Funeral broadcast

We have been approved to have far more concurrent connections to view the funeral than the maximum limit imposed previously.

This means instead of being capped at 150 we can now have upto 400.

So to view it please check back on the evening of the 18th march for the log-in details.

Also if you would like to send a picture of yourself and or family to place on an unoccupied pew email them across to me and i will print them and take them in personally. 
Email address is dsjbrooks (at) gmail.com 
Please add Picture for funeral in the description of the email, and reply below to say you have sent it.

A picture of the bird being silly, cus why not :)

WOYWW but its the last one.....

Welcome back you lovely lot X

 
So here is a dilemma I faced the other day, you see I asked the lovely Annie to make me some bears, not just a few either as we are a large loving family.

So I did what anyone would do and think, right I need a thank you card. 

Shaz made large amounts of cards, and kept them in a large box all sorted with index cards so you could find them ( I know right how organised is that?) , anyway when I go into box to get a card out there is just the one thank you card left.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, it was meant to be.

But for me I was in a dilemma, this was Sharon's last thank you card, and it was sealed down, how could i open it and use it, I wanted to save it....

So conflicted I take it out the box and take it downstairs, staring at it willing it to somehow multiply, but alas it did not. So still unopened I went to bed, the next morning the bears were due home (they may need a lift, it's a long walk and they only have short legs) so I needed to make a decision.

I could almost hear Sharon mocking me "the cards are to be given, not kept, you keep received cards not unsent ones"  

Anyway I open it and to my dismay, there is no stamp on the back?, It is sealed you unfinished? WTF, this cant be right!

I can't hand this over like this, it has to have a stamp on the back, Sharon's handmade by ShazSilverwolf, it was not there...


Slow down, yes I did but let me tell it.....

Now I am not a stamper, so I could really stuff it up, right, couldn't I?

This is the last of its kind, there will be no more of these made by my wonderful Wifelet, and I am about to deface it.

The decision was made, the next challenge was to actually find the stamp, it had to be close to hand as surely it was in constant use, so a draw maybe, on the desk possibly.

And it was, but OMG the ink, wtf does she need this many ink pads for, ink is ink right, I get the different colours but come on... Really?  

There is just so much of it!

So with shaking hands after looking at the colours on the table, at the bottom of the pile is one that compliments the colour on the front of the card, it’s a "VersaFine Clair  - Warm Breeze" and I am now looking for Sir Tim Holt's stamping platforms, (look I am a noob ok , don't judge)  Shaz had at least 3 of them in this room ........somewhere......But I can’t find them.

I am going to have to free hand this bad boy

 The time is ticking and i need to be on the road, so the stamp gets peeled off and stuck on the acrylic stamping blocks, cleaned with the baby wipe and dabbed dry on kitchen towel and I practice until I am happy.


Jobs a good one, I did it and it looks kind of OK, not wonky, not as defined as I would like, but I did it, go me!


I close the ink pad, dry it and think, but there are other things on that sheet, and the top needs something. Like the newbie I am, I open the inkpad upside down and end up with ink on my finger.



Does this make me a crafter or clumsy ?

                                                         answers in the comments below


I then balance it out with little crow, and dragonfly that was with the set, (had a smart and stuck them on opposite ends of the long thin acrylic block, give them a quick dry with the warm air gun and take it down stairs feeling like Shaz is just grinning at me all the way down stairs.

I did not think to take a picture of the back of the now finished card, but i am Sure Annie will be sharing it ..

For actual proper bona fide, qualified crafting head over to the queen of the deskers at the stamping ground  and check out some more crafty goodness from those that actually know what they are doing.


Another gratuitous picture on our way to Tenerife back in 2016

And that just leaves the and  finally ...

Note to self type much less ha ha 

Donations preferred over flowers please

 I have been asked about flowers etc for Sharon's funeral..

 We will of course be having some on top of the coffin, and if you feel like you would very much like to do something in memory of Sharon please donate to either Cancer research UK or Wolf Watch UK or both.

You guys know the history of sharon and cancer, but let's talk about the wolf side (no she is not part wolf) but she did love them, so much so that I adopted one for her through wolf watch UK, this Wolf called Pepe sadly passed away in 2017 but before that we went out to see him.

A nice day out in 2009 to visit wolf watch
featuring Maddah 

Pepe was a male Timber wolf  bourn in west Midlands safari park back in 2004, where he was ousted in a scuffle for dominance.

Pepe lived out the rest of his days at wolf watch where he was able to roam the vast 100 acre with a beautiful valley on the shropshire/welsh border.

In Sharon's memory I have adopted 2 new wolves  Bosch and Sansa, and plan on continuing to do so going forward.

Meet Bosh, Bosch is a grey wolf (almost silver) and is not quite a year old born in may 2020, he was owned privately until the human malware pandemic meant that his owner could no longer afford to look after him.

He has been well socialised and extremely well cared for.

 Bosch is settling in nicely in his new home and has a delightful nature. He appears to be quite comfortable around women but is cautious of men he has not met before.

Sansa is as the name suggests is a female, born  April 2016, she is a Norwegian wolf, hence why I was drawn to her.

She is inquisitive, and likes to know what is going on, and is typically the first to investigate food, or chase of birds trying to steal the meal.

Sansa is a wild wolf, and not social at all, although she is getting used to people passing by the enclosure.

Funny thing about the Norwegian bit, take a look here 



Wolf Watch was established in 1993 by the founder Tony Haighway, and has been a safe haven for displaced  wolves ever since. It is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rescue, welfare and conservation of displaced wolves from captive situations across Europe.

