SparkyFizz

Gross Indolence and 'Lurking Comments'

It's just dawning on me how complex and time consuming blogging is....  Moreover, my indolence is getting the better of me today - I'm very tired, I went to bed too late, too much blog surfing.  I was up half the night with a stomach upset, the loo was my best friend for a while.  So I'm still sitting in my dressing gown and half the day has gone. I succumbed to -

 

this, with just a little butter!  Now I feel better, didn't last...  no wonder I've got a stomach upset.  Will get a shower and get up just as soon as I finish this RANT, I promise.  

I must pre-empt this by telling you that last night I did the 'Big Personality Test', organized by the 'Child of our Time' group online.  The aim is to categorize your personality into 5 areas and rate accordingly.  Do try it, quite interesting.  My results showed my dominance to be neuroticism and conscientiousness in equal measure!  So, with that in mind, you can now read this.

It took me forever to set this blinking blog up.  Having no experience of web design I was flummoxed from the outset. Typepad or Blogger, pay or no pay.  Once in, passwords, usernames...  yeuk.  Can't remember all my flippin' codes for all the flippin' things I have.  Hah! I'm in.  Now, 'Themes', setting up every column, sidebar, colour, border size - extra small, small, medium, large....  different for every line.  Underline, bold, italic...  left align, right align, centre.... where to put a picture, what picture, banner - what's that?  You need to SAVE each change or it's gone. 

Then I turned my attention to 'Content'.  Oh no, two, three or four columns - classic or artistic?  More borders, colours, headings... I'm going mad.  Oh, just choose one, for God's sake! Move on.  Now, how to do sidebar headings, that took me some considerable time to work out, but I've cracked it now.  What kind of typelists do I want - link, book, notes?  I have no idea.  I needed to learn how to insert a link into the main body of my writing, never done that before.  I need to fill out some details about myself.  What, how much, do I mention my family?  How dangerous is it out there, really?   By the time I got to 'CSS', I just gave up, still don't know what it is.

Then I decided I wanted one of those nice flickering Flickr mosaics.  But that meant I had to open a Flickr account, and what's more, I had to fill it with photos!  That took considerable time and understanding too. Why does the mosaic only show some of my photos?  No idea.  Then I realized my photos were in a woeful state on iPhoto, having just transferred them from my PC a few weeks ago.  I didn't know where to find anything.  I spent a whole weekend sorting that out.  I deleted over 3,000 photos and ordered the rest into regiments worthy of any anal retentive. 

Then I had to learn terminology like HTML, hyperlinks, URL's, http://'s, browsers, the list goes on.  You must understand I've been a full time mother forever, have never worked with computers, so it's all a challenge to me.  The 17 year old gives me lessons which I painstakingly write down, he is alarmed by my stupidity and slow learning capabilites.  He tries to be patient, but it's hard.  He watches as I consult my notes on how to add a 'link' and can't quite believe it.  He knows that all this madness started when I saw him on Facebook and asked him to show me - but he won't be my 'friend' on there.  Then I progressed to 'Twitter' which he disapproved of.       

Before I owned a blog I just used to glance at random posts and a few favourites.  Now I read everything more carefully and am taking much more notice of form and content.  How often they post, what they choose, and why?  What kind of photos and how many?  So many different design styles to give me inspiration. Then each of you has your own list of 'favourite blogs' to peruse. That's not the end, oh no, what about the 'comments' at the end of each posting?  Never looked at them before, but now, each one leads to another blogger with posts and yet more comments..... hmm sound familiar?  I've now multiplied my reading beyond my capability to work out in my head!  I haven't even factored in the parallel universes of Flickr and Etsy with the same compound interest! 

