Catching up with my cross stitch map

Every day when I am at my desk I sit underneath my cross stitch map. I purchased this map some time ago so I'm not sure if it's still available, but it's made by Suck UK and it's the larger size. It's basically a large piece of stiff cross stitch fabric printed with a world map. The intention is that that you can fill in the places that you've visited by filling them in with cross stitch or other embroidery.

Of course, with 70% or so of the Earth being covered by water, this does leave quite a lot of blank space. There are also some very large countries that I'm unlikely to visit (Russia, Antarctica, quite a lot of Africa) so when you start to fill it out you soon realise that it's going to look rather empty. 

I decided to take a creative approach to the cross stitch, so as well as filling in the countries that I've travelled to I also wanted to fill in the blank spaces with a montage of travel related images along with areas of blue for the sea. I added a large title to the top as well. 

Some of the motifs I've designed myself, others I've found online or in my cross stitch pattern books.

The trouble is that I've not updated the map in some time. There are some countries that I've not yet filled in (including China - that will take up a bit of space!). I've also decided to completely fill out the US and Canada instead of just the states that I've visited, just to add a bit more green to the map. I'd like to fill out lots more of the background too, even if I just mark out some space for boxes to be filled in at a later date.

I'm thinking about creating a stronger outline for the countries so that they are more distinct from the background. I have some metallic thread, so that may work for this. I also have a multitude of beads and sequins in my stash that I could use to add a bit of extra interest.

So that's going to be my next long-term crafting project. The photo above is my starting point, let's see how much better I can make it look!

My crafting confessions

I've been doing a lot of crafting lately, and it has made me think about some of my craft habits which are a bit embarrassing to admit to! 

Here are some of my crafting confessions:

* I own a huge box of washi tape, but I've only ever actually finished two rolls.

* I'm terrified of my sewing machine. I'm always convinced that it's going to suddenly stop working and I won't know what to do.

* Sometimes when I'm doing cross stitch I tie a knot to secure the thread rather than with a loop or by threading it under previous stitches. 

* I can't thread my sewing machine or wind on a bobbin without referring to the instruction manual. 

* I use my nice scissors for cutting unsuitable things - like tape, paper with glue on and wire.

* I don't wash out my watercolour palette after use, I just add new colours and water on top of the dried paint.

Photo credit Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash

* Despite being pretty bad at sewing projects I still buy gorgeous fabric and currently have a drawer full.

* I throw away small leftover pieces of felt from cutting out felt projects rather than saving them to use as stuffing.

* I have quite a big craft stash so I'm always reluctant to buy any craft materials, but sometimes a project would have turned out better if I had actually just bought the correct supplies.

* I have folders full of lovely patterned papers but I very rarely do any paper crafting, it's just so pretty.

* I also have a folder of beautiful images that I've cut from magazines, with no intended purpose.

* I love to collect stickers and I still add to my vintage Year 8 sticker album from the 90s. On my recent holiday to Japan I purchased a second sticker album to hold all the beautiful stickers that I brought home and I spent a lovely evening arranging them nicely.

What are your crafty confessions?

Making a simple beaded fish keychain

This Autumn I've been working my way through my craft stash with some projects that I batch prepped in advance. Last week I shared my Autumn themed beaded bracelets, and this week it's another bead project - a beaded fish keychain.

I made my fish keyring using the tutorial below:

I watched the video through a few times before I began, and I worked out exactly how many beads I would need of each colour. Then I gathered all my supplies together ready to work on.

This is the first time that I've tried a beading craft with wire, and I will say that I did not find it as easy as I expected. It took me several attempts and a long time, to produce my beaded fish, and I had to undo my work many times. I changed the sequin that I used for the eyes to a larger one, and because my beads aren't all uniform sizes he has come out a little wonky.

Once I had got the hang of it I progressed quickly, and I think that I could probably make another one very easily. But this craft didn't really appeal to me, so I don't think I'll be making any more. I'll be looking for some other crafting options next time when it comes to de-stashing my beads!

I used slightly larger beads than the ones used in this tutorial so I cut myself a longer piece of wire which was a good move because I very nearly ran out.

