Circa 2007...

...I have been a-rummaging in the old Room of Stashly Goodies (like the new name? Bit better than the boring Room of Stash....)  Anyways... I was rummaging last night, looking for a bag of found metal stuff that I have hoarded for yonks... and I found something I made on April 15th... 2007!!!  I know... SIX years ago!  Before I had a blog... which means that there is a fair chance this has never seen the light of yonder t'internet.  So I thought, being as I have nothing else ready to blog, I would show you my first forays into the World of Distress.  And here it is:

My very first exploding box... I won't point out that the lid is mahoosively too big for the boxy bit... maths has never been my strong point, as Miss Egar, my Maths teacher would concur, she spent a very long year of lunch breaks giving me the benefit of her mathly cleverness... I am sure that she was probably thinking "dear God, what did I do to deserve this child..."  Anyways... maths, measuring and all that stuff ain't going on in my old brain, hence we had an overlarge lid.  I made up the measurements as I went along, see, planning and preparations aren't a strong point either lol   

So.  A chance phone call from my friend Andrea, who said "here, guess what?  Guess who is coming to Puffin Crafts to demo!"   And I said "go on, who...." And she said "Tim Holtz"   After which, there was several minutes of squealing and breathless excitement.  Well, the day arrived and our "gang" all headed to old Londinium to see the Maestro at work.  It was February 2007 and I had just discovered rubber stamping and all things Distress.  After standing, all agog, at the marvelous things that Tim was doing with Distress Inks and his new cling mounted stamps (yes, it was that long ago... some of the sets I used on this box are from the first release and bear in mind the number of sets is now in excess of 100... and the words were all woodies)  Anyways... I bought myself a few Distress Ink pads... and started my obsession collection.  At the time there were only 24 colours in the range too!  And I can still name them all... but I shalln't cos that would be waaaay too boring for you (although it would be impressive being as I have trouble remembering my own name these days)  In fact, I can name all 48 now and I know what the colours are too... teehee...

I know this creation is pretty simples but you have to remember I was a beginner... and I was still driving trains full time too so this was just a hobby and sometimes, if I had long shifts, I would go a week without getting inky fingers!  Imagine!   And I remember the Sunday afternoon I made it too... I was soooo chuffed with my creation that I took it work with me the next day and was showing it off and I kept looking at it... because all of a sudden my crafty world had changed, forever and for the better.

Anyways, forgive me for my little trip down Memory Lane... and just pray I never find my scrapbooks (oh yesh, I used to scrapbook like a demon... I have very lots of them... somewhere... maybe in the loft... or in that safe place I keep forgetting about lol)   I shall away now... for today we are setting off for a little break in North Wales and I needs to get some sleep (it is gone midnight now... ) and we have an early start so we don't end up getting caught in traffic.   Thanks for all your lovely comments about poor old Grim's toe.   The bruising has really come out now... it resembles a big old mouldy black grape... as does the toe next to it.  I was going to get a photo of it and share it with you but then I remembered that you could well be eating your Weetabix as you read this and I don't want to be responsible for stomachs being turned.  And with that delightful thought, I shall bid you a very goodly day!  Thanks for looking (and indulging an old dear a spot of reminiscing)  TTFN

Hels x