Bloggers' Crafting Weekend - We Came, We Crafted, We ate Cake...

'Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.'
Dr Seuss

Photos will follow, when I get more organised, but I just wanted to say a huge

Thank You!

to all of you wonderful ladies, who made the weekend so special. I was so delighted to see every one of you, and to meet you and talk to you face to face, after all the time I have been reading your blog posts (a very long time for most of you!).

It was a Good Weekend.  Definitely. We had a great craft room to play in. There was lots to eat (oh, did the YHA feed us well!), especially Cake - we had so much cake!  There was plenty of tea and coffee (which all of you will know is absolutely essential).  We had demonstrations of clever techniques (I made my first ribbon rose today, as demonstrated at The Weekend - a photo will follow!).  We had a fun walk - with craft shops included! 

And, best of all, the Company was The Best. 

I think we should do it again!

Blogger's Crafting Weekend - We Really Are Going!

Yay! It's all organised.  We will be there! Ten Intrepid Crafty Folks are "exploring to" Coalport for the weekend.

If you're coming along, I will be so excited to meet you.

If you can't come, but wanted to (Miss Smith, Fiona, Heather, several others...), I'm hoping to arrange a similar Weekend in 2012 - perhaps toward the start of March.  I think it may be a bit further South, but not sure til I find out what Hostels have the right facilities, with vacancies and at the right price.  I wonder if anyone would like to come and what you think would be "too expensive"?  The cost for this weekend - bed, breakfast and dinner, plus a share of the classroom hire - was £65 for YHA Members, plus an additional £9 for Day Membership of YHA for non-members - so just under £70.  Would £80 be ok, or £90 - some of the City hostels are more expensive than the others?

Anyway... on Friday I will be going out Early and driving North to Coalport, where I hope to meet up with 9 other lovely people.  We will Do Crafting Stuff, go Exploring in Ironbridge, eat Cake (and maybe some other food) and hopefully enjoy ourselves (I do hope everyone enjoys it!).

So, if you're coming to Coalport, I'll See You on Friday!
If you're not, I'll "see" you next week!

* * *

Just an update, by the way, about my mum - as several people were kind enough to leave interested enquiries about her disaster.

The Flood was caused by the cold water pipe that connected to the bathroom wash basin.  It was one of those "flexi" pipes, with a rubber core and a wire-mesh outside.  The rubber inside failed and because it was mains-pressure water, it burst (with a loud "pop" that my mum heard downstairs!).  The water obviously came out very fast, as mains water is pumped, so by the time mum had found someone to help her turn off the water (her hands are not strong enough to turn the tap), everything in the bathroom was flooded and the water was pouring through the ceiling, into the kitchen below.

I spent Wednesday afternoon rescuing things and clearing up the flood, then fielding visits by the warden, plumber and electrician, to make sure she was safe to stay in her home. 

Thursday was the start of the sorting out.  Trying to dry the carpets in the hallway and upstairs landing, which were sopping wet, from water flowing out of the bathroom and kitchen.   Most of Friday was also taken up with this - lifting the carpet upstairs and putting it outside, making phone calls to the insurance people, arranging for the assessor to come on Monday etc. 

Monday was then taken up with visits from the insurance assessor, about the carpets, plus someone to see what damage had been done to the building itself.  Also lots of phone calls and other visitors.  Mum was exhausted, so I ended up doing it all for her - she just doesn't cope with all this hassle now and when she's so tired, nothing sinks in.  She kept trying to tell people stuff that wasn't right, or telling the wrong people, or re-telling things I already dealt with.  It's tricky to keep your temper when you are tired also and someone keeps interrupting you etc.... but I did my best and I think it was sorted out ok. 

We're now waiting for the person from the carpet company, to come and measure up for new carpet.  The Trust who own mum's house will pay for the removal/ re-fitting of the stair lift, so the stair carpet can be removed and replaced - obviously we need to co-ordinate this with the carpet fitter!  They will also re-decorate where there is water damage.  Hopefully, by the middle of December, everything will be dried out and repaired. 

It's been quite a week!

But on Friday I'm going to Coalport!!

What an Afternoon!

