Sunday, 14 August 2011

What happened to the blue sky?

I watched the weather forecast for today,   they said we'd have a lovely sunny day,  hence I loaded up the washing machine...   and when I woke up this morning?   Grey skies, wall to wall...  !  So all outdoor plans put on hold, tho still needed to do washing. 

By lunchtime it was starting to clear up,  patches of blue sky were appearing.  Too late for me to put washing out!  Bother. Also not happy with Help the Heroes bacon,  thought I was doing my bit, but bacon is thin and watery.... not the stuff you'd give to a hero. Also noticed that there were Help for Heroes eggs which were on the small side but said they were medium!  

Anyway amused myself with a couple more pages of the 3rd inspiration book.   I mentioned that stamp I'd been having problems with, well here it is, and yes it is still causing me problems, and I used a roc-a-bloc,  they don't do quite what they advertise.  Used the unicorn,  but had to do a bit of patching up as this one was part of a decoupage so had bits 'missing',  cut out missing bits and attached them,  hopefully you can't 'see' the join.   Had time for another page...  And this one emerged from nowhere,  I do like the sentiment/saying, think it is very pertinent,  why keep company with people who make you feel bad?  Makes no sense.  I've tried putting that into practice these last few years and I have felt a lot better.  It isn't always possible to avoid people you don't like or who have a negative effect on you, but you can keep contact with such people to a minimum.   It is also about dealing with the negatives of life,  no point in continuing to be angry,   anger is harmful emotion, it is like acid, it eats away at you.  You have to find a way to move on,  that may involved forgiveness, and some see that as a sign of weakness,   you can forgive but not forget,  but you must store the memory very deep and leave it alone.  Moving on from painful situations takes time,   it almost seems impossible to let go of the pain because it has become part of you, you may want payback, revenge...  that must be left to karma.  Move on if you can,  leave the past behind,  you can't go back and change it,  try to make peace with it and move on. 

All for now,  I hope your weekend has been enjoyable... take care


Saturday, 13 August 2011

Last page...

Yay!  The last page of my second inspiration book, just hope my friend Debbie likes it!   Managed to find the unicorn toppers,  of course I had put them in an unlikely place,  so no wonder I couldn't find them.  The butterfly was a bit of recycling,  it had been attached to a wedding invitation, so a bit of recolouring and it was ready to go.  Also managed to get new stamp to stamp,  it seemed to have some coating on it,  used stayzon, as that usually works, but not this time, so it was down to soapy water and a soft nail brush.  It is odd cos the other two stamps that came with it stamped straight away with no problem.   Just a few stars to finish off,  and the sentiment. 

So what to do next?  Well start another book for my other good friend Conny.    She likes the colour turquoise and blues,  so think that will be my colour palette, with maybe a few purples.   I started this yesterday but wasn't having much success getting my inks to blend,  so decided to head to craft shop.   I decided to take the plunge and try the distress inks,  and got two more bottles of alcohol inks, a lovely green and silver,  plus a TH mask,  a compass, which I had thought was a rub on,  but nope, it is a small mask,  perfect for mini books.  Also picked up some card candy, but chose the all white option so I can do my own colouring.   So armed with that lot,  headed home to finish off page. 

I was impressed with the Tim Holtz distress inks, they do blend very nicely,  used the mask as well,  then the alcohol inks,  and the card candy. Recoloured two flowers, and a page was made. I do like it when it all comes together. 

May get the other masks I saw,  just the small ones, and start collecting the distress inks,  that will be a slow process.  

The weather was much better today,  rather cloudy but dry and very humid.   Popped up to my old workplace,  caught up with a old work colleague I've not seen in ages,  she looked extremely well.   But like everyone else she is fed up of all the changes,  she's now doing two late nights a week,  but there are less staff so more work for those who are left.    I'd drag the bosses out of their offices and give them a taste of life on the front line,  just like they do on that undercover boss show on C4,  where it always amazes me how the boss is surprised by how unhappy his/her workers are,   workers just want decent working conditions,  decent staff rooms,  a fair wage and to be appreciated!  It ain't rocket science.   This weeks show was the chap from Poundland,  he soon discovered how unhappy his staff were,  and the appalling conditions they were having to work in, and yet they all were working hard. 

The riots seem to be over thank goodness,  I feel so sorry for those who've lost their homes, businesses and especially sorry for those who also lost loved ones.   I think we reached a turning point last week,  now we either grab the opportunity to start fixing our society or wait for this to happen all over again.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you may be.  Take care








Thursday, 11 August 2011

The juices are flowing

And the rain is falling!   Oh well...  typical British summer,  no two days alike. 

But since my art workshop my crafting juices have been flowing.  Just got one more page to do on my friend's inspiration book.  I enjoyed this page,  I used the alcohol inks,  and some soft gold embossing powder on the butterfly.   I stamped round the edges but it isn't showing up on the photo. 

It was also a good way of taking my mind off the riots,  it was awful seeing such thuggery and wanton destruction.   I felt so sorry for those people who have had their lives ruined,  the small business owners not the national conglommerates.  


