Actually here is a freebie

Well, I have changed my mind, here is the promised paper, and still come back tomorrow, there might be more in store ;)

A free paper and a teaser

Here is a free paper for you and a teaser of what's to come very soon to Zinzilandia. ;) I'll give you a clue it's a new kit to celebrate the fact that Zinzilah is going to have a little shop at SBB...
Come back for the link to the paper and more information tomorrow, now it's past midnight, so I'd better hit the bed! See you tomorrow!

mushroom'migurumi #12

Cackle-cackle. One of our mushrooms has a full head mask of a witch, she is very proud. Doesn't she look smashing in her costume. She is a firm favourite with my family! Loves peas and carrots, doesn't like scary stories much. Wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

mushroom'migurumi #10 and 11

These are two friends, best girlfriends ever. They go to the same school, read the same books, like the same music, so they both agreed to go as brides, though one of them doesn't really like skeletons, so she is just a bride, even if it's not too Halloweeny... There isn't a rule about that, is there, she says. They are also both finger puppets.

mushroom'migurumi #9

Bunny-dressed mushroom is one of the youngest to go trick-or-treating this Halloween, so her costume is not frightening at all, she doesn't like "frightening". She is frightened of a lot of things, like dark and clowns, and bats, and pumpkin's flickering lights. She is frightened even of her big sister, who is dressed as a green bat. She usually loves her sister, she looks up to her. She sort of knows that she is inside the costume, but afraid of her still, just in case.

mushroom'migurumi #8

This is a little mushroom that likes the circus, and he wanted to win the Scariest Costume Competition, so he decided to go as a clown. After all what can be scarier than a clown. He didn't even look at himself in the mirror, because he was a little bit afraid. He loves playing the Circus and performing for his friends, he can make three sommersaults one after another, but his Circus is always a happy one, i.e. clown free. His favourite colours are blue, and red.

mushroom'migurumi #7

A little girl mushroom that has dressed herself as a green bat (I bet you know her favourite colour) likes going trick-or-treating, and dislikes being scared. She spends her free time reading or playing with her friends. She loves books about flying, she tried flying from a tree several trees, but she only managed the falling bit of it. (My two little ones are sitting on either side of me, and dictate things to type).

mushroom'migurumi #6

Here comes Pumpkin boy, his favourite food is Pumpkin soup, so he decided to dress up as a pumpkin (he is wearing a mask). He loves playing hide and seek, easy peasy if you are wearing this mask in the pumpkin patch. He hates being teased. His favourite subject is recreation break. He is really afraid of being told off.

mushroom'migurumi #5

"I am the Count, I count really well", 1-2-3 this mushroom decided to go as a vampire, and he looks quite dashing with it, too. He is keen on maths as you might have noticed.

mushroom'migurumi #4

Sweet little one didn't have a costume, so being white and cute she decided to go as a ghostie, but I am told, that she has to be reworked, so I will be back with an update for her, she loves ice-cream...

mushroom'migurumi #3

This amigurumi likes Halloween, but not the really scary stuff, she has made this costume herself. And if you still don't know what she is supposed to be, she is a champignon dressed as a Fly Agaric, or Amanita Muscaria as my dd informs me. Do they study extreme survival in the second grade? She likes playing tag with her friends, she is very sociable and polite, loves school, and after school is always planning the next party. I am also told that she has made most of other mushrooms' costumes. Even the scary ones. Even though she didn't approve of those. She reminds me of my oldest daughter. Studious, organised, pleasant, sweet.

The second mushroom'migurumi

The second mushroom must be a girl, she is dressed up as a butterfly, she is fun to be with and likes to be noticed by her friends mushrooms, she likes to be adored! Her favourite colours are purple and pink, or so my littlest daughter says, she likes singing and flower picking... Do mushrooms really pick flowers?! Nevermind. She is restless and likes her mini adventures that she has to make up if the day is really boring. Dislikes being bored, but is rarely bored due to active mind, and body. Her favourite game is skipping with a rope, but I am told she is still not too good at it, because she keeps tripping. In fact when she is having an imaginary adventure, she trips over things, furniture, and other mushrooms, too. So surprisingly I have just discovered that She is a bit clumsy...

The first mushroom

Here is my first mushroom ready for Trick-or-Treating. Meet Patch-boy. He is not sure of himself, he feels like his costume could be better. He is a gentle boy (mushroom I mean), and likes music. He dislikes fighting, and wishes he had more confidence. His favourite game is hopscotch, favourite colour - red. He is very friendly. He always has a glass of milk before bedtime.

Amigurumi

I have not told you yet, that among my hidden talents of roof insulatingand scrapping I have yet another one, discovered only last year by my children, and it's amigurumi making. Basically crocheting things in one very long spiral movement. I have encountered it first when my little daughter received a hand-made giraffe with a scarf from my Russian friend and ex-colleague, namesake of my daughter Sasha. After several years of it travelling places with us, the arty daughter of mine started designing me things she wanted made, and that's how I took the hook in my hands again. Last year my youngest came with the concept of potato people and Mr. and Mrs. Peanut, that I made for her, this year with inevitability of Halloween, the seven year old came up with the mushroom idea. Champignons that go trick or treating, dressed up in the costumes, she has done about 15, and several original ones by the youngest creative pest who wouldn't be outdone by her sis, my darling five year old. here is what we have done so far! The first one is of what they look like as champignons, undecorated.

Week-end #2, still up the roof!

