Heather Fenn-Edwards

I'm the Ogre !

2012-01-18T13:55:00.000Z

Poor little Mia! Last week I took her along to the vet's for her annual "flu" vaccine and when the vet gave her a health checkup she spotted some problems with her teeth - gingivitis and at least one tooth which needed to come out - even though Mia is so young, it's a problem that can afflict some cats (especially Siamese and orientals) due to an allergy to plaque. Mia wasn't exhibiting any signs of pain or problems eating and there was nothing wrong at her last check up, so we had no idea.

So yesterday I had to take her along and leave her at the vets all day (she was whisked off to the other surgery in nearby Kirkham where they have all the latest surgical equipment). Of course we were worried all day, having an anaesthetic and everything, and I couldn't collect her till 4.30 pm. She was fine, she'd been very nervous of course, but had had to have 3 teeth removed at the back - the rest were fine with a scale and polish.

Unfortunately I've now become the Big Bad Ogre ..... one look at me and Mia just fled the room and stayed out of my way. I think she's just about beginning to forgive me a bit today. Only problem is I have to take her back to the vet's on Friday for a check up so I'll definitely be back in her bad books ...... oops !

The start of a New Year

2012-01-05T22:21:00.000Z

Well, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed to start the new year off with a raging toothache ..... a visit to the dentist on Tuesday resulted in a week's antibiotics to clear up an infection under the tooth (a wisdom tooth, which really is past its best I'm afraid) and if it flares up again (which it will eventually) it's bye bye, tooth! Good job I don't have a phobia about the dentist as others I know have! Tomorrow I'm off to see the consultant at Preston Royal for the latest check up on my dodgy hand, though I don't expect there to be any particular new solutions offered to the problem. But that's enough about that.

We had a quiet but pleasant Christmas and New Year, hard to believe it's already time to take down all the decos tomorrow. Mia has had a high old time climbing under and up into the Christmas tree, knocking baubles off and running of with tinsel bits. She also decided to be my little helper on New Year's Day when I sat down to update my new diary and calendar for the year - as you can see ........

As I mentioned in my last post, this year I want to get back to being a bit more creative again and have decided to join in with the latest Art Journal 2012 project in Ali's Vintage ATCs UK Yahoo Group - each month there's to be a theme with a page relating to that theme to be created each week. January's theme is "Life's A Beach" and the first page has to include these words and what they mean to me. I tried to keep up with the prompts for the 2011 journal but didn't get too far I'm afraid so I'm going to see how I get on this year. I managed to put aside a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to sit down and play/create and this is the page I came up with. The book is a "Pink Pig" one, 8" x 8" with nice sturdy white pages, so provides a good base to work on. It's a simple page - used TH distress inks for the sky, sea and sand, with white acrylic paint for the waves, a few stamped images and simple writing using Sharpies (thought I'd ease myself in gently)!

I'll try and post a picture of each page that I complete for this Journal - wish me luck that I stick at it!

Merry Christmas and a Happier New Year 2012

2011-12-21T23:36:00.000Z

It's been a tough old year one way or another but now Christmas is almost upon us and we plan on making it a good one - it was dad's favourite time of the year so we should definitely be celebrating it, he wouldn't want us not to.

I received a beautiful Christmas gift recently from a good friend, Joanne - it's a lovely wall hanging consisting of three small frames decorated in some of my favourite colour combinations (and very wintry-looking). I had thought of putting photos of Mia in it but then realised that the Crafty Individuals images (from their book series) would fit just right so I changed my mind and added three Christmas "angels" instead. Here it is, now hanging on the living room wall alongside the fireplace, so I can view it every day. Thanks, Joanne - I love it!