Here are the exact quantities of beads that are needed for one beaded fish using this tutorial:

Tail - 10 (orange)

Mouth - 4 (red)

Colour 1 - 44 (green)

Colour 2 - 28 (gold)

Colour 3 - 19 (silver)

Eyes - 2 (black)

You also need:

2 round sequins for the eyes

1 jump ring (and pliers to open and close it)

1 keychain attachment

A length of wire, I used a 1m, which is thin enough to pass twice through the centre of each bead

This is a fun and meditative craft project, and if you have beads in lots of different colours you could easily and quickly bead up a whole aquarium. But for now I'm just going to enjoy my one beaded fish!

Simple Autumnal beaded bracelets

This Autumn I have challenged myself to work on five different craft projects, which I batch prepped back in August ready to work on when I had the chance. 

Welcome to the first completed craft project!

These Autumn themed stretch beaded bracelets are a really simple project that I had been putting off for a long time. Most of these basic coloured beads were purchased on our last trip to the US - which was nearly two years ago. I added them to my bead stash and just didn't get around to using them which was a real shame because in the end it took me just one evening to make this set of eight simple bracelets.

Here are the supplies which I gathered together to make the bracelets, along with some superglue for finishing. The beads that I bought were sold in long strings and mixed together, so I had to sort out the different shapes and colours, but luckily that didn't take too long. Then I went through my remaining bead stash and pulled out a selection of beads that were similar sizes and matched my Autumn colour scheme of red, orange, brown, green and gold.

For stringing bracelets I always use Stretch Magic 0.7mm which works perfectly. It's a clear plastic stretch cord which fits most smaller beads and is really easy to tie tightly. I've never had a problem with it breaking.

This project is about working through my stash, so I made an effort to prioritise smaller quantities of beads that I could use up. I didn't have much of a plan apart from that, other than picking beads that looked good together and trying to space the more decorative beads evenly, like the gorgeous gold rose beads. 

I also made a couple of 'filler' bracelets that use random combinations of smaller beads, a great way to use up the odd beads. 

To finish a stretch beaded bracelet you just need to tie a few tight knots in the elastic and then add a small blob of superglue. Cut away the loose ends, and the knot should be pretty much hidden by the beads. 

Eight bracelets felt like the perfect number - I love how they all overlap as you move around, and so it looks different every time you look at it. 

I'm really pleased with them and I'm so happy that these stashed beads are finally seeing the light of day. I'm planning to wear them a lot this Autumn!

If you liked these bracelets then you might also like my ocean themed stretch beaded bracelets which are very similar but using blues, greens, and pretty sea glass style beads. I still have plenty of beads left in my stash, so I'll soon be planning some more sets in different colour combinations!

Batching up five craft projects for September

A little while ago I shared a video that had caught my attention about batch prepping craft projects like you do meals. I loved the idea of planning out a craft in advance and getting everything that you need ready so that you can get started when you have the chance.

I set myself a challenge to batch prep five craft projects, using supplies that I already own from my craft stash, and to complete them by the end of the year. September always feels like a good time to start new things, and so here are the five craft projects that I've put together. There are a couple of Christmas ones, so that will help with my self-imposed deadline!

Autumnal beaded bracelets

I have had the supplies for this for so long, it's been about two years since I picked up a string of beads on holiday and thought they would be perfect for some bracelets in Autumn colours. I've sorted them by colour and also hunted through my bead stash for other beads which fit the theme. 

Beaded fish key rings

A second beading craft, because I definitely need to make a dent in my beading supply stash. I came across this craft in an article I was reading about alternatives to doom scrolling - the author had made a huge pile of them! I've watched a video tutorial online to make sure that it's something I can attempt, and luckily I already have some wire and the clasp. When I was watching the video I counted up how many beads are needed of each colour and gathered them all together. 

This is the video tutorial that I'll be using:

The gorgeous tiny cat plate was a souvenir from Kappabashi Street in Tokyo, isn't it lovely!

