31 Blog Prompts

Blog prompt #31

The final blog prompt is:  Write about your experience of the Creativity Club 31 blog prompts

I have enjoyed the daily blogging throughout May, even if it was a little pressured sometimes. Emma, it was such a help to have a topic to write to, and led me into areas that I hadn't considered blogging about. It has been good too to find new blogs to share with and even increased my own Blog's Views and Comments. I certainly intend trying to blog oftener, even if not on a daily basis.


I hadn't realised there had been no posting about my love of cats rather than dogs, till I read one of Rita's Comments from yesterday! Annie even put a cat funny on her post for today! I just wish I had a photo of Hudson with a cat, he starts woofing if you so much as mention the C-A-T word! 

Happy Birthday Karen and Angel

5 Things I love

Blog prompt #30

Today's blog prompt is ... 5 THINGS I LOVE... This can be craft products, websites, blogs, people... 

In no particular order of priority: 


1. Crafting with friends and volunteer crafting.  Ruth and I made baby cards with the outpatients at the Hospice today. Tatty Teddy was rubber-stamped, slightly coloured, matted and layered and a banner placed below. 


2. Replacement printer - arrived from HP. Now able to print out my craftsUprint and made a card for Hudson's 3rd birthday on Saturday.

3. Cats.  

Angel, my niece's cat

Pip, Ann's cat

4. Computers.  Excited about the Raspberry Pi initiative.  Smacks of the glory of the Electron days.

5. Singing.  So enjoyed my 4 years with the Praise Gathering choir and hoping it will start up again. 

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 2011 - I am in the fourth row from the back, extreme right  

GRCH 2011 - Ruth is sixth row from the front, two in from the right  

Enjoyed my one event with Origin when we worshipped in Glasgow.

GRCH 2010 - can you spot me and Ruth?

10 things about me...

Blog prompt #29

Today's blog prompt is 10 things about me...

Can I possibly tell you anything about me that you don't know already from the blog posts? Don't think so.


Anyway off to the Glasgow Hospice with Ruth for our volunteer time at the Day Care Centre. We've been making Scotland cards, as I posted before, and some folk want to try rubber stamping for themselves. See you later.

Popularity

Blog prompt #28

Write about the post that has been really popular on your blog so far in May. Take a look at your stats and write about it.

Now the results of this one really took me by surprise.  I never thought of looking at the stats to see what topic was most popular.  I obviously need to be more focused about topic.


I thought at first that To Scrapbook or not to Scrapbook?was at the top, but guess what? - it's Day in the life of... Hudson the black labradorthat had the most views in May. Does that mean that on a supposedly craft-related blog, dogs are the most interesting topic? Woof! Man's best friend - and I'm a cat lover!

It's made me wonder if I should be blogging on a much wider range of topics?

Crafty Blogs

Blog prompt #27

Create a round up of all the crafty blogs that you have been reading this week! Make sure you link directly to the blogs too.

I've been doing the rounds of the bloggers who are sticking with this docrafts prompt. It's fascinating to read everyone's 'take' on the same subject, and I have found inspiration from that.  Some have even visited here and Commented, which I have found helpful and encouraging, and a few have become Followers.


Rita is not a docraft blogger but is our most faithful commenter.


Annie has visited the most, I think.


Fran has often popped in.


MaryNSC flits about all over the crafty web and is most often pinned down on Facebook!


I also received an email Survey from Crafters Companion which prompted me to look at that blog and Forum.

My Dream Job

Blog prompt #26

Are you doing now what you had always wanted to do when you were a child? What was your dream job as a child?

I didn't have any particular dream job as a child.  But when I became a teenager, big mainframe computing became an interest. However, that meant going to London as there was nothing available locally; having met my future hubby by that time, I stayed put and became a maths teacher instead! No difference, not much.


In the 1980s home computers came on the scene and I cuddled an Acorn Electron (baby brother of the BBC Micro) all the way home on the bus, after managing to bag one, they were so scarce and sought-after.  Together my son and I explored the joys of BASIC computing. Ah the memories of the Elbug magazine and together typing in masses of code to make a game work, only to be stopped by an error message, having typed a colon instead of a semicolon (or the other way round!).


Next came Personal Computers and my ambition was fulfilled in guddling about learning all I could.  I still don't have a job in computing, but I have fun appeasing my interest with blogging, video-making and photography instead via the crafting.

My Best Childhood Memory

Blog prompt #25

Blog about your best childhood memory

Oh, search the memory banks, Alice.  It will surely be a childhood summer holiday, where we nearly always went doon the watter, ie train to Wemyss Bay then sailed on the Clyde steamers down the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon, Kirn or Isle of Arran->Pirnmill & Whiting Bay - or Prestwick by train, or once, by plane to Bray in Eire.


