tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41755098899759104002024-03-13T05:28:22.195+00:00LindyLaine CraftsLindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-73881294749135442602019-01-17T00:59:00.000+00:002019-01-17T00:59:33.904+00:00Bag of BitsA couple of years ago, one of my friends gave me a giant bag of fabric pieces, mainly samples of upholstery fabric, that I've been storing under my bed ever since. With the idea of making some space, I finally got around to sorting through and starting to make use of some of them. I've been thinking about using the pieces to make patchwork bags and spent an enjoyable hour arranging the fabrics by size and colour and having settled on my first project, I started sewing my first bag. However, once I'd stitched six rectangles together, I had a square that looked like it would also make a great cushion cover, so in the end I stitched 18 rectangles into three squares and made a bag AND a cushion cover, I even found an offcut of linen that looked as though it was left over from a dressmaking project and I used that for the back of the cushion, which I finished off with a couple of porcelain buttons I made last year, so I'm also happy to have found a use for a couple of my buttons too.<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-31064403844567629222018-08-15T22:51:00.000+01:002018-08-15T22:51:01.897+01:00Buttons and Beads I think I've probably been attending pottery classes for about fifteen months now and I'd recommend it to anyone who feels as though life's stresses are getting the better of them as there is something very relaxing about handling clay, we have a great bunch of students and a very talented pottery teacher who tells us some of the funniest stories! If you've ever watched the brilliant and sadly missed UK tv series "The Great Pottery Throw Down" then you'll already know that making pottery can in itself be quite a funny experience... not that I've tried pulling mug handles myself yet 😉<br />
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Like with a number of my other hobbies, I really like working on a small scale and as I already enjoy sewing and making jewellery, button and bead making feel like a very natural pursuit, although I do on occasion tackle bigger projects too. I'm fascinated by the many different techniques and the different properties of the different types of clay. I love experimenting and pushing the materials and at the moment I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fill that clay shaped hole in my life over the summer holidays until I start a very exciting City and Guilds pottery course in September!<br />
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In the meantime, I'll leave you with some photos of my latest batch of buttons and beads...<br />
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The buttons are all porcelain, which has been rolled out on a number of different materials to produce different textures and the beads at the bottom of the photo have been created by mixing three different types of clay together. Up close some of them look like little planets.LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-78890440943159039692018-08-03T16:23:00.000+01:002018-08-03T16:23:30.981+01:00The Dark Destroyer!My youngest cat Sirius came to join our little family about five months ago. He can be really sweet and cuddly, and of course like any kitten, he's playful and curious about everything that goes on around him, he also has a strange little habit of wanting to suckle on my right earlobe! He picks his moments carefully - usually when my hands are busy, so I end up trying to complete a task while trying to defend my right ear from a very determined kitten... and I also have no idea why he always goes for my right ear and never the left one...?<br />
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His nickname of the Dark Destroyer (or DD for short) was given to him by one of my friends and is actually quite well deserved. In the last five months since he moved in, he's chewed through three phone charging cables, has knocked my two house plants over more times than I can remember, broken four vases, including a beautiful sea urchin inspired one made for me by my pottery teacher, my paint brushes are now kept in a jam jar instead of a pretty jug and a hare ornament a friend gave me for Christmas is sadly no more. I'm not even going to count all the things that have bounced, like the dinner plate he knocked off the cooker top earlier today but I am going to mention that he is the chief suspect in the mystery of the disappearing paintbrush bristles. If anyone can think of a use for a flat brush with just a few remaining bristles on each end, please comment below!<br />
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Having said all that, I know his naughtiness is just a phase and one day he will calm down and crafting will become less of a challenge again. On the plus side, my older cat Marley is a lot less stressed about being left if I have to go out, and he has to a certain extent embraced his inner kitten again, which is lovely to see. I love seeing them curled up sleeping side by side on the sofa which has happened a few times now, though at the moment you're more likely to see them both sprawled out on the floor near the fan in this hot weather, and I love watching them play.<br />
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Someone once asked me why I'd named my youngest cat after the Dog Star - my reply was that as a Harry Potter fan, Sirius (Black) was the first name that popped into my head when I met him and it just stuck. It never occurred to me that I was naming my cat after a dog... but then, there's a certain consistency to that as my son named my older cat after the labrador in the film Marley and Me. 🙂<br />
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LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-74354783581178502882018-08-02T22:43:00.000+01:002018-08-02T22:43:26.389+01:00A New Look and Raku Pottery I've decided on a fresh new look for my blog - that red was a bit overwhelming, I hadn't realised it was so long since I last added a post, so it's definitely time for a new one! I've also recently gone for a new look for myself too - losing my shoulder length hair in favour of a pixie cut, which I have to say feels so much more comfortable in the current warm weather.<br />
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Last time I had a drastic hair cut, I donated the surplus hair to the <a href="http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/" target="_blank">Little Princess Trust</a>, who are a U.K. based charity who make wigs for children with cancer, unfortunately I've developed a few more "silver highlights" in the last few years so I'm not sure how useful the current batch is likely to be, I'm hoping they can use the hair from around the back and I've saved the greyer sides for myself and my pottery class.<br />
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I started pottery classes just over a year ago when I was looking for a distraction from a stressful situation, I have to say I find playing with clay very soothing and I love the fact that there is so many new techniques to learn. This week was the second time I've been involved in a raku firing but the first time I've tried naked raku and horsehair raku, though no horsehair was involved... I used a feather my youngest cat Sirius removed from one of his toys and some of my spare hair. This is the result...<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-55006545051508100852015-01-01T13:12:00.000+00:002016-11-06T21:23:32.293+00:00Christmas in a Box Craft Swap<br />
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Despite having set myself some probably quite unrealistic goals for making Christmas gifts this year, I couldn't resist adding to the stress by signing up for a craft swap! I'm still a bit of a novice at this swapping thing - for instance, I completely forgot to take photos of the items I'd made before putting them in the post - Doh!!! Also , why didn't it occur to me to add some craft supplies to my swap when my swapping partner is a fellow crafter??? Hopefully I'll get better at this with practice.<br />
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The idea of the swap, organised by Kimberley at <a href="http://creativechaosnz.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Creative Chaos</a> was to put together a festive, crafty Christmas box. This is a <a href="http://creativechaosnz.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/send-us-christmas-swap.html" target="_blank">link to the original post</a> about it and here are the rules we had to follow...<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The rules:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The items must be in a one litre container (eg., icecream/margarine/sistema).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">They can be some of your favourite things and some of your swapers favourite things.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Something handmade (decoration/bag/dishcloth/zippered pouch etc), tea, stationery ,craft goodies, Christmas things,food items etc - the choices are lots.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Try and put at least 2 Christmas based items in the swap.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Include a Christmas recipe - maybe a family favourite and a decoration (one which is representative of your own country would be fab).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">There is no limit to the number of items sent - it all just needs to fit inside a one litre container.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
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Here are pictures of all the wonderful goodies I found when I opened my box on Christmas morning...<br />
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Look at this little lady, isn't she sweet? She's so detailed too - love her boots...</div>
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... her little Christmas stocking... and the little charm on the back.</div>
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I'm not much of a tea drinker (I prefer the occasional hot chocolate) but this beautifully knitted mug cosy and the tea bags are going to prove very useful as I'm planning a birthday tea party soon :)</div>
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I really love the beaded detail.</div>
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Isn't this one cute? I'm in awe of anyone who can knit like this!</div>
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My recipe is for gingerbread and it was beautifully packaged in a gingerbread patterned scroll - will be giving this a try for my tea party too :)</div>
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Valery-Ann can't have had any idea about how much I love playing with washi tape - I was SO happy to get three rolls of washi tape and this sweet little tape dispenser. I'm really looking forward to having fun and creating some crafty things with this :)</div>
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I know from reading my swap-partner's blog, that she loves butterflies so I wasn't surprised to find some in my box - firstly this pretty butterfly stamp...</div>
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...six sheets of butterfly paper in lovely colours...</div>
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...two fat quarters of fabric, one that matches the colour of my car! :) ...</div>
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...secured with embroidery thread and decorated with these lovely butterflies that I'm wondering if I can use as teddy bear fairy wings, I'll have to see.</div>
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Look at these beautiful butterfly buttons, I think they go really well with the fabric...</div>
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I just had to show you one of the buttons in detail, I will have to plan something special for these :)</div>
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Then I also got these little wooden butterfly shapes, that I already have plans for so watch this space...</div>
