Back from London

Well on Friday lunch time Darren and I headed down to London on the train with our friend Ian. We went to IMATS (make up trade show) http://www.makeupartistshow.net/home.html at Alexandra Palace on Sat and Sun. Darren and Ian are as mad about Special Effects Make-Up as I am about knitting which is why we love to go down.

As usual we saw some amazing work and met up with some wonderful people!! I've made new friends (thank goodness for the internet, as they live in Belgium!!) and in general had a lovely time!!

Darren had a lifecast done by Neill Gorton (who creates the creatures etc for Dr Who, inc Davros), so Darren is VERY HAPPY!!!

Darren and Ian also had the opportunity to display some of their work for everyone to see!

A great weekend!!

Then we came home and got a wonderful welcome from our our pets!!!! Lady was howling and squealing in delight!! She makes the funniest noises for a dog!

Personality Test

I just did a personality test from http://www.kisa.ca/personality/

My test results:

Your personality type is ISFP.
Introverted (I) 79%
Extraverted (E) 21%
Sensing (S) 59%
Intuitive (N) 41%
Feeling (F) 85%
Thinking (T) 15%
Perceiving (P) 59%
Judging (J) 41%

What this means is:

ISFPs generally have the following traits:
Keen awareness of their environment
Live in the present moment
Enjoy a slower pace - they like to take time to savor the present moment
Dislike dealing with theory or abstract thought, unless they see a practical application
Faithful and loyal to people and ideas which are important to them
Individualistic, having no desire to lead or follow
Take things seriously, although they frequently appear not to
Special bond with children and animals
Quiet and reserved, except with people they know extremely well
Trusting, sensitive, and kind
Service-oriented; they're driven to help others
Extremely well-developed appreciation for aesthetic beauty
Likely to be original and unconventional
Learn best with hands-on training
Hate being confined to strict schedules and regimens
Need space and freedom to do things their own way
Dislike mundane, routine tasks, but will perform them if necessary

The ISFP is a very special individual who needs to have a career which is more than a job. The middle of the road is not likely to be a place where they will be fulfilled and happy. They need to have a career which is consistent with their strong core of inner values. Since they prefer to live in the current moment, and take the time to savor it, they do not do well with some of the more fast-paced corporate environments. They need a great deal of space and freedom if they are going to function in their natural realm of acute sensory awareness. If they give free reign to their natural abilities, they may find a wonderful artist within themselves. Almost every major artist in the world has been an ISFP. Since the ISFP is so acutely aware of people's feelings and reactions, and is driven by their inner values to help people, the ISFP is also a natural counselor and teacher.

The following list of professions is built on our impressions of careers which would be especially suitable for an ISFP. It is meant to be a starting place, rather than an exhaustive list. There are no guarantees that any or all of the careers listed here would be appropriate for you, or that your best career match is among those listed.

Possible Career Paths for the ISFP:
Artist
Musician / Composer
Designer
Child Care / Early Childhood Development
Social Worker / Counselor
Teacher
Psychologist
Veterinarian
Forest Ranger
Pediatrician

Now bear in mind that I went to Uni and trained to be a teacher (decided against it due to many reasons at the time) but went into caring for the elderly whilst doing my psychology degree ( where I did many of these tests and studied them!). Then I moved to my current job of working with disabled children and I am doing my social work degree!!


Wierd isn't it!!

My last parcel

This is what I managed to make for the last challenge...14 teddies.

New target

I've decided to add on another target...10 items for children ( as I made 2 childrens hats and a scarf yesterday from oddments of wool)

I will now make 10 items for the elderly, 10 for childen and 10 toys.


So far I have made 2 for elderly (and I've started my 3rd) and 3 for children.

My rainbow

Your rainbow is shaded blue.

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

This is spookily accurate!

My personal target

Dare I set one after only managing half of my last target??! I also start back at Uni at the end of this month...

I will make 10 items for the elderly and 10 toys. That seems achieveable. I'd better get started now!!!

Loving Hands Spring Challenge

The new challenge is in!! This is the challenge as written by Lou (founder) on the site....

OK my merry little band of helpers - here we go - the Spring Challenges for 2009 - these will run from today Thursday 15th January to Saturday 11th April (Summer challenges can then be announced on Easter Sunday - very fitting I thought :0).

I have had so many fantastic suggestions that it has been very hard choosing this time - some I have decided are great for summer or autumn so have put them on a back burner till then, some duplicated things we already do so are well covered (quite a few of the suggestions were to give to groups who send things to Romania, Algeria, Bulgara etc which we do already through Blythswood, Linda McDonald and Scotia Aid - it would be a shame to divert the aid away from groups we know are definitely getting the items to where they need to be).

