29th Feb!

I am being really sad but I just have to post today. I'll have wait another 4 years before I can do it again!

I'll post again later with photos

It didn't do it for me!

As you will have gathered there was an earthquake in the U.K last night, it's epicentre was on the eastern side of the country in the county of Lincolnshire. Although I was up and about (I was at work doing a night check) I never felt a thing but when I got home the Oh! Bearded One was excited because it was felt here in Northwich. He said the wardrobe doors were shaking!! What excitement!! I always miss the fun!!

Having said that I do remember feeling tremors back in 1990 when we still lived in Sheffield. I was sat at the dining table behind the sewing machine making curtains for our new house that we had just moved into. DD was 2 and SofM was a few weeks old.

I am still going strong on the 'No chocolate for Lent' kick, I am still craving but I haven't given in yet!

I haven't done any more to the quilting blocks I talked about last Wednesday but I have been doing a little bit of hand piecing on different blocks which I have enjoyed as much as machine piecing. I have also been knitting here and there. I did a few rows on 'Fizzle' on the way to and from Chester on Sunday.

The Oh! Bearded One passed his NEBOSH (a health & safety qualification) exams and he wanted to go out as a way of celebration. As the weather was suspect we spent the day in Chester which was lovely. We had a really nice Sunday lunch and did a little bit of clothes shopping.

Later this week it's more card making for work - Easter cards!

Still no chocolate!

I have had some lovely comments on both Janet's and Kathy's blogs, thank you so much. They have made me feel very special. Crafters are very special people and with the miracle of modern technology we can speak to each other all over the world and support each other when the going gets tough.


I haven't broken my 'No chocolate for Lent'. I crave some every day but I haven't given into temptation I am glad to say.


I've more projects on the go than I should have. I have still got the Rowan Cotton Jean waistcoat on the go. Last week I cast on 'Fizzle' from the Rowan Classic Summer Breeze book. This is being knitted in Rowan Cashsoft DK in a teal green colour. Yesterday I made the 'mistake' of going to Fibre & Clay in Knutsford and I bought 2 balls of Noro Kureyon to start 'Lizard Ridge' from Knitty and 4 balls of Noro Silk Garden for Design 23 out of Noro Designer Mini Knits. I cast them both on yesterday and have done a bit more of each of them today. Also last week I recieved my 'Interweave Knits' but I'm not desparate to do anything out of it at the moment which is a good job!

I can see why knitters say that 'Lizard Ridge' is addictive and each square won't take long to do as long I don't to make as many corrections as I have done so far. I had a look on Raverly last night at all the 'Lizard Ridge' and they were beautiful.

I am past the rib on the back of 'Design 23' and as it is done in stocking stitch it also won't take long.

In a past post I talked of plotting and scheming. What I have been up to is to start quilting. I've wanted to have a go for a very long time and I have started with a lap quilt. It is made up of 15 9inch blocks. All the blocks are made and I have started sashing them. I've really enjoyed the process so far! I am going to get addicted, I can just see.

An Award!!!

Thank you Lizet!

Lizet has awarded me 'You make my Day' Award. This is my first award and it makes me feel really part of blogland!

So now I need to nominate 10 blogs that make my day, so here goes.

First there is Enthuastic crochetoholic, her life isn't easy at times but but she won't let the b£$%&*" grind her down and those crochet hooks are red hot!

Then there is Ruth with her beautiful daughter, an Aussie quilter & knitter in South Africa.

I love Clarabelle, she can be so wicked sometimes and she produces the most lovely knits, unlike me she actually finishes things!

Next there is Knitting with my shoes off who is having a difficult time at present, I hope this award helps a little to cheer her up, keep warm my love as looking at your photos it looks freezing where you are.

Ambermoggie has the most beautiful yarn on her blog and knits lovely socks, I love going over there and seeing what sock she has completed.

Then there is Laughing Mouse who makes some unusual things for her 'Little Smalls'.

Someone else with 'Little Smalls' and a huge talent is Echos of a Dream, I am always interested in her doings.

At present I am following some quilting blogs and Scraps and Threadtales has some beautiful quilts which make my day.

Another quilter that makes my day is Bethany at Quilted with Love, she also has her struggles but crafting keeps her together and I can identify with that.

Last but not least is Joyus at A Joyus Place who is a quilter and a cross stitcher.

Thank you again, Lizet for this award.

Valentine's Day

I hope your other halves have remembered you. I recieved a card and 2 bunches of flowers this week. The Oh! Bearded One forgot it was Valentine's Day this week so last Sunday he bought me a bunch of roses, not red roses but a lovely colour of peach. Today he bought me a Valentine's themed bunch. So after 25 years I have 2 bunches of flowers in a week! Unheard of!!!

I have recieved my Interweaves Mag this week, I haven't decided what I like yet!

Thanks!!

First of all, I have to say a big thank you to Janet for the comment she put on 'No Chocolate'. Janet, you didn't half make me laugh, thank you!!

I am now on day 5 of 'no chocolate' for Lent. I can see why smokers have so many problems with cravings. Over the last couple of days I've kept thinking 'I'll just nip in this shop and get a Fry's chocolate cream bar'. I've had to remind myself I've given it up for Lent. I can't wait for that Easter egg!!!

I've not done any knitting but I've managed another 2-3 square cm of my cross stitch over the last couple of days.

