Tales from the Craft Box

All out of creative juices

2012-01-29T22:02:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to be creative today, but it felt like I was running on empty craftwise.   Wasn't happy with anything that I did. One brayered card ended up in the bin! It was just rubbish, this was the second effort, in my view only marginally better than the first attempt.   In the end I decided to abandon all card craft and decorate a few boxes.   At least being let loose with alcohol inks allowed me to make something that I felt pleased with.   I contemplated making a tag, but knew I'd end up with something I didn't like... half crafting and half watching CnC for inspiration that never came.

Weather is truly umpty, last night at around 7pm the car was frozen, by 10pm it was clear of all frost... we had a mild night, and a mild day - what cold blast?   I was supposed to be watching snow fall, fat chance of that happening.

I'm meeting a friend tomorrow to open a business account, so bang goes any chance of any crafting. Got GP appointment on Tuesday, need to arrange to have a hair cut, and organise an appointment with consultant.   Fed up with wonky knee, was hoping knee replacement would improve life, but it hasn't, still in a lot of pain,   and damn knee keeps on collapsing under me.    Then I heard about the hip replacement scare, you do start wonder what they've put inside you and if it is safe?   I get most pain around where the metal meets bone, it is so tender I can barely touch it at times.   Apologies for the spot of self pity, but pain can wear you down.

The good news is that it didn't snow, so I can meet my friend tomorrow and get this account sorted, and then get an order all done and dusted, the stupid Coop wanted us to hand over a thousand pound, then charge us for each ruddy transaction.

May try some crafty stuff on Tuesday....   hope your weekend was better than mine. Thanks for stopping by.

It's a bit nippy out there

2012-01-28T21:08:00.000+01:00

I guess we've all got used to this mild weather so the cold stuff came as a bit of a shock. Yesterday was awful, we had the lot, hail, snow, sleet, rain, a gale blowing... delightful it was not! I would have preferred to stay put and do some crafting but had to do my voluntary work, luckily I was in the warm.

So today the craft stuff came out. Decided to decorate the two little notelet boxes I picked up on Monday. Just plain old cardboard, just 4" by 2.5". I decided to use some TH distress ink pads and the alcohol inks. The distress inks make a good base, much better than poster paint. So both boxes started off like the one on the right, the other one had an apple aperture. For the heart box I chose purple, with the Pearl alcohol ink, which gives a very lustrous finish. Then I added some crackle varnish, it makes the inks very glittery, and then some paper flowers. Think it looking okay by time I'd finished. I may paint the inside just to finish it off.

Here is what it looked like. I applied the first purple coat of inks with no blender, so I got a nice smooth finish, then I added the pearl with some blender. The flowers are Petaloo, got them ages ago on QVC, not sure when I will come to the end of them!

Next came the apple box, just felt should be red. Did same as above, then used a copper ink, which gave a nice muted effect. Then as before I applied the crackle paint, then the flowers, oh and the butterfly, Anita's peel offs, plus a few gems. All very easy, and stuck some green card to the base of this box. The heart box also needs the base covered as there is a large sticky label that refuses to budge!

I had very inky fingers by the end of it all. But it was also very satisfying. I applied some of the crackle paint to the flowers on the apple box, will do the same on the heart box.

Here's the apple box,   I also added some acetate, I used some inks, copper and green on it.   The boxes only cost me 60p each! A bargain.

Then I did some brayering, wasn't that happy with the end result, sky was a tad too dark, as was my 'grass', so will have to redo it tomorrow.   One of the CnC presenters got my hopes up when he said that Barbara Gray was on tomorrow, but he'd got his dates mixed up! Twit.   I can't tell you how pleased I am with the Clarity stamps, they have to be the best I've ever bought.   Just so nice to use and a perfect result every time.   I'll have to save my pennies though if I want more, they don't come cheap, but they'll last for ever. Just one hitch, how do you store them? When they are mounted it is confusing how to store them, and what in. Think Barbara needs to come up with some storage solutions.

More crafting tomorrow, not sure whether to make my tag, or my swap card? Or both?   I know if I start brayering then I will just keep on going.   We've got snow forecast for tomorrow so I won't be going anywhere.

Well all for now, back tomorrow with more pics hopefully.

Clarity heaven

2012-01-15T23:12:00.000+01:00

Wow, never thought a set of stamps could have this effect on me, but I was blown away by the Clarity stamp set I got from CnC. I'd been tempted to buy Barbara's stamps, but to be honest never had sufficient funds, but this month I had some spare cash so decided to indulge and see what all the fuss was about. Well now I know, they are superb, a beautiful stamp to work with, well mounted, expertly cut to give a perfect result every time. I wondered how I'd get on with using the mounts, but I love them, much easier to use than the acrylic blocks, nor is there any chance of over inking the stamp.

I really did need a day of indulgent crafting, and this was it. The stamp set arrived yesterday, but I had an important meeting with a friend about our new business, so the stamps had to be put on hold!

But today I really enjoyed myself. Got the stamps, brayer, paper, card and ink pads... and off I went. It was bliss, used a mask with all the cards, made two summery cards and one winter, (see pic), wasn't that chuffed with first card, but I'd not taken enough care with the brayering, so it was my fault, even so the result wasn't bad at all. Next attempt was much, much better, got a nice clean result, and used my new TH green distress ink pad and used another grass stamp to add a bit more effect. The last one was the one I've included on the blog, a winter scene, along with a couple of bunnies, again used another set of stamps, Woodware stamps which are delightful to use. Used a mix of TH stamps to get a more dramatic sky, which sadly hasn't really shown up on the photo. But happy with it.

I've been a stamper since I started crafting, that was because the first kit I got was a complete stamping kit. But until now I've not used a stamp which has given me such fantastic results as Clarity. I'm a convert and will be ordering more.

Thanks for dropping by, your support is much appreciated.

Ugghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2012-01-11T22:31:00.000+01:00

Got a bug and it won't go away!    Just thought I had a head cold last week, but nope, got a bug.   Must have overdone it in last couple of days cos today I felt lousy, didn't even want to get out of bed.   I was supposed to start a new aromatherapy course, but just couldn't find the energy., I rang to give my apologies and hopefully I will feel better by next week.   Need to get some zinc, that will kill it off!

No chance of any crafting,   had to finish off essay for course. That is now out of the way, got essay number two to tackle, totally different course but not much managed to stay in my brain.

I did manage to tidy up room, it had got beyond a joke, looked at desk and well, there was no more room left for anything!    Time to do something, like tidy up.    Even mum agreed I didn't look my best and so she helped cook.   Not sure what it is but I am waking up between 3 and 4 a.m., then not being able to get back to sleep for a few hours,   and when I do I can't wake up!   I was far too cosy this morning, heating on, a bit dark outside cos it was the usual grey day.

I have managed to change pic, it will probably change again. Did that a while a go, I sort of like the irony of some bloke standing on a hill, holding an umbrella and looking onto a sunset.    Guess it shows how warped my sense of humour is!    The smaller pic shows same chap, along with a red telephone box and street lamp, all from the Portobello road collection by Do Crafts. And can't remember who did the sentiments?   Lindsay Mason?   Possibly.

Just want my Barbara Gray stamps to arrive!    Just taken a week for 3 tubes of pinflair to make it to me. Please can my stamps arrive before the weekend? I want to play with them.

I have a new button on my blog, for my craft group, small but perfectly formed! We take part in monthly swaps, scrap challenges, are going to tackle the 12 tags of christmas, we're a chatty and friendly bunch. So if you are a crafter and want to exchange ideas, meet new people and learn new stuff, then hit that pink button.

Remembering

2012-01-10T21:56:00.000+01:00

Each life touches this world
in a way
no others can
leaving not only
Wonderful memories
but lasting imprints
in our hearts.

That wonderful poem is to Val, one of my craft buddies who sadly died suddenly this last weekend. News of her death came as such a shock, she was such a bubbly and giving person. I felt privileged to know her and to have some of her fantastic craft work to remember her by.    Rest in peace my friend. The picture is of one of Val's T bag cards, fitting then that for this month's swap we are making T bag cards!

I half thought I'd be hearing sad news of my cousin who has spent the last few weeks battling double pneumonia, and who is still on a respirator.   Yet he is not quite ready to give up yet and is showing signs of slow improvement.

Life has that uncanny knack of taking our feet from under us. It seems just as we dare to breathe a welcome sigh of relaxation there is always a sucker punch, something that brings everything back into sharp focus, and our gripes, moans and groans suddenly seem very pathetic and selfish.

I'm still getting over my bug, thought I'd cracked it until yesterday when I overdid things and realised that I'd not had a cold but a damn bug which is lingering.    Took out my frustration on defrosting the freezer, a thankless task... next freezer will be frost free!    After that I got busy in the first of around 50 boxes I agreed to decorate!   Funny it started out with 3 pretty boxes, then we got to six, and then.... out came a mixed bag of small boxes.     Two down, 40 odd to go.

Think that is all I can manage tonight, brain is a bit fried...   thanks for stopping by

A good start to the year

2012-01-03T22:50:00.000+01:00

Well I was in bed before the midnight hour, but I was awake, so in comfort I watched the firework display, wished a Happy New Year to all I knew and snuggled down to sleep.   I woke up at 5 a.m., put on the news and watched New York welcome in the New Year.    My car was fine!   I can still remember that feeling I had last year when I realised my car had been smashed up, my heart sank, had this horrid feeling in the pit of my stomach, couldn't even face going out to see the damage.     This time our local pub was closed, so there were no drunks wandering down our road.    That was a New Year I did not wish to be repeated.
I've also been scrapbooking!   At long last I got the scrap stash out, the photos have been piling up, but I've just not found the right mood to scrapbook anything. So I made a real effort to get the juices going. I did a scraplift for UKPC, and then carried on and made two more pages, also got a few scrap challenges to catch up with. I did pick up a nice scrapbook pad of paper at HC, the paper is all glittered, really enjoying using it, it is a bit grungy as well.   This photo was taken by a semi pro photographer, it was taken at the Albert Dock last year, me and two of my best friends, a nice memento.   Didn't want to do too much, so just used a template to cut the frames,   did some distress inking, recoloured the flowers, added a few buttons and that was it.

Today was a craft free day, had to get back to my courses!   That was after I risked life and limb to get the supermarket shop. It was so windy here today, 67 mph at the last count...   the car door smashed into me, luckily I saw it and took evasive action.    Nice to be in the supermarket after the madness of Christmas, very quiet,   no crowds, no screaming kids, no bewildered shoppers... all was normal.   The windy conditions carried on into the afternoon so I stayed indoors,   it was just too dangerous to go outside.

Need to get out tomorrow for an hour or so, though the forecast is diabolical.   Just feel so much better when I've managed to get out and about for a while. Need to check some dates as well..

Hope you had a Good New Year's celebration, I wish you a good year.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T22:23:00.000+01:00

So here we are again, another New Years Eve, and we're all waiting for midnight!   Which is a bit bah humbug and I'm not feeling in the least bit bah humbug. Just wondering if I can stay awake till midnight cos New Years Eve telly is diabolical. Yes here I am on NYE at home, just like thousands of others.   I've done NYE, in London, in fact, here, there and other places.   I just now choose not to be walking home at 3 a.m., in the freezing cold.

So what was I doing earlier on this NYE? Housework, yes that is right, housework!   Well the place was begging for a spruce up, so washed windows, nets and vacummed... rest can wait till the decs are down.   Before that it was a bit of shopping, got a laminator at Aldi, love a bargain, and at £12 that was a bargain!    But how come I ended up in Sainsburies buying the food?    Aldi had the basics, but that was it, and no loose fruit, what use is that?   I don't need 12 satsumas!   Also indulged in a very nice red in Sainsburies, going down a treat.   Then on to cake shop, only they were short on cakes!   This was only 11 a.m., so the crowds must have been up very early today.    Well the shops are going to be shut for.. a few hours.

I'd like 2012 to get off to a good start, I'd like to be more organised, starting with my room, and decluttering the cloakroom and airing cupboard.   Do not wish to dither anymore, even I know I feel better when I get on with stuff.   Only one actual resolution, and I'm keeping that to myself!   I don't usually make resolutions, and I'm trying not to think of this as a resolution, that way it may just work.

I wish you all the Very Best for 2012, I hope it is a good year for you.   Thanks also for stopping by, it is much appreciated.

Happy New Year

I've worked out that it is Wednesday...

2011-12-28T22:51:00.000+01:00

Well maybe, or possibly... who knows? Once upon a time my life had structure, I used to work... so I'd know the day, the date in fact I'd know the date in four weeks time, that is what you get when you work in a library - always looking into the future. But this year my old library is shut, just for the festive period, something we'd been wanting for a long time, otherwise we were simply twiddling our thumbs and wasting electricity.

At least I have remembered that I need to tax the car before the end of the year! It shall be done tomorrow, just 6 months tax, only cos I don't have to face this next Christmas! I will have a busy morning tomorrow, tax car, get shopping... feed car with petrol, though can't complain as she has a small appetite.

More crafting, how long can this last?    Candles, of course, got to get the stocks up for the new stall.   Today I used the pearl ink with the colours, I liked the effect, do you, see pic?   Decorated four candles, will do another batch tomorrow.   Then I moved on to my brayering, just experimenting with a sunset. Sort of getting there.. I was also mucking with shadows on this one, right idea, just got wrong angle!   And post box is a bit too red!   Need to tone that down.    I'm doing wheelies across the sun, rather than on a piece of scrap.   I also covered the top part of the card with yellow ink, using the brayer, just to give the sun some colour, then I used the mask before adding the other layers of colour.   What i am after is an incongruous image, one that doesn't quite add up, hence me using the chap with the umbrella on a sunny day.   I just like how it all jars, the lamps, post box, sunset, umbrella and the birds. The sentiment is part of a set of stamps by Lindsay Mason. A few more attempts at this I think!

This is the sort of crafting I enjoy, just to be creative, letting the ideas flow, and not being restricted to making a card.   I still do that and I enjoy making cards, but this stuff takes me beyond that.    Need to save up to take part in the Barbara Grey classes next year, that is a promise to myself. I just love her work, she is a true artist, but such a lovely lady.

Right, today is Wednesday, so I shall be shopping tomorrow on Thursday... and part is on Friday!

All for now folks.

What day is it?

2011-12-27T20:54:00.000+01:00

I've completely lost track of the days, they've all merged into one. It was another day of crafty shopping, more vouchers to spend! This time it was the local craft shop, who were keen to off load the Christmas stuff... which I avoided! I wanted some alcohol inks, metallics, a craft mat, and some new stamps, got copper and pearl in the metallics, a nice large stamp block, lovely set of London stamps from Do Crafts, some of which can be seen in the card what I made, the set I got was called Portobello Road. Oh and a kanban card kit, which frustrated me so much it nearly ended up in the bin! Nice kit, no instructions! It's okay when it is an easy kit, this wasn't and it really did need a sheet of instructions. So turned my attention to the new inks and stamps, made 3 more candles, two using the purple, and one using the copper and orange, all look spectacular! Also sourced some clear labels, so I can start printing my own sentiments.

For the stamps I got out the brayer, done so many winter scenes felt it was time for a few summery scenes. This one was a trial, I wanted to get a lovely sunset effect, think I am almost there with it, used the edge of the brayer and did wheelies across the card using red and orange, not quite as I want it, but almost. The telephone box and lamp came from the new stamp set, it also has Big Ben, a London bus, clock face, camper van and post box, plus some small stamps, very small... think they'll end up getting lost! But I enjoyed the process, just need to mess with the layout, and maybe use the post box rather than the telephone box. I'll be having another bash tomorrow. The sentiments are from Lindsay Mason, got them from HobbyCraft.

Nice that the mojo has returned, who knows I may even turn my attention to scrapbooking at some point.

And that was Christmas..

2011-12-25T23:06:00.001+01:00

Not sure what happened but I managed to have a lie in till nearly 10 a.m on the big day., I had been awake at 5.30 a.m., but had eventually managed to get back to sleep. Sleeping in so long on a Christmas morning is a luxury, first time in er, well far too many years, that I've been able to do that. Until fairly recently I had to go visiting the family on Christmas morning and could only really relax in the afternoon.

Santa was good to me, loads of craft vouchers!   A book to read, Patricia Cornwell's latest book, she is one of my favourite authors, some lovely perfume, other bits and bobs, plus a Simon's Cat calendar which will keep me amused all year.

I did watch Barbara Grey at 7 a.m., I always enjoy Barbara's shows, but that is when I fell back to sleep, sorry Barbara!   I did catch the full show at 4pm,   a pity they hadn't given her a 2 hour slot! No crafting today,   no chance of that happening.   Dinner took longer than expected to cook, cos the turkey crown I had bought had stuffing in it, it took longer to cook, that almost threw out all my timings.   But we were sat down by 2pm for the meal, and very nice it was, did less of everything, so we enjoyed it more, and it left room for the pud.   I hate that overfull feeling, it is just so uncomfortable.   Instead I felt pleasantly full.   TV was rubbish in the afternoon, I'd enjoyed the morning stuff, the church service, carols... then the usual film fest!   All aimed at children, that is fine for one or two channels, but does every ruddy channel think that only kids are watching?     The kids are playing with their toys!   I would love to meet the idiot who puts the schedule together.

Today I decided to pay Hobbycraft a visit, couldn't let those vouchers just sit there any longer. Took mum, said we'd get some lunch at a pub.   To my surprise I didn't spend all the vouchers, in fact I was a bit frugal, got some alcohol inks, spotted a nice 12x12 pad, a tub of crackle paint, TH tissue tape and a set of stamps, and that was that.   So got some vouchers left, plus vouchers for my local craft shop, which is where I am headed tomorrow.   The one thing that HC didn't have were the metallic alcohol inks!   Just fancied some copper, plus more silver and gold.

Just put up a pic of one of the boxes I made using the inks, that was the cranberry and gold, then I added some dragon flies, I had also inked the acetate.

I should be crafting tomorrow so may have some new pics!

Hope you all had a lovey Christmas.... take care, and thanks for stopping by

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:30:00.000+01:00

Well the big day is nearly here. I personally think that it is Christmas Eve that holds the magic, that air of anticipation, the wonderment of what will happen, will your wishes be granted, will Santa bring you what you've asked for... until midnight you can keep dreaming.

I was disappointed today, had to go to our retail park to get mum some new trousers, I thought the place would be packed. Well the car park was full, but I have no idea where all the people where as they were not in M&S, that was quiet, even more depressing was that the shops had all taken down their decorations, how very bah humbug of them! When I worked in retail we would wait till the end of Christmas Eve before taking down the decs.

I did do some crafting today, more candles and boxes. I made some candles as presents, mum was very impressed by them. So I hope the recipients are. I made some gold ones, which I think will be nice for next Christmas, with some suitable sentiments on them. Still fighting with glitter, to remove the excess, none seems to want to come off whatever I've put it on, or the paper it has landed on, even if I use an anti static bag. Ended up dipping a paintbrush into talc, that seemed to work.

Not happy at all with the dragon fly stamp I bought, it seems to be falling apart, at first I thought it was me being heavy handed, but I left it on one of the blocks, then when I came to use it the next day another bit of the tail had vanished. Think I will have to take it back, I am not a novice crafter and I do know how to handle stamps.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I get money or craft vouchers, please!    I came close to buying a refurbed cricut today, but wasn't sure what you got with it, a lot of the software was on sale but couldn't make up my mind. I thought they were only selling the large cricuts as refurbs, otherwise I'd have paid more attention. It was a good deal and on 4 flexi pay.    I know they'll have the cricut on offer next year, so I'll keep watching, hope that the finances improve enough to get one.

Think that is all for now folks.   I wish you VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, hope Santa brings you lots of lovely stuff, enjoy the day and all that it brings.

Good grief......

2011-12-23T22:17:00.000+01:00

I expected the supermarket to be busy, did not expect it to be jam packed with queues at ALL 30 checkouts! It was nuts, managed to grab one of the last boxes of mince pies. Of course there were the usual dozy types, like the woman at the kiosk who was getting her lotto draw tickets, but hadn't filled any of them in properly! Did she care that she was holding up 15 people, nope, she acted like it was a normal shopping day. Next was the plonker that had waited in the queue to find out where Tesco kept tippex, I kid you not! Two days till Christmas and this chap wanted tippex... ! Of course the place was full of the bewildered, those who had just strayed into the shop unaware that it was Christmas! Plus those who parked trolleys in middle of the aisle, those following behind trolleys. husbands, sons or daughters, none of whom wanted to be there or who appeared to have ever graced a supermarket before. Now I wanted a Christmas log, just fancied one, could I find one - no?! Everything but a damn Yule Log. Then I couldn't avoid it any longer, time to head for the check out... in front of me were a lovely couple, who were NOT Christmas shopping, he said to me that he'd picked the wrong checkout, I said: no mate, you've picked the wrong day! They only had a few bits. A Tesco employee had then been sent to dispense sweets, I told her that a glass of mulled wine would have been better, she agreed with me, but didn't rule it out later in the day! I wasn't irritated by the checkout staff, they were doing their best, it was the useless and disorganised customers, as on my checkout, the woman at head of the queue had umpteen vouchers, but hadn't bothered to sort them so was just handing them over in the hope that she could use them... we, plus assistant were all annoyed by her! But everyone was shopping like the shops were going to be close for two weeks, it is just ONE day! I heard one couple say that they hadn't got enough 'nibbles', I looked at their trolley, it was groaning under the weight of food and drink... they had enough supplies to last them 3 months.

