Category: My weird, wonderful, insane, ranting, raving, articulating claptrap

What a week. There have been ups and downs.

On Tuesday I went to the dentist to get a filling. The painful freaky bit was the numbing injection. That hurt. The dentist decided that he was going to do a white filling. When the numbing began he started drilling out the tooth and doing the bits that are needed for the filling. He then packed cottonwool round the tooth and said that my mouth needed to be dry while the filling was being done. Not too much of a problem when you have dry mouth. So he filled the tooth and started dying a light in my mouth. The filling needed uv light to set. That was interesting. After that he said he was going to polish my teeth with a fluoride polish. I thought that would help with the teeth.

So he started pasting this stuff around my teeth and then that was it. So my teeth were covered in this gloopy stuff. The dentist said I had to leave it for as long as I could. So it stayed on for the rest of the day. If you saw me you’d think that I didn’t know how to brush my teeth. My mouth looked minging and I kept getting creamy white stringy bits on my lips. So then nothing else happened Wednesday and Thursday.

On Friday I was going to Sanntangle HQ.

So you might or might not have seen my Facebook post from Friday but that’s a good place to start.

So on the way over to Scunthorpe we stopped at a service station to have a chill out. At that service station there was a WH Smith, and M&S food shop and an greggs.

Because I’d had a shower on Friday morning my hair was still wet when we set off so I hadn’t tied it up. Mum went to greggs to get us something to eat. I had a steak bake and when I bit into it the filling splurged out, across my face, coving my hands and because my hair was down it got there too.

So there I am sat in the car trying to clean it from my hands and face without putting it down. I was going to eat it come hell or high water, I was hungry after all. I also needed to get it out of my hair. As I normally have baby wipes in my bag I thought they’d help. Trying to get a baby wipe out of the packet and your bag one handed with out getting the spillage all over yourself and the bag isn’t easy.

I got the odd bit here and there but baby wipes work wonders when cleaning things. So cleaned up my hands and face finished the pasty and then moved on to cleaning it out of my frizzy mop. I’m sat in the car in full view of everyone (one disadvantage of a disabled parking space near the entrance) using a baby wipe on my hair. I’m not sure if anyone noticed or if they were doing the notice and not look at the disabled person doing something that could be classed as strange.

So with the help of some baby wipes and a hair brush I cleaned myself up. Then we continued our journey to Sanntangle HQ in Scunthorpe.

When we got to the industrial estate where HQ is we ended up driving round a couple of times trying to figure out which building we were looking for. All of a sudden I looked up at a window in one of the buildings and saw the Sanntangle sign and knew we had found the place we were looking for.

Sandra was supposed get her signs fitted a few days before but the people that were doing it didn’t turn up or something. So in we went, I was excited about what was going to happen but also really nervous (anxiety didn’t want to be left out) that people wouldn’t like me or that I wasn’t what people expected.

As we were there a bit early we went into the reception area and met Sandra, Lesley and Pauline. Yes that Pauline, the one I had the fan girl moment about a few weeks ago. It was great to meet Sandra after only ever speaking to her through Messenger, hearing her voice on the Facebook lives and seeing her on TV. With lesley I’ve only ever heard about her through the Facebook lives and Pauline only through TV. Anyway because we were there early we got a bit of a tour round the areas that aren’t normally open to the public. Behind the scenes look at Sanntangle HQ. It was very interesting.

In my head I had the idea a while ago that I wanted to see a stencil being made. I have the image of lasers cutting through some plastic sheeting and it being really dramatic and hypnotic. It probably isn’t but I’m tempted to ask Sandra to video it then I can see it.

Carrying on with the day I got to meet a lot of the people who have commented on pictures of my tiles and I’ve commented on theirs. To see real people and hear them speak was a completely different than interacting with a tiny photo especially if that pictures is a dog or something else.

When we picked where we were sitting we got to pick up the secret mission envelopes and the pencil cases and the workshop began:

So when we got going we started working on a larger piece. We were given stencils to use. And as usual with Sandra we didn’t see what we were working on. It’s great because if you don’t see the finished thing, you don’t get put off and start thinking you’ll never be able to do it and you won’t beat yourself up if you do something different. Anyway here is the piece I completed on Friday Afternoon:

Considering it was the first time mum had ever tangled anything she did an amazing job.

During the afternoon I got to know Richard and Lisa a bit more instead of that tiny photo. We finally had chance to talk when the 3 of us met up outside while having a cig (Electric). I even got to meet their dogs. They were great and one even came up to get a stroke.

At the end of the day the fun started.I was trying to put the hotel address in the sat nav. And it started worrying me as it was trying to take us somewhere else and not where I thought we were going. Anxiety started, mum asked Sandra how to get to the hotel. All the way there I was convinced I’d messed up somewhere.

We get to that hotel. Get out of the car and go to the reception. And try to check in. I was still stressing out at this point but the embarrassment of breaking down in public which makes the whole thing worse was keeping it away for a bit. We try to check in and I guess you’ve already seen it coming but it was the wrong hotel.

