Way back in November I posted this entry explaining that due to a massive cock-up by my then employers, my maternity pay had been stopped three months early and I was being told to repay the entirety of my allegedly overpaid maternity pay. Because it had taken six months to discover this error, I subsequently was not entitled to claim maternity allowance from the state and thus this error put us out financially by somewhere in the region of £10,000.

Not content with that, the little doom fairies arranged for Bob to be made redundant from his job on Hogmanay, then me from mine at the end of March. Did I mention I had a complete nervous breakdown? We decided that since things were the lowest we could possibly imagine them to be, there was nothing to stop us pursuing our dream and thus The Life Craft was born.

Our website is now up and running and this week we will sign the lease on our gorgeous premises in the West End of Glasgow. We are going to be paying more per year in rent than I have ever earned and we are responsible now for five members of staff as well as ourselves. I probably shouldn’t be sharing this but what the hell – if the business fails, we will lose everything. We will have nothing except each other. And do you know what? I think I’m okay with that now. We’ve been through so much together that we can make it through any other bump in the road.

SO! In order to celebrate our future success, we’ve got a competition on the blog which I’d love you to enter. You can pick your prize from a selection of the amazing stock we have in store and share your crafty stories.

Bonne Chance!

Name: Vonnie Sandlan
Blog: Adventures of a Lady in Training
Twitter ID: @blottedcopybook
Height: 5’8″ and unlikely to be in heels!
Hair: It’s what I like to think is a pixie cut but is actually a I-hate-my-hair-hand-me-the-clippers cut. Currently brown with streaks of grey, may be red or violet by next week!
Eyes: Two of, blue
Likes: Babies who don’t vomit or blow out nappies, cake, politics, being a holier-than-thou parent, being right, crafting, blogging

This is me – I can’t wait to see you all there!

(Why yes, I did throw my fully-clothed firstborn into an unheated swimming pool and found it HILARIOUS.)

I’m still on this craft neutral bent, so upcycling and recycling was the name of the game. The pincushion base is a (thoroughly cleaned!) little catfood tin which I covered with some giftwrap and coated in a layer of PVA glue. The cushion part is a pair of Nairn’s old jeans which had burst at the leg and which were destined for the bin until they were repurposed.

The pins were made by supergluing some tiny beads which came from a broken necklace of Erica’s. I made a matching needlebook which is actually the item I’m probably most proud of! I’ve had this binding for a while but been too scared to use it because it was so ridiculously gorgeous. I used some more of Nairn’s denims to create the needlebook, some felt for the inside pages and some felt scraps to appliqué the front. I made 12 little pins with the beaded tops and added in a few sewing needles and buttons for Gemma.

The outside, all folded up

The inside

For me, swaps are all about what I can make. I’m not sure why because every swap I’ve participated in has been really overwhelmingly gorgeous but I tend not to have great expectations of them, so when Gemma’s parcel arrived yesterday I nearly cried.

Look how cute this tortoise is! He’s filled with lavender too and smells absolutely gorgeous.

Look at his wee face!

As if that wasn’t cute enough, Gemma also spoiled me rotten with supplies:

A cute box filled with buttons:

And chocolate! This is quite the trompe-l’œil because there’s actually FOUR fingers of fudge and a large Dairy Milk caramel bar in this picture:

So needless to say I was absolutely thrilled with my swap, as were the kids with their fudge bars! Thanks ever so much to Gemma for being a fabulous swap partner and additional thanks to Claire for organising

Gemma has blogged the swap too – go, read!

As I look over my progress – especially last year when I completed the ’50 things in 2009′ challenge – it’s empowering to have visual proof that I’m getting moderately better at the crafts I choose to turn my hand to, which is why I am so proud of this bookmark. Almost as proud as I was with Erica’s sweater, but in a different way. This is the first project I’ve completed following a knitting chart and blocking my work and I’m astonished at the difference this simple process makes. Any of you wondering what ‘blocking’ constitutes should run to Eunny Jang’s guide to blocking, it’s a fab step-by-step guide with lots of idiotproof pictures to guide you.

