Daring cardmakers' challenge today is to make a card using 3 different patterned papers. Compared to the FAB samples on their site, this is a very cowardly attempt, but I was working on this anyway and my desk is covered with the Patchwork Kingdom and Jolly Nation characters, so adding more paper to the chaos wasn't (and still isn't) possible. Despite my sturdy legged bespoke craftsman made table (thanks, darling Mr Dunnit), really the laws of gravity will prevail and it will probably only take one more sheet! Why do I work in such a mess? No idea! Got a really great flat space to work on, but after 30 minutes or so, it's always covered in product, gadgets and blah, and I end up working in a square inch of space at the near edge. But it does mean I have to tidy up between projects which is good - forces me to move around and re-focus. Perhaps that's why I work in a mess. Who knows. So what are you doing for the weekend? We are having a quiet weekend at home; Miss Dunnit has a heap of coursework and an approaching deadline, in fact, she's going back into school tomorrow to carry on with some. Impressive or in a panic? Both. These are my last 3 days of working and living with one hand, indeed, am feeling that my grip has returned sufficiently to let me drive, so will be venturing out at some stage. If you live within striking distance of Dorchester, there is a huge sale of craft products (all sorts of makes - DO, Paper Artsy, Bazzill, blah blah) at the Post Office shop in Trinity Street. It runs for a week from tomorrow. Which for some reason reminds me that Ludgershall Crop is next Saturday (7th) and I need to get some packs together for a mini workshop..ah me, must go and tidy that table!
Friday 30 January 2009
Thursday 29 January 2009
One of the habits we're in at Dunnit Towers is to leave notes; usually practical ones advising one or other of us of anothers whereabouts, post-it shopping lists - you know the sort of thing. Every now and then I like to add a note to a random page in a notebook so that the user gets a little surprise, and Miss Dunnit has fallen in with the lists and notes habit without me having to manipulate her much at all.
Despite her thinking that she's not into it, every now and then when I'm out, she'll rummage around in my workroom and fiddle about with scraps and so on - often I find a paper flower with a tag or some such note - it's a great way to use up my scraps, although she does still have a huge and possibly bankruptcy inducing obsession for sellotape..... Oh gosh sorry, another digression. How nice though, to come home and find that the the packet of foam letters that were strewn all over my desk had been fashioned into an orderly and sweet message. She may not think so, but I am of the opinion that her very being shrieks creativity. Probably why she won't craft-with-mother; she doesn't want to show me up. Figure I can do that without help!
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Note to Ffroggie
Some months ago, five of my team-mates, (including Ffroggie) found themselves in a position to visit these parts. We enjoyed a day together at my local crop, had a fab pub supper and the next day, invested valuable time chatting and hanging at my house. In the 'hanging', there was some looking in on my lovely little craft room. I call it the 'workroom'; I can't quite bring myself to refer to it as a study, and it certainly is too practically planned to be a den or a snug, so workroom seems fitting - after all, some of the things I make are for 'work'. I digress. How unusual.
In the looking around, a couple of teamies decided that my large cheapskate glass vase full was a good and attractive way to store the ridiculous amount of ribbon that I buy. I like it - I like it because it's colourful and cheerful (sorry, bad photogrpahy means you have to imagine that!), because it looks desperately untidy - yet contained, because it's right next to me when I finally get down to making something and because even for me, rummaging through it is no effort. Stay with me interweb, there is a point here. Couple of weeks ago at the most, I learned on our team thread that Ffroggie has found herself a glass vase, ribbons for the storage of. And I feel a moral obligation to let her know that a full to overflowing vase does not stop you buying ribbon. No sir. It just means that in an attempt to avoid standing on the contents to get more ribbons into the vase, I'm about to spend a really nerdy evening of sorting, winding and tidying my vase. Perfect job for the hand that's still bandaged, no effort and can involve interaction with my Dunnit lovelies. This glass jar has been a big WIN for me. Enjoy, Ffrog.
