divas and ledgends

so this is just a quick post to document for my own amusement the fact that the last few weeks since i got back from Florida seems to have been spent watching some divas and legends perform in concert...first it was Celine Dion who performed at the gigantic O2 arena in front of 20.000 screaming fans...well my David was screaming...i was just politely applauding,..she was very brilliant but it all seemed so fake and posed...and she punched the air at the end of every song as if to say..I'm skinny and amazing and you cant sing like me.
and a few days ago i went to see Liza Minnelli perform at a relatively small theatre in London to an audience that consisted of posh people and many well groomed gay couples...and a few celebrities, oh and some Saudi prince who i watched dancing like an idiot in his special box...and i can honestly say from the moment she appeared silhouetted against a white backdrop till the moment she took her final bow wearing a sparkly red number, it was one of the most amazing things i have ever been to..i feel privileged to have been there..it was like watching history on stage..and i loved every bit of it...

my feet

so i just thought you would all like to see my big fat hairy feet..OK maybe you will be more interested in the patterns around them..i was just looking through my holiday pics and made this collage to show you..everywhere in Disney it seemed that the carpets and tiles under my feet were overly detailed and stupidly colourful..in a good way though...look..

and even the wallpaper in the hotel i stayed in was richly detailed..can you spot the certain hidden Disney logo ?...not so well hidden really..but just an indication of how well thought out every detail is...i so wanna go back...oh i am..at Christmas..I'm already counting down the days....

talented friends

so i have written about my friend Becky before and this weekend i visited her in her studio and again was blown away by her work..she is still working with vintage flags and old bus destination signs..but she is now printing a cross stitch pattern onto the flags and then applying the cross stitch which gives the finished cushion 3 distinct layers..quite lovely and very tactile and if you want to buy me one i will accept it happily..see beckys website to see many more fantastic images of her work..

lego loveliness

so there i was in Lego world...a massive shop in downtown Disney in Florida...did i mention i have just been on holiday ?..i was looking for a gift and getting some air conditioned cool air before going out into the stupidly hot heat...when i saw this whole wall covered in little Lego men...there must have been thousands of them and they were all different...look how brilliant it is..I'm not really a Lego fan but i would have such fun building this...not sure where it would live though ?

im back and not ready to start work

so I'm back..and i have had a fab Holiday in sunny Walt Disney world in lovely sunny Florida. id like to say i did every ride in every park and watched every parade and saw every show there was to see, but seen as i have been quite a few times i actually had most fun splashing about in the hotel pool after breakfast and making sure i was back in my room to watch the Ellen show...i so wish she was on over her,,we do get her show but weeks after its been on in the states...i want it the same day you get it...

the weather was incredible and a suntan of some description was achieved. food...oh the food..I'm so built for American food,and the portion sizes suit me in every way...and with the current exchange rate..its so cheap for us Brits to visit America..it was bargains at every turn...
but now suppose its back to crafting and thrifting and seeing what mark i can make on the world...or maybe ill just look through my thousands of pictures...unlike many blogs who when they go on holiday report on cool shops they found...not me...all my pics are of me and mickey mouse or me with a silly hat on...i so want to live in America..but until that day happens..and I'm confident it will one day...you all have a magical day...x

im going on holiday....

so tomorrow I'm off for a well deserved 12 night holiday,...i work so hard all year long...my hours are taking its toll and I'm ready for a break....yeah whatever...we all know I'm a lazy bugger who does very little and is lucky enough to have an amazing David who whisks him away on fancy jaunts to far off places...if i can recommend anything to you all...its get a David like mine...they are brilliant...can you guess where we are going ?...see you all in 2 weeks...I'm scared i will go Internet and blog cold turkey...but a certain big eared friend will help me cope....

nice and new and old

so just a quick post about 2 new lovely things in stevensstuff, a lovely cup and saucer and a lovely plate..they are both lovely..but i already told you that......

