Tagged!

I knew I wouldn't escape forever, I've been tagged by the lovely Arty Allsorts.

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So here goes - 7 odd/random facts about me:

1. It took me 10 years and 4 tests to get my full driving licence and I finally passed on Friday 13th. I also came first in the only race I've ever won wearing the number 13.

2. I have jumped out of 3 aeroplanes, run off the top of 2 mountains, been in a microlight but bottled out when I tried to bungy jump.

3. When I was growing up, my dream was to be a choreographer.

4. When I was small, I begged my parents to give me an older brother. I even convinced myself they would adopt one!

5. Acording to family I'm related to David Livingstone, as in 'I presume' but I haven't proved it yet.

6. I've tried to emigrate to Australia twice.

7. I sat in the jumpseat (behind the pilot) on a BA flight when it landed at Heathrow. We flew over the Isle of Wight before heading up to London and flying down the Thames. It was fantastic. Shortly after the planes flew into the Twin Towers and passengers were not allowed anywhere near the cockpit.

OK so I have now tagged:
Debsmuddle
Seaurchin
DancingGirlArt
Sugarsnaps
LottieFrank
spugmeistress
lynseyhunter

Now that my writing drought has ended, hopefully more entries will follow.........

Front Page Excitement!

I knew I shouldn't have promised to write more often, kiss of death or what? So what haveI been up to? Well sadly not a lot creatively. I have had to put my domino world on hold for a bit as I've persued other avenues in the 'real' world. Unfortunately it has only been a brief return to the 9 to 5 but hopefully this is the start of a bright future in IT!



But just a couple of days ago, I had the surprise of my life, I logged onto Etsy and there I was on the FRONT PAGE!! And here's the proof (middle of the top row). Thank you tinctory for including me in such a lovely list. I shared the front page with two other UK sellers, Bombus, who makes some fab decoupaged furniture and DancingGirlArt, who is a very talented artist. I am honoured to share a page with them and the other sellers in the list.


Blimey, being on the Front page certainly increases views. My Compass domino went from around 150 to over 700 - wow.
And just when I thought it couldn't get better, last night I was on the front page again!! This time the list creator was DancingGirlArt:

This appearance didn't yield quite so many views but that might be because I wasn't there for very long as the little keyring sold!! Along with a similar blue one. Looks like I need to get making some more!

It has been lovely and sunny in Sussex, so my creations have slowed down somewhat, which is a shame as I've got loads of new ideas. I'm planning a bright new range using some fab material I got from fellow UK Etsy seller lisaghove. I hope to have some photos soon. In the meantime, following much interest, I have listed some of the gold plated cube beads I use on my dominoes. These are by far the best ones that I've tried and are very hard to get hold of. Sadly I won't be able to get hold of any of the silver plated ones until September as the Italian manufacturer is currently enjoying a summer break.

I love the European trend for shop keepers to go away during the heat of the summer! And the French tradition of shutting shop for 2-3 hours over lunch!

Well enough for now, I'm making no commitment about when I'll post again - I would hate to break even more promises!

Yipee, it's raining and I can get back to my doms!

It's too wet outside to want to be playing out there so it's given me a chance to play with my dominoes. The UK Etsy team have a Swap group on Flickr. The purpose of the group is to pass on crafting supplies that are, in our eyes, no longer of use, to someone else who feels inspired by them.

One such find for me were some map 'scraps' from Lupin, please visit her shop to see what she did with the rest! Below is a photo of some mini doms now adorned with mini maps. These were going to be earrings but now I'm pondering over another idea - but you'll have to wait to find out what it is.

These doms show two London Underground stations but I also have maps for the Welsh countryside and Paris. So urbanites and ramblers alike can be accommodated.

I have also been working on a custom order for a 'sun' domino and this is what I've got so far:

Lovely warm colours and a nicely tanned sun!

And now for something completely different. These are my metal leaf dominoes and donut. The dominoes are the mini sized ones but are metal so they have a little more weight to them and are super slim for an added bit of class.

I've used abalone metal leaf which has a lovely range of colours in random patterns. The Gold ones have great copper tones mixed in while the more silver coloured ones also have hues of blue. These are my favourite dominoes so far and I'm really tempted to hang on to all of them as they are each unique. I think I may well keep the donut.

The Etsy group has now come up with an idea of creaing items in the style of another team member. I've already had a few ideas and I love the way it's maing me look differently at my dominoes and at the ways I decorate them. I hope to be able to share my efforts with you soon.

Being Kept Away From More Crafting By A Surprise Win!

I live very close to Eastbourne which is currently hosting the pre-Wimbledon grass court Ladies Tennis tournament. I've never been, but each year I mean to go. So when our local BBC TV News programme had a competition to win a couple of tickets, how could I resist?

And to my great surprise, I won!!! So I dragged a couple of neighbours (actually, they nearly bit my hand off) and off we went. Unfortunately the top 4 seeds, including Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo, had byes and weren't playing but we did see two British girls fighting for a place in the next round. Elena Baltacha and Anna Keothavong put on a great show and it went right to a tie-break in the third set.

In the end Baltacha was the victor but it was close all the way and very exciting to watch.

Along with the tickets, my prize also included a hamper. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't what I got! Below is the lavish spread:


There was smoked salmon and goats cheese and caramalised onion tart for starters, tarragon chicken, potato bean and olive salad along with a green leaf salad for main and strawberries and cream for pud. Wow, we felt very indulgent. And there was even more. Just in case we were getting peckish later on, a strawberry tea was thrown in to quell any hunger pains!!

It was actually hard work fitting in all the food around watching as much tennis as possible.

I can recommend the Eastbourne tournament to anyone who likes tennis. It's so much smaller than Wimbledon that it has a very friendly, personal feel. I had such a good time that I'm thinking of returning on Thursday!