Christmas fabric gift bags

I have had some Christmas fabric lying around for far to long, and I've had no clue what to do with it. It's nice but it's not really my favourite, and I don't even remember buying it. So I've decided to make some drawstring gift bags to hold groups of smaller gifts under the Christmas tree. I love making drawstring bags, they are so easy, and very forgiving if your seams aren't quite straight, I don't even line them. I also have a pile of Christmas ribbon and cotton in various colours to use up from my stash.

So in my tub I have five pieces of Christmas fabric, a co-ordinating ribbon for each, and some coloured cotton which I will use in my sewing machine.

Christmas mug rugs or coasters

I saved some of the Christmas fabric, along with a few other co-ordinating pieces from my fabric stash, to make some Christmas themed mug rugs.

This is the pattern that I'm intending to use - Super Simple Mug Rug Tutorial for Beginners. To make each 5" by 5" mug rug you need four strips of different fabrics each measuring 2 1/2" by 6" which you then cut in half. So when I was preparing the fabric for my Christmas gift bags I chose my two favourite fabrics and cut a strip from each to use, along with other matching fabrics from my stash. I intend to make four mug rugs. 

I really hate measuring and cutting fabric, so having it all ready to go will definitely make me more likely to start the project! Both fabric projects are now stored next to my ironing board, so next time I am ironing I will iron the fabric pieces too.

Felt pumpkins for Halloween

For my final project I had my eye on my felt stash. I wanted to make something that used up quite a bit of felt (I have a whole drawer full!) and that was also something seasonal. I decided to have a go at some felt pumpkins and I found this tutorial to use which comes with a free pattern - DIY Felt Pumpkins with free printable pattern. 

My only problem is that I don't have much orange felt in my stash! So I pulled out some pieces in other seasonal colours which I'm hoping will work. I'm also using green felt for the leaf instead of fabric and I'll be using gold twine - I'm making sure that all my materials for these projects come from my extensive craft supply stash.

I have gone ahead and cut out the felt pieces - which is always the most off-putting part of any fiddly felt project - and I have the stuffing stored close by. So it's all ready to go!

Those are my five batch prepped crafts, I'll share updates as I complete them!

Sharing some of my Japan junk journal pages, and some travel junk journal tips

I've always enjoyed documenting my travels. Even when I was a child I would fill notebooks with things that I collected on holiday - tickets, postcards, food labels and pictures cut out from tourist leaflets. Over the last few years I've sadly fallen out of the habit, but I was determined to make an effort on our holiday this summer to Japan, and I'm so glad that I did! 

Here is a look at the Japan junk journal that I put together with ephemera and notes from our trip. 

Some people like to make their own journals from scrap materials. But to make things easier I used a really simple sketchbook as the base for my travel junk journal, one from a pack of three from Hobbycraft. I removed the centre two pages so that I had enough room to add some extra bulk, and I glued everything in using a glue stick. In total my junk journal has a title page, back page, and fifteen double page spreads. 

I chose to work on my journal when I returned home rather than try and find time while I was away. I took with me a couple of plastic wallets so that I could collect things as I went along, and I did pack a small pair of scissors so that I could cut up leaflets and magazines while I was away to save on luggage space.

I'm quite a neat person, and so I have quite a tidy junk journal compared to others that I've seen online! Most of the items that I've glued in are completely flat. One exception is this paper crane which I folded as part of my Hiroshima page. Paper cranes are such a huge part of the Hiroshima memorials, and I wanted to reflect that, as well as the experience of folding my own crane for the journal. The crane and background are made from some lovely origami papers which I picked up in one of the stationery shops.

Sometimes I had a larger leaflet that I wanted to include so I added some fold out elements, like on this page from Osaka. I'm so glad that Japan still has printed tickets for many attractions, I really miss having a physical ticket to remind me of somewhere that I've been now that everything is done with QR codes!

One of my Kyoto pages features the wonderful Arashiyama Monkey Park. I also added the packaging from the fan that I bought, which barely left my hand during our visit during a heatwave, and a small folded paper fortune that I bought from a box by the side of the road. I didn't even unfold it because I was worried I wouldn't be able to put it back together, so I hope that it's a lucky one!

