Zibbet finds of the week - Books

I can't point it out often enough, and my friends are probably getting tired of me already.
I love books and I'm a dinosaur. I hate audiobooks and I don't see myself owning an e-reader. Yes, I do know, you don't have to hold a heavy book, it's great to take along on vacations and you can have 384635435465 books on your reader. As long as I have space for my books, however, all of that doesn't convince me - for myself, that is. It's a strictly personal decision.

That was the reason why I chose handmade books for my post today. As you might know, I'm a librarian, and in my first year I actually learned how to make a book. It was huge and fat and had empty pages, and I never used it for anything which is a shame. Right now I wouldn't even know where to find it, but it didn't look all that bad for a first (and last).
And of course my friend Liesan was an inspiration for this as well. You can find her on Tumblr if you want to have a look at her bookbinding journey.

Enough talk, let's look at some beautiful images of beautiful books instead.

Handmade leather journal by mychimelle

Coptic stitch blank book in faux leather or fun pattern paper by Bliss

Handmade journal with hand dyed cover and pages by Rachel's Jazzy Creations

Light brown vegan faux leather journal by Bound By Hand

Handmade linen journal with vintage cotton lace by Arts Books

Handmade mini art journal by ExiArtsConceptWorlds

Brown suede mini book pendant by Glass Map Books

Quote of the week

I don't know what your school library looked like, but I remember ours. It was divided into two parts. The one was for the lower classes at high school, adventure, fairy tales, classics, just for the fun read.
My Latin and biology teacher was in charge of it, and to get some help, she had a system of her own. Whenever someone forgot to do their homework or was caught talking in class or passing along notes, they got a so-called "Schlamperstrich", the opposite of a gold star you could say. She was always very fair and never tried to catch kids just to make them work, though. If you had seven of them, you had to work at the library for an hour.
I spent much time there, putting back books, wrapping books in laminating sheets, helping with the card catalog ... I know what you think now, but sorry, I was a volunteer and absolutely loved it! It had two little rooms and it felt cozy, especially when it was raining, and often my friend was there to help out as well which made it even more fun.
I think I only ever went to the part for the higher classes once to look something up. It was by far not as nice. It makes me wonder if it still looks like that today.

Although I can't remember if I saw others use the library very often I'm pretty sure that none of the two were ever used to hold meetings about how to slay vampires and demons .... which brings us to today's quote.

Xander: Hello!
Two students are entering the school library.
Xander: Excuse me, but have you ever heard of knocking?
Jonathan: We're supposed to get some books. On Stalin.
Xander: Does this look like a Barnes & Noble?
Giles: This is the school library, Xander.
Xander (surprised): Since when?
Giles (towards the students): Yes. Third row, historical biographies.

A wonderful series for librarian quotes! ;-)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, USA, 1997 - 2003

Zibbet finds of the week - Winter

Winter is not here yet, but the meteorologists are already threatening us with their images of an icy cold December.

Grab a hot beverage of your choice and let's see what Zibbet has to say about winter, shall we? To save you my blabber this time, I'll let the images speak for themselves ;-) Happy winter!

Snowman pillow by Upstate Inspiration

 

Snowflake champagne flutes by The Wedding Gallery Brad Goodell

Vintage inspired mitten gift tags by Indelible Impressions

Needle punch snowman doll by The Talking Crow

 

Vintage fabric trees by that yountville girl

Soft felt flip brim cloche by Felt Fancy

 

Knitted winter socks by SlicKnits

Why HeatherCats don't have whiskers

Last week I told you about the HeatherCats in a post. So far three of them have come out of the shadows and moved into my shop.
They all have a few things in common. They are fun, they are unique, they are made from beads ... and they have no whiskers.
Now you might ask why I'm pointing that out. There are other whiskerless cats out there. In fact the Bosse brass cat on my desk is one of them.

It has to do with one of the comments I got on Biskit's Bum. Several people told me they had a problem recognizing Biskit right away. Some of the comments were hilarious. I have to be honest, I had never thought it could be a problem as it's a position not unusual for my own cats although I don't have a picture from the same angle to prove it.
Anyway, one of them (not my cats ;-)) said it took her a second and she thought it might be easier to see if the whiskers from Heather's original painting were on the bracelet as well.

This reminded me of the first time I showed the pattern for Grouchycat to some beading friends.

I told them that I tried to include the whiskers, but that I just didn't like them. In this size they are too overwhelming if you work them into the pattern or do them in beads 3D style. The same goes for wire if you have to work it through the beads at several points to make it stay put as I wouldn't want wire ends to stick out.
I experimented this way and that way, but the end of it was that I decided that leaving them off completely was still the best solution.

That's the story why HeatherCats have no whiskers.

Next time I'm going to tell you the story of Grouchycat's yellow bird, and why there will probably not be a HeatherCat version of notquitesogrouchycat!

Zibbet finds of the week - Triangles

I have a confession to make. I pretty much sucked at geometry in school. Not as much as at algebra, but still. I had to wiggle my way through. Math escapes me. I think as soon as I had finished school, all knowledge about math flew out through my ear, happy to finally be free.
Nevertheless I'm fascinated by geometric shapes. Seems I don't need to be able and prove why this side is longer than that one or worry about good old Pythagoras.
Today I went on hunt for triangles and I caught a few for you to enjoy.