I messed up when doing the booking. Turns out there are 2 Lakeside Premier Inns in that area.

So while I’m there screaming inside mum spoke to the nice lady behind the desk trying to find out where we were supposed to be.

We get back into the car and started the journey to the hotel I booked. Then the breakdown could begin. I couldn’t stop, I kept saying I was sorry and feeling I was rubbish and messed up. I felt like I shouldn’t be trusted to do anything on my own again. There I am in the car crying, rocking back and forth generally feeling shit. With mum driving round looking for the hotel. The place I booked was about 30 minutes away. On the trip I eventually started to calm down in what felt like about 6 hours but it was only 20 minutes. I still felt like shit but calming down non the less.

We found the hotel and checked in. Because we were a lot further away than I thought if we wanted the breakfast we’d paid for we’d have to get up earlier than expected. Mum helped me to my room and went to get the rest of the bits and my wheelchair from the car.

My room was massive and the bathroom/wet room was huge too. As the room was warm I found the aircon controls and turned the temperature down as far as I could and got ready for bed. I got on the bed and felt like I sank into it. It was comfy though. Of too sleep to be up at 6.

Got up and ready the next morning. We loaded up the car the. Went for breakfast. That was really good. While having breakfast we met a really nice lady called Alison who helped us out by moving things round so I could get in with my wheelchair. We had a nice conversation with her about anything and everything.

After the unfortunate events of messing up, the hotel was great and so was the breakfast. So being nice I left a really nice review on trip adviser.

Back to HQ for the second day of tangling. On Saturday we worked on 2 projects. And this was broken up by some card making with Pauline running that bit. It was fun to see other ways of doing it with a kit rather than making it myself.

During the session we worked on 3 separate cards. Some needed cutting down, folding and scoring. I was fine with that big as I’d done it before. The problem was there wasn’t much equipment to use to do the cutting and scoring. There was someone on the table we were on that decided she knew exactly what to do and was determined to help everyone else and show them what to do. The problem was that she kept doing bits wrong. She said she knew what to do but really didn’t have a clue. She helped mum with the cutting and scoring went off and when she came back something wasn’t right. She then blamed mum for the things that were wrong when it was actually what she had done.

During that session I was struggling and sensory overload was starting. It’s because of all the noise everyone was making chatting to each other. So I really struggled to hear and follow the instructions. So during the card making bit I didn’t manage to get anything finished. I brought the kits home so I can work on them here.

On Saturday we worked on 2 projects and here they are:

Mum did a good job here are hers:

Again another brilliant job from her.

While we were there I struggled to decide what I wanted to get from Sandra’s little shop. Did I want some more stencils or stamps or dies or other bits. I kept going and looking at different bits trying to decide do I need them or want them. I eventually decided on some more stencils and a couple of dies. Mum also bought me some new pastel pencils. These are going to stay in the box. They will not end up like the ones I had already. They are a pain in the arse, it’s really difficult to sharpen them, I’ve had to use nail files to get to some sort of a point. But new ones now will fix that problem.

Here are the tiles I did during the week:

Here is a picture of me and Sandra:

Sunday we went back to knitting. I hadn’t been while mum and dad were away because I didn’t want to leave Zoe on her own for so long and that I wasn’t sure when the lady that was walking her was going to come. So getting back to knitting was great.

So that’s a bit of a busy week.

Stay safe.

Love and light.

So Saturday evening mum dad and mason came home. it was great to see them and nice to have more people in the house.

I’ve spent this past weekend working on flowers for the arrangement. I’ve added some yellow Iris because dawn said they were Bob’s favourite flowers. Also there were a few gaps that needed filling so I made some tulips too.

I think the arrangement is finally finished.

What do you think?

Everyone that has seen pictures of it says it’s great. Ive shared it on Facebook to a flower making group and I’ve only had positive feedback. Things like that make me feel great.

On a sad note though a friend of the family passed away this week. It’s never nice when things like that happen. It brought back some memories and feelings that I don’t like. Being on my own in the house with only Zoe for company didn’t help. Friday night I was well and truly messed up.

I said it brought back memories and feeling and these things scared me. I managed to message katie for help and she came round to sort me out. My mental health isn’t great at the best of times and I’ve had trouble with it for a few years now. It’s mainly down to the way MS has affected my brain and how it now works.

When katie came round we had a bit of a deep and meaningful conversation about the memories and feelings that had been brought up which made me feel loads better. It was the start of one of those vicious cycles. Where I was starting to feel bad and useless. Zoe wouldn’t come close to me for cuddles which then made me think she didn’t like me. Having to get katie to come round made me feel bad having to bring someone else round which made me feel useless and rubbish. It was a good old anxiety cycle of things heading into a dark place that I didn’t want to be in. So katie taking what felt like hours to come round made me think she didn’t want to and was pissed off at having to come out.