We spent two days at Tokyo Disneyland, which was amazing. My Disneyland pages have a little more journalling because I wanted to make some notes about the rides which are exclusive to the Tokyo parks. I found a couple of postcards that I could take from the hotel room, and I had a roll of stickers to decorate with featuring the most popular Japanese Disney characters, which I received once as a gift on a Disney cruise ship.

My page from our visit to Mount Fuji features some of the tourist souvenir stamps which are everywhere in Japan. A regret from our holiday is that I didn't bring a separate notebook to collect these stamps, although I think that I would have become obsessive about collecting them so it's probably a good thing that I didn't - we might have missed some trains while I was hunting for a station stamp!

Finally, I couldn't resist a page dedicated to cats, as they are so popular in Japan. I used the leaflet from the Cat Café that we visited, added some of the many cat stickers that I bought, and stuck in some of the little leaflets from inside the gachapon vending machines, where we spent far too much money and I was specifically hunting for cat themed items. 

I'm so glad that I invested a little bit of time and effort into putting together this travel junk journal. It's a really simple way to remember a trip and to have a home for all the little bits of paper and other ephemera that you collect when travelling.

Here are some (mostly free!) items which are perfect to collect and add to your travel junk journal:

Postcards

Tourist leaflets, maps

Stickers, washi tape, patterned papers, tissue paper

Food packaging, tea bag tags

Train tickets, attraction tickets, receipts (be aware that anything printed on thermal paper may fade)

Business cards from hotels, restaurants etc.

Napkins, straw holders, paper coasters, tray liners from fast food restaurants

Newspaper and magazine cuttings, especially if anything newsworthy happened while you were visiting

Hotel amenity packaging, key card holders, hotel postcards, writing paper and envelopes

And some things in my journal which are specific to Japan - souvenir tourist stamps (carry some sheets of blank paper with you if you don't have a dedicated notebook!), fortune papers from shrines, gachapon toy leaflets (look for machines with items local to the place that you are visiting), origami paper, newspaper cuttings

Review - Oxygen Oasis DIY Miniature House from Rolife

I received this kit in exchange for a review

Oxygen Oasis is a brand new miniature house kit from Rolife. This advanced miniature kit is a beautiful glass house, packed with luscious tropical plants, flitting butterflies, and filled with gorgeous tiny details. The kit contains 1168 pieces, is recommended for ages 14+, and comes with a six star Master difficulty level. 

You can find full details of the kit here - Rolife Miniature House - Oxygen Oasis.

The Oxygen Oasis kit was definitely the most complex miniature kit that I've assembled. In my Rolife reviews I always say that before you attempt one you should check the difficulty level because there is a large variation. My first kit was Cathy's Flower House, and I've since discovered that it is one of the most difficult Rolife kits along with Elsa's Tailoring! If you are new to miniature modelling kits then this might be one to save until you've gained some practice.

Building the Oxygen Oasis took me several weeks, working on it almost every day. Almost everything is built from scratch, with tiny leaves to be glued to twisted wire stems, delicate wooden pieces that slot together, and plenty of opportunity to put your own stamp on the build.

I must admit that I felt quite intimidated when I opened the box! There are lots of pieces, including plenty of plastic sheets that form the windows. Some of the pieces are very intricate, and I could tell from the contents that there were going to be lots of plants to make - something that I've found very fiddly with these kits in the past.

However the instructions are clear, easy to follow, and lead you in gently. The first part that caught my eye in the main picture was the dome - it looked so complicated with all the curved grass and detailed frames! However by the time I reached it I had already built the simpler back door and the slightly more difficult front door, and so I felt ready to tackle it. And of course it was fine in the end, I just took it slowly, made sure that I had all the parts that I needed ready, and followed the instructions carefully.

The next part of the kit involved making the main base. I always enjoy this part of the kit because you begin to get an idea of the size and shape of the finished piece. As always I got all the parts ready before I started, and there are lots to prepare for this section. It is mostly constructed with wooden pieces but there is also some paper cutting to be done carefully by hand - you'll want a pair of sharp scissors with small points for easy snipping.

