The Height of Specciness!

So, yesterday I paid a return visit to the Opticians, to pick up my New Glasses ( ! ).

They have those ultra-thin, coated, anti-scratch, anti-glare lenses.  They have half-rims - which is new for me.  They have varifocal lenses....

Okay, I'll try that again.... varifocal lenses...

Well, that's a bit better.

It's official. I am getting old (er).

Varifocal lenses, because I have been having trouble with reading stuff with normal glasses on and my reading glasses have now reached the stage where the world beyond the area of the Printed Page (or Scrap Page!) is blurred if I forget to change my specs.

I'm not unhappy to have them, though they take some getting used to.  It's all about the position of your head, apparently.  If I want to see stuff clearly, I have to be looking through the right part of the lens.  This means making sure my computer screen is in the right place, so I can look slightly down at it.  I have to look straight forward to see distances (and I haven't tried driving yet).  I need to look down through the lower part of the lens when I'm reading (which is apparently a natural thing, but I've got so used to peering at stuff from beneath my glasses, that this is going to need some adjustment time!).

When I go out this morning, I will try them for driving.  But I'm taking my old distance glasses with me. For insurance. Just in case. 

Actually, I think I'm a bit scared of my new specs...

Did I say that out loud?

Takes a bit of getting used to. As does the idea of me having varifocals. At my age. Which isn't old. Not yet. 

But I always thought bi-focals were for wrinklies... 

Then again, these are not bi-focals.  Those thick, ugly lenses, with big lines across the middle, or a large semi-circular spot on the lower lens, for the reading part of the glasses.

These are Platinum Varifocal Lenses.  Super-duper, extra-special, high-tech, ultra-thin, coated, anti-glare, anti-scratch, half-framed, light-weight.....

Sigh...

So, anyway...

I thought it would be nice to take a photo of myself in my new specs.   They are much less obvious than my old glasses. The lenses sort-of fade a bit against my face, thanks to there being no frame at the bottom, and the top part of the frame being a colour that blends into my (dark and beetly) eyebrows.

Two attempts by DS to take my portrait... Not bad, but he needs practice.

The new specs are not very visible though (I know, I said they blend in nicely, but I wanted a photo that showed them a bit more than this!)

So, although J. tried hard to help, I thought I should try taking a self-portrait instead....

In the mirror...

Hmm....

Not much better...

Okay, I would put the camera on the window-sill and use the self-timer.

Feeble attempts to get a shot lined up....

Maybe this would do.

Not sure that this is any better than the one taken by J.  And it's so dark this morning too. 

So, there you are.  Proof that I have new glasses.

And proof that I need to take a photography course - and probably buy a better camera too!

By the way, all the cuddly creatures on my bedroom windowsill were presents from J.  He would be very upset if I didn't put them somewhere nice and obvious, on display.  He bought the meerkat for Mothers' Day this year, the mini-dolphin was an "adopt-a-dolphin" present, and the teddies were for my birthday and once when I was ill.  I don't play with cuddlies any more - except when the babies are here to visit - honest!! (but I must admit I rather like to look at them...).

* * *

And finally....

J's portrait of Sherlock in his New House...

The delivery man brought a large box of cat food yesterday.  Sherlock always knows this is his food  - I don't know how he can smell it when the stuff is in sachets, inside boxes, which are covered in plastic wrap, then put into a bigger box for delivery...

I put the box down, Sherlock walked in and sat down, had a wash, got comfy...

J. fetched the camera and managed a quick photo before Sherlock came out again.

We think Sherlock is cool.

* * *

Sad News...

Well, if you read yesterday's post, you can probably guess my sad news. Our sweet little Ginger guinea-pig died overnight.  The vet rang at 8:30am to let me know.  They offered to let me fetch her and bring her home, but I thought we'd rather just remember her as she used to be. 

These were taken in September 2005, when we first got Ginger.  She was about 6 weeks old and soo little - about the size of a large hamster!  The furry piggie next to her (with her head in the food bowl!), was a normal-sized guinea pig!  As you can see, J. was also a lot younger (age 7)!

Here she is full-grown, with Coffee (a current piggie) and Apples, who died shortly after this (sniff...). They are in our "new" kitchen in October 2006, the year we moved here.

and this is Ginger four months ago, pretending she's scared of people... that was her favourite joke. Show her the food, however, and she suddenly forgot to be scared!

So, you can see that we have some good memories of our little piggie.  We'll all miss her - especially her loud squeaking when it was meal time (and the way her ears used to jump up and down as she shouted for breakfast!).  It's amazing that such small creatures can have such an impact on our lives; and that even though they are so little, each one has a very distinct personality and character. 

