Wood Sprites and Gingerbread Houses

This is my wood sprite. He makes things grow and looks after the garden, or at least he will do from next spring onwards. He's only a few weeks old and is still a little bit too vulnerable to be left out in the December frost. Until then he will be wintering on my mantelpiece, where it's safe and warm, and wherer everyone can admire him properly.

He doesn't have a name. He's a wood sprite - they don't believe in names.

And here is my finished gingerbread house for tomorrow's 'event' in the office. Apparently my house is too 'plain'. I disagree - I like it just the way it is (and besides, I've ran out of royal icing and the sweets just won't stick on with plain glycerine).

(I had a bit of a Photoshop moment with the sky there - I don't know whether your noticed. I didn't feel the kitchen cupboard was the right sort of background for my gingerbread house.)

Since this photo was taken, a car has been added which is brilliantly cute - a bit like Noddy's car except with Liquorice Allsorts for wheels, a chocolate button for a steering wheel and two Jelly Tots for headlamps.

Taking it into work tomorrow will be interesting, it's on a very large and slightly wobbly board. I'm torn between wanting somebody to help me take it into the building, and being a little bit ashamed of being seen...

I'm really looking forward to sseing everyone elses though - I've had a sneaky preview of a couple of them, and they're awesome - they completely put mine to shame! I will take photos to show you.

The first ever Cross Stitch Patterns Blog Carnival is now up at crossstitch4free.com, and my red mushroom is one of the ones up there. There are only a few patterns up this time, but I hope it will grow, as it could be a great resource for stitchers.

Speaking of cross stitch - here's a quick update of my current WIP - she's coming along, but I'm afraid I've abandoned all hope of getting her finished in time for Christmas!

The First Annual Office Ikea Gingerbread House Decorating Competition

I am becoming a tiny bit obsessed with my pottery at the moment - and I'm loving it! I'm afraid I still don't have much to show off, as I have several projects in different stages of construction / firing / glazing in the studio, and many of the pieces I have thrown on the wheel seem to have wanted to collapse while drying - or else I've pushed them too far on the wheel and had to duck as thick strips of clay fly off the pot and across the room.

I have completed my first cake stand through, and I love it despite (or because of?) its imperfections. I haven't brought it home yet to photograph because I wanted to show it off in my Tuesday class first.

I do have a small collection of thrown items sitting on my mantlepiece at the moment that have been biscuit fired and that I want to sand down and tidy up before glazing on Tuesday, so here is a picture of those...

As you can see, I'm not yet what you would describe as a 'skilled' potter, (what with wonky bases, wibbly edges and all...) but I'm having the best fun learning.

I haven't done much cross stitch this last week, although I did do a fair bit in the week previous, so she's starting to shape up now. I'll try to do more this week, as I'm keen to have it finished and frames in plenty of time for Christmas.

And in other news - we're having an 'Ikea Gingerbread House Decorating Competition' in the office this Christmas (well, on December 8th to be exact). The only rules are that only one Ikea Gingerbread House may be used (no supplementing it with other packs to build extensions and turrets!), and all decorations must be edible (with the exception of supporting devices such as cocktail sticks).

Not that I'm getting at all carried away with this idea, but I've already bought two kits to practise with, and have already completed a basic build on the first house. I've learnt some important lessons on construction (e.g. using a piping bag to control the icing is much more effective than a teaspoon and fingers), and have glazed each window with a different colour boiled sweet (you melt them for a few minutes in the oven) so I can choose my favourite for the final piece.

I agree that it's a bit dull-looking at the moment, but that's because I haven't begun to stick on the sweeties yet. I have to wait for the icing to fully dry before weighing the roof down with dolly mixtures, otherwise I may be faced with a collapse. I know that the window outline icing is a bit poor - I have no excuse for that, I'll try to do beter next time. I hope to be able to start sticking some decorations on tomorrow afternoon after my ice skating lesson.

Oh yes, haven't I mentioned? I'm starting a 6 week course of ice skating lessons tomorrow. I can't wait! (Jiggling around excitedly in my seat).