Beatrice – The Most Computer-Literate Kitty in the World

Mel, of Mel Stampz blog which I follow:

http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2011/01/mouse-cat-reads-murakami.html

has just posted about her clever kitty Mouse, who reads ever-such-intellectual books, and it reminded me that I haven’t yet blogged about our kitty Beatrice. I have shared about Beatrice on various forums, but it is perhaps time that she had wider Web exposure as the most computer-literate kitty in the world. She exceeds my hubby in computer skills, and she is completely self-taught.

Beatrice is a grey tabby whose fur is quite silvery underneath, so she is a genuine silver surfer. She is now 10 years old and is the most nosey kitty I have ever known – she has to know everything that is going on, which is probably why she wants to get online and share her personality with the whole world. Whenever we have visitors, she is right there, desperate to be the centre of attention, and even non-cat people (yes, such people do exist, hard though it is to believe) say that they like, and even love, Beatrice. She is ultra-friendly, and very chatty – she has something to say on every subject.

Here she is sitting on my hubby’s old laptop. I had this picture made into a mouse mat for my hubby’s birthday a couple of years ago.

I always say she spends far too much time on the computer.
This is her first word document.

The last part of this message in her special language is obviously very important, because she’s highlighted it.

Her next effort involved adding some amendments to some work my hubby was doing for his Romanian charity. She always supports everything he does, because in her eyes, he can do no wrong. Those two are joined at the heart, and if I want to get anywhere near him, I usually have to prise her off him! This is what I mean:

However, I digress… Back to what I was saying. He had managed to type the first page:

and then he was called away. When he came back, he found that she had added several more pages:

The work he does is very important, and she obviously decided it needed her extra input, which I am sure made a huge difference to the cause. She has a generous, giving heart.

Here is another example of Beatrice helping my hubby with his work. She didn’t like the title of this document, so she typed her own additions, and then decided to check the spelling and grammar:

However, he came back before she was able to make sure she’d spelled everything OK.

Unfortunately I haven’t got a screen grab of the time she surfed the net on my laptop – she had typed an interesting web address and a message had appeared: “Web address not found…” Ah well, she did her best.

Just after Christmas I decided to play a CD I’d been given as a Christmas present, so I put it in the CD drive of my laptop and was listening to it. I went out of the room to answer the door or something, and put it on “pause” so I wouldn’t miss any, and when I came back I could hear the music playing. She was sitting there and had pressed the “play” button again because she was obviously enjoying the music.

She is thinking of setting up a Computing Academy for Kitties with online tutorials.

Her sister Phoebe is not at all computer literate, and she can’t read, either; she likes to spend her time relaxing, sitting on top of me and squashing my feet when I’m on the recliner, sleeping, eating, a bit of hunting, and when she can be bothered, playing. Did I mention eating? She is very fat and heavy.

Just so that she doesn’t feel left out, here is a picture of her asleep in one of her favourite places – on the bird table!

Hope you have enjoyed reading how clever our little Computer Queen is.

Vintage Backgrounds

I recently had access to some ancient parish records dating back to the 1600s, bound in a large vellum-bound book, and before the book had to be returned, I was able to scan a selection of the pages. Not only are they interesting from a historical point of view, but they are beautiful objects in themselves; the earlier generations thought that official documents should be beautiful as well as informative, and they went to great trouble to pen the most elegant copper-plate script, complete with flourishes and embellishments. What a shame that these days, such documents are written in often very poor handwriting, or typed; nobody has the time any more to take a pride in a mundane job and elevate it to the status of a work of art.
Leafing through the book, it was interesting to see how the style of handwriting changed over the years, and even the signature of a single individual would develop ever more elaborately as the years progressed.
These documents are great treasures – irreplaceable, beautiful, and fascinating as they trace the births, marriages and deaths of ordinary citizens throughout the centuries. Handling this book, I could imagine the clergymen who penned the lists of names, and the style of clothing they would have worn, and the sort of lives they and their parishioners would have led – a very far cry from our lives today.
These pages would make wonderful backgrounds and design elements in my art projects – I am just embarking on the whole new world of digital scrapbooking, and they have great potential!
Here are some samples of the pages.
This one is the first page in the book, and dates from 1678.

