My best crafting buddy....

It's Monday and that means, not only the start of another week (where are they disappearing to?) but also it's Crafting Buddies day where we can share pictures and stories of our furred, feathered or scaly friends "helping" us to create! Pop over to http://craftingpets.blogspot.com/ to check out Joanne's site, see other little helpers or post a link to your own stories and pictures. So, here is my best ever crafting buddy, Cherry. Some of you will know that Cherry died in 2004 (can't quite believe it is so long ago now) so this picture is quite an old one and taken on my old, pre-digital camera - I've scanned these pictures in, so please excuse the poor quality. All of these images bring a mixture of emotions and memories flooding in, some that make me smile or laugh, and others that make me feel sad and tearful. The tears are the price we pay, of course, for embarking on a relationship with an animal...but they are a small price to pay for all that we gain in return.

So, here is Cherry, "helping" me by sitting plumb in the middle of my work table and deciding that I had done "quite enough for today thank you very much, now would you please concentrate on me again"! I can tell how many years ago this was taken as I can see that I have glass painting bits and pieces on the table - that dates it! It was obviously Summer too, as Cherry has my sunglasses perched on her head! It also reminds me of the time when I was working on an oil painting and Cherry was perched nearby, asleep. Cherry had epilepsy and, most often, her fitting came on whilst she was sleeping (as she grew older her fits got worse and she would sometimes have them whilst she was awake, which was much more distressing). Well, this day, she suddenly fitted and fell onto my pallette. Even though I moved fast, given that it can be tricky to lift an animal that is thrashing about, she was covered in every colour imaginable within a second or two. A call to the vet's told us to clean her fur with Swarfega and then rinse her off as best we could. Poor Cherry, she looked a sorry state for days after that, and she must have been the most colourful cat ever. Despite her condition, she was a tough little cookie! She was nervous with everyone except me and David, and we could do anything with her. She didn't worry about anything else as long as she had cuddles, love and food - especially crunchies! The most loving little character we have ever known, so gentle and sweet. I can recall, looking at this picture, the time where she sat on the floor beside my table, waiting patiently for me to finish so that she could snuggle up on the sofa with me....I moved my chair slightly and Cherry started to walk away. Oddly though, she only walked a step and then stopped abruptly. She moved again, made a little squeaking noise and then walked off. I looked down and saw a clump of white hairs under the leg of my chair! I had inadvertently caught the hairs on the tip of her tail and Cherry just tugged her tail out and left some fur behind! She was never one to complain! I have a feeling that, looking at this next picture, she had just been indulged with a few crunchies....Cherry lips! She really was a beautiful girl with her pure white fluffy coat, pink nose and lime yellow eyes. Even people who weren't fond of cats fell for Cherry.She even had her moment of fame in Hobbycraft! Years ago I used to demonstrate in their Stockport store as well as teaching workshops and hosting their childrens craft parties. I also helped when they were making the large design boards to go above their products. So I'd make up a board with samples of the products beneath as well as making something to show what could be done with them. When it came to the board for the Aida fabric and silk threads, I decided I'd do something a little different, and I did a display to show how you could make your own cross stitch pattern form a photograph using graph paper. I used black Aida and made my pattern from a photo of Cherry. I worked part of the design with embroidery threads as you can see in this picture. It was lovely to walk into the store and see Cherry looking out from that board! Of course, my "Cherry the cat" stamps were based on, and were my tribute to, her.The last picture I'd like to share with you is a very special one to me. In 2002 Cherry disappeared not once, not twice, but three times! The first time we lost her for a week and, eventually, one of our posters led to someone ringing to say they had seen her in their garden a day or two before. We found her nearby and thought that was the end of her adventures. Cherry would go from being content to stay inside for a week or two, and then she would want to go out and about for a day, sometimes coming back in the early hours. She usually came when I called her, or a two tone whistle would bring her running towards me with her characteristic slightly sideways gait and her tail curled like a question mark! Sometimes she liked to ignore me and stay out, but not that often.

She also came with us when we went over to housesit for mum and dad while they were on their annual hols. We'd enjoy the house for a fortnight and Cherry loved it there with a nice garden to enjoy, fields to explore (the horses didn't faze her!) and a conservatory to lie in. I had to put sunscreen on her ears with her being white! We never had a problem with her when we were there, she knew where we "lived" and she loved it. However, in 2002, she went out on the first day we arrived, for her usual exploratory walkabout, just to see if everything was as it was last time etc. This time though, she just didn't come back. We spent the whole fortnight searching, calling, putting up posters. Mum and dad came back and we had to come home without Cherry - it was terrible. A few days later, mum rang to say that someone had rung and thought they had seen her. We raced over and met the lady at a church where she had been seen. There was a little "tunnel" at the base of the church and, as soon as I called her, Cherry came running out! She had been hiding in there, kept fed on crumbs of sandwiches by the local children who had spotted her. She was quite some way from the house and we decided that she had followed a railway embankment that led to where the church was.