Before I begin my long and involved story... A note to those attending the Bloggers' Crafting Weekend at Coalport, next weekend (25th-27th November).
I sent out an update e-mail, to all those who have confirmed they are attending.  If you haven't seen this, please check your "Spam" folders in your e-mail.  If it's not there, shout, as it contains important information and also some questions that I need you to answer asap (like what you want for dinner - I have to tell the hostel tomorrow!)
If you have already sent me an answer, that's fine - thank you. I have a couple of e-mails with outstanding questions, which I aim to answer by the end of the weekend.  I was going to deal with this yesterday but.....

Wednesday 16th November - What an Afternoon!

12:15pm - stop working on the three books I am currently making for my Shop.  It's time for lunch.  Eat chicken and rice (left from last night's tea), then a banana.  Bored with tv and raring to go, so back to work asap.

12:30pm - start work again, punching holes in a pile of pages for a wedding album

12:35pm - phone rings.  Now, I don't usually answer the phone on "working days", as it's too distracting. If it is urgent, people leave a message.  I check for messages from time to time, so I can deal with anything important.  So, I didn't answer.

12:36pm - phone rings.  I was up to my ears in paper punching, so didn't pick it up (but I did wonder).

12:37pm - phone rings again....  Couldn't get to it in time, but this time I thought I really should check...

12:38pm - pick up phone and listen to the three (!) messages:
Message 1) Mother's voice - "Oh dear"
Message 2) Mother again - "There's been a burst pipe and water's pouring through the kitchen ceiling. Bob's here (the warden) and he's turned off the water. I'm going to ring M. (her friend).
Message 3) Mother - "There's water pouring through the ceiling. The kitchen's flooded and I can't make any lunch. Can you help?

Who would refuse? I got in the car.

12:50pm - arrive at Mother's house. The front door is open - not the back door as is usual.  The warden and a neighbour, plus M (the friend) are all there, with my mother.
12:51pm - the nice neighbour goes away
12:52pm - I get into the house - now there's room in the hallway!  There is about 2" water over the kitchen floor, with more trickling through the ceiling.  Everything is getting wet. I start to move stuff out of the kitchen, to minimise damage to anything made of paper or fabric - or electrical (the radio and phone).

12:55pm - the warden stands and watches me work. He waffles... clearly he doesn't really know what to do now. I continue to tidy up.  Mother is upset and keeps wandering in and out - take her and get her settled in her chair.  Her friend is still there and she offers to go home and make a little meal for my mother - she is so kind.  Friend leaves.

1pm - the warden is now a bit more helpful. He explains that the bathroom is also flooded (!).  He asks for the mop and bucket. I say I am going to get it in just a moment, when I have done what I'm currently doing - so he goes and asks my mum to get it (!).  I get him the mop and he starts to help clean up the kitchen. 
He says that he's contacted the office, who are sending the emergency plumber asap.  At least that's been dealt with.

1:05 - 1:30pm - tidying up, aided (mostly!) by the warden.  The plumber arrives and identifies the problem.  The pipework supplying the bathroom wash basin has flexible hose attached - rubber core with a steel mesh outside.  The cold water hose had burst - huge hole in it, big enough for a finger!  He says it must have been faulty.  He disconnects it and isolates the basin pipework, then turns the water back on.  He has spoken to the electrician, who will be here as soon as he can, to check the electrics.

1:30 - 3pm - continue cleaning up and dealing with Mother, who is worn out and upset.  To her credit, she behaves very well, though she still has the idea that she ought to help.  The shock has upset her nerves, which has affected her mobility and she is having problems walking properly.  Persuade her to rest in her chair, eat the nice eggs that her friend cooked her etc. 
Deal with issues like the back-up batteries for her electric reclining chair, which had run out, getting the bathroom floor dry and putting the sodden mats, towels etc in the washing machine (for when the electrics are back on).  Friend has hung the kitchen mat out to dry in the garden. 
Most of the work is drying things - floors, worktops, even inside cupboards, where water has run in from the ceiling. 

2:30pm - the electrician arrives. Poor man has broken his hand and has just been at the hospital to get it checked.  He has to work, as he is self-employed.  He's pretty tough though and gets on with disconnecting the kitchen and hallway lights, then checking the electrics and switching them back on.  He wants to come back in a couple of days, when everything has dried out, to fit new lights.  The electrics are back on and we can start to run the heating, switch on the washing machine, heat water in the kettle... 

