roman sock

A new city, a new start

Well we are all moved in! What a relief. The move was quite horrific, everybody that promised to help ended up bailing at the last moment. Leaving us pretty much stranded, but thank goodness we got help in the end. I am using a mobile internet connection so it is a bit slow, but working.

The new house is fantastic! and beyond everything else, I wake up every morning to birds singing, and there is more green than I could have even imagined. For those of you that don't know,I used to live in the centre of Edinburgh, which was beautiful, but all I could see from the windows were more buildings, and I barely saw a blade of grass each day. The flat was adorable but so dark and closed in, I felt like my spirit was slowly dieing.

Now this is the view from my living room:

and I saw this first thing this morning!

I love the proportions - I am a symmetry junkie!

and to make it even more beautiful, my lovely mother sent these

so here I am, really happy for the first time in ages.

I wanted to say thank you so much for all the Etsy orders! I had no idea that people would actually want to buy some of the little things I make. I am just totally overwhelmed, it is just the most amazing thing to know that my little creatures might be brining people a little happiness all across the world! I am just astounded.

Thank you all so much for the support and the crafty love, I really do feel now that maybe there could just possibly be a creative future out there for me somewhere. I am a super chuffed bunny!

Have an amazing Easter!

Moving....

Moving......chaos......nightmare.... no phone at new place will need to put one in...hope to be back soon...cross your fingers for me!

Something practical and something inspirational

My day has been split between fun and watching something truly inspirational.

So starting with the fun! I have finally made something practical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Simple things make me happy. Here it is, a little frog pincushion. It was ridiculously easy to make, and I think quite cute?

I made two versions: one which was sewn on to the lily pad; and one which stuck to the lily pad with magnets.

The magnet one works....if you don't flail your hand. If you flail your hand it rains cats and frogs....

But you can use the lily pad as a pincushion on its own and the frog as a stationary pin cushion so all is not lost even though my magnets are a bit rubbish.

If anyone is interested I can put together a tutorial; he was scarily simple to make.

Now moving on tho the inspirational. My brother sent me this link for a talk by Randy Pausch called The Last Lecture. If you haven't heard about Randy he is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who is also struggling against pancreatic cancer. The lecture is about achieving your childhood dreams, but more than that its a guide to living, a guide that makes you want to be better, have fun, and more than anything learning to appreciate and love those around you.

I found it completely inspiring, you don't realise how much we just move through life without really thinking about making ourselves and those around us happy. If you have a free hour, use it watching this. It has genuinely altered me, which is truly astonishing.

I also watched his lecture on Time Management which is a great condensed guide, with all the best bits from 7 habits and the 1 minute manager perfected. Its like a crash course in leadership, business and achievement. I think its relevant for everyone and really pulls out some crucial life lessons that mean you have more time to have fun!

I was moved a lot watching them both, but wow did I learn. One of Randy's objectives was to help others realise their childhood dreams, and I for one definitely feel more on that path!