looking at my crafts...

....and spending. I have many crafts which I love doing, each has a cost to them, but also a huge amount of enjoyment, in this post I am looking at each craft to try and work out my spending this year, I would like to shave about £300 off last years figure. 

Cross stitch, this is something I have done for the whole of my life, I have had long periods it when I don't stitch at all, the break I am taking has been for 2 years, I do have projects to finish. I have a huge stash of threads, mostly DMC and enough fabric to do many projects. So no planned spending this year.

Knitting & Crochet, I am putting these together as they both use yarn, I do love crochet, but can only do basic projects, I have a good yarn stash, and have no plans to purchase any yarn, but as always this can change. 

Sewing, I have owned a sewing machine since I was 16, and love to sew, I would like to make clothes for myself again, but I really don't need anything. I have a huge stash of fabrics, so I don't plan to purchase much this year. I also have loads of patchwork hexagons, which could be used for more projects. 

These 1st 4 crafts were started as a child, my mum taught me how to do them. 

Card making, My stash has been shrinking, which is good, I now have loads of die cutting and embossing shapes, so I can use plain card to build my designs, I have a huge stock of cards, so again I should not need much. I do keep the nicer fronts of our Christmas cards to reuse. 

Weaving, I started this last year, and I have been very pleased with my 1st attempts, I now need to make something useful, rather than just weaving long thin strips of fabric, I also have loads of yarn purchased for my loom. 

Glass Fusion, Another new craft, which I truly love, seeing my shapes fuse into a design is just magical, I am restricted to making small items, due to using my microwave, but I have many designs to try. I would like a day in a studio to make a bigger piece, but I need more pratice before I can book one. I have loads of various glass, so whilst I will need to purchase some items, I do have a good stash.

Needle felting, I have a small stash for this craft, but as yet I have not used any of it, I had a course booked last year which was cancelled, I'm happy for it to sit and wait for it's moment to shine. 

I should also add here gardening and reading, both have a cost, which if not watched can cost me more than they should. I do pop to our local library for books, as I can read up to 4 books a week, if I need to purchase a book, I do always look at 2nd hand firstly, I don't record my spending on books because it is small. Gardening, is harder, I love my garden, it gives both hubby and I pleasure every day of the year, even here in January there is something to look at. The whole of the garden has been sorted, but each year there will be area's which need work, looking at it now, there is nowhere which requires a huge spend on, but I do like colour and interest out there.

The two big spends are yarn and gardening, yarn is in fact 3 hobbies all in 1 (knitting, crochet and weaving), so is my spend that bad, and I can always make excuses for the garden. 

Crafting in a dull month.

I have unpicked this shawl I finished back in early November, I have not worn it at all, I prefer to wear another shawl finished at the same time, shown on this post. The yarn is from Burrow & Soar, and is stunning to look at, I don't want to leave it in my wardrobe.

 I purchased this merino yarn last year, it's the best sheep's wool for use if like me you have an allergic reaction to lanolin, it goes well with the Burrow & Soar yarn, I have 400 grams of the plain yarn and 100 grms of the hand dyed. Will have a think what to knit with it. 

My knitted squares so far, I have not laid them in any order, I just wanted to see if the design in my head worked, I'm pleased I think it does.

 I am mixing some of the shorter leftover yarns, to make as many squares as possible, and having very little waste.  

I also purchased some more yarn, Burrow & Soar had a 30% off sale, I was looking for some bright yarns to go with the above paler mixtures. These are 20 grms each skein and therefore twice as big as the above ones.

Yesterday was another restful day, we did pop to Asda for a few things to help our diet along, I had a low carbs/calorie day, missing my lunch after a late breakfast, I did not feel too hungry, and plan to do this twice a week whilst losing weight. I woke up not feeling too hungry, it's a brighter day so I hope to go for a walk with hubby later.

it's all about me.....

In the last couple of months, I have been taking more care with my nails, I inherited weak nails from my mum, they break very easy. I found Sally Henson nail products a few years ago, now I keep these 3 base coat treatments in and switch around which one I use. I also love her cuticle oil. 

I found her gels last year, they are thicker than normal varnishes, but they don't require a lamp to set them, I always finish off with her clear top coat. I find these products give my weak nails loads of strength. 

 I have been having fun with colours, in photo's 1 &2, I did the painting myself using simple strips of cut down card peel offs. In 3&4 I am using shaped strips I purchased online, getting a bit braver, I do love the silver strip, I have a thinner one, and ones in gold and black. 5&6 are using glitter varnish on one end of my nails and using a brush to smudge the joining line, in 5 the bottoms are just my natural nail colour. 

By taking care of my nails I find I can grow them to a nice length, it's easier in the winter as I do very little gardening, because even with gloves on my nails break when I am busy hands in soil. I have not been paid to post, but I wanted to share with you products which help me. Her varnishes are £15 a bottle, so not cheap, but I wait until Boots have their 3 for the price of 2 sale and then treat myself, getting 3 at £10 each, they are lasting well.

Thank you for your supportive comments on my last post, so many of you understand where I am coming from and where I aim to be. whilst I am restricting things whilst I lose weight, I do want to keep the weight off, so I am adjusting my lifestyle as well.

We had a quiet weekend, Will had a sleep over on Saturday night and did not wake up until 7am on Sunday which is over an hour later then normal, we popped him home and had cuddle with baby George, who is awake and beginning to form smiles.
Monday Will came for his play day, he was tired and watched an old Bob the builder Christmas special, and napped in the afternoon, he often misses his naps now. I finished reading Me, Elton John, a book I found very honest and truly interesting, there was no apologies for who he was, just an honest realisation from him to how badly he behaved whilst addictive to drugs, drink and eating, and I did more knitting of squares.

Seeing less of me

I'm not giving up or cutting back on blogging, this post is about the start of my weight loss and fitness journey, after being found pre-diabetic in December.

Every year I weigh myself and record my weight, in the past 7 years I have put on just under a stone, 11 pounds, sounds good, but I am  overweight for my height, I'm just five foot four inches, below is my BMI.

My biggest issue is I have high Cholesterol, which I have known since I was 19, and have controlled my diet all my life, staying away from animal fats, dairy, sugar and processed foods. I always find it hard to lose weight as I don't eat many of the items, which is reduced or removed when on a diet. 

But portion sizes are an issue, I do eat too much, 3 meals a day, and an occasional treat. I do have 2 or 3 glasses of red wine a week. I need to re-educate myself into system which allows me to lose the weight and keep it off. I last dieted in 2009, when I lost 21 pounds, this time I would like to lose a bit more. 

Exercise is also a problem for me, since I stopped working 2 years ago, I am walking much less, at first I went out 3 times a day for a local walk, then the winter months came and often it was wet and the walks slowed down and I have not walked for exercise for months. I do always walk to the village, and I am up and down our stairs many times through the day. 

I have a perfect bike in the garage we purchased for using with the camper van, I have not used it since we sold the van a year ago. 

I have got my yoga DVD out to start again, I need to pratice before booking a course of classes, I'm not sure if my shoulder is strong enough.

I am using the NHS site as a guide, there is nothing new here, I'm 64 and I know most of what I need to do, and more importantly I want to sort this now. 

So many of my clothes are tight, most of my weight is around my middle, so with many pairs of trousers I have a huge muffin top. I have said many times I don't want to purchase bigger clothes, so now is the time to get sorted. 

I'm not going to post each week, but I will give updates along the trip, I am giving myself 12 weeks, which is the same time my daughter is aiming to lose here baby weight, together we can support each other.