What’s On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?
We have now been asking each other that question for a total of eleven years now! Not that I was involved at the beginning, but I’ve been around for a good few years. We usually do an ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap to celebrate the anniversary but this year, to save the overburdened postal service during the lockdown, our hostess Julia has suggested that instead, we tackle a UFO (UnFinished Object) – we all have those, and supposedly having more time on our hands during the lockdown, we would have no excuse for not completing them!
I have not found my life to be much different from normal during the lockdown as I am more or less housebound unless my hubby takes me out, so I haven’t had much more time available than usual.
My UFOs
Pantry jar labels
Most of my UFOs involve far too much work to be completed in a week or two, and I have been hard pressed to select a single one to share with you, but on Monday I decided to tackle something that has been hanging around for a while – making some new labels for my pantry jars. Last week I tidied the pantry (most of it) and sorted out stuff I no longer want since embarking on the whole-food plant-based lifestyle, and I made a long list of things that did not yet have labels. I had a lot of jars with pieces of paper attached with rubber bands, and I needed to make some new labels to match the original ones I had made. I cannot complete the job because there are several items which require jars, and I am waiting for my hubby to wade his way through the fairly large jars of instant coffee that I recycle for use in the pantry! I think I may also have to order a few more extra-large clip-top jars.
Anyway, I found the template I’d made for the initial labels, and made some more in the 3 sizes, printed them out on 100 gsm paper, sprayed them with inkjet fixative, and fussy-cut them out.
I spent the evening sticking them on the respective jars, using regular matt gel medium.
Here are the two main shelves of the pantry with the jars in place – gaps waiting to be filled. The lower shelf is a marble slab for coolness. It is rather difficult to photograph because the light is poor – the upper shelf casts a shadow. There is an overhead light that comes on when you open the pantry door. It is also rather difficult to photograph inside the pantry because it is very small! You can see my water filter, a bowl with some soya beans soaking in it, ready to make soya milk the next day, and my seed sprouter. The jars at the back of the slab on the left need sorting. On the small shelves the jars mostly contain rice, seeds and nuts, with some oddments at the sides. Behind me on the right is my large spice rack (out of shot) and floor-to-ceiling very narrow shelves for extra storage.
The upper shelf. This is much easier to photograph, and contains the larger jars, containing more seeds and nuts that I use in larger quantities, grains, legumes, and dried fruit. The shelves on the left have tinned fruit and various odds and ends, and out of shot, tea and coffee, bottles of sauces and vinegars and other things in constant use. On the inside of the door are several magazine racks containing rolls of cling film, foil, baking parchment etc., and the middles of kitchen rolls containing freezer bags, a hook for my apron and the clipboard with my shopping lists.
On the floor below the bottom shelf is chaos – baskets of opened packets of most things in the jars – too much to decant into the jars. I need to get that better organised. The large bulk packs of dry goods from my whole-food supplier are all in cupboards elsewhere in the house.
There are still some labels left over, waiting for new jars to stick them on.
So, I may not have actually completed this particular UFO, but I’ve got as far as I can for now. The pantry is actually an ongoing project anyway, because I am getting new ingredients as my repertoire of whole-food plant-based recipes expands, and it’s a working environment which is never really static.
Shoshi Fesses Up
I think I must be the worst UFO offender on earth. I have so many that they are actually cluttering up my studio – some of them occupy a whole shelf each. When the UFO suggestion came up, it was like this huge black cloud looming, tinged with guilt and all sorts of other negative emotions!! I have so many UFOs and try not to think about them too much or they depress me with their glowering presence, threatening to take over the whole house and burying us like a slow-moving, all-engulfing lava flow. In centuries to come, archaeologists will dig through them all and find our skeletons, perfectly preserved.
The presence of so many UFOs must say something about me. I am either a highly creative person who needs to indulge every urge for fresh creativity in order not to stem the flow, or I am the most undisciplined person on earth. I really rather hope that I am the former, but my mum would definitely say I was the latter.