Monday 26 January 2009
Friday 23 January 2009
Thursday 22 January 2009
Today is Mr Dunnit's birthday. He is an honourable and modest man and I am therefore not going to tell you how old he is. Let us instead dwell on the outbreak of decoupage characters that are finding their way onto my cards. I realise, dear interweb thingy, that not everyone is as old as me, and that The Clangers and Bagpuss may not have found world wide syndication as tv programmes, so not everyone will know that I'm not making it up! These two characters - the Soup Dragon (Clangers) and collectively, the mice from Bagpuss, evoke the strongest memories for me. Not of the programmes and stories, but more of getting home after school - a bike ride with Frederick from down the road. We used to cycle to North Camp, dump the bikes at Aunty Ellen's and walk to school from hers. On a Wednesday, AP would give me 10p to buy a Saving Stamp. There was a huge secondhand bookshop en route that was one of my favourite places to stop. I collected (like sooooooo many others) 'Whimsies' and they were expensive. 50p each. And Ladybird History books, 25p. I'm amazed by the details that I've remembered; I thought that music was the start point for my memories. Amazing what impact a fairly simple tv show had. So Mr Dunnit, I hope you like the card I made for you; I kept pretty much to your preferences - mostly though, I hope that your birthday memories are as warm and fun as those that came to my mind while I cut out The Clangers!
**Edited to answer questions: decoupage characters come from Jolly Nation, as listed on the right of this page***
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Enhancements
Monday 19 January 2009
Saturday 17 January 2009
The 'Favourite Day' CJ
Just seen the weather forecast for later and tomorrow. It's going to be horrid: wet windy and very probably dark, so have hastened into photography mode!
Friday 16 January 2009
See the light
Thursday 15 January 2009
....sleep, perchance to dream
When I'm out after 5pm, I have to avoid my favourite Diet Coke (never Pepsi or the stuff in the mixers -ghaaa) and I certainly can't risk the pleasure of a coffee after a meal. Oh no sir, the caffeine that fuels my day makes my night a semi-conscious misery and leaves me feeling leaden and horrible. (Stop me if I get too dramatic, won't you!)
So last night at Blue Garlic, a really nice and bang on trend Indian restaurant, I led the vanguard, set the example and opted for a pudding. At the appropriate time of course. I chose number 5 I think, the vanilla coffee sundae. It was very nice and probably had one spoonful of coffee flavour at the bottom. So was it the coffee flavour or the whole meal that caused me to twitch, fidget and have nightmares and discomfort? Maybe it was because we had a discussion about sleep deprivation and it was actually going around in my head when I got home. Mrs Babymummy was saying that her sleep pattern has been altered by her cherub. Ironically, we were sort of giving her advice, Mrs Adult Education who to my knowledge can manage on about 3 hours sleep and me, who can't lose an hour of sleep without wingeing about it to the world wide interweb thingy.
I expect she'll have sussed the cherub's sleeping habits long before she realises that she has to give up Diet Coke and coffee.
Tuesday 13 January 2009
What Made Me Smile Today
Monday 12 January 2009
Are you a dinosaur?
Scene setting: 2 tills and 2 operators on left and right as you face them. Girl on right was having a hurried conversation with her mum - about getting home, putting on her washing if she wanted to wear such-and-such to college next week etc....her Mum was buying something and she finished the conversation as the transaction was completed and left immediately. Nice. Thanks.
Girl on left (meant to be serving us) said
'Your Mum's still quite hot for age isn't she - how old is she?'
Girl on right:
'Shes 42. I dunno about hot but sometimes she's cool. She has to dye her hair though'
(So now I'm looking at other women in the same queue as me to see if their mouths had dropped open yet!)
Girl on left:
'Hmm my Mum's older, she's 44. But she's till got her hearing and that.'
And then she nonchalantly takes up her bar code reading gun and asks if she can help us.
For once though, I had very little to say. Because of my forty something state, when I get cross or defensive, I cry!
Sunday 11 January 2009
Salisbury's loss
Linda, Jo, Caroline and Caroline were behind the counter, cheerful welcoming staff and I was lucky enough to be included for scrapbooking and card making workshops. Obviously the girls are in a sticky job situation; let's hope that their abilities in running a very busy shop, customer service skills and cheerful demeanours will win them new jobs very soon.
Losing a craft shop is always a blow - for those people that pop in and buy stuff it becomes slightly more dificult to source what you need, and for those that pop in and then stay for workshops, there's the loss of, well for want of a better word, community. In the last year or more (my memory is terrible), the workshops have become a monthly fixture that we all look forward to - yes, we make cards under instruction (that would be me, doing the bossing about), but there's so much more to it than that. Checking up on each other's well being, support, health, travel, childcare - amazing amounts of advice, we're all TV critics and of course, great recipes! It's true, and although it may not be the primary reason for attending a workshop, it sure adds glitter and gloss to the experience.
This is not intended to be a 'use it or lose it' lecture, but those customers know how important a real, bricks and mortar shop is for their crafty well being.
There is background activity to conclude this story, if you're interested, watch this space - if there are emerging positives to report, I will.
Saturday 10 January 2009
This is winter and it makes me...lazy, apparently!
Every drop of water is frozen, every detail of every twig, leaf and branch is outlined by ice. It is the most beautiful sight, this hoar frost. We rarely experience whole days of sub-zero temperatures here in the south of England, most icy sights have thawed by lunchtime, so although I was as cold as I ever want to be, I'm trying to look on the frost as a treat! Hasn't done much for my photography though, sadly. And that was the point to this afternoon's gentle stroll down our nearest country lane - to take some photos of this amazing frost phenomenon. The always patient-never-betrays-his-belief-that-I'm-barking-mad Mr Dunnit came with me - to hold my hand in case it was slippery - I mean, what if I break a hip? For the sake of my art (scrapbook)? I'd rather not!
It was less of a gentle stroll and more a breathtakingly cold march of about 300 metres and back; the fog was quite thick, the vegetaion was covered in white frost and there wasn't any contrast to show it off. I was over my artistic foray in about 10 minutes flat.
So today I'm revealing, or maybe I'm confessing! I need my art to be comfortable. I rarely stand up to craft. What about you? As this is the perfect weather for staying indoors and getting creative with glue and paper and photographs - take note of your habits. Stand or sit, mostly? Are your photos in the main, of indoor or outdoor activities, events, occasions? Do you attend a crop or can;t you be bothered to sort and pack everything you'll need? Oh my, the revelatory psychology of crafting. Tune in some other time and I'll reveal more of my slothful ways - I bet you'll run screaming for the hills if I told you how long I leave my stamps before I clean them!
Friday 9 January 2009
New Year, time to work!
Thursday 8 January 2009
Wednesday 7 January 2009
In the spirit of all that a New Year forces on me, I purged two wardrobes today. Pay no attention to the large bag of (large) clothes destined for the charity shop - forget it, we all do that. What about the RIDICULOUS amount of time I spent picking up, organising, dropping, picking up again, organising again, dropping again and wrestling the damn hangers into a bag for recycling?
And then to add insult, fat (not)helpful guy at the dump (pardon me - household recycling amenity) tells me that hangers are not recyclable and my hideously mis-shapen bag has to go into landfill. And of course it takes him 10 minutes to explain this whilst I stand staring at the landfill skip, nodding. Gibbering from cold and irritation. I could have just put them in the bin at home for regular collection tomorrow.
Oh I'm so with you girlfriend, I really loathe coat hangers.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Those of you that have been forced to visit because of relentless hinting will already know my intentions for this blog.
If you've stumbled upon my stamping ground whilst riding the waves, well - welcome!
Maybe a few visits down the pages and you'll come to understand that I have no intentions for this blog - no laudable resolutions for daily postings or fantastic classes. I just wanted to try blogging on and see how it fits. It also means that I have to learn to do more on the PC so that I don't have to keep begging the wild child for help!
If this blog evolves then so I will emerge; a storyteller and ace computer whizz!
Come back y'all, and see how I do!