Showing posts with label beading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beading. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 July 2007

Phase Seventy Six.

Tuesday, 24 July 2007

More antibiotics, lack of oomph and fluffy pom-poms.

Just go back from the doctors again. I am getting so bored with doctors and hospitals now. :0( Last week I tried to pull my stitches out as they were making me so sore. When I failed i went back to the hospital and they too failed. The result of all that pulling and tugging is yet another infection. I was supposed to go back to the hospital to see the surgeon, but I don't want to go again so I went to see my GP instead. This time, two more lots of stronger antibiotics and thrush treatment for after I finish my course. I am so fed up with feeling poorly and under the weather.

I have a total lack of oomph and spend my time reclining on the bed and surfing the web for fabulous ideas. Even though I lack the enthusiasm to actually make anything, at least I have had time to do loads of research! Crikey, my little art quilt had better be good or everyone will give me such a hard time!!!

I was trying to think of something to do with Livvie this morning so I showed her how to make a pom-pom for a cat's toy. Do you remember making those as a child with two disks of card and a ball of old wool?


Livvie never knew that you could make them yourself and was delighted with the result!

It's difficult to know what to do with Livvie to entertain her during the Summer Holidays. Most things involve cooking, wool, beads and sewing. Oh, and painting always goes down well with her too. She particularly enjoyed an outdoor sketch session I did with her last Summer. She was surprised to find how much she enjoyed picking a section of a dry stone wall and discussing it's texture and how the light hit it etc. Then we both sketched what we saw. Birch trees are also good for this type of exercise I find.

I think I shall do a small sewing project with her next. Although she loves making things she has little patience with hand sewing and her stitches are usually bigger than the item she's sewing! I need to try and teach her a little patience. Anyone that knows Livvie will know this will be a hard task!

I acquired some more beads yesterday. Auntie Babs gave some 'squisite beads to play with and Mummy bought me three strings of beads from the charity shop. Some of them were very pretty rose printed porcelain.

After all my tidying and cleaning, my desk is now in organised chaos. As soon as my new bead box arrives I can 'file' as many small beads as possible and then decide how I'm going to organise the rest. The bigger beads will be OK in the component boxes (pictured front). I can't keep the tiny beads in these boxes as they get mixed too easily. With my new bead box, each section has a lid of it's own.



Sunday, 22 July 2007

I have done loads today. I think I am more or less finished in my little work room. I had the very sad task of sorting out all my gorgeous mohair today, ready for selling. :0( It is the most beautiful, luxurious and expensive mohair pile which I love, but I really must admit that I'll never make bears again. I have bagged it up and it must now go into the loft until we next visit Lyme Regis. My friend owns Alice's Bear Shop there and has agreed to sell my bear making supplies for me.

I have finally finished winding all my threads, fibres and ribbons onto bobbins. I have also sorted all my fabric scraps and placed them neatly in a box. It's all sorted now and I am just awaiting the delivery of my new bead organising box. I have gazillions of beads all bagged up on my desk ready for their new home.

I was sorting through an old needlework box this afternoon and I found some very precious beads that I had forgotten about. They are all the left over beads from when I beaded my wedding dress 17 years ago. They're not precious because I have romantic memories of that wedding (divorced him!) but because it was my very first foray into needlework and beading. :0) And besides, they're really pretty beads.

Gary finally managed to mow the lawns today after about a month of non-stop rain. The rain has moved South now to give us a break. The news is saying that it's very bad in the South today and now they have flooding. I've never known a summer like this!

No pretty photos today I'm afraid, maybe tomorrow. :0)

Flippin' 'eck!