Ginger was gentle, a bit shy, but pushy if it involved food.  She was a "nibbler" and we used to hear Coffee complaining, because she'd nibble Coffee's fur and annoy her. We put lots of wooden things in their house, so she could gnaw those instead!

If you sat her in your lap, she'd sit absolutely still and not move a muscle.  Once she'd got used to being stroked, she'd relax and - true to form - start looking round for the snacks!  A guinea pig with a big heart (for her size!) and an equally big stomach!

When I go to Heaven, I expect to see all my guinea pigs, trotting around happily.  I will be pleased to see them again - each one has been very special and I love them!

Super Stamps, other Updates and a Request for Opinions!

My Etsy Shop News
  

My Dragonflies journal was sold - to a fellow blogger! It's on its way right now and I hope she will love it.

I also took the plunge and listed my Lino-cut stamps in my shop. I decided to offer one stamp and a set of 3, chosen by the buyer from the designs I had already made.  I will make the stamps to order, from the same circles of lino material.  I made up some "example sheets" and posted them on the listing.  We'll see how it goes... 

  

Wish me luck!
  

* * *
  

Scrap Club
 

We had our Scrapbook Club meeting on Sunday.  I only stayed for the morning, as DH was away and J. wouldn't have enjoyed a whole day there.  I worked on the next two pages of my "The Project 2009" mini-album.  Must put more effort into that, or it'll never be finished.

  

* * *
 

Current Projects
  

I'm working on a couple of Wedding Guest Books just now.  The first will go in my shop.  It's a sort-of "dry run" for a commission piece, as I want to be sure the techniques I use will work and look nice etc.  That doesn't mean  the book I make won't be a good one - if it's not up to scratch, I won't put it in the shop! But it will be a nice little extra to add to my stock.  I plan on finishing that tomorrow, then getting stuck into the Commission book on Wednesday.  Hope to finish that by the start of next week at the latest (other commitments permitting!!).
   

The first book is going to be 8 1/4" x 7 1/4" (21 x 18cm). It's covered with cream damask-effect paper, which is really quite pretty. 
  

It has 20 pages of good, stiff cartridge paper in a soft white.  I will use a Japanese stab binding.  This is all ready to be done. 
  

However, I can't decide on the rest of this book.  The Commission Book will have cream linen covers, with green silk on the bound edge (like on my Japanese Snow Blossoms Notebook ). 
  

I can't decide whether to add a silk edge to the smaller "test book", or leave it as just the damask paper. If I do add silk, I'm not sure what colour to use...
  

If I don't, I can't decide what colour thread to bind it with! I also had an idea to use a piece of vintage-style cotton lace to embellish the bound edge, where the hinged part is (it has a hinged cover to make it easy to open).  The sewing would go over the top of the lace, but I would use matching linen thread, so it wouldn't spoil it.

 

Not the best photo, but it'll give you an idea of what it will be like.

  

See, it has no binding yet... It is a sort of ivory colour, btw - in case your monitor struggles with the poor quality photo!
 

So, if you have an opinion on this - now is the time to share it! I'll finish the binding tomorrow afternoon.  What would you like to see, if it was for you, or your friends' / relatives' wedding?

* * *

Poorly Piggie

Lastly, please include Ginger the guinea pig in your bed-time prayers.  She was a bit off-colour yesterday and quiet this morning.  This afternoon, I didn't like the look of her and lifted her out of her cage.  She didn't run away, as she normally does, and was freezing cold.  She warmed up as we held her and was grateful for some juice-and-warm-water out of a syringe, but it was obvious she was really not well.  I rang the vet and we took her there at 6pm.   
 

The vet was concerned about her and thought she might have had a minor stroke. She seems a bit confused, doesn't stand or walk properly and has suddenly lost weight and got dehydrated - in spite of drinking plenty yesterday and seeming to be eating fine etc. They have kept her overnight, to try and feed her a little, re-hydrate her and observe what she does, how active she is etc.  She may recover and be able to be nursed at home; or she may not.  Tomorrow will tell...  

Box of Stamps and another Book!

I'm definitely on a roll.... I think it must be the Springtime! I made four more stamps today:

Now I have a boxful!

Three "Tree" Stamps - though I'm hoping to be clever with the middle one and make use of it as tree foliage, but also as a cloud!

I also made this stamp, to a design drawn by J.  This is a special one for him to use with the stories he's writing. It has special significance to the stories and he's very pleased with it.

He wanted to be able to print it in three colours - red, blue and purple.  We were experimenting with brush-tip markers.  It doesn't look bad, but the ink doesn't print so clearly. I think we may try making this a two or even three-part stamp - one red, one blue (and maybe one purple, or else we can rely on the ink colours blending from the red & blue stamps).

