been comedies, I have my doubts though.

listening to Smoke on the Water or Nightmare Before Christmas

We arrived at Sea-tac (seattle) airport in the afternoon did the customs shuffle, collected our baggage then surrendered it again to get on a train to get to the main terminal to collect our baggage, find the bus to the rental car place, swiped some wifi from the hotel across the road to tell everyone we arrived safe. The we went to the hotel were we spent the next few hours trying to get Harrison off the ceiling and feed him before we all slept like the dead until about 1 am. When we gave up all hope of sleeping any more and packed up and drove three doors down to have breakfast at Denny's at 2 am.

on the road...still

After breakfast we set out on the 5 1/2 hour trip across Washington State to reach my parents home in Northern Idaho. A few hours later we stopped at the Safeway in Cle Elum to stumble around giddy at various American snack items, the politeness of the shelf stockers and how the walk to the bathrooms in the back of the store was a walk into a horror movie and we waited for zombies to shuffle around the corner to nosh on our addled brains. We sought refuge in the coffee hut across the road and with a supply of caffeine and snack we hit the road again, stopping a few hours later in Moses Lake for coffee at Matthew's favourite Starbucks. I uploaded photos to flickr and Facebook on Starbucks free wi-fi and then we were on the road again.

Hello Idaho

After another stop for a Cinnabun and American Mall Air we finally crossed the state line into Idaho and drove the last leg around Lake Coeur d'Alene to my parents home where we were mauled by a pack of well meaning pugs and collapsed in a puddle of jet-lag and went for a nap. We shambled out of our room for food stuffs, and to be mauled by happy doggies while Harrison played with all the things he has stockpiled at my parents house. My parents told us all about the three pugs they rescued over the summer while we adjusted to the ticking of my dad's antique clock collection.

way too early to be that happy

The next morning we awoke at stupid o'clock and drove down to town so Harrison could have a monstrosity of a pancake from IHOP for his breakfast. After breakfast we had coffee wandered around town and went to shuffle around Target overdosing on the Halloween section of the store and letting H play with every damn toy in the shop.

Assorted pugs

It took most of the week for us to stay awake past 6pm at night... I think it has something to do with the clean Idaho air, the soothing sound of the ticking clocks (unless you are trying to watch a movie when they all chime) and the happiness of having a small pug (or several) snuggle up next to you.

somewhere in downtown CDA (sorry I became addicted to lo-mob iphone app)

Hasting's Bookstore

to be continued.....

by the fire...

...coffee in hand, playing with vintage buttons and pens...and ignoring the rest of the unpacking, the laundry, and everything else.

This is bliss.

errant blogger returns and eight questions

little radio flyer wagon I bought while thrifting in Idaho last April

and only brought back this trip

Back home again from our Halloween visit to my parents' home in the wilds of Idaho. I will blog about that later as first I started a post about being tagged by Ali, from the lovely Very Berry Handmade blog, just before we went away.

The rules are that you answer the eight questions posed to you and then you send your own eight questions to eight other bloggers of your choice. Here are my answers from Ali's questions.

1. What do you enjoy about blogging?

I love the friendships blogging has brought and the inspiration.. but for me I like to get the ideas out of my head and weather they are read or not there are there in the world of the internets.

2. What’s your ideal holiday?

If not the holiday we just had to visit my parents in Idaho.. the probable the previous holiday in April when we got to visit with friends California as well as my parents in Idaho. I don't do beach holidays, sitting baking in the sun for two weeks is no fun, I like to visit friends, go thrifting, estate sale-ing, drink gallons of coffee in various coffee houses and explore cities.. and play with my parents pack of pugs.

3. What is your favourite comfort food?

either my dad's cooking with is fabulous... or something simple like pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese

4. What is your proudest achievement and why?

I have been really proud of the little dolls I have been making over the last few months, and writing the stories that go with them... It's something I never thought I would do but I have done and have sold several and feel amazed and proud every time one has sold.

5. What do you lose sleep over?

everything, I'm a worrier and at night my brain doesn't have an off switch so I will lie in bed for hours worrying and thinking and not being able to sleep.

6. What’s your favourite way to relax?

either curled up with a cup of fruity tea watching a show at the end of the day before going to bed...or I love to sit in a coffee shop with my journal doodling and people watching.

7. What’s your favourite film?

It depends on my mood as I have alot of film favourites. One of the films I consider a favourite is Serenity *sniffles at Wash* but I love Amelie, the Resident Evil flicks, the Last Unicorn, Labyrinth, the Lost Boys, Goonies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I'm very fond of very terrible monster movies.

8. Where’s your favourite place to shop online?

it depends what I'm shopping for. Recently i have really liked shopping on a few of the Amazon 'shops' to find used books that aren't in the big shops and I always love getting lost on etsy though I rarely have all the funds to buy all the things I wish for!

my eight questions:

1. What's your favourite holiday to craft for?

2. Best thing you received in a Craft swap?

3. Favourite tv show(s)?

4. What has blogging given you?

5. What has made you smile recently?

6. What are you crafting/making now?

7. What's your favourite treat?

8. Why do you blog?

I'm not going to tag anyone as I'm to tired now.. and the dose of caffeine I had at lunch time is fast wearing off. but if you read this post, leave a comment and consider yourself tagged. I will visit you and comment when I'm a bit more awake and getting over the jet lag.