Please use the links below to donate , thank you 

 

The Hublet gets the hang of posting edition WOYWW

Where to start, I think it best if we choose the thank you's as it kind of makes sense to do so, or at the beginning as that may be best? 

Nay I say let us start with a picture and work our way from there :)

So this is an image of get well cards, yes we had some arrive while shaz was in hospital, and because I stayed in there too, I arrived to find them in the letter rack as my brothers and sister went through the house tidying and removing some of the medical equipment etc which I was thankful for none of the equipment was thrown away, it was not an issue to find them honestly xxx
Now this picture is a collection of all of them, including the care package Shaz mentioned in an earlier post.

A Shaz post would not be right without more images, so here is one of the cards (and Cake, there is always cake?)

Special shout out to Annie for the cake, honestly that is 2 slices consumed not one large one and only by moi, and my life is it nice, seriously nice xx

 
Talking of Annie Sharon's Beautiful wedding dress and cape are now with Annie for some of her Memory bears  they managed to drive themselves their all on there own, no lock down rules were broken or dented  to get them there or the aforementioned cake back home to me.....honest guv ;)

So now onto the rest of the thank you's I have read (but not always replied) I would be here forever if I tried, but I have read them all (Sharon was well loved), each and every comment, some made me smile, laugh or cry which was expected so thank you all for each and every one, they have kept me going and are helping in keeping me sane.

Shaz was a member of many private Facebook groups (too many to list), I had no idea she was so involved in some of them (not surprised this is Shaz after all) dang she was/is so respected. the love and respect that poured from them was heartfelt, thank you xxx

Now for the sh!tty sad part, lockdown!!!!!


Due to the human malware crisis we are in, even if you could travel (which most can't) we can only accommodate 30 attendees, now we do still have a small amount of spaces left, so if you are midlands based and would like to attend please get in touch e-mail me here Clicky and provide a link to where you and Shaz have commented on your own blog to weed out the crazies (the cookie kind not the crafty kind ;) if I have a slot it's yours but please note there are currently 4 left and i really want to fill it will crafters as crafting and crafters kept her going when the going was tough x


Time for another picture, this one though is from my desk, or one of them at least, and what I am working on.

Well on the left hand screen I have a folder containing loads of pictures, some I have had to scan in as we kind of pre-date digital cameras. 

You should  recognise blogger on the right hand screen, below it is an Amazon show 5
Front and centre is the project I am working on, a slideshow to music using the pictures we (or others have taken) over the 28 years we have been together.
Screen 4 the little one underneath is a YouTube playlist I am working on of favourite songs we both loved, along with three used in the project. 

As for the funeral it is looking to take place at the Redditch Crematorium on the 19th march at 10:15am and it will be broadcast, once I have that link I will of course share it with you lovely lot. The stream can support between 100-150 simultaneous views so please only watch on one device as i don't want it being taken off-line, so I think it best i figure out a way to get it you rather than simply post it in here, that is unless someone wants to be the one to share it?

Post Covid we will of course crop, and morn Shaz properly, at least one of Sharon's siblings would also like to attend,  of course I will be still attending the crops as you are my extended family too x.

Going to call it there for this one as its dragged on a bit, well done on staying with and reading up to now :)

as a reward a random sweet photo taken back in July 2007 on Crete 

I have this scheduled to go live at 6 am, and if I am up I will do the linky too, if not I will do it later, if you want to see some actual crafting for that you will have to go elsewhere I am afraid, so check in with our own queen of the desk Julia at the stamping ground and take a peek at what is going on. 

And that just leaves the and finally...

An end of an era

I write this with a broken heart, that only time can heal

My beautiful, wonderful wifelet Shaz (Silverwolf) passed away peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning (13/02/2021) she was not in any pain, she simply drifted off to sleep never to wake up again. possibly the best outcome we could ever have wished for and a way most i think would want to go.

I had been blessed to have met my soulmate while I was quite young and eventually married her. We both loved each other deeply, we had planned on spending eternity together, but apparently, eternity in our case was just 28 years long.

All those years were always filled with love, laughter, and friendship, we had our hardships like most couples but we never fought with each other, even despite the difficulty we endured over the last few years.

Shaz found an extended family in the crafting community, it was a passion of hers, a talent that I was incredibly proud of her for, she like yourselves could see the finished project even before starting it, in the same way a sculptor can in a bucket of clay. Shaz was also known as the enabler, for her ability to hunt out bargains and test them against brand products and reviews of them. I dare say many a penny or two may have been spent as a result of one of her post by not only Shaz but also yourselves :)

Shaz was never selfish with the knowledge she gained from countless experimentations in the search for results she was looking for, in fact she would often document it and share it online for others to benefit from, techniques learned were always shared.

Looking back, there are very few pictures of my wonderful wifelet not smiling, and of those when she wasn't, it was often substituted with a grimace of sheer bloody determination the glass was half full, it was seldom half empty. I am going to sign of with a few pictures of our Shaz with some of you wonderful crafters who I also like to call my friends too.

You welcomed me into your crafting community, and never once did I feel left on the side-lines despite not being a crafter myself, for that I thank you.

This is possibly my favourite picture of us, and yes its a few years old, but we have always felt the same about each other.

Please raise a glass to our Shaz (preferably a GnT) but what ever your preferred drink is fine, as we remember...

A Wife, Daughter, Mother and Friend, Fountain of knowledge, Enabler, and of course, the love of my life

Rest in peace xx

With love as always

Doug xxxx And a finaly