It is interesting how the black ink has gradually seeped through the paper over the centuries, so that a ghosting effect from the other side is visible.
This one is dated 1692.

In 1736 you can see a true copper-plate script developing.

1737:

1757:

1767:

Into the 19th century, here is one from 1813, the final entry in this volume, which is volume 3 – it is not known what has happened to the earlier volumes. Presumably subsequent volumes have been lodged in the county record office, which is where this book is destined.

I also scanned some of the endpapers, and the front and back covers of the book.

The marks on this page are the ink bleeding through from the writing on the reverse.

This is part of the front cover. The cover is made of vellum, and is wonderfully distressed.

This is the top part of the book, showing some of the binding:

and finally, this is part of the back cover.

I wish I could share with you the wonderful feel of this book; its weight, the stiffness of the paper, which crackles as you turn the pages, its textures – the paper is slightly striated as it would have been pressed probably between sheets of linen when it was made. The vellum cover is smooth, like silk, and the whole book has an aroma of antiquity. I really felt that I was holding history in my hands. What a privilege.

ARTHaven – Pegboard Accessories

My pegboard accessories arrived today – great excitement! I have put them up, but of course I shall have to live and work with them for a bit to see if they are how I want them. The joy of pegboard is that you can change things around so easily, so it’s no problem.

Here’s a general view of the work corner of my ARTHaven, showing the new Ikea rails and the pegboard complete with accessories.

A couple of different views:

These are some screw-top plastic jars. The lids remain clipped onto the pegboard, and you unscrew the jar from underneath. They will be useful for paper flowers and other small things. Alongside them are some open-topped plastic bins which I am keeping my stickles and alcohol inks and one or two other things in. Below the jars is one of two tool racks that I bought – I am not using the second tool rack at the moment but may have need of it in the future. I would like to find a way of inserting tubes into some of the holders so that I could use it for pens – perhaps a metal cigar tube would do? Something to explore… I have also put up a couple of ordinary pegboard hooks on which I have hung my Stanley knife and my brayer. (On the subject of craft knives, I have tried a few, and find the Stanley knife to be by far the best – it’s a lot more substantial than a lot of smaller craft knives, and seems to cut through without as much pressure. The blades are also readily available in any DIY store.)

Here are the plastic bins with some things in them – as you can see they are not yet all filled. I am sure they soon will be! I also bought 3 of the towel rails, and have put my kitchen roll on one. The others will be used for ribbons – I have got a large pack of ribbons due to arrive in the next day or two, more than will fit on the remaining 2 towel rails, but I can always get more of these if I need to.

Finally, I got a couple of wire baskets, which I am using at the moment for my small stamp pads and peel-offs, and for my heat-embossing stuff, and my flowersoft pots. Underneath I have put a hook to hang my heat gun on. Across the top there are 2 small wooden shelves which my hubby made for me, supported on long pegboard hooks. The small cardboard boxes on top contain card scraps, my stash of cards that I’ve made, and other bits and pieces. I have quite a large collection of these small, strong boxes with hinged lids, from a mail-order company where I get supplements and beauty products, and eventually I want to cover them with decorative paper and put pretty labels on the fronts.

I got the actual pegboards from Amazon (they are made by a company called Sealey), but the accessories proved quite difficult to find in the UK – the USA is blessed with many suppliers of a superb range of things, including coloured pegboards and clear acrylic shelves, and hooks which do not fall out easily, etc. etc. My new accessories do not seem to suffer from this problem, but the standard hooks can be a real pain. Apparently the best way to secure them is with cable ties, once you have decided the final place you want them.