To celebrate 10 years since we met, we went up the roof again (how romantic) and worked until it was finished. Thank Goodness for friends! Two of them just turned up on the day to give us a hand and Gosh! It was so much easier with the help, it seemed so much easier... We saved so much time thanks to another pair of hands and a brilliant idea of throwing the materials up instead of carrying them up the wobbly ladder. And it was so easy to have somebody pushing the insulation through the hole in the roof, which meant I didn't have to crawl out of the narrow space for each piece and push it in front of me all the way back the whole length of the roof. So by the end of Sunday the job was done, I sure hope it will make the significant difference to our temperature indoors. My Dad, a true Russian gets cold when he comes to visit, and wears in bed a wooly hat that I crocheted for my dear husband to go in the snow... And last winter, when we ran out of oil in our new house, our bedroom kept +12 Celcius for a week.

And what did YOU do this week-end?

We have finally received a piece of good news on Thursday, that the materials for the roof insulation might be delivered on Friday, and were happy like a pair of kids we are. :) Friday came with torrential rain and Biblical hailstorm. :( But the delivery was late and when it has finally arrived the rain paused, just for us, just for an hour, that we all needed to fuff about and unload the stuff. :) The driver has telephoned shortly before the arrival asking me, if I have anyone to help me unload the rockwool, so I in turn quickly telephoned my lovely husband to help me. ;)

On the arrival of the lorry I felt a bit weak, thinking there is no blooming way we are ever going to cope with that amount of stuff, and even worse when the driver informed us that he couldn't bring the whole lot in one go, so would be back with the left-overs... No kidding! Not that it was easy or great fun, or anything of the kind, but we did it (insert Dora the explorer singing We did it song here) and it only took us a bit over half an hour. I was shattered, and filling my garage was easier, as it was smaller, too.





The weather forecast for week-end was good so decision was made that the work on the roof should start immediately. My dh (he is a man after all) invited two friends to help him. (good man!) except that he invited their families as well, after all it is only going to be 200 sq.m. of basically fiber-glass. And to access the roof we need to move some asbestos around, but a little bit of asbestos is good for you, isn't it?! If you have a minute, do explain to me how does the mind of a man work?! It must be very different to a woman's! I was busy organizing where do I send our kids out for a day, not planning at all having 6 kids running around all the debris and three men going up and down a ladder... Seemed to me like a scenario for a disaster. Having explained this to my dear dear scientist of a husband, I have found myself in a situation that he wouldn't talk to me for the whole evening, and refused the help of the blokes, and blaming it all on me not wanting to have a party... Really I am all for parties, only not the ones that are combined with DIY and Asbestos, for goodness sake! I tend to avoid going to them, so I am not going to throw one, am I?! Anyway, I said I would not change my mind, and would rather crawl in the roof-space myself, if macho help involves 4 more kids present...

So when Saturday came we were ready (but not speaking yet), and the kids looked after by a friend in the village from 9:30 in the morning! The work has started...The packs (awkward size) had to be carried up into the garden, cut open and carryied up the ladder, did I mention that my wonderful man has vertigo, and I have fear of just about everything? Ok, so keep this in mind when I tell you that he had to go up and down the shaky ladder 96 times to carry the materials to the roof, where I met him to push the panels in (each individual panel of FlumRoc is the size of the cot matress) and take them into position. I was armed with a face mask and a bread-knife to perform my task and by the end of the day managed to crawl pushing one matress in front and pulling the other one behind me... Thanks to the communist government that prepared me in my Soviet childhood by making us participate in the military game of "Zarnitsa" where you were taught to crawl under the tight threads, hauling an injured body with you... Watching American films in youth has helped me move back to the pile of matresses even faster by using my comando style roll, and in the middle part of the roof, I could even hobble along in a proper Disney hunchback fashion. Oh! That was fun! Keeping in mind that my husband's knees have been operated on 7 times (?) -Gosh! so far, and are pieced together using some other less used part of his body in a mosaic fashion, I didn't mind doing most of the crawling, I got used to the huge spiders almost immediately, and for the dark corners I had my miners lamp on the forehead, so that was alright, too. Besides I was not at all capable of climbing up a shaky ladder with a huge pile of rock-wool in my hands. But it turned out that I have a hidden talent, carving out bits of rockwool to make a nice jigsaw kind of effect when laying it down. Thus my trusty bread-knife...

About 6 p.m. Saturday we had to stop for several reasons: we have emptied the biggest garage, we have used up all of the material in the garden, it was too dark to see, and we thought it was time to remind the kids that they still have both parents. BTW some time during that day we forgot that we were not on speaking terms, and the family relationship has become a warm and friendly one... Sunday morning I could not kneel on the soft bed to get up, I couldn't sit up or pull myself on the elbows either... I am such a sissy, being all bruise and pain from mere 8 hours of excercise, Alas! I was no good as a helper, but brave superhero of my husband came to rescue, he single handedly brought four more packs up to the garden and then up the ladder to the roof, climbed in and layed the patch that was left over. Hurrah!!! He is my champion. So what is left now is about 88 sq.m. of surface along the other line of imaginary L that represents a layout of our house. And this time I am organising the help, and no children are involved! Just keep the fingers crossed for the nice weather next week-end!

You are in luck!

You are in luck because one of the most talented designers out there is having a closeout sale, the items will be retired, and this is your last chance to snatch them and at a fraction of a price. Click on the ad to take you to the shop, and see for yourselves, but let me just show you a few of my favourite bits.


These four mini kits would cost you 50 cents each, of mere $2 if you want them all, and there are heaps more from where this came from, are you still waiting for something? Go! Both images are clickable! You know you want to! ;) Click NOW!

Borders freebie

Going through my stashes of things I didn't think were nice enough to even give away, I have found the borders, and they are sort of neat, and don't stink that much. LOL! So if you want them, you can have them now. If you like them, leave a little note. If you think they would be just a waste of your hard drive, let me know too! :) Worth knowing. Thanks.