In the background

I've been tagging my photo posts as crafting 365, but most of the time I've been showing something in my surroundings while I've been working, instead of the thing I've actually been working on. Today is no exception, unless you'd really like to see a dark, grainy shot of scissors, a guillotine and a pile of chopped up reclaimed cardstock.

Tonight I've been watching a documentary about the design and construction of the Empire State Building, and took this shot because I can see my old apartment building just across the river, to the immediate left of the ESB. It's the right hand one of a pair of 24 storey brown buildings, close to the waterfront. I am seriously contemplating a trip over in February as the prices are incredibly reasonable right now - I want to watch the Oscars live this year, which I haven't done since I lived in the US, and the price of flying over is comparable to having to buy a whole year of Sky TV! I may have to sweet talk my inlaws into letting me stay up all night at their place to watch it.

Stuck in a book

Oh this book is such a treat. Bear with me because most of this post won't make much sense if you aren't from Salford, or Manchester, or 1978. Don't let that put you off the book, though, it's a must read for any fan of popular culture, youth culture, the DIY/punk ethos, or the film 24 Hour Party People.

I keep grinning away to myself at snippets of Tony Wilson's ridiculous banter, a mention of the Town Hall pub in Eccles, St Mary's Hospital, where it is claimed that proper Mancunians are born, and the confirmation, in print, that Mick Hucknall was never there.

To counterbalance this, I am sad that the gig was at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, as I have only sung on stage (with my school choir in the Sting rainforest musical, Yanomamo) in the actual Free Trade Hall. Now it's a hotel, anyway. And I'm sad that Tony (Wilson) and Martin (Hannet) and Ian (Curtis) are no longer with us to reminisce. And I only have 20 pages left to read :(

Stirling sunrise

I was running a little late for work yesterday, but I didn't mind so much because I watched a glorious sunrise from the train. This shot was taken on the approach next to the rugby club, just before the river.

A treasury for twilight on Tuesday

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Thoughts about words

I love quotations, I have a few favourites that I keep meaning to do something crafty with and then forgetting about.  I have a particular fondness for the unlikely sage, Nicola Roberts, who rightly points out that 'Beyonce wasn't built in a day', and plan to embroider this onto fabric for our soon-to-be-redecorated bedroom, just above my mirror.

Today I finally got around to reading Saturday's paper and found this new (to me) quote, from dramatist and screenwriter Shelagh Delaney, who is revered in my home town of Salford and many other places besides.

Editing my fabric collection

Is there any more soothing an activity than rooting through the fabric collection on a Sunday afternoon? This vintage geometric print is bang on trend but I'm working on a smaller scale project and the sizing is all wrong. Its time will come, I'm sure.

I've decided to reinstate the sale in my Etsy shop as it was doing so well. There'll be 40% off across the entire shop until the end of January, when some unsold items will disappear for good, and the new ones I've been working on will take their place.

I'm also attempting to do a post a day this year but I'm sure once I'm back in work on Tuesday, this might start to get a bit unsustainable. We'll see.

Poor show

Darice Crafters Toolbox hole punch from eBay, you have failed me. Bent and blunted after two tries through light cardstock. Shame on me for cheating on Fiskars, mind you.