I also know I need to 'market' myself, so I check the search engines, are they picking up on me?  Who knows.  Have I made it easy for them?  What kind of blog is this anyway?  The rantings of a neurotic or is it arts and crafts?  Which categories should I label myself with?  I don't know how to do that anyway. I need to join some 'groups' in blogland on Flickr maybe.  What about the opening of an Etsy shop....oh, I can't take any more.  I have got a list of things to blog about, but it will run out, I need more ideas, better take more photos, and upload...   I do use .... ??? and !!!!'s a lot, don't I?  It's merely a reflection of my state of mind.
  

So, here's the thing, how do you all discipline yourselves as bloggers?  When do you get the time to actually make anything? OMG how many of you are there out there?  I'm overwhelmed - an amazing virtual universe at the click of my finger.  I've now got so many ideas I don't know where to begin.  

Then the RSI sets in, and the paranoia...  Who's going to notice my blog with so much talent out there? How much should I pump into the virtual ether not knowing if anyone is reading it? Just knowing that all this work will be a waste of time if someone doesn't read it in the next few days - who can be bothered to trawl down endless entries on a blog that's new and unfamiliar?   Do you recognize this pattern?  Is anyone there...?  

Right, I've done my blog, and added photo and proof read the thing.  I'm cross that typepad seems to have difficulty 'left aligning' this text when I've left two spaces at the end of a sentence.  I've uploaded photos from my iPhone to iPhoto and synchronized them all.  I've uploaded photos to Flickr and explored and wondered why some things aren't working as they should.  I've commented on some of my favourite blogs, I've wondered if any of them look at mine.  I've checked to see if any of them have put me on their 'favourites' list. Too soon, I think, of course, or is it?  Perhaps they just think this is rubbish, perhaps it is! 

Some of my favourite bloggers have responded to my pleas for recognition, but most haven't.  Same with the friends.  I've put some more on my 'favourites' list.  I've wondered who else I can tell, explored contacts in the extreme, I wonder it the newspapers would give me an advance?  I'm sure India Knight at the Times (see my favourite blogs list) would like this, but she doesn't 'follow' me on Twitter, so it's hard to get a message to her, even though I 'follow' her.  Maybe I'll try again.  I'll talk about the idiocy of normal people on Twitter another day.  

I've e-mailed/texted/twittered/facebooked some friends to tell them about my new blog, oh yes, I've done it all. Should I link my blog to Twitter and Facebook or not, could just put my blog address on Facebook. 

Phew... I'm exhausted and I haven't got up yet.  No wonder I need my toasted cinnamon and apple bagel (with the small amount of butter...) and an enormous cafe au lait!  I still have this typepad account free until the 28th, so maybe I could just pull out?

The paradox is, of course, that this is, I presume, the best way of puncturing the blogosphere, albeit in vain. 'Networking with knobs on' - the husband thinks I'm a huge embarrassment with all this introversion and timewasting.  This could become my full time job and my children may have to find another home - like cats do.

Now, my ablutions, I'm a disgrace - it's lunchtime, well, just a teeny bit  past now.  Maybe I should just go back to bed, after all the kids have keys...     

Me and My Girls!

I have four adorable children, 17 year old Oscar, 11 year old Tom and my identical twin girls Kate and Rosa aged 13.  My girls love to dabble with various crafts.  Lucy over in Attic 24 waxed lyrical about many things yesterday, including using Decopatch.  This is a decoupage tissue paper with a special finish which lends itself well to wet glue without smudging.  Reading this reminded me that my girls also covered some cups in Decopatch.

 

 

What fun they had!  The glass vase behind the cups is merely part of my stash of glass bits that I brought back from a glass blowing site in Stockholm.  I made Oscar, then only 14, carry it all through customs in a rucksack, and it was heavy.  Well, you can imagine what the scanners at customs thought of that....  They didn't know whether to allow it through, or treat it as a dangerous weapon or what!  After some discussion they let us all through, but it took Oscar some time to get over the embarrassment - I'm sure he wouldn't do it for me now. Remind me to show you what I did with some of that glass sometime.  