Last year Mia went completely silly when we tried to decorate the living room - she was quite happy for us to decorate the front room and hall with sparkly tinsel, Christmas tree, fairy lights and baubles, but when I tried to hang up tinsel in the living room she got very scared and refused to even come downstairs the next morning so it all had to be taken down. Wondered how she'd react this year - well, she was again absolutely fine with the decos everywhere else, then we put up a very plain green garland (no sparkle at all) on the wall over the sofa, draped a couple more garlands around plus a wreath above the fireplace. She gave it all the once over, went daft again about the garland over the sofa (which had to be removed), but decided that this year we could keep the rest of the garlands and the wreath up! What a comic she is!

Looks like we won't be getting a white Christmas this year, in fact it's turned quite mild here this last day or two which doesn't seem quite right somehow, but at least it means we can get around quite easily without being snowed in!

I hope everyone has a happy and peaceful Christmas and here's hoping for good things to come in 2012. For myself, I hope to get back into being more creative again as my artwork has rather been on the backburner for the past 12 months or so.

Mia and I wish Everyone a Very Merry Christmas

and Happy New Year 2012 !

R.I.P. Dad

2011-11-23T23:38:00.000Z

Thomas Alexander (Alex) Mason

24/12/1922 - 11/11/2011

Dad died peacefully in his sleep on 11th November (Remembrance Day) - he would have been 89 years old on Christmas Eve. His funeral was held today with a beautiful, moving service in a lovely church in the centre of the village where my parents lived for 25 years - we had a small gathering of close family and friends, but sadly our mum could not be there as she has dementia and has lived in a residential care home for the past few months. At least my sister Lindsay and I can be comforted by the knowledge that she doesn't understand that dad has gone so has been spared that sadness - they had been married for 65 years,

Together celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary

Goodbye, Dad ..... you are missed and will always be close in our hearts

Cat in a box !

2011-10-21T14:53:00.000+01:00

We've been going through one of those spells I think everyone gets - when stuff breaks down and has to be replaced - has to come all at once, doesn't it, not in ones? We had to replace the garage doors as they'd gone rotten and were too far gone (picture me, one wild and windy day, trying to hold the doors shut to stop them falling outwards onto the car and at the same time calling to Graham for help - who of course couldn't hear me, being round the corner and inside the house - enough was enough - so now we have a nice new up-and-over door that won't disintegrate in the wind and damage the car). The toilet flush packed up and had to be replaced. Graham's mobility scooter broke down, we thought initially it was the batteries, but turns out to be something else - to do with the computerised starting system or some such, don't ask me the technicalities - so that's had to go away to be repaired and won't be back until Monday.

Then the kettle began to leak so I checked out the Internet for a new one - we have a "whistling" kettle which we really liked so I needed to find the same one again .... the updated model turned out to be way cheaper on Amazon ..... so when it arrived, of course it was well packed inside another larger box padded with brown paper. You've guessed it - naturally, Mia had to investigate, hop in, make herself at home and that was it - we are now currently living with a large cardboard box in our living room (along with an assortment of paper balls, feathers, wool, catnip mouse and tape measure - mine till Mia commandeered it - we find ourselves having to explain it all to any visitors)!

Nothing "crafty" to show you today I'm afraid. Haven't done more than a few ATCs recently and I can't show those yet as they're for a future swap I'm in. Went to the Royal Preston Hospital last week for more tests on my arm (EMG) - this time both my arms and legs were checked out, with electrical currents, and I had eight needles also put into my dodgy arm, the unofficial result was that nerves/muscles were okay everywhere else and that my left arm/hand doesn't appear worse. The consultant will get the full results in a few weeks. In the meanwhile, I'm not so sure about this "not getting worse" bit as some days it feels as though it's deteriorated and right now it's not so good to the extent that I'm having to type using only one finger on my left hand or I'm making lots of typing errors due to the hand weakness. Very frustrating and a complete mystery as to what's caused it !!!! But enough's enough, best stop typing now before I completely wear my hand out! Just didn't want you all to think I'd totally vanished into the "ether" !

Journal Tags

2011-10-04T00:11:00.000+01:00

Just a quick line to say that all the lovely journal tags have now been swapped out and popped into the local postbox - they should be winging their way to all those who participated in the morning. Thanks to all that joined in, I hope you like your tags but silly me forgot to take photos of them all before they were sealed up in their envelopes! Memory like a sieve these days I'm afraid!

Steamin'

2011-09-20T22:59:00.000+01:00

I'm typing this with rather inky fingers (despite giving them a good scrubbing) as I had a session this afternoon inking up, painting and stamping on a set of tags to create backgrounds, which will be swapped out with other artists to add photos of themselves and quotes - eventually we'll all end up with a tag book each, it's called "Sisters in Art" and being run by Ali (who always has brilliant imaginative ideas for swaps) on her Yahoo group, VintageATC UK. Anyway, I rather enjoyed myself and have decided I'm a bit of a fan of "tags" at the moment ..... I've also finished my three tags (Autumn, Daydreamer and Vintage Birds) for my own tag swap running here on my blog this month (check out the details in the sidebar as there's still time to join in if you fancy having a go)! Have received a couple of sets already and they're lovely so I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you all come up with.

So ....... whilst I was playing with the tags this afternoon I remembered that I promised to put up pics of the "Steampunk" ATCs that I made a while back - so here they are, hope you like them, they're my first attempts at the steampunk style which is a style that I love and have seen some fabulous art created in it - just try googling to see what an enormous range of steampunk creations there are!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Flying Machine

The Mad Scientist

The Time Machine

This Way Up

All the above ATCs are still in my possession for one-to-one swaps, but the three ATCs below are the ones I made for the Steampunk swap I was in so they've now gone to new homes.

Medicine Man

Time Traveller

Robot Punk

Thanks also for the lovely comments left about my Heaven and Hell pages, they're much appreciated.

My Tag Pages for the Journal Journeys Challenge

2011-09-08T16:15:00.000+01:00

This month's challenge set by Dawn over at Journal Journeys (click on the link in the sidebar to check her blog out) was to add a tag or inclusion to your journal pages. Coincidentally ..... definitely not intentionally .... on the same day I also posted a challenge on my blog for Journalling Tags (great minds and all that *LOL* ....... don't forget to sign up for this one, by the way, if you fancy having a go - it's not due till the end of the month and all details are over in the sidebar too). Anyway .... I digress .......

Okay, I thought, I had an idea to add some tip-in tags to my pages, having done something similar in an altered book round robin swap, so I merrily set to and gave the next pages in my journal (the Khadi handmade papers one I'd set aside for the Journal Journeys challenges) a "soaking" with watercolour paints ...... oops! next thing I know, the pages are peeling out of the book because the water has loosened up all the glue binding them to the spine. Disaster !!! What to do???? I couldn't throw them away and start again because on the back of one of the pages was the first challenge I'd done (the pink and orange one) and I didn't want to lose it.

Time for some quick-thinking - okay, I'll put them in my other art journal; fine, but the pages are different sizes, which meant a bit of juggling around, cutting down pages and taping the new ones in so they were all the same size. In the end, it worked well and I was happy with the result. The theme of my pages is Heaven and Hell Is ....... I cut down one page into just a strip and adhered the tags to it, then wrote a random selection of my own particular "heaven and hells" on each side.

These are the Heaven and Hell background pages - I used a mixture of watercolour paints, glimmer mist sprays, stamps and images, bits of lace and glitzy stickles

Close Up of the Heaven page - the image was one I spotted in my local paper and gave me the idea for the pages

The image for the Hell page came from a page-a-day calendar we have on the subject of "magic"

Here are the pages as they look with the tag inserts (Heaven side) - I added eyelets and fibres to the end of each tag

Tag inserts showing the Hell side

I had great fun making these pages, even though they ended up being a bit fiddly and time-consuming, and I'm fairly pleased with the results.

Things I have learnt about art journals - firstly, the art journal that I am now using is one I purchased from Paper Chase in Manchester last year. It's pretty sturdy but the pages are paperbag brown and quite heavy, which means I have to cover each page with white gesso, acrylic paint or paper before I can start journalling and all these extra layers are making a lot of the pages rather stiff. Also, the book is in landscape mode. I'll know in future to choose books with white pages, maybe not so heavy and either square or portrait layout as I think that'll be easier to work with. I've also learnt to check out the binding of the journals carefully too in order to avoid another journal falling to pieces on me when it gets wet (I'll have to make sure I don't use anything too wet near the spine of the Khadi book from now on - it's a lovely book to work in though, the texture of the paper is super, so I shall definitely be using it for some other journalling or poetry)!!!

Finally, I've learnt to just have a go in my journal - sometimes I've followed journalling prompts or challenges, sometimes I've just created a page out of my own head, how I'm feeling on a particular day (not necessarily how I'm feeling the next day), some pages are more successful than others, some I might want to keep secret, but it doesn't matter if they look messy or neat, serious or funny, nonsense or intelligent ..... each and every one of them is a way of expressing my feelings in any one moment of time and it definitely doesn't matter if I make mistakes, how else do we learn?

Hope you've enjoyed looking at my entry for Dawn's challenge and maybe you'll feel inspired to have a go at journalling yourself too. Have fun!

JOURNALLING TAGS - A New Challenge

2011-09-01T16:47:00.000+01:00

Today, according to the weather people last night, is the first day of autumn - not so sure myself, but there's definitely a freshness in the air and the sun has been shining wonderfully all day - it certainly feels like summer is sliding down into autumn and it's one of my favourite times of the year. Anyway, it put me in the mood to come up with a new challenge swap for you all and this one is all about "Tags".

I'd like you to create three tags, approx size 3" x 5", each with a different theme :-

1) Season of Mellow Fruitfulness (Autumnal)

2) Vintage Birds

3) The Daydreamer

The idea is that these tags can be added to your art journals (for those of you who journal) or used as gift tags if you don't, so please leave some plain areas on your tags so that the recipient can add their own journalling or words. Please also lightly decorate the back of each tag with paper, inks and/or stamping and include your personal info around the edges, so there's room on the back of the tag for more journalling if desired.

Usual rules apply - tags to be with me by 30th September and please include an SAE (large letter stamp/sturdy envelope) for returns. Email me to sign up and if you have any questions. I've added the details of this swap in the sidebar too.

Hope this challenge swap appeals and I can tempt some of you to join in! Look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

Flying without Wings

2011-08-30T20:50:00.000+01:00

It's almost the end of the month and, with a spot of cheating, I'm just about in time to post a pic of a "fairy" page I've created to add to my 2011 Art Journal, so meeting Dawn's Journal Journeys challenge theme of Fairies for August. I say cheating because I actually made the page some while back for a round robin swap which as sometimes happens didn't materialise. I've really been short of time this month for making much art at all and the "fairy" theme kept slipping away from me.

However, when I re-discovered this page (during a tidy up) I thought it might just fit the theme - at the time "Flying without Wings" was playing on the radio, hence the words I added to complete the page - hope it fits the bill !

Looking forward to seeing what Dawn has in store for us in September! Go check out her blog (link above) if you fancy having a go at her journal challenges.

Bookmarks

2011-08-23T23:32:00.000+01:00

Apologies for not posting so regularly recently, there's been a lot going on, but hopefully I may have a little more time now to "blog" and "art". Anyway, I'm sure everyone must have received their bookmarks by now so I thought it was time I put up photos of them all - a lot of these book titles were new to me so will be added to my reading list.

Bobbie Eccles - Front and Back

Chris Bedford - Front and Back

Joanne Parkin - Front and Back

Sheila King - Front and Back

Sonia Jones - Front and Back

Sue Jenneys - Front and Back

Sue Horsley - Front and Back

Hope you enjoyed browsing through them - and for those who took part in the swap, hope you enjoyed the challenge of creating something a little different from my usual ATC ones.