No Chocolate!

Well! Day 2 is over and I managed the temptation not to eat any chocolate, so onward to day 3!



Not much crafting going on today, rather a lack of motivation but I did sort out some Christmas cards I've been given. I will try to use parts of cards to make other cards for next Christmas, I am also using a tag punch to make gift labels to sell at work.

The other thing I did do today was get out my trusty Bernina and repair a hoist sling for work, a 2 minute job! ( we use a hoist and hoist sling to move people from bed to chair etc when they are unable to stand or walk, instead of lifting them manually)

I have rather fallen out of love with the green Jaeger Matchmaker vest I am knitting. I have decided it won't suit me as I feel I am too plump around the middle and it will make me look even plumper so yesterday I found a very similar pattern on the web but it is shorter so I think I will be frogging it and starting again.

Positive & negative

I failed to get up bfore 10am again (a day off) but I have managed my first day without chocolate despite a Beaver giving me some Lindt chocolates as a thank you for having him in Beavers ( he is moving up to Cubs).

I am off again tomorrow so I will try again to get up well before 10am!

Lent, a new beginning!

As you will be well aware, Lent is upon us from tomorrow. I want to try to treat Lent as a new beginning for my relationship with myself as well as with my God. God has forgiven my sins but I have to learn to forgive myself when I fail. We can be a lot harder on ourselves than God or other people are.

I read an article about depression last night and it made me think again about how I am dealing with my depression. I had already decided to give up chocolate for Lent but it is also a useful starting point to try to deal with other issues.

I have been suffering with depression for the last 5 years and although I have tried hard to not to rule my life, it does. I have realised I need to do even more to help myself. Excercise, diet and more routine in my day could well help. When I am on days off from work I tend to over sleep unless I have to get up for something specific. I have been waiting for this to get better on its' own but it isn't, I need to take more control so I am going to start setting my alarm and make myself get up. I hope to go back to achieving a lot more in a day like I used to before the depression kicked in. On the days when I get up for work I always feel much better generally, unless the hormones are being a pain in the $%&^.

Excercise is a biggy!! I am supposed to do stretching excercises for the arthritisy thing I have going on but I am not good at doing them. Research has shown that excercise is also very good for depression so I need to be much more proactive. 5-6 years ago, when I was trying to lose weight I was going to the gym 3-4 times a week so I know I can do it but with depression it is so easy to say 'Oh I'll do it tomorrow or I'll do it when I feel better etc, etc. I have got to bite the bullet and go back to formal excercise 3-4 times a week.

Stopping eating Chocolate for Lent is a way for me to start trying to change my eating habits slightly. My basic diet isn't horridous but there are areas to improve ie. eating more fruit & veg and reducing saturated fat intake which should automatically reduce by stopping eating chocolate. I am also worried about diabetes and heart disease as Dad suffers with both of these which increases my risks.

Wish me luck and please keep reminding me of my goals, it will help.

At last, photos!!

Finally, photos of recent work. These photos represent the card making output of the last 3 weeks.

The baby card is a Papermania printed blank with 'baby' done on the cutterbug and the teddy from a pack of die cut bears.









These 2 cards were made from free papers out of 'Making Cards' magazines. I love this magazine for ideas and the free papers tend to be of high quality.











The red valentine card is also made from free papers but I can't remember which mag.

The purple card is another Papermania blank card with cutterbug die cuts












I use punchs a lot, I find them so useful and the most useful I've got are 3 different sizes of flower, 2 sizes of butterflys, a 1 inch square and 1 inch circle. All these punchs are used on these 3 cards.

All 3 cards feature this season's papers from Dovecraft and Papermania Colossal packs.











Sorry, this photo is awful due to taking it at work under artifical light this evening. These 2 cards feature dome stickers that go with the Papermania papers
















This photo does not do justice to the card on the right. The papers used are scrapbooking papers from K&co. I love this company, their colours are so subtle.

The photos are poor and it isn't helped by the fact the cards are in cellophane ready for selling but I thought poor photos were better than no photos!

Bits & pieces!

Yes, I know I said I would post again and show photos over a week ago, then real life gets in the way and before I know it a week has gone by. I have a day off again tomorrow so I will try to take photos of what I have been up to in the last week or two, in between food shopping and trying to sort washing and a Scout group account at the building society.

I am knitting, I keep knitting a few rows of the green tunic, vesty thing. I am also knitting a Rowan waistcoat in Cotton Jeans that I got in Hobbycraft's sale. I was well pleased with this yarn, £1.90 instead of £3.60ish. The only problem is that the back of this waistcoat is knitted in moss stitch and I hate knitting moss stitch so I cast it on and just do a few rows when I feel like it, that way I'll get it done without too much angst.

I've also picked up my cross stitch again. I have about 7-8 fairly big WIPs and one of them is Lanarte's Spring flowers. I've done about a third of it and this week I have managed about 6-7 square cm which I am pretty pleased about.

I am also getting into some other crafty activity that I am keeping to myself at present. One of the reasons I am keeping this to myself is that I haven't been able to work on it since I was on holiday because any spare time I've had I've used for card making for work. Honestly!! work is getting in the way of my crafting, it's just not good enough!! I just won't mention that if i didn't work I couldn't afford the crafting equipment.