This unique cowl that reminds me of a shingleback skink - that is a compliment because I think those skinks are really cool - is crocheted from fine mohair and can be found at Reflections By DS.

Brighter and modern looking is this tote from Smoochic Designer Handmade Handbags by Ann Lewis. Fuschia and black, definitely an attention getter!

I'm a nut for miniatures, they make me go squee a lot, no matter if they are knitted, sewn, crocheted, made from leather, glass, clay or, like in this case, wood. Isn't the little corner table adorable?
Calico Jewels Miniatures has more of these treasures, too!

Artisan Glasscrafts says: "Who says plates have to be round or square. How about a triangle." True indeed!

A little boat of silver on a triangular kyanite rock is making it through the waves, what a stunning and unusual design! You can find it at Zilvera.

The last piece I want to show you today is a beautiful tiny keepsake box beaded by from tiny Delicas. Being a beadworker myself I know how much work goes into something like this ... and I adore the little lampwork handle!
Have a look at The Canary Blossom Boutique for more beauties.

This post is dedicated to my math teacher in the 7th to 9th grade. He was lovely and I'm still sorry I was such a disappointment.

Quote of the week

I'm living at a place I like to call The Museum - one of these days I'll have to get myself a sign over the door - which refers not only to some of my vintage furniture, but also to my small collections. Let's face it, I'm not the modern kind of person. Tiled floors with a single sofa in one corner and shelves of brushed metal, not for me.
For that reason the following is hilariously funny to me.

While her daughter Saffron is away to get married in Africa, Eddy decides to get her kitchen re-done, again. She brings in her old friends Bettina and Max to do the job which turns out to be not such a good idea.

Max: "How are we doing?"
Bettina: "There's still too much in here."
Max looks around the empty white kitchen.
Bettina (pointing at the table): "I want ... that out of here."
Max: "We can't get it out."
Bettina (exasperated): "Jesus."
Max: "Steady."
Bettina (whispering): "I have to start with white box."
Max: "It, it IS white box."
Bettina is walking over to the table.
Max: "Erm ... what do we think ... over, over here?"
Bettina (looking at the white emptiness): "Do we need anything more?"
Max: "Well, a little, I think ... for the client."
Bettina (yelling and pointing at the table): "I want that out!"
Max: "We can't get it out."
Bettina: "Why??"
Max: "Cos you've taken out the stairs!"

The next moment Eddy comes flying down ... after all there are no stairs. It doesn't end well. Bettina has to be put back on medication, and Eddy is sitting in an empty kitchen with her friend Patsy and her assistant Bubbles when Saffron comes home ...

A friend of mine used to say that she wanted a loft with just a chair in it. Makes me wonder if she's one of Bettina's relatives ;-)

Absolutely Fabulous - White Box, UK, 2004

Who are the HeatherCats?

The HeatherCats are a secret project I have been talking about for a while, a project by Heather and Cat.

Heather is a friend of mine, a painter from New Zealand. I met her on deviantART and got to know the Essencestudios. I couldn't even tell you in what group it was, but among her talents Heather has a talent for bright, whimsical paintings, many of which are cats, so how could I not be fascinated the moment I saw the first one?
I really, really wanted one of her paintings for myself, and there was also that little seed of an idea in my head ....

To cut a long story short, I have my painting on the wall

and Heather has a bracelet after one of her other paintings, the Lazy Cat.

That's where it all started.
The HeatherCats are an exclusive line of jewelry bead loomed by yours truly after original paintings of Heather and they are ready to walk out of the shadows now.
Believe me, they are worth watching, both on canvas and in beads.

You will find them on Facebook and you will find them in my Zibbet shop as well where the first of them just made his entrance.
Biskit is a truly happy cat. Who wouldn't like to be able and relax like a cat? In summer, in the garden, on your back, just letting things happening around you.
Biskit was painted after one of Heather's own cats.

Stay tuned because more of them are waiting!

Zibbet finds of the week - I'm a collector #1

Although Zibbet is proud to be a site for handmade items, we can't forget the vintage items.
You might remember that I'm a collector. Mostly it's Steiff, vintage Barbie and of course my books and DVDs (with the DVDs and a part of the books not being very vintage), but also a few other things. For example there are cats scattered all over my place, hmm, I wonder why? ;-)

As a collector I decided to take a stroll through Zibbet's vintage life. As I intend to do that more often from now on, this post will be #1 of the "series". Enjoy!
 (The post is much shorter now because some of the items got sold ...)

As you can imagine, it wasn't difficult to find cat related items. The hard part was to pick just one. For today I chose this sweet postcard from the shop of Vintage Paper which was used for a Christmas message in 1943. All together now .... awwwww!

I don't like much to look for vintage dresses. I fall in love with something and it's never my size! Life is soooo hard ;-)
From time to time I make an exception and I stumbled upon this beauty (that so reminds me of early Barbie fashion!) at SLV - Some Like It Vintage.

Stay tuned for more vintage on this blog and if you can't wait, well, have a look at Zibbet for yourself!