So, the particular memory that comes to mind is of me looking into the sea at the shore, clear water and filled with pebbles in the depths. Similar to these photos taken on the Isle of Bute. 

Pebbles are fascinating; on Bute near Ettrick Bay, I searched for heart-shaped ones on the shore along from the arched bridge, which looks like the one on my card. As you can gather, Bute holds a special place for me, though I didn't discover the Undiscovered Isle till 2008!

To Shop or not to Shop

Blog prompt #24

Are you more of a fan of craft shopping online or do you believe in supporting your bricks and mortar shop.

Well, as I blogged yesterday, I like to support my real shop, Craft World, because there is so much more effort required to keep a retail shop open.  Online shops can often be more competitively-priced but then we could lose our convenience of just having a browse and a good sit-down with a cuppa.


Talking about online crafts shops, I use craftsUprint a lot because of the card-making variation from easy to difficult! Also CuddlyBuddly, the Glitterpot, Crafters Companion and Joanna Sheen for supplies. In fact it is far too easy to buy online! Docrafts, of course, has loads of products on display, and as you know, I particularly like their John Byars rubber stamps.


Of course, I love the twice-yearly ICHF Hobbycrafts Fair at the SECC in Glasgow, and it is so local for us.  The only thing is it is so tiring, it has to be done in short bursts with lots of sitting down, since Ruth and I both have mobility issues. Last time I spotted someone with something which I thought would make my craft shopping easier, and also transport stash to craft group, (that's my excuse anyway). As it was out of stock, I purchased this wheeled trolley on eBay.  It is a Crafter's Companion purple laptop-type suitcase, which can take my crafting bag (with all basic tools) linked on the handle.  In it there is loads of room for my cutting mat, scoreboard, A4 card, alcohol pens and all the project extras needed for the evening.  The only thing better than it would be one of those trolleys with a seat on it!

My Favourite Craft Shop

Blog prompt #23

Write about your favourite craft shop.

Craft World, formerly Craftology, in Hillington, Glasgow is my favourite real-world craft shop, where you can actually see and touch the products before you buy. There's lots to see.

It's about half an hour from my house but much nearer if we go together from craftywhippet's abode! It's pretty large with a wide selection of products.  Owned by Donald, there are frequent demos and classes on offer, with a sofa and free coffee area for the long-suffering waiting husbands and tired-out crafters.

I'm pleased to say HP has arranged to replace my printer. Today I was able to get my cards printed at Ruth's and tonight I finished the one for the upcoming birthday - I will show you after the recipient sees it, shhh, cos it's Ann from the Craft Group... Terribly annoying but after cutting it out,  I lost one of the little pieces of the decoupage. Where it went I do not know, I even emptied the bin.

Finally, for you, Rita, I photographed Ruth's Tatty Teddy in his fur coat, as promised in our chocolate video, where we saw a different side of craftywhippet!

Inspiration

Blog prompt #22

Look around your home and create a card or a scrapbook page by being inspired by something around your home.

 

Only recently was I inspired by the design of a picture frame!

Look around my home.  I'm in the midst of purging the craftystudy; preparing a Challenge and a Project for the craft group on Thursday, there's two birthdays before the end of the month, how can I think further craftiness?


Lateral thinking required. I'll have to bend this a bit. On the wall I see a frame with a photo taken while Praise Gathering was in Belfast last October - it reminded me of the Christmas card I sent Ruth with a different photo surrounded by a raised frame. Can I get away with that, Emma?

We were sitting on a bronze sculpture Sheep on the Road by Deborah Brown - how appropriate is that...

Inspired By Colour

Blog prompt #21

Todays blog prompt is... Inspired By Colour. Keep this craft related please :-) 

Ah, colour.  Back to choices again.  I cannot see past blues, particularly in the turquoise range.  Perhaps you've noticed the teal theme going on in the Blog and YouTube etc? Then you'll have spotted that if it's to do with craftywhippet it's pink!


But when it comes to card making then I have to think of what the recipient's colours are, along with what appeals to them. I've got some cards to make and I chose some nice ones from craftsUprint. What happens? My HP printer, which is only six months old, decides to act up, won't take the card and informs me that all 4 (fairly new) cartridges are faulty. I've contacted Amazon because I'm less than happy about this.


However, after that digression, back to colour - excellent information can be found at the Art Factory about drawing and colour - most useful for a crafter. Then there's the prism, which I'm sure you all love to see happening in crystal (remember the film Pollyanna with Hayley Mills?). And what about rainbows? They definitely come into the crafting arena as they can be photographed!









I needed to make a couple of cards for baptisms and thought I'd do something a bit different. I've bought the Tim Holtz Bigz Sizzix die of a Vintage Globe with the intention of using it for Christmas cards. I cut it out on really holographic card, which then reflects light like a prism and gives the most interesting effects.  The person's name, date and suitable text were added to textured blue-ocean card and this is the result.