All this excitement has kept me away from my beloved dominoes. I had hoped to get some really good photos today of my latest dom. This time I've been playing with metal leaf and I love the results. Well, I did take a lot of photos but in a moment of madness, I clicked the wrong button and have managed to delete them all! Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. And I have a custom project to work on so I must put aside some time to come up with ideas for that. I promise my next entry will be back to things artistic.

UK Etsy Secret Swap has arrived

The wait is over and I'm chuffed to bits to have received my UK Etsy Secret Swap from honeybeedz, here's a photo of my haul:

She makes some amazing jewellery using Celtic Knots and I'm a very happy bunny to be the proud owner of these. Thank you Honey. I sent my swap to Arty Allsorts and you can see a picture of it on her blog.

Creatively, I've been a bit distracted of late and have been concentrating on more edible exploits. The warm weather has made my thoughts turn to salad and to that end I've been growing some lettuce. It's grown very quickly!

You can't beat fresh salad leaves and with this sort you just pick the outside leaves and let the rest grow. I wish I could grow a lot more of my own vegetables but this will have to wait until I have a garden of my own. It alway tastes better straight from the ground.

I am lucky to have several elder trees in my parents garden and rather than wait for the berries, I thought I'd try my hand at Elderflower Cordial. Of course I am completely biased but the first batch has knocked my socks off. It tastes fantastic. I've always liked the shop bought stuff but this is so much nicer. As I write this, the second batch is already on the go (along with some Elderflower Champagne). The beauty of it, is that it lasts indefinitely but somehow I don't think I'll be able to keep it that long. Try adding it to sparkling wine, it's a real summer drink.

Sometime ago, I was waiting on tenterhooks for my Dremel drill to arrive. Well, I finally tracked one down and I've been like a kid in a sweet shop ever since. If you look in my shop you'll see some of the results. I haven't tackled anything too complicated yet but have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use.

It all looks a bit 'serious' to be used on a small domino!!

I am sorry that I haven't written for a while and I've just made a mid-year resolution to be more active, so watch this space.

Etsy Swap going ahead full steam

Creatively things have been going a bit slowly of late. I'm still drill-less but I've finally found someone who has it in stock so, fingers crossed, it will be in my hands by Friday.

But even more exciting is the fact that I have discovered the identity of my swappee in the great UK Etsy Secret Swap. And now I'm in full production mode. I would love to be able to show you some photos, but that would be unfair, and I'd have to kill you! I'm actually very nervous about deciding what to create for my swappee but whilst going through the thought processes, I'm coming up with some great ideas for some new dominoes! All will be revealed shortly.

The weather has been shocking lately and my walking training has suffered but when the sun came out, I hit the seafront. And here are a couple of pictures to put you in the mood.

I am so lucky to be able to train in such inspiring surroundings. I just wish it didn't hurt so much.

Unfortunately the interview last week didn't go so well. But it's all good experience!!

I'll post piccies of the new toy soon!

Urghhhhhhh!

This is just a quick note to apologise for the lack of entries over the last week or so. I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new drill!! I was led to believe it would only take a couple of days so I've put all my crafting adventures on hold. Well that was two weeks ago and now I find out that the delivery date is unknown. I'm not happy.

But more exciting than that, I've finally got a job interview. I've been forcing myself back into the real world and have been trying to spend my time preparing for the big event. I will know by the end of tomorrow if I've worked hard enough!!

So again, I'm sorry that I have been so quiet and I'm also sorry that I have no fun photos to show you but I promise to get back on track soon.

One very exciting event on the horizon is the UK Etsy Sellers Swap. It's a bit like a Secret Santa. There are so many talented people that it will be an honour to receive something from one of them. Of course I won't be able to show you what I've made until I know it has been received!

On a more personal note, if anyone reading this would like to support Breast Cancer Care, please sponsor me at the Just Giving site, I'm doing a 20 mile walk in about 3 weeks time!!!

So that's all for now and I hope to be able to offer much more next time I write.

Busy, Busy - but not much to show for it yet!

Crikey, I've had a busy few days. Creatively, I've been doing something a bit different. I love alcohol inks but had only used them on cards until I read an article in Vamp Stamp News (a brilliant publication) and now I'm colouring everything I can find. As a diversion from dominoes, I've been playing with ceramic tiles and I love the results:

Getting back to my dominoes, I've been thinking of what else I can do with them. I'd like to try my hand at keyrings, so need to be able to make some holes in them! Hence, I've been doing some research into lightweight drills! Doesn't every girl need one? And I've finally, after grilling the guy in the shop, placed my order. I didn't think I could get so excited about a DIY tool! Watch this space for the results.



The rest of my time has been taken up with the Etsy UK Team. They are a very chatty lot and it's a full-time job keeping up with the goings on. They are a terrific source of help and support and I doubt I'd be having anything like as much fun with my Etsy venture had I not met them. As a result, I've been taking photos left right and centre to try to improve the appearance of my dominoes on Etsy. Talking of which, I need to get back to the cropping!



Fingers crossed my drill will arrive tomorrow.

And So The Tale Begins - well continues!

Welcome to my blog. Technically this is my second blog, as I'm already writing one for Breast Cancer Care. If you are going through treatment for breast cancer it may be of interest to you, it describes my experience of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy. But despite that it isn't all doom and gloom! Have a look.

It was as a result of having a lot of spare time that I started crafting again after a break of many years. I have loved every minute of it and now have an Etsy shop, TheDominoEffect, where you will see many of my creations. Here is a sample of what to expect:

This domino is being sold as part of the Etsypink initiative, but more of that later.

Well, enough for now, I'll add more information about what I'm up to over the coming months. Firstly, I need to go and play with all the Blogger features! Speak to you soon