OMG, I've gone insane!

So, I pack my secure job in with the NHS and don't have a job to go to. The least of my problems.

I'm running out of money and the bills are mounting up. Not a problem.

I'm getting loads of life modelling work, for which I'm paid fairly well. Great news.

I've got to register as self employed and learn how to pay my tax, national insurance and do my books myself. Oh bloody bugger, how the hell do I do that?!

So I phone tax credits up, then I phone the tax office, who will send me an info pack, send me on a seminar to do my taxes and a self assessment form will be wending it's way to me. That's the easy part.

I now have to organise a set of books, a reciept file, and invoice file and at the same time model, got to college and sell my work!

Oh yeah, because I had to think of a name for me as a trading name, I am now Sam Dexter Enterprises! OMG! I'm an enterprise! One step closer to Star Trek then!

My journey with computers

I decided I wanted a picture on the back of my blog, like other people have so I added one, with the help of a tutorial and a lost of scary writing code and I did it! I'm so proud of myself for doing it!

Do you like it? It's a photogram i did last year.

Now back to the annoying sewing which is proving to be very frustrating and I'm getting increasingly annoyed at the crap cotton that keeps snapping everytime i try to sew for more than 2 minutes at a time.

The canvas 8

Gradually working on the stitching, but the sewing threads selected for their colour and sheen to provide the best stitched effect are pants and keep snapping. Argle, very annoying.

However, sat and watched 2 episodes of the big bang theory and laughed my pants off. Series 2 is a little slow to start, but the jokes are as good as the spherical chickens in a vacuum one from series 1. Sadly, and happily living with Josh is a little like living with Sheldon only without the good jokes!

Right I've now eaten the yoghurt and will be continuing with the stitching shortly.

The canvas 7

More progress on the canvas, all the painting done and ready now for the stitching. Nervous about doing it, but I know what I want to do with it so I should be OK. At least this bit can be undone if it looks manky.I've also been making books the past couple of days, one for a present and I forgot to take a picture of it and one for an order book for me. Considering I'm starting to get people wanting me to make stuff for them, so I need to keep a record of what when and how they want their stuff making. Here's some pics of what I've done so far.
Spent the morning modelling and then food shopping after having a fab night over at my mate Angie's house for her birthday. We had a curry at the best curry house in Sheffield, the Kashmir on Spital Hill, then much wine, women and not a great deal of song at Angie's. She makes me laugh so much. Got to spend the night cuddled up to my mate Debbie.

It's funny actually 'cos when I was younger I used to stay over at friend's houses all the time and sleep in their beds, but haven't done it for years, and now suddenly I'm out overnight and spending nights cuddling my mates. It's really nice, even when they complain about my snoring. I do warn them, repeatedly. I snore like a fluey elephant. Real window rattlers. Oh well, it all adds to the fun.

Made fish stew with herring for tea, and big fluffy dumplings were also served with this culinary delight. Never used Herring before, full of bones! Nice though, it was a really nice thick and filling dinner. If anyone wants the recipe I'll post it later. Won't bore with it now.

Kinsey is on Film Four in a bit, but I think I'm too tired to watch it. Bit of an annoyance really, but I know I'll get half way through and either fall asleep or just not have any attention span.

I'm off to bed in a mo. Tired and busy day tomorrow. Got emails to send and sewing to do. Plus I may have to make a frame for my canvas.

Another night out

Over the past few years I have become miserable and antisocial, stayed in, hardly ever went to birthday do or other things, became a bit of a hermit. Not now. Oh no!

I was out last week for my leaving do, and this week I'm off to a birthday meal and next week I have another birthday do to go to. Gosh I wish I'd been this popular when I was young and gorgeous!

In honour of Angie, whose birthday do it is tonight, I have made a book for her. I was shown how to layer plastic upholstery sheets to make bags, and I decided, as I do, to use it to make and cover a book. It works great. It looks brill. Sorry can't add a photo, present not given yet!