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...and last but not least, I got these butterfly themed post-it note pads that are magnetic on the back. I've been needing a new note pad to stick on my fridge so they are already being put to good use :)</div>
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I'm amazed at the amount of goodies Valery-Ann managed to cram into a one litre box! I have no idea how she did it, as I tried repacking the box to keep everything together while I unwrapped the rest of my presents. This was the first gift I opened on Christmas morning and I didn't want to lose any of the pieces but I just couldn't get the lid back on!<br />
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I have to say a H-U-G-E Thank You for Valery-Ann for putting together such a wonderful collection of Christmas and crafting goodies. I'll write posts about the things I make over the coming months.<br />
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I like making small things so this swap really appealed to me and of course in October, Christmas still feels some time away. I didn't actually stress over any of my items except the final one I made, which I felt was the most important one as I wanted to make something my swapper would like. Valery-Anne loves butterflies, vintage style and pink and I had really wanted to combine these things into a single item, unfortunately my first few attempts weren't successful and I had to simplify my ideas. Luckily I did take a photo of this with my mobile before it went in the box...<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-22440817337620216082014-12-28T16:17:00.000+00:002014-12-28T16:19:46.311+00:002014 Review...<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I set myself a list of 14 Resolutions at the beginning of this year and I've decided to go back through them to see how many I managed to achieve...</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">1. Try to make at least one bear a month - I've actually done pretty well on this one :) While my bear-making has been a bit haphazard, I didn't make any in March or April, but I have made 19 bears (so far) this year so I'll count this one as a success! Gingerted below is one of this year's bears - he was a Secret Santa gift who is no longer a secret so it's safe to post a photo of him now...</span><br />
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2. Re-home the last of my friend Sue's things - I only have one item left that I'd promised to someone - who I haven't seen this year, so I've done quite well on this one.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">3. Visit </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/" style="color: #993333; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wildwood</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> - a proper visit this time. It's such a special place, well worth going - Done! :)</span></div>
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4. A photo day in Dungeness - still on my to-do list, so something to look forward to for next year.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">5. Hmmmmm - sore subject right now...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">6. Try to go to the pool more often - still a bit of a fail :(</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">7. Be more organised - another work in progress...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">8. Try a new craft - Done! These are a couple of the pieces I made on a glass fusing workshop. Both have been made into necklaces which I've given to friends as Christmas gifts. :) </span></div>
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9. Tackle the paperwork pile - well it's a LOT smaller than it was last year so lets call this a success :) (but still a bit of a work in progress)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">10. Declutter - I finally got to move this year, so I'm going to count this one as a success, even though I still have a few boxes to unpack. :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">11. Go to bed earlier and try to get up earlier - hmmm... another work in progress.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">12. Make more effort to keep in touch with family and friends - I think this will have to count as a work in progress too as it's been a hectic year - but going to take the opportunity here to say a HUGE Thank You to everyone who helped me with my home move earlier this year - I couldn't have done it without you! xxx</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">13. Join in a craft blog swap - I've just done my second so this is definitely a success! Watch this space for a blog post about my latest swap :)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">14. Eat more healthily - this is obviously a long term goal which I've been making rather slow progress on, but so far I've lost around 14 lbs which is a reasonable start :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I'm not making a new list for 2015 - I'm going to continue working on this list as I think it's worth sticking with... now I must get back to making my last bear of the year as he was supposed to be a Christmas gift but hopefully I'll have him finished in time for New Year :)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The biggest change for me this year has been my home move. After sixteen years of trying to move to ground floor accommodation, it finally happened! I have to admit I almost chickened out on moving day... I suffer quite badly from anxiety and I find it difficult to spend even one night away from home, so the prospect of spending EVERY night in a strange place was terrifying. Fortunately after waiting so long, the move happened very quickly, which gave me very little time to think too much. I had a fantastic moving crew who turned my new bedroom into an oasis of calm amongst all the chaos - taking time to put my rail and curtains up for me even though they were running behind schedule by then.</span></span><br />
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LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-57962463758317775252014-11-22T00:42:00.001+00:002014-11-22T00:42:50.855+00:00Unable To Resist A Crafty Challenge!One of my new neighbours recently sent out a request for help - she wants to do "Elf on the Shelf" with her young daughter this year and needed an Elf. I waited a little while to see if anyone else would respond, and then suggested I'd be prepared to help if she was stuck.<br />
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My neighbour found a rag doll that could be converted so I didn't have to start from scratch. The first thing I did was create a pair of elf ears - I think elves should have a proper set of pointy ears. I had some dark cream fabric but it wasn't quite dark enough so I brushed an ink pad across the fabric to darken it, then washed it to lighten it again slightly before ironing to heat set it. I then 'amputated' the arms and legs so I could add some armature wire as I thought this would make it easier for the elf to get up to all his elf-related activities. I decided to transplant/create a new set of legs as I wanted to give the elf proper curly toed shoes. I wish now that I'd taken photos all the way through the transformation but sadly I didn't think of it, so I just have a few photos to share with you... here are the old legs alongside the new ones.<br />
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I've never actually designed elf shoes before, but then I haven't designed elf clothes - or any other type of clothes before, but I have a book - "Just Like Me Knits" by Brandy Fortune - that gives some great hints on pattern making for dolls. It has some great sewing and knitting patterns for dolls too but sadly I'm pretty useless at knitting, so those patterns currently remain untried. Below is a photo of the original clothes...<br />
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I was lucky with the elf trousers as I've made a couple of rag dolls in recent months and I was able to adapt the bloomers pattern to make a pair of trousers with a slightly tapered leg, that amazingly fit without alteration. The jacket I decided to design from scratch, based on the doll's measurements, as the Elf is a slightly different shape to the rag dolls I've made, I kept the shape simple but I still think I owe Brandy a BIG "Thank You" for all the tips in her book, as the jacket was a pretty good fit too - I just had to adjust the neck opening but as I was using felt, this was a simple matter of trimming to get a better shape. Here's a photo of Mabel, the rag doll I made recently, who is rather cheekily flashing her bloomers... it's surprising how many people have a sneaky look at her bloomers when they meet her so she decided to show them off for everyone to see!<br />
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The hat was straightforward as I've made a couple of clown hats for my bears before - I just had to make the pattern bigger - a LOT bigger! I decided to finish the hat off with a bell, none of the bells in my stash was big enough, but <a href="http://summerhousebythesea.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Clare from The Summerhouse By The Sea</a>, had a great suggestion and I'd like to thank my cat for donating a bell from one of his toys (I've since replaced it - also thanks to Clare x) Here is a photo of the finished Elf...<br />
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It's really nice to have something ticked off my To-Do list, which seems to have grown lately instead of getting shorter, which is quite scary when it feels as though Christmas is approaching at breakneck speed!<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-36421199881863177302014-10-21T22:07:00.000+01:002014-10-21T22:07:04.410+01:00A Busy Year - Why I've Been Away So Long...<br />
I don't write a post for MONTHS, then suddenly two posts come along - a bit like buses - I thought it might be a good idea to explain why I've been quiet for so long. Little did I know when I wrote that post in March, that within a matter days, I was going to be offered the chance to move at VERY short notice!<br />
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I've been trying to move for 16 years so you would have thought I'd have been ready for the opportunity - but no - despite having a bit of a de-clutter every now and again, I was completely unprepared, especially when I only had a couple of weeks between being offered a new home and moving in.<br />
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I'd lived in my old two bedroom flat with large loft space for over 22 years, so despite finding the loft difficult to access myself, that didn't stop others from popping boxes up there for me over the years and of course it all had to come down and be sorted through - sigh.<br />
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My new home is a lovely one bedroom flat with level access, so while I miss the extra bedroom/craft room as a place to store my crafting stash, I'd rarely actually crafted in there, preferring instead to craft in the living room... and here my new living space is noticeably bigger.<br />
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My cat on the other hand has had "issues" since we moved and the only way of keeping him chilled out seems to be a constant supply of Feliway - you really don't want to know what happens if I forget to buy a new refill for the diffuser!<br />
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It didn't take Marley too long to discover which cupboard contained the cat food!</div>
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Life is very different for both of us here, there's a lot more activity going on around us than we're used to, and while I'm enjoying the sense of feeling more connected to the world, Marley doesn't seem to appreciate it as much - he hates dogs with a passion so I don't suppose being able to watch them trot along with their owners, probably no more than 12-15 feet from our window, is likely to do much for his peace of mind; and watching me occasionally fuss said dogs on my way in or out isn't likely to help either. But he's gradually learning to cope and he seems enjoy having little conversations with neighbourhood cats, especially Milly Mogs from next door, who is a very pretty tortoiseshell.<br />
