Crafting Creations

Since a young age I have dipped in and out of wanting to learn new skills especially in the

art of craft, I never received my knitting brownie badge, started projects that were never completed (apart from a home sweet home cross stitch I made for my Mum one Christmas). Choose food technology instead of textiles at school and showed a materialistic view of ‘why make my own clothes when I can buy them’ never fully realising the technique and creative need of learning such specialised crafts. The saddest part is I never realised how fun it can be and the sense of admiration when a project is completed, it’s been such a great year of learning my own inner skills and sharing skills with friends at the monthly craft night I put on. 

Sam bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and i attended a cushion making course with the lovely sewoverit  http://sewoverit.co.uk/ as blogged about before the course was amazing at giving me the confidence I needed to take my machine out and not feel it was a scary monster, since then I have made an additional two cushions and was rather proud of my skills. 

I decided a few months back I wanted a bag for my polaroid camera Sam bought me, whilst I was browsing through the internet I came across this super cute blog where this girl had an adorable fabric bag, with this and my new sewing machine in my mind I decided to challenge myself to make a drawstring bag, i found this blog http://thecreativeplace.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/tuesday-tutorial-drawstring-bag.html?m=1 with instructions and with a little change to the measurements and a trip to my local fabric shop I managed to stitch up a super cute bag. I was really pleased with my efforts and since then have made a number of bags for my different odd shape camera’s and as gifts for friends (with odd shape camera’s too). 

Polaroid Joy

 

Fleck's Diana

Katy's Mini Diana

Craft night has also been going well, we decided instead of just having an open craft night we would focus on different projects, we decided on pinhole camera’s for this month. The camera ended up not being as difficult as I first thought and we all managed to make a camera, smiling proudly at the end. I hope to use the camera over Summer and get some delightful sunshine shots.

Pinhole Camera

Knitted blanket.

My knitting has been coming on leaps and bounds and my blanket is finished also and is ready for the festival season. With that done I had some amazing point 9 super chunky yarn I really wanted to knit up and found a perfect bobble hat pattern, my first go at a pattern and it went really well, the hat knitted up perfectly and will be added to the festival bag to keep my head snug when adventuring at night.  With my hat knitted and proudly showing off about it I landed myself with another two hats to knit for two good friends, with all our Glastonbury hats complete were ready for the fun to begin. 

 Blanket being tried and tested.

Nicholson hat

 Such amazing yarn - colinette point9

Long Wintery Days

As I walked to Brixton this morning I still felt shocked at how cold it was and how wrapped up Sam and I were for a simple walk to the market. It made me excited for our holiday in May and our travels to Vietnam; I have always wanted to go somewhere beautiful and new for my 30^th and when Sam suggested I look at Vietnam I was so excited by what I found, trips to Ha Long Bay, birthday time in Hoi An, travels up to the Hills to see Elephant Falls and a week in Pho Quoc relaxing in our eco lodge and enjoying the sandy beaches, May 7^th can’t come sooner.

 

I heard back from university and was told my application had been made unsuccessful due to my GCSE results not meeting the required entry. As sad I was I feel it may have been the best decision as I feel I have been study constantly since leaving school and feel it maybe best to have some time off to find out where it is i want to be with my career and not just delve into a quick option to gain my HCPC registration. It is so hard at times to know where i want to be as feel i should know and feel my training has taken me so far, i think the problem i am finding is that there are many different ‘groups’ i like working with and at present i am working with both vulnerable children and women, the problem is i want to be able to mix the both in some way, i feel for now i need to keep going as i am build up the working experience i am having and decide from there where my work is to take me, i am sure whatever i will get there eventually.

I found out this week i had passed my counselling exam, which is fantastic news and is one step closer to being qualified, roll on June for my hand in and completion of my diploma. I have decided i will keep my placement working with women exiting prostitution going until next year as feel the experience is valuable and is only strengthening me as a counsellor.

When talking with Sam about taking time out from studying we both agreed that studying is not what either of us want to be doing right now, were just married and enjoying our life so much that we don’t want to put extra stress onto us when were happy as we are. We both have good jobs and although changes are happening we have both come to such high points in our career that we don’t feel we want to push ourselves any further when we feel we don’t want too or don’t have too. I love Sam way of thinking, he grounds me so much when it comes to pushing myself and i thrive to be the way he is when it comes to expectations. 

A friend of mine talked with me recently about what we want by the time we are 40, i discussed this with Sam and for both of us it was a job we enjoyed, a brilliant relationship, enough money to enjoy life, travel and family, were both so lucky to have elements of all in our lives but we both miss the sense of travel so much so with knowing we had achieved most we have decided its time to fulfill our travel element and as mentioned in my last blog we were unsure we know now its definite and were taking the trip we want, 2014 a year of adventure.