It’s just a shitty cycle where one thing doesn’t happen that leads on to something else and it just gets worse and worse and worse.

Anyway katie managed to bring me out before I ended up too deep and lost in the shit storm.

This video popped up in my memories on Facebook and I shared it again. Watch it it might shed some light on anxiety:

https://fb.watch/7I-ScTJJNv/

So on to Sanntangling. Here are the tiles I’ve done this week:

The second one I got to play with my watercolours again which is always good.

Sticking with Sanntangle this Friday is the grand opening of Sandra’s new office where she can do classes. I was honoured to be invited to the Friday session. When I was invited I contacted mum to see if she could get me there. She said she could so I went straight back to Sandra to get my name on the list. I then decided I wanted to do an all day workshop on Saturday. So I booked me and mum into a hotel near by so we could stay over on Friday night and I could do the workshop on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to it and excited to finally meet Sandra in person.

A couple of posts ago, no idea when but I talked about having a fan girl moment when someone I respected commented on a tile I’d done. That person is going to be at the workshop on Saturday so I get to meet her too. Soo eeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk!!! More excitement.

Sanntangle has helped me a hell of a lot over the past year and I know it’s helped others people too. I’ve had a laugh with Sandra to say that when I meet her on Friday I’m going to scream and go full on fan girl. Joking obviously but I am excited to meet people in person rather than through Facebook. It’s one thing seeing people on TV and hearing their voice on a Facebook live but to actually meet them is something completely different. I’m looking forward to it.

Sticking with crafting my big shot pro handle broke again. It spun round cracked me on the back of the hand and fell off. Just like last time. I got back in contact with Sizzix. I phoned them this time. Yes me ringing someone, shocking I know I don’t quite know where I got the confidence from but I did it. They’re sending out another handle.

That day though I asked people for their opinion on die cutting machines. I did it on a Facebook group for Tattered Lace. I thought getting other people’s options would help me. There were that many suggestions for machines and some people even tried to war me off others. Let’s just say reading through the comments left me more confused than I was when I started. So I too the plunge and bought a kit and caboodle pro cut. It was on an amazing offer with create and craft and it looks like it should arrive tomorrow. More excitement.

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow though. I have to got to the dentist for a filling. I hope it’s not one where they have to go really deep with the 12 inch needle that hurts like hell. I’ll find out out tomorrow.

With that I’m getting tired and it’s time for bed.

Love and light

That’s another song in your head now.

Why is peeling dryer glue of the back of your hands so much fun? I’m in my late 30s and you’d think it’s something you’d grow out of. But when it’s dried and you get to peel it off it takes you back to the childhood fun.

The is a reason I have glue on the back of my hand. I made a card earlier:

When I was sticking the silver words and numbers to the black card I needed to apply glue to the back of the words. As they are quite delicate you can’t just splodge it on. So the easiest way to do it is to spread some glue out on something the dip the delicate thing into it. That way it’s a fine layer of glue that only goes on to the back and not everywhere. The easiest place to put the glue is the back of your hand. The heat from your hand also makes the glue dry a bit and go tacky and that helps with the sticking.

So another week in the house with just me and Zoe. I’m still alive so that’s a good thing.

This week I got really confused. At church we’ve changed the night of one of the services. The Devine service has gone from a Saturday night to a Thursday night. So when it comes to days of the week I woke up Friday morning thinking it was Sunday. And on Saturday afternoon I had the feeling that I need to start getting ready to go to church. It doesn’t take much to confuse me and that didn’t really help.

The first Thursday night service went well and quite a few people came out to it. So I think that Thursday nights will be a lot better than the Saturdays were.

Thursday night though I had a proper freak out and lost the plot. I left my phone at church. When I realised It wasn’t where I thought it was I started to freak. I emptied my bag and when it wasn’t there I started to panic. When that happened I lost the plot. Luckily I have WhatsApp on my laptop. So I managed to get a message to mum, dad and katie to ask for help. So while freaking out And ringing my phone to see if I could find it katie came round to try and sort me out.

So I’m there freaking out, crying, panicking and losing the plot. I swear I’m like a hysterical woman from a 50s film that needs slapping. The problem is I know it’s a stupid reaction but I just can’t help it. I was worried that because I didn’t have my phone I wouldn’t have the alarms to get up, feed Zoe, take my pills, know when I can eat and drink after brushing my teeth (because of the toothpaste I need to wait an hour). So I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to function or do anything.

Katie managed to calm me down and through WhatsApp I managed to get a message to someone who had keys for church. They offered to go and pick it up that night but me not wanting to be a bother said “tomorrow will be fine”, all that while thinking I need my phone and I need it now.

Katie brought her iPad round and set up alarms for me so I had reminders to do what needed to be done when I needed to do it.

When I stated to calm down all I could think was ow stupid am I and how rubbish that she had to come round and sort me out. That’s when the negativity an the other side stress and emotional problems kicks in. It can be like a vicious circle if I’m not careful.