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I made Marley some extra hidey holes on the advice of the vet</div>
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The one thing I'd hoped for when I moved was my own garden, I would have loved a little outside space all to myself but it wasn't to be, but I am lucky enough that there is a flower bed under my front window and I've bought some spring bulbs to plant in there when I'm feeling up to it... and when I have a trowel to dig with - I forgot that when I bought the bulbs! I was so excited when the first flower bloomed in the garden a few months ago - I have no idea what it was but it was very pretty...<br />
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We've had a few hiccups since we moved - including two months without a cooker, phone or internet but the move has been a good thing. However none of it would have been possible without the help of my family and friends, who pitched in to help with the loft emptying, packing and unpacking and who all deserve the biggest Thank You!<br />
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I also had a great removal crew who put up curtain rails and curtains for me before they left; and a couple of helpful charity organisations came and collected surplus belongings, Freegle came in very useful for this too. It was very sad to say goodbye to the great neighbours I'd known for many years but I'm happy to say we're still in touch and I'm lucky enough to have already made some lovely new friends from among my new neighbours.<br />
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It's funny how some of the silliest little things have made the biggest difference - being able to put the rubbish out without worrying about stairs; a kitchen where I don't have to stand at a funny angle at the sink, a shower attachment over the bath, and even a pretty flower in the garden (well flower bed). Now I just need to unpack those last few boxes... and buy a trowel for those spring bulbs :)<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-25584655338180326282014-10-05T20:11:00.000+01:002014-10-05T20:15:51.064+01:00The Bear Facts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anyone who's read my blog will know that I love making miniature teddy bears. They tend to be made intermittently depending on how well my hands are working. I set myself a quota of at least 12 bears this year and even with everything else thats been going on, I've already achieved my goal, which has made me very happy! <br />
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I make my bears mainly for friends and family and usually have a number of people sitting patiently on my "Teddy To Do List". When people reach the top of my list and if it's not a surprise gift, I often get asked the same questions, so this blog post is being written to address some of those queries.<br />
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Funnily enough I find miniature bears easier to sew than large ones - my left hand doesn't work as well as my right, so the smaller pieces are easier to hold than bigger bear bits and I can turn the small cotter pins I use for the neck joints, where I find the large ones impossible. I also enjoy the challenge of working at this small scale. I like to make sure my bears are as good as I can possibly make them so they are all hand sewn with extra strong thread and a lot of love.<br />
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I currently use three types of fabric for the main body of my bears. All are made from synthetic fibres, as is the Ultrasuede fabric I use for the paws. I use one basic teddy pattern which has a very traditional look and creates a bear who is approximately 8cm (3 1/4 inches) tall. I have plans to create kitty and bunny patterns in the future, I just haven't got around to the drawing stage yet - thats on another To Do List.<br />
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<b>1. Cashmere</b><br />
This fabric has the shortest pile but has a very touchable, soft and velvety feel, and it usually comes in a huge variety of colours...<br />
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Percy & Milly (made for a Hello Kitty fan) are both made from cashmere </div>
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<b>2. English Velvet</b><br />
I can't source this fabric anywhere at the moment. I was lucky enough to be able to buy a small batch of this fabric a couple of years ago from a supplier who was retiring. It has a longer pile than the cashmere and a slightly bristlier texture, though still very stroke-able. I have much more limited colours in this, mainly natural browns and beiges, some slightly more golden shades, plus a green, a blue and a rose pink...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFF5ulOF5E4cGFlD9_nhyNCxSq6Mjc2q6Rjd7n0g3XHiOYMAqLPWoP3A2eDBKjqkjUfwbAOqZvmyTJaW6ticcgrFqcoW8BiK1TYZZQUBxrcjuz1c5HtMAOl5uKiqMv0xLORkQhfqIK8g/s1600/William.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFF5ulOF5E4cGFlD9_nhyNCxSq6Mjc2q6Rjd7n0g3XHiOYMAqLPWoP3A2eDBKjqkjUfwbAOqZvmyTJaW6ticcgrFqcoW8BiK1TYZZQUBxrcjuz1c5HtMAOl5uKiqMv0xLORkQhfqIK8g/s1600/William.jpg" height="320" width="233" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYk50506eY2pAJstpdRyIADC4_wdFn4TLPA3hNl-qS1HTQHUriTv-x9UnQ7PY4udUZ936bX6m5h_6bAtrU00Tm21MScpAX4q9K2gpo96sMZOhvBWdFl8UpAAe0_taALWm_1tWAOVD2xRw/s1600/Raphael+-+small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYk50506eY2pAJstpdRyIADC4_wdFn4TLPA3hNl-qS1HTQHUriTv-x9UnQ7PY4udUZ936bX6m5h_6bAtrU00Tm21MScpAX4q9K2gpo96sMZOhvBWdFl8UpAAe0_taALWm_1tWAOVD2xRw/s1600/Raphael+-+small.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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William & Raphael are both made from English velvet</div>
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<b>3. Sassy</b><br />
This has the longest pile I currently work with. It was developed in America specifically for miniature bears, it comes three types - frosty; long pile; and smoky - and a wide range of colours.<br />
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Bai & Clarabelle are both made from Sassy long pile</div>
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Frosted Sassy has a lot of colour in the base fabric but very little in the actual fur - Bai's arms, legs and ears are made from frosted fabric although as she's quite a light colour, the effect isn't too noticeable in her photo. All coloured Sassy fabrics have been hand dyed (not by me - at least not yet...), except the white long pile and the natural grey smokey.<br />
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Sassy smokey has a dark base fabric which gives a different look, in the photo below you can see two bears - Pumpkin, who is made from cashmere and Greta, who is made from Sassy smoky, so its a good photo to see the differences in the different types of fabric...<br />
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I make a rule of never combining different types of fabric, but of course I do on occasion break my own rules - I was lucky with Sidney that it worked out, but I don't generally recommend mixing like this...<br />
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Sidney is made from a mixture of a leopard printed cashmere and an English velvet like fabric, both of which I don't seem to be able to find anymore, though I currently have a few remnants left. And once in a while, I'll pick up a different piece of fabric, like I used for Herbert here...<br />
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I hope this post will help my friends to choose their new teddy bear friends. At some point I'll do another post with some of the fabric colours I have in my stash and add a link on here. If anyone has anymore questions, please feel free to ask.<br />
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LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-46072797372093347422014-03-04T19:26:00.000+00:002014-03-04T19:26:18.052+00:00Send A Little Love SwapTaking part in a blog swap was one of my new things to try for this year and despite a few e-mail hiccups that meant my parcel was sent out a little later than planned, I really enjoying taking part and would love to do this again.<br />
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I heard about the swap I took part in on <a href="http://madaboutbagsuk.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Mad About Bags</a>. It was lovely to get to know someone new - I was partnered with Jill from <a href="http://jillecymraeg.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Love to Craft</a> was was a lot more expert at putting together a themed swap than me! I can't add in any photos of what I sent because I forget to take pictures before I parcelled everything up - hopefully I'll do better next time - including blogging about it much sooner too!<br />
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Anyway, the brief was to put together a parcel that included the following:<br />
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<div style="color: #797979; font: 14.5px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
"Something heart shaped or themed</div>
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Something deliciously edible</div>
<div style="color: #797979; font: 14.5px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
Something handmade</div>
<div style="color: #797979; font: 14.5px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
Something red"</div>
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Jill did an amazing job of fulfilling the brief with lots of heart themed items...<br />
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Who wouldn't love getting an exciting parcel like this?<br />
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Especially when it's wrapped in giant bubble wrap? Pop... pop... pop! Yes - I admit I'm addicted to the stuff! :) :) :)<br />
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And all these lovely co-ordinated parcels were inside :)<br />
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A pretty heart shaped tin containing a heart shaped soap - mimosa and pomegranate - it smells lovely! :)<br />
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Some pretty heart shaped post-it notes - they even match really well with the glass chopping board in my kitchen :)<br />
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A wonderful heart shaped mirror - great timing as my son 'borrowed' my old compact mirror, I haven't seen it for some time!<br />
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I haven't eaten any of these for YEARS and I confess they've already gone! :)<br />
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These have all gone too - they were absolutely delicious! :)<br />
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Look at this pretty necklace - the pendant is made of glass. I have no idea how they managed to get all those colourful glass pieces inside but I love it! :)<br />
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Nail varnish containing hundreds and hundreds of teeny-tiny shiny red hearts - how cool is that? :)<br />
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A fantastically glittery purse/pencil case - it's going to make my crafting pens much easier to find... you wouldn't believe how long it took me to find a black fabric pen on a dark green carpet after my cat knocked it off the table and it rolled (or was pushed by a playful paw) under my sofa - never again! :)<br />
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I haven't decided how I'm going to use this great ribbon yet, I'll have to think up a nice new project to work on once I've finished my current WIP's :)<br />
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Last but not least - a very cute and comfy (I know because I've already worn them) pair of socks - hearts and birdies - so much more exciting than the plain white socks I usually wear :)<br />
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Included with the parcel was this beautiful card. :)<br />