2014, travel, so far we know were going to leave around Feb 2014 and buy a one way ticket to India and see from there where we head, there are places we both want to see and explore so with savings in the bank we are going to spend a few years of us and the world, Sam hopes he can get a career break and my job goes come Feb so all in all a perfect time to go!!

With a beautiful Summer ahead i know the rest of this year is going to be a good one.

2013 A New Year with a challenging start.

2013 hasn’t been the start I had hoped and wished for, after a lovely Christmas with the family, it just feels January and February have been testing me as to what are the right choices ahead of me. I sometimes feel so contrived to achieve certain milestones in my educational attainment due to the constricted world we live in when applying for health related jobs. Everything is governed by professional registration at the moment and even being a qualified counselor (something I thought as a child was a brilliant career) is not even regarded now for statutory employment. I have always wanted to stay in the voluntary sector as believe more in the work voluntary agencies do but sadly even there getting stringent on professional qualification’s leaving me and my hard working background a little bit stuck. As I mentioned in my last blog I had decided to apply for midwifery and since doing so have had a few wobbles whether it’s the correct route and fear of the degree being too medical rather than the holistic way I have studied worked over the last 10yrs, I wondered if this was the best way to get my registration and if I could work with vulnerable pregnant women without a midwifery qualification but with my counseling and experience, sadly the jobs are so scarce right now it’s hard to even research this as there is  nothing to compare too. With all these thoughts and thinking I then received 2 unsuccessful from UCAS stating my GCSE grades did not meet the course requirements, even though I met L3 my L2 was not suffice, so I meet the higher grade but not the GCSE grade I sat 14yrs ago, madness. I resided myself to the fact Midwifery was out and maybe my reservations had been fate telling me there was different ways to enhance my career. I then received an invite to London South Bank for interview, after passing numeracy and literacy tests I then attended an interview, after a 4hr wait and a dehydration setting in, I entered the interview room and the first thing asked was ‘do you have 5 GCSE’s at grade A*-C’ I thought it was a joke and again had to explain my educational journey from school to now, another long tiring journey, with this I was told my application could be at jeopardy due to my not having these grades. I attempted to sell myself with my placement working with women exiting street prostitution, my current employment working with families with substance misuse problems and my extensive health studies course that covered English, Human Anatomy, Physiology, Maths but still they were not satisfied. They then interviewed me and I did the best I feel I could but sadly my grades from so long ago may impact if I gain a place on the course. I left disheveled and low but felt a discouragement from the University and a wonder in my mind if this was the University I wanted to study at and was all these negative signs someone telling me this was not the change I should be chasing.

In other news I was told I was facing redundancy and then two days later told I was not, another shock to the system and another time when I wondered ‘is this what life is about and is this the country I want to be living in right now’.

My mind keeps going back to my first thoughts of exploring, buying a one way ticket to India and making our way around the world, practicing yoga, gaining life experience, seeing family and friends, working and strengthening our minds. I keep questioning is this something I could do, is there fear in me that stops me and asking what is that fear – Letting others down? Feeling a failure? Missing an opportunity? Or is it just the general rule that I feel society puts on women and that at 29 (nearly 30) should I not be starting a family and getting a good career, but then the part of my personality that strives for excitement and fun, rebels against this concept and tells me to follow my dreams and take the adventure.  I have this underlying fear that keeps me in the safe comfortable reality but I can feel myself yearning for more and a main fear is one day it will be harder, it will never be too late but other obstacles will be in the way, whereas now there is nothing (apart from my chickens) if Sam and I wanted to take this opportunity we could, we could work away for some part and see where our traveling toes take us. Sadly it’s not just my fear I am fighting its Samuel’s too, the fear of the unknown can be the biggest cause of regret I feel, it’s just so hard that fear can control so much of our thoughts. Adventure to be or not to be, watch this space.

Our beautiful Murphy was killed by a fox, the day was a horrid and torturous one and I didn’t realise how much I loved my chickens, we put flowers with her as we said goodbye and hoped she had found her chicken heaven. Safe travels Danny Murphy, RIP.

One fun thing that has been happening is craft night aka knitting group, me and a few of my girlies have been getting together and learning the skill of knitting, it’s been so much fun and a brilliant way to get everyone together to craft and learn new skills. If people choose to carry it on that’s amazing, but if not it’s just been nice, having a natter and knitting along the way. So far my crafting has taught me how to make a patchwork blanket, 3 cushions and a mug hug.

Sammy bought me a new bike, a red Britannia Pashley, she is adorable and sometimes I find myself longingly looking at her, feel like a princess riding her and feel she has definitely brought a smile to the start of 2013.

My Mum and Ronnie’s dog Bow is definitely a delight to 2013 also, she is full of energy and puts a smile on my face every time I return home, her enthusiasm to play brings an electric feel to the room and when I am with her I forgot the stress of the ‘real world’ and enjoy silly Bow time world.

Spring is in the air and it feels delightful outside, roll on May for a month of birthday brilliance and Vietnam travels.

