There was a lot of support for our Christmas Fair in the Village Hall. Mums and dads came with their kids, and the school choirs entertained us with their Christmassy songs.
The tables were full of stuff to buy.
The lovely Valerie was serving tea and coffee, soup and savouries, mince pies and cookies.
Smiley Carol on duty on our table, while I flitted around taking photo's, and of course chatting to everyone.
Santa sitting in the corner waiting for the next little one to give him their Christmas present wish list. The crowds are thinning out now, the organisers of the big raffle are about to draw the winning tickets out of the box so a few people are hanging around to see if they have won a prize.
I haven't had a count up of how much money I have taken yet. My sales were ok, the little lanterns sold well, the brooches not so well, the small gift bags hardly any at all, and the shopping bag sales were not so good either. I think most people have enough of my shopping bags now, they tell me they are still using them years later, so don't need any more.
It's the last day of the month today, so this is a call out to the International Walking Group members, It's check in day TOMORROW. I have just scraped in with my target, which leaves me 80 miles to finish off in December. Can't stop now when I'm so close. The weather is turning cold, but I just keep chipping away at it.
Catch you tomorrow. More Harrogate Show pictures on Monday. Toodle pip. ilona
After lunch we all split up and went our different ways. I find these kind of events are best attended solo, because no two people are going to look at the same things together all day. I prefer to wander free and not have to worry about losing someone. We arranged to meet up at 4pm.
The Embroiderers Guild had a large display area at the Knit and Stitch Show, almost the whole room to themselves. There were a lot of small canvases with amazing works on them. Click on one picture for a slide show.
Plenty of quilts to drool over. This one was massive
How long must it have taken to put in all that detail.
Time to browse and inspect the detail.
One hall had a lot of textile art pieces, which I found interesting. Someone posted a picture of these large people on the Textile Artists site. Amazing to see them in the flesh ;o) They are body suits big enough for a human to get inside. There was a video showing of one of them dancing about on a lawn.
I quite like this idea. Jen Cable adds stitching and textiles to pieces of tree bark. You can see some of her other work here.
That's it for now. I have things to do. Catch you tomorrow. ilona
Slipping a quick post in here. Good on you, Tina. You've had a roller coaster of a life, and it's wonderful that you are still here. Have loved your music, followed you through the sixties and beyond, your energy is so inspiring. Happy Birthday.
It's only half past eight and I am yawning, it's been a long day. I've been to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate Convention Centre with two friends, Carol and Lynn. It's a massive show, such a lot to see. We got there about 9.45am, and managed to find a parking space even though the town was chocablock with cars. Today is the first day of a four day event. We all took a packup so we didn't have to buy any food.
There was a very friendly young man just as you go into the first hall, standing on his pitch, selling tote bags and programmes. He didn't seem to mind that I didn't want to buy anything.
I've edited this to add another picture. Couldn't decide which one to chose, this one shows his smiley face. We had a laugh, he was good fun. And, he has just commented on this post.
We split up, Carol went off on her own and Lynn and I browsed the stalls together. We met up again at 12.45pm for lunch. They had opened up the theatre with extra tables set out for people to sit down. Some of the halls were heaving with people, it was a battle to get through the crowds sometimes.
After lunch we split up again and each did our own thing, arranging to meet at 4pm. There were stalls selling everything you could think of.
After a while every visitor seemed to be carrying bulky bags stuffed full of goodies. I've got lots of photo's which I will put on here over the next few days.
I've been busy. I made some drawstring re usable gift bags, they went quite well last year. People liked them. Don't necessarily have to be used for gifts, can hold a phone or a camera, or keys. Handy little bags to keep small items in your handbag. Easy to make, use up some small pieces of cotton fabric. Simple seams, make the bag, turn the top down once, cut small holes on each side, thread two lengths of cord through, knot each end. Pull tight to close.
Another good idea. Anyone else making them?
Also made some more bunting. Wanted to make even more but I have run out of time. Ah well, plenty of shopping bags to sell, and a few other bits and bobs.
That's it, not making any more. I've pinned them onto a piece of foam, they will be on the Crafty Club table at the Christmas Fair. Keeping my fingers crossed that people will like them.
Footnote :- Teeth are fine, no work needed. £22.70 paid. Next appointment in a years
time.
Eyes tested. Don't need new specs. Cost, free.
Car booked in for MOT test. Cost £45 if no work needed. Keeping fingers
crossed.
Spotted in my street this morning, a brand new Council bin lorry, a beautiful Mercedes. Very smart.
Now going to make breakfast. Half a tin of spag hoops to use up, so it's toast and egg this morning.
Toodle pip. ilona
Good morning. I'm not going to Crafty Club today, I'm going to see the nice dentist, Jim, for my annual checkup.
I have finally mounted this felted picture I made a while ago. Can't remember when, I think I did it at a workshop, then added the stitching at home. Overall dimensions 10 inches by 12 inches. Hand and machine stitching.
I fixed it on to the hessian background with four pebble like beads in the corners, with a bit of extra stitching along the sides.
The hessian wallpaper was the last piece from a roll I bought for my first house, more than forty years ago. Funny how things come in useful, eventually. Laced at the back of a board from a picture frame.
The messy back is covered with a piece of brown felt, rings attached, with wire for hanging.
