The excitement is building

I've got so many plans in my head that I think it's either going to explode or I'll forget them all! 

I'm working on building my own website! I have now purchased my domain and hosting, and am ready to get stuck in. 

But... I've hit my first techi snag. I've had to call in the cavalry in the form of my brother. My tech guy is on holiday so I'm working through as much of this as I can as it's a good experience to learn if I'm going to maintain it. So my bro is my stand in tech guy while I get to work on the content.  

Eventually I'll have my online shops in one place where I plan to sell the ceramics and craft supplies together. 

I will also move this blog over and I have a second blog in the making about how crafting has been the making and saving of me. 

I hope to be able to pay it forward and help others who are chronically ill to find new meaning in life, as I did with the help of my many friends and fellow spoonies. It will be a place where we can share experiences and tips on how to cope with things in day to day life. 

This is a long term project of mine. I will be putting together posts about how chronic illness affects different aspects of our lives and how we can move forward with it, posts on different crafts and activities that I have tried (and will be trying) that have helped with my wellbeing, and posts on articles and items that I find that could be beneficial to us, such as household aids. I will be essentially opening a window into my life in the hope that I might be able to help someone who is perhaps newly diagnosed and feeling lost. The biggest lesson that I learnt was that I am not alone. 

So watch this space and hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have a new project called 'Crafting is my Therapy' to share with you. I'm very excited about this and I do hope that you will come along for the ride and take part with advice of your own as well. 

Cath xx

Scrapbooking *by* beginners.

Hi there folks! I've been reading a lot about scrapbooking on Pinterest (one of my fave places) lately. I love the idea. We already have a rememberlutions jar in the house where we add post-its with all the good things that happen throughout the year so that we can go over them again on New Years Eve. It's worked well... but... there are no photos and I LOVE photos! So we decided to have a go at scrapbooking as a way of combining our memories, photo albums and journals.

I have been looking around for some nice scrapbooks and I'm amazed firstly at how much they cost in a hobby shop. As I have no idea what I'm doing I didn't feel I could quite stretch that far just yet. Maybe, later on when I'm a seasoned scrapbooker. Is that a word?

So I kept an eye out for a few weeks while the idea was ruminating and then Mr TS found 2 beautiful handmade books in a charity shop of all places! I really can't imagine why anyone would ever want to part with these.

Aren't they lovely. They appear to be made from bamboo strips and leaves with the binding fastened with a twig. I absolutely love them. 

Naturally Missy had to have one of them! I was thinking of her when I got the idea to scrap book. She's going through an awful lot of crap at the moment and it'll be good for her to have a book to hand that she can put her happy memories and time with friends in to look back over when she's feeling blue.

Here's mine and Mr TS's first attempts at scrapbooking. Don't laugh, it's a work in progress and I think that once we get into our groove we'll become more creative. 

I did have a go at making mini-bunting with washi tape (my new favourite play thing) and I raided Missy's craft box for other bits and bobs. I'll be on the look out for pretty things now to decorate more pages with.

So there you have it, scrapbooking by a complete novice! It is fun and I do love sticking things with glue. (Some things you never out grow!) Hopefully this will become a new thing for us as a family and I will have new (and improved) pages for you to see. Until then, thanks for reading.

Cath xx

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCrafts
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
G+: http://ht.ly/UvPxX
Twitter: @tysiriolceramic
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/tysiriol/

Cardiff Food Festival

I recently went to the Cardiff Food Festival with Mr Ty Siriol. Even though as a coeliac sufferer I can't eat anything there, Mr TS love, love, loves his food and the more exotic the better! 

So off we went in the drizzly rain, me in my really unattractive bright purple rain coat and Mr TS looking normal and blending in well. At least he could find me easily if I wandered off! 

See! I told you it was bright!

Thankfully, it's not only food at the festival. There were also an array of art and craft stalls with their owners wrapped up warm and sheltering as best they could from the endless rain. 

There were a few ceramics stalls. I really loved the stoneware and their glazes. Sadly, my kiln doesn't fire to those temperatures... but Mr TS did say that maybe next year we could save for a new kiln. :D He's so wonderful. Love him to bits. (Sorry about the soppy bit. ;-) ) 

There was one stall where children were being shown how to throw their own pots on the wheel. It was lovely to watch the children getting involved, despite being in the rain. I did take a sneaky photo on my phone. Aren't they wonderful?

We went for a walk down around the bay area and found even more food stalls. The smells were wonderful. It's a good thing I'd eaten or my will power might have failed me. 

It was a good day out even in the rain so it would be great in the sun shine. I would recommend it. They also have various bands playing with the beer tents around the stage if food isn't your thing. ;-) 

I'll leave you now with a photo of some boats that were moored up in the Bay and a mummy swan with her cygnets. 

Take care.
Cathy xx

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics  
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCrafts
Twitter: @tysiriolceramic