I thought I would try and dig them out and show them to you. Looking at them, I am ashamed at how long some of them have been hanging around – some for longer than some of our younger WOYWW members have been alive!!! Every year, pretty high up on my list of New Year’s resolutions, is my intention to complete them all. Every year……. Epic fail!!! They are my great guilt burden.
Albums
A large album about Dad, that I started making while he was still alive. When he died, I needed to make another, smaller one about him to give to my niece, his only grandchild, and I then went off the boil with this one. The box containing all the materials, background info etc. takes up a whole shelf in my studio.
Three mini-albums to be bound together, on different techniques using Infusions paints. All that needs to be done now is the binding.
Embroidery
Alphonse Mucha cross stitch picture. I scanned the design into the computer and used a cross stitch programme to produce the chart. Unfortunately I chose far too many colours and they were extremely similar. The work is very fine, and I started to go wrong, and at that stage I more or less lost the will to live over this one. Started many years ago!
Canvaswork cushion cover based on Palestinian cross stitch designs. All that is needed now is to find some backing fabric and make it up. Another one started years ago!
Embroidered pieces for bed drapes. I started this project years ago and every now and then get it going again – I last worked on it since we moved to our present house so it’s more a work in progress than a UFO.
Hebrew alphabet sampler. I started this when I was doing my Hebrew classes back in the mid 1990s. I do pick it up and add a few stitches now and then.
Two quilted cushion covers. I think I was given the owl one that someone else had started, and the blue one is a Japanese style design that we did at a day-school with the embroidery group I used to belong to in Plymouth – we left Plymouth in 1999!
Cross stitch panel, again based on Palestinian designs. I can’t remember when I started this one.
Sumak stitch rug. This has to win all the prizes for being the oldest UFO on the block, and I challenge anyone to beat me on this one! It was a project started by a lady who was losing her sight, and she gave it to me because she could no longer see enough to work it. It has quite a few mistakes in it, and I spent a lot of time trying to work out why the pattern wasn’t working. If I had started this project, I would have begun in the middle, not with the border. I think I was still living at home with Mum and Dad when I got it, and I moved out in 1979, which makes this particular UFO at least 41 years old!! I told you I had some that were older than some of our WOYWW members!
Knitting
A jumper I made before I put on all that weight. The waistband was always too tight, and for years, I was too fat to wear it anyway. I need to unravel the ribbing and redo it.
A scarf I knitted to go with a jumper of the same design. All it needs is a large decorative tassel on each end. This is another pretty old UFO.
Purple circles jumper. This is a current work in progress, but it qualifies as a UFO because I’ve only just revived it after several years.
Peacock scarf. I made the scarf last year but ran out of steam with all that fringing on the peacock feathers because it was such a fiddle to do.
Another ancient UFO. I remember knitting this while I was recovering from my hysterectomy in 1995! I picked up the stitches around the neck at least twice, and it is still all puckered. I am definitely going to redo this. In the interim period I was too fat to wear it anyway but it fits me now!
The last piece of a knitted dress I made many years ago, which I am unravelling. If I had hung on, I probably wouldn’t have unravelled it because I could probably fit into it now, but the wool will be useful for other projects.
Again, more of a work in progress than a UFO – my knitted bunting. I heard today that the County Show has actually been cancelled altogether now, so there’s no pressure to finish this bunting. They had a project to produce the longest knitted bunting in the world to get into the Guinness Book of Records, to celebrate their 125th anniversary. If the project has been abandoned, I shall just make this for myself.
Teabags
My teabag bleaching project. You can see them on the table, and the wooden printing blocks on the sink beyond.
Stitching teabags together. If I really perfect the bleaching process, I intend doing larger designs on these panels and maybe embroidering or embellishing them in some way.
Four whole boxes of teabags waiting to have the tea emptied out! I have been saving and drying a teabag every day for ages. It’s a chore emptying them but they would take up considerably less room without the tea, and the tea could be used to fertilise the garden.
Finally, the chandelier I bought for our downstairs loo after we had the jungle theme decorated, together with some little humming birds and butterflies that I am going to use to alter the chandelier. This stuff has been cluttering up the place for too long.
