A little less creative

Instead of showing you what I've been making recently, I thought I'd explain a little about why I haven't been making things...


I suffer from depression.... it's not something I'm ashamed of.  I was diagnosed over 4 years ago.  About 2 years ago I had a terrible relapse, and I've been on medication ever since.


As time has gone on, I've got happier. My life has changed radically, I've changed job, moved house twice, moved half-way across the county once, and met, and got engaged to the most wonderful man.  


Several months ago, under the supervision of my GP, I decided to see if it was time for me to come off my anti-depressants.  It wasn't a decision I rushed to, but unless you try these things, you never know if you can cope without the pills.

So... I reduced my dose by 25%, and took that for a month, then I reduced by another 25% and took that for a month.  I was really proud of my progress.... and 5 weeks ago, I reduced by 25% again, so now taking a quarter of the medication I was.... and I've not been feeling too great.  I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning, I didn't have the energy and enthusiasm to go out and enjoy life... and most tragically of all, I didn't have the urge to create.  It's horrible.  I am now back taking a higher dose, and I'm feeling more of my sparkle return.  I even started some beading last night.

I am putting this out there so people can see that there is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to depression.  If it was any other organ that was imbalanced, people would have no issues talking about it or taking medication to help... but because it's the brain, there is a stigma attached to it by some people.


I am not proud of the fact that I suffer from depression, but I do not hide the fact.  At the moment, I need medication to help me with my daily life, but that won't always be the case.  Pretty soon, I'll be back to my usual self, beading, crocheting, designing... and having fun.

Playing with Spikes Part 2

I've been playing with spikes again... I recently went on holiday, and took a small box of beads with me... some 15s, some 11s and some delicas, and 12 spike beads. My aim was to bead myself a dodecahedron, with spikes all over it.  An element of maths was required to work out how the elements would join together, but it wasn't too taxing for a holiday.

I was very pleased with the result, and even more pleased when it was described by one of my friends as "very Laura McCabe"!


I have written this up as a tutorial, which is available from my Etsy store.

Earlier in the year, I blogged about going on Laura McCabe's beaded sculpture masterclass, which I attended the week after I got back from my holiday.  I was very proud to take these little spiky balls with me to the class, and Laura liked them too!  I'll blog about the masterclass itself another time.