Completing the completion!
When I did my previous post, I reported that this storage unit was complete – until I decided to order a couple more boxes of the trays and really complete the job! (This photo is of the original sets I bought.)
There are six trays in each box, with three slots in each, so each set enables you to store 18 ink pads. I have 37 Distress Oxide ink pads and as there were a few vacant slots left in the unit to date, I knew that two more sets would be adequate for my needs. I deliberately designed this storage unit to take advantage of the modular nature of the trays, and the drainage pipe holders for the spray bottles are modular too, allowing for expansion.
Before I did anything else, I ground off the ridges on the sides of the trays as I had done before, using my Dremel tool. This time it was a lot easier because I could reach them easily, not having assembled the pieces first. I did this so that I can add more tubes up the sides of the unit if I need to store more spray ink bottles.
This photo shows the contents of one box assembled as a stack, glued together and held in place with rubber bands until the glue had set.
While the glue was setting, I made the labels, first for the ink pads, and then those for the slots to show where each ink pad would go.
Once the two sets of trays had been glued, I stuck them together back to back, and glued the whole thing on top of the existing unit. The books placed on top kept the joints nice and firm while the glue set. The Distress Inks are still in their original places.
The labels stuck onto the Distress Oxide ink pads. This was a horrible job – really hard to get them centred and straight, and I ended up with gel medium all over my fingers! The ink pads do look quite cool now, though.
Writing on the labels for the unit to indicate where each ink pad will go.
As I did with the Oxide sprays, I outlined each label to indicate that these were Oxides and not normal Distress Inks. However, I didn’t really need to do this because the Oxide pads are grey rather than black, so they do look different in the unit.
The next job was to move all the repositionable labels in the unit so that the Distress Inks would start at the top of the unit again. This proved a bit more difficult than anticipated – while most of the labels peeled off OK, one or two were more reluctant to come away. The fact that they had been coloured with ink probably affected the adhesive somewhat. Anyway, I managed in the end, although one or two are a bit torn.
This is the first side of the unit, which is full of Distress Inks from top to bottom.
I have just too many to fit one side of the unit exactly, so the final few occupy the top of the other side, shown here with the labels for the Oxides in place.
The final job was to slot in all the Oxides. I left a couple of spaces at the end of the Distress Inks in case I get any more.
The spaces at the bottom have now been filled with some of my larger ink pads, as I did with the unit in its original state. There aren’t enough slots for them all but I put in the ones I am likely to use the most. The rest can remain in the box.
The completed unit, filled, side 1.
Side 2.
A final shot, showing the unit in situ on the work surface, and how it looks in the studio. I think it looks pretty cool! From where I sit, where the glass media mat is, I can easily reach for the inks I want, and the whole unit revolves on its base. Everything is labelled and easy to access, and it will be a simple matter to replace everything where it belongs after I have used it, because all the slots and tubes are labelled inside. I can easily slide the unit to move it – it is pretty heavy now it’s fully loaded, so I shouldn’t think I’ll be moving it often. My card-making baskets, and those containing my embossing folders and dies are behind the unit, under the window, and I can still access them, and could easily lift them out if I needed a more serious rummage.
At the same time as getting the extra trays, I ordered a couple of other bits of new stash too – an unbranded Chinese set of banner and tab dies, which will be useful for the journals I am planning on making, and also a Tim Holtz stamp set, “Ledger Script” by Stampers Anonymous. Rather a costly purchase, that one, but unlike anything else I’ve got, and it will be great for adding texture in mixed media.
I was disappointed last week to miss out on an Ebay auction for the retired Sizzix Impresslits butterfly. I do wish they wouldn’t keep retiring things. I don’t think that butterfly had been around for that long, either. I managed to get the little decorative frame (which I think is still available) but this fabulous butterfly is sadly no more. I spotted this one on Ebay but the price got ridiculously high and I allowed myself to be outbid. I’m keeping my eyes open in case another one comes up, but I expect the same will happen as there must be quite a bit of a demand for such things.
It’s easy to assume that products will always be around once they are launched, and that there will be plenty of time to get them once one is in a position to do so, but they can disappear quite quickly. I suppose there’s a limit to the amount of stuff the manufacturers can keep producing but Ranger and Sizzix do seem a bit over-keen to retire things, in my opinion. It would be nice to have a bit more warning!
Kitties
My new stash arrived in the normal Amazon Prime box, and of course my Prime Kitty Ruby had to occupy it as soon as I put it on the floor for her! (Lily isn’t nearly as interested in boxes as Ruby is.)
A perfect fit.