Do I win the booby prize for being the worst UFO offender? I am sure nobody else is as hopelessly undisciplined as I am…
At least I finished this:
My hubby’s birthday card
As I started to show you last week, I have made him an accordion card with pictures of all his favourite teddies on it. You can see the full description and lots of pictures here, but here are a few.
Although this has nothing to do with the teddy theme, I put one of my Celtic knots on the front because my hubby liked them, and the colour scheme was right.
I inked the back, and also made a box envelope for it. All pictures on the other blog post. Needless to say, he was delighted with it! We had a Zoom group meeting with his side of the family (he is a twin, so a double celebration of the birthday) and we all ate virtual cake and my hubby blew out his candle (virtually!).
Food
No recipe of the week this week, because I’ve been very busy with other things, but I can report that I am having great success with my new Soyabella soya milk making machine. It is rubbish for nut milk and I shall continue to use my high speed blender and nut bag for that, but the soya milk is great. Soya beans need to be cooked in order to be digestible, and making the milk without the machine is a pain because it involves cooking it on the stove, but the machine both grinds the soaked beans and cooks them – you just press the button and leave it to do its stuff.
I have discovered that the natural sugars present in soya closely resemble the lactose found in dairy milk, and that the Lactobacillus bacteria in yoghurt cultures acts very well on it. I had no success with almond milk yoghurt because it won’t thicken, and adding thickeners or gelling agents such as agar do not produce the right consistency. The soya yoghurt is thickening beautifully, but the flavour is somewhat bland, and lacking the lovely sharpness of dairy yoghurt, but I have read that with subsequent batches, the quality improves. I am also making kefir with the soya milk, and again, while it does thicken, the flavour is very bland.
On Monday the tofu press I ordered from Ebay arrived, along with the required coagulant. I am looking forward to making my own tofu from the home-made soya milk. I will let you know how I get on.
Seed sprouting and microgreens
This project is going extremely well and I have harvested several lots of sprouted seeds now. I’ve done a couple of blog posts about it. Here is the state of play as of yesterday. I started another batch of alfalfa (my favourite) and the second batch of fenugreek is getting going nicely. The pea microgreens will be ready to harvest probably tomorrow. They have grown beautifully and are now producing tendrils, and they smell marvellous! Next time I shall do a much bigger batch.
Kitties
On Sunday (24th May, also our wedding anniversary), the kitties will celebrate their third birthday! I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown, and how they have transformed from this (9 weeks old, just after they came to us):
to the two great lumps they are now, weighing over a stone together!!
Two fun photos of them as tea time approaches, on two separate days. My hubby and I inside, and the kitties outside, “Please let us in for our tea!”
and my hubby and I outside, and the kitties inside, “Please hurry up and come in and give us our tea!”
I am sorry I didn’t manage to visit many of you last week – a very busy week. Happy 11th WOYWW anniversary, everyone, and happy UFO-completing!
Wow what a lot of UFOs. So many wonderful projects in your show and tell today.
Thanks for your love and friendship over the last 11 years.
Hugs,
Annie x #11
A beautiful finished card for your husband’s birthday Shoshi. Plenty of UFOs but also lots of finished projects over the last few weeks. The seedlings are coming on nicely. Meow to Lily ad Ruby. Stay safe and happy WOYWW 11th anniversary. Sarah #15
Morning Shoshi. Goodness – I think your UFO cupboard actually is bigger than mine – as for the age… when we lived in Rhuddlan, a village about 20 miles East of here, I belonged to the WI. As is the way of these things, the WI closed – but we decided we would like to meet together as a craft group. We agreed to each bring along our own work and just spend a couple of hours doing whatever. The ex president turned up with a project – an embroidered tablecloth – beautiful work She told us she had started it some time ago… apparently, it turned out, she had started it for her Bottom drawer – and had just celebrated her golden wedding! There’s hope for us all!
Love hubby’s birthday card.
Happy anniversary to you both on Sunday.