So here are my take on this weeks tiles:

Last week I talked about the last tile swap. (Well I think I did). So here is the tile I sent in:

It went in attached to a letter:

If you zoom in you’ll be able to read what I put.

Last Monday was the launch on tile swap.

It’s all packed up and ready to go.

I went out shopping today with katie. we went round Aldi, BM, Tesco and farm foods. I had a bit of a walk round farmfoods and let’s just say I’ll pay for it tomorrow. Well I’m starting to pay for it now but it’s nearly bed time so it’s not that much of a problem at the moment.

Zoe has been so funny on Tuesday, Thursday and today. When I’ve come home I say hello to her then have to go sit down in the living room so she can get on my knee and have cuddles.

She a bit big for a lapdog but she’s brilliant and I love her and the cuddles are brilliant. So I’ve got some new knitting and crochet pattern books. Mabel Bunny and Co is the crochet book and Robyn Octopus and friends is the knitting one. I also considered ordering the official Harry Potter crochet book. It’s got alsorts of patterns in it. There’s even one for Dobby the house elf. But I decided against it it as I still have to get the log cabin blanket done and I haven’t touched it now for about 2 weeks.

I nearly forgot to tell you the best thing I found out this week.I was putting on a pair of jeans. The ones I’ve been wearing for about 18 months and as they were quite lose I thought for a laugh I’ll try on one of the smaller pairs I had stashed in my wardrobe. completely unexpectedly they fit fine.

People have been saying to me that I’ve lost weight. I didn’t think I have but I haven’t been trying. And trying on the smaller pair of jeans confirmed it. I have lost weight and gone down a Jean size. As the jeans I tried on and ended up wearing were Levi’s the sizing won’t be wrong so go me. The new improved and skinny me.

As I said it’s nearly bed time, so before I can do that I need to wash some pots, get Zoe’s food ready for tomorrow and do a couple of other things. So stay safe.

Love and light.

And now that song from Les Misérables is in your head. He he.

So I’m still alive. I survived a week on my own. Not quite sure how but I did it. I said last week that mum and dad have gone away and left me and Zoe all on our own. Well we got through a week, they’re still away and this is how much it’s impacting Zoe.

You can see she is majorly stressed and has t got a clue what’s going on.

There has only been 1 blip. Well it’s more than a blip. One night when getting ready to go up to bed Zoe decided to start growling and barking at the door. Well that really freaked me out and scared me. It made the anxiety jump right in thinking that there was someone outside getting ready to break in. I thought I’d have to just fight for my life with just my walking stick. I did manage to grow a pair and found some courage to look outside through the window. I had no idea what I was going to see but was expecting the worst.

I looked through the window and guess what was there…………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nothing. There was nothing there that shouldn’t be there. I did message mum to say I was freaked out though. But I did double and triple check all the doors were locked before we went up, just to make sure. I got a reply from mum saying that Zoe can hear things we can’t and that the growling was probably down to something that was happening halfway up the street.

That eased my mind slightly. I did go round the house the next day though with the gem essence I made called Stop. It’s an essence of black tourmaline and selenite with Black Pepper, Bay Laurel and sage essential oils. There are probably other things in it but I can’t remember. All it takes is 1 drop where you want a barrier to be to stop negative energy passing through. Hence the name Stop. So that just added an extra layer of protection.

Sharing my bed with Zoe has been a bit weird. The early mornings aren’t quite as early anymore. I’ve got her to about 7am now for breakfast so it’s not too bad. The weird bit is being woken up by her rather than an alarm. It takes a bit of getting used to but it is a nice way to wake up. I still have alarms set to be on the safe side and also if she tries earlier I can say not yet and she leave me alone. She quite good for that.

I’ve made a few more flowers this week to go with the flower display I’m making.

I have a pot and some oasis as well now so all I need to do is sort out the arrangement bit. I think that might be the hardest bit.

What else has been going on?

Sanntangle, here are the Tiles:

Yes that is 4 tiles even though the picture makes it look smaller.

They were both great to do and I’m happy with the way they’ve turned out.

The other thing tangle related is I received tile swap 7. It was from a lady called Ali Scott.

A nice thing to receive but it’s a little card and inside was this beauty:

Both are great and use the tile swap tangle. So it was a brilliant thing to receive. I haven’t heard anything about the tile I sent in yet so just in case the person hasn’t received and sees this I won’t share any pictures. Don’t want to spoil the surprise.

And the next tile swap session is tomorrow. I wonder what it will be? I wonder what I’ll come up with? Only time will tell.

The other thing about Sanntangle is it has blown up into an amazing community. Where everyone checks on each other and is ready friend and immensely supportive. It’s brilliant. Just looking through the group at the work people are posting is great and can really make you feel good and put a smile on your face. The only downside to it is that I’m struggling to find different ways to say how good the posts are. The work is that good it just doesn’t feel right always saying “That’s great”, “that’s brilliant”, “that’s amazing”. I’ve had a look through an online thesaurus to find other ways to say it and each time I note things down and then lose the note and go back to the old faithfuls. I will have to have another look and this time make proper notes and maybe stick them to the side of my laptop screen or something.