Just a note on the glue that is included - most of the Rolife kits that I've worked on aren't supplied with glue, instead you adhere pieces using tiny strips of double sided tape. This kit does include glue and it's fantastic - it has a tiny little nozzle to help with the application and it dries really quickly. Double sided tape is still used for some areas, and again this works very well.

Here is the base section made from the pieces on the tray above:

Next come the various components to add to each side of the base. Some of the work on this kit is quite fiddly and I often found that I needed to use the included tweezers. But there is so much more satisfaction to be gained from building a tiny set of stairs from scratch than just slotting in a pre-made plastic piece!

One the main base is complete it's time to return to building the actual greenhouse, this time by assembling the two side pieces. These were straightforward to put together - the pieces for this section are made of plastic and they snap together easily, then you add plastic sheets to the inside to form the windows. You also add some tiny strip lighting underneath the roof, and all the wires are neatly hidden inside plastic tubing which is glued to the inside.

Now that the structure is assembled it's time to move on to the plants and trees. I knew that this would be the most time consuming part of the build, having spent a lot of time making plants for the Cathy's Flower House kit. You are provided with lots of sheets of pre-cut, double sided paper printed pieces, and some of these leaves are very tiny!

The plants are assembled in groups. Some are fitted into their final sections straightaway and some need to be set aside for a later step. They are labelled by letter and so I found it helpful to lay them out on a sheet of scrap paper against their letter so that I could easily identify them later on.

These plants did take a long time to make! Each of the sections above took several hours. The assembly can be very fiddly - first you have to bend wire into the correct shape, then fold tiny leaves and petals and glue them carefully into place before leaving them to dry thoroughly. I was really grateful here for the excellent glue included in the kit. 

Once I got going the process did speed up. I worked in batches, first getting all the wire bases ready then gluing on the leaves one plant at a time. I used a long strip of Blu-tak on my desk to hold the plants upright while they were drying which was really helpful. 

I found that the labels for the plants were so tiny that I couldn't read them, so I didn't worry too much about making sure that the correct one was attached to each plant. I also tried not to get too frustrated if I was having trouble with the fiddly parts, I think they still look good even if some parts are a little wonky.

Next came some larger plants and trees to build, each of which involves winding together different sized pieces of wire to create stems, trunks and branches, wrapping with coloured tape, and then gluing on the leaves. These pieces took a lot of time to complete, especially waiting for the glue to dry on one side so so that you could add leaves to the other side. It took me over an hour to build the two monstera plants! But I really enjoyed making them, and they all look amazing when they are complete!

When all of the individual pieces had been built it was time for the final assembly. First you need to attach all the plants to the base piece. I'll be honest, this part wasn't easy. Some of the leaves fell off and needed to be reattached, and there was a lot of fiddling around to make sure that the plants all fitted neatly around each other. The kit comes with plenty of a green filler type material that you can add around the base of the plants, but I found it so difficult to get to stick that I didn't use as much as I should have. Luckily you can't really see it from the outside anyway!

Finally you need to fit the glass house structure around the plants, make sure that it all firmly glued down, and add a few final touches around the sides. The wires for the lighting need to be connected to the battery box, a large tree is positioned to the side, a cute cat with a butterfly stuck to its nose stands at the front and some paper parrots add some extra colour.

Adding the vine across the top was one of my favourite parts of the build. I left it until the end, and I really enjoyed placing the last leaves and making it all look exactly how I wanted it to.

The lighting in this kit is rather magical. As well as a larger central light there is also a small light strip underneath each side section. The lights are bright, and I love the way that you can see everything inside really clearly. The clear windows also cast gorgeous shadows on the space around it. The lights are powered using two AAA batteries which you need to supply.

I really loved the opportunity to get stuck in to working on this kit. I found that I could sit for ages carefully twisting wire into the required shapes, adding the leaves with dots of glue, and even just sitting waiting for the glue to dry while admiring what I had built. 