Anyway, I digress.  So, the girls have made several things recently.  Kate has started making stuffed toys, using her own designs and patterns.  We wondered what material to use for the body of this bunny.  We had no calico at home at the time, and I thought cutting a piece of fabric off the dust sheet we bought from Homebase would be just right - it was.  Those cotton dust sheets for covering furniture when painting are enormous, and probably a good deal cheaper than calico in John Lewis.  It's a little bit rougher than standard calico, but a pretty good substitute.

Not bad for a first attempt, wouldn't you agree?  Kate has also made a mummy owl and baby owl without any input from me, and a bowl full of stuffed hearts for the Christmas tree.

 

She likes to draw also.  This is a picture of crumpled paper for her art homework:

 

Rosa has been doing cross stitch and crochet.  Over half term she decided to teach herself to crochet.  She didn't want any help from me, which was a relief, because she doesn't take counsel easily!  She has a dogged and tenacious character, so she crocheted, pulled it back, crocheted again, pulled it back....  until I was weary watching her.  She pulled it off (no pun intended), now she's producing all sorts of crochet, little purses, Afghan squares, circles, the list goes on.  I'm so impressed with her determination!

 

And then she saw the bird on Attic 24 (Oct 29th 2009), she was gone....  I didn't see her until birdy was made and ready to hang also on the Christmas tree. 

Rosa has also got an ongoing project cross stitching a cat which is in our craft basket that sits by our sofa for when we get the urge to create.

 

It's wonderful for me having girls who want to do crafts.  I would have been in heaven to have had such resources around at their age.  My lovely boys, by the way, have no interest in crafts whatsoever!  They would much rather play guitar, watch films, play on Playstation.  No surprises there then, but they have lots of other talents.  

You might be able to see my part finished tea cosy sticking out of the basket.  

 

I'll let you see the finished thing soon.  It's made from recycled dyed blanket pieces in the style of Madeleine Millington, who is usually at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London in October. I'm also covering some coat hangers in fabric, and painting some others before adding some text.

 

I'm currently making some more pouch bags like this one.

 

 

 

The bags I'm making now are using different materials.  The outside is the same as the one above, but in blue striped linen.  I bought this at a Habitat closing down sale in south London.  They were selling things off ridiculously cheaply.  These were tea towels, so I bought lots of them for craft projects.  The inner lining of my new bags will have a bold, retro style pattern which I found in the remnants box at IKEA for about £2. Will show them soon.  I got this pattern from Amy Karol's book, 'Bend the Rules Sewing".

I would  like to thank Vanessa and Lucy  for their kind words of encouragement to a new blogger and for their wonderful blogs to give me inspiration.  Thank you girls!

It's now very late, after 12.30 am, the wind is raging outside, and we may get some mini tornadoes tonight we're told - not often heard of in London!  So I'm going to snuggle down in my little bed and listen to the commotion, which I hope will be over by morning.  Goodnight.

Where was I?

Oh, yes, I remember.  The reason I went to Tent in the first place was because I'd seen Zoe Murphy exhibit her work in a magazine.  I thought it was quite intriguing and wanted to see it in the flesh.  

 

I wasn't disappointed.  She 'upcycles' 1960's style furniture by screen printing on veneer.  Her theme is her home town, Margate, so lots of beach huts, waves, seaside cafe signs etc. These highly individual pieces are quite expensive, but she does lots of more affordable pieces like veneer plaques and cushions.

 

The cushions are beautifully made from silk taken from recycled wedding dresses she buys on e-bay.  She has pictures of her veneer plaques, which I would love to buy, on her website.

Her footstools are also made from silk panels.

 

What I wasn't expecting was such a lovely, charming young girl.  Zoe chatted to me for ages, was happy to explain how she does her pieces and was very pleasant to listen to.  Zoe has only been out of Art College for a year, so I hope she has a great future in design.

Now I hope you've noticed that I can now add 'links', and I've worked out how to add a 'books' column to the side bar, complete with a link to Amazon.  I know everyone else in the world can do this except me, but I still think I'm quite clever!