Take care. Stay safe. God bless.
Margaret #3
Happy 11th Anniversary WOYWW. Firstly, the accordion teddy card is truly incredible. You put so much effort and detail into every project, which tires me out just reading, so I have no idea where you find the energy. This then relates to your UFOs, all of which are amazing crafting, even not finished. I don’t start any big projects now, as I just don’t have the time whilst this busy period of my life continues (website, crafting, house, garden, pets etc etc). I only changed the Theme of my website a couple of days ago, and I love the airmail part on the comments section too. It took a few hours to get it all sorted, as the layout was very different to my original theme. However it is more ‘crafty’ and suits what my website is all about. Ali x #18
Oh my what amazing UFOs you have there – All that wonderful textile art – I just want to get in and pick it and inspect nay stroke it!! Thanks for sharing. Happy bloggiversary! xx Jo
Wow – you do have quite a bit to be doing – we are a bit like butterflies , flitting from one project to another i guess. i love the lables and you must be pleased too with how the pantry is organised now. ooo would love a pantry – we used to have a walk in one when i was young – i do miss it . Take care and have a great week. soojay #27
Happy 11th Bloggyversary Shoshi! Wow, you win today’s prizes for having the most UFOs on the go, lol!! I really enjoyed seeing the various embroideries/tapestries you had on show, I think I would have given up on the Mucha as well though. I was interested in the Hebrew designs, I really do like middle eastern artwork, it speaks to me. Your jar labels are very swish too, they really do make all the difference.
HUgs LLJ 4 xxx
Hi Shoshi, wow that is indeed an impressive amount of UFO’s! I have probably hundreds, but as they are all paper/card, at least don’t take up much room,lol. Love the labels for your pantry, beautifully done. The house we lived in when I was around 10 onwards had a pantry rather like that complete with the marble slab. Love the kitty pics, wow, I’d never have guessed it’s been 3 years. Hubbys card looks fab, and the images have so much texture. Happy Anniversary to you both, Stay safe, have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #12 X
Ooh I love your UFOs – so many that I remember and some absolute favourites, like the mauve spot Kaffe Fassett jumper and the embroidered pieces for the bed drapes. And now new ones to enthuse over, like the beautiful Hebrew alphabet, the Palestinian embroidery and that gorgeous tapestry cushion cover. I can understand how having so many projects can be overwhelming but you really do have some treasures there. I had to laugh at the four boxes of tea bags, you’ll have enough to wall paper your house soon! I love your hubbies birthday card – what a fab idea.
Happy Wedding Anniversary to you both and happy birthday to the gorgeous kitties,
Diana xx #28
Hi Shoshi, please do not feel guilty or ashamed at your UFO’s I for one am very much the same, I have cupboards I will probably never open again in my lifetime because I know what’s behind them. I remember some of your UFO’s the peacock scarf is one I will always remember, I do hope you managed to work around those fussy tassles as it will be a talking piece when finished.
I bet those boxes of dried tea bags smell fantastic each time you open them, I have quite a few stored myself but no way on the scale that you have.. they look fantastic when stitched.
Well done on re-labeling the jars and hubby Bday card is fabulous, Happy Birthday & Anniversary cheers all rolled into one, I hope you have a wonderful and cosy day together on Sunday.
Take care & stay very safe & Happy 11th WoywW Anniversary Tracey #10
oh my that lot will keep you going a few years!! I have several cross stitch projects that I completely forgot about (but would have been even less likely to do than the canvas!) I really should pass them on….I can’t believe the kitties are 3 already (well, nearly) and happy anniversary to you both too . Take care and stay safe. Helen #2
meant to say also, how fab the jars look all labelled up!
Happy 11th anniversary, Shoshi. How incredible. You DO have a lot of projects. I read and read and read and read and (you get the picture) all the things you had in progress. This post must have taken you forever to complete. I like those labels. I like the seed starters, and I loved seeing the kitties, too. Now I’m surprised I made it through to the end (grin). Happy WOYWW from # 6.
Hi Shoshi!