That, we thought, must be the end of her adventures! Oh no. In the Winter of the same year, she disappeared again! This time she was missing for three weeks, and I had just about given up hope. David spent every second he could walking and driving around, calling her and searching everywhere he could think. This time the posters brought no calls. I would go in a different direction every evening, calling and whistling. On the 18th December (I remember it so well) David picked me up from Hobbycraft where I had been demonstrating that day. I recall that he got cross with me because I was saying that she must have been run over or something equally awful. We decided to go looking again before we went home. We went down a road that backs onto a local MacDonald's - you can always smell the chips near there! There are lots of apartments down there. We drove down there with the windows open and I was whistling for her. Suddenly we both saw a flash of white near a low wall. We hardly dared to believe our eyes but I was out of the car like a shot and there she was...walking out from the driveway of some flats. She was shouting the whole time, I was crying and calling her name. She was so beside herself that she just kept walking along, me walking after her, her carrying on walking. I stopped walking, called her and she came charging to me. I whisked her up and got in the car and we drove home. I can still recall exactly how that moment felt....it was overwhelming. So the last photo is from that night, about ten minutes after we got home. Cherry was mucky, thin and smelly but she looked the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She had a good drink, some food and then I snuggled her up, as you can see. Her purrs were the loudest I have ever heard from any cat - ever! You can imagine how ecstatic she was to be snug and warm and home after three weeks on the streets in December!

We realised that the epilepsy had damaged Cherry's homing instincts, so, unfortunately, she spent her last two years as a mostly indoor cat. Having always enjoyed her time outside, Cherry really missed her previous lifestyle, and it always saddens me to think that her last two years weren't as happy. But we gave her a good life. She had obviously been thrown out by her previous owner because of the difficulties having an epileptic cat involves. She found us and she knew we were the ones. That was it. No going back, we belonged to her.

I'm halfway through a book called "Dewey's Nine Lives", a follow up to the story of Dewey the library cat. He was found, dumped in the metal book repository of the library on a freezing night in Iowa. I'll end this looong post with a few lines (slightly precised) from this book which will strike a chord with anyone who is owned by an animal....

"There's a bond that is formed when you save an animal's life. It can happen with something as typical as rescuing a dog from the pound. For you, it is an exciting afternoon, but that dog knows he was trapped in a bad place and that you set him free. It happens with cats when you take them in, not just give them food until they refuse to go away, but bring them inside when they are sick or starving and make them a part of your life. Rescued animals never forget what you did for them. They cherish it. And unlike so many people who, no matter what you have done, find a way to turn their back on you, animals are forever grateful." (Vicki Myron)

How true, and how wonderful.

Cherry

This post is in response to the many of you have asked me to write about our beloved cat Cherry, who we lost over four years ago now, and who all my "Cherry the Cat" stamps designs are inspired by. All our pictures of Cherry were taken before we had a digital camera so I have taken pictures of some original photographs with a mix of success. Hopefully they will convey her pretty face and sweet nature though.

Cherry first came into our lives when she was "living rough" with a completely black tom cat in and around the gardens. At first I thought that she may belong to one of the houses nearby as there is quite an itinerant student population, so people and pets come and go. However, it soon became apparent that these two were, indeed, strays, and so, of course, I began to leave food for them. The big tom was very wary and also very pungent! His dainty white companion was more approachable and soon decided that the indoors looked more appealing to her. We were, as now, in the habit of feeding the birds and squirrels, and the latter would run up the tree and onto the window ledge to get peanuts from our first floor window. Cherry was so determined to move in that one day she did the same (obviously having observed all this!)...up the tree, onto the ledge and through the open window, much to our surprise! Thus she laid claim to us and our very special relationship began.

I should say here, that "Blackie" (I know, it's original!) remained an outdoor stray, who wouldn't let anyone near him except for me. I fed him and he even let me cuddle him, but he wouldn't come inside and he eventually stopped coming around sadly.