'tent' design show - spitalfields

Good morning, grim and damp today, but not my spirits!  I thought I would share  photos from the 'Tent' Design show which took place in Spitalfields in September just gone.  I'm worried that they may become too out of date.  I don't really have links to this.  At the time I didn't have a blog, so didn't think to make reference to links. However, I'm sure the organizers would be more than willing to provide details.  

 

I remember that this lovely furniture was made in Lebanon, there were lots of examples, but it was very expensive.  I took the photos for inspiration really, not with purchasing in mind!  

 

 

I love this kind of patchwork, bold prints bonded to spriggy florals, all sorts of colour combinations and textures.  All held together with overlays of lace, ribboning and applique.  This, of course, is  very in vogue at the moment, with the huge emphasis on all things vintage and 'make do and mend' trends.  I particularly like the fact that it doesn't seem to be planned too carefully, although I'm certain it is.  The large, random, pieces appeal to me, and it does work despite the apparent slapdash approach.  Definitely my kind of thing, but wouldn't want too much of it around the place.

 

As I said, all things vintage....

 

...but imagine having a few panels of this wallpaper?  What fun.  Never mind the children, I'd have it for ME to colour in.  I love doing my childrens' colouring homework (and they get plenty of it, sadly).  Also, lots of modern lampshades on display, beautiful to look at, but think of the cleaning....  hmm, see what I mean?

 

Now I've got someone else at this exhibition to talk about, but you'll have to wait until the next post for that, because I do need to wax lyrical for a while.  I also need to learn how to add 'links' to this blogging malarky. This is all a steep learning curve for me.  There are various other blog design issues I need to sort out, bear with me, please.  

south bank at dusk

I took these photos about a month ago.  I was meeting friends to go to the National Theatre, but arrived a little early.  It was dusk and quite warm.  London's South Bank was alive with all kinds of street activities at a time when I expected things to be winding down.  

I loved the feel and look of everything in the warm dull light, but was cross that I hadn't brought my camera with me.  So I took these with my iPhone.  Now much as I love my iPhone, the camera is fairly poor!  No flash, no zoom  (on the old model)  but nevertheless, this is what I got.
  

I'm quite pleased, considering.  What do you think?  Sometimes happy accidents are the best way forward.

 

 

If I'd had my camera I would have fiddled and messed about and probably not taken any photos in the end.  

Now I'm no photographer as you've probably guessed, but I do love this moody sky.

So I can't help thinking that my iPhone worked quite well.  I didn't expect to take great pictures, but got some quite nice 'snaps' all the same.  I'm sure 'proper' photographers would disagree, the composition would be enough to make them squirm...

...this is what it looked like in the other direction where dusk had not yet fallen!  It's 12.45 am - I should be in bed!  Goodnight.  

Birdfever

Seem to have had bird buying fever recently, not live ones, you understand.  Saw Henrietta the hen in a second hand shop.  She comes complete with little lined hessian bag for chalks, and is great fun to scribble on.  Her final destination will be in the hallway for people to leave messages on.

 

 

 

 

And then my daughter, Rosa, found this lovely black bird which she bought.  First it sat outside on the table looking quite realistic.  Then it provided the ghostly raven accompaniment to the pumpkin lantern on halloween

 

 

 

When the torrential rain arrived I decided to bring him in to the kitchen for the winter,

 

and now he's perched on top of the cooker hood, alarming friends who come in to my kitchen.  I think he's very happy there, and the cats can't reach him.

 

In the beginning....

 ...over many cups of tea, of which I am fond, I thought I might try my own blog.  Like many of you, I read wonderful blogs and am inspired by so many people out there.  I still haven't managed to design this page as I would like, but I suppose that is an ongoing learning process.

I live in London UK, with my husband, four children and two cats.  I would like to share my passion for arts and crafts activities, photos, my home and family and anything else that takes my fancy.  

Right now, I think it would just be a good idea to publish my first post, and hope that you all accept me into the vast blogosphere.  So here goes....