Happy 11th Anniversary!
I have read your anniversary post with great interest! Your labels look very nice and I think your pantry looks very organized. (mine is a right mess) I was amazed at the amount of absolutly stunning UFOs you have! I also have a lot but I must admit you beat me at the age of your UFOs. Still I haven’t been crafting as long as you have but I think we both like to do all sorts of things and sometimes you just get bored with things! 🙂 Thank you for your kind words about my felting project! I did enjoy making it!
Love and hugs,
CARDARIAN
Wow, Shoshi that is a lot of UFOs!!
Happy WOYWW anniversary, anyway, and I love the labels you have done for your larder, absolutely brilliant, and what can I say about the accordion card, amazing!
Bet hubby was thrilled with it.
Thanks for sharing
Chris #8
So many great projects, looks like you’ve been very busy. Thanks for all your great coments and wishing you a happy and creative woyww Anniversary, Angela x17x
Happy anniversary Shoshi and that is a lot of UFO’s. You can safely share the pics without judgment from one who has few similar items. Perhaps it reflects the diverse range of our skills that we have so many projects on the go. Your pantry cupboard is a work of art in itself. Love the card and the kitties have grown into a handsome couple. Stay safe and keep creating.
Sandra de @16
WOW you sure have a lot of UFO’s and I thought I had a lot lol Maybe something to do with this lock down,
Have a good week and stay safe,
Lilian B #21
Well that was a fascinating tour of your UFOS! I have to say that each one is a delight, but seriously, if they give you the bad guilts, ‘move them on’. It’s not like the clothes rule that if you’re you haven’t worn it for a year and all that, but there are probably things you could finish that will give you great pleasure and others that will remain a chore. As for the quantity, we’ll I’m not sure your singular in that at all, as you may be finding out by visiting on WOYWW 11. What I am pretty sure balustrade though is that they’re probably the most ambitious! I love the Palestinian cross stitch and of course the idea of the scrapbook of your dear Father’s life., the others scare me!! I also think that the pantry labels are a good job done, only unfinished because you can’t finish them, which is a wholly legitimate reason for UFO, I’m sure. The tea bags made me laugh!! park a box next to your garden chair and take a bowl out with you whenever you sit outside, they’ll soon be done!
Horrible your/you’re mistakes and other predictive typing, apologies!
Don’t feel quilty for having so many UFO’s, life’s too short to a) finish it while it doesn’t make you happy and b) feel quilty about it. We have enough ‘to do’s’ that we cannot put aside to add more of our own to the list, just do whatever you like! I wish you a happy, sunny week! Happy anniversary dear one, stay safe! Big hug from Holland. Marit #32
Lovely Shoshi. Sorry its not working properly so will hasten.
Happy WOYWW 11. Great to have friendships. Think your UFOs are wonderful would be great to see them finished. Loved card.. one of most amazing. Keep safe and well prayibg God’s blessing. Shaz.x #7
What a super post!! Love all those UFOs, I have several dotted about the house. I have the biggest – a dollhouse which needs to be repaired and decorated – but definitely not so interesting.
Love that card of teddies, an excellent idea.
Happy Anniversary
Take care and stay safe
Christine #31
Happy belated WOYWW Anniversary! I have finished my marking so can now comment on blogs. I love your collection of UFOs, always something to interest you! The finished labeling in the pantry looks incredibly smart. Take care my friend and stay safe. With love & God Bless, Caro x (#19)
Happy anniversary Shoshi, that is a lot of UFO’s. I was amazed at how many I had and also how many I had that I hadn’t started! Like you my days are not very different from before the lockdown. I usually have a massage once a week as it really helps, I am missing that. All your projects are lovely, I love the peacock scarf. So do you actually speak Hebrew? Have a great weekend x Angela#44
What a wonderful, crazy collection of UFOs – I don’t see anything wrong with UFOs – it just means you have lots of choices to come back to and they hold so much promise. It’s better to have started and abandoned a project than never have started at all! How about that for a motto LOL! Your collection of teabags is jaw-dropping! And I thought I was bad LOL! Sounds like lots to celebrate in the Shoshi household – Happy Birthday to Nicholas (that accordian card is something special!), Happy Wedding Anniversary and third anniversary with the kitties (can’t believe how time flies, seems like they were kittens just yesterday!) and Happy 11th WOYWW anniversary as well. Thanks for your visit Shoshi! xx
Oh my goodness I’m exhausted looking at all your pieces. Think I need a lie down.