After a lot of searching online, I came across a UK-based company which appeared to be the only place which sold any decent and interesting accessories. They are called Garage Furniture, and here is the link to the pegboard section of their website:

http://www.garagefurniture.co.uk/pegboard-accessories.shtml

They have been an absolute pleasure to deal with throughout; nothing has been too much trouble and they have been so helpful and friendly. The gentleman I spoke to on the phone was interested to know how I would be using their products, and he expressed an interest in getting into the crafting market, which I agreed would be a good idea; he is thinking of investigating the craft show circuit, and I am sure that if he had a stand, it would attract a lot of interest. I told him that there is a severe shortage of stuff available in the UK, and it might be worth exploring importing some of the US products.

Ed.: It now appears that this firm might have gone out of business. I have tried to access their website and it doesn’t seem to exist any more. What a shame. There doesn’t seem to be anybody else doing the full range of accessories.

Now I have got to spend some time working in my new environment and making sure it works for me! Being so adaptable, I am sure that it will be easy to change things round to suit my needs. If I want to put more accessories on (the most likely thing is more towel rails for my ribbons) I can move the shelves to the top of the pegboard, and make more room. I’ll let you know how I get on!

Vintage Backgrounds

I recently had access to some ancient parish records dating back to the 1600s, bound in a large vellum-bound book, and before the book had to be returned, I was able to scan a selection of the pages. Not only are they interesting from a historical point of view, but they are beautiful objects in themselves; the earlier generations thought that official documents should be beautiful as well as informative, and they went to great trouble to pen the most elegant copper-plate script, complete with flourishes and embellishments. What a shame that these days, such documents are written in often very poor handwriting, or typed; nobody has the time any more to take a pride in a mundane job and elevate it to the status of a work of art.

Leafing through the book, it was interesting to see how the style of handwriting changed over the years, and even the signature of a single individual would develop ever more elaborately as the years progressed.

These documents are great treasures – irreplaceable, beautiful, and fascinating as they trace the births, marriages and deaths of ordinary citizens throughout the centuries. Handling this book, I could imagine the clergymen who penned the lists of names, and the style of clothing they would have worn, and the sort of lives they and their parishioners would have led – a very far cry from our lives today.

These pages would make wonderful backgrounds and design elements in my art projects – I am just embarking on the whole new world of digital scrapbooking, and they have great potential! [Ed.: You can see that I have incorporated some of these into my blog background.]

Here are some samples of the pages.

This one is the first page in the book, and dates from 1678.

It is interesting how the black ink has gradually seeped through the paper over the centuries, so that a ghosting effect from the other side is visible.

This one is dated 1692.

In 1736 you can see a true copper-plate script developing.

1737:

1757:

1767:

Into the 19th century, here is one from 1813, the final entry in this volume, which is volume 3 – it is not known what has happened to the earlier volumes. Presumably subsequent volumes have been lodged in the county record office, which is where this book is destined.

I also scanned some of the endpapers, and the front and back covers of the book.

The marks on this page are the ink bleeding through from the writing on the reverse.

This is part of the front cover. The cover is made of vellum, and is wonderfully distressed.

This is the top part of the book, showing some of the binding:

and finally, this is part of the back cover.

I wish I could share with you the wonderful feel of this book; its weight, the stiffness of the paper, which crackles as you turn the pages, its textures – the paper is slightly striated as it would have been pressed probably between sheets of linen when it was made. The vellum cover is smooth, like silk, and the whole book has an aroma of antiquity. I really felt that I was holding history in my hands. What a privilege.

Beehive Explosion Box – Parcelled Up and Ready to Go

I’m feeling a bit sad today, because I have looked at my Beehive Explosion Box for the last time. It is now all parcelled up ready to be taken to my friend’s sister’s on Wednesday afternoon; she will take it up to London when she visits my friend in the spring.