When I got home mum wondered where I'd been, I reminded her that it was Christmas! Luckily I had managed to get all the important stuff on the list, the list I had written out and then left on the kitchen table! Now I just need to get necessary medicines for me and mum tomorrow. I'm having to second guess what mum needs, as her memory is fast failing. I had to remind her today, and yesterday, of what presents she had bought and who she had sent cheques to. I think if I hadn't been here then the grandchildren would have got double helpings. She even made the effort to cook dinner tonight, I had to help, but tried to be as non intrusive as I could, I knew she really wanted to cook dinner for me.

Then you spend an hour talking to someone who thinks they know it all... sorry that is rather vague, but I feel better for saying it!

Oh well, 2 more sleeps till Santa arrives....... sweet dreams

2011-12-22T22:11:00.000+01:00

A very grey short day. I guess the bonus was that it didn't rain, or rather it stopped raining early in the morning. It is also a bit milder, keep thinking back to last year and all those minus temperatures we had! Brrrrrr. Looks like this year we'll just get the usual Christmas, mild and soggy. I'd prefer a crisp frost and sunshine. And all too soon it will be January, a new start, we'll all feel fresh for a few days, hoping that the New Year will deliver much, maybe it will. I always think that the best day of Christmas is actually Christmas Eve, that is when everyone is still full of anticipation, no dreams have been shattered, those presents lying under the tree continue to tantalise us. I remember one Christmas I'd asked for Sindy's car, and what did I get, her wardrobe! Not quite the same... And the magic of getting a bike for Christmas, I had to wait till I was 12, but it was the bestest present ever, think I spent the whole day riding round on it. It was second hand but mum had spent ages doing it up so it shone like new, and it had gears and a dynamo to run the lights! All mod cons - LOL. That bike was well used, it took me to school and back for 4 years, kept me amused during the school holidays.

And now it is the 22nd December, the shortest day has come and gone. Woke up this morning to sunshine, such a lovely change. Flat was like a greenhouse, went to investigate and found mum had pushed up the central heating to about 24! No wonder I was melting.... but she couldn't remember doing it. I only needed a T shirt and sweat pants to do the housework. I've got some lovely jumpers but can't wear them cos the central heating is on so high.

It didn't take long for the weather to return to its grey state, by lunch time the skies were a shade of deep grey. I'd picked up a few bits from the craft shop yesterday, some new alcohol inks and two stamps. So decided to decorate a few boxes, it was too dark to take photos in natural daylight, and I'm not happy with the dragon fly, will have to redo it, hasn't worked out quite as I wanted, I love the box, that was done using cranberry and gold alcohol inks. I'd wanted a purple ink but the shop didn't have any. Also decorated another candle, then had a rummage and found some sentiment stickers which work perfectly on the candles. I'll be making more tomorrow! Love getting messy, my craft table was covered in inks, glitter, glue and felt.... as was I.

Yep a very satisfying day.

Done - I hope!

2011-12-20T22:11:00.000+01:00

That's it, last Christmas cards have been sent, but forgot all about a birthday card! Yet I had spent time on Sunday making it and telling myself NOT to forget to post it. Also got last Christmas present, got mum a book to go with her DVD, she's is the only one who is getting a physical present, well aside from a friend, rest of the family are getting Amazon vouchers.

I thought I'd be in the mood for crafting, but didn't do anything yesterday, even tho I got all my stash out. Same today, I managed to decorate a box, but then couldn't find the peel offs that I was using only the other day - I swear these things decide to hide somewhere! So lost interest in that, too blooming dark to do much else, don't like crafting in artificial light. Tomorrow is the shortest day or longest night, take your pick, and forecast is for rain, so it will be truly dark all day! Great. It was extremely soggy on Monday, just rained all ruddy day, was dancing down by the time I left the barn. Treated myself to a lovely Angel, a CD and some new cards. My Xmas present to me!

Didn't get my 'me' time today either, mum and her friends decided not to meet, meant a double whammy for me, no time to myself and also had to cook dinner. I kind of meandered around the supermarket, I had a list but wasn't really looking at it, got most of the stuff on it, but left some of the heavy stuff for the next shop. Got a really horrible pain in my 'good' knee, it was so bad I felt sick, plus the bad knee has been really bad lately, so which leg to limp on? I took it in turns. I had pensioners overtaking me! Very deflating. As far as Christmas is concerned I need spuds and sprouts, got everything else, oh and wine! Got some crackers, didn't go for the fancy ones as the gifts are the same as last year, no point in getting the same stuff.

Well may get up to some crafting tomorrow... see what sort of mood I am in, and how dark it is!

Yikes... a week to go!

2011-12-18T21:12:00.000+01:00

Does life have a pause button, if so can someone press it?   Every time I think I have come to the end of making Christmas cards I remember someone else.   Mind you I seem to work well when desperate!   This was one effort today, raided the Christmas stash box, found a few bits, and cobbled this together, sakura pen refused to work, so it was quickie glue pen and glitter.

Also managed two candles, think I've cracked the tissue paper method - at last. Also had a bash at stencilling on to the candles, that worked quite well.   I am using the alcohol inks, and I would use them on a very thin candles, I am sticking to pillar candles and not touching the top, just the sides.   Think it is working quite well.

I've still got a box to decorate, and line, but not sure whether to use velvet or felt. The felt is easier to cut and fit, will see what the craft shop has, have to go there as I am out of 3D glue.

Need to get going on some scrapbooking as well, really neglected it of late and got lots of photos piling up.   Got no appointments this week, just the Christmas food shop, and get the flat tidy, so may manage an afternoon.   Still not been into town, so not seen the Xmas lights, or continental market.   One of these days I'll get organised. But it hasn't been an easy time, mum is becoming ever more forgetful, which is worrying and at the same time draining trying to be patient, which of course you have to be as I know it isn't her fault.   It is also the business of having to think for two people, making sure she has what she needs before I go out. My family are of no use whatsoever, it is right under their nose but they choose not to see it.

But I do have things to look forward to, starting as a reiki practitioner next year, and going ahead with a business with a friend. Not dared look ahead too much in the last few years, every time I did something bad happened, or that is what it felt like. This is the first year since 2007 that I've not had any surgery! So maybe I've turned a corner, hope so.

Thanks for stopping by, sorry the blog isn't very festive, not managed to find any nice templates to use. But your company is much appreciated.

Snow!

2011-12-17T21:02:00.000+01:00

Had a shock yesterday just as I left the hairdressers it started to snow. Didn't think it would add up to much, two hours later it was snowing hard and was sticking.   Shades of last year but nowhere near as bad. It didn't last long and melted away thank goodness.

I was busy yesterday, the hair appointment, then supermarket shop, other bits to do, then an afternoon of crafting and wrapping. Needed to get everything done and dusted so it could be posted today. Was stymied by not having addresses for two of my tags, I could have sworn that I saved the new address list for the group, obviously not. But got six away, and a parcel. Then blow me I find a card that was meant to be in with the parcel lying on my table... :-(     Now I have checked and double checked everything, nothing else to make or post.... I can now amuse myself.

Made this card yesterday, I was going to make one of Debbi Moore's grotto cards but gave up trying, no proper instructions anywhere. I like the CD's got no complaints with it, but not happy with lack of instruction for the grotto cards. So just made an ordinary card, blinged it up with some glitter and stuff, also used alcohol inks to make the background.   Printed out one of the inserts as well, that was really nice, it finished off the card.   So happy with the result, it was just I wanted the grotto card!

My festive mood keeps coming and going.    Was not happy yesterday at not being able to find a small turkey crown, can these supermarkets remember that not everyone is feeding the five thousand! I did get one in the frozen section with some fancy stuffing, which I wasn't bothered about.    Of course the place was packed, shoppers with blank looks on their faces, on auto pilot it seemed, while others were just wandering around. Plus staff changing displays... !   Dumb or what?   I'd also forgotten my vouchers!   So looks like we're in for two weeks of free shopping.

I've promised myself a long lie in tomorrow.   Thanks for stopping by.

Ground hog weather

2011-12-13T21:08:00.000+01:00

I swear the same weather system has been put on a loop as it keeps coming back, more high winds today. It lashed down last night, was glad to be snuggled under the duvet.

My crafty friends have admitted that they've been borrowing my mojo, no wonder I can't get much done in the way of crafting! I did manage to find enough to finish off this box, gave it a base coat of poster paint then applied alcohol inks, plus a few peel offs. Also had a bash at using the alcohol inks on a candle, it has given it a lovely effect, and yes I tried lighting the candle, I'm still in one piece as is the candle. I let it have a good hour plus for the alcohol to evaporate. Gonna get more inks... ! Well my niece has given my my hobbycraft vouchers early so..... well may as well go get my present and play with it. Sadly I've had to resort to shop bought cards this year, just had no inclination to make any Christmas cards. Don't know what it was, just never found the mood to start.

I have permission to go get us a digi recorder, just as well I think having looked at the Christmas listings, I've found a few clashes. Already know which one to get, spotted it in Best Buy, if it is still there as they are closing down, not been open very long. I feel sorry for the staff, it was a nice shop to go into as the staff were very helpful.

Well all for now... more bits and bobs of crafting to do over the next few days. I'd also like some parcels to arrive, namely the one from CnC so I can get on and make some birthday cards!

Now suitably attired!

2011-12-10T21:22:00.000+01:00

I dared to go into the loft to fetch the decs,   sent a shelf flying... oh well that got rid of a few unwanted bits and pieces!    So box down, put tree in place and wonder if I can face the task of untangling the fairy lights... ? After half an hour I was ready to chuck them out of the window!   Had a brief respite as I gave mum a lift to post office, headed back for round two then thought: stuff it, and so headed to supermarket to get new set.   The old set had 100 lights, about 40 too many for a small tree, compromised and got a set of 80... well didn't have a choice, 200, 100 or 80, after that it was 20s.    Really wanted white but they'd all gone, so it was the coloured lights.

Soon had the tree done, a single string of lights, bliss, I hate those double strings I never manage to get them untangled.   Didn't take long to do rest of flat,   about an hour, and so the flat is now suitably attired for the festive season.    Then blow me I forgot about the nativity scene, I'd actually bought one the other day, so fished it out of the box, yep all is now done... well it would be if we could find 3 missing decorations. Took pic of tree in all its splendour, rather like the new lights.

Then I managed to make a few Christmas cards, yes I know it is rather late, but just not been in the mood, just the family and a few friends will be getting hand made cards.    Found some pyramage stuff, and a few other bits from last year, seem to be out of silver mirri card, and would really like the CnC pick of the week to arrive soon as I need to make some birthday cards, thought a grotto card would be appreciated.

Now need to head to amazon... and order some pressies.

Cor blimey!

2011-12-07T21:37:00.000+01:00

I wasn't planning to venture out today, once again we had high winds and horizontal rain. But found myself heading for the cathedral in town to pick up some tickets for my niece. That was the last place I wanted to be in a high wind, it is the highest point in Liverpool, was really battling against the wind and that was in the car!   Wasn't sure where to pick the tickets up from so went into the cathedral, asked a guide and got given the wrong info, luckily I wasn't taken too far away from the actual place.    But it was ugh weather, I was glad of my hawkshead jacket, it kept everything out.   Tomorrow is more of the same, I am supposed to be helping out at an outreach centre, will have to see what the weather is doing, they say the winds will be really bad tomorrow, and then on Friday they've forecast snow! If it does I'll put up the decs.

Just realised the pic has a date on it,   just reminded me that I was crafting one handed,    I had my arm in plaster and my knee in a splint!   Not sure how I managed to craft but I did. This card was always a favourite,   a clutter card, I do remember getting carried away with the glitter glue.

Made more headway on my swap cards for December,   I've just chosen a technique that requires a lot of drying time!     Just got one more to do, miscalculated how many I had to make. Then they just need the finishing touches. They will all be in the post on Monday.

All for now, think I should really make this blog a bit more festive!

, Wet, soggy and very cold...

2011-12-06T22:41:00.000+01:00

Okay so this time last year we had snow, well we didn't actually, ours came a bit later. It was cold, colder than it is now, but what do we have this year: rain, sleet, hail, snow, winds that have one hell of a chilly bite...   not nice.   Woke up this morning to the sound of hail hitting the window, so that was me back under the duvet.

This week is catch up week, catching up with all the stuff I kept promising to do for weeks! So hence the mad dash to get the wedding invites done, next up was a wooden jigsaw nameplate for a friend, only half done, plus tags for Christmas swap with group! The result - a very glittery room/carpet, silver, red, green... and inky fingers and hands. Paper cutter put to good use cutting stuff for invites, managed to work out a production line that made life easier, even surprised myself by getting them all finished in two days.   I thanked Google for providing the necessary inserts and rsvps, many thanks to those who spend hours putting such stuff together and then uploading it to the web for the rest of us to use.   So quite a day. Was sure the gas man was also going to call to service the boiler, then checked letter, doh, it is tomorrow!   Promised myself to finish off the tags and name thingy this week, all before Sunday, cos niece will be visiting then, so no chance of any crafting.   No chance on Thursday either, the day of the Christmas shop, then off to give reiki for a couple of hours.   So just tomorrow, Friday and Saturday afternoon, Saturday morning I have to go pick up carol concert tickets from cathedral...   decided Saturday would be best as it will be quieter at that end of town.   Sunday it will be into town to show mum the lights and continental fair, plus some lunch.   Fingers crossed the snow holds off till Christmas Eve, that is my wish, it can snow all it wants then....

And did you know that some King way back declared that the 12 days of Christmas be a holiday for the ordinary man? Yep, it is probably still law for all we know.   I mean why can't we just close everything down for a few days?   Including the supermarkets, lets face it how many will be buying enough food to feed the five thousand?   Do we really need the supermarkets to be open so soon after Christmas Day? No we don't. Remember when it all shut down?   Bliss, sheer bliss. No don't get annoyed that the shops will shut their doors early on Christmas eve, think about the staff inside, they would also like to get home.

Right all for now...   thanks for stopping by, muchly appreciated.

A lot of wet and windy stuff

2011-12-03T22:51:00.000+01:00

Yep got rain belting down against window, wind is howling!   Lovely stuff!

Yesterday I spent with a friend, always nice to get out and about. Drive over was fine, sunshine, dry, for once no hold ups on the M6. Just took me an hour to get their. We had a nice catch up then I took part in her psychic evening, paying no attention to the time... only when I went to the loo did I realise how late it was, it was time for me to be on my way home.    Kept fingers crossed that the M6 would be clear... got my wish, plain sailing all the way through, traffic calmed down when I got off M6 and onto M62, then M57, but had to contend with that horrible misty rain, which is neither one thing or the other.

It took me a while to unwind once I got home, I hate driving in the dark, and even more so when it is raining. I saw to my outstanding e-mails and stuff, then hit the hay. Even managed a lie in!    Didn't want to stay in bed too late, as I wanted to catch Barbara's class on CnC, first tho I had to go pay the paper bill... would you believe it just as I decided to go do that the heavens opened! So I took the car, sod it, wasn't prepared to get soaked.   Came back and got settled down with a nice cup of coffee and two hours of Barbara.   I just love her work.   Well as you can see I am IN to brayering!    I should have made a mask of the fairy, as her feet have got lost in the hills... well we live and learn.    After that it was just a chill out day, had to prepare the wedding invites for printing,    also want to use the tissue technique to get an image onto some candles, tried again today then sought help on Youtube, think I have the wrong tissue paper!   Would just like this to work, so off on a hunt for tissue paper soon, I'll check out the local shops now I know what I need.    Will get on with wedding invites tomorrow, I'd forgotten the RSVP bit! So had to design that, oops.   Anyway just need to hit print tomorrow. Phew, one job sorted, get the candles sorted and I'll be happy.

I got some homemade Christmas puds yesterday, in the evening we paid a quick trip to the market that was on in town, my friend's town, wasn't quite what I expected, bit of a damp squib really, they'd advertised it as a continental market, well it wasn't, and there weren't many stalls.   We also had a very chilly wind blowing, but I also got to see a real Owl, he was gorgeous, I just stared in wonder at him, I just don't like to see wild birds being contained, they should fly free. But this owl was so gentle, it allowed the children to stroke him. Such a fantastic sight.   I love owls, I feel a rapport with them.

Thanks again for stopping by, hope you are not getting too swamped by Christmas stuff, stay safe and stay warm.

Arrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhh - December!?

2011-11-30T22:53:00.000+01:00

No hang on, how'd we get here so soon?   I mean it was only a short while ago that we were welcoming in 2011, and now Christmas is on the horizon?    I'm considering hibernating!

Yeah I know I've been making these cards, which are sort of Festive, doesn't mean it has to happen so soon. :-(

I am liking these woodware stamps, easy to manipulate, see how I made the 'lines' fit the original line? Genius or what?   No it wasn't good fortune, for a change it was planned, well up to a point. I plan in my head, I have an image of what I want to achieve, if possible, then I go for it - it either works or it doesn't. In this instance it did, I even managed to cover up a mistake or two.

At least today we had some decent weather, yesterday was a write off, no point in even venturing beyond the front door, vicious winds, and horizontal rain, not a good combo!   I stayed put, sadly so did Mum, couldn't really blame her for not wanting to venture out it was so foul, but that meant me having to cook on a Tuesday!   Unheard of!   Well mum usually meets up with old work friends, they enjoy a very long lunch, so that means I don't have to cook us dinner.   Mum muttered something about eating out,   forget that, paying through the nose for some over priced meal?   Nah, liberated a couple of chicken breasts, and we had a lovely stir fry, followed by... mince pies!   Was hoping to resist till December arrived, but when you can get 6 for a quid...

More crafting today, think I have got a system going now for the brayering, do that first, make up X amount of cards, let them dry, then go back and do the stamping. Worked a treat today.   Mind you I was doing the easy one, the sunset brayer technique is far more involved.   Will be doing some tomorrow.    Someone suggested making TH 12 days of Christmas, I was in a ratty mood, so they got a ratty reply, which was undeserved.   I like some of what Tim does, but it is also drab, the grunge thing can only be tolerated for so long.   I watched his blog video, okay for him, he has all of his products, he doesn't have to buy them, we do, and they are pricey.   I just get bugged by this stuff, TH is a nice guy,   but his stuff is pricey.

Must think about scrapbooking as well, not done any for ages, really neglecting it.   Best find out where I put my scrapping mojo...

All for now... will take photos of new works tomorrow, got too dark to take any this afternoon!   But did make 4 cards!

Thanks for stopping by, take care and stay warm....

Yikes, December approaches

2011-11-26T22:52:00.000+01:00

Last night was talking to a friend and she mentioned how much she was looking forward to our day together at the beginning of December, not sure why but in my head December was still a long way off, well it was till I checked the calendar - it is next week! Oh blimey, best start getting my act together.

With that timely reminder headed to craft shop for inspiration, I'd got the lovely woodware set of Deer stamps, see pic opposite. So today I picked up the set of Xmas sentiments, plus a nice jewellry kit, it will make one necklace, two bracelets and a pair of earrings. Cost me a fiver... but it will go a long way!   Along with the aromatherapy stuff. It will be a cost effective Christmas this year, no less thoughtful, in fact more thought is going into it all.   Also decorating boxes and the like. Going to be very busy.

Made the card, see pic, yesterday, managed to remember to use a mask for the deer! Just like this set of stamps, so easy to use and build up a picture.   May try it with some embossing powder,   just for a wow factor.

Not a very exciting day, trip to see friend and support her charity, next stop craft shop, then home, lunch, weather rapidly closing in. Mum did take notice of what I'd said to get out handy, so she managed to have a few hours with her friends at the coffee bar.   Just getting out does her good, fresh air, change of scene, well it always helps.   She managed to eat all of her dinner, Hunter's chicken, with chips and peas.   Then we indulged in a very rich chocolate cake.

Right, now in need of a cup of tea, and to head to bed... got a load of new books to get through.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.. many thanks for stopping by

Dark days

2011-11-23T23:00:00.000+01:00

Always the same at this time of year, how the day seems to get ever shorter, the sun lower in the sky, daylight disappearing around 4pm.   So there is more appreciation for any scrap of sunshine. It was light today, not as grey as it has been, or as cold.

Since I had spent yesterday cleaning the flat from top to bottom, I figured I deserved a treat.   I put myself back in order, shower, washed my hair, felt more human. Marvelled at the now tidy bedroom!   What a difference! Had a declutter, rearranged the furniture and gave it a damn good clean. As in vacuuming under bed, which doesn't get done too often.   After that I got into car and went where the mood took me, which was the craft shop!

I did need some photo glue, my excuse for visit, but I did need the glue, my last tube was almost empty. Had mooch about, got the glue, and a green ink pad, one I can use with the brayer. Then spotted some stamps...    saw a lovely set, seemed to have all the extra bits and bobs I wanted for my other pictures!   It was a Woodware set, so very good quality, 3 deer, two bunnies, a fence, 3 trees and other bits and bobs. I'd not spent my craft allowance for this month, so I could afford an indulgence!