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Jill must have put an awful lot of thought and effort into gathering together all these wonderfully well themed and thought about gifts - a HUGE Thank You Jill, it brightened my day when your parcel arrived, it continues to make me smile whenever I see or use one of the items and I think they will continue to brighten my days for a long time to come.<br />
xxx<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-21134252525894696872014-02-08T17:16:00.000+00:002014-02-08T17:21:23.377+00:00Glass FusingLast weekend I attended a morning workshop which taught the skills of glass fusing. The process of fusing glass in a kiln takes too long for us to have been able to see it happen, but our tutor talked us through the process of both fusing glass fully, and tack fusing. She took us through all the health and safety precautions we needed to know about, the properties of and the different types of glass. She showed us some examples of jewellery pieces she had made, and then she let us loose to make our own pieces.<br />
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Yesterday I received an e-mail letting me know that my work was ready for collection, so I just HAD to go and get it straight away - I couldn't bear to wait for someone to collect it for me once I knew it was ready!<br />
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Some of my pieces turned out just as I'd imagined them, while others produced rather more unexpected results. I'd put together seven pieces and chose to have some fully fused and some tack fused. I some cases making a couple similar items and having one fused one way and one the other...<br />
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This was my first piece - I spent ages cutting small pieces of glass to fit! Despite the tutor explaining how glass reacts in the kiln, I didn't really expect it to change shape so drastically! I think it now resembles a kind of glass boomerang! I'm thinking that I might have a go at wire wrapping this piece so I can hang it in my window as the colours are pretty even if the shape is a little strange!<br />
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My second piece was tack fused and has maintained it's original shape with less rounding of the edges. The finish is not as smooth but I love the shape and texture.<br />
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Again with these pieces, one was tacked and the other was fully fused, this time using opalescent glass instead of translucent - and again, I prefer the piece that retains some of the shape of the original glass.<br />
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However with my last piece, it had to be fully fused and I love it. It's a combination of opalescent and fracture and streamer glass with small pieces of copper foil sandwiched between...<br />
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The photos above show the before and after fusing, the light here today has been very changeable and I don't think any of the photos do justice to what the glass looks like in reality. The copper turned a deep red just as the tutor said it would. I had a feeling this was going to be my favourite piece when I was making it and it really is... I'm now waiting impatiently for some suitable glue to arrive so I can attach a bail and start wearing it!<br />
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The last piece I made was similar to this but I sandwiched some knitted wire in the middle and tried cut a small piece of copper in the shape of a bird - not easy to do with a very big pair of scissors! Sadly something went wrong in the kiln and the top piece of glass moved before it fused which is a shame...<br />
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I think I've learned just as much, if not more, from what didn't work as I have from what did. I'm now looking around for other courses so I can learn more. I've always loved working with glass and was upset when I had to stop working with stained glass when my hands started playing up. But working at this scale is so much easier - I find smaller bears put less strain on my hands too. So maybe one day I'll be working with glass again - that definitely makes my happy list! :)<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-74525545999233493592014-02-02T21:24:00.001+00:002014-02-02T21:32:08.959+00:00A 7th Week of Happiness...It's obviously going to take me longer than a year to get through this as some weeks I don't feel well enough to blog, but I don't think that really matters - its about changing the way you think, its about looking for things that make you smile, even if they are small things and sometimes even in the face of adversity! I think those are the times when it's even more important to find something positive to be thankful for.<br />
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This week, it's been pretty easy to find things to be happy about - it was my birthday a few days ago and I've been overwhelmed by the kindness of others, especially as I haven't been very good at keeping track of other peoples birthdays over the past few years, which is something I really need to work on. The two shelves above my television are crowded with beautiful birthday cards which make me smile every time I look at them, they are a reminder that I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends and family. :)<br />
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On my birthday I had lunch with two friends I've known since I was 8 years old, we went to a lovely little cafe in an ex-coastguard station perched on top of the cliffs in the village where we grew up. It was pretty cold and blustery so I took a photo of our view across the English Channel through the window from the comfort of our table in the tearoom...<br />
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I've noticed that every few years, I go down to the Bay on my birthday, so here is a photo from this year's visit...<br />
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It's the first time I've been out with my "big camera" for ages and it actually felt pretty good to be taking proper photos again :)<br />
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I've completed my bear for January thanks to a small piece of pale green sheer fabric from one of my friends which I used for one side of the wings. The bear is going in an exhibition at my local library next week which is being put on by the craft club I attend there once a fortnight. Being a library based group we took some of our inspiration from books and this little bear is my take on Tinkerbell from Peter Pan...<br />
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Yesterday, I went to a morning workshop on making fused glass jewellery. It's a shame that I can't find any cool courses like this locally but this one took place in the town where my sister lives so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with family. It was a long and tiring day but absolutely wonderful and I don't even care that I can barely move today!<br />
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Years ago, I used to enjoy making things from stained glass until my hands started playing up to much, but was pleased to discover yesterday that I remembered how to cut glass successfully and as I've found with my bear-making, cutting small pieces is a lot easier. It'll probably be a few weeks before I get my finished pieces back as firing glass takes too long to have got our pieces back the same day so I'm waiting very impatiently and with great excitement to see what the finished result will look like.<br />
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The photo above shows one of the pieces I'm most excited about. The tutor told us that pieces of copper turn a beautiful deep burnished red when sandwiched between two pieces of glass. I wanted to try this and chose a piece of white glass for the background, with a piece of "fracture and streamer" glass on top. I thought the top piece I cut reminded me of reeds or tall grasses so I cut some tiny leaf shapes from the copper. I'll post more pictures once I get my finished pieces back.<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-47858756441019912032014-01-29T01:22:00.000+00:002014-01-29T01:27:16.931+00:00ResolutionsI don't usually make resolutions because I'm not very good at keeping them, but this year so many of my friends were making 14 resolutions for 2014 that I thought I would have a go at making some too.<br />
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I wanted to use a Dungeness photo here and this was the only one I could find on my computer, it's not the most exciting photo of the place, which is beautiful, desolate and surreal, but maybe appropriate for today's theme of looking back and looking forward...</div>
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Now we're nearly a month into the New Year, I thought I'd share my list and how I'm doing so far...<br />
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<ol>
<li>Try to make at least one bear a month - I don't know about you but I've been feeling really flat this month and struggling to get going with my crafting after the big push to complete Christmas presents in time, but I may just manage to finish my current bear by the end of the month so I might be on track for this one :)</li>
<li>Rehome the last of Sue's things - it will soon be a year since my friend died but I still have a couple of things to deliver. I just need to recontact the people concerned and make a bit more effort on this one.</li>
<li>Visit <a href="http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/" target="_blank">Wildwood</a> - a proper visit this time, and I promise to take my camera and share some photos with you. It's such a special place, well worth a visit :)</li>
<li>A photo day in Dungeness - another great place to visit, I've been promising myself a return visit for about two years, so it's about time I got around to it!</li>
<li>Stop lending (giving) son money! This is a hard one as he's one of the most disorganised people on the planet, but he needs to learn to stand on his own two feet and keep helping him out isn't doing much for my finances. Tough love is VERY hard and I've broken this one already, but I'm slowly getting better at it.</li>
<li>Try to go to the pool more often - I was never a confident swimmer and these days I can rarely even bring myself to let go of the rail! I go to a very warm pool just a few miles away when I do go, but haven't been well enough so far this year, so complete fail on this one so far :(</li>
<li>Be more organised - I've managed on the whole to keep on top of a couple of target tasks, so I'm going to count this one as a success :)</li>
<li>Try a new craft - hopefully this will be another success as I'm booked on a one morning workshop this weekend :)</li>
<li>Tackle the paperwork pile - well I've started, and even taken a bag full of shredded paper for recycling so another success :)</li>
<li>Declutter - I've done a bit of decluttering recently with the help of Freegle, so I'm going to count this one as a success. :)</li>
<li>Go to bed earlier and try to get up earlier - hmmm... I've been sleeping so badly that I think I'll call this one a work in progress.</li>
<li>Make more effort to keep in touch with family and friends - I think this will have to count as a work in progress too as I've already missed sending a couple of birthday cards :/</li>
<li>Join in a craft blog swap - I'm actually working on this one! I'm registered with a swap, I have a swap partner and I've even gathered together some items I've made so this one should be a success! :)</li>
<li>Eat more healthily - this is obviously a long term goal and ignoring today's rather haphazard diet, I have been working on this one. It's my birthday this week so I'm not going to get stressed if friends or family feed me a chocolate muffin or a Crunchie bar (guilty on both counts) but on the whole I've been doing quite well at cutting down on unhealthy snacks and have so far lost around 6 lbs :)</li>