This is probably not the kit to start with if you are new to miniature kit building, but I would absolutely recommend it if you fancy something a bit more challenging. It will definitely feel like value for money when it comes to the time taken to complete it!

What puts a Rolife kit into the more advanced category?

This kit definitely falls into the category of the more difficult Rolife kits. Here are some of the things that make a kit more difficult:

The kits contains a lot more pieces, and most of them are very small and delicate.

Some of the paper cuttings and other materials are not pre-cut, so you need to cut and measure them yourself. There are few, if any, stickers and so most paper pieces need to be glued together.

Overall there is a lot more gluing involved, sometimes quite fiddly. Most of the components need to be built from scratch by attaching tiny pieces together.

Most of the kit is made of natural materials like wood, paper and fabric - there is very little plastic.

There are a lot more steps to the assembly and some stages can take a bit of time, for example if you need to wait for glue or paint to dry.

Note - some of the older kits have been re-issued and are now less challenging than the original kits. 

What I like about working on a difficult kit

For me a craft is all about the process, so when a kit takes longer to put together you have plenty of time to enjoy it. I don't mind waiting for something to dry, it feels much more satisfying than just snapping pieces together.

I feel like a have a little more creative control, for example when it comes to the shaping of plants or the positioning of individual pieces.

Tips for working with a more complex kit

Don't get overwhelmed, and take your time. You will initially open the box to see a huge number of pieces, but each step only uses a few at a time.

Stay organised. Don't remove things from the numbered bags until you need them, and get all the pieces ready for each section before you begin. Set up a workspace with an area to store completed components until you need them.

Work on one step at a time and don't be tempted to skip ahead unless you are completely confident in what you are doing. 

If you aren't sure which piece to use you can double check them against the parts guide. This is very important as some pieces can look very similar.

If you fancy trying one of the more complicated Rolife kits you can find a good selection here - More difficult kits from Rolife.

You may like to see my other Rolife Miniature Craft Kit reviews:

Cathy's Flower House - another complicated kit with lots of plants and flowers to build

Elsa's Tailoring - an intricate kit with lots of fabric pieces to measure and display

Corner Bookstore - a lovely bookshop with assorted tiny books to put together

Silent Corner Study - a really sweet book nook, perfect to display on a bookshelf

Super Creator Kits - Fascinating Bookstore, Lovely Pink Bedroom and Sweet Sips Tea - some simpler kits which are great for older children and those new to this hobby

Gingerbread House - a gorgeous festive shop filled with Christmas treats

Christmas 3D Frames - lovely Christmas decor frames with intricate details

Rolife Corner Bookstore kit

The only way to stop scrolling that resonates with me

Over the years I've tried many ways to break the urge to aimlessly scroll on my phone. Some have helped, for example removing the majority of my notifications made a big difference. But from articles that I've read and podcasts that I've listened to, it seems that most of the typical advice given to reduce scrolling (switch screen to greyscale, set up screen time limits, keep the phone in another room and so on) is not really effective long term. 

The evidence for this mainly comes from a recent research paper from JMIR Publications which you can read here - Interventions for Digital Addiction: Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.

The only piece of advice that I've found to work for me was something that I heard very recently from Cal Newport in his podcast, and it's something that seems obvious but needs a bit of work to implement. 

I'm paraphrasing, but it was all to do with making your offline life more interesting than your online life. If your life is filled with easy to access and enjoyable activities, then you will always turn to those rather than scrolling aimlessly.

So I've been thinking about how I can create that life for myself. Here are some things that I already do:

I try to always have an excellent book on the go. This is the most important thing, and I am very discerning about the books that I read. Some books grip me more than others, and I've noticed that when I'm particularly enjoying a book I'll always choose it over my phone.

I love doing a quick puzzle on paper. You can buy puzzle books really cheaply at supermarkets and they can keep you going for ages. My favourites are word puzzles like Codewords or number puzzles like Sudoku.

Photo credit Bozhin Karaivanov via Unsplash

I'm not the most sociable of people, but I'm lucky in that the people I do choose to spend time with are generally also happy to keep their phones out of sight while we talk. When I'm chatting with someone I never feel the urge to look at my phone, I just get irritated when it beeps at me.

