mae the bear

2008-11-08T12:50:00.000Z

oh my word i finally remembered my email and password combo!!!

the questions...veg pal 2

2007-08-29T18:59:00.000+01:00

1.What is/are your craft(s), & how long have you been doing it/them?
knitting,bit of crochet,printing...lots&about a yr,lil less than a yr,a very long time.
2.Are you a vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, veg-friendly or other?
vegan!
3.Is this your first swap, or have you done previous swaps before? What makes a swap enjoyable for you?
not first time,its nice when ppl r original and make a big effort,or at least some effort.
4.What is/are your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike any color(s)?
green!green is best,brown is good,and orange,deep red,blues,starting to like purple....not th biggest fan of lilac or toxic green anything but those maybe
5.Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods, fibers or cigarette smoke)?
are u trying to find out my kryptonite???thats a secret.
6.Do you have any companion animals? If so, name(s) and type(s)?*
no, neighbour has a dog called hooch that has adopted us tho
7.Do you collect anything?
knitting books and magazines apparently!
8.Do you have a favorite vegan food, snack or dish? If no fav that's vegan (for those who aren't vegan), what's your favorite food? (Hopefully your pal can find a vegan version!)
chocolate cake!really lovin th seeds at th mo too....anything.
9.What are some of your favorite/least favorite tastes/flavors? (e.g. sweet, salty, chocolate, crunchy, smooth, tart, sour, spicy, thai, whatever - Help your pal get a feel for what kind of recipes you might like and/or never ever make.)
i dont really like sweet and sour[i know ur all sayin 'thats coz u havent had a good one' but im jus not a fan]
10.What tools/supplies/accessories for your craft(s) are you wishing you had but don't? Also, what do you have TOO many of? (basically a wish and anti-wish list)
think i need more pretty stitch markers,interesting needles&yarn,obviously[!!?!],dont know what i have too many of,jus moved so i got rid of a lot of stuff.
11.Are you on Ravelry? What's your handle?
huh?
12.Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?
um...its not that i dont, just that im not that forthcoming with info about me
13.What scents do you like/dislike?
not a big fan of them,cant think of anything but vanilla candles...oh oh oh cherry/dont like other ppls smells up my nose-like too much perfume or aftershave
14.Do you prefer fall or Halloween or some other Autumn theme?
fall, definately.
15.Just for fun - tell your favorite Halloween or Autumn related memory.
me an my lil cousin havin a party an dressin up as a candy-collectin mummy an witch-my mom wrapped me in ripped sheets an i had to stay in them ALL night.

update...

2007-08-20T23:27:00.000+01:00

so no pics coz it ent workin,heres what i've been at...

my mom an gary came over and we went to see about a million things in ireland!but i did get a nice new cardi out of it;~) and gary helped fix th heating and dishwasher[cleaner kitchen].

BUT they did get ribs in their non vegan take-away and left them for me to clean up officially making them th worst guests ever[despite their pluses] and forcing us[tho we shoulda done it much sooner,we just havent had to till now]to ask everyone who stays to not kill or eat dead things in our house, if they absolutely HAVE to they can go elsewhere....can u tell im remembering those bones,yuk.

hooch isnt well, we think he might have some muscle wasting disease coz th muscle on th left side of his head has disappeared and he was drooling a lot th other day[puddles of it]...i gave him a crochet blanket that he seems to really like.

i made my first cables!made a scarf[dunno y i hate making them]forced myself to finish it and when i get some cash i'll send it to scottish grandma to keep her lovely neck warm[she used to knit for me when i was little but has arthritis now so we cant knit together;( ]

i bought 3 big jumpers in a secondhand shop[gasp i found one, theyre a bit sparse in ireland!].they were bought to unravel for yarn but th one i thought was th most hideous[turquoise chenille] ive worn for th past week[thats not th scumiest i can get...]so ive bonded with it now and it will only get th frogging treatment if it get a big hole.
anyway i did frog one and got 550g of chunky green cottonyarn out of it and i weighed it and its about a gram per metre so i have enough to make a green top out of th first s'n'b book[at th back she's holding needles i think]

hmmn what else?

my mom sent me a package with another top in it...very nice of her!good package sending;)

um...nothing much else worthy of writng here[not to imply that this is of course]

oh i got a book today that we cant afford but its about trees!the secret life of trees i think its called...secret life of trees!yeah i know i was suckered in by their clever marketing speak and pretty green illustration on th front but i DO like trees and it seems pretty good.

