Is it just me?

Blogger is trying my patience today!

It has taken me nearly an hour to get logged in because it kept telling me that my account didn't exist! So I must have imagined writing a post here yesterday then....

Anyway, I'm in now, best make a post then.

I havn't had chance to do any art today as  Daughter-of-mine 1 had an Athletics Training session at Sportcity in Manchester. Husband-of-mine stayed with her while I took D-of-mine 2 into the city centre on the new tram route. It's still sale time so we managed to pick up a few arty bargains. D-of mine-2 loves her Art as well. She has taken to Art Journaling really well and has an Art corner in her room where she sits and creates for hours at a time. It's wonderful to know at least one of my kidlets has a passion for Art.


So, as I havn't made anything new today, here's some pics of some of my past pages. These were planned a bit more than the ones I showed yesterday.

There SHOULD be three, but only this one seems to have uploaded from my phone - 3 TIMES!!!!! Technology really is out to get me at the moment it seems.


Lets just hope I can get back in here tomorrow so I can try again........

Decisions, decisions.

 HAPPY NEW YEAR xx

  I know it's been a while since I was here - again!- but I have been busy. A couple of Craft Fairs done (one was actually profitable! first one where I have made my stall money back!) and a bit of a studio redo.

I've also been doing a bit of thinking. I'm not really sure that my heart is in the craft fair business. Don't get me wrong, I love to make things. I really enjoy making my big blankies and all the crochet purses and the fabric brooches and the teddy bears and all the other things I make.
The problem is that it is absolutely soul destroying to stand behind a stall all day, having to smile and be polite and friendly just to have people say that your stuff is too expensive and walk on by then watch them buy something similar to yours from another stall.

My real passion is my Art. My jewellery style has evolved to more of a mixed media style and I love it much more. I'm hoping that it will sell better. My other love is Art Journaling. I have started up with it again today. Even though it is something I love to do, it's not something I find comes easily. Before I ever put paint/cutting to journal I spent a couple of years researching it all because I was afraid to get it wrong. After a few months of sticking and paint slapping, I stopped because I found it stressful. Pages just didn't look like I wanted them to. I just couldn't be relaxed enough with my style. It was difficult to work with no rules.

So today, I got out some old tubes of paint and some cuttings and printed images that I had already laying on my desk from the studio reshuffle. And I did just literally tear, slap and stick with not much thought to what I was putting where on the pages. It felt good. I have had a very relaxing afternoon.

 

 

It felt good to get my hands covered in paint too.

And now that I've worked out how to add photo's taken on my phone, I hope I will be able to drag myself here a bit more often!

 

Busy, busy, busy!

It has been a while since my last post but it has been busy around here lately.

It isn't always doom and gloom at Nelliebrations Towers you know. I'm back to crafting because I was bored and my wrist recovered after a rest. And we got ourselves a Doggy! a big, black wrinkly, smelly, trumpy doggy!! His name is CJ and he is a rescue dog. We adopted him from Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary in Edenfield and he is the best thing ever! He is very licky and loving and absolutely adores the kids.

 

 

And also, Son of mine is moving out and setting up his own household with his lovely partner. They are expecting their own family soon! Yes, I am joining the Grandma Club! It is making me feel a lot older than I actually am. So, it's busy busy with the baby and housey 'stuff'!!

 

Watch this space!!

More sadness......

As usual, about 6 months has gone by since I last posted here.(I would have been here sooner but blogger has been a pain!) And what a 6 months it's been.

Sadly, I have lost another close family member to the dreaded Cancer. My Auntie died in February after she had been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. It was rather sudden really. She had all the symptoms last year when we were moving my Dad down here to us, but she thought it was just the stress of my Dad being ill. It never got better so she finally got herself to the doctors. She had one treatment of chemo, had a really bad reaction to it, and ended up in Hospital. She never came out.


My Auntie was a pain in the bum sometimes but she was always there for me - no matter what. We did sometimes have our disagreements but I loved her dearly. She was my substitute mum. When the rest of the family had a falling out (as often happened!)we always seemed to stick together and look after each other. I was always taken on holiday with them, me and her had some good day trips out too. The best trip we had was to London. She wanted to go to see the Horse of the year show and wanted company so she paid for me to go with her - and it was one of the best weekends away that I've ever had. We had so much fun!

I will miss her so much.

Spreading the word

I have been making things for a few years now. It started with handmade cards and progressed through to basic Jewellry making - bracelets and earrings. Always out of re-purposed materials. Long before it became 'the in thing'.