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So on the whole I've been doing quite well I think so I don't think my resolutions are going to be a complete disaster. Maybe this year I've been more realistic with my tasks? Looking at the list, I seem to have set a range of long and short-term goals, some of which I don't need to tackle straight away and I'm not giving myself a hard time over any slips. It will be interesting to take another look at the list at the end of the year to see how I feel about my list then. I wonder if I'll be able to say I succeeded with all my tasks?<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-78107868063065538792014-01-20T02:24:00.002+00:002014-01-20T02:31:32.761+00:00Jaffa - My Awesome Friend!I know I haven't posted for a while, my son gave me a virus for Christmas and it took me a while to recover. I haven't been crafting much lately either, but hopefully I'll get back to crafting AND blogging very soon. This post is a little different, I'm not writing it because I want sympathy, but as a celebration for the life of a wonderful cat who I loved dearly.<br />
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I first met Jaffa as I walked my son home from his first day at school. My son was always rather obsessed by cats and wanted to make friends with every cat he met, unfortunately in those early days of our relationship with Jaffa, he wasn't too impressed with our attempts at getting to know him - in fact it would be no exaggeration to say he hated us and probably every other human in existence!<br />
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One thing we did notice on our daily walks past his house was that his food bowl was kept in the front garden and that sometimes when it rained the dish would fill with water and stay that way for a couple of days, so we started buying cat food and throwing it for our ungrateful new friend from a distance because he would hiss, spit and strike out if you got too close. One day, a couple of years on, I noticed that Jaffa had one of his front legs trapped under his collar and he was struggling frantically to free himself. I tried to help him but couldn't do it alone, so I knocked on his owner's door. Luckily someone was home and between us we managed to take the collar off and that was when I learned our little furry friend/fiend was called Jaffa. He seemed to be warming to us a little after that, so my son suggested I should try to stroke him - I waited till his mouth was full of cat biscuits before I tried and thankfully survived unscathed.<br />
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After that, both Jaffa and I became braver and I think we both used to look forward to our daily meetings. Sometimes after dropping my son off at school, I would sit on the pavement and Jaffa would climb onto my lap for a cuddle. This went on for several more years until one day, he just wasn't there anymore! We were so worried that something had happened to him but then we met one of Jaffa's neighbour's in town who told us that he was now living at a local cat sanctuary. Well as you can imagine, both my son and I wanted to go and see how our little furry friend was doing. I didn't drive back then, but one of our neighbours offered to drive us over and I don't know who was the happiest - him or us - and I'm sure you've guessed by now that within two days, Jaffa had moved into our home.<br />
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The top right photo above was taken on the day he moved in, in fact it was taken within the first hour that he was under our roof. When he arrived and was taken out of the travel box, he gave us a sniff, he stalked from room to room to get his bearings (or maybe just to be nosey), then he jumped onto the sofa, into the seat nearest the radiator (it was February) and as you can see, he made himself right at home!<br />
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I worried a lot in the early days that he wouldn't settle into living indoors after so many years outside, but he never wanted to go outside again. The one and only time I took him downstairs onto our courtyard, he climbed onto my lap as I sat on the outside step and he was trembling so much that I quickly took him back indoors again and apart from the very regular vet trips in the last year of his life, he remained indoors for the rest of his life.</div>
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We had almost five wonderful years together before he journeyed across the Rainbow Bridge. He was my constant companion whenever I was home, like a small furry shadow. He was completely food obsessed, you can see him begging for a piece of chicken in the middle right photo; and see him drinking from his preferred water bowl in the bottom left photo - I tried everything I could think of to stop that particular habit, even tried giving him bottled water, but nothing worked, it was just one of his little quirks. The top right photo shows him on top of the fridge, I have a very small kitchen and the fridge has to sit on the worktop as I have a freezer that lives where a fridge should be. He only ever climbed on top of the fridge that one time - it had taken him ages to figure out how, he once did the same with the television too and sat himself carefully among the cat ornaments I kept there.<br />
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These days I share my home with another awesome cat, he's very different in looks and character from Jaffa for which I'm grateful. I love Marley dearly, but there was just something about Jaffa that I still miss to this day - six years and three days after losing him!<br />
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After he died, I couldn't bear the thought of just walking away, so I asked for his ashes to be returned. I would have liked to have buried them in a nice sunny spot but I don't have a garden, so his ashes are still with me. Maybe one day I'll have a little garden where he can be laid to rest.<br />
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I would say to anyone who is thinking about getting a pet, check out your local animal rescue centre. The connection you can develop with a rescued animal is amazing. I've grown up with cats and dogs, we were never without pets when I was a child, but the best relationships I've ever had with any pet has always been with those who have been rescued. I probably would never have considered taking on an eleven year old cat if I hadn't known him before he needed a new home but I'll never regret taking Jaffa into my home, he was such a gentleman :) and I would definitely consider taking on an older cat again in the future. Everyone loves kittens, but older cats need love too and if you find room in your heart and your home for an older cat, I found the rewards were definitely worth it and I hope you do too.<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-1979105213472717272013-12-08T16:24:00.001+00:002013-12-08T16:24:06.433+00:00A Year Of Happy 6/52I have rarely ventured outside my front door this week but I still have things to be happy about...<br />
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Firstly, I DID venture out to the Post Office on Monday - and posted all my Christmas cards and parcels that were destined for people living further away. It's the first time I've ever been organised enough to send them all off so early AND all at the same time. It's also the only year when I haven't bought any stamps in advance so the total postage cost was a bit of a shock but I'm SO happy to have this done so early :)<br />
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My cards are a lot simpler this year, but they are handmade and all identical - or as identical as a handmade Christmas cards can be! I've had complaints before that I sometimes give cards that are very like ones I've given previously, so as I've never sent anyone a card like this before - problem is solved. I've never done so many cards of one design but it was a great challenge and a great opportunity to apply some of the skills I learned on one of the printing workshops I attended earlier this year. I took photos as I created these cards which I'll write about very soon.<br />
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My second Happy is another gift crossed off my Christmas present "To Do List". Earlier this year I decided I wanted to make some pretty hair clips for my youngest niece, I even bought the clips a few months ago. I know my niece likes sunflowers and ladybirds, luckily I had dies for both, so I made two clips...<br />
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I have a cat who hates having his photo taken - except when I'm taking photos of things other than my cat, so photobombing has become a hobby of his...<br />
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I really enjoyed making these for my niece, hopefully she will enjoy wearing them :)<br />
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Spending so much time at home this week means I have managed to cross several items of my gift list but I've also finished an extra bear I started by accident last week. I grabbed a bag of ready cut bear bits as I headed out to Craft Club, I thought I'd picked up the pieces for a bear I've been planning to make for our Craft Club exhibition thats happening early next year, instead I picked up bear bits for another bear with the same coloured fur but in a different combination. Once I've created the head of a hear and sewn it's little face, it tends to look accusingly at me until it has a body and limbs! I always make bears faster when I make them head first, so even though this was a "spare bear" I just had to finish him once he started giving me that look...<br />
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Could you have resisted that little face? I was thinking of calling him Murray until one of my friends suggested I should name for a very special person who died this week, so this is Nelson - who is no longer spare. He very quickly found a home with one of my friends and I'm looking forward to her coming to collect him in person in the New Year :)<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-30719971587486656452013-12-01T21:41:00.001+00:002013-12-01T21:54:26.418+00:00A Year of Happy - 5/52What has made me happy this week? Not all my Happies are craft related - the first was the simple pleasure of freshly laundered bedding. Don't you just love crawling into a clean bed? Despite how much I suffer after the struggle of changing the sheets and how hard I find it to get out of the bath - it really is worth going for both on the same day even if it's all I manage - sheer luxury! :)<br />
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I also had an unusual view from my window this week, especially as I live in a first floor flat (or second floor apartment to my US friends)...<br />
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Its a relief that the rotten wood has been replaced in the gable over my bay window, so now I know my loft is properly weather tight again. I saw the old piece of wood they removed - it fell apart as they were taking it down, so I'm even more thankful that it stood up to that awful storm we had recently.<br />
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My next Happy comes from making the effort to cook a "proper" meal for myself from scratch (with a lot of cheating)! My online shopping came earlier this week and I'd ordered some field mushrooms as they were on special offer. I discovered a recipe a while ago for healthy low fat stuffed mushrooms, its very simple to make, 2 Quorn sausages mashed up (I find it easier to cut them into small pieces first as my hands aren't too clever), pop them in a pan with some onion (I cheat and use frozen chopped onions - no tears!) and I also add some frozen chopped mixed peppers which aren't in the recipe but I like them. Plus you chop the mushroom stalks and add them to the pan too. I'm not terribly good at following recipes - I just chuck everything in together to cook, but the end result is very tasty. I had mine as a main meal, served on a bed of rice (again I used frozen cooked rice) and drizzled with a little BBQ sauce - yummy! And as I got 4 mushrooms in the packet, I had this for dinner twice this week, when you look at the calorie count in the <a href="http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Print%20Recipe.aspx?rid=715" target="_blank">recipe</a>, it makes you even happier! Unfortunately I don't have a photo to go with this as it was so tasty and I was very hungry :)<br />
