The Adventures of Stabby the Hamster

Stabby is a stuffed toy Hamster I bought for my youngest sister during a school trip to Bellingham in my last year of Primary School and joined the arm of stuffed toys in her Toy boxes for a number of years. About 5 years ago, my parents cleaned out their attic and went through binbags of our old stuff to sort out and poor Stabby was rescued and reunited with me after 15 years.

Keen to make a fresh start on our relationship, I started taking him out... 

Enjoying a Pint at The Bridge Tavern in Newcastle:

Stabby rootled through the drawers in the Outside area and found a Willy - YOU'RE IT!

Cuddling THIS IS LAGER at Brewdog Bar Newcastle:

And an aptly-sized bottle of wine:

Meeting the Boyfriend - who picked his name:

Assisting me in Customer Services :D

Long story short, a Customer had had a bit of a bad experience with another Gear maker so was understandably quite thorough and detailed about the specifications. I sent mock-ups - something we don't usually do as I'd never be off the laptop, but made an exception to reassure he was gonna be looked after - and confirmed everything and he placed an order. He asked yesterday if he could have updates about the stages as and when the Gear was being worked on, I said sure but warned it might run along the lines of "Cut", "Printed" "Sewn" etc and get a bit tedious and that I'd try to make it a bit exciting for him and Stabby stepped up to the plate :D He was a bit over the moon with it, said it'd made his week - Haha! 

Stabby's going on my CV as an example of "Please describe an occasion where you've gone above and beyond in Customer Services" :)

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Berries, Bunnies & the Blues

W.h.i.t.e.C.h.o.c.o.l.a.t.e.A.n.d.F.o.r.e.s.t.F.r.u.i.t.s.M.u.f.f.i.n.s

I made a new batch of Muffins after the Dark Chocolate & Summer Fruits batch, replacing the Dark with White & the Summer Fruits with Forest Fruits, omitting the cinnamon  (and chucking a handful of walnuts in there for good measure ^.^ ) All feedback so far has been great and they've earned me a few new best friends on the Boyfriends side - Haha! This has been my first attempt with something squishy in baking and I'm well chuffed with how they've turned out. Proper soft, moist & awesome!

R.u.n.R.a.b.b.i.t.R.u.n.R.a.b.b.i.t

I made an example vinyl print of a sketch that's been lurking in my Scrapbook for years a few days ago and again, quite pleased with it! Wanted to see just how fiddly it would be to produce as an actual design on Clothing and the answer is LOTS OF COMPONENTS (23 separate parts to be exact, which had to be printed in layers)! I built a Rabbit today - Haha, and she's only 20cm tall! The stitches were quite fiddly and didn't look right to print so I want to test out my fabric markers on vinyl vs Fabric first to see how well they hold with wear before I start scribbling on my poor Bunny. Really happy with the weeny safetypins (despite being bastards to weed!) and the patch of actual Tartan vinyl I was finally able to use :)  The only thing I'd change for next time is popping a tiny black outline on the holographic eyes as this'll emphasize the contrast between those and the white face. Really looking forward to bringing the rest of my other Dolls to print! <3 It was just lovely seeing her go from a mad idea in my head to becoming an actual presence, something I've been lacking the confidence in for years :/

The Original:

G.u.a.r.d.i.a..n.A.n.g.e.l.R.e.q.u.e.s.t.s.A.D.a.y.O.f.f

This Angel came home with me after she fell off a Shelf in front of me in Newcastle. I think she knew I needed a hand.

Matt says Don't worry & Stay Positive.

So I will :)

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Dark Chocolate & Summer Fruits Muffins

  YOU WILL NEED:

• 175g self-raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 175g softened butter
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• Few drops of vanilla essence
• Pinch of Cinamon
• 100g Dark Chocolate
• 100g Mixed Blackberries, Raspberries, Redcurrants & Blackcurrants

[★] Heat oven to 180 C and line a muffin tray with cases. Melt the Dark chocolate in a bowl over a boiling pan of water.
[★] Cream the Sugar & Butter together, and mix all of the Ingredients together in a Bowl. Stir in the Melted Chocolate.
[★] Divide between the cases - I managed 20 with this Recipe!
[★] Bake for 25 mins, inserting a skewer to check they are cooked thoroughly. Cool on a rack.
[★] To decorate, melt a further 100g of Dark Chocolate over the pan and put 1tsp over each Muffin. Adorn with either a Raspberry or a Blackberry.
 Enjoy :)

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Life is Sweet!