This week I received an order with lots of Sanntangle bits:

I haven’t use the dream catcher and wolf stencils yet but I did have a play with the totem stencil.

This is my totem pole. From the bottom up:

• Bear
• Panther
• Turtle
• Raven
• Eagle

There is a bee floating round at the side because I needed to disguise a mark I made on the paper by mistake.also that was the first time I’ve used real watercolour paints. You can see the paints in one of the other pictures. They are Sakura Koi Watercolour pallets. I even used real pain brushes too. I decided to go down that route because I’ve struggled using water brushes in the past. I find that they are either too dry so don’t do anything or they flood the paper so it’s too wet to work with. In the past the only other watercolours I’ve used have been watercolour pencils. They’re the ones where you colour something in them use water to blend and finish it off.

So with the totem pole I was hoping it would be a masterpiece. The drawing is ok but the painting was something I struggled with. I’m still happy with it especially as it was the first time I’ve used real water colours. I couldn’t get the effect I wanted and expected but that’s down to experience and practice. If it had come out the way the picture in my head looked it could have been sold for millions. Not that I would.

I did decide to play with the watercolours and do something else with them as a bit of fun and to practice and this is what I did:

I used the watercolours on one of my stamps. It’s another one I’m happy with. I thinks it’s good considering I have little to no experience of using watercolours. I have watched quite a few watercolour videos on YouTube though to get an idea of some of the techniques I can use with them. So there will be more playing to come.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been drawn to make a book that I can use to make notes of things that are spirit related. So if there is something they want me to do or are telling me about I can write it in there. At first I was thinking I could just put it in my phone and type it there but something said to me that it’s not quite the same. If it gets written down it becomes something physical and that just felt the right way to go with it. So here is the book I’ve made:

There are quite a few pages in there and I have sewn all the signatures together. A signature is the small group of pages. So in all there are 21 signatures in there and each has about 3, 4 or 5 pages/bits of paper. There is some more work I need to do on the book like put something over the yellow bits inside and figure out something to keep it closed but that’s a job for another day.

Over the last week I was messing about with the camera on my phone in particular the SLO-MO function and I decided to film Zoe in SLO-MO:

For some reason I think it look a bit creepy slowed down. But I was just messing about.

During the week I did some MS group work, wrote and letter and posted it. It doesn’t sound much but I had to get to the post office. It’s pretty much at the top of the street and across the road. Doesn’t sound that far but when you can’t walk any distance and have to use a wheelchair it’s like a million billion squillion mile. Going up the street is uphill and my god is it hard work getting up there but I did did everything I needed to do at the post office then made it home. The up hill bit is some what of a killer but it’s a hell of a lot easier on the way back.

While I was brushing my teeth tonight I spotted this in the bathroom mirror. Can you see a face?

As I have to be up at silly o’clock to feed Zoe and have the pleasure of Harvey for the day I’m off to bed. For someone that’s normally up late it just doesn’t feel right going to bed at this time and being up early.

Good night, love and light.

Why do we make snap judgments about people we’ve just met?

There are some people that come into our lives and there is something about them that we either love or hate. You might never have seen or met them before but you just make a snap judgement.

You might even make them about people you’ve never met. People on TV, again there is just something about some of them. Normally with people on tv that you don’t like, you can’t seem to stop watching them. Well that’s how it works for me anyway. If it’s a character in a show I tend to stop watching. If it’s a presenter on a channel I can’t seem to look away. It’s weird I’ve no idea why that’s the case it just is. Anyway think about that for a while and think about how other people come across to you.

So tangles and tiles from the last 2 weeks:

It was dads birthday last week. He’s 72. A massive mile stone. I made 2 cards for him. 1 from me and one from mum.

I have made another card this week. I don’t really like making these type of cards because they make me sad. It was a condolence card.

I’ve been making some flowers aswell recently. I made some giant ones.

The light blue and red are made from paper and the darker blue is made from flower foam.

Here are some of the other flowers I’ve made

They look a jumbled mess at the moment and I have to make a fair few more. I’m making them all so they can go in a memorial to Bob at church. That means there will probably be a few burns from the hot glue gun to come but it should look good when it’s done and that’s worth a few painful fingers.

Mum and dad have gone away and left me a Zoe on our own. They left their poor disabled child home alone with a dog to look after.

At least the mornings haven’t been as early as they were for dad. Yesterday she got me up at about 5:30am and today it had just gone 6. It’s getting there. Few more days and she should be eating at reasonable times. The plus’s side we can go back to bed after breakfast.