I will post pics of the second one I have done later, when it is actually finished, so you can see the basic idea. It is also a useful technique for making buttons. I will demo this too.

Sorry this is a bit of a dull posting, just realised I'd not posted for a couple of days and I thought I'd share the dullness that is my life.

Submissions for Winter Open

Not a lot to say really. The works submitted to the winter open.

I am a bit knackered

I have been blogging a lot over the past few days, mainly because I have had a massive outflow of creativity, but as with all energetic outpourings, I have tired myself out and need to have a bit of a a rest.

I am close to finishing the painting part of my canvas, and the stitch work should go fairly quickly, as I already have the machine and the threads out and selected for the two tester pieces, and a very clear idea of how I want it to look and how I should proceed.

I also need to be making a birthday sketch book for my friend, Angie, and a wedding album for my friend Sharon, so I can put the photos I took on her wedding day into it.

In addition to this, I need to make a start on Christmas presents for the people I love, and to start building stock for the craft fayres I really need to start going to as soon as possible. Work? Sorry no time! Soon to have no money! Oh well, what's the worst that can happen, losing my house? Nah, been homeless before, it's a doddle! Lose my stuff? Easy peasy, done it. Lose my car? Oh no never! They can take my life but they'll never take my car! (In Hollywood style Scottish accent)

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Sorry, back now, just had to blow raspberries on the cat's belly. He hates it when I do that, so clearly I have to keep doing it. He'll figure it out in the end. The big fat cat did. Now he loves it.

Listened to a radio 4, the Moral Maze today, what a pile of uninformed rubbish, allegedly a debate about the power of Twitter and Facebook and whether it is fed by a mob mentality or is a positive force for political engagement and change. Clearly biased as the chair wouldn't allow a positive example of what FB and Twitter can achieve, and they only wanted to talk about the "mob" reaction to Jan Moir's article, claiming that despite the fact we "claim" to want freedom of speech, we don't want other people to be able to exercise it. Tosh, piffle and bilge water! I want everyone to have freedom of speech, even that toss pot Nick Griffin. What I really want is for people to intelligently and articulately prove that he's talking bollocks and that he is an uneducated deliberately ignorant fool who doesn't deserve the air he breathes. This is the responsibility of freedom of speech. Rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. Say what you like, but accept the consequences.

So Jan Moir, write what you like, but take the flak! We all know it was prejudiced, homophobic, uninformed ignorant crap, you just need to learn to read better, because clearly you didn't read the coroner's report AT ALL! Otherwise you wouldn't have made such glaringly stupid errors in your article.

Erm.....sorry I hadn't intended to rant, but I think I accidentally pressed the rant button. I've switched it off now. Normal(ish) service will be resumed shortly.

Oh yeah, here is a pic of the latest canvas, the full sized one, in progress.

Exit Questionnaire 2

It's set me thinking now, while I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the three things that I am doing at the same time, that an exit questionnaire would be quite useful in many situations. Also, do you get one when you die, as you are waiting to enter heaven/hell the next life? How would it look?

Oh I think I may have hit on something here.

Exit Questionnaire for the Recently Deceased

1. Why did you leave your last life

2. Did you have a satisfactory journey from that life to here?

3. Were your family aware of your impending departure?

4. Did you remember to make a will and if not would you like to witness the infighting in respect to your assets/debts?

5. Did you plan to live in eternal peace and harmony, or will you be surprised by what happens next?

6. If offered the option of reincarnation what would like to be?

7. Is there anything that we could do to improve your stay in heaven/hell/the next incarnation?

Just a few quick thoughts. Hey I could've done one for the end of my last relationship. Except of course that was already sorted out by the 3 page email.

Do we expect to understand every one's reasons for doing things when often it is simply impulse in most cases? Oh it's all getting a bit deep for me.

I wonder if the paint is dry..........................