Laughter & Horror Gauranteed.

Couldn't resist snapping this one as we walked up Cockburn Street last week.

Purses & Pouches Giveaway.

A new SparkleSmith competition has started and you can enter for free over at our Facebook page.

Its very easy to enter, simply find the Purses & Pouches album on our page and comment on your favourite picture. More will be added as the weeks go and feel free to comment on more than one picture.

The closing date is Sunday 26th September 2010, and the winner will be chosen at random from all the comments. The winner can choose any 2 available purses from the SparkleSmith website or Facebook.

New Site. Again.

Ok, I know it hasn't been long since I last revamped the SparkleSmith site, but once again I got bored with it and before I knew it half the pages were upside down, inside out and back to front so I had to start again.

As well as jewellery the site now includes a selection of the purses and pouches I've been working on. More textile funk to follow soon. I've had a few requests in the past for an easier to navigate layout, so have now incorporated shopping by price and shopping by item functions which should make it more user friendly. The pages are also whiter and cleaner, and the images are more crisp.

Its taken a good few days work to get the site ready this time. This one will be sticking around for a while.

Relocating Where?

I've just entered a giveaway and looking back on what I wrote after publishing it I can see it is full of mistakes. My excuse is I didn't get to bed till 4am, have just woken from a 2 hour evening snooze and my brain is totally scrambled.

I wonder what excuse the maker of this horrendous gaff on Shandwick Place gave?

Green Afro Man of Glasgow.

A totally random and short posting today of a man I saw many years ago with huge green afro hair. He was bending down on Giant Western Road in Glasgow, and was at the perfect angle to get his new stunning bushy hairstyle. Oh, how we laughed. Click the pic to enlarge.

Rain and Rod.

Rod Stewart was playing at Edinburgh Castle last night. We didn't have tickets but decided to go for a meal then have a wee dance along the Royal Mile to his music. We had a speedy meal at The Outsider on George IV Bridge, spent 20mins waiting to be served at Bar Kohl, then ducked into The National Library to avoid the monsoon, and spent about 20mins reading up on the history of golf. Turns out if you visit the library at 1950hrs on a Wednesday you have the whole place to yourself.

The rain got heavier as we got closer to the castle. Below is the queue of sodden Rod fans as they waited to get to in. As we walked down the Royal Mile we were offered 2 tickets (5th row from front) for just £50. They cost around £60 each at face value but fortunately we don't love Rod enough to sit in the wind and sheet rain for 3 hours. Plus the fact we were already soaked to the skin. We decided to head home.

Waiting for the bus on North Bridge the rain was so heavy we couldn't even see the other side. The picture below is of the Balmoral Hotel on the left, and the Old Post Office building on the right. Fingers crossed it's all gone for my outside fair this weekend, unlikely.

July Jesters

I'm currently taking part in July Jesters on Folksy. This is a concerted effort by shop holders taking part to list a new item every day for a month. I'm not sure if I'll make it through to the end but I've made it to day 9 so far.

The Folksy shop for SparkleSmith can be found at http://www.folksy.com/shops/sparklesmithscotland

The picture above contains just a few of the many amazing handmade items available on Folksy. I especially love the bun with icing and the crazy purple fluffy teapot cover.

Top row, left to right. Pipistrelle, Mrs Toad Designs, Fresh n Funky Cards, Designs by Maxi

Bottom row, left to right. Great Green Ltd, Pavlova's Art Loft, The Crafty Bride, CheeryMishMash

Horseboy visits Amsterdam.

Last September we went on our mini honeymoon and were lucky enough to stay in the beautiful Hotel Toren in Amsterdam. Sitting outside the hotel on Keizersgracht one morning, I saw an odd site coming across the bridge towards me. I quickly dug my camera out and managed to get a couple of snaps of the strange horseman. Click the pictures to enlarge.

Fast forward a few months and Horseboy is all over the news thanks to Google Streetview. He was spotted on it in Aberdeens Hardgate area, and then again on Hazlemere Road. Could this possibly be him on his holidays?

For a couple of other excellent Streetview images take a look here.