It’s been a while since she slept on the bed with me. It’s just nice knowing she’s there looking after me. There is a lady called Kirsty coming round to take Zoe out for a walk. Zoe gets. Little bit kiddy when Kirsty turns up. I think Zoe likes her. I’m glad she’s getting out for a walk, it’s just really annoying that I can’t take her. I wish I could but it just isn’t possible. Only way I can be out with her is if someone takes me and my chair to met them somewhere on the walk that’s wheelchair accessible. And there aren’t that many places she likes going that are. The weather doesn’t help much either.

Right back to making more flowers and snap judgments. See you soon.

Love and Light.

On Monday everything changed. Was it for the best or not?

With that I can say I disagree. I don’t think it was the right thing to do. Everyone I’ve spoken to about it has agreed and said they will be keeping their masks.

Being honest I am expecting a change to come in the next few weeks. I think there will either be another lock down or the rules about masks will be reimposed. I’m hoping more for the mask thing.

Lots of places want to keep people safe by saying they want you to carry on wearing masks. The main problem is that places aren’t able to enforce it. They can ask you to wear a mask but that’s about as far as it goes. They can’t make you wear one. That is the problem with it being passed down to places and people.

So tangles wise I’ve done two this week:

I missed the tile swap video on Monday afternoon because I completely forgot about it. I started watching the video and saw the tangle we had to include so straight away I started putting some ideas down on paper with the video playing away to itself. The problem was that every idea I put down I looked back up at the screen and there it was. Every idea I had she drew. So I have to pull my finger out and get on with it and get that tile in the post on its way to Sandra.

I’ve done some cards this week but the only one I can put a picture up of is a retirement card I made for Katie to give someone at work.

It was mums 70th Birthday on Friday. She has hit the big 70. We went out for afternoon tea. Mum, Dad, Katie, Adam, Harvey, Me, Mason and some of mums friends. It was a really nice afternoon.

I can now share the cards I made for her birthday though:

I do have to make a few more cards for mum to give out before she goes away so that’s another 2 or 3 that I’ve got to get done.

I have made a book this weekend with the help of my Mega Roll of double sided tape.

That is the tape. The larger red squares on the board are inches. The tape is 6inches wide and 50 meters long. So lots of double sided sticking can be done.

Here are some pictures of the book I made:

The last one is a little pad I made from the remains of the paper I used for the larger pages. I hand sewed the little pad together. My own attempt at a bit of book binding. There is nothing in the book at the moment. I have no idea what to put in it but I’ll find something.

Last week I was given a few things that belonged to Bob that I can use with the development group. There are Alcott of things in it. Runes and cards and there was even a crystal ball with a stand. Also there was a Ouija board, I know it’s only a tool but I’ve had to hide it at home then prying eyes and hands don’t find it and start playing with it. So it is in a safe and secure place. I know it’s only a tool and basically some bits of wood but I can’t help and think of all the bad things about them that have come from Hollywood. I know it’s all rubbish but that’s the way my mind works.

Also with all the bits that came was a Da Vince toy/puzzle. I built it this afternoon. It looks cool and it moves, there is a little motor in it that’s powered by a little solar panel. Here is a picture of it:

The black bit at the front is the solar panel.

This week I’ve done a bit more colouring with my Ink Lily alcohol markers. I started with the next lesson:

I’m happier with the smaller one of the two but practice makes perfect and practice I will.

It’s Bob’s funeral this week. Mum and dad are coming with me and mum will be able to sort me out if need be.

It’s a gong bath on Wednesday evening. A great way to spend some time focusing on me.

The rules might have changed but the virus hasn’t gone away. Stay safe out there and please keep wearing your mask/face covering.

Love and light

I know, I know, I know. I know I should have added a post last weekend. I kept thinking I should do a post then something else happened and I got distracted and Now its warmer than the surface of the sun. But now I’m sat in front of my laptop determined to write a post.

So the usual Things have happened, knitting, tangling and card making. Lets start off with the cards I’ve made:

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Katie asked for the retirement card and she wants another doing. At first she said I could be funny but then she didn’t like my suggestion.

I wanted to put those on the front of a card with a note saying “Now you’re retired you can spend time with people your own age”.

She decided that was too insulting. I just said she was mean and the dinosaurs didn’t like her anymore. So back to the drawing board for the other retirement card.

Hear are the tiles I’ve done over the past 2 weeks.

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Tile 155 was difficult and rather head mashing. It needed some major concentration. I’m quiet chuffed with it considering it started off as just dots.

I also received the Tile Swap 6. This tile was by Sue Colledge I think its great:

Me being a bit numb I ended up sending in 2 Tiles. They were both similar and of course I didn’t get a picture of the first one but here is a picture of the second:

So that was version number 2 but both tiles were sent in attached to a letter:

As the note at the bottom says it all in a bit of fun. But because I sent in 2 tiles I got the tile swap back and a Bonus Tile from Sandra.

I think that one is awesome. I just love the way colour has been used.

I mentioned Knitting earlier and and I’m still working on the log cabin blanket. Its just a bit bigger now as I’ve done a few more strips.