Of course I bought it, see picture!   That was one of my efforts this afternoon. My wintry moon, and the new stamp set. Very happy with results, they are a Christmas stamp set really, but they will work for other stuff, especially the trees, fence and stuff, yep they will all come in useful.   Not really enjoyed stamping until I got into brayering, now I can see how they can be used to build a picture. It is funny cos my first ever craft kit was a stamping and embossing kit, I'd spotted a starter card craft kit in a craft shop in Southport, when my mum asked me what I wanted for Christmas I took her to the shop, it was in one of the arcades in Southport, so while I finished off my coffee, my mum went to buy the craft kit. Little did I know that she'd decided to spend more on me so she'd bought the next kit up, which included the stamps, inks, embossing powders and heat gun!   Think that pressie had to rank with one of my other best ever presents, my spirograph! Remember those?   I loved mine,    I think I became obsessed with it.   The rare occasion when I've enjoyed maths, rest of the time I hated it. If only someone had made it fun!

I was having a lot of fun today with the new stamps, Woodware never fails to deliver in quality, the stamps are wonderful to use, crisp, clear images every time. No they ain't paying me!    More playing later this week, got an essay to write tomorrow. No rest for the erudite...

take care all, many thanks for stopping by

Oops

2011-11-20T22:30:00.000+01:00

Ever made a mistake with a date?   I did yesterday, was convinced that the Mind Body and Spirit fair was taking place on Saturday, 20th November... only cos usually it took place on a Saturday.   But not this time,   20th was today, Sunday, yet neither I or my friend noticed!   So she came over for nothing... well I did treat her to an Uncle Ben's rice pot, which were actually very tasty.   After we'd laughed about our mistake it was back to flat and lunch, the said rice pots, as seen on TV, wasn't sure what they'd be like but we were both pleasantly surprised.   So we ended up just having a natter, which was nice, haven't had a catch up in a while.

After my friend left I got crafting again, made up some more affirmation cards. Got some new fairy stamps, by Do Crafts, love them,   just used them with the wintry moon, the set also comes with some mini stamps of grass, stars and mushrooms.   Made up about six, well the brayering does take time. Very happy with the results.

So today I went to the MBS fair, still giggling about yesterday,   it was a nice sunny day so I decided to walk, need all the exercise I can get.   Had a nice time, kept on bumping in to people I knew, which was nice, and getting lots of hugs, which was even nicer.   Just had a mooch round, I wanted to get a reading done, but wasn't sure who to pick, the one card reader I was drawn to was busy, then I met a friend and she recommended someone else, so I went to her and had a very good reading. Managed to get a book on chakra therapy, it will help with my course. Was tempted by many other things but no money to spend :-(    Walk home wasn't as enjoyable, it was very grey and gloomy,   and with a chilly wind blowing. Back at home checked lotto results and nope, I hadn't won. Mind you I did have two weeks of winning small amounts, which was very nice.   Did manage to see some of the tennis at the O2, which is on all this week on BBC2. Something to look forward to!

Thanks again for stopping by, much appreciated. Take care and keep crafting.

Brrrrr.. cloudy and a cold wind

2011-11-16T21:33:00.001+01:00

Not sure why the papers are saying it is 'mild', not here is isn't! Blooming freezing.   Really grey day today, the sort of day that makes you want to snuggle up at home in front of a roaring fire. Only there is no roaring fire here, just radiators, which are not the same.
I did venture out though I could have done with another layer of clothing, had my winter fleece, scarf, but neglected to put on gloves.   I thought I'd soon warm up with the walking, but I didn't.    Took refuge in the carer's centre, nice to sit down and have a cup of coffee.   Not sure who it is that bakes the delicious cakes, but I am glad they do!    Hobbled home, facing the gloom again. Managed to get a few bargains, found a nice glass candle holder, it should hold 3, for my niece's wedding decs, we have also decided on using some silk roses, spotted some in M&S,   and I found more on ebay at a very good price.   Heard first Christmas song... Jingle Bells, so glad I don't work in a shop, can you imagine listening to all the Christmas songs over and over again?   This year I am cutting back, decided to make up some bath oils, creams and diffuser oils using my aromatherapy kit.    Still got a few Xmas cards from last year, so not going to go nuts this year.
Also picked up some nice storage containers, just 2.99!   Need something large to take my ever expanding collection of inkpads. This is all the fault of Barbara Gray, I'm now addicted to brayering!   I think I may just need to purchase some of her stamps sets. I'm half tempted to join her club. Let's face it what she creates are works of art. I do like it that she has someone doing the class with her on CnC, one of the presenters, at least then we can see what we will achieve realistically.
I do have to mention that tonight's dinner was cauliflower cheese, one of the best I've made, left it in the oven for over an hour, so it was nice and brown, also added leeks, it was delicious. One thing my mum can't moan about is my cooking, we do eat well, and have plenty of variety. Tomorrow it is stir fry! Mum rather likes my stir frys,   dead easy, one pot cooking, just how I like it.

Well all for now, thanks for stopping by.   I will get round to visiting you all soon.

Oops, forgot to mention picture, used a Dreamweaver stencil, their embossing paste (silver), made the background using a circle mask and some TH blue denim ink with a brayer.

sums up how I've been feeling

2011-11-15T23:06:00.000+01:00

This picture that is, it sums up my feelings over the last few weeks, a definite 'phut' feeling about it. I'd been trying to make a swap card, the theme was - Fireworks. Sounds easy enough, black background, go bonkers with gel pens, glitter etc... oh how wrong I was. Tried a few ideas, all ended up in the bin. My interpretation of fireworks with pens was well, a damp squib. And from that came an idea, how about a faulty catherine wheel, the one that didn't go off?   An idea was born,   out came The Slice, got it to cut a few shapes for me, plus the wording.   Managed to find some string,   cut a circle of card, smothered that with pinflair, and....... well here it is! Was hoping the Catherine Wheel would spin, but the 3 layers of card was too thick for that.

I also managed to get started on the Christmas tags, was faced with, either buying a set of tags, making them with all the measurements.. or using computer to generate the template. Went with the latter, still some cutting out, but using guide lines, so much easier.    Design is involved, it includes a stencil, embossing paste, glitter, distress inks, and that is just one side, the other includes using a brayer and 3, no make that 4 stamps, plus masking... why do I do this to myself?   Well made two, so 6 to go, so glad this is not a large group. Also need to work up enthusiasm to make some Xmas cards.

Not a bad weekend, better than the last one. Mood is much improved, new cream is definitely having some effect, as is starflower oil tablets.   No drumming tomorrow, it is setting off my neck and shoulder problem, spent all week getting things to calm down.   Much stuff to do tomorrow, course work, tags... visiting a friend.   Plus the usual cooking and stuff. Ugh.

Moving on to Monday...    cooking not appreciated! A frustrating shopping trip, not getting what I wanted, just wanted some aromatherapy bottles! Found some on ebay in the end. Mixed a few oils for a friend, had one bottle I could use, but it is a bit big, it will do for now. Oh the bottles need to be dark in colour, brown or blue, it helps preserve the essential oils. Picked up some bits and bobs from a cheap shop, but all the bottles were clear, but got some jars that will hold cream.

Now Tuesday... need to do supermarket trip.    Seems extra busy for a Tuesday, must be warming up for Christmas.   Stick to list, discovering some of the cheap stuff is okay, some of it is best avoided.   Sticking with Branston beans, value beans are not worth the money.   Tesco's own porridge though is very good, so switched to that, saving over a pound.   This two for 3 lark isn't much good for two people though, I'm learning not to be tempted too much by the bogoffs, depends how perishable the stuff is.   Still have one petrol voucher left,   and it is cheap right now...   but the garage is always busy there, couldn't face it today! Will have to go tomorrow.    Managed a session of crafting, not intentional, mum had asked me to make an 85th birthday card, so I did, A4 size as her intention was to hand it to the birthday girl, then she changed her mind and wanted to post it... time for a quick resize!   So with all the stuff out I got on with my Xmas tags for the group, managed to make up 3 more, it is a bit involved, brayering, stamping - 3 different stamps! But just got a couple more to do, and then finish off the Xmas side, which is even more involved! Not sure why I do this to myself.

Hoping to get back to my course tomorrow, well that is the plan..

thanks for stopping by, it is much appreciated.

Pass it forward

2011-11-10T22:50:00.000+01:00

Today I had a lovely experience.   Some yob had put a dent in the bonnet of my car at the weekend, and being the cowardly sort had not bothered to let me know.    So I looked around for those who did dent repairs, one that came up was Halfords, they seemed reasonable. So today I went to Halfords, spoke to an assistant, told him about the dent, he came with me to take a look at it, then said that the firm they used to remove dents wouldn't repair any on bonnets, boots or the car roof. I felt very depressed, it looked like I was going to have to fork out for an expensive repair at my usual garage. Then the assistant asked me to wait, he had an idea... he went back into the shop, came back a few minutes later with a gizmo that pulled out dents, he gave it a go and - the dent was gone!   I could have kissed him, he'd saved me a fortune, it was his act of kindness, and it was much appreciated, I wished him good karma.      So my car is back to being as good as new, well except for the wonky boot lock, need to get that sorted while it is still under warranty.

My second bit of luck was finding some bargains in M&S, got mum a pair of trousers and a nice jumper, and me a pair of cargo pants, all half price. Chuffed.   Then perused the food bit, they are overpriced but their food is delicious.   On my way to the food hall I passed the Xmas decs, well you have to have a look, don't you?   Anyway it seems Owls are all the rage this Christmas, indulged in their 3 for 2 offer, got 3 very cute owls that light up.   Owls are my thing, no idea why, just find them fascinating.    Had planned a Lancashire Hot pot for me and mum tonight, from M&S, but that turned into burger and chips...   just felt a fancy for some chips.

The Pic: another brayered card, did some trimming on the Owl stamp, so I could get it to look more natural. Quite pleased with this one, worked out well.    Just using super smooth card, TH distress inks, and stamps of owl and tree, using archival black ink pad.

Now just starting to get to grips with my crystal healing course. May do some crafting tomorrow, must start the wedding invites I think, and get some more candle decals done.

Thank you for stopping by, take care

Feeling rotten

2011-11-09T21:52:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling a bit off colour, had a flu jab today, don't normally have one but the only way I could persuade mum to get hers was to agree to have one myself.   I am entitled to a free flu jab as I am her full time carer. The nurse said we could experience flu like symptoms, and guess which of us got the short straw? Yes, me!   I was aching all over by the afternoon, I was wondering what I was coming down with then remembered the flu jab. So I gave myself a lot of TLC, still feeling a bit rotten, but not as bad as I was.

I hate not feeling right, and I wanted to meet up with my aromatherapy course buddies today, but had no energy.   Mind you I've pushed myself over the last few days, needed to get my essay back to BSY, so forced myself to sit down to write it. Of course other stuff needed doing, like shopping and housework, mum's input is now down to a bare minimum,   I'm also now taking on some of the ironing as she can't manage it.   Her memory is worse, today she not only asked me what the date was, but also what year, she thought it was 2009. So all in all a busy few days, and still have a swap card to make, can see that being a last minute job and probably quirky.

Managed some crafting at the weekend, made up this card, the stamp is by Lindsay Mason, but I kind of cannibalised it, as it did have a border around it, but I cut that off. I had been using masking tape but it was far too messy and fiddly.   Might just be me but I prefer the stamp without the border.

Short and sweet tonight. Take care all.

What day is it?

2011-11-02T22:08:00.000+01:00

Totally lost track... and was so cosy in bed this morning I had to make a huge effort to get up!   I'd switched to the duvet, so was all nice and snuggly but the day ahead beckoned. Even saw some blue sky for a while, none of the rain that had been predicted. Still mild, it can't last, can it?   The Express has been forecasting a Siberian blast of winter in the next few weeks...   whatever. It also feels like Christmas is sneaking up on me. Normally I would have made my Christmas cards by now, but not this year.   Guess I'll have to summon up the festive spirit at some point. As usual alls I want is a quiet and uninterrupted Christmas. The snow last year was a blessing, it meant travelling was impossible, joy of joys.   Well it is when you've been the part of the family that has always been expected to do the travelling, even when you have a busted wrist and knee!   Yes, seriously, even after my accident one half of the family expected me and mum to do the visiting!

That year mum went off to stay with my sister and I stayed put to enjoy some much needed peace and quiet after a very hectic and traumatic year.   I really enjoyed it. Had a few skype sessions with friends, cooked the full Christmas dinner for one, it is possible! And just chilled out, it was bliss.   Last couple of years it has just been me and mum, just as we like it, we do still miss Mo, our neighbour, she'd always call in on Christmas Eve and spend time with us, same on New Years Eve, then she'd get me to let in the New Year in her flat. I miss her so much.    One of my old colleagues at work once told me that she was jealous of my Christmas arrangements, as she seemed to spend the entire time on the move.

Blimey, it is only the 2nd November and here am I wittering on about Christmas, mind you I heard my first Christmas Carol on Monday at the garden centre!   Now the supermarkets are decked out...

Few words on picture: usual brayering, the owl is a stamp, which I have to admit has become a favourite of mine.

Thanks for stopping by

What use is Tuesday?

2011-11-01T22:33:00.000+01:00

Yeah you can tell I was in a stroppy mood today. But Tuesdays are neither here nor there, not the half way point, or the start or the end, just... there!   At least the sun was shining, actually right into my eyes, in the living room and car,   the sun is just too low in the sky at this time of year.

So the day began with a hair cut, much needed, reached the point where no amount of hair gel would do much for the mop on top of my head.   My hair dresser left his wife last year, and last year he was usually mute during the cutting and drying bit, now he is separated from his wife he wants to talk!   He's a nice chap, but then I get odd questions, as today: where can he learn how to use a computer... how long have they been around?   He's same age as me, so how did the IT pass him by?   Some 45 minutes later and hair has been restored to normal, I look human... for a while, till the next hot flush. But not having hot flushes cos of new cream, just have a spike in temperature... ugh, know what that is - reach for the powders.    Hair now flat as pancake. Oh well... nice while it lasted.

Lunch time... down sandwich, two mugs of tea... don't want to go to supermarket but have to. Talk myself round and go to said supermarket.   Suffer yet another spike in temperature... take more medication. Then wonder if I should attempt to wield a brayer?    Oh may as well, it is a blunt instrument!    Hence the pic that I have entitled Irony, a chap with umbrella gazing at a sunset, as one does...    Well it amused me.

Next was.... this, one of the stamps I bought yesterday, two budgies, so cute, though they do look as if they are suspended in mid air... get over it.    I was trying to do one of those odd skies, where you get blue and then yellow... not sure if this works.   But it is such a cute stamp.

Think I was on a roll then, managed two more pics,   I felt as if I was fighting myself.   Very odd feeling. Then dusk began to fall and it was only 4pm!   I hate crafting by lamplight, much prefer natural daylight, so I guess I need to start earlier in these winter months?

Weather is supposed to be crap tomorrow, but I do have my aromatherapy course, and got to hand in CRB form. Filled it in today, a couple of bits I didn't understand, so left them. But rest is properly filled out and in black pen.   Need to take passport and drivers licence tomorrow...   heard someone say that the old paper licences are no longer valid? Don't believe it, I am sure the DVLA would have told me to get a new one.   Not going to waste good money on getting something I don't need. And got lucky with pre paid prescription, this round I managed 4 prescriptions, saved me a fortune! Pre paid runs out tomorrow, but don't need to renew it till end of month!

A very quiet Halloween, someone in the street had a party for the kids, many of the local youth centres also ran events, so the trick and treaters were very thin on the ground, as were the troublemakers.   Got really annoyed with my hairdresser, cos he admitted he'd given his son some eggs last night! What the hell was he thinking?

All for now folks, thank you for stopping by. Take care

Did it!

2011-10-31T21:12:00.000+01:00

It took me 3 attempts but finally made the reflection card, not a bad effort, room for improvement I think. I popped up to the craft shop to get some ink pads, light blue and yellow, then spotted a small skyline stamp which I thought would work well on this card.

There are some terrific tutorials on Youtube showing how to do this technique, but in the mean time here's how: take A5 card and cut it in half, now using the light blue ink and the brayer, put down a couple of coats of the blue, then using the dark blue working from the top gradually add more colour, so that it is darker at the edges, leaving a light patch in the middle, turn card upside down and repeat. Take your chosen stamp and using a black archival ink pad stamp your image, using a piece of acetate, stamp the image again using stayzon, onto the acetate, then match it up with the original image (upside down) and use the brayer to transfer the image to the card. It needed be a solid image or perfect, remember it is a reflection. Always use good quality card when brayering, the smoother it is the better the result. It does take practice, but you will soon get the hang of it, learn how much pressure to apply, how to ink the brayer, just take your time and don't expect miracles, practice on some scrap paper till you feel you've got the hang of it.

And here's one I made yesterday, but got remade today! The glossy accents ran a little, so had to gently remove the Owl and cut away the excess, then make the background again. I put some orange card behind his nose and eyes, making him look a bit creepy! This picture was done on a A5 piece of card, you don't have to stick to small cards to do the brayering. I also put down a layer of the light blue ink, it seemed to make a difference to the night sky effect, and then using a versamark white ink pad I dabbed on some 'mist' around the moon.

Tomorrow I need to concentrate on my course, need to get an essay written! Also getting a much needed hair cut, I've only managed to last this long with the mop cos of some VO5 gel, got it at the supermarket and tried it, it really does hold the style in place.

I also need to get started on the wedding invites, get the printing done, then start the candle decorating. And of course will have to think about Christmas cards! Methinks it may well be a kanban kit, don't really want to be messing about too much.

I hope you are enjoying a peaceful Halloween.

All Hallows Eve...

2011-10-30T20:37:00.000+01:00

So things may go bump tonight - LOL. I just hope it will be a peaceful night, that the trick & treaters will do their rounds, act sensibly but have fun.

It is time for the clocks to go back. A bit confusing at first, lighter mornings but darker earlier in the afternoon. I was surprised at how dark it had gone at 4.30 pm.

I'd had a successful afternoon with the brayer! Checked out Youtube for some videos on how to do sunsets and reflections. This is my take on one such video, I had to use different coloured ink pads, and had no reed stamp, so had to draw them, but even so I was chuffed with the result, not bad for a first attempt. This was a case of building up the layers, used orange for the first coat, then ripped and tore some paper, used a brown TH distress ink pad to do the mountains, just letting them become lighter the further away they were supposed to be, then went back over the sky with pink and lightish red ink pads, then drew the reeds, finished off with the flock of birds, Tim Holtz stamp, and the sentiment.

So I then decided to have another go, using the same technique, but used more of the orange, the bird stamp is again a Tim Holtz stamp, sentiment is from set from papermania.

Just nice to do something different. Also tried the reflection technique but using acetate to transfer the reflection onto the card. You stamp the image on to a sheet of acetate, then lay it over the card and use the brayer to apply pressure. I used a stayzon ink pad for stamping onto the acetate, it is a bit sticker so doesn't slide. Will post pics in a couple of days.

When I was at the MBS fair (Mind Body Spirit) quite a few of the stalls had these 'inspiration' cards, some claimed they were hand made, more like they came out of a printer, but most were price around the £4 mark. People do these cards, so I'll be making quite a few! Think it may be better to do a production line, do the base bit then add the different stamps later.

I also found that my Slice Findings card has birds on it, so I get some die cuts and then a mask! Cut out some Owls, bird on a branch and swallows. Cut out a large Owl, made up the card and then added some glossy accents, which are still drying.

Feel a bit more livier today, got a good nights sleep, and also had the benefit of that 'extra' hour. Even managed a trip to supermarket!

Hope you've had a good weekend, many thanks for stopping by, take good care

Feel like a soggy balloon

2011-10-29T22:39:00.000+02:00

All out of energy, think I'll be heading for my bed pretty soon. Last night's workshop ran over, the host arrived late, she had got held up on M6 due to an accident, so we didn't get started till 7ish. I was trying to stay conscious of the time as I was the locker up for the night, plus I had to be somewhere today pretty handy so I really didn't want a very late night. And so guess what? Yep, it was a late night... we had our psychic workshop, and there were 6 of us, so there was a lot of readings to do after we'd finished paintings, then suddenly I realised it was nearly 11pm, yikes!   Two people had a fair way to travel home, so felt obliged to remind everyone how late it was. Most took the hint, but one didn't, she seemed to want to continue chewing the fat till the wee small hours.     I finally crawled into my bed around midnight, and although I was tired I still felt restless, so it took me a while to wind down.   Then this morning the alarm went off and I really just wanted to turn over and stay put. But had to get up, but there was no motivation to move, my body refused to speed up.   I was also sure that my friend wouldn't arrive at our meeting point on time, so I had plenty of time? Wrong, she changed her plans, didn't tell me and so got there early.   Then I managed to take a wrong turning, ended up on a dual carriageway that is almost impossible to get off... and arrived about 45 minutes late.    We were meeting up at a mind body and spirit fair, it was a bit of a disappointment, we both thought it would be bigger than it was, so I won't mention location. Fortunately the little cafe was serving some very nice food, and they had chips... so we got some, lots of chips, hot and very tasty, made up for the disappointment of the poor show.   It still proved a useful exercise as my friend had done a lot of networking while waiting for me to get there. Got a few nice bits and bobs, not much tho as there wasn't much there! Hardly surprising given the high rental for the tables.

Came home via the motorway, rather than take Googles convoluted route once again. Must invest in a decent map book.   The trouble with the M6 is that it does have more than its fair share of accidents, it is all down to a few who drive like idiots and who have no concern for others. Today it was a straight drive back home, no hold ups anywhere, but sadly yes, there were the idiots weaving in and out of traffic, undertaking people etc.   On my way to the fair I had a huge lorry come up right behind me, he sat about two inches off my bumper, he was trying to scare me, it had the opposite effect, I slowed right down.

