What to do when you can't do!

I know that is a really odd title, I must be in an odd mood or maybe I've been reading too many Ever After High books with L'il Miss! I do like Madeline Hatter, daughter of the Mad Hatter! 

Back onto track. I haven't blogged much in the last few months as my health has taken a rather swift downturn and I'm pretty sure no one wants to read all about that so I haven't typed much. As many of my followers know I have chronic illnesses, several in fact, they seem to like me! Recently though everyone in this household has been shouting at Arthur a lot. That's arthritis to most. You see, Arthur is systematically attacking me and has landed me housebound and in a wheelchair. Fun huh! Anyway, I'm not here to whinge, I do plenty of that at home! Rather, I'm trying to figure what to do when I can't do. Hence the rather odd blog title. 

Today I'm quite comfortable, the pain in manageable but boy, am I bored! I'm really having trouble with this sitting (as I can't walk very far at all) and resting thing. Surprisingly, I'm realising how active I usually am. Normally the day flies by and school is over before I know it. I really have learnt how to fill my time. Now I'm having to learn to fill it with other things, mainly things I can do sat down such as on my laptop. 

I'm rather proud of myself today as I've kept fairly good spirits and have invested my time into revamping my Etsy shop. I'm not making much in the way of ceramics at the moment as there's too much moving around and I can't get the wheelchair into my garage anyway. I do however, have quite a bit of stock so the obvious use of my time is to try and improve my shop and my customers' experience. 

Etsy are trialling a new layout on me, again! I seem to be picked each time, maybe because I always give feedback. It's taken a bit of getting used to but I actually quite like this layout. There are a few things I want back, such as my banner with my branding on (which I've told them) but overall I think it's a good change. The photographs are much bigger and seem to pop off the page more, and the organisation of the sections is more obvious. I would however like to be able to choose which item is my cover item for each section but again I've fed that back to Etsy. 

There appears to be new options now on the 'About' page and I've been adding some photographs of my shop members for you all to see. I think I'll have to get the camera out and take some more shots of my shop members doing their bit. I like that we can show everyone who we are and that we are real people who do actually work from their garages! I think I need to tidy mine before photographing it though! It's so hard to get a good workshop shot when you work with messy things like clay! 

I'd love your feedback on the new Etsy layout. My page is here. 
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics
I don't like to blog without a photo so here's one of the ones that I have added to my shop page. It's me in front with my parents, Chris (above) and Christina (right) and a friend of the family (left joining us for a leisurely coffee.

The Ty Siriol clan at Abergavenny Market

As always, thank you for following behind the scenes at Ty Siriol HQ. I'll try not to leave it so long until next time.

Cathy x

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

Love is in the air

Wow, the last few weeks have just flown by and my feet have hardly touched the ground. It was 2 weeks ago today that I married the wonderful Mr Ty Siriol and it's taken this long for it to truly sink in... he said 'I do'! He really did. I was so worried that he would flee because of my illnesses but he can thankfully see deeper than that, he can see me. Also, I managed to walk down the aisle after lots of worrying that I'd need my crutches, or worse, my chair.

We had a fantastic day and the weather was amazing. We were so lucky as all the days around our wedding day were wet and overcast. We however, had glorious sunshine and were able to have our reception drinks out in the gardens. Surrounded by friends and family it was a truly emotional day. L'il Miss Ty Siriol walked me down the aisle to Winter from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. She was more nervous than I was but did an amazing job. 

L'il Miss got overwhelmed by the time we walked back out again and broke down in tears. It meant so much to her that Mr TS is now really her step-dad. She's loved him for years but now it's official. 

At the reception we had a little surprise for L'il Miss, we had her very own wedding ring made for her (as well as Mr TS's) from one of Mr TS' rings that he no longer wore. He presented it to her during the speeches and she proudly showed it off to everyone. We always said that me and her were a package deal, if he was marrying me then he was also marrying her, so it is fitting that she has her own wedding ring. 

I know many of you are dying to see photographs but we haven't had many official ones back yet. We do however have a few that friends have taken and been kind enough to send to us, so here are a few of my favourites. 

You may now kiss the bride

With L'il Miss who walked me down the aisle

Cutting the cake

Making sure he knows who's boss!

With my wonderful husband

Thank you for sharing in my happiness. Many of you have also helped out for the preparations and sent lovely cards to us. I have to thank Mandy for making my shawl, which I wore in the evening as it cooled off. Thank you to Vicki for the 'something borrowed, something blue', shawl pin that she made. I also have to thank Georgia who made the wedding invites and thank you cards for me as well as saving my naked feet at the last minute by sending me some barefoot sandals to wear. Those can be seen on my facebook page.

Love to you all, Cathy xx 
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

6 more sleeps...

I think it's finally hit me... I'm getting married in 6 days time! The excitement is building again and I have a fixed smile on my face. Maybe I'm practising ready for the photographs! 

I think most things are done now. We have a few last minute things to do next week, like collecting my bouquet and L'il Miss' corsage, cleaning the car and adding the ribbons etc. I'm also thinking about getting a henna tattoo on my feet as I can't get shoes on thanks to Arthur (itis). I'm not sure yet so I'll see if we have time. At the very least I will have bright red nail polish on! 

I now have my dress and L'il Miss' dress. They are steamed and hanging ready for the day. I suppose I'd better iron Mr Ty Siriol's shirt as he doesn't do a great job!! 