This evening, after they had eaten, Lily had an extreme attack of what we call Scatter Cat. She was rushing about, knocking stuff off my hubby’s table, and playing with nothing! She is usually such a lazy lump so it was really uncharacteristic, this frenzied thunder-paws dash-about! Ruby looked on in utter amazement! I asked my hubby if he thought kitties played with imaginary mice. Who knows what goes on in a kitty’s brain? As we always say, “There’s no accounting for kitties!” After this explosion of energy, she settled down into a deep sleep, obviously exhausted!
Health update
After my three days of palpitations just over a week ago, I had my appointment at the surgery today for an ECG. The palpitations had disappeared by about Wednesday, and haven’t returned, so I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to show up on the ECG. The nurse who did it said that she wasn’t trained to give a full reading of the trace, but she said that apart from the Left Bundle Branch Block which we know about, it all looked OK and I had a normal sinus rhythm. She said my pulse was regular. If I don’t hear anything from them in about ten days, I shall contact them again and ask if there’s anything I should know, and perhaps get some idea of what might have been going on, because the doctor said there was definitely some irregularity when he examined me. It’s a relief, anyway, that the palpitations have stopped, along with the feeling of tightness in my chest.
Still no news on a rescheduled date for my parastomal hernia repair surgery which was due to take place on 28th April but was postponed. I’ve got everything ready and the freezers are well stocked.
Swimming in yoghurt
I had my weekly Tesco delivery this morning. The delivery man said he had bad news – he was going to refund me for all 8 pots of yoghurt I had ordered because they had burst. He hadn’t brought the box in, but he showed me a photograph. The packer had obviously just thrown them into the box without any adequate protection or support and the whole thing was swimming in yoghurt. He proposed showing the photograph to his supervisor because obviously this was not acceptable.
I asked him to bring it in so that I could see if any of it was rescuable. Actually, only one pot had seriously burst, and there was a small hole in the lid of another one, but once I had washed everything off, I still had six undamaged pots. These are quite large pots, 500 ml each. We get through a lot because we have it at least once or twice a day (sometimes it’s three times a day for me because I always have it with my breakfast), and I also use it for cooking. It is Tesco’s own brand of “Free From” – natural, unsweetened soya milk yoghurt which is absolutely delicious. When I have had the “No Sugars” Alpro version as a substitute, it isn’t nearly as nice.
A few months ago, Tesco announced that they were reducing the use of plastics in their products. While I applaud any effort to reduce the production of single-use plastics in an attempt to protect the environment and the oceans, I think Tesco needs to put a bit more sensible thought into how they are doing this. These yoghurt pots used to come with a transparent plastic lid on top of the foil seal, and this provided good protection. If the pot is knocked or squashed in transit, the foil lid is likely to burst, and it is vulnerable to piercing, and this has happened several times with my orders in recent months since they removed the plastic lids, although never so dramatically as this morning. The plastic lid always prevented this from happening, and I notice that the Alpro yoghurts still come with the plastic lid on top of the foil one. Another point worth mentioning is that once you have opened the foil lid, there is no way to reseal it again, which means that the pot is open in the fridge. These pots are not single servings and need to be covered in the fridge until they are all consumed. The plastic lid served this purpose once the foil lid had been removed.
I have spoken to Tesco about this problem on several occasions, and nothing is done. Also in my order this morning was some celeriac – a hard, spherical root vegetable which is not vulnerable to knocks, and which needs to be peeled before it is eaten. This always comes encased in a thick, vaccuum-sealed layer of plastic which is extremely difficult to remove. The same applies to cucumbers – very often, I end up damaging the cucumber while attempting to remove this totally unnecessary tight skin of plastic. These are the plastics that Tesco needs to stop using – they are totally unnecessary and a nuisance to boot – not the necessary plastic lids that protect a product and enable it to be stored properly.
The delivery man told me they had changed their cheese packaging, too. I wasn’t aware of this, not having bought cheese for several years, but I still have some of the original bags with the resealable zip along the top (I use them for the freezer). He said the cheese now comes in a tight, vaccuum-packed wrap which is difficult to remove, and once opened, is impossible to reseal. He says he has to use a sandwich bag to store the cheese in once he has forced an entry, thus doubling the amount of plastic used. Crazy.
So I phoned Tesco today and had a good old rant about this. The very charming man on the end of the phone said he would certainly pass on my thoughts but he had no control over the decision-making higher up, which is fair enough. It is doubtful that the complaints of one customer (unless there are others who think as I do and are prepared to complain about it!) will make a scrap of difference to the faceless bureaucrats and this is very demoralising and frustrating. I told him that the company should consider the customers and how they use and store the produce, and make decisions about plastic reduction sensibly. If it wasn’t for the customers, after all, Tesco would be out of business.
Every week, after I have put the groceries away, the black kitchen bin (for landfill) is full of plastic. And this week, the sink was full of yoghurt.
