Nayu's Craft Time #261 Beauty and the Beast audiobooks + Cadbury's Chocolate Roundies

Best B&B retelling EVER!!!!

I will be doing some crochet tonight to yet another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This weekend I relistened to the audio version of Beauty by a brilliant fairytale reteller Robyn McKinley, and I've just started her newest one (again a B&B retelling), made 20 years after her original one.

 Rose Daughter is so far very different, to Beauty, but it's a bit too early to tell how much I like it yet. I don't dislike it, magic is more prominent than in Beauty (which I adore so much!), and yes, give me a few more chapters before I form an opinion on it. 

Whatever you do, be it craft, audiobook listening, actual book/ebook reading, watching TV, listening to music - at some point you will need a snack, and today I'm talking about a new Cadbury biscuit - the Roundie! 

Here it is in all it's glory! (not my picture)

The name makes me smile - it is accurate - but my family discovered it this week. It is currently on offer in Sainsbury's - I'm hoping the half price discount will last until I go shopping on Friday. I tried one yesterday (or was it the day before)....oh my word it is amazing!!!! It's chocolate and wafer layers and what tastes like a caramel slash fudge, one that's similar to fudge pieces I've had from a luxury hot chocolate. 

I like loads of types of chocolate, but this is definitely high on my favourite chocolate bar lists! My family has mixed reaction, one vote for it's ok but not amazing, another saying it's rather good (translate as very good). I'd love to know what you think if you've tried them! 

Ribbit!

Nayu's Craft Time #260 Important Info: My Missing Blog Background

Some of you may have seen a ghastly image in the background rendering my blog unreadable. Apologies for this, it wasn't my fault. There's a major issue with the company Photobucket, which I've explained in the following post on Nayu's Reading Corner. I would have put it here, but yesterday after investigating the matter I needed the cute pictures to accompany the post (I tend not to use them as much on this blog). The short answer is I don't know when I will be able to reinstate the background as I'm clueless with web design. For now white will have to do.

Nayu's Feature Post #4 London Embroidery Exhibition 12th-13th July

This post is all about bags, so it seems fitting that I show you my main bag (I don't have many) - it's the lovely Gorjuss Ladybird girl! The other side is a little different, but this is the only picture I could find quickly online.

Note: Anything in black font is my own thoughts, anything in purple is taken from emails/websites, which I give the source where possible.

Company logo

This request came through on my book review blog, but since it's a craft themed event I thought I'd talk about it here! I didn't go, and as you can see from the post's title it is now over - this is the earliest I've been able to put the post together Here's the info from the email I received from Hand & Lock's agent (unsure of correct term to use in this instance. Might be publicist, but not quite sure). Hand & Lock explain themselves best on their website: 

Hand & Lock are London’s premier embroidery house providing embellishment services to the Royal Family, top European design houses, the Royal Armed Forces, Savile Row and members of the public. In our central London atelier we offer a range of services from hand monograms and bridal customisation to goldwork blazer badges and machine embroidered logos. Every commission we undertake receives the highest care and attention from our team of dedicated embroidery designers and expert embroiderers. Whether you are a top Italian designer or a new parent looking to monogram your daughter’s christening outfit the process the process is exactly the same.

This bag is by Aspinal of London Someone in my family loves poppies, which I believe these flowers are (no idea about what type the butterfly is - I can only identify a cabbage white!) The stitching is perfect, and  looks a sophisticated bag

Wow. That's quite an impressive list of clients, as well as being a long established business before the 21st century!  Even before seeing any of the pictures I knew the bags would be exquisite, and they are! I can pretty much guarantee none of them would be under £30 which is the most I've ever spent on a bag (I'm not a bag buying type of girl). 

This beautifully coloured bag is by Jill Haber. I find the eye creepy, but ignoring that (a bit hard...) I love the turquoise and gold flower (except I'm sure it's meant to be a hand), with the stars accenting the corners. Not entirely sold on what looks like a bellpull, but overall it's a pretty creation.

Anyway, from the original email I was told that Hand and Lock is hosting the London Embroidery Exhibition featuring lots of amazing collaborations they’ve worked on over the years including pieces straight from the Vivienne Westwood AW17 runway and Mary Katrantzou.  Among these gems, we also have the ‘Embellished Bags’ – a project where Hand & Lock have teamed up with the following iconic hand bag designers to create an exclusive limited edition collection: Aspinal of London, Jill Harber, Vivienne Westwood, Alfie Douglas, House of Holland, Lost Property of London, BVS Design, Asprey, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Lulu Guiness, Globe-Trotter, Patrick Cox and Agnes B. 

This understated yet elegan Fleur de Lys bag is by Patrick Cox. I love the contrast between the plain white/cream and the heavily patterned symbol.

