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Craft haul

I haven't actually made anything at the moment, rather I am in the middle of one project, and also concentrating on finishing as much of the middle earth stitch as I can by the end of the month. Here is where I am so far with that.

 
As you can see I've finally finished the first page and started on the second. Obviously with only a few days to go I can't finish the second but I can have a fair crack at it! It's starting to give me an idea of how large it is.
 
As I said, I haven't made anything else; a combination of being ill and having too many shifts at work has left me too exhausted to do anything. However, I did have a little spending spree on mum's 60th birthday (as well as treating her of course). As well as taking advantage of the Next sale and my usual stop off at Primark (plus finding a bargain petticoat to go with my Lindy Bop dresses) and finally finding that pair of Mary Janes I wanted, I stopped off at the Works to get some craft essentials.

 
Acrylic paints. Now I'll be the first to admit I can't paint. At all. But paints are great for multi media projects, and we all have to start somewhere.

 
Canvases - again not for painting but for multi media. I like the whole quotes thing as a wall piece (possibly the writer in me)

 
A bird house. I got two of these - this one is actually my project in progress. All I've done so far is to paint it with black gesso.

 
The other one in unpainted form. The one thing I would change about these is that I would have them in pieces rather than readily assembled, as you can't do anything with the inside, which is a pity. It's also impossible to paper the front of it, so rethinks have to be made.

 
A mini chest of drawers - absolutely diddy. Seriously, very tiny. I can see this being a lovely altered earring holder.



 
A wooden box, with a lovely carved top. I have had similar before but the difference here is that there is no glass, meaning the top can be painted.

 
A set of three boxes, all with a handle at the front.

 
Finally a Madame Payraud fabric album. There are pockets inside which I am going to use to store any tags I make.
 
As well as these, I ordered online a trio of texture pastes, four distress sprays (with very belated birthday money) glossy accents, a moon and stars die and Tim Holtz found relatives cards.
 
All of this has made me realise that my spending is getting a little out of hand again. It's my fault entirely, I have the habit of doing this every once in a while. So, back on a self imposed spending ban, aside from getting my monthly treat when I've done the exercise etc for a month.
 
Speaking of that, I'm still sticking to the exercise. I'm finding it a little hard on occasion; for example my hip starts hurting after a little while on my bike, but i'm persevering without going too far. Whether it is helping me I don't know, but at least I am sticking with it. The fizzy drinks I can safely say is a complete success, and I wish I had done it sooner. Obviously some money has come out of my savings this month for mum's birthday, but this was planned.  The stitch is starting again April 1st (well 2nd - the 1st I am at work all day) and the writing is going well, still on schedule for that.
 
One thing I have done over the last couple of days is choose carefully what I am going to wear. I know this doesn't sound much but when you have depression all you want to do is wear baggy clothes that hide you, and that's if you get out of your pyjamas at all. I refuse to judge anyone who does that because I've been there, and I've been there often. It's a struggle to get dressed sometimes, and I often find myself wearing the same baggy jumper to travel to work, and also wearing it at home. Shapeless, dark, the jumper represents me when i'm down.
 
So yesterday I wore a sheer black blouse with a new pair of Next trousers I got, and today I am wearing a grey skirt, purple tights and a white blouse. Admittedly I've got a librarian vibe going on, but that is not actually a bad thing in my opinion.
 
Expect more jewellery later this month as the new Beadhaul box will be due sometime (theme is lady fury - another intriguing prospect) and hopefully at least one altered project. I've got a week off coming up (which is going to be hard on my ban). Anyone got any ideas for how to resist temptation?
 
Ems

Comments

  1. Justine30 March 2016 at 09:43

    Lovely stitching and a great idea to plan your wardrobe in advance. My top tip for not spending on stash is to photograph everything and put it on my blog. When I'm tempted to browse the internet, I go to my own stash pages and "shop" from there, choosing what I'll stitch on next. I hope this helps you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ems8430 March 2016 at 15:06

      That's a good idea - I only have five cross stitch kits but a lot of other stuff!

      Delete

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