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Finally you get a photo of something I've made (sorry for the quality, most of today's photos were taken with my mobile phone camera)! I've been working on my Christmas list again this week, ticking another name off the list makes me very happy! :) Only one thing has frustrated me this week and that is the fact that my living room carpet is like the Bermuda Triangle of crafting. It seems like anything I drop on it instantly disappears! I can understand that dropping about a dozen 4mm green crackled glass beads are going to be hard to spot on a green carpet (that was a couple of months ago and I never did find a single one) but last night it was a beaded hoop for a wine glass tag - so a silver plated metal hoop with silver plated crimp beads and 6mm red crackle beads, you would have thought that something would show up wouldn't you? But no - I searched everywhere both last night and this morning when it was sunny, and nothing - sigh. I have admitted defeat and beaded up another hoop so I can finish putting together my gift... another tick on my Christmas list! :)<br />
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A stocking for a friend's beautiful Scottie, it has a doggie treat and a little gift for my friend tucked in the toe - that's two ticked off the list :)<br />
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I found the perfect frame for this picture I made a few weeks ago for my cousin, so that's another tick :) I even managed to resist popping the bubble wrap that arrived wrapped around my first Christmas present the other day, it was just the right size to protect this :) :)<br />
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Here is another set of wine glass savers I made as another present. They are less colourful than the other ones I've made, I used faceted black onyx beads for these. Another tick off the list :)<br />
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All in all, it's been a pretty good week... even made it to Craft Club too :) :) :)<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-90749516598383244682013-11-25T21:17:00.001+00:002013-11-25T21:25:34.060+00:00A Year of Happy - 4/52Well I haven't ventured out much this week, the weather has been mostly cold, wet and miserable but its been quite a good week for ticking a few people off my Christmas present list which I'm very happy about.<br />
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When I decided I would like to hand craft all my presents this year, I didn't take into consideration just how much time and energy it would take, so as time is passing, I have cheated and bought a few presents but I'm happy that I've also made use of some of the crafting materials I have on hand and this week I've enjoyed the challenge of turning some of them into gifts. So all my happies for this week are crafting related...<br />
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My first happy is that I finished my Secret Santa gift this week! Obviously I can't give you any details about this one right now as it might spoil the surprise if my SS recipient sees it, but there was a great sense of achievement when it was done. You might also notice I had another little play with my question mark illustration on Photoshop during the week too - I wanted to make it look a bit more interesting.<br />
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My second happy is a pair of cushions I've made for my eldest niece and nephew who recently bought a house between them as a way onto the housing ladder. They have a mid-grey sofa with green piping so I've made these out of a piece of fabric I bought earlier this year. The fabric design sometimes makes me think of a coastal scene and at other times it makes me think of Venice - either way, I knew I wanted to decorate the cushions with "bunting". I bought half a yard/metre if this fabric, which was enough for two cushion fronts but not the backs, luckily the strip I cut off the top of the fabric, was wide enough to decorate the back...<br />
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I used a simple pillowcase construction and attached the strip to the edge of the top flap, the rest of the back was cut from a large piece of cream cotton I bought I few years ago and never used. The "bunting" is made from the cream fabric too, I wanted to keep it plain so it didn't distract from the lovely green fabric. I was also incredibly lucky with how the back strip worked out - just enough to be able to place the buildings at the top and some boats at the bottom.<br />
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I did the stitching with a mid-grey cotton which will hopefully match with the sofa. I'd never done machine applique before - it was a little scary but I'm pleased with how it turned out. One last photo...<br />
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My last Happy is a bag I've made for a friend of mine - she loves environmentally friendly shopping bags. She's also a quilter so the bag needed to be really well made...<br />
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I used some more of the cream fabric and added a border of a pretty birdie fabric which I used as inspiration for the machine applique I used on the front. This shape wasn't as easy to sew around and it wasn't as easy to see what I was doing as the colours were so similar. The handles are reinforced with webbing and sewn in about 5 times on each end, while the side seams are double sewn so all the raw edges are hidden (I have no idea what that type of seam is called). The bag itself is made from a single piece of fabric which will hopefully make the bag stronger and give my friend a reasonable amount of use out of it.<br />
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Hopefully I haven't spoiled any surprises here as I'm reasonably confident that my niece, nephew and friend don't read my blog. If any of them come across this before Christmas Day, then please accept my apologies, but I was just so happy with what I've made this week that I really wanted to share :)<br />
<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-38505851541686367132013-11-18T22:19:00.000+00:002013-11-18T22:26:33.698+00:00A Year of Happy - 3/52It's that time of the week when I think of three things that have made me happy in the last week...<br />
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The first is that I've made progress on my Secret Santa. The first part of my gift is reasonably straight forward and is now completed. The second part will take me into a more unknown territory of crafting but I've been out today and bought the supplies I'm going to need and I always love a good crafting challenge. Obviously I can't show you a photo of what I've done so far in case my Secret Santa recipient should see this, so the only way I can illustrate this "happy" is like this...<br />
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My second "happy" was spending time with friends on Wednesday. I'm finding that I'm struggling so much with my health lately that I spend a lot of time on my own at home. This month Craft Club, which runs fortnightly, fell on the same day as Fibro Group, which runs monthly. I rather stupidly decided I could manage to attend both. Fibro Group was fine, I really enjoyed it and went home determined to have a proper rest for a few hours before heading out again for Craft Club. Unfortunately, relaxing is something I'm not very good at, no matter how tired I am! We'd decided to only spend an hour at Craft Club which I also really enjoyed, despite feeling pretty rough by the end and feeling even worse for the rest of the night I did make progress on my current crafting project thanks to some assistance from my friend Clare from <a href="http://summerhousebythesea.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">"Summerhouse by the Sea"</a>, I think I'd have really struggled with what I was doing without an extra pair of hands!<br />
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My third "happy" was the relief of remembering I had a spare bear stashed away that was just perfect as a gift for a friend's daughter's birthday present. Hard to believe that "E" is now 16!!! Where does the time go? E is often one of the first people to like teddy photos I post on Facebook so I'd asked my friend what colours her daughter liked. I was a little worried about being able to complete a bear in time until I remembered my spare bear, named Pixie Belle. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the party as I wasn't well again, so Pixie Belle is still here for the moment waiting for a meet up with my friend, hopefully one day this week. I shall have to try and make a couple more spare bears at some point.<br />
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Pixie Belle is a little larger than my regular bears - she's around 4 inches tall. I had to make her bigger to fit the hat I bought at a Hugglets bear fair a few years ago. I added the charm to the end of the hat as I think reaching 16 is special and worth remembering. I was told that E's favourite colour is purple, so E and Pixie look like they're meant for each other! :)<br />
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Wishing you all a very happy week.LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-51923316141196508692013-11-12T20:31:00.000+00:002013-11-12T20:31:05.276+00:00A Year of Happy - 2/52Already a late with my second week of 3 happy things - will have to try and keep up a bit better or it might take me more than a year to get through it!<br />
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Number 1:<br />
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My first happy thing for this week has to be finishing Clarabelle, my 101st bear - this is a biggie for this week as I've been struggling to make her since July! I don't know whether the push to get to my 100th bear overworked my hands or just left me feeling completely burned out, but I suspect it was a combination of the two things that has left me struggling with "crafter's block" for a while now - finishing little Clarabelle has felt like a real achievement and she's already on her way to a friend who I think has waiting long enough for her new little beary friend! I'd originally planned for this to be a housewarming gift but as she moved back in August, its more like an early Christmas present now! LOL<br />
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My second good thing is taking a little longer to appreciate... its a certificate from my university - an acknowledgement for the work I've already put in on my degree - its a good thing, I know it is, but making the decision not to go back and finish this year was a hard one to make, but it was also the right one because I know I wasn't healthy enough to go back. Receiving the certificate felt very final even though I still have the option to go back and finish whenever I'm ready. However I know that once I've had a little bit of time to get used to the idea, I will be happy about my certificate, it represents four years of hard work that were also happy years of meeting new friends, learning new skills and being pushed out of my comfort zone to achieve more than I ever thought I could.</div>
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My third happy thing is much smaller - I went swimming the other day... when I say swimming, I actually mean I went to a pool, not my local one as the water's too cold for my joints, but another one nearby thats much warmer. I was never much good at swimming as a kid but have since completely lost confidence and usually keep a death grip on the railing at the edge of the pool, but this time I managed to let go for short periods of time as long as my feet were touching the bottom of the pool, so I felt pretty good about my trip even though I suffered a lot of pain afterwards for going. But even better than that was being able to wash my hair under the showers there, feels so much nicer than when I have to wash it at home laying down in the bath - such a little thing - soft, clean, properly rinsed hair but it's the highlight of my week!</div>
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Thought I'd finish with a photo of Bo Bear in her swimming costume, she was my first bear of 2013.</div>