I almost always have a jigsaw puzzle on the go. I love it when a jigsaw puzzle reaches a stage where you have all the remaining pieces laid out and you can easily drop by for a few minutes and place a couple of pieces.

Similarly, I like to have a simple craft that can be worked on a little bit at a time. Personally I enjoy cross stitch, or also miniature house kits which are broken down into lots of smaller steps that each only take a few minutes. 

Another activity that takes me away from my phone is doing exercise, whether that's going for a walk, a swim or just a quick exercise video that occupies my phone while I follow it. 

Finally I try to keep as much as I can paper based. I do use an app for the grocery shopping list, but I have a physical planner for my daily jobs. I keep a scrap notebook where I can write down things that pop into my head, as well as a collection of journals and hobby notebooks. If I was picking up my phone to tick something off a list I know that I would easily get distracted. 

I'm not perfect by any means, but now that I've got this idea in mind I'm hoping that I'll find it much easier to avoid the doomscrolling! Please do leave a comment if you have any other tips to share.

Batch prepping craft projects like you do meals

Recently this video ended up in my feed and I really enjoyed it, so I thought that I would share it:

It's all about batch prepping crafts in advance, so that when you have some time for a crafty project you have everything that you need all in one place to get started. The video shares a few examples of simple craft kits that the creator has put together, including a cross stitch embroidered journal and a paper garland kit. 

I remember a similar idea from back when I used to lurk on scrapbooking forums - people would discuss preparing their pages in advance by gathering together photographs and co-ordinating supplies in a plastic sleeve, ready to put a page together when they had some spare time. 

I thought this was such a great idea! But for me, it's not so much about preparing some new crafts that I want to try, but rather using this technique as a way to use up some of the craft supplies that I have lying around. 

I have my craft supplies stored in various locations around the house - fabric in drawers in my wardrobe, beads in little wooden drawers in my study, patterned papers in the toy cupboard and so on. As well as various unfinished craft projects, mainly cross stitch kits, that are waiting to be continued. When I want to do something I often need to gather things from all over the house, and then return the leftovers once I'm done. 

Photo credit Eric Prouzet via Unsplash

I've been having a think about the craft supplies that I have in my stash, and brainstorming some projects that I can work on to use them up. Some ideas that I have so far - bracelet making using my enormous bead stash, some kind of project that will use up tiny scrap pieces of fabric, finding a use for my patterned paper and collage supplies. 

I'm going to challenge myself to bag up five craft projects, as far as possible using only supplies that I already own, and then complete them by the end of the year. I'll include all the materials that I'll need, as well as any printed instructions or templates. As we head towards Christmas I'll try for some seasonal theming, and I'll attempt to choose projects that will leave a noticeable dent in my crafting stash. 

Watch this space to see what I come up with!

Review - Rolife Super Creator kit - Pop Bubble Bathroom and lighting kit setup

I received these items in exchange for a review

A few months ago I shared my review of some new kits from Rolife in the Super Creator series. These miniature house kits are part of a modular series that can be completed as individual rooms and then stacked together to create a larger miniature world. The kits can be stacked together in a variety of ways, and you can use the roof accessory kit to add ceiling lighting.

These kits are quite simple kits and they don't take very long to build, so they are ideal for beginners or younger miniature crafters. My daughter is 15, and she loved the Lovely Pink Bedroom kit, so she was delighted to be able to work on the Pop Bubble Bathroom and connect it to the bedroom.

This gorgeous bathroom features a free standing bath with bath shelf for decor and a book - a perfect fantasy bathroom! There's a shelf unit with toiletries and other bits and pieces and a lovely raised sink. There are gold fittings, a little mirror, and all sorts of other tiny details. The kit is mainly assembled by slotting together the plastic accessories. All the sticking is done using tiny double sided adhesive dots, or you can use glue for smaller areas to give a neater finish.

I love the tiny hair dryer that sits on top of the laundry basket, and the little toilet roll perched on top of the opening and closing toilet. Although the kit suggests how the accessories could be positioned you are of course free to arrange the room exactly as you would like it. If you chose not to stick everything in place then it would be sturdy enough for an older child to play with.

