Fish and a bagful of ribbons

It's been a funny few days. I must've eaten something that disagreed with me on Sunday as I've felt under the weather for days, and been moping around with a face like a wet weekend. I've done a bit of stitching here and there, working on these two pieces of needlepoint. Both destined to end up as spectacle cases and, when I eventually finish 'em, go in my Etsy shop. Speaking of which, I've been making another embroidered fabric cuff, this one narrower than the previous effort. The idea being to make a kit to go in the shop, all you need to make a cuff including embroidery thread, beads, sequins and so on.

I've assembled the packs, but now have to write out the instructions, which for me is the tricky part. Writing clear, straightforward instructions that are easily understood is a skill in itself. I really enjoyed selecting the material to go in the kits, and it was the ideal occupation for someone who didn't want to move far off the sofa.

Though I did feel okay enough today to trundle along to the supermarket, of course calling into a charity shop on the way. Picked up another bargain book for the To-Be-Read pile. (Am currently engrossed in S.J. Parris 'Treachery. Strapline: 'In Elizabeth's England there is no greater crime.' Set in 1585, and treachery there certainly is. It's a page-turner alright.) I also unearthed another bargain, £1.49 for a bag of ribbons and trimming. Love the shocking pink and especially that Indian style trim at the base of the picture. There was also a vintage tape measure in the bag, softened by age and constant handling. I like the notion of incorporating that, or lengths of it, into some slow stitching. I don't need it for practical purposes as a tape measure. I've at least two modern ones, plus several quilt rulers, but I'd like to give it a second life somehow.

Can't think of much else to tell you, except I've been seeing on Facebook previews for a new film, Olivia Colman in 'Wicked Little Letters', about a scandal over poison pen letters in 1920s Sussex. It looks like it'll be a cracker. Anything you're looking forward to with film or TV? I can always use a decent recommendation.

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Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to. Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate. Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden. I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday. I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different. There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city. It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery. There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery. My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...

Another week's flown by ...

Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days. Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden. The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram. I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them. This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory. It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them. Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....

Folding a zine and an alternative use for a bank card

Hello again, and excuse me while I scratch my insect bites. I don't know what it is, but at this time of year I'm invariably itching like crazy because I've been bitten by bugs. It seems to coincide with blackberry-picking season, but whether that's purely coincidental I don't know. Whatever's biting me, I'm obviously a tasty morsel in their world! I might try using a highly scented oil like Tea Tree oil, see if that deters them. Anyway, let's get on to more pleasant matters - I'm having a go at making a zine style booklet. Because I didn't have any paper large enough, I joined together two A3 sheets of sketchpad paper, using torn pieces of book pages for the joining. I thought that'd look less noticeable than packing tape or similar. Having chosen my colour scheme I used acrylic paint and an unwanted plastic bank card to apply the paint. Plus a stencil, sponge and modelling paste. Applying paint with a ATM card wa...

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