A New Year with lots of New Adventures.

Christmas time was a delightful time was as always delightful with the lovely family, I tried to embrace it with all I could as knew it would be my last year celebrating Christmas at home alone as next year me and Samuel have chosen to spend it together either at our home and then to Sam’s parents or at my Mum and Ronnie’s home, I am so excited at the prospect of being together and feel ready for this new Christmas plan, its always daunted me not being at home but as times change I can see my own self changing and think waking up without being at home wouldn’t be as bad as I once thought, simply because Sam will be next to me.

With Christmas over and 2013 starts the snow comes with it, warm fires and Indian blankets are keeping us warm at home and the wire has kept us entertained for the start of January, being back at work has really hit home and I can feel my readiness for change, although I don’t come to work and hate life, I feel privileged to be doing a job with such rewards and at times enjoy the challenges it brings allowing me to enhance myself as a worker and as an individual. My only itching at the moment is I feel change is upon me and as you can see from previous blogs I have been really trying to find different avenues to go down and what will really challenge me as an individual. I fell into the social care route by accident and although it has been a ‘good’ accident it has developed my learning and allowed me to explore different avenues to see if this is my chosen career and if I can see myself doing this throughout my working days. Recently I have really felt that I wanted a new scope of work and have looked at various degree’s/master’s and jobs to see what may best suit my chosen options for my future, I had settled on a MA but have recently been told the safety of my job may not be present in 2014 meaning an unemployed Claire, with this being the case the MA would leave me limited to my career options and leave me with one main route of therapeutic work and those of you who know me, know I love change. I spent Christmas really thinking about what I want not just for now but for when I have children and when I am older and yes the coffee shop is something I have always wanted maybe its not the right time in the current recession to be putting all our eggs in one basket and maybe this is something we come back to in our later years when we have more stability and more financially secure. I therefore started to think about where my journey first started and how childcare was always something I was interested in and studied with enjoyment at school and college, I took the health route and tried my luck with mental health nursing but didn’t like the 2yr nursing stream and chose to leave after my first term. I discussed with Sam last year the option of midwifery but with my finical situation not being the best we knew it wasn’t something I could go back to just yet. I did some research and broached the subject again and we felt it was something we could afford to do right now and that Sam being lovely Sam he said I should go for it if its something I have always wanted to do, so with that I completed my UCAS and now await an interview, if all goes well I will be back as a full time student come September 2013, studying a course i will be blessed to be part of. 

 Its interesting how when times became hard its found we revert back to what we know and what’s comforting, I was discussing this with my ever wise Gran when telling her I had received a sewing machine of Sam as my Christmas gift and a class at this amazing sewing café http://sewoverit.co.uk/ and she explained that this is evident from the come back of WI meetings for young women and the new shops that are opening that are sewing/knitting/vintage/film cameras/craft shops, something she states you just had to know when growing up, it was part of life, now people pay to learn these skills and want to feel that ‘older generation’s’ way of living. My Gran laughs at my love of film camera and want to learn skills she is so great at, recently my Mum and Gran have been teaching me to knit and I am finding it really therapeutic, when telling a few friends this I have found they too are learning the skills of knitting and sewing and have been carrying out their own craft projects making pillows, screen printing, scarf knitting and film processing. I really love how clever my friends are and felt we should bring all these skills together and learn from one another, so with that craft night was developed, a group of my closest friends are planning on arranging a craft night once a month, we will have different themes and learn from one another to expand our ever growing crafting brains.
I feel 2013 is full of exciting prospects and with our trip to Vietnam in May and exploring these two heavenly beaches/lodgings http://www.junglebeachvietnam.com/welcome.html and http://mangobayphuquoc.com/,  30^th birthdays a plenty, Weddings, Shambala, Glastonbury (with Mum and Ronnie, yeah) and the possible start of a new course I feel a very lucky privileged lady right now.

2012 in Pictures.

New Year in India 2011/2012

Summer Solstice

Wedding time.

Italia Honeymoon

Beautiful Blur

Shambala

Ibiza

Scotland Yurt time

Broody Hens

I feel like I haven’t updated on the chooks for so long which was one of the reasons I started the blog. The girls are blooming and after a few months of chicken broodiness all are healthy and happy. Murphy (the black chook) has been worrying us after stopping laying some months back and started  staying in the nesting box. It’s really worrying when chooks become broody as they can stop eating and drinking as they just want to sit on the eggs, luckily she has got through it though and is now back in the gang and hanging out with the girls again. Sadly we had to cut her nails yesterday and when doing so her nail fell off (just due mud stuck on it) so then had to carry out pet surgery in the garden, she is all happy today though and it seems Sam and I veterinary skills worked. Were only getting one egg a day at the moment as the weather is cooling down, hopefully Mavis will withstand the cold and keep us stocked with eggs through to summer.