I wish I’d taken a before photograph of this sad, crumpled lump of knots because watching it become a thing of beauty as the lace opened up was just beyond words. It was like watching a flower bloom.

This is a nice little pattern (free, and available here) which I knocked out in a couple of hours in front of the TV. I did have a bit of confusion at the end of the project due to the chart – I’m not sure if I was reading the chart incorrectly as I thought knitting charts were read right-to-left – but I managed to skirt round it and still come out with a lovely finish. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Needless to say, this little bookmark has given me a boost of confidence in my own abilities especially since the last time I attempted a bookmark I failed dismally. I am truly awestruck at the transformation post-blocking and I feel somewhat embarrassed that I have never blocked before. I’m a convert!

According to the definition in the Times, the only boxes I didn’t check were: drinks red wine (I think red wine is vile. Actually, I think all wine is vile but I’m trying to train myself to drink white) and carries a large handbag (I don’t. I actually still lug around a massive backpack like the eternal student I crave to be). You wouldn’t believe it to look at me, but I’m pretty clued up on current fashions and styles yet I spend the vast majority of my life looking like I’ve just rolled out of bed – and not in that sexy, tousled Eliza Dushku way. More like a yeti. I do occasionally impulsively do my hair, sometimes I even put makeup on but that behaviour tends to be reserved for special occasions like Christmas.

So what about you? Are you an unmade bed or a pristine pillow?

The Disasters Emergency Committee collects donations and distributes them to the agencies on the frontline. This is a list of the member agencies. £10 will barely buy you a cafe lunch, but it will save lives in Haiti. Looking at the photographs that have been splashed across the media & the internet my primary reaction is guilt that I can’t be there to provide physical help for the undeniable horror that an entire nation is feeling, but we can spare a few quid.

Please, give what you can to help Haiti.

Aren’t they cute?

Anyway, last week after I’d posted the dolly I made for Elise, Teeni sent me a message on facebook to say that she’d also made a doll from the pattern. Apologies for the mobile phone picture:

Not bad for her first attempt at sewing, and by hand too! Luckily for Teeni – who turned 18 on the 2nd January – the birthday fairy sent her a little pink sewing machine which was delivered today.

I think she’s pleased!

The tape measure is there to give an idea of scale because these cups kind of confuse me. They’re a lot smaller than teacups and I’m wondering what exactly they are. Espresso cups, perhaps? I’m not sure. I haven’t decided their fate yet although I think they will probably become candles. The plates I’m planning to turn into cake stands.

I also got this really pretty set for two. I adore this blue-and-white style!

I remember our teacher in Primary 4 telling us all about the Willow Pattern and I’ve always been somewhat intrigued by it as a result.

Anyway. I paid a grand total of £14 in the charity shop I bought these from, and left with these sets, THREE costumes for the kids and a couple of baking tins. Proof positive that I don’t go chazzing anywhere near enough!

If and when you go “chazzing”, what do you look for?

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived in Glasgow at a time when many blue collar workers lived with their extended family, and she thought she was very lucky to live not just with her Mummy, Daddy and little brother but also with her Granny, Uncles and cousins too. Elizabeth was a very good little girl and was very helpful around the house. She did very well at school and very rarely missed a day.

Elizabeth grew up and had two sons of her own with her husband William. Her younger son has a son of his own, making Elizabeth a granny and her little grandson has been the apple of her eye since the moment he was born. His name is Findlay and he is my son.

Bob has just linked me to this BBC news page. The memorial to these miners – which was only unveiled two months ago – has been stolen. Someone, somewhere knows what has happened to this statue and knowing how small Glasgow really is I’m imploring anyone reading this who might have information to do the right thing.

What kind of person would steal a memorial?! Why am I so naive to be shocked when things like this happen?

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.