This is the other page I did today,  I'm using pinflair glue which is taking time to set,  so have to wait until the next day to do the other side of the page.  I found the sentiment on a sheet I got ages ago from QVC.  Just fitted perfectly in the oval,  then as I was rummaging for something else I found the two yellow flowers.   The fairy, well why not!   Actually as I was going through the pages I've realised that fairies seem to be a common theme,  good job my friend likes them.    Once this one is done I will start another,  that will also be for a friend.   I must remember to take these into my craft shop as the staff said they wanted to see what I was doing with them. 

So just got one more page to do!   Then at the weekend it is back to the DIY,   mum finally agreed that the bathroom is in need of redecorating!    I got the wallpaper today,  and some tiles to for the bath panel,  mum's paying for the flooring, and we may need a new shower,  she wants to see if our current shower can be repaired, I don't hold out much hope,  it will probably be cheaper to get a new one.   After the bathroom I'll have to nudge her into agreeing that the living room also needs a lick of paint.   It really does only need painting.   The bathroom shouldn't take me long, though I think I said that about the kitchen! 

Thanks for stopping by...  stay safe.

Sunday, 7 August 2011

Very lazy Sunday

Well first wake up call was 6 a.m.,  so feeling hungry had tea and toast,  and went back off to sleep.  Woke up and it was now 10.45 a.m!  Yikes,  how'd that happen?   Not like me to sleep in that late.   But didn't care,  felt fine,  and still in good mood from yesterday,  in fact craft mojo was also stirring.   I'd missed Barbara Gray on CnC,  oh well...  did catch her later show.

So late start to the day,   still had to start same way with a cup of tea,  can't do anything before that.  Once tea has been drunk it is time to get washed and dressed, we need supplies, bread and milk, the staples of life.  So off to supermarket,  turn ignition on car and wait for boot to open, it doesn't...   get to supermarket, switch off ignition and now boot opens!    Lock car,  wait for a few minutes to ensure it is locked... go get supplies.    Back home for bacon buttie, another Sunday staple,  have bought Help for Heroes Bacon,  and having opened pack methinks someone is having a laugh!   Skinny bacon,  not fit for heroes.   So have to cook extra.    Tackle crossword,  eat butty,  and time to get started on scrap challenge.

Okay, need 5 photos, thanks Karen,  have got photos from Joanna Sheen, she's been posting them of the duck and her duckings which have nested near her home.  They will do fine.  Resize photos,  choose card, blues and greens seem apt,  and some wavy lines to represent water,  challenge calls for card candy, got none,  so use buttons.... rummage in stash drawers,  find some lettering,  enough for what I want? Eureka,  can at least spell 'Ducks',  bit of pro markering and they'll do fine,  need more letters,  get out slice,  hang on... yep, find more letters..  add second word!   Now we're cooking on gas,   got all elements,  got glue, so time to stick!   YES,  one page completed,   love how it came together,  no effort required,  no real thinking,  just serendipity,  just how I like it. 

Mum is complaining that it is cold,  me, I am warm,   non menopausal friends also complaining of cold, suggest they fast forward a few years!   

Hope you all had a good weekend,  thanks for following me, will catch up with you all on your blogs.  Stay safe..  

Saturday, 6 August 2011

Psychic Art Workshop

What can I say?  Just spent the most wonderful day at an art workshop,  but not the usual type,  this was a psychic art workshop,  or you paint what you feel or see in your mind!  It was brilliant.  I'm a crafter, but I don't draw or paint,  I think most of us are afraid of painting and drawing,  especially when presented by a huge canvas!  This canvas (see pic) is actually 16 inches by 20 inches and the thought of covering it terrified me.  But that wasn't the idea,  you just had to draw/paint what you felt,  big, little, abstract,  whatever came into your mind.  Plus there were lots of bits to stick on if we wanted.

We had a meditation first,  whenever I meditate I see the colour purple, or blue,  so I was quite surprised to see the colour orange,  which seemed to grow into a flower, a poppy shape.  I was nervous about just applying paint so I used some pastels, but then knew that I needed to give it a more vibrant colour, so onto the paints and suddenly I was away,  feeling very happy at slapping on the paint,  I had been sitting down, but decided to stand up,  I just became engrossed in what I was doing.   Okay it ain't rembrandt,  but do I care?  Nope,  cos I had fun,  I then added some stars,  and found a small butterfly punch and some gorgeous glittery paper so let the crafter in me come out.   But my canvas was now covered..   :-(     No worries,  just start on another!  

I had this strong image of an angel,  I did use the pastels to sort of sketch the shape and then used the paints.   It was wonderful,  this angel began emerging on the canvas,  and I just messed with the paints, adding purple, then white,  wanted the orange and red, they seemed to be my dominant colours,  and some blue mixed with white.   I just happily kept on going,  fuelled by choc and tea..  mind you may have to teach Yvonne how to make tea as it did vary a bit!   I found a lovely crystal with Faith on it,  and I wanted to put an affirmation on her,  luckily I found exactly what I wanted, and someone to write it out nicely,  rather than have it in my horrible scrawl 

Then after we'd all finished we had a breather then Yvonne 'read' our paintings, think this was the most interesting bit.  Consider also that aside from knowing our names she knew nothing else about us, she had deliberately just kept the chat to a minimum but never asking anything personal.  So it was very spooky how accurate she was.    She's hoping to do a monthly workshop,   I hope so too as I'll be there! 

Stress... what stress,   I am like overcooked spaghetti!   Have a lovely weekend all.

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