Thursday 26 April 2012

Oops!

It's been a little longer than I'd like since my last blog post! Sorry! I have been rather busy though, not been resting on my laurels - promise!  It's all come about from a large (insert naughty word of your choice) up of my sleeping pattern.  

Now, I'm sure that if such a thing existed, I would be more than eligible to enter the sleeping Olympics - I generally need at least 10 hours to wake up 'fresh', else I end up waking up transformed into Kevin the Teenager - NOT a pretty sight! My problem lies in getting to sleep.  I've got so many ideas and things to do rushing around my tiny mind that it takes a while to relax.  I have attempted to thwart this with boring activities to relax such as those horrible sleep aid/meditation CDs, simply lying there and trying not to think, counting sheep/owls, and have just had to settle for watching countless episodes of Big Cat Diary on Netflix.  

This lack of sleep has effectively cut my working day in half - which has meant less time on Facebook, and more time making things - which can only be a good thing - I do tend to get glued to the PC when I get there.  I've had to be very self disciplined and log in briefly, check all the things that need checking, and then scurry off to get things done - and this list seems never ending!

The first thing that needed doing was a custom order from an old friend of mine - she wanted a small Union Jack cushion to send off to her other half who is currently off doing his bit in Afghanistan.  I wanted to make it slightly manly - which goes very much against my usual themes, so I had to be very good and not cover it in flowers or hearts or anything too cutesie - I didn't want him to be laughed out of the country for sentimental cushion-y love, so I kept the front of the cushion nice and plain:


I had put some wadding under the Union Jack to give it a quilted effect, but unfortunately this was lost a bit when I stuffed it.  Still, the red stitching gives it a little something extra I think.  For the back of the cushion, we went a bit more 'smushy' with a heart with 'miss you' hand embroidered on it.  I figured the more manly side could be used when mates were present, and then it could easily be flipped over when he wanted to show his softer side! 

Next up were some bookmarks - I do love books. Especially the old smelly sort (see picture below - I have NO idea how old this book is but its fab!) I don't have enough time for reading nowadays, but when I do read I just don't stop! I think my personal best was (a fair few years ago now) when the last Harry Potter book came out, I was so very excited I read it in about 5 hours.  I still love Harry Potter now - but the last book I started was Game of Thrones - I got down to the end of the first page and had to give up - it was too big, I was never going to read it in a space of time where I would actually remember the story line!  I'll have to make do with the TV series for now - no spoilers please - I've not started watching it yet!  I did post a picture of one of my bookmarks up on the Facebook page - this has since been donated to a friend so I made some more...


I will be taking these to the 'Give Up Your Day Job' event at Jack Chams, and any that don't go then will be available to buy from the Facebook page for £3.75 each.  I've also been designing some new things to suit the event - its a bit 'edgy' - think rockabilly, skulls, and the like. So here's a sneak peek of something I knocked up last night...


I had intended it to be a keyring, but I put the embroidery a little too close to the edge and if I stuffed it the detail would be lost, so I think this one will end up as a brooch. 

In other news, I will be donating some cat related bits and bobs to Plymouth Cats Protection for their stall at Exeter Axhays Open Day (it's on Sunday 27th of May - please do go if you can!)  The Cats Protection team do so much work for my favourite furry creatures - from helping with the cost of neutering your cat, to looking after kittys while they wait for someone to give them a forever home.  I consider both our cats 'rescue' kittys as Pepper, our youngest was probably the runt of the litter (she's tiny!) and no one wanted her, while our oldest (but most recent addition) was getting too poorly for her original owner who was moving home and didn't have any room for Bracken.  But they are both very happy (or at least they seem to be) here with us.  Bracken is old and grumpy - she hisses at everything! Even at me when I take her off of my lap - but it's calmed Pepper down a lot, she's a hyperactive little ball of purr!


I've also just acquired some cat nip to make some toys for your furballs to destroy!  

Right. That is quite enough computer time for me today - hopefully this extra long blog will make up for my absence!  I do intend to use it a lot more now since the uproar about Facbooks rules for Pages, and it will be the platform for my next giveaway when we reach 250 fans! 


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