Busy busy busy
Well, sort of. Mostly. Er, kinda not.
I was in Birmingham on Wednesday, learning a new case instruction system soon to be inflicted on us. In actual fact it isn't that bad, and I suspect most of the office will catch on pretty quick. Good news for me, as I'm the person who's going to be teaching them. I'm the Office's Super User ( I want a cape) and I spent a good proportion of Thursday drawing up a presentation to run them through the main features and how they work. Much to my surprise I almost enjoyed it. I think it might be the challenge of sorting and arranging the information so that it links together in people's minds and sticks. This is going to be a thing in itself, as one of the older members of staff only found out about Internet Explorer tabs on Monday. Strangely for a card carrying introvert/hermit, I am not chewing bricks over having to give a tutorial to the whole office. Possibly because I am not the focus - the important thing is the new system, and so long as we can all use it, nobody gives a rat's ass.
Niece was finally diagnosed with tonsillitis and glandular fever at the same time, and is currently off work while she recovers. Somehow this has not stopped her getting another new boyfriend. Oy vey.
Mother is currently in Wales, visiting Aunt and scattering Nan's ashes. I think it's the first time she's been on a long trip since her operation in February, but I'm glad she's finally been able to go, as I know she wanted to. God knows what Pater's been up to in her absence.
I recently finished a couple of miniature books I cut the pages for a little while ago, too. For some reason I'm finding really teeny books appealing - I guess it may be the same sort of thing as miniature portraits and tiny pieces of jewellery - the use of a skill to make something tiny but in every way as detailed and beautiful as its larger counterpart. Longstitch binding works, as does cross-structure. I'm tempted to see if I can find a small amount of thin leather in a nice colour so I can make a super-tiny leatherbound journal. I'm also, very vaguely, starting to think about books with stuff in them, like artists books. There are quite a few ideas that lend themselves to teeny books, and I know for a fact that there's a festival of artists books in the Forum in May. I may not be good enough to enter this year, but maybe next time... On the other hand, I have a severe dislike of style over substance. In my mind, art needs to be underpinned with good quality craft to be good art, so I'm going to keep honing my binding skills so they are good enough to produce good books. If I can make art at the same time, then that's good too.
The other thing I've been thinking of is closing this blog. Livejournal has gone very quiet, and I have been thinking about a craft blog for a while now. I've got a Tumblr I use heavily, but it's not conducive to journalling. I'll see how I do.
I was in Birmingham on Wednesday, learning a new case instruction system soon to be inflicted on us. In actual fact it isn't that bad, and I suspect most of the office will catch on pretty quick. Good news for me, as I'm the person who's going to be teaching them. I'm the Office's Super User ( I want a cape) and I spent a good proportion of Thursday drawing up a presentation to run them through the main features and how they work. Much to my surprise I almost enjoyed it. I think it might be the challenge of sorting and arranging the information so that it links together in people's minds and sticks. This is going to be a thing in itself, as one of the older members of staff only found out about Internet Explorer tabs on Monday. Strangely for a card carrying introvert/hermit, I am not chewing bricks over having to give a tutorial to the whole office. Possibly because I am not the focus - the important thing is the new system, and so long as we can all use it, nobody gives a rat's ass.
Niece was finally diagnosed with tonsillitis and glandular fever at the same time, and is currently off work while she recovers. Somehow this has not stopped her getting another new boyfriend. Oy vey.
Mother is currently in Wales, visiting Aunt and scattering Nan's ashes. I think it's the first time she's been on a long trip since her operation in February, but I'm glad she's finally been able to go, as I know she wanted to. God knows what Pater's been up to in her absence.
I recently finished a couple of miniature books I cut the pages for a little while ago, too. For some reason I'm finding really teeny books appealing - I guess it may be the same sort of thing as miniature portraits and tiny pieces of jewellery - the use of a skill to make something tiny but in every way as detailed and beautiful as its larger counterpart. Longstitch binding works, as does cross-structure. I'm tempted to see if I can find a small amount of thin leather in a nice colour so I can make a super-tiny leatherbound journal. I'm also, very vaguely, starting to think about books with stuff in them, like artists books. There are quite a few ideas that lend themselves to teeny books, and I know for a fact that there's a festival of artists books in the Forum in May. I may not be good enough to enter this year, but maybe next time... On the other hand, I have a severe dislike of style over substance. In my mind, art needs to be underpinned with good quality craft to be good art, so I'm going to keep honing my binding skills so they are good enough to produce good books. If I can make art at the same time, then that's good too.
The other thing I've been thinking of is closing this blog. Livejournal has gone very quiet, and I have been thinking about a craft blog for a while now. I've got a Tumblr I use heavily, but it's not conducive to journalling. I'll see how I do.