All was well with Cherry until one day, whilst asleep on my lap, she suddenly began to stiffen and then kick. David was sure that she had been poisoned and we had some heart stopping moments till she came around, panting, exhausted and ravenous. It turned out to be epilepsy - probably why this adorable creature had been turfed from her original home. We learned to live with Cherry's fitting because, when she was given tablets to lessen them (these were an option I should say) she became like a zombie, frightened even of us. So, we would have a month of normal life with Cherry and then she would have clusters of fits for a few days. An epileptic seizure causes lack of control of everything, so there was always lots of cleaning up to do after one of her attacks...but we loved her so that was okay, if very wearing sometimes.

Cherry was the gentlest of creatures, she would sit beside our open window with the birds feeding a few inches from her...she didn't try to hurt them and they became used to her. One of the pictures shows (if a little blurrily) a curious pigeon peering in at a sleeping Cherry! She was nervous of everyone except the two of us, yet David witnessed her standing her ground when two huge dogs were straining at their leads and barking to get at her in the garden! She never once showed annoyance, frustration or disinterest to us, and was always happiest being cuddled and stroked on one of our laps. Mind you, she could sulk if she felt that her dinner was late!

In 2002 she went out and was missing for a week. We searched everywhere and put up posters till we eventually had a phone call that someone thought they had seen her. We found her and, of course, she was spoiled even more rotten after that! However, a few months later she went missig again, this time for two weeks, and later in the year she vanished for three weeks. I almost gave up, but David was out at all hours of the day and night, searching and calling for her and, eventually, we found her while we were driving slowly around and calling. We realised that her homing instincts had been damaged by all her fits, so she became an indoor cat for the last two years of her life.

Sadly, Cherry began to decline and become withdrawn, and, more worryingly, she stopped eating. After many visits to the vet, blood tests, etc the terrible news came that she had feline Aids - probably contracted when she was living rough all those years before. She began to go into a rapid decline and we reached the point where we knew that the following day we would have to make that dreaded last visit to the vet. I slept on the floor with her that last night as she was so weak and withdrawn. The next morning we drove to the vets, Cherry in my shoulder bag (she hated being in a box) and braced ourselves fro what we knew must be done. As soon as the vet saw her he said that she had gone, so she spared us that awful decision. David was relieved but I admit that I felt cheated of saying a proper goodbye to her. I carried her back to the car and David walked up the road as he was too upset to drive at that point. As I sat in the car with her on my lap, stroking her lovely little white head it began to snow....I can't tell you what a comfort that was....Cherry was pure white and it felt as though it was a message to say "Don't worry, she's safe now, I'm looking after her for you." We took Cherry to my parents' home and she is buried under their Cherry tree with flowers and a headstone that I painted to mark her grave. It simply says "Cherry - our little Angel".

That was December of 2004 and there isn't a day goes by that we don't think of her. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to have the unconditional love of a very special pet will understand.
Well, I hope that wasn't too sad a tale, as we shared fourteen years with our little friend and she gave us love and happy memories. The Cherry the Cat stamps are my way of celebrating her and all those happy memories. Lindsay

Another great weekend...and new stamps!

I got back last night from a lovely weekend at Crafts U Love near Horley in Surrey. As I was arriving on the friday there was an almighty thunderstorm with very dramatic fork lightning and hailstones...typical July weather I suppose! On saturday I was demonstrating in the morning and teaching in the afternoon - one workshop was about using alcohol inks with metallic film and stamps and the second was using Cherry the cat stamps. Sunday was demonstrations again and then a workshop on making a box of delights with a butterfly theme. It was great to meet lots of new people as well as catching up with familiar faces.

I caught up with Jennette and her mum who I haven't seen for a couple of years - Jennette has lost over nine stone since I last saw her, so I did a double take! They were staying at the same hotel as me, so we had a lovely couple of hours with Paula and Geoff (on the right), the lovely couple who run Crafts U Love...nice to have time to talk as we rarely get a chance to.

Next is a picture of my, as usual, messy table, filled with alcohol inks which I was using on peel offs, with stamps, on metallic film, acetate and gloss card...messy but fun! Lastly you can see Paula's mum having a root about in my suitcase....with my permission! I had samples of new stamps in there and everyone was having a look. Check out Crafts U Love website and blog for more pictures.

My journey home was slightly fraught as the underground had a lot of line closures because of weekend engineering works. I was given all sorts of conflicting directions, and went on several tube trains before I finally got to Euston....I was the mad woman careering through the station, bags flying everywhere and muttering "get out of the way" as I ran through the crowds and just caught my train! I didn't want a repeat of the last incident at Euston!

