I'm still here!

Hi everyone! I'm still here. It's been kinda busy in the Smith household lately. We now have a daily routine of exercises and walks to fit in with all the usual stuff. We are currently getting our hall renovated too. It is so nice to have someone in to do the hard work. I have been looking at our dreadful hall now for 7 years wondering when I could muster up the effort to do something about it, and now that my husband has had a heart attack, and we need to speed up finishing the house we have gritted our teeth and payed a very nice handy chap to come and help us. I am very thankful as I must admit I am feeling pretty exhausted right now. I shall post photos once it is finished.

On another note, a while back I had asked for advice about ironing linen. Well, my husband just bought me a lovely new iron, and now I have no problems ironing it. Don't know why I put up with the old iron for so long. I finally managed to tackle the mountain of months old ironing that was piling up and can now see the bottom of the basket!

(So now that I know I can iron this linen I bought, I think I may make some nice new pillowcases and a duvet cover from it.) More things to add to my TO DO list !

I've also been making some of my little boxes ready for the next batch of jewellery I am going to make. I've been meaning to target the art gallery down the road for a couple of years now and it's about time I got around to it.

The picture above is of a little birdy who flew into our kitchen window and stunned himself. However, he did recover and flew off after sitting there for about an hour. It's a bit like us, we felt kind of stunned for a while but now by God's grace, we are beginning to pick ourselves up and get on with things again.

moths

We were honoured by the visit of two lovely moths yesterday. This one is a Large Emerald, and it chose our study door to perch on. ( I am rather embarrassed now I see how dirty the door is. That is on my list of jobs for this afternoon!)

It looked funny when my little girl peered through the glass at it! And this rather grand specimin is a Buff Ermine. He was really fluffy. This is the first time we have seen either of these varieties, so we were pretty excitedly flicking through the books trying to identify them. What a treat. They stayed all day.

zoom zoom zoom

Ah, the joy of being 4! Lots of fresh air and fun.

I am pleased to report that my dear husband is doing well. We have been benefitting from the fresh air too. Taking gentle walks and sitting out reading and enjoying each others company. I have much to do- many jobs that he is not currently able to do, but I am so happy to have him around. Our target now is to get this house and garden spruced up and to move to somewhere a little less work. We currently have a very large garden , which is lovely. But it is just too much for us to handle.

I'm off to tackle to ironing pile now. I want to get the utility room cleared so that my husband can get in and make some candles when he feels up to it. Creative therapy!

Thankyou

Thankyou for your kind comments and messages and prayers.

My sweet husband is doing well. They were able to put in a stent (think that's how you spell it) to open the part of his artery that was closed up. He had got to hospital just before he had the heart attack, so he was in the right place at the right time - they were able to resussitate him. I am so very, very thankful to still have my precious wonderful husband. He just needs to rest and recover from it all now. He was quite chirpy last night considering all he has been through. I can't wait to see him today. 21 years married and he still sets my pulse racing!!!

...something I have been reading this morning...

Psalm 33:18-22

The LORD watches over those who obey him, those who trust in his constant love.
He saves them from death; he keeps them alive in times of famine.
We put our hope in the LORD; he is our protector and our help.
We are glad because of him; we trust in his holy name.
May your constant love be with us, LORD, as we put our hope in you.

Suddenly crafting is of zero importance....

Those of you who know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, please could you say a prayer for my beloved husband Rod. He was taken to hospital in the early hours of this morning and has had a heart attack. He is currently undergoing more tests. We would appreciate your prayers so much, thanks.

A jar for April - in June!

To make this pretty storage jar you will need...

A jar - I used a jar from Rowse honey. To cut a long story short it took me a LONG time to remove the label. So much so I even wrote to the company to complain about the excessive use of non water-soluble glue! Sad, I know!

You will also need one small block of white polymer clay. I used Fimo Soft for the first time. I'm not sure I'd use it again, I'm used to Primo Sculpey and I find it much easier to smooth and work with, but it was all that was available in my local craft shop, so I gave it a try.

Roll just under half of your block of clay into a ball and then roll flat using an acrylic rolling pin if you have one- or a nice smooth bottle or glass if you don't. Then mould your clay around the lid of your jar. I should just point out, it must be a metal lid here and not a plastic one otherwise you'll have meltdown! Smooth out any bubbles from the center outwards.

Trim off the excess as if you were trimming pastry off a pie dish, and then smooth the edges. I wasn't too happy with the way the fimo soft smoothed - or didn't so I found some old cotton lace and pressed it all around for a nice texture.

Bake the lid as per instructions on Clay packaging.I placed my lid on a piece of paper to bake.This prevents any shiny spots from baking on a metal tray.

Meanwhile, roll out some of the clay into a thin sausage and cut yourself lots and lots of slices. Roughly about the size of a small corn kernel. Press the pieces flat. To begin the rose take one piece and elongate it a little and roll it up to form the centre of the rose.

Now add petals all around and gradually build up until you have a pretty rose. I must point out here that there are many ways to make a rose. This is just one easy method. I am sure if there are some sugarcraft experts out there, they will know of better methods and they will probably cringe at my crude attempt!

Trim the bottom off the rose with a craft knife or clay cutter. Once your lid is baked and cooled press your finished rose onto the centre of the lid using a cocktail stick. Gently press the rose in place pressing the petals with a gentle touch from your fingers. If you are worried about stickability, you could use a small drop of liquid clay to aid adhesion, but I found that the Fimo Soft is quite good and sticky.

Gradually build up your design by adding more roses. You can do this in a regimented uniform way, or like me just randomly building up the design.

You can add leaves by making a teardrop shape and adding the veins with a cocktail stick or needle. I overlapped the edge of the lid with mine.

Spaces can be filled in by adding buds made by using the first curl of the rose. Now bake your lid as per instructions, allow to cool. Add a pretty label to your jar. ( I adapted one from the Graphics Fairy.)
...And you are done! I put cotton wool in mine for the bathroom. But you could use your jar for anything. Howabout a pretty jar of homemade peppermint creams? It would make a thoughtful gift. I used plain white Fimo, but if you wanted you could make your lid a colourful arrangement of blossoms, or if you make the base in pale blue and the roses in white, you could get a charming wedgewood effect. I'd love to see what you come up with. Do let me know if you try this out.

Armadillos and Swallows!

The next edition of Armadillo Magazine is now online. (If you notice any typos in it, then please let me know - it was a bit of a rush job!) It's the place to go for children's book news, reviews and interviews. Remember if you are in the UK and have kiddies, do enter the competition.

...and it seems my ornithology is not what it should be. The birdies nesting outside my kitchen window are not swallows, but are in fact House Martins! Oh well, they are still pretty cute!