My Month in Numbers 2015: February

Hello hello.

February always manages to trick me.

It's only slightly shorter than average [I know the feeling] and yet somehow those few missing days really make an impact. I really hadn't given my February numbers much thought at all ... until the point where I realised I had only 7 days to get thinking [and counting!]

In short [again, I know the feeling ...] what I'm trying to say is that I can't believe we've already bid farewell to another month; or that one sixth of 2015 is now just a vapour trail in our wake ...

So, before it vanishes all together, let's have a closer look at the moments that were worth counting in February:

£5 = the donation a happy blogger made to Save the Children after enjoying my free Push-Up Bra Approach  blogging workshop.
In a fortnight it will be 2 years since I launched the series and yet still, from time to time, my inbox is brightened with a message telling me someone new made their way to my Just Giving page to leave a token of their appreciation for the FREE series!

£585.57 = the total contributed by 75 people since March 2013!

And so, to donor No.75 and all 73 of the rest of you Thank you thank you thank you!

[Note: In case you're wondering about my calculations ... I was donor No.1 myself ... and it seemed a bit odd to thank myself - hence only thanking 74 of you!]

4,830 = another number that dropped into my inbox during February:

From looking at my blog statistics I knew that Pinterest was the biggest referral site to my blog ... but I'm not sure I'd have guessed it was quite so high as 4,830! All that traffic is thanks to the 3 'Art journal page from start to finish' tutorials I created. To view those, plus lots more tutorials I've created, then drop by here.

28 = the number of days after my birthday that I received another wave of gifts.
They were from my friends at our monthly crafting get-together and amongst them there included:
several zebra related items, geeky paperclips, washi-tape design stamps, a bird ornament and brooch .... and a nice big bag to carry them all home in:

 

It's almost like they know me isn't it?

Also Jean had baked piña colada cupcakes. Of which I had 2. Well, it was my fake-birthday!

[Fake-birthday is not to be confused with fake-Christmas although ... I'll admit I'm not entirely averse to making a tradition out of something that spreads out gift-receiving opportunities throughout the year!]

£5.00 ish = how much was eventually paid for a copy of the 1985 Tim Curry film Clue on DVD.
My sister and I almost wore out our VHS recording of Clue when we were teenagers and last month I got it into my head to find a DVD copy so we could see just how much of the script we could still remember. But, when I started looking on Ebay I soon realised that copies were selling for over £15! Clearly - in its 30th year - there's not just me looking forward to seeing it again!

We haven't got around to watching it yet though ... I'm wondering if I need a costume first. Who should I be? Mrs White? Miss Scarlet? The Singing Telegram? ...

24 = the number of tracks on the Guys & Dolls soundtrack James secretly bought me 'just because'.
Entirely coincidentally a day after he'd ordered it online I was in the hallway giving a rendition of Sit Down You're Rockin the Boat while putting on my coat and boots [you're never too far away from one show tune or another when you're with me] ... and apparently he'd paused to wonder 'Does she know I've bought her the CD?' .. and to reflect on just how much I could read his mind ...

Some mini-book related numbers:
9 = how many teeny tiny notebooks I made with old postcards for covers:

Oh ... while we're on the subject of postcards I received 6 as part of the Valentine's Postcard Swap hosted by my friend Sian at From High in the Sky. Thank you all!!

25 = the number of new Junk Journals I put together [which are now on sale in my Etsy shop].
25 = the number of new hand-sewn mini-junk-books I started - these are my current love! They're sooooo tactile, full of everything, with reclaimed covers and fabric spines and general lovely ephemeral splendour!!!
4 = how many I'm keeping for myself / to give to friends with the remaining 21 heading towards the shop in March/April.

And, clearly February was Official Non-Stop Book-Making Month because ...

2 = the number of bookmaking workshops I invested in:
Even though I've made lots of mini-books and journals in the past - it never hurts to pick up additional skills and new perspectives. And actually, I'd never made anything quite like the projects taught in the 2 classes:

• The 1st was a video-based workshop created by Christy Tomlinson all about making your own 'midori' style folders and books to slot inside. [If you're interested the workshop was the February edition of her 'Art Society' - and you can find the details here.] BTW: the workshop gives you a great excuse to browse for colourful elastics ... and if that floats your boat [it did mine] then you'll love the class!!
• And the 2nd was a rare thing indeed ... a workshop 'in-the-flesh' so to speak. By which I don't mean we were all naked .. I just mean it wasn't online. It was in a real room with a real tutor - Chris Morton.

And here's the real room in question - a perfect workshop space: lots of room, plenty of light, with a kitchen for essential tea-making and a comfy spot to eat lunch:

It's part of the Navigator North studios, situated 3 floors up above the Dundas Arcade in Middlesbrough town centre.

I'd pondered whether or not to go and left signing up to the last minute ... but you can't really complain that there's never anything like this near to where you live ... and then not go along when there is can you?!

I'll share more about this particular class in a post of its own soon, along with the items I made ... but, until then ...

I'm handing over to you ....

• if you'd like to join me by sharing your own numbers on your blog,  you're welcome!! Have a quick speed-read of the protocols [Oh my! How official sounding! Don't worry, it's not so scary!]
• OR if you'd simply like to leave me a comment to say Hi - maybe one of my numbers sparked a memory of your own? - then I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Wishing you a magical March. From my window I see that this afternoon's flurries have left my hilltops with a powdery dusting -  so maybe Spring's not here quite yet ...

Julie :-)