Ever tried taking a photo of your own back?

This is a picture of me as a little girl, in my swimming costume and plastic sunglasses.  Probably at Weston-super-Mare or Barry Island.  I was bought up in a landlocked county, so going to the seaside was - and still is - a great pleasure.  I'm showing you this photo as I was remembering being a kid and getting sunburnt.  Red hair, freckles, pale skin, I burnt to a crisp on a hot day, and this was the late sixties/early seventies when nobody knew what S.P.F. stood for or bothered with sun protection. 

Why were these memories coming to mind?  Because I had a mini-health-scare the other day.  I was getting undressed to have a shower and was trying to look at my back in the bathroom mirror.  You see, my back had been itchy, and wondered if I'd got a heat rash or insect bite that was causing it.  Anyway, I saw a little mark that looked odd, and the surface of it was rough to touch.  Those adverts urging us to keep an eye out for possible skin cancer came to mind.  Reluctantly but knowing I had to do it, I phoned the doctors.  Forty minutes later I was in the doctor's surgery and she was peering at my back, before taking a photo of the mark to show me in close up.  (I'd tried taking my own photo when I'd been in the bathroom, but it's flipping impossible.  All you get is a shot of the ceiling or up your nose or anywhere but where you're aiming at!).  Anyway, it's the beginning of a non-cancerous warty growth.  Warty's not a pleasant word, is it?  But it's harmless and that's the main point.  I was very impressed by getting a G.P. appointment so speedily, but I think it was uttering the magic words 'possible skin cancer' to the receptionist that bumped me up the queue.  I will keep an eye out for other marks in the future, as knowing how many times I got sunburned as a kid, I need to.  

Okay, on to crafty matters.  What've I been making or doing?  

I made another of these petal gift bags, mainly because I wanted to see what it'd look like in some of my hand-painted material.  I running-stitched around around the petals and was going to add beads to each of the petal tips, but forgot!

These are the two fabric pieces I used.  An odd combination of colours, but I thought they made a good contrast.  

These dolls are still being worked on.  

This morning I was catching up on a few political podcasts - I'm nerdy like that - and embroidering this banner or wall-hanging or whatever it's going to be.  A few weeks ago I'd pieced together various blue fabrics to represent the sea, then embroidered on to that patchwork an outline of Great Britain.  Why?  Oh, who knows!  But I did.  

The banner - let's call it that - got put aside while I did others things, but today it emerged again and I stitched more details.  Like this clock, appliqued on with a circle of Bondaweb.  

There are two clouds as well.  One's white, with a bright yellow sun peeking out from behind it.  The other cloud's grey and rain's falling from it in slanting lines.  I realised by late afternoon that I wanted the land in my image to be 'green and pleasant', so I was wondering whether to fill it entirely with embroidery stitches alone?  That'd be a lot of thread.  Or should I applique green material over the island's surface?  Instead, I took the plunge - and grabbed the scissors - cutting out my island shape entirely.  

It looks brutal, but I'll tidy up the raw edges and find a suitable material to lay behind the empty space.  I think it'll work out okay in the end.  I think!  Fingers crossed, eh?