Wednesday 15 July 2015

WOYWW 319

I’m feeling quite a bit better now, as the second week advances after chemo treatment #3, so I’ve been a bit more active on the creative front.

My desk today.

WOYWW 319a 15 July Annotated

Annotated for your delectation and delight! You will be glad to hear that true to her cheapskate character, Shoshi has rescued some little twists of wool from the back of the settee – these obviously got down through the recliner mechanism to the floor since I completed my knitting project! Not one to throw anything away, however manky if it can still be used, these now sit in all their glory on my desk waiting to be cleaned up! You can see also that my paint water remains suspiciously clean.

Moving on, I have two lavender sachets remaining from that project, and as tomorrow I am seeing the two ladies I became friends with in hospital, I thought I would make up two more boxes to put these in. One of them will have the little chemo card inserted – she and I are neck-and-neck in our treatments, mine being every 3 weeks on Fridays and hers every three weeks the following Mondays (sad that the hospital is so badly organised that they couldn’t do us both together lol!!). The other one’s cancer was so well confined to her bowel that she didn’t need chemo (don’t I envy her!!).

You can see one of the box pieces waiting to be embellished. I am in the middle of sorting out which rubber stamps I want to use for this, and have got a selection out. The set on the right is a new Chocolate Baroque set that I haven’t used yet.

As always, there is stuff lurking around (usually carefully hidden out of shot!) waiting to be put away, and underneath the desk are a couple of Really Useful Boxes (RUBs) waiting for a home to be found for them, and the top one now contains various bits and pieces for art doll making.

Last week someone asked what I was using a screwdriver for! I was a bit mystified about this till I realised she must mean my Bosch hot glue gun which is a bit of a monster, I admit… It lives at the back of the desk on its charger.

Moving downstairs to Desk #2 (!! – my table in front of the recliner) I have got my doll making stuff out.

WOYWW 319b Annotated

I downloaded a Tilda doll template from Pinterest last week, and sized it to what I thought would be suitable. It’s coming out quite small so I’ll probably redo it a bit larger, but I think it will be OK. You can see I’ve started stitching the pieces together. I know this would be a lot quicker on the machine but I am not able to sit in my studio for extended lengths of time yet and quite enjoy being in the zone with tiny back-stitching on the comfort of the recliner. On the left is a collection of cut out pieces of card comprising another angel template, this one a multi-layered felt one, inspired by an image I found on Pinterest. I’ve got a big bag of felt scraps and will cut it from these, and add some embroidery to embellish it. At the back of the table is the fabric I’m making the current Tilda doll from (the body is made from a beautiful old Egyptian cotton sheet which is so fine that I am having to use longer pins than my usual ones because they are slightly thinner, but they are still leaving marks which have to be smoothed out. I am using a fine Betweens needle to sew the pieces.

My tools and other bits and pieces are in a tray taken from one of my RUBs. Useful little compartments.

And now for those of you who haven’t visited me since the last WOYWW, I’ll put you out of your misery. Here is the “sneak peek”:

04 Finished Card

You can see the “funny stuff” as part of the embellishment. Here it is in all its glory.

03 Red Stuff for Coral

It was part of some pot-pourri we had years ago and I saved it for art stuff. You can read all about it here. Nothing to do with angels!!

Finally, I thought you might like to see how the brainless knitting is coming along.

02 Plain Stripes 1 15-8-15

Progress is slow, but at least I’ve made some! It’s good to work on while having the chemo (till I start to feel too poorly to do it) and also if I feel up to doing something, but nothing too involved. In addition to this, this week I have revived Inkscape (free, open-source, very powerful vector drawing software) and have been designing some things to cut once I eventually get my Cougar cutting machine up and running again. (Long overdue…) I can do this on the computer with very little effort and it’s highly creative.

I am hoping to have the rest of this week, and all next week, feeling a lot better and managing to work on projects again. My angel project is moving ahead extremely slowly but I am still not putting pressure on myself to complete it by any given date. I’ll keep you posted.

Happy WOYWW everybody. I’m joining pretty late in the day so I hope you are all still there!

Edit – I have just signed up for WOYWW, only to read of the devastating news of the sudden death of Eliza, one of our regular members. It makes my last sentence take on a whole new meaning. I shall miss her posts, and the regular news of her beautiful cat Yoda who always made me smile week by week.

19 comments:

  1. Hi Shoshi, so glad to hear that you are feeling a bit more human! It's rotten, isn't it? You start feeling better just in time to feel awful again. But at least your next one takes you over half way. It's amazing how fast the time actually goes past when you think about it. Believe it or not, I'm almost 12 months since my initial diagnosis after the colonoscopy. I'd say where did that go, but it went in treatments/appointments/more treatments,lol. Love that card with the Ryn stamps, gorgeous. Love and hugs to you both, Shaz xxxxx

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  2. Seriously? I loaded your page and thought, "And why does she have hamburger patties on her desk???!!!" Okay, so they were round UM stamps and I'm an idiot... It is good to see you up and about and causing troubles. Judy #51

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  3. Wow you have been busy! Love your desk thios week - lots going on . Love your beautiful anniversary card. SO happy that you are feeling better at the moment - Long may it last (((hug))) Have a good week . Soojay 21#