Word about the pic: a brayer and stamps... limited the drawing to the fence!   A few of my none crafty friends have been fascinated by these cards, quite a few think I've drawn the pictures. Us crafters know better, no fooling you lot!   Will be doing more tomorrow, can't think of a better way to relax - which is what I need right now.

Have a lovely weekend - and if you are in the UK, don't forget, the clocks go BACK!

All clean and tidy

2011-10-27T22:19:00.000+02:00

Blimey what a day,   woke up early and then drifted back to sleep, when I woke up again I was sure it must be quite late... wrong! It was still early,   but I got up as I had quite a lot to get through: housework, ironing, cleaning windows, and of course thinking about what to cook for evening meal.   Also need to check over the washing up, which my mum insists on doing, but isn't really doing very well, so I am finding myself washing up again, only trying not to let her know. Such is the life of a carer.

Yesterday I was with some carers, of course we all had a moan, but it is also nice to be with those who really do understand.   We also had a good laugh, which is just as important.

I also got some good news regarding my application to work as a reiki practitioner at the carers centre, so have a few more forms to fill in. So good to hear things are moving forward. Will be having a chat with the manager soon.

So today was exhausting, and of course there was my mum, who now takes all morning to get dressed, and so today was holding me up.   I just wanted to get the housework out of the way, and would have done had she not decided to sit doing crossword puzzles in her bedroom for an hour this morning, and then wanting to get her shower when I was about to clean the bathroom.    I thought she was already washed and dressed, that she'd been waiting for me to finish the living room... WRONG, she'd just been faffing about.    Then my sister skyped, so mum settled herself in my room, meantime the pile of ironing had reached topple state, so I tackled it.    Then filled the washing machine, this week it seemed impossible to empty the washing basket!

I did manage a bit of crafting on Tuesday, went mad with the brayer and a couple of new stamps, mini stamps of birds on a wire, or branch... the pic above is one of the said stamps. There is no 'tree' on the stamp, I had to draw it, but was pleased with the result. I made about six brayer cards, ended up with very blue fingers! My brayer is also now a luminous green, made mistake of using wrong ink on it, so it is now stained with green, but it still works and there is no transfer of the green ink.

Tomorrow there is another psychic art workshop, should be intriguing.   Well this is the spooky time of the year, and the barn is a very spooky place, though the spooks it has are generally very friendly. Looking forward to it, then on Saturday I'm at a Mind Body and Spirit fair, doing research for the new business... more on that at a later date.   It all suddenly seems to be happening!

Take good care

Been one of those days

2011-10-18T21:31:00.000+02:00

Some stuff went right, some stuff went wrong. Wanted to try some of my Xmas stamps with the brayer, had to ditch first idea as stamp wasn't going to work the way I wanted it. Second almost worked, just needs a few adjustments.

Finished off swap card, saw a nice idea this morning on CnC, the presenter admitted she'd got the idea from a blog. It is the faux stitching, but using a piercing tool, it looked okay will post pic as soon as it has reached its destination. Then added some messages to a few pictures, like this one, felt it was in need of something else, think the sentiment works quite well.

Now have the fine nibs for the promarkers, the assistant said I needed a fine nib for every pen... blow that for a lark! So today I swapped the fine nib from the brown pen to the green, did a bit of scribbling till the green came through, it worked fine. I'm pretty sure I saw Barbara Grey do the same thing, or it could have been another presenter, but they didn't say you needed a new fine nib for every pen you owned, if you did it would cost a fortune.

This is a fresh card, used a Tim Holtz stamp, had to do a bit of a cheat to make it seem as tho the branch stretched that far! I wanted to just keep this very clean and simple. I think I do prefer the Sapphire blue for the sky, rather than the eggplant, the sapphire seems richer. Not sure if I should give the bird a red chest!

Felt sorry for the Welsh rugby team, just pipped at the post, I think my niece and her fiance may have been at the Millennium stadium on Saturday, as he is a keen rugby fan, probably went out later to drown their sorrows.   And the Welsh team has not disgraced themselves on or off the pitch, unlike our moronic rugby lot.

Weather today was truly awful, nothing else to do but to stay put! Well after an emergency dash for vital supplies that is. This weeks shop was the big one, had run out of stuff, but got my 5p off petrol - so that was nice. I wonder if those in power are in touch with the real world, the one that we all inhabit?   Do they know the price of anything? Does that clot in ll Downing Street have any idea what putting VAT up to 20% has done? It is okay for him, his nest is well feathered. Time to rethink capitalism, it is no longer fit for purpose.

Got out some of the Christmas stash... figured I couldn't avoid it anymore. Got some flower soft freebies, so began with them.   May also experiment with brayer and stencils, using the dreamweaver paste.

Stay warm folks, put on another layer.

A dark and Stormy night

2011-10-11T22:51:00.000+02:00

Which is how Snoopy (Peanuts cartoon) used to start his stories!   Been very stormy here, 2 days of rain so far, just that steady drizzly stuff as well, which I hate as it is neither one thing or the other.

Yesterday popped down to watch the river, it was at boiling point, waves crashing in, got there for high tide so it was even more dramatic. Took a short video of it. The river seemed to be matching my mood, just felt very restless and wasn't able to settle to anything, not even crafting.    Did have a go but gave up as it was definitely going pear shaped!

Made this picture on Saturday, back to the brayer, wasn't happy with the first attempt, didn't feel right.   Made the sky very dark, cut a larger circle to get a bigger moon,   I also got some make up sponges so was able to make a better job of the sponging technique. I think it came together nicely. The sponges work much better than cotton wool, it felt like I had more control. Did follow Barbara's instructions to blot the sponge first,   it does take more time that way but it is also worth it.    Think the branch needs a splodge of snow on it.

Also need to apologise to my 3 legged toad, which is supposed to attract money.   Well nothing had been happening, so threatened to chuck him out.   He must have been listening as I've had 5 wins on the lotto since last Wednesday, small wins, but as they say every little helps!   Actually on Saturday I was feeling very nervous, switched on PC, logged into e-mail account and there was a nice e-mail from the Lotto people saying they had good news about my Euro Lottery ticket... ooer, was it me?    Nope, just got £3!   Then got two tenners on the lotto later!    I ain't complaining.   Always nice to win something.

Got second lesson of my aromatherapy course tomorrow, looking forward to it, it was so relaxing last week.

Many thanks for dropping by, take good care all and happy crafting.

What a difference a brayer makes...

2011-10-06T22:06:00.000+02:00

We are always told not to blame the tools, but in this case I am breaking that rule cos using the speedball brayer I managed to do it like Barbara!    I really didn't think it would make any difference, but then I heard her say that the speedball was spongy, whereas the brayer I had was rock hard.   So here is the result with the speedball... so easy.    Need to work on this pic it isn't quite right yet, the stamp only gives some of the Owl, so may need to make the moon a bit bigger.    Got very inky and messy which was lovely. Problem is with doing this stuff is you realise that you need a lot more ink pads!   I'm making do with what I've got, but I am going to have to get a few more.    I am finding this far more interesting than just sticking toppers on.

There wasn't much else to do today, weather is a compete contrast to last weeks heatwave, cold, blowing a gale and belting down with rain. Haven't moved far all day,   made it down the path to retrieve the recycling bins, so carefully tossed half way down street by recycling team!   Feel like complaining as this happens every week, our recycling bins are just slung down the street, we're lucky sometimes if we can locate them.   They don't behave like that in the posh part of town!   We all complained earlier in the year at the disgusting state they and the bin men had left our street it, rubbish everywhere, and it did improve, but they seem to be sliding back to their bad old ways.

Also have neighbour issues,   new neighbour seems to have a penchant for slamming doors in her flat, as well as yelling at the top of her voice. It's been like that for the last 3 nights, keeping a record of it all, my thoughts are that if you give her enough rope she'll hang herself. She's had one warning already.

Still feeling excited over my aromatherapy course, got out the aromatherapy kit I bought off ebay, wasn't sure if it had any carrier oils but it has!   So now just need some empty bottles and I can make up a few lotions. Wonder if my mate Elaine has any at her place? Mmmm...   could take a couple of cup cakes and find out tomorrow.

take care all, many thanks for stopping by

A good day!

2011-10-04T21:02:00.000+02:00

Yes the dreaded MOT was due... well it was due last Thursday but garage forgot to contact me!   Then they said that there was no record of the free MOT I was offered when I bought the car from them :-( Not a happy bunny, but stuck with using them as it was too late to go elsewhere.   So today was the day, got the car up to garage and was told they'd phone me when it was ready. By 3 pm I was fed up of waiting so rang them, yep it was ready, in fact think it had been ready for some time. It had a clean bill of health, which you'd expect from a fairly new car. So off to pick it up wondering if I'd have to pay for the MOT test.   Man in garage seemed to have had a change of heart, I'd told him which salesman had sold me the car and promised me the free MOT, so even tho the salesman in question wasn't there they decided to take my word for it.   Phew.   So a celebration was necessary.... hmm what do do?   Ah, craft retail therapy!   So headed up to craft shop.    I got the speedball brayer, as used by Barbara Grey, far cheaper at craft shop than on CnC, a couple of ink pads, that brought it to £20, and that rounded off my loyalty card, so had an extra tenner to spend!   Nowt else for it, got some Aqua markers, and some of the new fine point nibs for the pro markers.

I did already have a brayer, but it was the much cheaper one, really wondered what the difference would be, well soon found out, the speedball is much softer so you get a much better result. In fact pretty much got a very good result after one attempt.   So think it will be brayering tomorrow :-))   Got the Spiced Marmalade distress ink, gorgeous colour, and the adirondack eggplant, that will make a nice night sky.

Think my little car had missed being used, she does love to get out and about,   so took her for a tootle round and of course got stuck in all the school traffic!   It was only 3pm and the schools were empty, how come my school day didn't end till 4pm?

Ah well all for now....

Back to normal!

2011-10-02T22:12:00.000+02:00

Yep, grey skies this morning, some light rain, the garden appreciated the wet stuff. Still very muggy though. Inconsiderate neighbour lived up to her reputation last night, think she must have slammed every door in her flat several times over, after midnight of course!

Anyway after yesterdays spot of crafting, thought I'd have a go at a sunny picture. I did watch Barbara Grey yesterday, and noticed how she made her clouds, only it didn't work for me, maybe the secret is to use a brand new versamark stamp pad? So I used two different blues, and then found a white ink pad! And set to work, just used some cotton wool screwed up, and the dab, blot technique that our Barbara loves. Repeated the procedure for the hills, using two different greens, a dark and light green, mixed with yellow and white, using a mask to get the definition. Not bad for a first attempt.

This is what I did next, a sort of slightly different take on the previous snow scene, but in landscape mode. Also added some 'snow' using a white sakura pen, once I'd got it going again.   During a rummage through the stamps I found the Celtic cross, so added that to it. I used cotton wool balls again to add the sky, and further definition to the snow.   It does take longer doing it this way, rather than with the brayer, I am not using the same brayer as Barbara, so that may make a difference.   Really I just wanted to show that you can get the same effect but in a different way. I love Barbara Grey, she is a fantastic teacher, and Nigel did prove that it was possible to achieve excellent results.   I hope CnC keep that up, let a beginner work along with Barbara during her lessons, that way us crafters can see what we can really achieve.

Well it is Sunday, and so I have my one indulgence, a packet of crisps, salt and vinegar tonight, tho I no longer seem to have the munchies.   I'm being more active, but at the same time readdressing my food intake, just monitoring the choc biscuits, I've switched back to my apples, well I only like Cox's, they to me are the only apples that have any flavour. I love my veggies, usually my plate has more veggies than anything else - yep even sprouts and cabbage!   Can't get enough of the stuff.   Had a disaster last week with some mashed potato, used up a baking potato, which normally cook very well, but this one didn't! It was rubbish, had to throw most of it away as it had started to go black while boiling.   My mash is usually very good.

Well it seems to have cooled down at last.... I'm not against hot weather, but it can be TOO HOT.   Spare a thought for us who have to endure umpteen hot flushes during the day!   It was kind of amusing today, me and my God Daughter were suffering at both ends of the spectrum, she had bad period pains and I was having a hot flush.   Great to be female...

Have a lovely week... and take good care

It's all too much...

2011-10-01T21:35:00.000+02:00

This heat! It has been so oppressive. Today we had a cool breeze coming off the sea, it was most welcome. The worst part I think has been the hot, muggy nights, it simply hasn't cooled down at night all week, just been getting hotter and hotter. We're lucky to be in the upstairs flat so we can afford to leave the windows open, tho they are still locked. I pity my downstairs neighbours who simply daren't leave any window open at night.

I did mull over what to do today, then realised that the last week I have been out and about pretty much every day, so it was time for a rest. So after a short sojourn to the corner shop for paper, milk and pay paper bill it was straight back home, made a cup of coffee then settled down to watch Barbara Gray, I so admire her work. I was watching her 3rd lesson on CnC, not sure I would want to do it alongside watching. After lunch I thought I'd give it a go with the brayer, Barbara does make it look easy, which she admits, but it is a lot harder. But just couldn't get the brayering right no matter what I tried. I was starting to feel frustrated, so stopped, got out the blender tool and.... created the above picture. So who needs a brayer? I tore the sheet of paper as she did, then applied the ink but using the blender, a blue denim distress ink pad, didn't have her split tree, so used another tree stamp, just as effective, and added a few shadows. Rather pleased with it. This was the second version, managed to muck up the stamping, only slightly but couldn't disguise the mistake!

Supposed to be cooler tomorrow, I hope so, then maybe I can stop looking like a damp rag.

Enjoy folks... the weekend that is.

Phew what a scorcher....

2011-09-29T20:34:00.000+02:00

So where has this weather been hiding?   I've had to dig out the fan from the cupboard just so I can stay cool.

Well yesterday was one of my better days!   I popped down to the Carer's Centre to volunteer as a therapist, it was very busy but I was the solitary volunteer therapist, felt sure that there'd be more. But it was good to see a large turnout, think the Centre manager was chuffed. I've filled in all the forms, had a brief chat with the chap who organises all the therapies, he told me that they have a waiting list for reiki, so the sooner I can get my CRB clearance the better. Just had to get permission for two references.    All the stuff I need will be supplied, that was a great relief, treatment tables can be pricey. Just got to organise some insurance. It will be nice having something to do, a routine.

I'll also be doing MBS fairs with a friend, we just thought we'd give it a go.

Think it is time for a cooling shower...    another hot night ahead.

Mandala

2011-09-26T22:07:00.000+02:00

So what is a Mandala?   Well look at the picture! They are used in meditation as a focal point, they are usually symmetrical, and religious symbolism from Tibet. I just spotted a kit at the MBS fair yesterday, I had great fun putting this one together, all with coloured sand, would have liked a few more colours but you have to work with what you've got.

It was very enjoyable to do, and then I remembered my spirograph, remember them?    Not sure how many Mandalas I must have made back then, all accidentally. I did love my spirograph, one of my better Xmas pressies. Just had so much fun with it.

There is another reason to be happy, summer is back!   I do love our crazy weather, never makes any sense.   Last week they were saying that for my bit of the country it would be a wet and windy weekend, and it was the opposite.   Today was glorious, sunshine all the way. Not yet packed away the summer gear.

I've also been busy decorating more candles, these are the Buddha candles, all come with a pertinent proverb or quote on the reverse side.   Finally got to grips with the decals, realised I hadn't been using enough of the varnish on them, so gave the new batch 3 good layers, that made them much more stable and easier to put onto the candles. Very happy with the end result, also tried the same with the clear decals, they also became much more stable and easier to position.   Phew.... my plan has worked! Now just trying some other forms of decoration, picked up some stuff today, jewellry stuff, beads, wire and fixings,   the idea is to make a decoration for a candle, then see which my niece wants for her wedding. Not the buddhas!   Nooooo, the candles which have a flower design on them.    Also have to put together the flower creation, just need to make them first....    The folding bit is easy, just getting the vellum to stick together, takes a while for the pinflair to set.   May also use some embossing powder on them.

Still doing a lot of sketching, rather nice really to just doodle. No more birthday cards for the moment, not until November. Guess best make some sort of start on some Xmas cards.

Thanks for stopping by, your support is much appreciated.   Enjoy this lovely weather

Mind, Body and a boosted spirit

2011-09-24T22:38:00.002+02:00

Just had a rotten couple of days, nothing I can put my finger on, no-one or no one thing responsible for my miserable mood, it just landed on me.

So today had to be different?   Well I had no choice, I'd agreed to play my Djembe along with my drumming class at the Mind Body and Spirit fair, so had to be up in good time to make myself presentable, and that does take a bit of time.   Alarm was set,   but no need of it as my own internal alarm went off before it.   I was a bit bleary eyed at 8 a.m.,   some breakfast, cups of tea, cigarette.... needs must.    Hit the shower, and wash hair, leave bathroom feeling slightly more human.   Now will hair behave itself? Will I manage to blow dry it and the have a hot flush and end up with flat hair syndrome?   Keep fingers crossed... hair looks half good, bit of work with tongs...   before and after hot flush - knew it would raise its ugly head.   Slap on some make up, yep that is a definite improvement.   Now just need mother to get her act together, have to get her organised so I can leave flat.    Feel a sense of rising anger, mum is being slow, not her fault so trying not to blame her or hurry her up... patience exhausted.   Off to MBS fair, Mind Body and Spirit, for those that don't know, holistic/new age stuff... my thing.    Meet up with drumming buddies, we're all relieved to see one another, think we all presumed we'd all bottle out of it.   We all hope to have a quick practice before our performance, that was the plan... fat chance, Kevin is late joining us, and he is the only one who knows all the patterns - oooer, it has started!   Yikes, hear pattern and I'm off.... phew.   Only stuff up on one pattern, that was cos I got all tense for some daft reason, relaxed again and managed the rest. Audience loved it.   Wish to be handed a large drink....   just get water - sigh.

My ordeal isn't over yet, I've been fernangled into taking part in a psychic art workshop talk. Why do I agree to these things?    But I have, and supplied paintings, think I'll just be a side show, paintings will be background material. How wrong can you be?   I end up centre of attention, not what I wanted.... want to find escape route out of room, damn why didn't I sit closer to the door?    So I am stuck, but I eventually realise I am amongst like minded folk and it is okay.   Sense of relief is enormous.   They were all looking at my paintings, such as they are, from the pyschic art workshop, and seeing stuff that I hadn't seen. All very interesting.    By now it was after 3pm, and I suddenly felt very tired. My plan had been to have another wander round all the stalls, but felt too tired and in need of a nice, home made cuppa.   So that was me - plus knee was objecting big time, wasn't using crutch so my right and knackered knee was very sore by this time. Think I may have expected a bit too much from it.   So home it was, to a much needed cuppa. And to examine purchases, a gorgeous silver Angel, an Owl bookmark, and a Mandalas project kit... I shall explain over the week what that is, hopefully with the results.

All in all a good day, tiring, but hugely enjoyable.

Thanks for stopping by folks, enjoy your weekend and take good care

And the weekend approaches

2011-09-16T22:40:00.000+02:00

I've spent all week waiting for delivery of 3 items, two of which were ordered LAST week. Was at the verge of contacting sellers to complain, as both had sent me e-mails saying that goods had been dispatched the day after order.   So today I head off to get weekend shopping and come back to find two of the purchases have finally been delivered.   Not what you expect of internet shopping, not when the item is in stock...

The delivery of these items meant I could get on and complete some projects, though one arrived too late for me to be able to get it to the recipient by hand. Annoyed about that, or is it Royal Mail?   Poor posties seem to be overloaded with stuff to deliver, our postie is now using a trolley, which is choc full of post.   Like to see some of these flash managers out doing the job!

So finally managed to finish my swap card, just wanted to use a different font on the Slice machine. Second delivery was the clear decal paper, dispatched to me last Saturday....   arrived today. That is ridiculous considering what I paid in postage!

I had to do some cropping to make image fit the required candle,   thank goodness for photo shop! This is the end result, it has had two coats of acrylic varnish, just needs one more. Made sure that I did some draft prints on paper to check the measurements, just needed a few tweaks here and there to make it fit.   Also added names and date, think god daughter will like that, well her mum thinks she will!

Got my second psychic art workshop tomorrow, just felt I had some unfinished business.   But will enjoy just letting rip onto a canvas.   Had a great time at the last workshop.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend...   thanks for stopping by

And another weekend bites the dust

2011-09-12T22:59:00.000+02:00

Bit of a soggy affair our weekend, weather was just unpredictable. Mum headed off to meet her friends for coffee on Saturday, and no sooner had she left in a taxi than she was back!    Felt a bit mean, sort of resented her coming back, I like my Saturday afternoons, I can just potter about to my hearts content.

Then Sunday arrived, had the lie in I had desired the day before!   The usual mixed bag of weather, a surprise phone call from a friend to say she was in the area and she'd pop round in the afternoon.   Wasn't happy, mum had 'stolen' my crossword!   Cheek of it.   But no need to worry as she'd not managed to answer any of it.    Well yes I did worry as she'd also not managed to complete the easy crossword, which she always does. Aged parents are a worry.

Of course it was also the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, so was watching that when friend arrived.   The images of the planes smashing in to the buildings are still hard to believe even now, ten years on.   I hope some will now find closure and move on.    A very moving ceremony nevertheless.

Did manage a few more decals, getting better at fixing them onto the candle. They are tricky,   they can move so easily, so you have to keep checking that all is straight and that there are no air bubbles.    But sent pics through to a friend, she loved them.   Some will be Xmas pressies, but got an idea to sell them as well.

Very windy here, last bit of that hurricane is working its way across the country, just been watching a crane being rocked by the wind - very alarming.

All for now, thanks for stopping by.   Oh, just working out Blogger's new settings, will restore my favourites soon and be visiting other blogs.

A soggy Saturday

2011-09-10T21:38:00.000+02:00

Very humid, and windy, a taste of what is to come if we believe the Met office, as we are supposed to get the tail end of some hurricane.

So what to do on a wet afternoon? Play of course :-) I mistakenly ordered the white decals - rats, but all was not lost. I felt that with some careful cutting they'd still work. So today was play day, just seeing how much varnish to use, how big the designs need to be and practising how to put the decals on. This was the first attempt, found some copyright free images, once downloaded I arranged them in a Word document, I got four images on the page, probably could get more, depends on size. Had some decal paper left over... but more of that in a minute! Once the image has been printed on the decal paper it needs to be 'fixed', hence the acrylic varnish, I'm using plastikote clear acrylic varnish, the 'fixative' needs to be flexible. The instructions say to give it 3 light coats, 'light' being the important word, and then leave it to dry between coats. It takes about an hour to dry completely, so you can see this is an activity that needs planning. Once dry I used a shape cutter to cut out the image. Then you soak it in some cold water for about 30 secs, then gently slide it off the backing paper and onto the candle, or whatever it is you want the decal to go on. Next comes the fiddly bit, you need to smooth it down, but gently, it takes a few minutes and then you can leave it to dry.

But what about those left over bits? Well... if you have a die cutting machine, or punches, some alcohol inks, then you can use them up! The decal paper will take the alcohol inks, there is not need to 'fix' it either as it is not water soluble. So once you have your piece of coloured decal then start punching or cutting. I used my Slice machine, I was using a small candle so the designs had to be no more than One and a Half inches. This really was an experiment but I was very happy with the results. With the wedding coming up I wondered if the Slice Wedding SD card would be useful, didn't fancy paying full price for it, but found it on Amazon for half price! Result.

This is the 'other' side of the candle. You could put anything on it, including letters or words, so you can make bespoke candles for any occasion. Considering how much decorated candles cost in the shops these work out at a fraction of the price.

Now need to source some wholesale candles - and do some designs. Well that festive thingymebob is happening in a couple of months!

Getting so clammy here, and it was really warm last night.

Not sure what to do tomorrow, I should make my swap card, or make a start on my scrap challenge? May make one more candle using the white decals, should get delivery of the clear decal on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend folks.

Bit of a rubbish day

2011-09-08T22:50:00.000+02:00

Today started badly, managed to sleep in, weather was crap, hard to get myself going but I needed to be out of the house by 10.15 a.m. to make it to a funeral.   I made it with minutes to spare, after worrying about mum, who was still in bed, very unlike her.   The funeral, short, to the point and poignant.    Bit of a reunion as well, all the old face, many I'd not seen for a few years, so we had a nice catch up. Not at the pub, it wasn't open, didn't pubs used to open at 11.30?   Anyway we headed off to garden centre and enjoyed a coffee, plus a lot of conversation.   It was odd seeing everyone again, none looked as if they'd changed one bit, and none of us thought that it would be Jillian who's funeral we would be attending.

Then had to head home for quick sandwich, check up on mum and back out for hospital appointment. I feel like I've spent the last 3 years at that hospital, even the staff know me!   Well the knee replacement bit is okay, what is still causing problems is the ruddy kneecap, which they said they'd replace, but didn't!   So why were they so surprised when I told them I was still having problems?   Also got some scar tissue issues.    So no discharge, just come back in a couple of months.   Cowardly consultant avoided me, I did have a few questions for him, wonder if he knew? Most pertinent was: why didn't you remove that knackered kneecap?    But did manage to walk without crutch outside, a break through, it felt liberating, but also felt nervous and the right leg got very tired.

Looks like my niece has decided upon the above design... relief.   Also printed out the first two decals, BUT, my beef is that the website didn't state that the acrylic varnish was an essential part of the kit!   Dumb or what?   You need that it seems to 'fix' the ink, so I had to go look for a can of the stuff. Luckily found some in B&Q, but was annoyed at website, they need to make it clear that the varnish is necessary. So I should be able to make the first proper candle tomorrow using the decal. If it works I'll be chuffed as it will also mean I can make up my own advent candles, which I prefer to the calendars, but which are not easy to find, well the nice ones.

The day ended with a nice roast dinner, mum, to my surprise had managed to prepare the veg for me, so we had roast chicken, with stuffing and veg,   just about saved the gravy! Must have been okay as mum cleared her plate.

Wedding fever

2011-09-05T21:15:00.000+02:00

Had to find thinking cap and start coming up with ideas for my niece's wedding stationary, only she's not given me much to go on. Sent through a few ideas, which she likes, so will keep going till she says which one she wants. Also have to come up with table decorations. That had me stumped, thought candles would be nice, but how to decorate them? Found some free stuff on the Martha Stewart site, and one design used a decal, well moved on to Google, searched for make your own decals, and sure enough you can - yippee. These are the waterslide decals, ordered them through Amazon.

In meantime I've been knuckling down to the invites, this is the latest. Had a look round for pics of wildflowers or spring flowers, saw this pic and loved it. I can print these as well, so saves a bit of time, the squiggly bit is a stamp, tho I'm also thinking of ribbon.

This was another card I came up with, similar idea, using a printable design, mat and layer it, then used the left over bits from a punch plus a stick on pearl. But that would mean a lot of fiddly stuff to do, luckily it will only be 48 invitations, if it were 200 I'd be just looking at printing them!

Then today as I am making these cards I get an e-mail from a friend, my first thought was that I'd not heard from her in a while, so thought it would be a catch up, and instead it was giving me news of the death of an old colleague. It was such a shock, she'd only retired in 2008, and was only 64, which is no age these days. She was the person who trained me and whom I worked with the most. My other colleagues told me she was a bit an of an odd bod, and she was, but in a nice way. I got along very well with her, and we did eventually become friends, she wasn't an easy person to get close to, reluctant, or shy, I'm not sure, but she seemed to prefer her own company. Well in her later years, as in her youth she was a go getter. The news really did knock me sideways, I sort of felt she'd go on for a long time, becoming ever more endearingly eccentric.

Rest in Peace Jillian.

What happened to the blue sky?

2011-08-14T22:17:00.000+02:00

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

Last page...

2011-08-13T21:24:00.000+02:00

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

The juices are flowing

2011-08-11T21:32:00.000+02:00

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.

Very lazy Sunday

2011-08-07T23:01:00.000+02:00

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..

Psychic Art Workshop

2011-08-06T20:54:00.000+02:00

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.

Ugh, muggy weather

2011-07-31T21:37:00.000+02:00

Far too warm and clammy for my liking, don't mind blue skies and sun, but the sticky, humid stuff... yuck.

So it was time to finish off a few challenges, this one (see pic) has been waiting to be stuck down since beginning of June. The theme was green and purple, well that only means one thing to me - Wimbledon! I went through my old photos and found some I'd taken when I was there in 1981, which shows how the place has changed over the years. Again the Slice came in to play for the lettering - Zo thank you for your comments, I'd like a cricut but can only afford the Slice, but it is a very versatile machine and I wouldn't be without it. Lettering used to be the bane of my life, especially with scrapbooking, the Slice is far cheaper than buying endless alphabets for the manual die cutters.

The second page is my retirement party which was last June! I was going through the photos and realised that nearly all have moved on to new places of work, same employer, well for all except one, must find out what she is up to these days. It took place midweek, and we went to a Chinese, it was a shared party, I was retiring and Kirsty was leaving, she was heading off for America! Mean was okay, but sadly Jane got food poisoning, we ended up in pub across the road, I departed about 11 pm, left them to it, not sure how they all got home, a few didn't remember getting home! I still keep in touch with them, call in every few weeks, have a cuppa and a catch up. But glad I am not there any more, less staff, more work... meanwhile a few bosses invent daft schemes just to justify their existence.

Also watched the Women's open, sadly it was poorly attended, shame, also a shame that the BBC didn't devote more time to it, in fact it would be nice if they did devote more time to women's sport in general. Of course when Wimbledon is on the usual moaners go on about the women only playing 3 sets, well that was not their choice, it was decided for them many years ago, some man thought that women couldn't possibly play 5 sets of tennis! I think playing 5 sets at the majors would improve the women's game. And the men can be just as boring.

Hope you are managing to stay cool where you are, thanks for stopping by.

Well it is Wednesday.. .

2011-07-27T22:03:00.000+02:00

And I'm hot and dripping, fed up of this menopause stuff. I washed my hair this morning, it looked really nice till the first hot flush, then it was as flat as a fluke. Why do I bother!

Summer has returned, I enjoyed a pleasant hobble to the high street. Stopped to watch men painting tower block, which may not seem very remarkable, except they were all dangling from ropes, it looked very precarious.

Today it was over to Hobbycraft, to get a few bits for wedding stationary, and hoping for some inspiration. Didn't get much of the latter, picked up a few bits and bobs just enough to make up a few samples. I also got the embossing tips for the Slice, I have the daft idea of embossing the invitations... I also spotted a half price CD rom on - wedding stationary! Grabbed that, and it has proved very useful already, has some nice designs for favour boxes.

Found some wedding stationary templates on the microsoft site, ther is no way I'm attempting to write on them, my handwriting is appalling.   Going to keep them simple, nothing fussy as my niece is the unfussiest person I know.   I also have to come up with some table decorations!   I think it should be white and gold, the wedding is in the Spring, so I'm thinking of daffodils, which lets face it are a very cheerful flower.

Pic on left is my swap card for July, the thankyou for the fat page book. And partly why I wanted the brayer, for this card I made do with the ink blender, and used my Owl stamp, with my Slice providing the lettering.

Well one year to go to Olympics...   9 billion has been chucked at it so far. Sometimes you wonder if we get our priorities in the right order.

Thanks for stopping by....

Being crafty...

2011-07-22T20:59:00.000+02:00

So got brayer, have big and juicy pad, best to start using it? First attempts were rubbish, off to Youtube to look for tutorials... ten minutes later I am armed with brayer... another rubbish attempt, but keep going and hurrah - success! See picture for proof. Yep finally got hang of it, now need to try masking and the reflection technique. I may need to get some Barbara Gray stamps, I love her work, she is so clever and makes it look easy!

I also have another inspiration book to make, so I think I'll be using the brayer - which probably means buying another big and juicy pad!

I did also make more pages, will put more pics up in next few days, tho there is one page I am not happy about so will have to do it again. Did this one yesterday, I remembered the cat stamp I had - love this inspiration book as I'm finding old stash and using it up! Punched the border, mitred the corners, then used some buttons from Klara's Crafts, she makes her own from fimo, she is so talented and is always making something. Just wondering if the cat stamp needs to be enamelled? Always looks better when it is glossy, or perhaps I could use glossy accents? Mmmm, need to think about that.

I hadn't realised I had a butterfly theme going! Oops, didn't mean that, but then again flutterbies are lovely. Used the Tim Holtz stamp on this one, well two, one is a sort of smudge, so used that to make the border, I like the chap with umbrella, and one of his discs.
I also found a new poky tool, well not new, but can't remember when I bought it, but it is nice and thick so makes bigger holes.

Weather is picking up, managed to walk through to high street, thought at one point it was going to rain but it kept off. Had a look in all the cheap shops for an Owl, yes an Owl, suddenly I need to have an Owl! Keep on seeing them, the one in the garden centre was way too big, ideally I'd like a plain wooden one. I also need Klara to make me something.... Going to start altering bedroom decoration, getting a bit tired of this look...
Have a good weekend all, catch up with you on Sunday.

Now very soggy...

2011-07-19T20:37:00.000+02:00

A bit tired of this soggy stuff, it wasn't on my summer order, I made sure mine said: SUN for May, June, July, August, September...   humph.

Yesterday was diabolical, I had to go to craft shop, (honest!) to get ink blender, ended up also getting big and juicy ink pad and a brayer... not sure how that happened!   Had nice chat to assistant, she was showing me all the new stuff that had come in, new pro markers, the new nibs for them.... never realised that there was THAT many pro markers. Later I went to my drumming class, we went through our entire repertoire,    I was surprised by how many we've managed to master, well almost master. Then we had a go at new routine, I was doing fine till I looked at Lisa, who was next to me and she was in a mess, that threw me off.

I am a bit pleased with myself as I managed to get a lot done today.   Aside from the usual stuff like the supermarket shop...   I finished my first essay of my course,   got swap card in post and made two more pages of the book!     Think I was most chuffed with the essay, been a while since I did any academic work so it was nice to know that I had remembered how to do it.    Now can't wait to get the next bit of the course.

With the book I am copying a couple of pages as my friend did like them, not making exact copies, I'm enjoying using the different colours, it will be a rainbow book :-))

I was also rummaging around for some DST and came across some of my old stash, at long last I can make use of it. I used the dragon fly 3D sticker from a very old Anna Griffin kit, totally forgot the stickers were still there.

I'm also liking the new blender, makes like much easier. Had a go with the brayer, not bad results but I do need to practice with it to get a more even result, but it was fun and it is something new. I do like watching Barbara Gray, she is so talented and makes it look very easy, which is certainly isn't. I may indulge in some of her stamps.

Was also annoyed as my Stayzon stamp seems to have dried up! Needed that for stamping acetate, only used it last week and it was fine.

All for now... just hope the weather improves.

Some crafting!

2011-07-17T20:40:00.000+02:00

At last back to crafting. Though I think the break did me some good. Started another inspiration book, this one is for a friend. I kept this page pretty simple, just card from papermania (6x6 basics), and some Anna Griffin stamps, the corner stamp, bought the set ages ago, it's very useful as it has swirls, corners and tons of other fancy stamps, all useful for finishing touches. The Slice also came in handy, used the Findings software to make the key and the lettering (using the shadow option), and Basics 1 for the other letters. I also inked round edge of quote, and discovered I need more refills for my inker, or whatever it is called. Think I may buy the padded version, I find this one a bit hard and not as easy to get a smooth finish.

Then I moved on to page number 3, since my friend liked one of the pages in my book I replicated it, but used different colours and a different quote. I chose pink, since it will go opposite the green page (above), and used the fairy stamp, plus some pretty flowers of a delicate pink colour, or is it Coral?   I may add a bow, not sure yet, needed to let the pinflair glue dry before adding anything else.   I'm out of 3D tape, was sure I got some at the craft fair!

Was going to start on page number 4, but that is when I realised I was out of refills for the inker, needed it to ink round edges of next piece of card. Rats... far too late for me to nip up to craft shop. I had been engrossed in the golf,   it was nice seeing Darren Clarke win, such a lovely chap who has had a rough time of things, so time the nice guy won!

All back to normal here, mum arrived back yesterday, far too early for my liking, thought she'd be back a bit later! Oh well. Was going to do some crafting yesterday, but my sister hung round, so it seemed a bit rude to disappear, then blow me she gets out her laptop and proceeds to spend the afternoon on it!   The weather wasn't fit to go anywhere, a really soggy morning, slightly better in the afternoon, but absolutely dreadful today, been raining since early morning.    Can't complain too much, weather was decent last week, so I managed to get out and about, even caught the sun!

All for now, thanks for stopping by... hope you had a good weekend.

Two friends, sun and a duck...

2011-07-14T20:50:00.000+02:00

Just had a refreshing few days with two friends, packed mum off to a cottage with my sister and settled down to a week of fun, takeaways and wine... Mind you after a stressful week it took me a while to relax. We just had a very chilled out day on Saturday, I shipped mum off and then my friends arrived. So we just pottered around a few shops, well two, a new age shop and then Tesco, from one extreme to the other! Saturday night was Mexican food, we got all the essentials from Tesco, including Tequilla.... probably just as well I no longer indulge in spirits. We had a good feed and a good natter, amazingly we woke up next day refreshed and hangover free! We headed off to Liverpool One for lunch, I spotted the Jamie Oliver restaurant, so we were all set to eat there, until.... we asked to sit outside cos I smoke, but then waitress said that outside was non-smoking... then she added this caveat: I could smoke if we just ordered drinks.... go figure! A red mist descended, I am not given to being rude, but I told her how ruddy daft it was and I was off to find somewhere that would let me smoke, she said all the restaurants were the same. Well they weren't! All the rest allowed smoking outside, so yah boo sucks to Mr Oliver. Holier than thou non smokers or ex smokers need not bother replying... We ended up in a South American restaurant, very designer, I ordered steak and chips, steak came cut up on a skewer with a lovely sauce and... 3 chips! I kid you not, just 3 chips! My two friends ordered the paellla and had no difficulty in counting the prawns, they got 3 each... After that we headed for a normal pub, in the Albert Dock and sat enjoying the sun. Monday we headed for Chester, another beautiful day weatherwise, then we had a drumming class - brilliant! Tuesday was beach day, wasn't intended to be, but we all just felt like a calm day. I took my friends to see the Iron men on the beach and they were most impressed, then we had a pit stop at a local hostelry, as one must. But by time we managed to get home I was, or rather my knee was very sore and didn't want me to budge from chair, so we ordered takeaway from restaurant we were meant to be going to. We had so much food it lasted us two days. Then Wednesday, well we were supposed to go see the newly restored Japanese garden, but it wasn't open... humph, unamused, they could have made that more obvious on their website. So we headed back to Albert Dock and decided to have lunch and take the duck tour. It was a good laugh, tho alarmingly the duck appeared to have a list... not a good thing when you are in water! Took photos as we went along, wasn't bothered about getting the 'right' shot, just wanted a pictorial of the trip. It was odd tho, the moment we stepped on board the duck the weather changed, it went from sunny and warm to bloody cold with a freezing wind. It took us ages to get warmed up.

Photo is of the statue on the old Lewis's department store... as the song says: exceedingly bare!

From sizzling to soggy...

2011-07-06T20:46:00.000+02:00

Ain't it great, our British Summer, no sooner have we chucked away the raincoats and stored the brolly and what happens? Yep, it disappears and is replaced by grey and very leaky skies. Oh well...

Well Murray lost but Djokovic won, so I was happy, two brand new Wimbledon champions, can't remember the last time that happened. It's all over for another year :-(

Not been doing a great deal of crafting this week, I have started a new mini book.   Must remember to take it into craft shop, cos when I was buying the chipboard album the assistant said that they didn't sell many.   I wondered if it was cos no-one knew what to do with them.   Think they need a mini book workshop, happy to do it in exchange for supplies ;-)

This will be a for a friend, I've picked out lots of lovely quotes to go in it, and got a new set of stamps, a set of trees, well she likes her trees.   I also want it to be rustic.    I may get going on the first page tomorrow, just been busy all week getting flat ready for my two friends who will be coming to stay, and organising mum who is going away for 10 days.   It is tiring having to think for two people, mum is only making the minimum effort these days,   it is also hard to get her interested in anything. If I try I risk getting my head bitten off, then she'll reel off all the things she has decided she can't do, which is just about everything.

Today I blitzed the flat, over the last few weeks I've been tidying up places like the airing cupboard, food cupboards, sorted out the fridge yesterday, gave it a good clean, only one dubious looking jar of pasta sauce needed to be ditched.   Still building up to tackling the cloak room, have to get mum to agree to part company with a few of her 18 jackets and coats!   She wears just two, when I told her how many she had she was surprised, but when I suggested that she could give some away she refused! It is the same with her shoes, she can't wear any of her old shoes, but she just won't agree to give them away.

Next week there will be no crafting at all, will have to store my stash in cloakroom, at least now I just about know were everything is. Getting those storage boxes was a very good idea, but will copy the lady off CnC and will put the silicon stamps into empty CD cases, rather than just keeping them on the acetate sheet.   I also made some space in my craft tool box for more of my tools, now the heat gun will go in it, must really give it a good sort out, not sure what is lurking at the bottom!

All for now folks, thanks for stopping by...

Not long now

2011-06-30T22:37:00.000+02:00

:-( Only 3 days left of Wimbledon! Then what do I do?   Tomorrow is the mens semi finals...   will have all fingers and toes crossed for Murray.

In meantime, back at the craft table I have finished my inspiration book, here is the final page.   Went for black cardstock, then stamped with a flourish, using gold ink pad,   cut out oval and stuck on sentiment/quote, again used same flourish with a reddish ink pad, more rust than red methinks.   But it is now done... !    It is the first mini book I've made, well except for one I sort of put together, but that was with the help of a few friends.   This time it was all me.   Stuff like this is a measure of how far we've come on our crafting journey, or so I think. This is something that would not even have been on my radar when I first started crafting, I wouldn't have known what a mini book was or had the confidence to tackle one.   My first scrapbook was 8 x8 and I avoided using it for nearly 2 years, preferring to use the 12x12 album instead. I felt afraid of the smaller albums and unsure how to use the space. If I do make one then I reduce the size of the photos, tho this had very few, just some very small photos.   But it did force me to use my creativity, and employ a few techniques.

It kind of went well with the tennis also, not too complex so as to totally distract me from the tennis match, but enough so I could ignore the tense moments of the match!   I am a failure as a couch potato, I can't just sit and watch the box, I have to be doing something else at the same time.

Weather is also on the up. I chanced washing my car on Tuesday, feeling sure that would bring on the rain... but nope, it has remained dry. The Beeb forecasters keep saying to expect rain, but Fred says that it will remain dry, so far Fred has been proved right.   Oh also vacuumed car!     Amazing, well it does entail several extensions linked together to make it to car from flat...    so Little Mo is now tickety boo, all happy and shiny.   I'd check the oil and stuff if I could open the bonnet,   no I am not useless I do know how to do this stuff, but it is a new car and has and odd opening mechanism, and since I am no longer able to kneel down it means it is very hard to open the bonnet!    Going to get friend to take me through it.

Had my Tai Chi session today,   finally getting to grips with the warm up, so feel like I am making progress. It is so calming, I can recommend it to anyone who wants to reduce their stress.

Well time for a cup of tea...    talk to you all over the weekend.

Melting point

2011-06-26T21:56:00.000+02:00

Ugh, the sort of weather I am not keen on, very muggy, we had a thunderstorm earlier but hasn't made any difference to the humidity or temperature. It seems to have got worse since the menopause, my intolerance to muggy weather.

So felt that it was better to keep movement to a minimum today, and decided to put together the last few pages of my inspiration book. I found some nice quotes and printed them out onto some super smooth white card, which I picked up for a bargain price at the craft fair. I kept to the autumnal colours, did some inking on this page, rusty red I think, added a nice butterfly, used my flourish stamps, then added the fairies. Rather pleased with that. Next up was the inside of the back cover.

I was going to use a border punch strip, but once I'd made it I didn't like it, but I used the left over bits instead!   Again I printed out the quote,   cut a circle, inked it, cut a larger circle from some glittered acetate,   made use of a stamped sentiment,   stuck glossy ribbon down edge and that was it, oh and the Angel. She was originally silver, but I used a tan pro marker to recolour her - I had to have an Angel in the book somewhere!

Just got to take pic of back cover and that will be that. I said I'd got another mini book kit, but have decided to make an inspiration book for a friend, well for two friends, so I will have to get another kit but they are only 2.99.   I've really enjoyed making this book, really boosted me.   I love any form of scrapbooking, it gives me the freedom to create what I want, I still make cards and enjoy it, but I am not going to sit here any more and turn them out like a production line.

Did watch the Bibster's first solo effort on CnC, she's fitting in nicely, and has time to craft!   I do hope she is allowed to show all of her skills, we never saw her able to do proper crafting on QVC, at least CnC knows that we crafters want to see stuff being made, and we are still happy to keep buying. I felt she was much more relaxed and happier, so well done Dawn.

I hope that you are managing to stay cool wherever you are right now.... I am still melting!

Stayathome Saturday

2011-06-25T20:54:00.000+02:00

Another gloomy start to the day, wall to wall cloud. Faced with that I decided to stay at home, had been hoping for a sunny morning so I could enjoy a walk. Fat chance of that!

So just after lunch I decided to rework two of my inspiration book pages wasn't happy with the lettering on the Be Free page, so ripped it all off and started over! This time I used the scroll stamp along the side and top, kept the lettering the same, did a much better stamp of the little bird and put the metal tag at the bottom, and the quote at the top, much better result.

Next I turned my attention to the front cover, the original was like a film strip, but it didn't suit what I was doing. I didn't want it too fussy or cluttered, just used black card, pin flair peel off, some ribbons, the photo and some lettering, which I recoloured. Think that now looks tons better, also trimmed the photo a little and rounded the corners.

So having ripped apart the front cover it meant I had to redo the back of the cover. Wasn't entirely happy with first effort anyway, I was really just getting into my stride with the book and how I wanted it to look.

This is very different from first effort, used a different picture, a gorgeous sunset, pic was taken by a friend on her holidays. Used the Slice to cut out some flourishes, then altered them slightly, and cut a tag and stamped on it, just used a dotty background stamp round the edges. Much better.

So just got one page left, though I did buy another mini book yesterday! So maybe a second volume?

Last night was a bit draining, watching Mr Murray, a bit stop/start at time, sheer brilliance and real dunce stuff all mixed together. The guy he was playing is a very good player and a fighter, so it was never going to be easy.

Well after a gloomy day we now have a lovely evening, not even a fluffy white cloud to be seen! And one more week of tennis...

Have a lovely weekend, thanks for stopping by

What happened to summer?

2011-06-24T22:29:00.000+02:00

It is June I just looked at the calendar, but the weather appears to have not noticed.   Today started with lovely blue sky and sunshine, by lunchtime the clouds had rolled in, temperature dropped, and by 5pm it was raining...

It was also raining at Wimbledon!    Thank goodness for the roof,   so Murray is at last winning his match, took him a while to get going tho. Not sure he likes having to wait to start his matches to fit in with TV schedule.

Well I did manage another page for my book.   I did try yesterday but just wasn't happy with what I produced, not entirely happy with this page, just the lettering, think it needs to be changed. The rest works, but it might need a bit of edging. I did pop up to the Range hoping to find some nice stuff... well I found some nice card stock, and the tweet stamps, plus a few BOGOFs (buy one get one free), and that was it, they are definitely winding down the serious card craft stuff. There weren't many stamps, the tweet/bird stamps where less than half price. Their fault that they're not selling stuff as they have mucked round with the craft stuff far too much.    Then had disappointing time at a certain well know supermarket, went to a different branch and the choice of ready meals was absymal,   this is tennis time so one needs to have instant food,   the choice was rubbish, as was layout of veg/fruit section - I do wish they'd stop faffing with it, you go to where the mushrooms were and find yourself with a handful of leeks.

Anyway came away disappointed from The Range, just nothing there.   New craft shop has realised it needs more space in the garden centre it's based in, so I hope they do expand it. They're having a review soon, very sensible, it is very popular, but it is getting a bit samey.   Any wonder why CnC does so well?   But not all of us want the huge kits, and the hard sell does start to grate... look if we want to buy we will, if we don't no amount of plugging is going to make us buy stuff we don't want or like!

Murray about to serve for match... about time!   Have a good weekend.

New Balls please

2011-06-22T22:22:00.000+02:00

Yes my favourite two weeks of the year, Wimbledon! I had a busy morning, got all housework/washing etc out of the way and then settled down for the tennis fest at noon...

But I did make two more pages for my Inspiration book. I decided to use one of the Reiki symbols, Choku Rei, the power and protection symbol. I just found an image on Google and printed it out onto the canvas paper, inked the edges, used a TH stamp, and a lovely sentiment, recoloured the flowers with pro markers and that was that.

For the next page I chose yellow piece of light card, then I used some peg stamps with a versamark pad, so as to do a resist technique, using a paper mania ink pad I blended in some ink, using 3 of TH stamps, the car, birds and bitty pattern, I worked round a circle with a quote in it. The resist technique hasn't shown up well in the photograph, but it is there.

That was yesterday, and suddenly it was Wednesday! Had a yucky day yesterday, had picked up a bug of some sort, decided that rest may be the best way to go, any exertion resulted in me dripping in with perspiration. So a rain day at Wimbledon... but there was tennis cos they have the roof. Watched some of the first match, then postie came, and he brought my new stamps! Well time to go crafting.

It was back to inspiration book, I'm loving this at the moment, it is made for just me, I'm not attempting to please anyone just myself. I started this page and trust me, it was totally different than this. I didn't like what I'd done, it just didn't work, so took everything off and started again. While looking for some mirri card I came across the glittered acetate, then was searching for stuff and found the flowers and butterflies... so slowly a page came together. Much happier with this than with first effort, the quote came from an old QVC kit, bought a few years ago now. I inked up some parchment paper and then stuck on the quote.

Then it was time to move on to my new stamps...

Which were a set of owl stamps, got them of ebay from a lovely seller. The set had 4 stamps, two owl images and a leaf, I stamped the owl on to white card, then cut round it, then inked it, next I used the leaf stamp to make a border, then added to it with some peg stamps, and used the TH bird stamp, and a sentiment stamp I bought ages ago. I added the lettering courtesy of the Slice! I just love the owl stamp, it is so detailed and works well with the sepia stamp pad. I had to add an owl as I keep seeing them, saw one on my way home from my drumming class a couple of weeks ago, it flew right in front of my car, it was such a breathtaking sight.

The tennis is also going well, Murray is making steady progress, and Laura Robson also got through, sadly Heather Watson injured her elbow, she was doing so well in her match before the injury, certainly one to watch. The Japanese player was unlucky to lose to Venus, there wasn't much in it. More tennis tomorrow and more pages of my book, going to be sad to come to the end of it!

Crafting on a Sunday afternoon...

2011-06-19T20:52:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I came up with the idea of making a mini book, I'd bought a chipboard book a while ago but it had just been gathering dust. I wanted to make the book personal to me, wasn't sure if it should be about my spiritual growth, the family stuff, in the end I settled for an Inspiration book.

I've used photos and quotes that I've found inspiring or motivational. I've printed the photos onto canvas paper, which has given them a warmer feel. For the front page I chose a picture of the last eclipse, not taken by me (Andy Logan), and used the quote 'Are Comes from the Heart', I covered the front with light black card, coredinations card, which had a pink alternative side. Used the other side to give contrast on the film strip edges.

This is the first page, using black as the base, I stamped a dotty background, used a border punch on some gold card, printed a small photo of a waterfall, then used a Tim Holtz stamp, bits at side are the leftovers from the border punch, also used a TH embellishment, I like this discs, thought about recolouring it but felt it worked fine as it was. Just about remembered that the page has holes already punched! It nearly slipped my memory. Just used the Kodak software to print the photos, it allows you to go down to a fairly small size and gives you the option of printing them like a contact sheet.

This will be page number 3, backing card is papermania capsule collection, used the plain side and used a sepia archival ink pad on the edges. I stamped the image of a heart, again using sepia ink pad, and then stamped the quote on to a small piece of canvas, used a pinflair peel off round the edge, recoloured the metal butterfly and flower with promarkers, also did same with ric rac. This is my favourite page so far, the colours are warm and liked the stamps. They are from Creative Expression, Vintage Hearts, and are unmounted stamps. It had a nice selection of different hearts, keys, backgrounds and quotes. I've also ordered a set of stamps from Ebay of owls, as I keep seeing them so figure they must mean something. All in all an enjoyable afternoon.

I also did some sorting out, got a set of 5 A4 storage boxes, so my stamps are now all in one place, as are my inkpads, gems and embossing powders. Hopefully that will stop me losing stuff, or rather wondering where I put it!

Will be carrying on with book for rest of week, while watching the tennis. Yes there will be tennis, Wimbled on has a roof!

Hot, cold, hot, cold... damp, dry....

2011-06-07T20:58:00.000+02:00

What sort of summer is this? Oh yeah, a British summer! Well the weekend was half nice, glorious on Saturday, bit of a damp squib on Sunday. As was the tennis, the Fed was injured... disappointing. He'd got off to such a great start as well. Oh Wimbledon is on the horizon.

Before the tennis I tuned in to watch Barbara Grey on CnC, I do love watching what she does, she is so creative. But to my joy she showed how to make a Jacob's ladder card, I'd seen them, seen the instructions and not managed to make one. So was watching carefully, and here is the result! Needed a birthday card so it seemed like a good idea, bit more involved than I thought, and I would have taken a bit longer over it, and would have coloured the stamped images, but it wasn't bad for a first go. This is the outside, well I think it is! Was just about to print off a sentiment when I remembered I had a nice stamp, just punched the white card top and bottom.

This is the 'first' side, so to speak, made good use of my shopaholic stamps, and my peel offs! I did experiment with colouring the images but the promarkers were coming through, with a bit more time I'd have matted the stamped images, far too fiddly to cut out! Used some pin flair flexi peel offs, really like them as they just finished things off.

Just got my nephew's wedding photos, so I may make one for him and his new wife. Always chuffed when new stuff turns out okay. Was the same with my first exploding box! Used a kit at first, then used that as a template to make a second, now they are just so easy that I can't believe I thought they were so complicated.

Had my drumming class last night, really enjoyed myself, the group has a nice relaxed feel to it. We had some one new join a few weeks ago, she seemed to be the missing piece of our jigsaw, she's really nice and very useful as she is an expert gardener, so I think everyone is making use of her expertise. We went through all the routines we've been learning, never thought I'd remember any of them, but to my surprise I did, some were easier to recall than others, but only need a few prompts. The time flew by, couldn't believe how light it still was when we left, and a waxing moon, so lovely to see it.

Well thanks for stopping by, your company is always appreciated.

Oh sunny day

2011-06-01T22:32:00.000+02:00

Well yesterday was a surprise, first really sunny and warm day for weeks.   Quite a shock to see clear blue skies lasting all day. Typically I was pulled to stay indoors cos there was tennis, the French Open and Andy Murray was finishing off his match, that was followed by Federer... so I watched the sunny day from inside.

I did make use of my time, watched Tennis and crafted. Wanted to to a 'take' on a scrap challenge page, was happy with it yesterday, now I'm not so sure. Like most of it, but not sure about the bit under the photos...    Made use of the second set of 12x12 templates to make the border, and I'd bought a load of white flowers ages ago, they are proving very useful, just used ink pads to recolour them.   And the pin flair bendy peel offs are also coming in handy to finish off the edges.   I think I've now got the hang of the pinflair steppers,   now they've loosened they are easier to use.

Also popped over to watch Dawn's first appearance on CnC, I was hoping to see her do more crafting, but she seemed eager to stick to her QVC format. Hope she breaks away from that, to me CnC is about watching the crafters craft, and leaving the presenters to flog the stuff.   Early days I guess.

Got meditation and Tai Chi tomorrow morning, lovely way to kick off the day.    All for now.

Soggy but surprising weekend

2011-05-29T20:42:00.000+02:00

First the page, I had intended to follow a L/O but sort of didn't!   I wanted to use my new templates, those I got from the craft fair, and to scrap the photo of my niece and new fiance. Once I'd chosen the colours and card, I made the scalloped frame using the template,   wanting to keep things simple I chose one of the glass butterfly's, but it seemed to get a bit lost on the page, so I recoloured it using my pro markers,   had the idea of a butterfly trail so used some small pink buttons, the heart was made using the steppers (from pinflair),   recoloured some ric rac just to make the frame stand out, added the lettering, and used the Love Is stamp.   It still felt as something was missing, so added some glitter dots to the frame, very pleased with it.

Yesterday I got cracking on finishing a bookatrix card for a friend, that too came together somehow,   but forgot to take any photos, so must remember to do so tomorrow.

Other bonus was being at home to see some tennis, but did get worried when Murray turned his ankle, but he finished the match, fingers crossed it isn't too serious.   It was a bonus as I should have been somewhere else, at a wedding, but mum wasn't very well and said she wasn't up to going.   She had a minor tummy upset, a morning in bed and she was feeling better.   Was glad to see that the weather cheered up yesterday, just at the right time for the happy couple.    Weather forecast for next week says it will get warmer, good, cos it has been freezing!

Not sure about new neighbour, so far we've had an early morning (4.30 a.m.) blast of music, some late night noise, then today she was screaming at someone. I'll give her a bit more time, but it this carries on then I am going to complain.     This is a nice street so we don't want any trouble, and she is alledgedly a junkie, which the council don't tolerate, they boot them out toot sweet, which is as it should be.

Hope you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend.

What a day!

2011-05-26T21:07:00.000+02:00

Just about had everything weather wise today, rain, wind, sunshine, thunder... Was not fit for beast or fowl. As a young bird found out this morning, must have been taking its first flight, it was in the road and all the other birds were hopping around it, all protecting, it looked like it was tired and wet, its mum and dad found it a few tasty morsels and it was soon on its way again, probably back to the nest if it had any sense.

I'm now engrossed in the French Open, but got a shock when I pressed the red button, there was motor racing! A practice lap, who cares? But luckily the tennis came on in time for Murray's match, it was just as bad in Paris as it was here, very windy but he won comfortably.

I was determined to finish off the box, picked up a couple of bits yesterday, and found a nice sentiment to put inside.   Also had a few bits left over from a wedding card so popped them on.   I managed to find some ribbon to go round the box lid, not quite wide enough so I added some ric rac to it. I really enjoyed making this box.

Also had to cover up a mistake on a card, wedding card, I'd recoloured the ric rac and it wasn't quite dry so it smudged the card!   I had no idea how to save the day,   got some mirri card and a punch, had half an idea which kind of worked, but then punched both sides of a strip of silver mirri, then put some purple under it. I put more bling on the card, gems and glitter, just needs the insert now.

And the Bibster has confirmed she has joined CnC.   Wonder what that will do to QVC's crafts?

All for now.

Crafty Sunday

2011-05-25T22:45:00.000+02:00

Well having survived a walk to corner shop, wind gusting at about 50 mph! I settled down to start decorating the box, forgotten how fiddly it can be. Oh well, no matter, was having a nice time. Went to print off the photos I wanted and kodak wanted to update the software... 15 minutes later after computer restart I finally got photos. So next up deciding on what to put on outside of box. I'd made a start on the lid, cut out a heart and then used the new stamp I bought, love the sentiment... aw, soppy or what!

Next came the first layer, chose to mat and layer some white and silver card, then added the butterfly, picked them up at the craft fair, now wishing of course that I'd bought more!

Not sure about the lid, like the top but the sides don't work, need some ribbon on it, but wide ribbon, and of course I've only got thin ribbon!

Bit of a pause folks, ran out of stuff to say. Made more progress on box, and have finally decided on what will go into final layer. Got more mirri card today from local craft shop, sadly they don't seem to be getting in much new stuff. Guess they got a hammering last weekend cos of the craft fair. Got a few bits, but they didn't really have what I wanted. Now annoyed that I didn't go as far as The Range, or Aberkhan, and now I am caught up in the French Open, Andy Murray will play tomorrow, so that means staying put and by the TV! But got stuff to keep me occupied. Did pick up another kanban kit, a wedding card kit, that will do nicely for Saturday... a day I wish was already over. Don't like large social gatherings, just not my thing. I've also been hassled to hang round for the evening party, have no wish to put myself through that! Nope, will be home by about 4pm, hopefully in time for a bit more tennis.

Weather here is still rubbish, so I am hoping that for the happy couple the rain stays away. All for now folks, thanks for stopping by.

Craft show nightmare

2011-05-21T20:36:00.000+02:00

I went to the craft fair at Aintree, got lots of lovely bargains but what a nightmare! People barging into each other, shoving people out of the way, one chap tried to take something from my hand! He then said he just wanted to see what it was, blooming cheek. It was not pleasant and I gave up after an hour and a half, that was more than enough for me. I usually go on the 2nd or 3rd day, this time I thought I'd see what it was like on the first day, NEVER again. The worst was a woman who stopped in front of me at the exit, right in the middle, she was shouting over to her friends, so I shouted at her telling her how stupid it was to just stop in front of someone. At least I had my bargains and the stall holders were all nice and helpful. Got stocked up on pinflair glue, DST, gems (all from the pound store), and bought the steppers from pinflair, the ones shown on CnC, which you use to cut out shapes, good for matting and layering. Not as easy as it looks, but once they've loosened up it does become a bit easier.

Made silly mistake of taking tablet at wrong time, so now have mild stomach ache. Had to go get medication for my arthritis, I'd tried the natural stuff and it just wasn't working. I know this medication can cause stomach upsets, but thought I'd got away with it. I took the tablet too quickly after my meal, so my fault.

I've started the exploding box for my god-daughter, got some lovely card yesterday and two plastic 12x12 templates, one with a scalloped edge, I used the smaller one to make the lid, had to adjust the measurements slightly. And the heart shaped steppers are coming in very handy.

The pic is the card I made for this months swap, just don't look too closely at the glossy accents, went a bit wrong! But chuffed as I used the alcohol inks, then the gilding flakes, coloured the image using pro markers, and the lace was the finishing touch. The theme was the Royal wedding, and had to include the colours red, white and blue.

All for now.

Boy is it cold

2011-05-15T22:40:00.000+02:00

After all that lovely weather it is a bit of a shock to have to deal with the cold, wind and rain.   Our thermostat was set to just under 15C, yet the heating came on this morning.   Very grim day today, cold, wet and windy.   Not what you expect for the middle of May.

I did have a nice task to do, make an engagement card for my God daughter, who got engaged on her birthday. I was so chuffed for her.    Didn't get quite what I wanted, picked up a nice Kanban kit and cannabilised it,    sort of ended up with something I liked.   I am also going to make her an exploding box.    This was a nice kit tho, cut up one piece of card so as to just use the flower bit as a frame for the toppers, and picked up the lovely flowers, a BOGOF, at my new craft shop.   I am hoping that next week's craft fair will provide me with what I want for the box.    I am also out of Pin Flair glue, and photo glue, so need to stock up on the essentials.
A bit of a shock to hear that Dawn has left QVC, I caught her last show and she said she wouldn't be around this week,   she is off to pastures new. Not surprised, QVC don't allow any demonstrations,   so Dawn hasn't been able to show off her skills.     I wasn't that impressed with the TSV either, seemed very lame. CnC is beating QVC hands down on crafting, and rumour has it that Dawn will be joining them.

All for now, got to finish off my swap card and fat pages...

What a difference a pill makes

2011-05-13T22:22:00.000+02:00

Yep, after months of struggling with pain in my spine, from top to bottom, I gave up and headed for GP.   He's prescribed something stronger, now just hoping I can get on with it, just enjoyed two days without pain, oh what joy that has been!
I have been crafting, but can' t put any photos here of what I've been doing, as it would give away the secret!    I've been busy making my pages for the Fat page exchange, just a few more to go now. The hardest bit was deciding on a design,   tried a few things, was happy with one side of the page, but not the other, but got there, phew.

Now got a much nicer task ahead of me, making an engagement card for my god daughter.   That was the best news I'd had for ages. I had a feeling her boyfriend would propose to her today, it is her birthday, and he did, to her surprise.     I'm so happy for them.   And it also gives me a lame excuse to head to a craft shop!

And big surprise over Dawn and QVC, didn't see that one coming.

Gardening time

2011-05-01T21:48:00.000+02:00

For the last two days I've been determined to have a lie in, so what happens? Yep I wake up early!    Typical.    But had stuff to do in the garden today,   had to get the clematis planted, one flower opened up over night!   But had to take the old one out first, hoped it would be easy and it was,   I suddenly realised that heavy digging needs two good legs...   but luckily the old one just came out without any probs, so in with the new one, and then to release it from all its straps so it could spread out.   Had loads of garden waste to get rid of, so decided to get rid of that and pick up some bedding plants at same time.   Was also pleased to find that the municipal recycling centre wasn't too busy, it is also now staffed with helpful people!    So into garden centre and what to buy?   I like busy lizzies, or impatients, as they just keep going, so got a mixed tray of them, then spotted some dwarf carnations, so got them, well something different.    So back home, had a bacon butty and then got the bedding plants sorted.    Garden now looks all neat and tidy, everything is growing, roses are threatening to bloom any day now,   checked the new clematis and two other flowers had also opened.    It was a nice blowy day so got the washing out on the whirly thing...
So after the gardening came the crafting, and to sort out the other side of my fat page exchange. Got a lovely set of stamps yesterday, felt they'd be perfect for what I wanted to do.   And yes, it all worked!   Well one idea flopped,   but no matter,   rest of it all worked.   So I can get them together over the next week or so. I figure that I am not a planner,   I am the type that just has to 'let it happen',   I have a vague plan of what I want to do, but so often what I end up with is so far removed it is ridiculous.    And I craft in chaos, it starts out tidy and slowly becomes more and more disorganised... I know that the stuff I want is there, just a case of where it is now buried!
Well one more bank holiday, then we have to wait till end of May...   ;-)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Didn't they do well?

2011-04-30T21:35:00.000+02:00

Yep like most of the nation I spent yesterday watching the Wedding.   Had a highly amusing moment in supermarket on Thursday, came across shelf filler moaning about how mad it was, so had to remind him of the Wedding... guess he was twiddling his thumbs yesterday.   It was rather nice being a slob, just drinking cups of tea and glued to box. Even the sun came out for them!
I spent the afternoon trying to construct my page for the exchange thing in June, hated first attempt, just wasn't what I wanted. Right idea, but wrong in execution. So did it all again, used different stamp, stuck with some ideas, ditched others and added to it, finally I had a page I was pleased with, just needs a few finishing touches. Also sourced some lovely stamps for the other side, popped up to garden centre, to get mum's birthday present, and not my fault if they also have a craft shop!   Just got a couple of toppers, the stamps and a bottle of blender for the alcohol inks, the one that came with the kit was on the very small side!   I but there was so much to choose from, wasn't sure what to buy, decided to go for the one that would flower the longest, which this one will, and one that looked very healthy.   Mum was chuffed, so now all I have to do is put it in our 'garden', such as it is!

But I am getting tired of rude people, on Thursday in supermarket lost count of the number of people who barged past me or into me,   then as I was leaving a woman headed right at me and another lady...   what was the rush?    Same today in the garden centre, I am still using my crutch outdoors, but did that make any difference? No, one twit marched right at me with his trolley refusing to give ground, I sarcastically said Thank you to him,   then as I was walking back to car park there was a lady behind me with a trolley, and she was desperate to get past me, I just stuck to my pace, she huffed and puffed behind me, I mean what was she rushing for?   She had two large clay pots in the trolley, both clanging together, I wondered if they'd make it to her car in one piece.    Most people are lovely, but others just seem to be blind, deaf and plain ignorant.    Then on drive home there was a complete bozo trying to overtake cars through a dangerous stretch of road, it really is NOT the place you want to try to overtake as it has blind bends, but oh no, this twit got past the car behind me, then attempted to get past me, what was ahead - quite a few sets of traffic lights, so you may as well chill out.

Another lovely weekend, sun is shining, a bit windy but still warm.

Bank holidays...

2011-04-25T21:23:00.000+02:00

I was delighted that the BBC got the weather forecast for our region utterly wrong! They'd predicted cloud and a cold wind, well we had a nippy wind but sunshine and blue sky. Took a pic of my new car... NOT! It is the Wallace and Gromit car, parked up outside the ferry terminal at the Pier Head, love the Reg plate :-)) I'd taken mum down to see the new canal and all the other new stuff they've done down there, but it was too windy to hang about for too long.

I managed some crafting yesterday, got on with designing my exchange page. I'm fairly happy with one side, but not the other :( I impressed myself with my resist stamping technique, I've tried it before and just ended up with a mess, but this time it worked out. Pity the rest of it didn't. Oh well back to the drawing board. I'm tempted to go get more alcohol inks... but then there is a craft fair coming up so I'm thinking I should wait and see what bargains I can get there.

Happy Easter

2011-04-23T20:41:00.000+02:00

So having decorated the kitchen it was time to smarten up the garden.   With the glorious weather the garden was the only place to be. It was very messy, and a few plants hadn't survived the freezing winter, there were 5 in all, so they had to be replaced.   I also had to get rid of the moss, mum was afraid that the window cleaner would slip while on his ladder.
Both of the fushcia's bit the dust, along with a hebe and an azalea, plus another bushy plant. Everything else came back to life, even the Winter Pansies are still going strong, they looked dead but once it warmed up they just sprang back into life. The pots all need a good clean, and the wooden planters need a coat of paint.
Not managed any crafting, been far too nice this week to stay indoors. I walked through to the high street, amazing the effect the sun has on everyone, everyone was smiling and exchanging pleasantries.   Then I got passed by a couple, she was wearing a thick jacket, heavy looking skirt, thick tights and ugg boots, he had on a chunky jacket, jeans, boots...   everyone else was in T shirts!   There is of course a downside to sunny weather, men who really shouldn't wear shorts, men in shorts that should never been worn, and women in lycra who plainly have never looked in a mirror!
Had two drumming sessions last week, a full day session then the usual 2 hours on Monday. It is so liberating, and very satisfying when you master a tricky pattern,    on Sunday we all had our lunch in the car park, well what had once been the barn yard, it was just far too nice to stay inside.   We took out tables and chairs, and had a good natter.   We all wanted to drum outside, but weren't sure if the neighbours would like it!   Only sour note came when we were leaving, as I pulled out of the car park I noticed that there was a traffic jam, a cyclist had been knocked off his bike, the car hadn't stopped, luckily he wasn't badly injured. Someone did get the registration of the car and gave it to the police.
I also managed to sort out a holiday for mum,   she admitted to me that she really would like to get away for a week, so I suggested that she hired a cottage and ask my sister and her husband to take her. Mum was delighted, so I spent 2 days looking for suitable accommodation, and something that wasn't too far away as she isn't up to travelling far.   Finally found a bungalow, which is spacious, has a lovely garden, walk in shower, and isn't far from Shrewsbury.   So booked it, felt lucky to get the dates she wanted as we'd left it quite late.
I have been crafting today, putting together some ideas for a page exchange, just making a test page for now to see if my idea works or not.
Hope you are all enjoying a lovely Easter, and if you're in the UK, this glorious weather

Almost there...

2011-04-12T21:38:00.000+02:00

I began decorating last Tuesday, a few years ago, pre broken knee, I would have been finished by now. Got the wallpaper up over the weekend, just had a few bits to finish yesterday. Today I had a break, still got the painting to do, but felt like getting outside for a few hours as it was such a nice day. I straightened up the flat when I got back, gave it a good dust and vacuumed, bits seemed to have managed to migrate to almost all parts of the flat.    I put the shelving back up, but there is some stuff which is NOT going back, the brass for a start, mum has stopped cleaning it and I don' t like it, so it has been stashed away. If mum wants it back then she'll have to agree to clean it regularly.   But very happy with results so far, the kitchen looks clean and bright, new paper is much lighter than what we had before, so kitchen also looks bigger.   Only got two rolls of the patterned paper,   but got to last bit, a two inch full length strip... and it was 4 inches too short!   Well I wasn't about to go out and get another roll!   So managed to match it, was fiddly but did it.
Not managed any crafting for over a week, even gave up my drumming class last night, was just to sore, plus I looked a mess, paste in hair, nails with paint... was so nice to get cleaned up properly this morning and wash my hair. Felt human at last.
Just got the paintwork to do, so it will be back to paintbrushes tomorrow, going to undercoat everything!   Got 3 doors and a radiator, plus pipes and of course skirting board! The latter is going to be a nightmare as I just can't kneel down. Really did get frustrated at times cos of my knackered knee, it limited me as to what I could do, so had to find ways around it.
Hope you all enjoyed the lovely weather last weekend! Wasn't it glorious?   I looked on from the window, if I'd not been decorating it would have lashed down.

All for now.

Had a daft idea

2011-04-09T21:14:00.000+02:00

To decorate the kitchen, okay it was in desperate need, but how was I to know that we'd have a mini heatwave and that it would take so bloody long? Started on Tuesday, so back in normal days I would have been finishing it about now. Not now, tho did get bogged down with stripping paint off using paint stripper, then reached for the heat gun (paint heat gun that is) and paint soon came off. Paint stripper was rubbish, it was taking forever. So kitchen is now fully stripped and ready to be repapered/painted. Did the ceiling, decided to give that Point and Paint thing a go, and it works! Was really impressed, no cutting in, no mess, and done in half the time, plus no messy roller to wash out. What is also time consuming is having to put the kitchen back in some sort of order so we can use it. Normally mum would have offered to tidy up, but she's no longer up to it, but she was gamely making me tea, which was appreciated. Also needed to sit down a lot to give the knee a rest. Have no doubt I'll sleep like a log tonight. But want to get cracking in the morning, so won't wait for mum to wash breakfast dishes, I'll do them and get on with the papering, I want that done by tomorrow.

Weather was gorgeous today, so sunny and warm, but I could only look at it, managed to get 15 mins of fresh air when I went to get the newspaper. Need to tidy up garden as well, far too much moss has built up, need to get rid of that and put in some new bedding plants. All my winter pansies which I really thought had bitten the dust after the freezing cold winter have come back to life, but they all look a bit straggly.

Now off to watch a spot of golf.

Mothering Sunday

2011-04-03T23:00:00.000+02:00

Well my mum had to make do with just me, the person she sees day in and day out. My sister, who is currently abroad had managed to send a card using one of those online affairs, I sort of hoped she may stretch to some flowers... how dumb of me!   As for brother, well he came yesterday, but with no invite for lunch or dinner for mum. Nice...    So little wonder my mother was so cheesed off, not even bothered about going on skype to speak to her other daughter late this afternoon.   I have tried explaining how skype works to my sister, that it is not like a telephone, that she needs to warn me when she is able to skype..    so as warped as it sounds I was pleased that mum told sis that she wasn't able to talk! Good for you mum, do it on your terms.   I came home yesterday from trip to craft shop and drop in at old place of work to catch up on gossip, to find mum very down, that was after my brother's visit. She'd been fobbed off, she would have loved nothing more than to have lunch with her son!   Little point in me taking her, she sees me every day.   I do despair...
In spite of that I did manage to put a smile on her face, a nice card (sorry, bought it cos of the verse!), but did make her some earrings, she'd told me not to buy her anything, but I'd already made the earrings.   We enjoyed a nice lunch, sausage butties!   And I'd got a nice cake, so we had some of that after our tea.
Inbetween I put some finishing touches to Christening card, bookatrix, can't yet finish it as I have no date for the christening.   Also finished off my swap card, since two swappers read this I can't give too much away, except to say that is a very blingy card!
Oh, good news on the tax front, got letter from HMRC agreeing that they were out of order, so their demand for back tax has been wiped... phew. Had no means of paying it anyway.   But it just galled me when so many big firms get away with paying a pittance in corporation tax, yet us minions are clobbered every which way. But a welcome relief, feel like I can get on with my life now.
Hope you had a good weekend, and thanks for stopping by, much appreciated.

Yuck, housework!

2011-03-30T20:27:00.000+02:00

The most boring thing in the world is - housework! The only saving grace was the lousy weather, housework is even worse if the sun is shining.   So flat is now all shiny and clean, and I am sore and stiff.

So with all the housework out of the way I got on with making mum's birthday card, I used the free kit I got from the craft shop, picked up an A4 card pack, and made use of some mirri board, gems and flowers.   I scalloped the edges of the mirri and patterned card, then used the trimmings on the opposite side, recoloured two white flowers and fixed them with some jewelled brads. Not bad methinks! Still got some of the decoupage left over, so I'll get two cards out of the kit.

Also need to make plans for a chunky book page swap, think it best to have a trial run. Got some thick card, but it is textured so not sure if it will be suitable. There is a craft fair coming up, so I am hoping to pick up some bargains there, need to stock up on photo glue, and pin flair.    It's Mother's Day on Sunday, so must get mum a present, she is in reading mode at the moment. Have to take her to see GP tomorrow, they keep messing up her prescription for the antibiotics so I made an appointment with the GP, that we hopefully we can get it all sorted out and have the antibiotics included on her repeat script.   This all could have been done and dusted on Monday if the receptionist had let mum see the GP then, instead she got told the GP would write a script, well he did but for the wrong thing and wrong amount.

Well after our grey and rainy day we have a lovely evening, think there must be a nice sunset over the river.

Ugh the clocks went forward!

2011-03-27T20:26:00.000+02:00

The only time I've ever liked the clocks going forward was when I used to do night shifts. I was due at a drumming workshop today so thought it best to set the bedroom clock an hour forward before I went to sleep.

It wasn't a nice day to wake up to either, cold, grey.. yuck. But I had a great time at the workshop, definitely improving, picking up rhythms now much easier. But came back with another drum! Not a djembe, but a Japanese tongue drum! Elaine was encouraging us all to try it, think half ended up buyin one. A very gentle sound, it is like a wooden box. Oops have pic... hang on, will upload it. And you get a lolly with it! We had a mini session on it, that persuaded a few more to buy one, there was one duff one in the box, one of the tongues had split. I got two, one for a friend whose birthday is coming up soon.

First pic is of a bookatrix card I made, my second one, I wasn't really getting on with the bookatrix board till I realised I wasn't using the right sized embossing tool. You need a 6 mm, so got one last week and so gave it another go, I also used the tumble dryer sheets to make the card slick, and yippee, it worked! Feel much happier with this bookatrix card than the first one I made. The unicorn came from a kanban kit, think it is called fantasy, it has two unicorn designs and two castles. Perfect for my friends. Just used 3 layers, now feel more confident in having a go at making a christening card for my new nephew.

Well the day started all grey, but it ended with blue sky and sunshine, by mid afternoon it had warmed up nicely. Long may it continue!

Hope you all had a good weekend, thanks for stopping by.

Another sunny day

2011-03-24T22:46:00.000+01:00

Wow, a sunny and warm week, so nice to be outside with the warmth of the sun. Managed to at last wash my car, and found some unwanted scratches on the roof, can only think that happened at the garden centre, some wally obviously dragged something scratchy over my car. Luckily I had some of that scratch repair stuff, so managed to eliminate them all. They were too random to be deliberate, but even so I just wish people would take more care around other cars.
Had a nice day, woke up early, 5 a.m., nice... NOT. So had a very early breakfast, felt hungry and knew I'd never go back to sleep if I didn't eat something. So had porridge, and yep, went back to sleep. But I didn't want to oversleep as I had to be at my meditation class just after ten. Did wonder if the hair needed washing, but just about got away with some wax and a fluff up. Mum wasn't so good, she was having a bit of a downer, but I've come to realise that I am not responsible, she has friends, she has and does get invited to do stuff, she just chooses not to. Luckily my sister skyped late afternoon, so that cheered her up.
On my way back from my meditation class I called in at the new craft shop, it does have all I want, and the staff are so friendly. Just intended to get two things, a set of grey pro marker pens and a blender... came away with two card kits and the other stuff, had to stop myself from buying more. They just have so much lovely stuff.
Best explain pic, it is a birthday card made for me by Frances, a member of a craft group I belong to, she knew I loved dolphins and so came up with this amazing stepper card.
All for now folks.

Spring has sprung

2011-03-22T21:02:00.000+01:00

At last some lovely weather to boast about. Today was glorious, quite warm and very sunny. I went for a drive to hobbycraft, felt it was time to spend my vouchers. I did have two things on a 'must have' list, glue for the slice machine, and a 6mm embossing tool for my bookatrix board, after that it was finding treats for me. Was half tempted by a dolls house, well a dolls folly, I've always wanted to build a dolls house, had one as a child and loved it. This folly was just the right price, but then a flowersoft starter kit caught my eye, it is something I've wanted to have a go at for a while now. So that came home with me, plus some boring stuff like peel offs, card stock.

So with my kit I decided to have a go, followed all the instructions, very unlike me! The kit had two pots of flowersoft, plus wires, glue and some toppers, and all the toppers need to be cut out. But got to work, followed the instructions to make the above card, I was quite chuffed with it, it still needs a few finishing touches. I'd also watched some of CnC this morning, I do like the glitter girls, what they make is not always to my liking, but they are so bubbly. But then the presenter was trying to encourage people to spend money, saying that if they spent £100 they'd save £20 - who has that much to spend on craft stuff? I do find the CnC website a bit of a faff, QVC is much easier to order from. Both have their pluses and minuses, CnC offers multiple postage, QVC doesn't, which is a pain. On CnC they do let the crafters craft, but I'm not keen on all the CD stuff, on QVC the crafters are rushed so can't really show any techniques - I wish they'd learn that we'd buy more if we could see proper crafting.

All for now...

Frazzled

2011-03-16T21:12:00.000+01:00

I've been busy dejunking and decluttering for last few weeks to try to make room for a spare bed. Finally got there.   A friend is coming to stay so I wanted to see if I could get two beds in my bedroom, and with some tweaking I've managed it.   Also discovered more junk in cloakroom, some old wing mirrors for the corsa, both are damaged, so no idea why I had still got them.
It was also my birthday this week, had an impromptu party after the drumming class, it was someone else's birthday the next day, so we had a double celebration.    Lots of new faces at the drumming class, not quite sure how we all fitted in to the room. Probably just as well we are using an old barn, and it doesn't have any houses nearby!   But we had a fab time,   I confused 3 of the newbies, they had lost the rhythm so were trying to pick it up from me, only I lead with my left hand which threw them. Did some drumming practice today, trying to get my bass, tone and slap figured out, the bass is the easy bit, you hit the drum in the centre, but the tone and slap are similar and you strike the drum round the edge.   I'll keep at it.
Yesterday I blitzed the flat, gave it a spring clean,   almost gave myself concussion as head met shelf!   Exhausted by the end of the day.   But it did look nice.
Last weekend I visited a new craft shop which has opened up in a garden centre.   Went to take a look and was very impressed, but also fear for a friend whose craft shop will suffer as a result. The new craft shop is Do Crafts, so has all the latest stuff, plus they had lots of Tim Holtz stuff, I hadn't intended to buy much but did, and then got a free gift. The staff were all very nice, easy to chat to and helpful.   My friend's craft shop just can't compete, I do try to support her when I can, but she doesn't have much for the paper crafter or in scrapbooking, she is a very talented maker of crafts, cuddly toys, bags etc.
Posted pic of a box that I decorated for a friend, used a new stamp I got from the new shop, a star sign stamp, then realised I'd got the wrong star sign, so just used the fairy.   I stamped onto some super white card, which they always plug on CnC, must say I was impressed, it took the stamp and really worked well with the pro markers. I also did some of the inking round the sides:

Using the stuff from the Tim Holtz TSV, now really starting to get the hang of it, tho I had mislaid the blender tool, got no idea where I've put it, so made do with a sponge, but liked the effect. I used plain old photo card, which works for me, even tho Tim says it doesn't work on photo paper. This isn't even the expensive stuff. The idea was that my friend could put her singing bowl in it, but not sure it will be big enough... bother.
Got the boxes from the shop, thought there would be the usual 3, but there were 4, so a nice surprise. They said they were getting more and more stock in, so will have to keep popping in.

Thanks for stopping by.

Gungha din

2011-02-27T21:49:00.000+01:00

I should explain, gungha din was my way of remembering a rhythm today.   I got up in plenty of time then let time slip away, so ended up rushing to get there on time. But had a great time at the drumming workshop, a full day of it, tho we had plenty of tea breaks - very essential.   Learnt a new rhythm, but damned if I can remember it now. Need to get a recording gizmo, take it with me to tape the sessions.   But the main aim was to have fun, which I did. And I caught up with an old friend, we'd met on a reiki course, I was so happy to see her looking so relaxed and glowing, quite a contrast to what she was like when I first met her. This was a more chilled session, but really it is what the Monday workshop should be like, and could be like if we just indulged in a cuppa. But I am starting to get to know people now, and remembering their names - which helps! But then confronted with 10 people would you remember who was who?    A couple of new faces as well, a nice chatty bloke, who turned out to be an experience drummer, but he'd only just got back into it after a hip operation.

The pic is of a card I did yesterday using the TSV kit, just used ordinary photo card, as advised NOT to use by Tim Holtz, but it worked for me. Then stamped the image onto acetate, and then used an enamel embossing powder to give definition.   Very happy with the result.    A few more inks and a bit more messing around and I can see me being a very happy bunny!    Was having a think today about stamping the image directly onto the card, but not wanting to get the inks all over it... then thought of masking fluid?   Been watching the art shows on CnC, so may give that a go, seems simpler than using a mask.