It's also going to be fantastic to catch up with a few friends who I haven't seen in person for some time. A very special friend of mine (kind of like a modern pen friend I suppose) who has seen me through everything for years will be coming down on Wednesday and I have loads of hugs waiting for her. I can't wait! 

There is a bit of a downside as well, we lost our best man due to a friend showing her true colours. Mr TS simply said that he doesn't need a best man anyway, but I know that he's hurt by it, as am I. But we can't let it get us down. Afterall, there are three kinds of friends, friends for a season, friends for a reason and friends for life. So onwards we move. 

I'm looking forward to being able to share some photos with you afterwards but for now here's a pic of my wonderful man with me. 

Me and my wonderful man.

I really couldn't ask for anything more in a man, except maybe that I'd prefer a model that didn't snore! I'll find out if he reads this now! ;-) He certainly completes our family. L'il Miss is happy to remind him as well that we are a package deal and he's also marrying her! We are both going to walk down the aisle, hand in hand, towards him to symbolise that. 

Enough of the soppy stuff now as I know I'll end up crying. I'm a real wimp when it comes to the mushy stuff! Don't forget to check back to see the photos. I'll see you on the other side! 

Love to you all,
Cathy xx 

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

Fibromyalgia Awareness

I haven't blogged for months now and I really should try to get back into the swing of things again. My last blog was nearly 3 months ago and a lot has happened in those 3 months. Mainly I've been very ill and had a spell in hospital. I've also had a wall knocked down between my kitchen and dining room and all the mess and upheaval that comes with it. And of course, I've had my wedding to prepare for. So all in all blogging hasn't really made my list. 

The biggest problem has been my health. I have various autoimmune conditions, including psoriatic arthritis (not the wear and tear type that your granny might have but an autoimmune type that destroys my joints, tendons, skin and internal organs) and I also have severe fibromyalgia. My illness used to be what was called an invisible illness but in the last year has become painfully visible with me having to use a wheelchair outside the house. That was the biggest pill to swallow and let me tell you, I have some pretty big pills (and pain patches and injections). 

I have been so ill recently that I've had a week in hospital when I couldn't walk and had joints syringed out and flushed. I am mobile again but not hugely. It has been a big worry the last few months as to whether I will be walking down the aisle next week or wheeling down the aisle. At this point I think I will be walking but don't expect it to be elegant. I have no idea if I will be able to do the most basic of first dances. I'll have to wait and see what happens on the day as this disease is hugely variable. Thankfully, the wedding isn't that important to either me or Mr Ty Siriol. We are both mature enough to see that the marriage is the important thing. Also, if I get down the aisle in this state and he says, 'I do', then I'm holding him to it! Even so, I can't count how many times we've said that we should have eloped. I guess you'll find out how it goes after the event when I have some pics to share with you. 

It was rather ironic that I was really ill this year and completely wiped on Fibromyalgia Awareness Day (12th May). I turned my FB page purple for the month of May in its honor and to try to raise awareness. In addition, I put a purple ring dish up for auction for Fibroduck Foundation (UK based charity researching into Fibromyalgia). Here's the dish that when for a nice sum.  

Donated by Ty Siriol to an auction for Fibromyalgia research.

I also bid on several items and won two of them. Ty Siriol also made a donation to Fibroduck. 

Here's my profile and some of my awareness pics that I used. 

If you or someone you know is a fibro-warrior, then please feel free to share this so they can find lots of useful information and support.

www.fibroduckfoundation.com/

I feel like I should have posted this weeks ago but then again, those who are affected by this awful disease live it each and every day so it doesn't really matter when I post it. 

Thank you for reading,
Cath xx

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

New beginnings

As my regular followers will know, I got engaged last year. Well now things are getting going again with organising the wedding as it is, oh my goodness, 3 MONTHS TODAY!! It really has crept up on us as we've had so much going on. 

So we have sent out the invites and booked venues etc. I pretty much have wedding on the brain at the moment. As a result it became my inspiration in my pottery workshop this week. Let me explain. 

I was making a terracotta tile and I've been struggling for inspiration recently with the ongoing battle against my illness. I sat there completely blank and clueless as to what my tile would become. A fellow classmate asked me how the wedding plans were coming along and that's when it hit me. I am about to embark on a new life and new beginning with Mr Ty Siriol so that was what my tile was going to represent. 

Let me back up a little. I met Mr Ty Siriol online. I know, it's a cliché and I'd really rather not admit it but one drunken night I signed up and made a profile. I went with the alias Benu, which is the ancient Egyptian Benu Bird. It symbolises rebirth and new beginnings. It is in fact the predecessor of the Greek Phoenix. So the Benu Bird means something to me and Mr Ty Siriol as that's how we met and started our new beginning together.

I looked at my terracotta tile and drew the Benu Bird onto it. I then made the image into a deep groove. Here it is. 

Next I used a slip trailer to add white liquid clay (slip) to the grooves. Once this is dried I will then scrape it back to a flush surface to clean up the detail and bisque fire it. 

The beauty of terracotta and white clay is the stark contrast between the two colours so I will simply clear glaze it afterwards and fire again to intensify the colours. 

I can't show you the finished product yet as I haven't finished it! I did add two holes to the tile as I intend to hang this in my kitchen once it's finished as a reminder of my second chance at love.

I need to sort out the kiln now so that I can get firing again soon. Hopefully then I'll have some lovely pics to share with you. 

Thank you for reading.

Cathy x
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics