It has been 2 weeks since my last confession. Well my last post really. I’m neither Catholic or Christian and as far as those religions go I’m going hell anyway. Mainly because of who I am, what I do and the religion I follow.

So much has happened in the last two weeks. There’s a new guy in the whitehouse, I thought I was getting told off on Facebook, there has also been a lot of love and support there too. There have been a few crafty bits, tangles and cards.

So the new guy in the whitehouse Joe Biden. I watched the inauguration and actually thought it was quite moving. The poet lady was really cool and her work was quite moving especially because she talked about the current events and the siege of the Capitol.

Lady Ga Ga smashed her performance of the the American national anthem. J Lo’s performance was also good and Biden’s Speech I thought was really good. Overall I found the whole thing quite moving. The fact that the politics of another country seem to have engrossed the whole world is pretty strange. Normally it’s a cause for no real concern for the rest of the world but this time it’s been different. I think it’s because the job is for the most powerful person on the planet.

Nearly everyone says it was a free and fair election. The main person claiming that it was fraudulent wasn’t able to prove it and all of the legal claims he brought were dismissed one by one. Then there was the siege of the Capitol brought about by all the shit that came out of the mouth of the orange one.

A way it needs to be said that he did succeed with his promise to make America great again. He lost the election then left the job. Now the real work can continue.

But sod that, now there is someone responsible in that position the world can breath a sigh of relief.

The telling off on Facebook. I commented on a friends post saying “ do you not find it a bit strange though that so many people from other countries have been so interested (not the right word but couldn’t figure out the word I wanted) in the polotics of another country”

I read the reply that was given thinking the person was upset with my comment and was sort of telling me off. So I went on saying sorry if I caused any offence. Then I became clear that I wasn’t being told off and that it was just the way my stupid brain and anxiety decide to take what was said. After a discussion I read the comment again and there was nothing that indicated a telling off. So yes, the fucked up brain and the anxiety took over for a little while.

Onto the love and support on Facebook. I’m a member of a couple of different groups on Facebook that deal with different aspects of craft. One is a die cutting group for sizzix and the other is one for Fleurs Flowers.

The Sizzix group is about die cutting and the different things related to Sizzix products. The die cutting machine I got for Christmas is a Sizzix Big Shot Plus. This group is a great place to pick up hints, tips and techniques for using the Sizzix products. I have a couple of embossing folder from Sizzix, one of them is called Lumber and this is what I came up with after using it:

I’m quite impressed and I think that it actually looks like wood. When I posted that picture on the Facebook group the reaction from people was amazing. There were loads of positive comments and loads of people liked the picture so it gave me a bit of a buss that so many people liked it.

Just a bit of an explanation about embossing folders if you don’t know what they are. An embossing folder is basically a plastic folder that has raised and indented patterns on it. So you put some card or paper in the folder and run it through a machine which then puts that pattern on to the card or paper.

There are millions of different embossing folders with different patterns. You can use them to make the background of cards and sometimes the main focus of the card it’s self. Here is one of the cards I’ve made recently that is using one of the embossing folders:

There’s no colour or anything else on that sheet and you can see the crackle pattern quite clearly. They are cool and can have quite the effect. Here’s another card I’ve made recently:

The recent cards have been love based only because Valentine’s Day is coming up in February. No one has asked for them I’ve just done them for something to do.

The Fleurs group on Facebook is also really supportive. If you ask a question about how to do something someone will be back with an answer or suggestion pretty quickly. I’ve only made 2 flower in the last couple of weeks.

For this one I used the die called Frilly Frou Frou. As it’s a fantasy flower there is nothing real that you can base you make on. So I just grabbed some foam and thought I’d make it a bit grungy and go for a dark and mysterious look and that is what I came up with.

The other flower I’ve done is a Plumeria. Someone on the fleurs group asked if anyone had done one. I said I have the die but haven’t done the flower but the strange thing is a picture of the real flower popped up on google and I thought it looked pretty simple. Here is what I came up with:

I’m not really happy with it. I think it looks a bit messy in the middle and the colours aren’t great either. Again it was just some random foam I had lying about. Here is a picture of the real flower:

Getting it together was quite awkward. At first I could not get the petals to go round and overlap in the right way. I tried a few time and could not get it right. So I ended up individually wiring each petal. Then I could get them in the right pattern and just wrapped them together with florist tape.

Other card/paper craft bits I’ve done has been some decoupage. here is the firs:

Just look at the layers in that. I like it and think it looks cool. That one is classed as die cut decoupage because the bits come from a sheet where they’re already partly cut out for you. All you have to do is pop them out of the sheet and stick it all together with foam pads.

This is the other:

This one doesn’t have that many layers bits it’s a printed image where I’ve cut out the bits by hand.

Tangling has been around as well and here are the tangles I’ve done:

I’ve also done a smallish tangle type frame:

I have no idea what I’ll do with it but hey it’s there and it’s pretty.

So for other crafty bits that I’ve been doing is a bit of crystal art.

It’s like paint by numbers but with small crystals rather than paint. It’s quite relaxing and a nice way to chill out.

But through Facebook I’ve made a few new friends that are really nice and supportive. They’re mainly from the tangling group but one of the ladies actually said to me that if I need to talk just get in touch with her. I thought that was a really nice offer.

The other main thing that’s happened is that I’ve had the first dose of the COVID vaccine. So as far as some people are concerned I’ve been injected with small micro chips so the government can control me. My DNA has been changed and bits of aborted baby foetus’s are floating around in my body now.

There are probably millions of other conspiracy theories out there but any sane person can see that they are utter bull shit. And the vaccines that are now available are the main way that the vulnerable people and most of the rest of the world can get back to some form of normalcy.

SO WHEN YOU GET THE CALL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO FOR THE VACCINATION

Not much else has been happening recently well nothing that’s in my head at the moment.

Stay safe.

Love and Light