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-74700034648747064312013-11-04T20:45:00.000+00:002013-11-06T00:08:13.132+00:00My First Year of Happy Post - 1/52The way I understand it, you find three things about your week that made you happy and as someone who's been struggling quite a lot with my health over the last year, it does seem like a good idea to look for some positives. My friend Clare from <a href="http://summerhousebythesea.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">"The Summerhouse by the Sea"</a> has been doing her year of happy for some time now and it's nice to see the things that make her happy over the course of a week - it seems to me that it doesn't always have to be big things, often it will be small simple things that will bring a out smile.<br />
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My first is that I'm grateful to have survived the storm last Sunday night/Monday morning pretty much unscathed. I was told by one of my neighbours that the storm reached it's peak here around 4am, but I actually slept through that bit, which is better than I managed in the storm of 1987, when it sounded as though the roof was being ripped off - that was scary! The first thing I noticed in the morning was that my bath had a load of little black bits in it which must have somehow been blown through the extractor fan, I was a bit worried when I went outside and saw a big piece of what was either someone's greenhouse or conservatory roof wedged under the front of my car but amazingly my car didn't have a scratch - we were very lucky, though my heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives in the storm.<br />
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I'd prepared for the storm just in case we lost power, I cheated with the radio - I put batteries in it to save having to wind the handle and checked the batteries in the torch too in case we lost power - I didn't need either but some of the outlying villages around here lost power for several days. The picture below is of my bedside table with some of my storm preparations - the wooden duck/goose in the background was carved by me when I was expecting my son, my OH used to come to the wood carving classes too but suddenly decided I shouldn't go anymore so I never got the chance to finish, but as its reasonably bird shaped, I've kept it in the hope of being able to finish it off one day. Perhaps I'll take some close up photos one day so you can see how rough my poor birdie has been looking for the past 20+ years!<br />
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My second happy thing was finding my camera's card reader which meant I could download all the photos I've taken recently, including the one below of Dottie the Dalmatian picking out a pumpkin which I took nearly two weeks ago. We didn't bring that particular pumpkin home because it looked as though it already had a face and I wasn't sure I could bring myself to attack it with a knife when it was looking at me like that!</div>
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My final happy thing was spending some time with my seven year old niece today while my sister was at work and the school was having a teacher training day. We spent a lovely few hours colouring in some Hello Kitty pictures I found on the internet and giving my niece her first sewing lesson, we used the Marianne Design owl die set, but didn't use all the pieces to make it simpler - K did a lot of the sewing and stuffing and I think she did brilliantly, I'm just annoyed with myself for forgetting to pack some glue to stick the googly eyes on with. I'm now completely exhausted and in agony so its unlikely I'll get much sleep tonight even though I'm so tired, but I don't really care - I had such a great time!<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-77896615327817528542013-10-27T00:09:00.000+01:002013-10-27T00:17:27.397+01:00Printing Workshop 1 - Image TransferA few weeks ago, I attended a one day workshop at Broadstairs Adult Education Centre - "Screen Printing and Image Transfer".<br />
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I'd started glancing through the available courses because partly I was feeling a little lost after realising I needed to take another year out before going back to University, but I've also been suffering from a major case of creative block lately, so I was looking for some inspiration too. One of the modules I've already studied as part of my photography degree was called "Photography in Context" it was a brilliant module which really encouraged the students to think outside the box and made me realise you could do an awful lot of different and creative things with photography - and we didn't even do anything like this either!<br />
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We started off working on the image transfer part of the workshop as this would take longer to dry, it's also the part of the workshop I took the most photos of...<br />
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1. We first stapled the calico fabric to a drawing board, then cut out the photocopy the tutor gave us, right up to the edge of the picture (everyone had the same image)<br />
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2. Drawing corner guide marks on the fabric with the image face down as it will be stuck to the fabric that way.<br />
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3. Painting an undercoat of watered down white matt emulsion onto the fabric - I chose to make mine a little rough and ready so the fabric would show through here and there.<br />
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4. Speeding up the drying process a little!<br />
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5. Tracing out some of the features of the photocopy - not forgetting to add corner guide marks so everything will line up later on.<br />
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6. Positioned using the guide marks, then transferring the traced lines onto the fabric.<br />
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7. Hopefully you can see the traced lines in this photo (sorry about the picture quality but these were taken using a mobile phone).<br />
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8. Underpainting the image in colours that should give the finished artwork a Warhol-esque style.<br />
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9. Placing the photocopy onto foil to stop it sticking to the wrong things while painting on the image transfer medium.<br />
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10. I didn't take a photo of the process of painting on the medium and placing the photocopy face down on the fabric, using the corner marks as a guide because I needed both hands for the job. But here you can see the tutor's hand showing me how to cover the image and gently remove any air bubbles that may have formed as the whole image needs to be in contact with the fabric or the transfer won't work properly.<br />
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11. And now we have to wait patiently until everything is completely dry... Oh look! It was nearly time for lunch :)</div>
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12. I chose to remove my piece from the board to speed up the drying process but if have the time to wait, its actually a lot easier to leave it in place for the next stage.</div>
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13. You need to gently wet the paper and VERY gently, using the heel of you hand in light circular movements, rub the surface paper away. This does take some time, but its better to take it slow and steady as you don't want to do any damage to the picture underneath, which is quite fragile. I have to say I did cause a little bit of damage to mine as I was impatient (you can see the missing bottom right-hand corner) - but it was very exciting to see the image emerge! I didn't actually finish this stage at the workshop; after it had dried, you could see more paper fibres so I had a second go at it at home.<br />
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14. After you have removed as much of the paper fibres as you can, you need to seal the finished piece with some matt acrylic varnish - I didn't have any, so I used some PVA glue mixed with water at about a 1:1 ratio and it worked very well. I also used the PVA mixture to stick my fabric to a piece of mount board which gave more stability to the areas where I'd rubbed too hard, it also means my piece is now ready for a frame, which I hope to get very soon.<br />
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So there you have it! One image transfer with under-painted colour. I really enjoyed making this and it's given me lots of ideas for doing things with my own photos. So as soon as I can put together all the equipment I need - watch this space!<br />
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It took me the best part of a fortnight to recover from taking part in this workshop, but I got so much out of it, that it was worth it. I'll post some details about the screen printing part of the workshop another day.LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-56146475691137102152013-10-26T02:16:00.000+01:002013-10-27T00:27:44.084+01:00The Three Legged Dog<br />
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Having trouble trying to sleep tonight, so I was standing at my bedroom window for a while looking at the stars. Its a reasonably clear night and I recognised some of the constellations even though I can't remember their names and it made me think of another night when my son was about 8 years old, it must have been winter-time as we were walking home after Beavers and it was dark. On the way, we stopped to say hello to a lovely old gentleman who lived nearby, who was out walking his dog - we chatted to him for a while and "M" was asking him questions about the stars as he knew a lot more about them than we did; and then finally "M" asked him a question that I'm guessing had been troubling him for quite some time "Why does your dog only have three legs?"<br />
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"Well" said our companion, "it's actually a very sad story. There was once a time, a few years ago, I had no food in the cupboards and no money to be able to go out and buy some. It got to the stage where I was so hungry that I really had to eat something..." by this point in the tale my son, who'd been listening with great interest, had a look of complete horror on his face - while I was stood there biting my tongue to try and stop myself from laughing and spoiling the effect!<br />
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I'm pleased to say that the gentleman did go on and explain to my son that it had actually been an accident, when his dog had been a puppy, it had tried to follow his daughter's dog over a brick wall and his leg had been so badly broken that it couldn't be saved.<br />
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I don't know what made me think of that story tonight. The gentleman died some years ago, his three-legged dog went to live with his daughter and my son and I missed our little chats with the gentleman and tickles with his dog - a very friendly, scruffy looking, medium sized mongrel. We used to see him often when we were out walking, they were a much loved part of our community. Back then, we had a great little local shop/Post Office just around the corner that sold newspapers, sweets and groceries - our friends were such regulars and so popular that the shop owners used to keep a tin behind the counter with dog treats in especially our three-legged friend. I'm feeling very guilty at the moment because I can't remember the names of either the gentleman or his dog even though I can picture them in my mind. But hopefully they're happy that they still live on in our memories as I know my son still remembers them too.<br />
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Sorry that this post isn't a craft related one - unless you count the fact that I took these photos out of the same window I was stargazing through tonight. They were taken a couple of years ago on the night of a "super moon" which was so bright it cast shadows distinct enough to see clearly. Believe it or not but the photo below was taken of my bedroom wall opposite the window I took the top photo through on the same night! You can see the silhouette of my cat who was sitting on the window ledge, the pile of books I rested my camera on, and you can almost see the colours of the stained glass panel, I made years ago, that hangs in my window.<br />