So, as you will have gathered, Personal Impressions have new stamp designs about to be released. The ladies this weekend had a sneaky peek, but I will be demonstrating some of my designs for the first time at the weekend extravaganza at Dawn Bibby's Design Studio and Oswaldtwistle Mill...I'm usually up at the Mill along with Leonie and Sarah as well as Amy,Brenda, Jayne and Mary. If you would like a sneaky peek though, pop onto the Personal Impressions website (on my links at the side) and check them out. There are loads of new designs, but if you did want to know which are mine, just put my name into the search bar and all my stamps will come up. I have done a larger Cherry design as so many people had asked for one - hope you like it! As well as penguins, snowmen, owls etc. I am working on card samples this week, so, for those of you who can't get up to see us I shall pop photos on next week of course.

For those of you who are coming along, please remember to bring ATC's to swap! I'll post again before the weekend, Lindsay

A slightly less manic week!

After all the excitement of last week it has been a little calmer here over the last few days. I can hardly believe that a whole week has passed since I was at QVC, where does the time go? I had a bit of a relax on Thursday, catching up with emails and calls and proof reading something that I'm working on, so, relaxing and working all in one go! Friday was back to work, making samples for this weekend's trip to Crafts U Love in Horley. Saturday we went over to my mum and dad's for a visit - overdue because of the silly deadlines of the past few weeks! Sunday was my birthday, so David took me out for a lovely lunch and then we had a relaxing evening with a bottle of red wine (makes a change from my usual tipple of lime and soda!). The last three days have been tied up with more sample making, more proof reading and coming up with some new design ideas. So, my week in a nutshell!

Below is a picture of me waving through the window of the restaurant on my birthday...it was pouring down, and David raced outside to take a quick snap! And yes, there in my hand is a lime and soda! Shame the weather was so bad, but it was a lovely day nontheless.

Thanks again for all the lovely comments, emails and phone calls that I've had this week, they have been great. I'm looking forward to meeting new people this weekend, especially Julie, as well as some familiar faces. It should be a fun packed weekend with lots going on.

For those of you further north, remember that it's Dawn's big demonstration weekend on the 1st and 2nd of August. I'll be using new stamp designs (fingers crossed as we are trying to get them all ready in time!) with a Christmas theme. My friend Sarah will be there and Leonie is coming up specially, so I know there will be lots of fun!

To finish, here are just a couple more card samples from last week. Below is "Cherry Dreaming" - a simple card for a cat lover. I just used a diamante buckle on some sheer ribbon to add an extra accent to a very simple card.The card below is for all you dog lovers (me included!). The background was just the Heritage ink pads and water onto fairly strong white card. I simply stamped and embosed the dogs onto this and added some touches of colour with my Le Plume pens and the white Inkssentials pen, which is fabulous by the way, before a little matting to complete. Easy Peasy! Take care everyone, Lindsay

Back from Scotland

Hello everyone and welcome to new friends who I met this weekend in Inverness and Broughty Ferry. I must say thank you to Cynthia and Hazel who brought me cards and ATC's which were gorgeous and much appreciated. Thanks too to Seila who sent me two scrumptious ATC's and a beautiful card - they are all on display now before I put them into my albums for safe keeping and good memories.
Well, I had mammoth journey up to Inverness on Thurdsday - made even longer by the incompetence of the person at the National Rail call centre who I booked the tickets with! Instead of getting there in six and a half hours (as I found out that I could have done) it took me over nine and a half hours and I had to wait at Glasgow station for almost three hours - that was fun! I had too much luggage to warrant walking around the city centre, and it costs £7.50 (yes, £7.50!) to leave a bag at the station! It turned out that, contrary to what I had been told, I could have used my tickets at any time of the day, so could have been in Inverness long before I did get there. Sigh!

However, the tain journey was marvellous. Not too many travellers, so I had space to relax and stretch out a bit. The scenery was spectacular and I saw masses of wildlife - pheasants, rabbits, deer, ponies, adorable lambs enjoying the sunshine and possibly an eagle - it was a big bird of prey, but we had sped by before I could properly identify it. Thrilling to see though. I took loads of photos but, of course, through the train window they don't come out too well and, looking at them now, they don't do justice to what I saw. I got very excited when I saw the signs that showed we were in the Cairngorms National Park! There was still some snow on the peaks.

I liked this picture which came out rather well and showed the lovely evening sunlight.