* * *

Hmm, I wonder if I'm the only person having real problems with adding photos and editing my post today?  I can't select anything, so all text is centred, even if I want to left-justify it. I can't change text colours etc either.  All photos get stuck at the top and have to be dragged down to where I want them.  It's a bit of a pain.... Still, I will persevere and hope you'll forgive me if the post is a bit on the wobbly side (I can't even use the Preview, so will only be able to see it when it's published).

* * *

I also received a late birthday present delivery today:

A Big Bite II

For any that don't know about these - it's made by WeRMemoryKeepers and is called a "Crop a Dile - Big Bite".  It's a super-duper extra-clever hole puncher and eyelet setter, with a lovely long handle that I can push easily to make the holes for some of my books and to set eyelets.  I have spent hours working away with one of three types of manual hole-making systems, or my eyelet setters.  Today I set four eyelets into their holes and it took less than a minute!

The Big Bite helped me to make this:

A5 (8" x 6") Journal or Sketchbook, covered in Purple Lokta paper, with gold dragonflies.

It's decorated at the binding, with gold Angel Hair paper, bound with a tie-fixing, through those eyelets I set with my new toy! 

I'm very pleased with this and it's now in my shop.

* * *

Aside from bookbinding and stamp making, it's been a good day today.  The sun has shone down all day long and it's been a beautiful day.  We didn't have to go anywhere, so we stayed home and had a relaxing day.  J. played with the computer, did a bit of homework (I tested him on some revision),  had a Warhammer battle with his dad in the evening and jumped on his trampoline. 

I did the laundry (!), cleaned the kitchen and made a book, four rubber stamps and a nice dinner.

I think we did okay!

Hope everyone else has had a good day too. 

By the way, hop over to Sian's Blog and read what she has to say about Tumblr.  I tried it out... it's a bit different to Blogger and I will need practice, but it might complement my blog here quite well.  I'll carry on playing with it and we'll see... My Tumblr is here.

Same View - Different Day!

So it's the 2nd of June today... no longer my birthday.  This morning the sun came up - no clouds to be seen (well maybe just a couple of tiny ones!).  

Same View as yesterday... but no rain!

Same bench, different day - we might be able to eat lunch sitting in the sunshine. And there's still some cake left - yay!

We could sit on the bench and admire the lovely pink flowers.

I love the sunshine!

* * *

Last night I finished the little birdy stamp, plus its pair.  Here they both are:

This is what they look like when printed.  Obviously they're not identical, being hand-carved, but I think they make a good pair.  I have some bought stamps with birds on, but the irritating thing is that they all face to the right.  Now I have some that face both directions. 

More are planned - watch this space!

If I can bear to, I may even make some to sell in the Shop... but I love making them for myself too...

* * *

Final bit of news for now- I had a message on Facebook today, from my friend Sue, in Pocatello, USA.

She is the friend for whom I made the book I mentioned last week, which I couldn't show you yet.

"Re: Happy Birthday!!!

It CAME and I ADORE it!!!!! I love dragonflies to begin with but this blue and gold is beautiful and mostly I love the texture of the material...and I can feel all the love you poured into it...thank you ever so much!!! "

 
Yay! She loves it! She's happy!  And so am I.
 
Now I can show it to you all:

A large sketchbook for Sue, who is an artist - see her website here.  I thought she'd like it to use for her initial drawings, when planning her paintings or items of sculpture and jewellery.  (I have a couple of pendants that she made for me. They are lovely! Go and take a look at her work - it's worth the effort.)

The back view.

It is covered with lokta paper, printed with golden dragonflies. 

The spine edges of the covers have golden silk tussore fabric.  I made a matching tassel from the silk and bound the book with a Japanese binding, using waxed natural linen thread.  The book measures approx 21 x 30 cm (12" x 8"). 

It is filled with plain sketch paper and has hand-torn edges on the pages.  The covers are lined with the same paper as the outsides, as they are semi-soft covers made from stiff card, rather than book-board.  This was partly because the book would be heavy if I used board, but also because it's a sketch-book and I felt this was the best kind of cover to have.

I am so glad Sue is happy with her present. I had such a lovely time making it (now I've discovered how to make a Japanese stab-binding without getting raw-red fingers from the needle!!). 

I'm going to make some more books with the lokta paper and silk (see yesterday's post, for a green and gold journal that I made for Kylie's birthday).  I love the bright colours and they come out so well. 

Meanwhile I have a commission to work on, for Carol, an Etsy client.  I'd best get on with it!!  Then I have a diary/planner to make for Kylie.  I love being busy!