I forgot to say earlier but I’ve also done a bit of sewing. I made a new Mask:

I’m really Happy with the way it turned out. There is even a bit of top stitching on there as well. Because that mask looks so good it even made me tweak a couple of the others I’ve made in the past. I’m even more impressed when the sewing machine I used looks like this:

Yes that front section is missing and as for picking which stitch to use its the dial on the front and there doesn’t seem to be a way to figure out where to put the one you want. You have to do tests to figure out if its on the one you want. So Much Fun!

I suppose I should talk about what is happening today. Allegedly most of the remaining lock down restrictions are supposed to have ended. That means that its now up to people to decided for them selves whether or not to wear masks. Everyone I have spoken to has said that they will be keeping them on and I really think that is the right thing to do.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If I agree with it or not is a different story. All I will say is that I’m going to be keeping My Masks and ask that you think of others when you’re making your decision about them.

On that note I’m off to sit with my aircon unit and fan to get cold.

Love and Light

Last week I lost a friend and it hit me hard. It was unexpected and it’s the first loss of a close friend I’ve experienced. And it’s the first one I’ve experienced since my emotions went haywire.

When I found out I just didn’t know what to do, I was lost and felt confused and numb. Before typing this I didn’t think I’d processed things properly and as I’m filling up while typing it has confirmed my suspicion.

His name was Bob, he was the president of the church. I’ve known him now for about 7 or 8 years. I got to know him through church. We didn’t speak that much to each other but the was a deeper connection and understanding between us. He had his health issue and I had mine.

He had pain and mobility issue and I feel these thing helped each of us understand the other. I’m just glad that he is now pain free.

I found out last Sunday afternoon. I looked at my phone and saw a missed call and a message from another friend and committee member saying call us as soon as you can. So of course the way my brain works I was thinking oh shit the church has burnt down and it’s my fault or something like that. I didn’t expect to get the news I did. So I went back in and and started getting my things together.

Mum being mum clocked something was wrong straight away and tried to get out of me what was up. At the time doing the typical bloke thing of not wanting to show emotion or feeling I managed to say not now I’ll tell you when we get to the car. So we said a hurried goodbye to the other knitting people and headed for the car.

On the way to the car I couldn’t hold it in any longer and started to break down. When we got to the car I really struggled to tell mum what was up. The emotion took over and made it very difficult to speak. At times like that I literally have to force the words out and they don’t always make sense.

It took some time but I eventually got there and mum understood what was wrong. We just sat for a bit before mum drove home. On the way home mum said I best drop a message to the knitting ladies to say what was wrong then they didn’t worry about me.

After the initial shock and upset I started to calm down and had to tell the people in the development group what had happened. In the group most people knew Bob so it was only fair to let them know.

After that my thoughts turned to Dawn and how she was doing with the loss. She is understandingly taking a break from church for a while so she can deal with everything that she needs to. In the meantime the committee is looking after church.

Tuesday night was the first church service without Bob. It felt strange chairing the service without him there asking first. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it or not but as soon as the service started Bob was there making sure everything was running properly.

I felt him, the medium that was on felt him and so did Tracy. I made me feel better and stronger knowing he was still around looking after things.

We didn’t talk much he’ll always have a place in my heart.

Bob, here’s to you.

That’s why I didn’t post anything last week and just typing that has been hard but it has also helped me to feel better and deal with things. Talking about things or even just writing them down helps me so much I can’t even explain it but it is something I would really suggest to help other people. You don’t have to do it publicly like this but please talk to someone, don’t struggle alone.

Here are the picture of the tangles and cards I’ve made:

Knitting wise I’m still working on the blanket and now I’m on strip 8. It’s coming along quite nicely:

Love and Light

So its been another 2 weeks. Sorry, not sorry. Last week I had a really really bad day. Nothing worked properly. There was pain, dizziness, major brain fog, and anxiety. It started the moment I woke up (well that’s when most days start). It’s really hard to explain what was wrong other than everything. It felt like I was walking about completely spaced out, almost like I wasn’t really there. I thought I was tired so went for an afternoon nap but that didn’t help at all. The strange thing is that I woke up the next day and everything was back to normal, well as normal as things are for me. Over the past 2 weeks I’ve done quite a bit of colouring. I moved on to lesson 2 of the Ink Lily colouring course. This one is about foliage. Its colouring Leaves and things like that. There are even some rocks in the first part. Before I show you my work I wanted to tell you about the fun I had trying to figure out a way to store all the stamps. I thought I’ll get a leaver arch file, some plastic wallets and some dividers. So get them all home and set up the folder with the dividers. I put the stamps in along with the work I’ve done so far. I decided to put the colour charts in at the beginning. When everything was in  the file it was that bulked out it wouldn’t close. I think that was down to the stamps. They might only be a6 size but the way that sat in the plastic wallets meant they all lay on top of each other causing the bulk. I looked for sectioned plastic wallets. That would be a good idea, wouldn’t it? Yes, it would but the price for those plastic wallets is extortionate. Normal plastic wallets you can pick up 100 for less than £5. For the sectioned ones you’re looking at about 10 wallets for £5. So a bit pricey. Any way here is the work I’ve done from lesson 2: I’ve done some other colouring as well. Some of Lee Holland’s Dragon Digi Stamps. I’ve only gone through 1 and ½ of the Ink Lily course but it’s had a positive impact on my overall colouring. I put pictures of the finished work on the Lee Holland Illustration  Facebook group and the feedback I’ve had has been Great. Here are the pictures I’ve coloured: As per usual there has been some card making and some tangling. Here are the Tiles: Here is one of the cards. This one is for one of the girls that used to be a foster kid. I also put a tag in the card and there is a picture of what was on the tag: I also made a card for the new neighbours when they move in: And here is the other. It’s a card I made dad for Fathers Day. The style of card is called a waterfall card. I found the stamps and just thought they would work well. It tells a bit of a story. Starting off with a chef that turns into a superhero and goes off to fight a bad guy. Here’s a video of the pictures changing. Video I also made a little keyring too that says To My Super Dad. you can just see it on the pictures. Dad said he thought the card was great.