Near to Aviemore there was a rather scary moment or two! There was a sudden very loud "clang" under the train and then something very big and heavy seemed to be caught underneath and was clanging along up and down the length of the carriage. At one point it banged up right beneath a lady opposite to me and she almost jumped onto the table! After a few minutes it stopped, but we were all a bit nervous to say the least! The train didn't stop or even slow down and no explanation as to what it was - a bit of excitement anyway!

After the long journey, I was very happy to see how close my hotel was to the station! Couldn't get much nearer than that! It was a very grand old hotel with a magnificent staircase which, apparently, was the inspiration for the staircase on the ship Titanic.

Next day was my demonstration at Hobby Haven, which is in a charming Victorian arcade. It wasn't long before I was busily blowing ink through straws, stamping swirly birds and distressing pieces of card! Thanks to all the ladies who came along, including Cynthia (Rainbow Lady) and Susan. I hope that you are all enjoying your new puchases! The day just flew by and I didn't even get any photos. However, I'd taken a few of the cards (in the ultra bright bathroom in the hotel!) so here are just a couple: The owl is wearing a hat taken from the Wizard Shelf stamp and the background is from the luscious Que Sera Sera papers by K&Co. The Scottish Piper is backed with a handmade Tartan effect made with Alcohol inks onto Metallic Film.

Straight after my demonstration I was back on the train, this time to Dundee which was another four hours of travelling and then a taxi ride. (Yet again I had been sold strange tickets and could have got there much quicker if I hadn't been sent via Aberdeen!). A very late dinner and a good night's sleep set me up for my day at Kitty Krafts the next day. I had not long started the demonstration when the lovely Hazel and her boys arrived (with a friend who I didn't get chance to introduce myself to - so apologies for that!). Hazel looked great and stayed for around twenty minutes so I was very proud of her!

We had a big hug and swapped a few things before she made some purchases and was on her way again - so, Hazel, this one is just for you.....
style="color:#000066;">....you deserve it and I was so touched, again, that you made such a big effort to come and see me.

Well, it was another very busy day, with a lot of laughter as well. More tree blowing, alcohol inking and distressy stamping was the order of the day. Here are one or two more cards - mostly cute ones at the moment, but I'll take pictures of some more and post those asap. Notice the terrible pun on my Cherry the Cat card....you know me, I like puns!

Louise, who owns Kitty Krafts, now has a blog, so do pay her a visit and have a look at what is going on up there on http:/kittykrafts.blogspot.com . Before long my day at Kitty Krafts was over and Louise's husband Ross kindly ran me to the station at Dundee where I took a picture of Shackleton's ship, "Discovery", which I hadn't known was there before as I had a previously only been there in the dark!It's an awesome sight and very evocative of course. So, next thing was a four hour train journey to York which was lovely in the sunshine and with more gorgeous scenery. I had about half an hour at York station to grab a sandwich for dinner and then onto Manchester. This was when the lovely weekend beagan to go into meltdown unfortunately! The train carriage was invaded by football "fans" who made the rest of the journey (nearly two hours) a complete nightmare. Apart from the incredible amount of noise they were making in general, they were also shouting out foul chants and generally being totally obnoxious. I changed seats three times but there was no avoiding them. The one train guard on board was evidently highly embarrassed but too intimidated to do anything about it. One girl was right in the midst of them all and she did have a go at them but was given lots of abuse in return - when I spoke out for her I was also subjected to the abuse. When we were nearing my station I had to run the gauntlet of their stupidity and, when I stood my ground and told them just what a lot of disrespectful idiots they were, I was called every filthy name one could imagine. As I left the train I was showered in beer! Completely soaked and smelling like a brewery, I called the platform staff and complained bitterly that these yobs are even allowed onto the trains and that there are no security staff on the trains to deal with them. Myself and the other woman were the only two people who were not prepared to put up with the situation. I've been given a form to make a formal complaint and I certainly shall. It's unbelievable the way that football "fans" (I use the word reservedly, as these are just thugs) are allowed to run riot. It was scary to note that, unlike one time where if a lady complained about bad language or behaviour, a group of men would say "oh, sorry sweetheart" - these "men" had no such attitude. In fact, one of them stood up as if he was going to have a physical go at me. Well, it was a very unpleasant end to to my weekend, but I would rather go home covered in beer knowing that I hadn't just accepted the situation but had made a stand against such yobbish behaviour, than just say nothing.

Well, I can't leave this on a bad note! So, thank you for everyone's lovely cards, ATC's, comments and emails which all mean a great deal to me. I'll post details on creating the Tartan effects and a few more cards/ATC's as soon as I can. Must go now, as there is more rest and relaxation to be done today before getting back to work tomorrow! Lindsay