Happy, Happy! Joy, joy!

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged. Hopefully, I can get into some kind of routine, now. I had mega problems at the shared house I was living in, so I had to move out right away. I've been in a new place now for about a week and a half. It's a full house, which is awesome! Also, I started a work trial for a new job a couple of weeks ago. Only another week and a bit before I find out if they will be keeping me or not.

It's been hard to get a normal amount of sleep, so I haven't been around much. Falling asleep a lot, much to the annoyance of my crafting pal, Becca ;)

I haven't gotten all of the furniture I need in order to stop living out of bags/boxes, but I do now have a craft room. I'd like to have enough energy to use it on a daily basis soon too! Luckily, it is Easter next week, so I will have a long weekend :D

It's not fully done yet, but here is my rudimentary crafting room:

Also, these are the newest fabrics I bought. They are all decor weight 100% cotton, with large prints. I'm hoping to make a few bags from them this weekend :)

I'm so glad that things finally seem to be turning around for me, and hoping that I get a normal amount of energy back very soon, so that I can make many more things :)

Events

Hey everyone! Sorry for my absence lately, I went away for 2 nights last weekend, to get together some of my stuff and enjoy a weekend of free food :)

When I came back on Monday night, I found that I had been robbed. My room was ransacked, and all of my stuff was just thrown all over the floor. All they managed to take (as far as I can tell) is a USB modem, which I had got from the O2 shop the week before. It cost me £10, and I had topped it up with £15 for the internet, so I was upset because, to me, that was over a week's worth of food :( All they will have got for it is a couple of quid. Nobbers!

Anyway, I got back, tidied the room, washed the things that had been thrown all over the floor, and after that I didn't have the heart to try and make my room nice anymore. So, I hid from the blogosphere. I didn't have much money for food, so I bought a loaf of milk roll bread, and a pint of milk, woo! Except someone has stolen both things out of the fridge/freezer.

Now, I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. My Dad has offered to help me get enough money to move into a new place, but I will have to wait until next weekend. Until then, I've got eyes up my arse *humph*

I've lost so much weight over the last month, but I wouldn't recommend the stress/starvation diet to any of you!

Anyway, I've dusted myself off again, and have moved a couple more of my things in (nothing valuable, just so you know!). I've tidied and cleaned the room again.

My bedding is too big for the bed, which is why it looks all deshevelled LOL. When I move, I hope there is a double bed, or no bed at all, so that I can bring my own from my Mum's.

I am now the proud owner of a folding chair and folding table, so I have somewhere to sit to eat my dinner. My stepdad brought me over a bottle of strawberry cider, so I put the table to the test :)

I should be getting a camera cable this week, which will mean that I can list my goodies again, and start taking proper pictures for ze blog!

Oh, and so that you can see my weight loss, this is what I looked like before! (please note that I am hiding all of my chins behind that nifty cowl LOL)

Anyway, onwards and upwards, as they say!

Storage Ideas - Ribbon Storage

rainbow of ribbon, originally uploaded by my tiny robot heart.

Yet another of the storage solutions I've found on flickr. I'm not sure that I'll have room for a frame like this, but I figure that I should be able to use the same principle to mount these rails on the underside of my shelves when I get them up :)

Storage Ideas - Button Storage

Pendant Storage, originally uploaded by Winchell ClayWorks.

I've spent the last few days trawling flickr for awesome storage ideas for my new room. I loved this idea, and have a couple of these hangers lying around. I thought I could use them for my buttons :)

My New Flat/Room

Yes, so 'room' is a more accurate description, but this is my new place to live.

I've already done quite a bit of cleaning, but this is the nearest thing I have to a 'before' photo. Apologies for the quality - I took it with my phone.

I made this blind for the window. It's a bit skewiff because a) I rushed it b) I need to get something more sturdy to hang it on. I'm going to do some more work on it soon :)

You can see what kind of space I have to work with now, so if any of you have any ingenious storage ideas, PLEASE (beg) feel free to share them by way of a comment or tweet!

Hopefully, the next time I show you a photo, I will have found my camera :)

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation... Relocation, Relocation

So, you'll be pleased to know that I'm not going to tell you my life story, but this is how the last few years have gone.

Many moons ago, I wanted to be a psychologist. I hit some bumps in the road, and ended up in a studio flat and working in a call centre.

The next year I bought my own house - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, utility room, walk-in wardrobes HUGE kitchen/diner. A space to call my own...

I lived there for 7 years or more...then I lost my job, I fell in love (don't try this at home!). Bowing to pressure from my long-distance boyfriend, I sold my house, and moved across the country. I paid rent in advance for a nice little posh flat. Everything was looking rosy. I could afford to go back to college, and train for a 'real job' again.

A few weeks later, my boyfriend dumped me. I was devastated. I sought comfort from someone who I didn't know that well really at the time, Becca. She was brilliant with me, and it was the start of a new friendship, but I was still at rock bottom. So, I decided to go back to my home town for a few days. When I returned, my lovely flat had flooded, due to shoddy plumbing.

I was told that I couldn't return to my flat until it had been completely dried and fixed. This took TEN weeks. During that time, I stayed with family on a camp bed. All of my belongings had been ruined, and I wasn't insured. Nobody would accept any liability, so I said goodbye to about £20k. Oh well!

I returned back to my flat, and it flooded again. I'd had enough by this point, so moved back to my home county, and lodged with a friend for some time. That didn't work out so well, so I moved in with family.

Since I came back from my flat, I'd had some more life changing events, but I tried to get on with things. I took up crafts again, and I taught myself how to knit, sew and crochet. I discovered that I loved creating things, and I amassed a lot of supplies. In fact, 99% of my belongings were now craft supplies LOL

I was addicted. I opened up a store on Etsy, and every hour of every day was suddenly about art, crafts, beautiful things, inspiration, and love.

Now, almost a year on, things got difficult again. I had to leave my family's home.

After a week or two of weeping and wailing, pounding the pavement, moaning to Becca, and receiving help from absolute strangers, I have somewhere new to live.

It's not that great actually, but I'm going to try to make it into a place where I feel warm, happy and safe. I also have to find some ingenious ways of storing all my craft supplies and everything I own in a rather small bedroom. Because, from now on, I will be living in one tiny room.

I wish I had thought of writing this blog last week, when I first arrived in the room. Then you could see a true 'before' photo.

I have now cleaned the room as much as is possible, made a blind to brighten it up a little, and moved some of my things in there. Tomorrow, I will take a photo to show you how it looks now, and you can follow me on my journey, gathering inspiration, as I transform the room, and my life... that is, if you want to :)

Blog from a non-blogger...

Hi everyone!

I'm a lady who loves everything art and craft related. And I love life, surprisingly enough, but it's been a bit crappy this last few years. This blog is about my journey so far, things that inspire me, and will document my journey, as I rebuild 'me' again.

So, I guess I had better fill you in on some of what has happened so far...