As always when I have made something, especially something in which I have invested a great deal of time, and of myself, when it goes to its ultimate destination I feel a sense of loss, as if part of me has gone with it. I am very glad, though, that through modern technology – digital photography, video, computers, the Internet, blogging – not only can I look at the pictures any time I want, but they are there, available for sharing with anyone who wants to enjoy them. Although I say so myself, and not wishing to boast, I think this is the best piece I’ve made to date, and it was so much fun to make! Everyone who has seen it has enjoyed it too – all the detail, and the fun I have had interpreting the complex life that goes on inside the beehive… I have also learnt some new techniques through this project, and gained in confidence in my work. I know that with a bit of imagination, time to mull ideas over, and opportunities to sleep on it, I can make whatever I want to make now! – and that’s really thrilling.
Today I finished the final touch. It struck me that if my friend simply opened it like a normal present, she wouldn’t know it was an explosion box and needed to be opened correctly for the explosion to take place, so I have made a little instruction book to go with it. I did this on the computer (using Serif PagePlus, my desk-top publisher) and have saved it for any other explosion boxes I might make in the future.

I printed the text and lines on the computer, and hand-coloured it using coloured pencils. The cover is made of card, with a paper insert for the instructions, and it is bound with some fun yarns.

Here is the front:

and this is the back:

This is a view of the whole of the inside:

and details of the two pages:

Finally, here is the parcel containing the box. Before wrapping it loosely in tissue paper and tying it with more of the decorative yarn, I tied a piece of brown ric-rac braid around the box, securing the lid so that it doesn’t fall off when she unwraps it.

The whole thing has gone into a small Christmas decorated carrier bag, packed around with more tissue paper, and I’ve included a small 3 in x 3 in card (originally intended for the Stationery Box project I made before Christmas, but rejected because the embellishments were too thick) with directions to my blog, so that she can see her box from start to finish, with all the photos and the video. I wish her a very happy belated Christmas and hope she enjoys her box as much as I enjoyed making it.

My New Wheels – Christmas Bling and Other Add-Ons!

Before I take off the decorations (I know, I know – they’re supposed to be taken down on 6th January but I’ve been too tired and too busy!) I thought I’d photograph my new wheels with their Christmas bling. I didn’t go to town with the decs quite as much as last year because I didn’t feel well enough in the run-up to Christmas for anything very spectacular, but I felt a yen for purple this time. I put on my original black sparkly spoke guards:

Here’s the front frame, with purple and silver tinsel, and one set of LED lights. The battery and switch are concealed in the bag underneath the chair.

Finally the back frame, to which I have added some baubles and the other set of LED lights. Their switch is hidden in the nifty little pouch that Quickie so thoughtfully added to my posh new upholstery!

Following on from previous posts about my new wheels, you can see the power add-on installed, with the battery pack on the back, and its cable going to the LH wheel. The spoke guards cover up the wheels nicely – they have huge hubs containing the motors, which are not very attractive. They are still quick-release (in theory) but they are so heavy that I can’t manage to take them off myself, and my hubby has to do it, not that we do take them off very often, because we have a ramp in the back of the car so that the wheelchair does not need to be disassembled when we go out. Really the only time they have to come off is to change the spoke guards.

The bag underneath is the “Wallaby Catch-All” (lovely name!) that I got from Advantage Bag in the USA for my old Rolls Royce:
http://www.advantagebag.com/wheelchair_underseat_catchalls.htm
Unfortunately these are all designed to fit wheelchairs with a lower frame, but my new Helium doesn’t have this, so the bag is too high and doesn’t hold enough. I have plans to adapt it by adding sides to it, and moving the Velcro straps to the top of the sides. This will also help things not to fall out – a few months ago I bought something while out shopping, and when I got home, it had gone, having presumably fallen out of the side. I need to do this alteration soon, because there’s another craft show coming up, and we all know I’m going to be Stocking Up again!! I must have a rummage in my fabrics boxes in my ARTHaven and see if I’ve got any suitable strong black fabric.

There doesn’t seem to be any equivalent to the Catch-All available in the UK; there are plenty of bags which hang underneath, but these have limited capacity for an enthusiastic shopper like myself, and one who likes to carry her whole life in her handbag!! I also need to carry my fleece blanket in case I get cold, my camera and my water bottle and various other odds and ends.

I’ve got a great deal to catch up with since Christmas, so I don’t know when I shall get round to putting the new bling on my New Wheels. I’d like to have done it before the craft show at the end of the month, but I don’t see that happening. Anyway, watch this space…