To give and to receive

I've not done much this week, for a couple of reasons. I have family staying at the moment, so crafting is difficult to fit in, but the main reason is that yesterday I finished the job I have been working at for over 14 years. It's a big thing. Changes on the whole scare me, but in the end I was more scared of stagnating where I was than to give myself a chance at trying something new. I just hope that I have made the right decision.

I did make one tag (one and a half technically- I will be finishing the other when I have a chance). I started off by stamping some distress ink on a baking sheet, spraying with water and swiping a tag through it. It didn't quite work so I filled in the gaps. Once the background was done I stamped some wildflowers with archival ink, stamped some butterflies/flies which I embossed, added a sentiment, and cut out some flowers which I coloured with distress crayons.

I've made a little progress with the cross stitch, as you can see.

The new Beadhaul box came too - and boy was it worth the wait!

The theme for this one was under the sea, perfect for someone who lives by the sea.

Silver findings. I would have liked some different colour findings, possibly a mixture, as there are some items in this box that don't work with silver.

Coral shell beads.

Mermaid charms. So cool, and they are double sided! So many times I have not been able to make earrings because the items don't match in this way.

Fish beads. Love the vintage/retro feel to these.

Grade B amzonite. Apparently these have healing powers (no idea) and they were a tad more expensive than usual, which is why there were less things in the box. Personally I think this is a good thing, and would welcome some more higher quality items in the box.

Fish charms. These are the charms that will not work with silver findings, but thankfully I have things in my stash. They are cute (there's six of them) the pastel being a nice change to the usual bright fish charms that you see.

Finally some pearls. This is definitely a better box than I expected. I have had a few issues on occasion with the size of some of the pendants (far too big - not a fan of statement pieces on the whole) in the past, but this box is spot on.

a game is afoot

to make a person a gift

could it be for you?

So this week I decided to give some of my homemade items (the bottles from last week) to a few friends from work now that I have left. I'm genuinely self-deprecating; with myself and with my work. It's something to work on, and over the past month or so I have done a few things to try to make progress in this. I made a bunch of things for a giveaway on Facebook, but as that was a competition not a simple present, I decided to do something else. Initially I was going to choose a random person on Facebook and send them a gift, but I wanted to see the recipients face when I gave them a present that I had put a lot of work in. Needless to say, all four bottles were very well received. I also got some lovely presents from work, including a Hobbycraft gift card, so more stash is currently flying towards me as we speak. (Not literally of course)

Next week I am hoping to get some things done, but I still have work to do before I start my new job on the 10th, and I still have family down, so I am not sure how much I will be able to do.

Ems