Then I got into cross stitching through a friend of mine that got herself featured in CrossStitcher mag with her own designs. There was a free kit on the front so I thought I may as well give it a go - and I loved it! So for years thats the only craft I did. Stitching till the wee small hours.

A few years ago, I re-discovered card and jewellry making and managed to get them up for sale in a local shop. I did sell a few things but then there was a change in management and my things were no longer wanted. Ah, well........


Then I started doing the Xmas fairs at the kids school and local church because I had so much made that I had to find a home for. Sold a few things, not much, but it got word around that I made things. About 2 years ago, I discovered Etsy and Folksy and opened a shop on Folksy. I have never plucked up the courage to fill my shop yet. I don't really know why.

I also noticed that other folk were showing their makes on Facebook, so last year I started my own page to tell the world about my things. So far I have had one sale - a pair of earrings. Its a start, I suppose! I have found and joined some Crafty Networking Communities on there. It's fun but for someone like me, who is not very computer savvy, it is hard work and takes me a long time. Learned how to tag but still can't do simple things like links. I am learning - very slowly.

I still love to be able to re-purpose things. It's satisfying to make something useful out of something that would otherwise be thrown away. For example, crochet Doormats out of old denim jeans and old duvet covers. Blankets out of 'unloved' wool.  So, still making and will continue to do so because I love it - and thats what counts!!

New year, New start

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It has been a while (again!) since I last posted.


The few weeks before Christmas was hectic. School plays, works parties, Birthday parties, Pressie shopping and wrapping - oh, and the frantic cleaning and tidying before the family and friends start dropping by!

Christmas was good. Time for us all to be together. And we managed it without too much falling out. But, there did just seem to be 'empty space' where missing parents should have been. Though, I could hear my Mum muttering over my shoulder about the fact we managed to cook the turkey upside down!! New Years Eve was particularly sad. We had a 'wee dram' in my Dads memory, even though I can't stand Whiskey. Being Scottish, Hogmanay was the most important event for my Dad.


So along with remembering and relaxing, we got lots done too. My Studio is now FULL! And I do mean FULL!! All things are now moved out of the kitchen and in the studio and the computer and all its bits are now in residence in the cupboard where they should be. It took Husband-of-mine three days to get it all moved. The hardest part was drilling through the wall to re-route the phone cable for the broadband box. Two new drill bits later, he finally got through the wall! (walls in this house are impossible - even hanging a picture is a challenge!)

Now I just have to sort and clear out all the rubbish that I don't want to keep and then I can get all the books and wools and cottons and fabrics out there too. This year has to be the year I get started properly on making and selling. Husband-of-mine bought me a book for Christmas. 'How to start your online business'. So with having the Studio and the book and the support of my nearest and dearest, I have no excuse now.



NELLIEBRATIONS STUDIO IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!

Pictures to follow if Blogger will let me!

Sad news

Over the last couple of weeks, I have come here several times, logged in, and just stared at the screen. I have not really known what to write or how to start.

On the 14th of October my wonderful Dad passed away peacefully at his home with me there holding his hand. It is not something that I can put into words, how I felt in that moment - apart from it being a strange mixture of extreme sadness mixed with relief that his suffering was over.

Things moved on pretty quickly after that. Thankfully, the District Nurse had not long been in for her evening visit so she took over organising the GP to come to confirm the death and get all the paperwork I needed to register things so I could start to organise the  funeral.

I had to keep myself very focused to be able to get things done. It may sound hard and heartless but I could not allow myself to get upset or else I wouldn't have been able to get myself  or my kids through the couple of weeks that followed. I had to be able to keep going to be able to pack up and empty his flat. If it hadn't been for my wonderful, supportive Hubby, I wouldn't have been able to cope at all.

Three and a half weeks later, I am still finding things difficult. But, having three kids and a job mean that I have to just carry on and get back to 'normal life', whatever that is. There are still boxes of my Dads stuff sitting in the Living Room and kitchen. Boxes of photos sitting on the stairs, Bags of bedding sitting in the bedroom. But I just don't have the mental energy to start unpacking the things that I had to pack up just a couple of weeks ago and had not long before had to pack and unpack again after his move here.

Post is still coming in for him, and bills are getting paid. He squirrelled away some money to be able to pay for his funeral and his final bills. He had made sure I knew that money was there so that he left no financial burdens for me. That I thank him for. He looked after me for all my life and he made sure he left me no extra worries as to paying for things after he died.

I'm sure that things will get easier as time goes on but, as with my Mum, the good memories will always be there to help me get through the bad days.