Now I must get ready to go. Finish breakfast, feed cats, brush teeth. Toodle pip. ilona
I was going to make a video about this myself, but Lolly Palooza explains it very well. Click on the yoootoob logo bottom right, which takes you directly to yooootoooob, so you can read the comments
Basically Yoootooob have messed up, and now they are coming after the people who post videos on there. The law is that they cannot gather information from children, personal details etc, from cookies that swarm the internet. They have ignored this law for a long time and got a massive fine for doing so. The reason they collect this information is so that they can target adverts to everyone. We all know about targeted adverts, we all get them, but it is against the law to collect this information from children.
Now they want to clean up their act so they do not get caught again. Every content provider, (me) will have to check every video we have made, and declare whether it is for adults or children. Sounds easy enough, but wait a minute, it isn't. The guidelines are so vague, they are trying to cover every eventuality without leaving loop holes, which puts about 90% of channels in the Attractive to Children category. For instance, I make my videos for adults, but, children might find the crafting content interesting, so I would have to mark those for children even if they are not.
No big deal you might think, but. All videos marked for children will not be able to accept comments, they will not be able to make money, (I don't anyway), and notifications will be switched off. Basically no one will find them. If someone ticks the box to say adult content, and they check to find you have marked it wrong, you will get a massive fine. They have been doing massive sweeps looking at millions of channels and have already categorised millions of videos, and will continue doing so. If someone says they are only adult content and they say it isn't, it's for children, you are in trouble.
Yoootooobers are very worried. If this goes ahead, it's due to start on Jan 1st, many will close down their channels. I've seen one lady distraught, she has been making videos for ten years, she is disabled and it helps her income, and is her social life online. She has built up a following and could now lose it all.
If this goes ahead it will be the death of yoootooob, and the death of free speech. I don't know if it will affect me, I will wait and see. If my videos disappear you will know why. So watch them now because they might not be there next year.
Ian Corzine is a lawyer and is fighting against this new rule. He has just made this video which offers some hope to ordinary yooootoooobers like me. Let's hope yoootooob sees sense, because if they persist in going ahead with this crazy scheme, they themselves will lose a lot more money than the fine cost them.
Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Nothing lasts forever. So let's get on with it. Now where was I. My friend who was invited to a neighbours house to see all the crafty items she has been making throughout the year. My friend didn't want to go because she felt the woman was only being friendly towards her because she was selling her wares. Update. My friend did go because her husband said it would be a neighbourly thing to do.
She was given a coffee, and she did buy three items. She now thinks that she has been duped into buying something, so she is not a happy bunny. Doubts came into her mind about whether the woman had made everything, or maybe some of it was bought in. My friend says she will not go next year, but will she I wonder.
It's very difficult to make a rational decision when put into that position. People can be very persuasive, they appear very genuine. Very difficult to tell if the person is telling the truth when you don't know them very well. Basically it's sales chat, they invite you saying no obligation to buy. They push you for a decision, want you to commit, don't give you time to think about it.
It's a form of party planning, come to my house we are having a Tupperware party or whatever. I know a bit about how it works because I once did Body Shop at Home. I didn't last very long, I wasn't the right type to be pushy, and I found once I had exhausted my friends I couldn't find anyone else to have a party. Don't get sucked into party plan selling. Only go if you want to, and only buy if you want to.
Toodle pip. ilona
Thanks for holding the fort yesterday, I'll reply to your comments later. In the meantime, a little smile to start your Saturday morning. It's an old vid, but oh so gorgeous.
This is not the first draft of this post, I have just deleted that. I am in the middle of a maze trying to find my way out. I will do soon. Can't force it, it will come. In the meantime, talk among yourselves. Any topic you like, I will just watch. ilona
I came across this the other day. I follow Amar Latif from Traveleyes, on Twitter. Having been on two of his holidays I know what wonderful work they do, and what an amazing person he is. I did think about going on another holiday with them, but I don't have a passport, and good hearing is essential to be able to communicate with someone who is visually impaired. I would struggle in noisy environments, wouldn't be able to filter out all the background noise, it would be frustrating for the person I was guiding, and me. I would be no good on a city break, but if someone wants to go hiking in the countryside I could manage that.
Someone who is visually impaired relies heavily on their other senses. They get so much more enjoyment if someone can describe their surroundings.
I'll post this video here as it has some useful information for anyone who comes into contact with people with a visual impairment.
My collection is growing, can't stop making them, think I'm addicted, ha ha. Last week I gave June some instruction on how to make them, she finished her first one successfully under my watchful eye, now she has made another, and is on her way to making a third.
Crafty Club was buzzing yesterday and another lady asked me to show her how to make them. I shall be going to her house on Thursday with all the bits needed. I will have to miss Crafty Club next week because I have a dentist appointment.
I have been rooting out some more fabric, more colours.
I am checking my broken jewellery box to see if there is anything that can be used for a centre piece.
My portion sizes are a bit out of control, breakfast will soon be spilling over the top of the bowl if I don't start being more disciplined. Trouble is, I like fruit. Need to cut back a bit, or I'm going to need a bigger bowl.
Sunny today, must make an effort to go out, need to top up my miles. Thanks everyone for posting comments on yesterdays post about how you check your walking miles. An easy quick way is to take a fast walk from your front door for ten minutes, then turn around and take a fast walk back. Twenty minutes of fast walking is one mile. Do that three times a day, every day, three miles, and you will achieve the goal of walking 1000 miles in a year.
Hello. My working life ended 15 years ago. Now I just please myself. This is my diary. What I do and what I think about. You are welcome to read it. Toodle pip.
