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Monthly Memoir – March

So the month kicked off with the Oscars. (Ok, strictly speaking that was February, but I’d already written February’s memoir by the time we watched them on the evening of the 29th. Despite our best efforts to avoid spoilers during the day, we were all unable to avoid the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio had won best actor. This is great news as we’re with the popular opinion that it was about time! It was difficult to judge the winning choices without having seen ninety-five percent of the films, but I still find the event enjoyable to watch. The fact that all the creative people in the film industry are being celebrated, I find really inspiring and convinces me that my next writing project should be a screenplay!….

Hastings Pier – The story of the photograph (and photographer!)

Welcome to the first of a new regular feature I’m starting on this blog! I began a keen interest in photography about twenty years ago, and when I was seventeen I spent a stupid amount of money in credit interest buying my first SLR from a catalogue! I practiced a lot and took five GNVQ courses in photography at college in the evenings when my babies were little. I thought I’d go over some of my favourite photographs from back then and more recently, and tell you a little about how, when and where they were taken. The first is this one of Hastings Pier, which was in my very first exhibition….

Spring Equinox and Handmade for Easter

Easter is the main festival we celebrate in England that I feel most uncomfortable about because I am not Christian. I feel that Christmas has evolved to mean something different to people – often it’s about celebrating time with family; however Easter is purely and simply about Jesus. For the last fifteen years or so I’ve done a mini easter egg hunt for my kids at Ostara, the spring equinox, which this year falls today. The Pagan religion interests me and resonates with me, although if pushed to label myself I’d say I was agnostic, bordering atheist with leanings towards Paganism, Buddhism and Christianity! So anyway, whatever your beliefs, I’ve put together a selection of handmade items that would be lovely as gifts at this time of year….

How to age paper quickly + Spellbinders distressing tool review & ink review

Every now and then my workroom floor gets completely covered with crafting paraphernalia while I make some books. By that I mean either plain journals where I just decorate the cover, or complete wedding guestbooks where every page is decorated with places for the guests to sign their name or leave a message. Well this has been the case for the last couple of weeks. At the moment I’m making a large steampunk themed guestbook, which, when finished, will be an example for others that can be made to order with the couple’s names and wedding colours etc. So, I thought I’d tell you how I age my paper to give that lovely distressed vintage look….

Monthly Memoir – February

February 29, 2016

January was such a crappy month, I was relieved when it became February and now I can’t believe it’s over already. That always happens. Those one or two days less than most months somehow make a huge difference. So anyway, this is my very first Monthly Memoir and I aim to do this every month (obviously). If my time is accountable to you guys, hopefully it will encourage me to stay busy…

In defence of Pixie Lott and freedom of expression

January 21, 2015

I’m a bit nervous about this one, so excuse me while a get a little political: Je suis Charlie. Everyone at the moment is defending freedom of speech – we are allowed to say what we want whether or not it offends people. The point is, we have the right to do so. So what about freedom of expression in other ways? The freedom to wear what we want for example? Glastonbury Festival has decided this year to ban the selling of native American style headdresses and costume while 2 days ago Pixie Lott received negative media attention and a flurry of criticism on Twitter for dressing up as TigerLily from Peter Pan and a similar thing happened to Ellie Goulding at Halloween. Surely the context in these situations is relevant? Festivals, fancy dress birthday parties and Halloween are occasions where it is quite commonplace to dress up. (I personally tend to find more excuses than that.) ….

nanowrimo advice

What is 50,000 divided by 30?

December 4, 2014

The answer is 1667. If you’ve just completed National November Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. For those of you who don’t, the idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel in just the 30 days which make up the month of November. Many people around the world get involved and local events are organised where people get together and just write. Well anyway, I decided to have a go this year and this is what happened….

funny poem

There’s a hole in our kayak

October 17, 2014

This is a genuine post on our local Freecycle forum: “We have a very old kayak to get rid of. I don’t know anything about it except that it has a hole in it but still floats and that it is too small for my 6’3″ son to get into. It appears to be made of plastic. There is no paddle.” It inspired us at Writers’ Group to write a poem! Here’s mine…

Meeting Maisie Williams

Making a book dress & meeting Maisie Williams

I’ve been busy making a fairytale dress from a stack of unwanted books for the Bookbarn out-of-print fashion show. It’s going to be judged on Friday by Maisie Williams (Arya Stark in Game of Thrones) We met her at the dress rehearsal and she was lovely. This is all about how I made this paper dress…..

You can’t trust March

This is a mini story I wrote in half an hour at Writers’ group last week. We were given the topic: ‘You can’t trust March’ and it had to be written in dialogue. ‘Oh I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’ ‘What?’ ‘That – planting out those begonias.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘It’s far too soon.’ ‘Too soon? It’s lovely and warm. I’m in a t-shirt.’ ‘But you could have your coat on tomorrow. You can’t trust March.’

craft fair advice

To craft fair or not to craft fair (Part 2)

February 28, 2014

So, if you’re thinking about selling at craft fairs, there is a lot to consider first. Think about the time you will spend on this – planning your stall, travelling to the fair and the setting up and packing up time, as well as the actual time of the fair….

To craft fair or not to craft fair? (Part 1)

February 21, 2014

This is a question I have been pondering for a couple of years now. The problem is about craft fairs: they are full of lots of lovely wonderful things that no-one needs….