Having heard that my photos are yet again not showing on my Blogger blog, I’ve copied the contents of this week’s WOYWW post over here to my new WordPress site. You should be able to see them here. This new blog is very much a work in progress still, so I hope you will be able to leave comments here as usual. If not, you can leave them on the old blog https://shoshiplatypus.blogspot.com
WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!
What better way to celebrate than to make my first post a WOYWW post.
WOYWW – Embellishing my felt slippers
This week, on and off, I’ve been working on the embroidered embellishments for my new felt slippers.
When I bought them, my first thought was that they were crying out for embellishment a la Shosh!
I began by cutting out some flowers and leaves by hand, from my large stash of felt pieces. You can see the little paper patterns I made, bottom left by the scissors.
I wanted to cut a lot of small circles, and searched online for the best method for this. Most people recommended using dies but I haven’t got any small circles. I wondered if I could use my circle punches instead. Nobody recommended this and said it wouldn’t work! I know from past experience, trying to cut a piece of Tyvek with a punch once, that it jammed the punch.
Thinking about it, though, perhaps if I sandwiched each piece of felt between two layers of freezer paper and ironed it, this might make it firm enough to punch out. It worked! Some of the pieces were a bit fluffy but it was a simple job to trim that off with small scissors.
You can see that I’ve also got some baking parchment out, to protect the iron and ironing board, and also some kitchen foil. I used the latter to sharpen the punches after use.
A great success, wouldn’t you agree?
Finally, beginning the embroidery.
I made a few from a single layer of felt, and to embroider these, pinned them to a piece of medium weight interfacing which I trimmed off afterwards. For the multi-layered ones I didn’t bother with this.
I am having such fun doing these!
Health update
This afternoon I have got my appointment with Mr. Daniels, the colorectal surgeon in Exeter. I was referred to him by Mr. Pullan, my surgeon at Torbay. I’ll let you know how I got on afterwards. He will decide whether I need further surgery to repair my parastomal hernia, and if so, what is the best way forward. We are going over early so we can have lunch out together first. My hubby did a reccy of the hospital yesterday while he was in Exeter. He now knows where to drop me off for the closest access to the outpatient clinic, which is going to save a lot of time.
Later…
Just got back from Exeter. We had a lovely lunch out in a steak house. Had to wait ages for my appointment but I didn’t mind. The consultant was very caring about his patients and giving them a bit more time than was allocated by the NHS!!
He was very charming and businesslike. He can’t decide on the best way forward until I’ve had another CT scan – this time lying on my tummy rather than on my back. Explaining the difference between a hernia and a prolapse, he said they required different treatments. When he knows what we are dealing with, he will give me all the options, recurrence rates, pros and cons, etc. Then together we will make an informed choice. The CT scan appointment should be in about 6 weeks’ time.
One very pleasing thing happened. While we were waiting in the consulting room for Mr. Daniels to come, the nurse chatted with us. She told me that she had never seen a referral letter like mine before, and how lovely it was. She read out that Mr. Pullan had asked Mr. Daniels to see “this cracking lady”!!!!! Wow. (Just hope he didn’t mean I was in the process of cracking….. up!)
Blog
As you know from posts on my old blog, I’ve been having a lot of problems recently with publishing photos. It’s just added to my general disillusion with Google.
I’ve been on the forum discussing the problems Open Live Writer (the software I use for composing my blogs) has been having with Google. Google has changed something and OLW is no longer compatible. You now have to use a workaround to get photos to publish on your blog, which is a pain. The experts on this open source application have been working hard but what Google has done has made it impossible to make OLW work as it used to. Several people on the forum were saying they were suspicious that eventually Google would pull the plug on Blogger altogether. Some have decided to move over to WordPress, so I started to give this some thought myself.
Taking the plunge
In the past, I’ve always been put off because I didn’t like the look of WordPress. I thought it was all too much work anyway. Having now investigated it in more depth, I find that it is more customisable than I’d realised, and a far more professional platform with a lot more versatility. I have decided to go for the paid version and managed to get a hefty discount from someone whose Youtube tutorials I have been following. It’s not really too expensive.
I also got a book on Amazon and am working my way through that. It’s taking a long time and I’m covering a lot of new ground and feeling my way with computing stuff I’ve never done before, but I’m getting there gradually. I have heard that transferring all the content from a Blogger blog over to WordPress doesn’t always work that well, so I’ve decided just to start the new blog, but to keep the old one up with links between the two. It’s a good opportunity to do some housekeeping anyway. I shall continue to work on replacing the missing photos on this current blog so that it is complete.