Right there are 4 sections to this challenge so hopfully there will be something to suit everyone

Challenge 1 - 300 items for the elderly to keep them warm in the sub zero temperatures they get over in places like Bulgaria, Romania etc. These will be delivered by Blythswood Care and could be anything at all eg. Hats, Gloves, Mittens, Scarves, Socks, Lap Rugs, Shawls, Cardigans, Jumpers, Bedsocks etc. I spoke to the people at Blythswoods depots in Deephaven and Glasgow last week and they tell me that these items are their priority items right now so they will be ever so grateful to get them:0)


Challenge 2 - 200 toys for our ambulance and fire crews - these are trauma toys and can be taken out in poly bags tucked in a corner so if the crews come upon a trapped or badly injured child they can give them a toy to distract them and the child can then keep the toy afterwards. Toys need to be around 8 to 10 inches and can be anything you like - dolls, bears, rabbits clowns = get your old Jean Greenhowe and Alan Dart patterns out and have fun :0)


Challenge 3 - For our stitchers - Suzanne and her hubby David came across a wonderful idea for this one. A Scottish Bird Conservation group had an appeal out looking for bags to use to save baby puffins who are blown from their nests on St Kilda ! (Now officially know as pufflings according to our Suzanne). Suzanne has been in touch and they are delighted that we want to help out. They said they can use as many bags as we give them as there were other wildlife groups jumped on the bandwagon and said to them if they had any spare could they have them for things like baby hedgehogs (everyone say aaaaw

The bags need to be around 30cm square (12 inches) made from dark coloured fabric - cotton preferably - and have no seams on the inside for the wee birds to catch their claws or beaks on (so use french or enclosed seams or maybe line the bags) - then finish off with a drawstring to close (Wil Abakhan is looking out for offcuts of dark cotton as we speak which he kindly says he will donate to us if he finds some).

Challenge 4 - You will groan and so Oh no not again but this one is boobs once more. I have been approached by an exec from Leeds Helath Board and asked if we can provide 300 knitted boobs for all of their midwives and breast feeding instructors to use to teach breastfeeding. They are willing to help out with cost of materials (this would cover the postage down to Leeds as well) and also to give a donation to Linda McDonald Foundation on our behalf by way of saying thank you for providing them,

Thought it was another great 'Pay it Forward' project as it not only gives all those health professionals the means to teach breastfeeding which is very important - it also gives Linda help to get the next container off to Bulgaria!


So there we have it girls - Winter Challenge over and Spring one officially launched - hope you are happy with it - I will keep looking for new and original ideas for future challenges and don't forget you don't have to just make challenge items - we still need all of the items on our wish lists so just carry on with those if you are happier making them

Anyone wanna fight me now???!

I could survive for 60 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

I think I'm getting better!!!

..thank goodness!!

Most Haunted Live has been great again, I can't wait to see/hear what happens again tonight! I just wish the first 90 mins or so of the programme wasn't chatting about the vigil...just get on with it!!!

I've been having a knitting dilemma day...what to make next?? I can't decide! Any ideas???

I have a chest infection

So my snotty cold has developed into the start of a chest infection. I was fed up so got an appointment at GP's yesterday ( I have a history of asthma, though inhaler free for 5yrs, so I wanted to get checked over). I'm on antibiotics and inhalers again. Hopefully as it's the beginning of an infection it'll clear quickly. I worked last night but I can't keep anything down so when I got home, I rang in sick for today, which was the last thing I wanted to do...after all I've worked for 5 wks with the snotty cold! Grrr!!!

Oh well it'll be films and knitting for me. I'm busy with the teddies for tragedy again. They do look funny unstuffed! I need stuffing but there's no way I'm going out for any! The deadline for the challenge is the 14th Jan so I might have to send them in un-stuffed.

I've been working my way through the Carry On films!! What a bargain and so much fun!!!

Demons is on tv tonight (ITV1) and Most Haunted Live!!! Good tv to snuggle in with!

Loving Hands Challenge

Well it's been ages since I've sat down and done some serious knitting. I've not done any since my last craft fair...until last night! I suddenly realised that I had challenged myself to making 30 teddies...not sure how many I've done but I'm VERY sure it's not 30!! In fact I've not been on the site for about a month! I've loads of catching up to do! It's amazing where the time goes with getting ready for Christmas, Christmas and the New Year!

We had a lovely day out in York today and I bought a bargain box set of all the Carry On films for £35 from Zavvi. I had just seen it in HMV for £70 and was tempted but thought it was still too much...so I couldn't resist them at £35!!! I love these films! I've got loads of holiday in january so I've got some fun films to watch whilst knitting away! I've still got that huge parcel I bought (as well as my stash!)

I've also been sketching some ideas for toy patterns so I need to sit down and make them.

Anyway I'm going to watch the last 4 episodes of Lost series 4 (what a disappointingly short series....14 episodes due to the writers strike) and get making another teddy.

Darren IS Elvis!!!!

The 2 Abba groupies are Kath (Darren's mum - brown hair) and auntie Sheila (blonde hair)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We had a lovely Christmas and hope that everyone else did too. We spent the day with Darren's family, at his sister's house. Our neices and nephew are what make the day special! Then on the 28th we had a party at our house with both sides of the family and friends invited.

New Years Eve was spent again at his sisters (it's her birthday) and we had a big party! We always have a fancy dress party and this was the 1970's. Darren went as Elvis and I was a hippy chick! I'll post some pics when we download them. We were in bed by 3a.m and feel shattered now! I was the designated driver so at least I'm not hung over!

Darren is out with our dog now and I've been hoovering and doing the washing etc. It's amazing how much of a clear up is needed after Christmas! We're hoping to have a quiet afternoon before we go pick up Katy (our 10yr old neice) who is staying over and then we're going to York for the day tomorrow, one of our favourite places to go.

So has anyone made any New Years resolutions?