I’VE BEEN SHOPPING!

I have been shopping today for the first time for two years! – apart from visiting National Trust properties and buying stuff in their shop.

Eye test

I had my two-yearly eye test this afternoon and we combined this with a shopping trip, in one of our neighbouring towns.

Two years ago when I had my last eye test, the optician told me that my cataracts were far from ready to be dealt with, and they would take another look at them at my next appointment. In the intervening two years I have noticed a definite deterioration in my eyesight and was really hoping that they would be ready by now, but no, apparently not. He told me that I should come back in a year’s time to get them looked at again, and because the area most affected was in the centre of the lenses, they could progress fairly rapidly now. He said that if I notice a definite difference in six months’ time, I can go back then, and they may be ready. Apparently the waiting list for surgery from date of referral is now down to 3 months from the 15 months it was previously, so once one is in the system it doesn’t take too long. So I shall have to soldier on, with the prospect of it getting a lot worse before they will agree to do anything, which is really sick-making.

As for my vision generally, it hasn’t changed too much since last time, and I don’t need new glasses, which is good. My hubby is having new ones as he is very hard on his glasses and they get worn out very quickly, getting very scratched, and the frames getting bent. I’m not sure what he does to cause so much damage, because we both wear them all the time, and mine can keep going for years!! I helped him choose new frames today. I said all he had to do was look through them, but I had to look at him, so he’d better choose something I liked, haha!

Shoppingggg!

Clothes

Can you believe it is two years since I’ve been shopping in a town? ( – apart from brief visits to one or two shops, like going to the jeweller’s to get something repaired, etc.) The bulk of my shopping is done online, and my hubby will pop out for things, but I really miss just browsing around the shops, and Ebay is no substitute for a good rummage in a charity shop!

Two years ago when we went, the town was like a grim ghost town because of wretched Covid, and I came home thoroughly depressed, and for the first time not having enjoyed a shopping trip. I was very happy not to go again, ever… At that time I was looking for a nice warm black cardigan to replace my beloved charcoal grey one that is now so tatty that it isn’t really fit to see the light of day – it was a charity shop purchase over 20 years ago, pure wool and originally from Marks & Spencer so it was good quality. We searched high and low and there was absolutely nothing. Most of the knitwear in the shops was depressingly boring, and all of it was too thin and quite unsuited for winter.

This year, however, the big department store had a wealth of gorgeous stuff to choose from. I think the manufacturers have got the message that we are in for a hard winter, and fuel shortages etc., and they know we will want to wrap up warm! My hubby and I separated on the floor and he looked as well, and soon came up with a lovely thick fluffy black cardigan. I found a striped grey one too, which he rudely said made me look like an inmate of Dartmoor Prison, but I bought it anyway!! – and then I found a fluffy white jumper with touches of colour, which I totally fell in love with for its thick softness, and the fact that it would go with so many things I already have. It is so long since I bought any clothes at all, that my clothing budget is quite healthy at the moment, so I didn’t mind having a bit of a spree. I think the last clothes I bought were the bras I bought from the Breast Unit last summer after my breast cancer! – but that doesn’t really count.

All three are nice and warm, and I am very happy indeed with my purchases.

Art stuff

I bought quite a haul of stuff from the Pound Shop, Smith’s, Superdrug and a card shop – some non-art stuff that I wanted (like the pony tail bands on the jumper in the first photo above).

Several people have been saying on YouTube lately that they use clothing tags in their art work so I decided to keep mine this time.

I also cut up some packaging – resulting in the pieces on the left, whicih will be nice to incorporate into my art work.

I bought this lunch tin, which came with a small metal fork which will be great for my hubby’s packed lunches as he is now down to the last of my set of melamine forks. The tin will be great for storage in my studio, and will probably house my washi tapes when they arrive. It has an elastic strap for extra security but that will probably go in my haberdashery stash.

For ages I have been looking for baby wipes in a pack with a rigid plastic closure on top. I have seen a lot of people using these in the USA but here in the UK they are usually just in a soft plastic pack with a self-adhesive flap to close, which usually loses its stickiness and the baby wipes dry out. I found these today, and as a bonus they are unscented (which I prefer), and I may be able to transfer other baby wipes into the pack when it’s empty, and in any case the tops will be used on journal covers when the time comes for the pack to be thrown away.

I also bought the egg-shaped make-up blending sponges which other artists have said are fabulous for ink blending, and I shall have fun experimenting with these.

In Smith’s I found this bracket for my iPhone. It is really sturdy with a good long flexible goose-neck. I’m hoping I shall be able to clip this above my work desk in the studio and actually be able to make videos with my phone!

I found this kids’ toy – it’s the base for some sort of building system a bit like Lego. The top surface is like this:

and underneath it’s like this:

Two fabulous cheap texture plates for the price of one!

Another great find was this gorgeous little wooden box with a hinged lid, containing index cards and dividers for recipes, all ready to be altered.

I have been wondering how to make the end papers for my current altered book, which is quite large. I haven’t got anything suitable, so I was delighted to find this gift wrap pack in Smith’s, complete with a couple of tags, on a vintage map theme, which is going to be perfect.

The butterfly roll, and the brown one with the little gold animals on it, are also going to be very useful for this kind of thing. I could colour the butterflies if I wanted, as well, or cut them out for use in projects.

Finally, my most exciting find of the day was also in Smith’s. This year they have introduced a new theme which is appearing throughout the store, on cards, gift wrap, stationery of all kinds – peacock feathers with gold. It is absolutely gorgeous…

and utterly irresistable! I bought two rolls of the gift wrap, an absolutely beautiful box of ten notecards with envelopes (extremely high quality), and a large format notebook.

Isn’t this just gorgeous? I had already decided to make an album or altered book with a peacock theme, and this stuff is ideal for the project.

Here are the note cards. The envelopes have the peacock design on the front and on the back.

The box is very sturdy, and has a fabulous gold design on the sides of the lid.

A note card with a couple of the envelopes. You can see how beautiful the gold is.

Finally, the note card close up.

The notebook is beautiful too. I photographed this again the following day in natural light, because the original photo was badly affected by reflections. The peacocks are gold and quite shiny.

Inside there are pages of lined paper, with dividers in two colours (turquoise and brown) with cut-outs to find the dividers easily.

Gorgeous, isn’t it.

I had originally thought of making a peacock book either from scratch, or by altering an existing book, but I shall probably use this book. The pages are fairly thin but I think they could be glued together in pairs, and some of them removed to allow for the thickness of collage and other art work.

What a great haul I brought home. I have had such a lovely afternoon, and if I pay for it tomorrow with increased fatigue, it will be worth it in spades.