A work in progress
The new blog isn’t really ready for use yet, but hopefully by next week I shall be up and running properly on my new blog! I’m now quite excited about it, and once I’ve finished putting all this work into it, it should be a much smoother experience. Once I am using it, it will obviously continue to be a work in progress as I discover more refinements.
The more time I spend on this, the more I realise how clunky Blogger is. I think I shall be glad in the end that I took courage in both hands and went for this!
I would be very interested to hear the experiences of anyone else reading this, who uses WordPress – which version they use (.com or .org), and their experiences setting it up.
Kitties
No kitty photos this week – they’ve been doing the usual stuff, sleeping, eating, and playing in the garden under my hubby’s watchful eye.
Here’s a kitty funny for you.
I love those felty bits and pieces – clever you for working out how to punch them effectively. Those slippers made me smile – very jester-y!!
Hugs LLJ 8 xxx
Congratulations on being the first person to post on my new blog, Jan!
Shoshi x
Yes-yes-yessssss, I can see your photos! WordPress definitely works for me, I’ve been blogging over 10 years now and know how to work with it but I have to be honest: my beloved set it up for me and does all the ‘technical stuff’ and he is my private helpdesk, so I don’t know all the ‘ins and outs’ of it… but I do hope you will find it easy to use. I am very glad that I can now see your photos!!! Happy Wednesday and good luck/have fun making this blog ‘your own’!!! Marit #17
Hi Shoshi, good to see the pics. Great to see this working for you. Have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #6 X
Well done – seen the slippers now.
Margaret #1
Wow those little booties are so cute. But wow, the embroidery you did was so beautiful. I love all the detail.
Reading your post reminds me I have a few punches to sharpen. That’s a great idea to automatically do it after a project so it will be ready next time you need it. I hope your doctor’s appointment goes well. I totally get the drive by to ensure an easy entrance. I am always the person who gets lost in hospitals because everything looks the same! Have a blessed day and love your new site.
Belinda #25
Hi Shoshi! Found your link on Marit’s blog. Yay, you’ve got photos! Those embellishments look very playful and colourful! The cat cartoon alone was worth visiting for – so funny! xx
I do hope they don’t pull the plug on blogger as I really like it… good luck with the new wordpress blog! Love your felt slippers. Helen 2
Yay finally can see the photos. Love the new embellishments! Happy WOYWW. Sarah #4
Well done! Great that you have moved so quickly. I did comment on the other blog so will leave it for now apart from telling you how many of the flowers I like. They are super duper and will make a marvellous addition to the slippers. Cannot wait for them to be attached to the footwear and then shown on here
Sorry you had to go through all of this but ow good that WOYWW is your first post on WordPress.
Hugs, Neet xx 3
It’s good to finally be able to see your photo’s Shoshi, those slippers are so sweet along with the embellishments. I know so many people have had problems with blogger since the change but i’m praying they do not kill blogger altogether as I have heard mixed reviews about wordpress, especially if you share lots of photographs like I do in tutorials. Keeping my fingers crossed that blogger will be around for a long time.
Wishing you all the best with the CT scan, those 6 weeks will fly by i’m sure. Tracey #5
Yes Shoshi it’s great on many counts to read your blog today.
Understand re the need to transfer to WordPress after the issue with bloggers shenanigans. It’s a shame, as the continuity is good. Google is a law unto itself.
Love the way you worked out how to Lunch all those wee circles for your slippers and your flowers look really wodnerful, very à la Shoshi! Bravo! That’s what my French friend says when I do well ?
Love the medical news too that dr sounds just perfect an dis obviously thorough in requesting further investigation.
And smiled re the referral letter too. A special blessing that isn’t it?
Happy belated WOYWW!
Oh, and I pray all goes well till the scan for the right decision to be made too. Had my big back filling on Tues and all went well, it’s behaving well thankfully.
Postponing the rest of my appointments and treatment til my fall injuries settle, the leg is going to take a while according to Dr yesterday so have to be patient.
Prayer hugs, Shaz in Oz. X #15
{Wonderful Words of Life – Shaz in Oz}
{Calligraphy Cards – Shaz in Oz}
PS would love it if you’d pop over to my Christian blog it’s the first link. I’ve calligraphy on it this week too.
I love the kitty cartoon. So true. Also the thinking process about going out in the first place. Sniff – how does the air smell today? I don’t know if I REALLY want to go out, maybe I will just sit here for awhile and let my human hold the door for me…LOL! Inky gets a count of 3, and then door closes. She’s really good at making up her mind by 3!
The slippers are so cute, I can’t wait to see them embellished with those beautiful flowers! It looks like you are having great fun! Hugs and scratches for the kitties, thanks for sharing, have a great week! Lindart #29