Day 1 – Your Blog’s Name – Challenge 2

Well, I like having these new suggestions for writing, hopefully I won’t duplicate previous info shared but if I do, apologies, I’m trying to expand my writing and therefore am pretty much writing about anything.

Anyway, now that’s over, on to today’s topic. Where did the name “Half Baked Productions” come from?

I know i’ve said it before but I have been through the depression process a few times throughout my life and the last time, was I would say, the worst time. It’s the only time where hurting myself and finishing it all actually seemed like a good idea. I was very lucky to be forced to the doctor by friends and loved ones and they were really good at getting me both medication and some help.

I was referred to a really good local therapy centre, and although I felt listless and lifeless, I did attend. The therapist, Sue, was lovely, very caring, sympathetic and seemed to actually listen to me.

It took a while but almost as soon as we started talking, she made the point that I needed to spend more time making ME happy. If that meant eating a giant pizza in front of the TV, do it. If it meant crying and laying in bed all day, do it. Do the little things that make you happy and slowly but surely, you’ll spend more time being happy and less being sad.

She was right, she made me see that the people who loved me, would want to be around someone who was happier, but also would be happy to see me happier and it lead to me trying a lot of new things to try and work out who I want to be.

During this time I spent a fair amount of time experimenting in the kitchen. I’ve always loved cooking and making things but this was the first time in my life where people were coming to me and asking me to make things for them. Jams, preserves, cakes, chocolate and the like, things that i’d take into work for presents and just to fatten up the team and from this, Half Baked was born.

Lemon sponge with buttercream and chocolate dust patterns

marbled chocolate salt caramel millionaires shortbread

gingerbread

lime and chocolate cheesecake

tomato and chilli chutney

 

I’ve always wanted to be more independent, I’d love to not be working for someone else at some point in my life, to be my own boss and this seemed like a good start. I know i’ll never be the next Mrs Kipling but things like this make me happy, and I love sharing the bits and bobs I make with others.

I also have an unending thirst for talent in crafting. I will try anything in the hope that I can make something pretty. I spent a little while when I first moved to Dorset playing around with beads and making some jewellery and I decided that this was a good waste of my time, I wasn’t being very sociable so I bought myself some cheap bits from ebay and set about self teaching. They may not be the best things, but again, some people seem to like them and I like being able to create pretty unique items for other people.

made for a friend, remade from an old bracelet of hers

Disc themed bracelet

Light plasitcs

Glass

Aqua Blue mix

Purple glass

So there you have it, a sadness which created a half baked idea, no lightning bolt inspiration, just a totally honest approach. I don’t always succeed in my plans but I will always have a go. I tend to be quite Half Baked about everything and this just seemed to work for me.

I will probably always keep Half Baked going, at the moment I’m in a much smaller space so makes cooking difficult for larger events but I’m hoping when we move, that I’ll have more space for experimentation. I am always happy to try new things and have already decided that in 2019 I’m going to work more on my photography skills, but maybe I’ll give crochet another bash too.

What about yourselves my dear reader friends, is there a craft that you do for fun, no matter how badly things turn out? Or is there something you’ve always wanted to try but never actually got the chance to? I’d love to hear your stories and if you do share, you might inspire something else new in me!