oh that reminds me i finished crime and punishment[finally,though i did lose it for a while in a bag i decided not to use anymore]it is so very good and a very readable russian novel, although that sounds like an oxymoron trust me it is truth that i speak.

and th sock was unravelled an started again and then shelved but its still got its own bag so i still want to finish it.

watched some movies...v for vendetta[again coz its so good!],die hard 4[he's old enough to b ur grandad but u still would!],simpsons movie,angel-a[so so so good go buy it now,got th guy from amelie in it],Regular Lovers (Les amants réguliers)[it went on for a very long time and then th end made me so sad in my chest,but that might've been th mood that made it seem to go on forever...no i think it was about 3hrs,good tho,interesting and th lead guy francois is easy on th eye],walmart[why would anyone work for them?]

made some baby things for someone my mom works with,only a hat an some bootees out a that blue fluffy yarn but they were my first baby things ever;)

and im having another one of those 'what do i do with my life' crisis type situations...ive even been considering th anti-tree career of carpentry...help me.

WIP...my first sock!

2007-07-27T14:38:00.000+01:00

i started my first sock today!
ppl kept puttin me off sayin that u have to make them out of wool[NOT VEGAN] or they'll lose their shape,blah.
so i found this pattern in th last issue[11] of knit simple mag for a lacy pair of socks made from yummy vegan 4ply cotton,which i had in my stash already,deadly!
AND in this months theres a pattern for spiral socks that dont have all that heel turnin business so if i get to th heel and cant go on[but i will, i want to b a sock maker!] i can make them AND theryre in dk[stash busting!].

excitin cyclin!

2007-07-22T18:09:00.000+01:00

lots of whistling when we went to town today, then sirens, then fast cars, then....lots and lots of bikes

veg food...

2007-07-22T18:02:00.000+01:00

we've been eating a lot a rice lately...g says th last one looks like prison food with garnish but it was very nice.

friends to stay

2007-07-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

we had some lovely friends to stay.
and their car broke so they stayed longer.
it was great, they cooked nearly every day,
[yummy 'viking boat' soup]
did th washing up all th time [like washing up ninjas], and took us out to see some of this country we've moved to...
stretching our legs at a beach of rocks on the way to th tallest cliffs in europe...

...then we arrived at tellitubbie mountain/ the cliffs of moher

they were SO high, we were too scared to go right to th edge but some ppl were laid down lookin over :p also u were meant to b able to c th curve of th earth....

thanks rebecca and ben...it was lovely to c u both;)

some of my week

2007-07-11T18:00:00.000+01:00

this is our neighbours' dog 'hooch'.he lets himself in th house if th back door is open and has perfected th sad "dont u love me???" look if we ask him to leave, dont constantly pet him or dont let him in...but he's so lovely.

new babies!
so exciting!
cant remember what they r just now but its exciting, been liberating a lot of plants lately and they all seem to b doin quite well, but these r from seeds so its a nice surprise when they sprout.

bear keys r th best keys!finally got a key cut yesterday and they had this panda one!i now like pandas, AND they've been reclassified as bears[obviously this makes them cool].

th old man got me these th other day [so lovely:) ] but there was no label in th pot...any ideas what they are?

oh yeah and i've been knitting...

these r jus some quick hand warmers made in velvet touch from peter pan[i think] but i'm not sure i'll keep them, even though they're super soft and lovely, i've already frogged them about 4 times tryin to get th size.

i've also been tryin to make a little capelet [from snb nation] and bein vegan an usually a little poor [not related except when making lots of cakes] i always substitute yarns from patterns for animal friendly ones that r in my stash, anyway i frogged it about 4 times too due to bad choice of yarn and th last time was th furthest id got then i realised id made a mistake th whole way through [put a yf after th sl2 instead of leaving it back...it didnt say to so y did i think i knew better??]i think it woulda been okay but i think i secretly like ripping work out too[may explain my lack of f.o.s].

i'm back, still alive

2007-06-30T12:16:00.000+01:00

i am still alive, we've moved to ireland and i've become addicted to knitting since i last wrote here and looking at my pics it looks like i need to knit something bigger than my hand, here r some of th things i've been up to...

scarf for nichola...

a scarf [i did boycott them for a very long time] for my mom...

a treasure bag i made th other night for me...

a big red crocheted blanket that's meant to be for my grandma stateside but i'm so poor it probably wont get there and it'll jus remind me of her instead...

this ones for me because its green, i like green, think it needs to b bigger...

this is a quick hat to keep th lovely hilda's head warm[she really likes to b warm], need to post it to her in bicester [can u c a pattern forming?!]...

and a phone sock -on geoff's phone coz my looks like th hulk in it- i made quickly last night when i was thinking of somethin i could knit with my limited stash of yarn[we left th suitcases with geoff's clothes and my yarn behind when we had too much weight!]...