Saturday, 21 July 2007

I had a marvelous time rummaging round bead shops and charity shops today. First we found a bead shop by Brammal Lane and the prices of their beads are astronomical. They have 3g of seed beads for £2.25. Have you any idea how much 3g is? I am looking at 3g now and I estimate that they would very neatly fit into a thimble. In fact I shall go and try it right now, wait a minute....Gosh I am extremely clever, they fit exactly into a thimble with not a bead to spare! Most shops sell them in 3-5g quantities.We then went to Ecclesall Road in Sheffield to another shop only to find that they were mostly charging PER BEAD! Of course I wasn't able to spend that sort of money so we looked in the charity shops. I found loads of cool things:

Photo: Sindie Smith


From the top:

Green Chinese fabric top with bead fringing.
Blue and white beaded belt
Ceramic multi-stringed necklace
Green multi-stringed necklace
Dark red beaded necklace
Peacock multi-stringed necklace

The green top, the beaded belt and the bright ceramic necklace are second-hand, but the other items are new Fair Trade. Remember I had just seen the cost of beads in the other shops so I was very excited with these finds!

When I got home I cut all the strings, took apart the belt and took the beaded trim off the green top. I will keep the green fabric for my stash of course. I then weighed and bagged all the beads in order to prove a point. I then looked up all the prices of the beads in the two bead shops I had visited and did some quick calculations. The grand total for all those beads, had I bought them new from the shops would be....wait for it.....£141.75!!! Can you believe that people that sort of money for beads? That bright ceramic necklace had £26.31 worth of beads and the green and peacock necklaces would have cost £82.49!!! My flabber has been gasted.

Oh, and Gary found three books so he's happy enough. (it also took his mind off the money I was spending!!)

By the way, the auction for the box (see yesterday's post) went as high as the Buy It Now anyway.

Debt Collectors & Storage boxes.

Friday, 20 July 2007

I have decided to edit bits and pieces in case I get in trouble! I have a lot to learn about these blog things. I must remember that I am chatting to the world and not just my friends and family!

I have had six...I say SIX...Final Demands from six different credit recovery companies and another one today! It is addressed to a Mr.BLAH BLAH that lives up the road. This has been going on for months and months. He lives in sheltered accommodation in BLAH BLAH Court, while I live in BLAH BLAH Lane. We have been up to see him three times now to tell him to sort things out and he's such a jolly old man and laughs it off! Gary even spoke to the warden and she wasn't interested at all. Every time a new demand appears threatening court and debt collectors, I have to phone the company and explain all over again. They assure me that it won't affect my credit, but I'm inclined not to believe them. Every time I open another letter my stomach flips somersaults. It's not fair is it? Silly old man doesn't give a hoot that he's in so much debt. He just keep taking out more personal loans. He probably thinks they won't touch him as he's old.....watch this space!


I have just spent another couple of hours finishing all the bead and braid organising and it has become apparent that a couple of little £1.25 boxes really won't cut the mustard! I have so many different sized boxes with all the bits in that it's all taking up far too much room and I can't keep it all together. I have been looking on eBay and found something really good that should contain pretty much all of it for a Buy It Now of only £10.95 + £3.00 postage. I know that's about £10 more than I was thinking of spending, but hey ho! Actually, there are a few for auction so I shall see if I can sneak a last minute bid and get one cheaper.



I shall just pop in a quick credit here for the photo: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZshc_webQQhtZ-1

We have had to cancel our weekend away in the camper as the severe weather warnings persist. I said we could go to York instead for a bit of a wander, but of course that's the first place to be under water in this weather. Now I don't know what we'll do with our weekend. Sorry this is a boring post tonight, but I'm feeling uninspired!

Before I sign off I'd like to wish poor Ria a great big GET WELL SOON! Poor love has had a nasty asthma attack on top of already being ill. She says she's feeling much better now that they've pumped her full of steroids though and is now in training for the next London Marathon. :0D I got to know Ria after buying some of her lovely Smashbox cosmetics from eBay and we've been friends ever since. She's an absolute smasher and is always thinking of others when she should be taking care of herself. Here's her ebay shop if you have time for a peek: http://tinyurl.com/2mhjge
Hopefully tomorrow we can think of somewhere cool and inspiring to go and I'll have something interesting to report. :0)