I was lucky enough to be able to make another Dog-themed Birthday cake this year after making [ Sue's Yorkie Cake back in March ] :D

Our friends have two adorable Miniature Jack Russel/Teacup Chihuahua crosses (One of them sporting the hetero-chromatic eyes that I really dig!) and it was great fun to bake up a surprise cake featuring the two. It's Devils food cake base with two handfuls of crushed walnuts thrown in the mix (With the usual cinnamon & vanilla extract) , chocolate fudge buttercream coating and filling, lashings of whipped cream covered in smarties and finished off with grated chocolate.

The dogs themselves were a bit of a challenge - I wanted to get the tinier head, longer body and large bat ears right, as the bunnies and Yorkies I made before were more rounder and chubbier. It took a few goes to get the ears and the backs of the heads sloping down at the back! I painted the markings on with melted chocolate, which stayed in place better than the coloured icing paste I used last time, and pushed a few chocolate drops in for the eyes :)

I also made them a ball, a bone & a favourite ice cream-shaped chew toy!

Heroes Cookies from a Funsized bag of Heroes:

There's Fudge, Chomp, Crunchie & in there. (The Crunchie ones didn't like the oven very much and melted into little pools which them solidified but still tasted yummy!)

Just thought I'd pop a few pictures of my Living Room in the Flat up here to fit in with the Sweetie Theme ;)

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Stuff!

It's been just over a month now since returning from Cuba and my tan shows no sign of fading! I miss the Country and the lessons it's taught me - mostly never waste an ounce of your potential with the opportunities and freedoms I have, and also to be extremely *EXTREMELY* grateful for everything I've got.
I did enjoy the trip more when I came home, and had time and peace to reflect on things because there wasn't so many new things to experience once I was back in the normal routines.It's made me realise just how far I've came on my own, how many times I've fallen and how many times I've brushed off my bleeding knees and kept going and figuring things out on my own. Everything I've built - my Flat, my Job & The Wrestling Gear/Fashion design - I owe no-one for.

The best bit though, was reading my Sister's two-week-old copy of Kerrang! #1525 on the Plane home and my eyes suddenly snagging on the feature of the Sonisphere Festival:

I recognise that Singlet ;)

 

Digging out my [ Smarties Cookie Recipe ], I did three batches - each with a different sweetie - and Cookie-bombed a few mates who were in need of cheering up! My favourite was the Snickers Cookies :D

Smarties Cookies:

Mini-Snickers Cookies (With two handfuls of chopped nuts & 50g Melted Dairy Milk Chocolate):

Rolo Cookies (With 50g Melted Dairy Milk Chocolate) :

Have splashed out on a proper Sewing machine to finally make the step of proper Fashion Design, as well as Printing/Tie Dyeing Blanks. as well as helping out with the Wrestling Gear >^.^< Poor Sue will have her work cut out for her teaching me! We've already bought fabric for my first project - a reversable bag in cupcake print & Halloween Trick or Treat print - but haven't had the time to begin it yet with work and our immense Gear load at the moment :(

Kimmies got a Boyfriend! ♥

This is Matt. We've been seeing each other for two months now ^.^
Massive Wrestling fan, Art Lover, Guitar player, Bacon Enthusiast, Master of Cuddles & a Sweet Heart.

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Wrestling Gear #3

Obligatory recent show-off's post as well as a few Oldies past the Battenbur Tights for good measure ;)

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All-over Lips-print black and red Singlet with matching Kneepad covers:

Tights in red with white waistband, contrast outlined front, rear and side prints with matching double-panelled Kickpad covers:

Set in Burgundy with shiny gold trims, initial prints in gold on rear as well as matching Elbowpad & Kneepad covers:

Rainbow Tiger-print Mask with split-contrast PVC eye panels & mesh detail:

Grey Trunks with Black trims & rear Jackal print:

Tag Gear with Hot Pink & Yellow contrasting legs. Pink heart outlined in yellow with overlaying rear prints. Front legs with contrasting heart prints:

Black Singlet with purple trims, contrast disjointed patch front motiff using a variety of fabric including newsprint, purple tie-dye , black and white. Star newsprint thigh-patches and another on the back. This was our first 'complicated' outfit as the individual bits of fabric had to be sewn onto the front and I was in love with it once it was inished :D

Black Singlet with red trims, front print & flames around legs with matching kneepad covers:

Blue Singlet with black trims with front and side outlined prints:

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