I've heard of Vivienne Westood, but that's about the only designer I recognise - I'm not really into bags at all, but knowing designers has nothing to do with admiring these works of fine craftmanship! I've saved my favourite until last, a modern design which while I'm not overly fond of red things (I know my bag is red, but it depends what type of red) this is the bag that grabbed my eye the most, and is by Henry Holland. I like the swirly bits and the way the colours both stand out and compliment each other.

A Hentry Holland bag

I hope you've enjoyed this feature post - hopefully there will be more exhibitions like this in the future that I can share with you!

Nayu's Craft Time #259 Cats get spots!

 

My gorgeous girl who I can wax lyrical about on Twitter a lot

Please note this post is my own opinion, and if you are at all worried about your pet's health please do see a vet. Some lumps aren't as innocent as simple spots.

Even if you're a cat owner, you may not know that cats get spots just like humans do. A few weeks ago I felt a lump on my cat Belle's chin. Of course the first thought for any lump is 'cancer!'. I was concerned because over the next few days it kept getting bigger - it felt like a pea, but seemed more like a football in my head. 

My family said not to worry, it's probably nothing. I searched online, which I recommend against if it's for human ailments as self-diagnosis is usually not a good idea for anything other than obvious ailments, and discovered that the lump was probably a spot. 

You can sort of see it in the centre of the circle

Over the next few days it went down - she'd scratched it so there was a scab. I discovered that spots can be like our spots (lumpy) or the blackhead kind - she doesn't have any of those. There can be a number of causes from spots, including plastic food/water bowls. 

Hers looks a little like this one I found online

The water bowl was a little rough, so I switched to a ceramic type one, which so far there's been no problems. I think there's been another spot on Belle's chin, but I'm not worrying about it now I know what it is. I won't be using spot cleansing solution or anything like that - if it becomes a major issue then of course she'll go to the vet, but for now her spots are just one of those things that happen and should go away on their own

This weekend was nice and quiet with lots of gaming, as I'd had a crazy week with unavoidable errands every day (I like at least 1 day at home between going out) from Tuesday to Friday, so I was a bit worn out. So far this week is a little quieter, so enjoying the break while it lasts! I have been working on my current project - more on that in the next post ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #258 Donut Yumminess, Crochet Progress & Life Update

Peanut buttery donut delight!!!

On a visit to Bath (the English City with the Roman baths) the other day my family treated me to 2 super yummy Krispy Kreme donuts! I've had the Reese's peanut butter one (with a lovely gooey centre), and I'm having the other one today, flavour I can't remember. I adore KK donuts (or duffnuts as they can be called in my house). I rarely have them - there's no Krispy Kreme shop near me, they are more expensive than supermarket donuts, and I absolutely refuse to buy them from Tesco - I don't like the store at all (no offence if you shop/work there). I've been busy with unfortunately necessary life stuff, as well as having lots of rest. I'm sorry for not being able to blog sooner but I have been busy! 

As well as the usual gaming, I've been reading some great books including the soon to be published novel The Rasputin Dagger by Theresa Breslin. I usually just link to the latest review on the right menu on this blog, but this is based quite a bit on a historical event. It's the best fictional account of the end of the Tsars in Russia that I've ever read, with a focus on Anastasia and her other sisters. I adore the Disney version of the story, Anastasia, 

Here's a handy image of the DVD with a summary for you

 and while I know that DNA has proved Anastasia did probably die with the rest of her family when they were killed (there's a horrendous scene at the end of The Rasputin Dagger when the royal family are taken away), but I like to imagine she escaped. The book focuses on a different character (with a lot of poetic licence involved as it's fictional, but a fair amount of historical accuracy too), and I highly recommend it. I'll be taking part in a book tour so will most definitely link that when it's up on my review blog, Nayu's Reading Corner. 

Not only have I been reading, I've been crocheting too! I sort of finished a blanket - I've got some decorating plans which require a bit more concentration than I've had lately. I will show you once it's finished, but that might be a while. I've already started my next project...

Progress by the end of Monday

I'm not sure how big this will end up, as I've only got a few balls of wool, but I'm hoping it can at least reach aby blanket size. I started it when I had my monthly craft day with a friend. She couldn't believe how many times I redid 1 one as I figured out how to join the squares together without sewing them: there's a particular crochet way to do it, which means no seams to sew at the end (minus the ends of each square's yarn in the middle). I haven't done it for a while, so didn't do it quite right at first. It has to be a different method for each corner of the square too, which took even more working out. Yesterday I managed to do almost 2 rows (6 squares), which is good progress considering I was busy gaming & reading too. 

Phone used for scale

Hopefully this post was worth the wait, and, barring any more unexpected life stuff (a lot will be up over the next few months but hopefully they won't affect my blogging schedule too much) my next blog post will be in a few days (or less!).   

If you want to know what I do between blog posts, please follow  me on Twitter - I'm @Nayuleska. I usually tweet a few times a day, and while this can be a lot of gaming tweets, I post updates of my crochet projects and random life stuff ^u^ Let me know if you're on Twitter too!

Hope yours has gone well! Cute bunny = always good to see!