I’m also terrifically impressed.
Happy 11th Anniversary Shoshi
Lynn xxx
Hi again Shoshi, thanks so much for visiting and your kind comments. The paper clay is probably very similar to the air drying clay you have, it doesn’t need kiln firing and is very light weight and fairly strong. I like working with it because it’s quite easy to mould and dried fairly quickly.
Forgot to say in my previous visit that I love your pantry labels – the jars look fabulous all labelled in the same style.
Diana x
You have a lovely selection of projects on the go Shoshi !! Thank you for visiting my blog recently. For some reason your new blog doesn’t appear in my blog reader. I’ve noticed it too with one or two other blogs I like to follow… ! It’s lovely to see you’re brimming over with lovely creative ideas. I will try and visit more often.
Lovely kitty photos, they are so photogenic.
Well there is evidence of a lot of work here Shoshi, you are such an accomplished artist in so many ways. I love the neatness of the labels and how you fussy cut them all out I will never know. Such dedication. Congrats on the hubby card, a lovely thought and well executed.
Hugs, Neet 5 xx
Thanks for your new comment Shoshi! Yes the kitties were definitely destined to be yours – we don’t know Oreo’s exact date of birth but we calculated that he would have been born on my son’s birthday or very close to it, so we designated that as his birthday. Some things are just meant to be! Enjoy the rest of the week! xx
Hi Shoshi,
I can’t seem to get my act in gear at the moment for WOYWW and all the workdesk gallivanting it entails – have managed only one blog post in the past few weeks, which was more of a catch-up for myself than anything else. Just had to pop by anyway to see what the kitties were up to, and then got absorbed in the making of the teddy-bear birthday card and this week’s UFO confessional. The card is wonderful – more a gift than a card really, something to treasure and enjoy long after the birthday celebrations have finished!
I feel that your hubby and I could be dangerous if we were let loose together in a parade of charity shops, as I, too, have a habit of re-homing little cuddly toy waifs and strays, and I don’t just limit myself to teddy-bears! I do have quite strict self-imposed criteria though – they have to really stand out from the furry crowd in some way – as my other half is far to indulgent of my crazy ways to put his foot down for me.
I also have a few ancient guilty secrets stored in cupboards and drawers around the house. There’s a half-finished red paisley cotton shirt from the mid 1980s, and a large cushion-cover sized section of hand sewn patchwork quilt (tiny hexagons, big mistake, was never going to happen) from the same era. A flower-fairies cross-stitch from the 1990s, and a watercolour copy of John Singer Sargent’s “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” from who knows when, both of which are incomplete around the edges. I’m not going to include the vast stash of knitting yarn, because it’s not unfinished if you haven’t yet started!
I’m impressed by your dedication to the teabag bleaching project, and rather intrigued – but I don’t want to know too much more about it because I might get tempted to have a go at whatever it is myself, and I simply wouldn’t have the requisite storage space!
Have a good bank holiday weekend!
Amelia
Hi Shoshi! What a pile of UFO’s! Please don’t take offence, but I can see quite a few that could be re-gifted or sent to a thrift shop for someone else to finish, and voila! You don’t have to think about them anymore! I finally did this with a few of my knitting projects, I actually unravelled one sweater that I worked on in my 20’s, I was never going to get to it, so I made it into a ball of yarn and sent it to the thrift shop. I would keep the special projects, and get rid of the rest. Your pantry looks awesome, I love the labels! I am not a tofu fan, but I am interested to see how your homemade tofu turns out! Happy Anniversary, glad to be your WOYWW friend! Lindart #40