A couple of weeks ago I started knitting a pair of cable socks for mum. It looked good as far as I got but I just found it really boring and hard going. As I didn’t touch it between Sunday knitting session, I knew that it was something I didn’t really want to do. So, I decided to shelve that and look for a new project. At knitting yesterday after routing through the pattern books  I found a new project, mainly by some bullying or coercion from mum but my new project is a log Cabin style knitted blanket. Here is the picture that’s on the front of the pattern.

There was a finished sample of the blanket in the shop. We’ve seen it there for the past few weeks and everyone that’s seen it has said they like it and as I was looking for a new project I thought lets give that a go. At first I thought it was just lots of sections sewn together. It isn’t, each section is attached to the others by picking up the stitches and carrying on from there.

Last week I also did a bit of crochet. A couple of months ago I did a squid called Dante. Last week I followed the pattern again but this time I used some Hoooked Zpagetti. It’s a lot thicker than the wool I originally used. So here is a picture of the new squid next to the original:

I also dug out the sewing machine and made a drawstring pouch to put things in:

And just to finish thins off here is a picture of Zoe:

Love and light.

So last weekend I told you about ordering the new set of Ink Lily pens. On Tuesday they arrived and I started using them straight away.

I started with the first class colouring mushrooms/toadstools. I’ve gone through it twice now and I started it for a 3rd time this evening.

Here are pictures of my work:

Yes they are both of the same stamp but it’s all practice and I’ll keep going until I have got it as close to perfect as I can. I think the work so far is pretty good and it can only get better. Practice, practice, practice.

It’s a 180 pen set but I’ve only been using the first 12 and I don’t think I’ve use all 12 of them. Either way as the D-ream song says, “Things can only get better”.

As I’ve been focusing on my colouring I haven’t really been doing much else this week: I’ve done a bit of knitting and some tangling but that’s all.

Here are the tangles I’ve done:

I got the tile from tile swap 5:

I think it’s really good. I also found out that the person that got the tile I did was the person who’s tile I got last time. I thought that was great, she even sent me an email saying that she loved the tile. It’s always good getting positive feedback from someone. Especially when it’s in expected. Here is a picture of the tile I did:

Also I got a birthday gift from Sandra, the tangle lady. She sent me some tiles she had inked up/decorated and a birthday card:

I love the tiles and the card is great.

Last night I watched one of the best films on the face of the planet.

“Come on couple 100”

“A bit of musicality please”

“I want Ken Railings to walk in here right now and say Pam Short’s broken both her legs and I wanna dance with you”.

“A life lived in fear is a life half lived”.

If you haven’t got it by now you probably won’t get it at all. The best film in existence is Strictly Ballroom.

I love the film and have seen it too many times to count. I’ve watched a few other films this week as well. The other day I watched a film called Boys in the Band.

That’s based on a play from the the late 60s about some gay friends having a birthday party in a flat. It sound boring but it wasn’t.I thought that it was a really great film and it’s something I would really suggest watching. It was thought provoking and really shone a light on how gay people were treated in the 60s. It’s on Netflix and has some great actors in it. Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Zachary Quinto, Robin de Jesús, Michael Benjamin Washington and Brian Hutchinson.

So I was a knitting again this afternoon, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love going to knitting on a Sunday. It’s great to see and chat with friends, real live people and not through a computer screen. Just to sit, knit, and chat with friends, It’s amazing.

So tonight I’ve watched a cheesy movie from the early 90s. Super Mario Bros. I thought, I used to love that film when I was a kid so why not. Yesterday was Camp and today let’s go for a bit of cheese. I have gone back to camp now though.now I’ve started watching To Wong Fu, Thanks for everything! Julie Newmar. It’s another 90s film but it’s great and fun.

What ever you’re up to, have fun and stay safe!

Love and light.