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I'm sorry too, that it's been so long since I last wrote a blog post. I've been struggling with my health, have been finding it hard to do any crafting and also coming to terms with not going back to finish my university studies this year. I didn't want to walk away from my course and in fact I still have the option of going back if I want to, once I feel well enough. I think maybe I've been letting it all get me down lately so even on the days when my hands haven't been as painful, I haven't been able to persuade myself to pick up my needle and thread, or other crafting tools and get on with something creative unless its been at craft club, or more recently, a couple of printing workshops I've attended - but I'll blog about those another day (with the emphasis on day!).<br />
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Crafting is something that does generally make me feel better about myself and those workshops have thankfully given me some much needed inspiration. I've been catching up on a few of the blogs I usually follow recently too and I really like the idea that some of them follow - 52 weeks of happy - this means that they do one blog a week where they write about 3 things that have made them happy over the past 7 days and I think its something I'd like to try too. I had planned to start my 52 weeks with the start of 2014 but I don't suppose you really need to wait, its something you can do at anytime, so I'm thinking that I might just start looking for my 3 happy things from now.<br />
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But for moment, I think the most sensible thing I could do would be to go back to bed and try to get some sleep, so I wish you all a good night, a great weekend and fingers crossed that the hurricane thats been forecast for Sunday night/Monday morning, blows itself out before it reaches land!LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-17759445995281490792013-07-07T14:27:00.000+01:002013-07-10T17:01:18.031+01:00100th Bear & A Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Bai - her name means 100 in Chinese (according to Google translate) and she is my 100th bear! I decided before I started sewing that I would make her as a giveaway and I'm going to stick to that even though I've fallen in love with her myself! I attend a craft club at my local library once a fortnight, the next meeting is this coming Wednesday, 10th July, which is the date on which I'll get someone to draw the winning name out of a hat or something as that seems to be the fairest way to find Bai's new home.<br />
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One hundred bears sounds like a lot doesn't it? But I made my first bear back in March 1999, so its taken 14 years to reach this point! For some reason after I'd made my 99th bear, I didn't pick up my needle and thread for days, I felt as though there was a lot of pressure to do something special for my 100th bear, but then thought that if I carried on stressing over it, I'd never get my 100th bear made at all! So in the end, I selected a bag of bear bits I'd already cut out some weeks ago and just got on with things. I have taken my time on Bai - firstly because my hands have been playing up lately, but also because I didn't want to rush such an important bear - I wanted to enjoy the process.<br />
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Bai, like the majority of my teddies is around 8cm (just over 3 inches) tall, she is made from Sassy Long Pile white and frosted lilac fabric with ultrasuede paws and black glass beads for her eyes. She is NOT a toy, she is suitable for bear lovers/collectors over the age of 14.<br />
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I'm going to post Bai's photo here, on Facebook, and on my Flickr account so that hopefully most of my friends can have a chance at winning her if they want to. If you'd like to be included in the draw, please leave a comment below. I'm sorry I haven't allowed a lot of time for this but I don't want to get too attached and Bai is very impatient to find out where she's going to live.<br />
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Good Luck Everyone!<br />
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UPDATE - 10th July 2013 - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[36m6q].[1][4][1]{comment10152013811663852_12132486}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]">Our Fibro group met at the local Wetherspoons this morning and a very nice lady who worked there drew the winning name out of the hat - I even found an actual hat <span class="emoticon emoticon_smile" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yO/r/rfFO0dqI-dD.png); background-position: -17px -1245px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: top; width: 16px;" title=":)"></span> thought it looked better than a plastic supermarket bag! Anyway the person who won little Bai Bear was.... (drum roll) Clare from "Summerhouse by the Sea"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[36m6q].[1][4][1]{comment10152013811663852_12132486}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[2]"> who entered the draw via this blog page... there was an amazing 48 people entered in the draw! As Clare was sitting right next to me when she name was drawn, Bai has already gone to live her new home. xxx</span></span>LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-29399917513179560112013-07-03T01:47:00.000+01:002013-07-03T01:52:45.212+01:00Inspired by Moby and AliceOnce a fortnight I attend a craft club at my local library and every so often we tackle a book related craft project. Our first project was based on Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" and our second and most recent has been Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". Its entirely up to us as to how we interpret the theme, we just use the story or characters as our inspiration. The club has only been running for a few months so far, but its lovely to get together with other crafters, enjoy the company of like-minded people, learn from each other and it's great to see how everyone else interprets the themes.<br />
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I meant to blog about my Moby Dick themed project a few months ago, but looking back through the posts I've published, I've realised Moby got away from me somehow, so here he is now...<br />
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I still need to get some dowels so the wall hanging can actually be hung up, but I was quite pleased with the finished piece even though I've never tried anything like this before - at least not in felt! It made me realise my abilities to work a sewing machine need a lot more work, but it was fun to do. Some of my inspiration for this piece came not just from the book, but from a piece of stained glass that hangs in my bedroom window. Years ago before problems with my hands made it impossible to continue with the hobby, I used to love making things with stained glass and while most of the pieces I made were given away as presents, one of the pieces I will never part with is the glass panel in my bedroom. Although I can't see the sea from my window, it faces the sea which is about half a mile away and is roughly east facing so it catches the sunrise. Its not very often these days that I'm awake as the sun rises but I do love to watch dawn breaking when I'm able. I used black thread for all the stitching apart from attaching the beads and anchor at the bottom, it was a deliberate choice because I wanted to make the borders between the felt pieces stand out like the seams on a piece of stained glass - I just wish I'd managed to get them a bit neater!<br />
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Apologies for the bad photo, but this was just a quick snap of the glass panel taken on a very dull day! You've probably already noticed a few of them, but there are four fishes swimming around in the sea. Most of the panel is made from transparent water glass which is made with gentle ripples which gives a sense of movement; the seagull is made from opaque glass to make it stand out from its background.<br />
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My first thought for our current theme was to make a white rabbit, but I haven't yet got around to sitting down with pencil and paper to make a pattern for my bunny, I'm not giving up on the idea but I wanted to be able to produce something for our last meeting so I made a bracelet. I've had the card charms for some years and the bunny charms for a couple of months, though I did have to buy the rose charms and the dark grey/black glass pearls in order to put together the bracelet I had in mind. Several times I wasn't sure it would work out but after a couple of false starts I finally figured it out.<br />
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I have very chunky wrists so sadly the bracelet doesn't fit me, but one of my daintier friends has tried it on and I was pleased with how it looked on her. I could have made it bigger but it would have ruined the pattern, it was made for the exhibition we will eventually have at some point, so it doesn't really matter that it doesn't quite fit my wrist, it wasn't really intended for me anyway! One of these days I'll have to make a start on that bunny and maybe then I'll be able get the song "We're Painting The Roses Red" from the Disney film, that was the main inspiration for the bracelet, out of my head! :)<br />
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<br />LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175509889975910400.post-10770183603749540922013-06-14T20:53:00.000+01:002013-06-14T20:53:31.850+01:00Sue Bear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is "Sue Bear", she was made in memory of a dear friend who died unexpectedly earlier this year. I miss my friend dreadfully, the long conversations about anything and everything, the hard work she put into keeping our local Fibromyalgia, ME & CFS support group going, the gluten-free chocolate cupcakes she always arranged for the December meetings, her navigation skills when we went out in my car, but most of all, I miss her laugh - it was one of those infectious laughs that you just couldn't resist joining in and having a good giggle yourself! She was truly an amazing person with such wide-ranging interests.<br />
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Sue had always encouraged me with my bears, she came up with ideas when I was stuck on how to do something and as she knew that one day I'm planning my own teddy bear's picnic story, she used to pick up little bears and other animals to play bit parts in the photographs I'll eventually take to illustrate it.<br />
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I always intended to make Sue one of my bears and I thought there would be plenty of time... I've always had a "Teddy-to-do List" and Sue was on it - I just didn't reach her name in time. Sue was always a keen crafter herself and some of her craft supplies and tools were left to me, in fact Sue Bear's necklace is made entirely from Sue's supplies and contains 44 beads - one for each year of Sue's life. I chose to make this bear from green and brown fabrics because Sue had a great love for nature - and oak trees - so the colours seemed to be the right choice.<br />
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It's funny... each bear takes on it's own little personality as its made and many of my bears have quite serious expressions, but this little bear looks (to me at least) as though she has a little smile on her face. I'm not completely sure where Sue Bear will eventually end up, I just felt that she needed to be made, but I'm sure she'll eventually end up exactly where she is supposed to be.<br />
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Hopefully I won't leave it so long before I post another blog, I've just been feeling very out of sorts lately.LindyLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14947163582644071221noreply@blogger.com3