Very soggy end to the weekend, and cold... also noticed that some kind soul has dented my new car! Why can't people be more careful when opening car doors?    And since i am using disabled bays there is no ruddy excuse!

All for now folks, catch up with you in the week. Stay safe and take good care

Saturday...

2011-02-26T22:06:00.000+01:00

Well I guess this is what some folk call proper crafting, got my Tim Holtz TSV yesterday but didn't get a chance to use it till today. He said NOT to use photo card, so what does I do, yep, use photo card! Well I was practising, so my thoughts were that I'd rather waste the photo card than the more expensive glossy card. I frankly couldn't see the difference. I did what he said and worked quickly applying the inks, think that is the real key to this, working fast, then added the blender, the first time I tried spreading the blender but it was disastrous, so next attempt I just dabbed it on and got the marbling effect. The felt on the applicator also helps to create the effect. I also then added the stamps from the kit, and am quite chuffed with the end result.

I was in Chester yesterday enjoying lunch with a friend, fortunately the BBC got the weather forecast wrong, so although it was grey it was dry. We were disappointed not to get our preferred Italian lunch, twice we tried to get a table, then gave up and headed to a nearby pub, there we settled for a chilli. Of course having eaten we then saw lots of cafes, restaurants! Since neither of us are big shoppers we just mooched, we did find the new age shop, my friend bought a very outlandish jacket, which was just 'HER'. I picked up a summer top, very hippy. We stopped for a cup of t4a, and got served some very weak looking tea... then time to head home before rush hour got going. So a nice afternoon. Made me laugh when we both got ignored in Browns, by all the make up lot! For all they knew we could have been two very rich ladies.

Tomorrow I have an all day drumming workshop. Really looking forward to it.

Time keeps flying by

2011-02-24T21:09:00.000+01:00

or is it cos our bins are now collected a day earlier?   It does get confusing.   Had a fab drumming session on Monday, proudly showed off my new drum, it did get Kevin's approval, he said it had a nice tone and lovely bass.   We did some practice, then learned a new rhythm, which I kept losing. Got so frustrating, I'd be happily drumming along and then... lost it!   I've signed up for a beginners workshop this Sunday, they all told me it will be very useful.

Today was beautiful, sunny, quite warm, also noticed that our crocuses have finally poked their heads thru, didn't think they had survived the big chill, but they have. In fact the garden is slowly coming back to life, more green bits than brown. Got new growth on all the stuff I pruned.   Must get a new Clematis, will do that this weekend - just need to remember!   Think I'll need to replace a few bushes, one just died during the big chill and it isn't showing any signs of life.
Of course it was the Stateside Craft day on QVC this Tuesday, managed to stay awake for launch of the TSV, which I thought would be the Vagabond, but it wasn't, they went for a Tim Holtz kit, didn't think I'd buy it, but I did, well a good few hours later.   Felt that a lot of what was being sold with Tim's name on it was a bit overpriced, and more easy pay would have been helpful.   One woman came on an said she'd bought 17 items!   I'm sure she'll enjoy all her goodies.
Only made one card this week, see above. Had mini blitz on the stash, I'm giving away a lot of coloured card stock, don't use it anymore. All will be going to a good cause, a craft group for teens at a local library, they're short of stuff. Need to go thru the rest of it and what hasn't been used is going.   I should just concentrate on scrapbooking, but do get tempted by the card kits!

Fingers crossed that at last I'll be having lunch with a friend tomorrow, we've had to cancel four times! Weather forecast is rubbish.

How did we get to Tuesday?

2011-02-22T22:00:00.000+01:00

Time seems to be flashing by, no sooner does a new Monday arrive than suddenly it is Friday. Oh well. Uppity and down week/weekend. Got lovely letter from tax man (NOT) telling me that because of their cock up I appear to owe them more money. That was nearly 5 years ago, the due date was up ages ago.   This is called using intimidation tactics, sadly for them I am now too bolshie to fall for it.

I did succumb to the TSV on QVC today, not cos I want to do grunge stuff, it never has tickled my taste buds, but cos just liked that you could mess with the stuff. I like Holtz's off the wall stuff, but not his grunge. Not a bit of crafting really for a few days, half made a card, used some pinflair glue which takes an age to dry.   Must do some stuff tomorrow.

Been spending my time drumming, getting in plenty of practice and I'm learning the value of practice rhythms, been doing them since I got my drumming DVD, made such a difference as I realised what I was doing wrong.   So want to have a pattern practice every day. Couldn't get the rhythm we learned last night, if I just stopped thinking all was fine, but the moment my brain woke up - out went the rhythm.   But got a beginners workshop this Sunday, so that should help things. It does mean I'll have to miss the workshop on Monday, as I can't afford both.

Right, best get back to replying to e-mails

Surprise, surprise

2011-02-17T21:46:00.000+01:00

Decided a shopping trip was in order, just to give the car a good run you understand... ;-)    Well best to check stuff.   So headed off to The Range, and they had a sale, only it wasn't clear what was on sale what wasn't.   So picked up a few bits, got to checkout found that everything I'd got was half price! Chuffed.
I bought a set of Born to Shop stamps, just love that range, and some 12x12 papers, same as I got a month ago, in a storage box, but now half the price, and set of star cards, see the pic. They were also half price, but having got them I also have the template of how to make them. So made up this card using the stamps and some paper from a magazine freebie, plus the card. It will do nicely for my niece.    Used the pro markers for the colouring, what did I do before pro markers?    Usually made a mess with brush markers.
Car behaved herself, in fact she was purring nicely all the way to the shop. Did come across a few idiots on the road, one chap who had been in front of me going at the pace of an ultra slow snail, but once on the dual carriageway he suddenly discovered he had an accelerator.   A few plonkers who couldn't decide which lane they wanted to be in, and the biker with a death wish who crept up the line at a road works and caught me by surprise,   only just managed to miss hitting him. His fault, there was no real room for him to do what he did, he annoyed everyone in the line.   So not a bad day, no drumming, well it was card making or drumming!   Can't do both, and living in a flat rules out any drumming in the evening.

I'm back in a happy mood, hope it can last this time. Got to take mum for appointment at hospital, then taking her for a shopping trip and lunch.

Huge sigh of relief...

2011-02-15T20:58:00.000+01:00

Took car to garage, the chap did warn me that they were busy with services, but they'd get to my car by the afternoon. So spent a restless day waiting for a phone call, couldn't even do any drumming. I was going to but realised that fancy monitor doesn't have any speakers! LOL, only taken me two years to notice. The new headphones I have block out all sound, so that meant I wouldn't hear the phone.   Didn't find out what was wrong with car till nearly 5pm, fortunately it was something minor and was about to be fixed. Phew. But no point in battling in the rush hour to get up to garage, so told them I'd pick up car today. The best bit is: nothing to pay because of the warranty.   So car is purring nicely once again and I am breathing more easily. Guess old habits die hard, having had a succession of second hand cars, well used, I've got used to a car going wrong and there being a bill to pay.   Not amused by price of insurance, it has leapt up these last few years, to cover the cost of uninsured motorists, but rising prices are surely going to put more off getting insurance?

Put a pic up of my swap card, all cobbled together from an old Chinese calendar, not that happy with it but best I could do with what I had.   These days I don't hang on to stuff, it gets recycled or goes in the bin if it can't be.
Not so nice weather wise, cold, raining and then it got windy at lunch time! But had a great drumming practice this afternoon, found a couple of lessons on youtube, so practiced them till I got them down pat. Then made up a few rhythms of my own,   I did order a DVD from amazon, so fingers crossed that comes in the next couple of days.   Just eager to improve my skills, and it is so relaxing. Made sure it wasn't too loud, kept the noise levels down, besides you don't need to bash a drum.
Well off to watch last hour of the kanban anniversary.

Sunday blues

2011-02-13T20:33:00.000+01:00

Not a good nights sleep, worrying about what is wrong with car. You always think it will be worse than it is. I've had a look on line and it could be one of a few things, most are fairly cheap to rectify and don't take long. But there are two which are expensive and take a day or so to fix.

Took my mind off things by making a birthday card, also need another, but I am sure I've got some made somewhere. But needed to make a new one, I do like these daft stamps, they are so cheerful. I also put my new nesties to good use by making the scalloped frame, then cutting an oval, used some papers I got with a magazine, and a bit of ribbon, put the peel offs on the ribbon - just hope they stay on! I also inked the edges, don't have a proper ink thingy like the one by Tim Holtz, so made do with a dabber that you use with stencils, seemed to do the trick. Used the pro markers to colour it, how anyone can not like pro markers is a mystery, they are so easy to use and give much better results than any of the other pens. Really chuffed with it.

It's also been a horrible day weather wise, grey, raining an it has gone cold again. I'll also have to cancel lunch with a friend, for the 3rd time! Hadn't realised that mum's appointment is on Friday - rats. So we'll have to try again week after next, we'll have this lunch at some point.

Hope you've had a better weekend than me...

The real deal

2011-02-12T21:41:00.000+01:00

It arrived, thank you Goldcoast drums... my lovely drum arrived yesterday morning, of course I wasn't in to receive it. But that left my mum and the district nurse in a state of curiosity as to what was in this large box marked Fragile. I wondered what colour bag I'd got, the bag came free with the drum, but would it be plain old black? Nope, it was bright orange, well mainly orange in an ethnic pattern. She has a great tone, perfectly tuned, my worry was that I'd end up with a rubbish drum, but nope, she is perfect. I also thought from the pic that she was plain, but again I was wrong, gorgeous colours, red and black. I had a session in the afternoon, got some rhythms up on Youtube, some were good in how they explained how to play, others were rubbish, they just launched in to it and then said it was a tutorial! Not in my book. But then just went ad hoc and had some fun. Which to me is how it should be.

Of course since I've had such a happy week there had to be a banana skin at some point. And so it was, took mum up to meet her friends at a coffee shop and on way back noticed a warning light on the car. Had no idea what it meant, so looked in manual, it said there was a fault in the engine, which means it could be any number of things. So I'll have to take it to the garage, it is luckily under warranty, phew. Would just like it to be something very simple. Just don't seem able to string together a long period of luck or a happy time, something it seems always has to go wrong, and it usually ends up costing money. Funnily enough I'd washed the car in the morning cos it was so dirty, then after I remembered to learn how to open up the bonnet, couldn't figure out how tho, a damn nuisance not being able to kneel down, a neighbour helped out and he found where the release catch was. All this new fangled stuff in engines may make life easier, but it also means more can go wrong, and usually does. I am glad that the car has, what Nissan have charmingly called a 'hijack' lock, it means I can lock all the doors once I've got in, so no door can be opened from outside, it gives me peace of mind. One of the things that always worried me about central locking that once the car was open anyone could get in if you stopped. Anyway, please keep all fingers and toes crossed that the engine fault is minor.
I need the car this week, mum has a hospital appointment, and then there is the shopping, taking mum here and there.

Thought I'd put up a pic of my djembe bag, no chance of me losing it is there?
Did some crafting today, made a swap card, it had to be of recycled things. Must admit I was a bit stumped, I've stopped hanging on to stuff in case it comes in useful, cos it rarely does. But have managed to cobble something together. Then I had a play with my pro marker aqua pens, they're lovely, I'd bought a picture stamp, so was able to really make use of the pens, I didn't think it was a bad first result, will post a photo tomorrow.
Missed most of the Martha Stewart craft day on QVC, saw a few bits, but there wasn't anything that really took my fancy. And it looks like the next TSV will be the Vagabond, not for me, it is just a very fancy looking die cutting/embossing machine. I'm not into the grunge thing either that Tim Holtz favours, just doesn't grab me. I like watching what he does, it is very clever, but just doesn't float my boat. So I hope on Tim Holtz day there is other stuff to buy. It would be nice also to have a QVC scrapbook craft day.

Have a lovely weekend, stay safe and thanks for stopping by.

Great start to the week

2011-02-10T21:56:00.000+01:00

I won the lotto!   Sadly not the jackpot, but did get 4 numbers, and that meant I could get my own djembe drum - so I did.   I did have a natter to Kevin about the shop I'd seen, if it was any good, he said yes. So on Tuesday I picked up my winnings, and then bought the drum, online, so I'm still waiting for it to be delivered.   Chap did say 48 hours, but I'll let him off as I didn't put the order in till quite late Tuesday afternoon.   So feeling a bit chuffed.   Did think about going and spending a bit on craft stuff, but just about got all I need in way of big stuff, cost wise that is.

I'd never had 4 numbers on the lotto since it started, so was quite gobsmacked when I checked the ticket. It may as well have been the jackpot the way I felt. Such a lovely surprise, even the assistant at the supermarket congratulated me.    So had quite a spring in my step, well sort of, my knee has been playing up all week. Nearly didn't go to my drumming class on Monday, my knee had given way on me 3 times that day, and it was getting really painful, you have to grip the djembe between your knees and I wasn't sure if I could with the pain.   I forced myself to go, and was glad I did, I tried using my left hand to keep the beat, and it worked a treat, finally got the tricky rhythm that had defeated me the week before.    Noticed a few other naturally right handers were also leading with their left, including one of the newbies, a husband and wife, lovely people, they had a great time, wasn't so sure he was at first, but he finally got into it and kept up with some of the simpler stuff, just like I did on my first visit, which always makes you feel better.
My aqua pro markers also finally turned up, I'm not blaming QVC, last few bits I've ordered from them have been really quick, coming by courier, this time it was RM, and they are not so hot.   It's taken RM a week from when I got QVC's e-mail, which is not on.   Not blaming the posties, they're being lumbered with more and more work... a pity the high falutin managers don't actually go do what the posties do, time every manager had to spend at least a month at the coal face, then they might just be more understanding.    The workforce is of course the most expensive item of any business, but get rid of them and how does business survive?   I mean if none of us are working, there is no money sloshing around in the economy, so we all go bust.
Off to lunch tomorrow with a friend in Chester, forecast is rain... oh joy. At least we can stay dry in Chester.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2011-02-05T21:09:00.000+01:00

It is the start of the Chinese new year, well it was a few days ago, but better late than never. It has started on a very soggy note, it has rained ALL day, at least the high winds have gone. Had to go out and so got wet. Also managed to get stuck behind sloooooow driver, he wasn't even doing 30mph. I managed to get past him and glanced in my mirror, not sure the chap could see anything as he had a cap pulled almost over his eyes.

So what to do on a soggy day? Craft. Did my challenge layout again with fresh papers.

Which is very different from first attempt. Chose some plain pink card, then managed to find a nice matching paper to go with it. Also reprinted the photos, didn't like the oval cuts I'd used.

Cut into the patterned paper to give definition to the photos, used the x cut cutting system after lining up the photos.   Used the Slice to make the butterflies, the new cards allow you do to shadowing and mirror images. Printed some text onto photo paper then cut it into strips. I changed the font and size of text on some of the strips to add interest. Much better than first attempt methinks.
Still trying to track down a suitable Yurt, got call back from one place, price was a bit steep as there was no bedding or cooking facilities in the Yurt. But they did have the week we want.   But have to discuss it with the others.
Getting very fed up with these overseas calls trying to flog things, for one thing I can't understand them. Just had one tonight who couldn't even pronounce my name.   I've gone beyond being polite to them, especially those who call back if you cut them off! They get the sharp side of my tongue.

Had a good laugh yesterday, our city council told Cameron where to stick his Big Society (or something for nothing) idea after they'd had their budget severely cut.   The only people it seems who aren't suffering are those at the top, all the big bank bosses and their over inflated bonuses, how can Mr Diamond take such a huge bonus after announcing 1000 job cuts? Has he no conscience? Not sure how cutting jobs helps economic recovery, people without a job don't have any money to spend, so shops suffer and close, so more people are out of work.   I have noticed that there is never a reduction in parliament, or their expenses, not much cost cutting goes on at the Palace of Westminster, they have subsidised bars/restaurants, a very fancy smoking shelter.   I also hope the West stops poking its nose into Egypt's affairs, they have to sort things out for themselves, the West has meddled far too much.
Oh well, another soggy day tomorrow... joy.

How it can all go wrong

2011-02-03T22:52:00.000+01:00

Not happy with this page, something isn't quite right and not sure what! Think it is the papers I've chosen.   Nothing is stuck down yet,   I think all the elements work... but just not happy with it.

It's been a pretty hectic week,   yesterday was the usual food shop, then off to medical in afternoon. Only it would be in centre of town, which is difficult to park.   Thought I'd got lucky, spotted a parking space, just needed to move forwards a few feet and it was mine, except chap in front also had same idea and he nabbed it!   Rats. So had to find another spot, and knowing that area I took first one I found, so of course on walk back I saw loads of parking spots. Typical.   Also typical was that it had to start raining as I started walking - so got very soggy. I'm wising up to these medicals, they always seem to be trying to trip you up,   doc wanted me to go first up the stairs (not a very disabled friendly building at all),   so I decided to make no extra effort, just to be myself, and show him exactly what I have to put up with every day. Got all the usual questions, then surprised him when he asked if I was given rehab straightaway after my first operation, when I said no he raised his eyebrows so told him it was well and truly mashed, he'll see when he gets all my x-rays.   I wasn't allowed to do any rehab, or remove brace for 8 very long weeks.
It was odd being back in that area of town,   where I went to university, tho it has all changed, more restaurants, most of them looked very pretentious,   and sadly all the old shops had gone, all turned into bars.   Very sad about that, those old shops were a treasure trove of stuff, all second hand, but great to go mooching about in.    The most pretentious bar was still there, got introduced to it many moons ago, oh boy was it snobbish, but it also did good food.   That was the only reason I would go there, far preferred the Everyman, all veggie fayre but delicious.   Back at home made mistake of asking mum what she wanted for dinner, a roast or something simple, and what did she choose - the roast!   So we had toad in the hole, which for the uninitiated is sausages in a yorkshire pudding.   I'm now excelling myself in the gravy stakes, and yes we had crispy roast potatoes.   So tonight we had the simple dinner, which mum was supposed to cook, but guess who ended up cooking? Yes, me. Oh well.... be even simpler tomorrow.
Weather is horrendous, gales and horizontal rain, nothing like what they've had in Australia, but bad for us. Stay safe wherever you are.

All confuddled

2011-02-01T22:10:00.000+01:00

That was me last night at my drumming class, got myself lost, was okay with some bits, but not with others, which I found frustrating. Then today when I was going over the rhythm, I switched hands, used my left to keep the beat and the right to do the other stuff, yup, it worked!   So felt much happier.
I had a rotten night's sleep, think I finally dropped off at about 4 a.m., so didn't even want to get up at 8 a.m., or for that matter at 9 a.m.   I dragged myself out of bed about 9.30 a.m.     But it was a nice day, and mild, so felt obliged to go tackle what passes for our garden, which is a piece of tarmac and lots of pots.   Everything needed to be tidied up and pruned, or what I call 'kill or cure', so far it has worked, I go mad with the secateurs and the plants somehow survive.   It was also full of rubbish, so hobbled round with brush, why do people drop rubbish? I was taught not to, so doing so is an anathema to me. Yet these days I see people blithely dropping rubbish!   It really annoys me, it shows no pride in where you live. Same goes for people who don't keep their gardens/fronts tidy, doesn't take much to get a brush and sweep up.

So with everything pruned and all shipshape again, I was knackered, had cup of coffee, waved mum off to her lunch with her old workmates, and tackled her wonky curtain rail. I'd bought some new fittings, but could I find them, nope! They'd vanished. So made do with a bit of switching around.   Then it was 'me' time, so it was scrapbooking, just got given a challenge so I had to have a go.   It was just a question of printing out 4 photos... only the printer didn't want to know... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr      kept at it and, yep, it had been downloading some new software!   Almost as bad as Itunes, which must get updated every bloody month.   So did manage to get photos printed, and the layout sorted, not quite happy with the papers. Nothing is stuck down yet, so have time to change my mind. Can't do it tomorrow, got shopping and then medical in afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by

ooooow

2011-01-26T21:33:00.000+01:00

Blessed knee is playing up again. Think I may have overdone my exercises yesterday. But there was no avoiding the supermarket,   all out of the basic stuff. It was civilised today, busy but not too busy. Was going to treat the car to a wash but yet again the jet wash was out of action, and there was a huge queue for the other car wash.

Had depressing meeting on Monday, that left me feeling really down. Luckily it was my second drumming class, and this time I wasn't the only newbie. I felt much more relaxed this time, and sort of knew what I was doing. Managed to keep up, just! My intention is just to enjoy myself and I'd forgotten how enjoyable it is making music. I did music at school, even managed to learn how to read it, though I've now forgotten it all.   Came home feeling very chilled, the djembe drum is called the healing drum, and I can see why. I'm now determined to get my own drum, tho think drum practice may take place on the beach!   So now got a watch on ebay..... not seen anything in my price range yet.

I transformed the pic of Stella into a scrap page, along with her and her faithful owner. Got a nutty idea for the eclectic button pattern, was searching for some buttons, those I liked I set in a row and then just liked it. So it got stuck down. I do like that about crafting, the little accidents that suddenly make a card or a scrap book page. I've given up trying to plan them, just have a rough idea of what I want and then see what happens.   Didn't manage any crafting today, but that's okay as there were some men building a fence, so there was a lot of noise.

Well all for now, thanks for stopping by