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Sarah Kelly, Haywards Heath, UK
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Oops! Perhaps Posting Once a Year Isn't Quite Enough?!

I really hadn't planned to leave it so long. But I should have guessed that as soon as I put into print my plan to write more often that it would be the kiss of death.

So what's been happening in my world? Well in February I went back to my 'old' job and having been away from an office environment for a few years, I found it exhausting. Consequently my creative activities took a bit of a back seat which lasted most of the year.

In May I welcomed a new member to my family. And he's just the best.......

This is Harley and he has proved to be all I could ask for in a cat and so much more. He's a rescue cat and no spring chicken but he has settled in very well and is a great companion. He's very fond of cuddles and loves falling asleep in my arms which has further hampered the creative process but who could resist such a cute face?

Things have finally settled down and I'm back in the thick of ink and all things domino. Here are a couple of my latest offerings:

The first one features a circle of patinated brass which is a technique I have been experimenting with since attending a Silver Jewellery making course. The process involves some strong chemicals and many, many days but I love the results. The second one uses a circle of copper that has been subjected to the same process. The greens and blues are amazing. The third pendant is one of my favourites using a mixture of coloured resin as a canvas to display the inner workings of an old watch. With a bit more practise, I hope to be able to show you my silver creations but they're not quite up to a public display just yet!

Well that's all for now, hope to speak again soon but I've learned not to make any promises!! Sorry it's so short but I decided 'short' was better nothing!!

New Year, New Resolve!

Crumbs, I can't believe I haven't written since September. In my defence my world has been very chaotic. This blog is primarily about my crafting ventures but as there has been very little of that happening just lately, I thought it might be an idea to explain why.

Way back in October I moved house. Not a unique experience but fairly traumatic for me!! Mainly because I moved back into a house I hadn't lived in for 5 years and unpacked all my worldly goods which had also been hidden for the same length of time. This is when I remembered that I have a LOT of STUFF and a fairly small house!! And now I have also added all the gubbins that I have collected for my crafting pursuits. It was a bit like an early Christmas, re-discovering many things which had long been forgotten but finding somewhere to put them was not easy. Indeed, I'm still trying to sort things out 3 months later. As a result, I haven't had a free worktop/table. So that is my excuse. I would show you a picture but seriously, I don't need to publish such a mess!


But I can show you a garden visitor I had just before Christmas:

This little hedgehog is pictured being weighed. They need to be about 500g-600g to be able to survive hibernation and should not be seen running around the garden in daylight unless they are VERY hungry. Well this little chap is only a baby and weighed 250g, far too small. After a few phone calls there was a dash to the nearest rescue centre where he will stay until spring. If I hadn't caught him he would not have survived.

So now Christmas is over and we are into a New Year so I have resolved to pay a lot more attention to my crafting activities and I will hopefully have some exciting things to show you. I am also doing a short silversmithing course and would love to be able to incorporate precious metals into my designs but I think I may need a longer course first!

So I'd better go and get creating, speak to you again soon.

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.