...also had this needle case made especially for me by th lovely hands of sue merry of fritwell [thanks sue!]...

...had the progress of a vintage hat in black halted whilst cat sitting...

...tried to force my knitting obsession on others who would smile politely[hope ur still knitting?!]...

...and have found anothe bunny who would like a nice home...

also been making things for my cousin and my friends birthdays but they havent got them yet so i thought id better not post them just now

illustration friday fat...erykah badu [phat]

2006-05-10T15:55:00.000+01:00

this is my entry for fat...erykah badu with her fat hair, made up of treble clefs.black biro on paper.

free [ish] business card

2006-05-10T15:45:00.000+01:00

i got some free[ish] business cards from vistaprint[link for them is to th side].i had to pay for postage, understandable since they r based in belgium i think. i chose a design with lots of blank space so i could print my own work on th card[bear was handcarved and stamped on by me...have lost it now...where can it be?].i would change some of th details should i do it again but at least i got to find out for cheap!...oh yeah they bug u a LOT with 'offers' they have for u so it might b a good idea to use an email address that u dont mind gettin junk sent to.

woman # 2

2006-05-10T15:41:00.000+01:00

this woman is also from an old sketchbook for a project about family [ish], read th bluest eye by toni morrison for th project so it wunt that sweet...

think i used a toothpick with indian ink on paper from a muji sketchbook[theyre great!]

veronica

2006-05-10T15:37:00.000+01:00

this was also found, scanned from an old sketchbook for a femme fatale project...she looks like shes got a lazy eye, but its a reminder that i kno that colour exists!

kweli?

2006-05-10T15:31:00.000+01:00

i just found this on th comp it was scanned from an old book[coupla yrs ago?]think it was meant to b talib kweli [hehehe is it tho is it?] just remindin myself that i have drawn b4...seem to have artist's block at th mo;¬(

edm # 24...fruit [oranges for rebecca]

2006-05-10T15:25:00.000+01:00

i had to sit for what seemed like ages to draw this, u can tell i couldnt really b bothered after a while i just wanted to eat th bag of oranges! g made me carry on till i was finished or i wasnt allowed the oranges!

list friday...10 jobs i'd like to try

2006-04-30T11:29:00.000+01:00

okay here r my 10 jobs for list friday in no particular order of importance...

01. be a member of a rollerderby! yeah!i love rollerskates and rollerskating[although i am scared of stopping??]so i think it would b cool to be fearless and be in a pro team [maybe lady die's team...there was a cool article on her in issue 10 of herbivore magazine]yeah it would b cool to not b scared of falling over and breakin urself...why do ppl get this when they get older?

02.professional kite pilot. my boyfriend just bought me a kite[fanks hon!xx].i think its a beginner one of th type that u take off with.ive wanted to do this for about 10 yrs after seein it on tv.so now i have one so i gotta get good so i can pretend im in a miyazaki movie and just fly away...really id like to be paid to fly about.

03.grow my own fruit & veg and sell it. all part of bein self sufficient and helpin ppl get their vitamins and minerals.

04.professionally paid artist that has made it selling carved prints & wares & sewn goods. it would b nice to have made it and continuously sell handmade things.

05.professional musician. this is from when i was younger and played th violin and thought i wanted to make it and play in a big famous orchestra and teach music when i wanted to settle down because th jet-set lifestyle of th world's greatest violinist was just not doin it for me anymore. i thought that now this would apply to playin my ukulele professionally as well as th violin...

06.tree planter. they give u yummy oxygen!yum air! and how fun would that b!plantin, diggin, maybe travel th world planting rare trees or even just more trees, th u.k. used to b one big forest, trees everywhere, now where r they?i think we should all put them back....?

07.bicycle courier. helpin ppl give gifts and presents and stuff and gettin paid for it AND bein good to th planet and bein all fit and healthy.