3pm - 4pm - Mother finally gets a hot drink.  Finish tidying the kitchen, wash some dishes that were wet with dirty water (from the ceiling - dust I suppose, from between floorboards), take the rinsed washing out of the machine to dry at my house, settle Mother down and make sure she has a meal to heat up for her tea.  Cover the sodden carpets with newspaper.  Call the insurance company to tell them what has happened.  They want us to report back tomorrow, to tell them how the carpets are, as those could be the big problem - if they stay very wet for a while, they will rot and smell.  The building insurance is the responsibility of the Trust who own mum's house - we will check with them tomorrow.

4pm, go home, as DS is back from school.  Mother is settled down and ok.  She doesn't want me to go back this evening - tomorrow am will be fine.

Wednesday evening - usual jobs, make dinner, deal with laundry...  finish the hole-punching for the book I was working on.  Retire early to bed... zzzzz!

So, this morning I am going back to my mum's to deal with wet carpets and any other issues.  I have to go soon, so it's time to stop typing!  

Happy Thursday everyone!

Facebook Sales

I have made my first sales directly through Facebook.  I decided to have a go at this, so set up a Photo Album, with pictures of ready-made books for sale.  I don't think I really publicised it enough - you need to keep flagging things on FB, as everyone's homepage shows lists of all their "Likes" or "Friends" comments and items, which change all the time.

However, I had a request from another crafter, The Pink Fairycake, to make her a Cup Cake Notebook.  I made this:

Cupcake Journal, A4 size, with plain pages and decorated covers. 

The patterned papers wrap round onto the back cover.  It has a wrap-round ribbon fastener, with a vintage button.  There is a decorative pink tassel on the spine.

It has decorative end-papers, to match the cover trims, plus a pink ribbon book-mark, with a yellow tassel.

The customer was very pleased with this - as was I.  I think it turned out really quite nice!

Following on from this, another Facebook person has asked me to make a similar special book, as a gift for her friend, a musician.  She wanted something for her to write lyrics in and liked the cover of this 6" square scrapbook:

She didn't want a square book, but one that was A5 size, like the cupcake book.  It was to have lined pages and her friend likes green. So I came up with this:

Musician's Notebook, with decorative panel on front cover.

The cover is stiff black card, with a wrap-round panel of apple green art paper.  There is a metal button, with wrap-round pale green ribbon to fasten the book.  It has lined pages - it is very difficult to find A4-width lined sheets, so I cannibalised some exercise books. There are just under 150 pages altogether, so I think the owner will be able to write plenty of her lyrics in this book.

The customer says she likes it and I'm just waiting for her payment to go through, so I can trot off to the Post Office again! 

I'm learning how to flag my stuff on Facebook, so I hope my new Photo Album of Christmassy stuff will begin to get a bit of attention - I might make some more sales!

Herman (or The Blessing of Cake)

I received this from my friend Debbie...

For ten days, Herman 1 lived on our kitchen work-top, covered by a tea-towel. 

He received daily attention, as in the instructions.  On Day 4, I fed him, on flour, sugar and milk.  The rest of the days, I stirred him, so he continued to bubble and grow.

On Day 9, as per instructions, I fed Herman again, then divided him into four Hermans. 

However, I didn't give away 3, like the instructions say.  I gave away two and kept two.

On Day 10, I baked one of the remaining Hermans.  But I still had one left. 

I took care of the New Herman for 9 more days, before separating him into four once again, giving a double portion to my niece (so she can bake one straight away and keep one for next week).

Today was Day 10 again...

I added sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, cooking oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon...

and fruit - this is a mix of apple, pears and banana (we fancied a bit of variety).

Herman was put in a large baking tin and sprinkled with brown sugar. 

He remained in the oven for 40 minutes...

until he became the Miracle called Cake!

DS ate Herman-Cake with custard, for dessert.  I ate a slice plain, with a fresh cup of coffee.  

Friendship Cake is a wonderful thing and we now have a home filled with the scents of baking, cinnamon and brown sugar!

* * *

Erm, forgot to say that this is a late entry for Sian's Storytelling Sunday this month!