The Pop Bubble Bathroom comes with a side light which is powered by a USB-C power cable (not supplied). This is great because you don't need to worry about supplying and replacing batteries.

If you would like to install the ceiling light then you will either need the separate roof accessory kit, or you can install the light on the bottom of another room kit which is positioned above. We used the roof accessory kit to add the ceiling light. 

The roof accessory is pre-built and is very easy to slot onto the room kit. The ceiling light and wiring box is supplied with the individual room kit. The light slots underneath with the cable running down the outside of the house to a small wiring box attached to the outside.

First we added a roof and ceiling light to the Lovely Pink Bedroom and she was so pleased with how it looks.

Then we installed the roof and lighting kit to the bathroom. As you can see, this kit has two lights - one on the ceiling and also a wall light. The side light can be used without requiring the separate roof kit.

Then we joined the two kits together so that the bedroom now has an en-suite bathroom! You will need to supply power to the lights using a USB-C cable which is not supplied. However the kits do come supplied with a short USB-C to USB-C cable to connect two or more rooms together. So you only need to supply one power cable which can be used to power lighting to several kits that are joined together.

For now we have chosen a side by side connecting option, but it is would be very easy to rearrange the kits so that they are the other way around, or one sits above the other.

We love the kits in this series, they are simple to put together but have lots of detail and they look lovely when out on display. You can see the full range here - Rolife Super Creator kits.

How I made an Everest notebook to track my niche interest

I have a large collection of notebooks and journals that I write in regularly. There is my day to day journal, my garden journal, my book recording notebook, a small notebook where I collect quotes and a rough notebook for general thoughts and ideas. I'm also about to start a media journal to keep track of my media consumption. 

Another new notebook that I've recently added into the mix is my Everest journal, and I thought I'd share that one today. I do love when people have a niche interest, maybe Everest isn't that niche, but I would imagine that most people in my demographic aren't that interested! 

Luckily I've collected plenty of blank notebooks, so I usually have one to hand when I need one. This is just a basic lined notebook, with a picture stuck on the front to cover up company branding. 

I always leave a few pages blank at the front of a new notebook, as I find this helps me to feel less intimated. I'm numbering the pages as I go along, so these front pages will become a contents page, an index, or a place to add stickers and random images. 

I've also started the journal from the front, the back and the middle! I add new information at the front as I go along. At the back I've started writing book reviews from my Everest bookshelf, and in the middle I've been making notes on the Everest films and documentaries that I've been watching.

Here is the sort of information that I've been collecting in my notebook:

Maps - both detailed and more general. It's a really good reference to be able to look at when I see a mention of a location.

Lists - like a list of all the 8000m peaks, a list of the highest mountains on each continent, and other facts and figures. This helps when a writer refers to other, similar peaks and I can remind myself about them.

Photocopies of interesting paragraphs from books I've read - for example I have a couple of pages from Ed Viestur's No Shortcuts to the Top when he writes about all the equipment that he uses.

Pictures and photographs - sometimes from travel guides but usually ones that I've printed out and stuck in.

Reviews of books, films and other media - sometimes written as I go along, sometimes when I've finished. I find that this really helps the information that I've learned to stick in my mind.

Anything else that I've found interesting - for example I did some reading about hypoxic tents that are used for acclimatising to altitude, and gathered information about famous climbers.

Planning for hypothetical adventures - I know that I'll never hike to Everest Base Camp but I still sent off for some brochures, researched different itineraries, and watched videos from people that have done it!

As the notebook has filled up I added tabs to some sections. I've also added a pocket at the back to store any loose pieces of paper before I decide what to do with them.

During the climbing season this year I enjoyed a daily ritual where I watched a short update video and made a few notes on what had happened that day. I enjoyed reading it back at the end of the season, and maybe I'll compare it to next year!

I've really enjoyed putting together this notebook. As well as being a good reference guide it's also helping me to remember and learn from all the Everest media that I've consumed. Now I'm thinking about making them for more of my interests!