08.own and run a vegan cafe with lovely big couches that ppl could read or draw or paint on all day & we'd have lots a chocolate cake & brownies made from isa's recipe coz they r th best brownies ive ever tasted!seriously click here for th recipe and make them urself!and listen to their theme tune it really does stay in ur head forever...and we would serve hot chocolate and lots of yummy home grown and organic food.and there would be a gallery and stuff to buy and maybe art supplies...maybe i should have a gallery with a cafe in it??

09.teach an art class maybe about how to carve, especially erasers coz its so easy and useful and every1 should try it...email me, maethebear@hotmail.com , if u would like to do an art swap, ATCs maybe?or just a fun package of stuff like hand-made stationary, softies, dunno what else...

10.help people who need it in this country and others. it would b cool to do this full time as a job!

i also had carpenter on th list but realised that i believe in planting trees and thats when i came up with tree planter.

illustration friday...'spotted' [very late]

2006-04-28T14:32:00.000+01:00

"quick, look over there!"

"where, what?"

"celebrities!loads of them!RUN!"

"arrrrrrrgh!they're everywhere!arrrrgh!"

...celebrity rabbits eat regular rabbits for pleasure.this is why they have been forced to live at the sides of roads...

[from the rabbit book of 2005 when i really wanted a rabbit but was convinced not to have one by my boyfriend as we have nowhere to live so neither would the rabbit!]

spring #2

2006-04-05T11:15:00.000+01:00

little birds....£5 and the little one's yours![also a brooch]

illustration friday...spring!

2006-04-04T20:46:00.000+01:00

penny, pear and cinnamon in the grass.

i saw some other bunnies by th side of the road last week[all alive!]and that was very spring-like so i asked these three to let me take their picture.

does anyone wanna do a swap...i mean adoption![doesnt have to be sewn]

penny is going to live in wales, but pear and cinnamon dont have homes yet;(

illustration friday - monster # 2

2006-03-29T17:58:00.000+01:00

hey hey...here's another entry for monster.

it's a little boy [can u see it?th coloured version on th right might help more]

he likes mexican wrestling, i found him on th other side of th first monster...maybe they r friends?

drawn from crisp, made into a rubber stamp.

illustration friday - monster

2006-03-27T00:52:00.000+01:00

this is my 'monster' for illustration friday...but he's not really a monster he's just a bit angry.

drawn from a crisp and made into a rubber stamp.

four cats

2006-03-27T00:19:00.000+01:00

happy mothers' day

2006-03-27T00:17:00.000+01:00

illustration friday...feet

2006-03-21T15:02:00.000Z

this is my first entry for illustration friday.

i know its not technically 'feet' but it is a foot, well a bit of one.

its carved on speedball carving eraser...which u can get in the u.k. [and everywhere] now but if ur in th u.k. its quicker to get the stuff from the blade store in london.

morihei ueshiba

2006-03-21T14:53:00.000Z

this is a woodcut of 'morihei ueshiba' the founder of aikido. he was very calm and always smiling. it's taken from a book my boyfriend has and it was meant to be for his birthday card but i messed up the varnish then didn't print it until yesterday[his birthday was in february].

yoshimi

2006-03-21T14:46:00.000Z

this was drawn on my wall [naughty!] when i got troubled after watching a programme about old people being treated badly by carers...i'd been listening to 'yoshimi battles the pink robots part 2' a lot as well so i named her yoshimi.

mcgone

2006-03-21T13:19:00.000Z

i made this a few years ago [2 or 3], it was a project 'for' greenpeace[they didn't know about it] about deforestation and how people like the ones at ronald's work cut down old growth trees in the rainforest and push people out of their homes permanently to instead put methane producing cows there for a little while. is that sensible?

buy fair trade!

2006-03-21T13:09:00.000Z

this is an atc made for a 'carving consortium' swap in january. i used watercolour pencils for the background and a computer to get the text,transferred it to eraser, then carved it.

mE the bear

2006-03-21T12:50:00.000Z

this is an atc that was made for a 'carving consortium' swap this january as a 'hi' to my group.

i drew the bear [as well as some others] in the pub with my boyfriend and some random guy he'd made friends with [he does that in pubs].

then i made it into a rubber stamp, stamped it and coloured it with caran d'ache.

woman's face

2006-03-21T12:40:00.000Z

this is a lino cut i did about two or three years ago for a project i was working on. thanks to nichola charvis for helping lots!