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  4. I hope your next round of chemo doesn't exhaust you as badly. Your desk is so fun with all the goodies on it! Love the Hot Glue Gun. Very professional! Great card! The reddish (?) fiber reminds of me a sea weed or such. Very cool! Hugs!
    Carol N #46

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  5. Hi again Shoshi. Your 'snakes and ladders' comment really made me smile- that's exactly how I described it to Doug as how I felt! keep smiling, xxx

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  6. You have certainly been busy recently. The blue card is lovely Shoshi. I look forward to seeing your little dolls completed. Thanks for the visit to mine and happy woyww, Angela x 30

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  7. Good to hear that you are feeling better, stay strong girl!
    Love the way you have used the Ryn stamps on the card.
    I do brainless crocheting - 15cms squares - then edge them with a fancy pattern, call them blankets and take parcels of blankets into our prem baby unit. Makes me feel useful!!
    You have a good week
    Christine
    Bishopsmate #50

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  8. I'm so glad you are feeling abit better and with mojo going full pelt! Lots of interesting things on your desk. I laughed at the 'wool under the recliner' discovery. Waste not want not....
    Brainless knitting is coming on a treat. I really like it. This winter you will be using it, I tell ya!
    Yes, your hot glue gun looks very much like a power tool. It certainly is a beast.
    Hope your week goes well,
    Hugs,
    Lisca#18

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  9. Hi Shoshi, nice to hear your feeling a lot better and are managing some craft, your knitting is coming along famously. A big hug for Eliza, we will all miss her and Yoda and her passing brings us to a thudding realization life is so short, we need to cherish every minute we have. Hugs RobynO#25

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  10. hello, dear friend. Glad to hear this round has not tired you out much. Creativity is good for the soul. and the healing. I love the card. I had to pop out the first photo and give your desk a good look over. ;-) Great on repurposing the little bits.

    Creative Blessings! Kelly #49

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  11. Yes Shoshi, agree with you re dear Eliza, suddenness must make it so hard for her loved ones... lovely work going on with you and glad (and continue to pray) you are travelling well through the treatment.
    I love the Ryn stamp anniversary card .. have just pinned it to my "Designs by Ryn" board... thanks for the brilliant inspiration,
    Thanks so much for popping over and for sharing.
    Happy WOYWW! Shaz in Oz.x #19

    {Shaz in Oz – Calligraphy Cards}

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  12. So glad you are feeling a bit better this week! I forgot to do the linky yesterday so am even later than you! Very sad to hear about Eliza -her poor family. Hope you go from strength to strength this week! Ali #59

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  13. Nice to see you here on one of your good weeks - having seen my friend going through chemo recently I know what it is like for you. Lots of goodness on both of your desks, between them they are busy busy busy areas. Great knitting too.
    Hugs, Neet 26 xx

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  14. It's good to hear that you are feeling a bit better at the moment and able to enjoy some crafting time again. Your anniversary card for Marlene and her hubby is beautiful. It's great to see it finished. I have that lovely raindrops stamp out on my desk at the moment. I wish you a happy week and hope you stay feeling stronger. Barb #27

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  15. Very sad news about Eliza. Love that you have been able to use the saved pot -pourri.... only crafters would see the beauty and future use for funny stuff. Hope you are continuing to hold strong through your treatment.
    sandra de @55

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  16. I'm so pleased your chemo hasn't made you feel quite so ill this time. It was a real shock about Eliza, wasn't it? I had only read her blog about an hour before I got the news. Makes you get things into perspective doesn't it. By the way, I don't know if you got my e-mail address. If not, here it is again.
    technoturt@yahoo.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Lesley, and thanks for your email address, which I hadn't received. I will email you! Thank you for your kind thoughts about my chemo, and I so appreciate feeling better this week! Eliza's passing certainly does get things into perspective... That, and the whole cancer business is a wake up call and I want to make my life count, and I so appreciate that I've been given another chance, however unpleasant it might be to get there!

      Happy belated WOYWW,
      Shoshi

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  17. Shoshi, I love the anniversary card. It's beautiful! It's happy news that you are feeling better and have been able to do some crafting. It has been such a busy time for me. I just learned that our daughter's new friend's parents both have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I have to make cards. His mom just had surgery yesterday, and his dad is actually on chemo right now. There really has been a spate of unpleasant news recently, so it's nice that your news is happier. Have a good week.
    Nann4 #38

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  18. Hi Shoshi, I've been browsing around today, having found some time to visit other WOYWW desks. Such a lot of beautiful making going on here! I love your decorated gift boxes (and the lavender sachets inside). The "master board" idea is so cool. I've actually done similar before, using ink, stamping and embossing to make my own decorated papers, which I then cut up to use for cards; but you seem to have taken it to another level and made it a regular part of your project-making. Really great - and so are the cards you made with the seahorse masterboard.
    I hope you are getting on ok this week. Is your chemo this Friday, or was it last week? Anyway, I do hope you don't feel too rotten afterwards and that you can work on your projects and enjoy life.
    All the best,
    Lizzie #61

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