strange but lovely london

so sometimes as i have said in the past i hate London...but sometimes it just makes me stop and stare...and this happened a couple of days ago when i was walking through Trafalgar square on my way home...now i have walked past this many times and thought it looked interesting, but today it just looked amazing..it was the sunny bright conditions mixed with a bright blue sky that just made this sculpture, called model for a hotel really come alive...this is on a plinth in Trafalgar square where every year a different artist gets the chance to display a creation...not sure who this is by but i really like it and how it contrasts with the old buildings and monuments around it...

i have been a crafting

so I'm normally a lazy bugger who does not do much at all and does it all with a smile...but the last week or so has seen me making some lovely stuff...if i say so myself, and these pillows are the result of the work in progress i showed you last week..made from many different leathers and placed together in a mosaic style, they create a unique design that is one of a kind...they are 10 inches square and for sale in my shop now..


and i also made in the same style these coasters,..i dont really ever see ones i would want to use in my house...and this usually results in circular stains on many surfaces..but these ones not only stop these stains, but they look really different and unusual...and i like that, they are also here for sale..

i want it i need it buy me it...

more goodies for sale

so i just had a knock at my door and it was a delivery man bringing me some goodies that i have bought to sell in stevensstuff...it was a box full of vintage cotton spools...and before i could say thanks very much, the box was open...the spools were sorted and pictures were taken and they were listed in my shop...alongside some fantastic fabrics that i have lots of...i might make some treasures for myself from this lovelies...yo know where they are if you want them...they are here...

work in progress

so i don't just sit around watching murder she wrote all the time..i sometimes do some crafting whilst i watch murder she wrote...and this is some work in progress that has been burning a hole in my head for months now..i first did something like this ages ago and i finally found some nice cotton drill to use so here we go again..this time I'm doing a small collection of items...so watch this space....

mariah carey madness

so London is a big fun place and sometimes when you least expect it, you can be witness to some crazy things...and yesterday was no exception...what your about to watch is the madness that was the arrival of miss Mariah Carey to the in store signing of her new single...the shop was Selfridgess, which to any of you that know is possibly London's biggest store...it really is massive and its slap bang on the busiest street in London, oxford street,...now id like you to believe that i came across this scene by chance..but the truth is i knew all about it because my David is a big Mariah fan and he was inside waiting for her to arrive so he could get his single signed...and i wanted to see the madness for myself and film it for him...now what you cant see on this video is that the police had stopped the traffic for her arrival...and it was only when she was out of the black cab she arrived in that they let the buses pass...now a warning...its a bit shakey and its a bit loud...and no that's not me that's screaming....

new and old at the same time..

so i made another bag/purse/wristlet thingy...as usual i did not follow a pattern or any rules..i just used what i had and and an hour later this was born..I'm not afraid to admit that i sometimes wish i was a girl so i could use such things..but I'm a big hairy bald man who just would look silly...but its in the shop now so all you ladies out there can get it if you want...

and the other things in this collage are new in stevensstuff,...now don't tell me that the mouse don't make you smile...again its one of those things that has already got a place in my heart, but i just have no space left for an ornament of a mouse...wearing a hat and yellow trousers...and this jug is just dying to be filled with cream and used in some fancy high tea ritual..the kind where the cups are so small they force you to hold out your little finger like posh people do...

liberty love

so i went into liberty's a few days ago to see an exhibition called china design now, the main part i wanted to see was by an artist called martin wolf who has used gazillions of plastic toys that were all mass produced in china, apparently according to the brochure he has used over 20.000 toys and has attached them to a wall inside the shop....and it was quite brilliant and full of fun....

in amongst the toys were photographs that he took in the factories that made the toys..

so of course whilst in liberty i had a wander around and saw some incredible things that made my heart beat faster than I'm sure it should....this really is one of the most inspiring shops in London....just look at these lovelies...

and the fabric department never fails to enlarge my pupils to soak everything in....

and the furniture as always makes me want to pull on a balaclava and hold the place hostage until they give me what i want....