Colleague's birthday

It's my colleague at work's birthday on Monday 13th July and as we are a relatively new team, we wanted to re-start the birthday celebrations which kinda ceased when we moved our offices in cottages to the new build premises then Covid-19 kicked in.  So hopefully this will be well received! 

1st Commission Undertaken

Completed personalised card in slightly oversized hand crafted presentation box:

My colleague approached me whilst at work to see if I would mind making her a birthday card for her sister.  During lockdown, a lot of the usual non essential shops have been closed including card shops [all non-essential shops etc are to open in Scotland from 29th June 2020].  Liz had found it difficult to source an appropriate card for her sister.  I accepted the challenge and came up with the card as detailed below:

Started with the bee die and "brushing" out the pieces of the die cut:  

Putting together the contrasting layers of the bee die cut:

I didnt have a honeycomb embossing die or background die so used small a hexagon die and positioned to simulate a honeycomb:

The flat die cut flowers were cut and moulded into the roses as per the photo:

The handcrafted card presentation box:

1st PROJECT COMPLETED IN THE CRAFT SHED

Kirsteen and I have been friends for a long time now and there is absolutely nothing that Kirsteen doesn't know about me and I would trust her with my life .  I had in mind that the first project I was going to do once I could actually work in my craft shed would be a personal gift for her to show her know I love and missed her during this lockdown.  

 

Base start of Kirsteen's layout:

I printed off this quote and used a die cut "friend" 

Here I added a die cut butterfly with vellum layer:

Putting together Notelet to Kirsteen:

Notelet card in stages:

Completed Notelet to Kirsteen:

Gift tag co-ordinating with the notelet and personalised framed gift:

KEYRING GIFT

1 day I arrived home from work to find an envelope with my name handwritten on it.  When I opened it up it was a wee notelet from my good friend Kirsteen along with a rainbow keyring which is the sign of promise and positivity during the C-19 lockdown.  I don't mind admitting I had leaky eyes at the touching gesture.  Needless to say I immediately thought that the keyring was going to be my main use for accessing my craft shed.  

  

FINISHING OFF THE CRAFT SHED - FURNISHING

Once I was back at work following the refurbishing of the shed, I wasn't in too much of a rush to move in but started in the meantime or free time, sorting out the furniture and storage.  I dunno what I was thinking, in my head I had a much larger shed than in reality!  Still, the more space you have, the more you have to fill up!  That's my rationale!  What amazed me the most is how on earth did I manage to actually store all that stuff in the house?  It is no wonder I hadn't managed to do any real crafting in the last 3 years!  It was all in storage in the shed as my bedroom had undergone a huge transformation.   

LOCKDOWN 2020 HAS SOME POSITIVES STAYCATION WEEK 2

I undertook finishing off the internals of the shed in the 2nd week of my annual leave which I chose to split from the 1st week.  I had 1 week annual leave and did the lining/panelling; went to work the following week and then the 3rd week I had the 2nd week of my annual leave. 

I don't think there was any part on my body that did not hurt following a day of working constantly on the shed during both weeks of annual leave.  

During the week I was working [in between my split annual leave], I used my spare time glueing and building my paper storage shelves designed to fit in the Ikea cubes. 

I'd bought some fabric from Ikea some time ago actually for upholstering some free office seats I'd got via gumtree however the gas lifts in them weren't working so I ended up binning them.  Instead, I embellished the Ikea blind with the fabric.  The window in the shed isnt a standard house type window and the blinds were either too small or too big!  Now that I had a new jig saw to my tool collection, I was able to trim the length and breadth of the blind and the actual workings of the roller using said jig saw!

LOCKDOWN 2020 HAS SOME POSITIVES STAYCATION WEEK 1

Since my last entry of this year, end of March, lockdown has continued and we are now into another phase of it.

I managed to take some time off work in May this year in order to concentrate on making a start on my craft shed.  I'd won it in February of 2017!  It was originally meant to be a 6x4' sized shed and I was granted to organise a larger shed if I paid the difference for which I did.

Unfortunately over the last 3 years, it's basically been used as a storage space despite my intentions of converting it into a craft shed.

I've had to swap purchasing and using scrapbooking/papercrafting tools to power drills/screwdrivers, jig saws etc.

Since my last entry of this year, end of March, lockdown has continued and we are now into another phase of it.

I managed to take some time off work in May this year in order to concentrate on making a start on my craft shed.  I'd won it in February of 2017!  It was originally meant to be a 6x4' sized shed and I was granted to organise a larger shed if I paid the difference for which I did.

Unfortunately over the last 3 years, it's basically been used as a storage space despite my intentions of converting it into a craft shed.

I've had to swap purchasing and using scrapbooking/papercrafting tools to power drills/screwdrivers, jig saws etc.

I first lined the walls of the shed with waterproofing membrane then lined with insulation material [insulation material made from recycled plastics].  I also had panelling to cover those layers so as to make the interior of the shed a little more "prettier" than it would have been if I left it with raw coverings.  

Panelling completed:

Sewing Fix

Well, it has been a very very long time since I last contributed to my blog.  The world -yes, the whole world is currently being affected by the Corona Virus (Covid-19).  We are all on lockdown except for those who are frontline workers of which I am one seeing as I work for the NHS and also a support worker for a young adult who requires support.   It is scary and overwhelming in that no one is permitted to visit anyone including family - social isolation has been put in place by the government for everyone's safety.  The elderly, children, newborn and people under the high risk category are the ones most affected and their wellbeing and their lives are compromised compared to fitter young to middle aged people.   No coffee houses, takeaways etc are open in order to stop social interaction. so people just don't have the freedom that we take for granted.  We are having to fill our time accordingly but doing other things.  

Today, despite having a very sore back, I needed to try and stretch it and therefore undertook some sewing which was the above result.  I needed a lovely bag to hold my lunch bag and handbag together and ease of carrying from the car to the office.   

Braw steak dinner (365 challenge)

Had my lovely dinner cooked for me tonight....  Delicious

365 challenge

I think it's time I made some time to even take 1 photo per day.  Doesn't matter what but it's at least 1 a day to look back on and reflect at the end of the year.   After all the sadness of losing dad,  I think it's time I do what I love to do,  photography and a bit more crafting.....

Here goes,  although I essentially missed 1st January,  I am submitting 2 photos.  1 of the new moon and a star that can initially be seen from my kitchen and a silhouette of trees against the dust sky -  again can be seen from my kitchen.