The Introverted Crafter

I've been off work this week, so have been trying to keep myself busy. Had a free birthday meal at Frankie and Benny's courtesy of their birthday meal voucher, got a bunch of presents, spent Sunday in Plymouth with the family (more on that later) and also went to the Eden Project for the first time in over fifteen years. I'm gonna miss those next week.... I have been making things too. I made a bunch of bookmarks, with either a book or a bulb charm on them, for The Ghost Lights promotion. Here is a select few, as an example of what they look like. I bought a few things from Tando Creative, so decided to make something this week. I started with an arch, added a prima heart and flame, and coated it all in white gesso. I then painted the heart with copper paint and covered it with clear crackle texture paste. I stamped a script stamp on the arch, then waited for it all to dry. Once dry I painted ...

be kind to strangers, generous to the unknown, paying it forward This week was random act of kindness week, in fact Friday 17th was random act of kindness day, an apt day as this is the birthday of my grandfather, the kindest man I ever knew. The challenge was to think of an apt act of kindness. I gave things to the charity shop, but I never know whether this is a true act of kindness, or simply a way of decluttering. I have read about suspended coffees on many occasions, and loved the idea of paying for someone's groceries, but could not make that step to offer. I am barely able to stutter a hello to someone as they walk by, even if they say it first, so how could I get over that and offer to pay for their coffee/groceries? I wracked my brains, thinking of my strengths which if I am going by this blog, lay in crafting and writing. Ah! A solution! I discovered a website called post pals . There are so many sick children who spend a vast amount of their time confined to a ...

a trip to Bodmin, what will we stumble upon, prisoner or ghost? I've only ever been to Bodmin once, and that was due to an unexpected shift. Bodmin jail has always interested me, but relying on public transport has put me off going before this week. This perfectly illustrates the history of this town - one of their most infamous public houses used to be the debtors prison. I half hoped they had kept one of the cells in there, just in case someone 'forgot' to pay for their drinks. The naval prison was my favourite part. It's exactly as I pictured buildings would look after LAAC - crumbled walls studded with ivy. I will admit the mannequins do need to be improved - especially the maniacal Hitler/Chaplin one! It's fascinating to read about the various punishments, and as illustrated above, the force feeding. They used to use a cabbage concoction, and a tube to force it down someone's throat when they had undergone a hunger stri...