A Journal Page

2011-08-13T16:22:00.000+01:00

Whoo, I've just had a marathon session printing off lots of old family photos from the computer, so before I packed up for the day, just thought I'd show you a picture of the last journal page I did (courtesy of Ali's prompts). This was created a few weeks ago and the theme of the page was "LOVE". I chose to use one of my favourite pieces of poetry (a Shakespeare sonnet) as the focus of mine.

My feet have hardly touched the ground for the past few weeks, so much has been going on (family wise), but things may calm down again shortly so I'm hoping to be able to concentrate a bit more time on my art journalling before too long.

Anyway, just a short post today ....... catch up with you all again soon!

Look at these Beauties ......

2011-08-07T22:08:00.000+01:00

,,,,, that landed on my doorstep yesterday morning. I was involved in a Journal Envelope Round Robin on the Vintage ATCs UK Yahoo Group - we each coloured the backs of four envelopes any way we liked, I used acrylic paint dabbers, and sent them on to the next person in the RR, along with a tag and couple of images for each envelope. Each person added to the envelopes with stamps, the chosen images plus any extras, embellishments, collaging, etc, and finally they were returned home to us.

Mine are just absolutely gorgeous, I love them ...... the idea is to add them into our journals, write on them if we want as well as having the insides as pockets for secret messages or photos, or anything else we fancy. Right now, though, I just can't imagine "spoiling" them with my scruffy handrwriting !

(Pic of same envie below, with tag on top)

My envelopes were decorated by three American artists (Jeannie, Marita and Gina) ..... they did a fabulous job, didn't they? Everyone loved creating these journal envies and we're planning on doing it again before too long.

(The Bookmark Swap is now closed, all sets arrived safely and they're all now ready for posting out tomorrow - so watch your letterboxes, ladies, for something nice dropping in. Thank you all for taking part).

A little bit of background journalling .....

2011-08-01T21:06:00.001+01:00

I haven't done any journalling this past week or so I'm afraid, though I've got several ideas floating around in my head (just haven't had enough free time). I did create a couple of background pages in my journal a little while back - Ali (click to link up to her online group) posted some instructions about some backgrounds she was creating and suggested we play along too. The pages involved paints, paper strips, stamping, masking, clingfilm and stencilling ...... a whole lot of fun and I loved the way my pages turned out. Now they're all ready to add some journalling!

I was going to show you a picture of the last journal page I created too, but just realised I haven't taken a photo of it yet - oops!!! - so it'll have to wait till another time. Also haven't forgotten that I promised to post pics of the steampunk atcs I made so I'll add them some time soon as well.

The Bookmark Swap is now officially closed (yesterday) - the bookmarks received are fab, but I'm just waiting on one set coming in ...... I know it's on its way, just think the post office are playing slow at delivery. So once the last bookmarks come in, I'll be swapping them all out - it's been fascinating to see which books have been chosen and there's a fair few I'll be adding to my own "must read" list I think!

Finally - it's the 1st August today, which means Dawn has posted her next challenge on her Journals Journey blog so hop on over to see what it is ..... you'll like it, I know I'll be joining in.

My Lovely Chunky Book ..... with thanks

2011-07-27T22:25:00.000+01:00

Sorry not to have posted sooner, but life is very hectic here at the moment, with little time for any crafting, journalling or blogging. However, last week I received a lovely and unexpected surprise, from Sheila and hand-delivered to me by my sister Lindsay. Last year Sheila decided to host a chunky book swap, having previously joined in the one that I ran - I signed up but unfortunately had to drop out when I realised, primarily for health reasons, that I wouldn't be able to complete the number of pages required. So you can imagine how surprised and delighted I was to receive a book after all ...... everyone had kindly created an extra page for me so that I wouldn't miss out!

The theme I chose for my book was "Heavenly Bodies" and these are the pages in my book ........

Sheila's page

(Sheila also did a wonderful silvery textured front page and a back page for the book)

Gez's page

Lindsay, my sister's page

Elaine's page

Hilda's page

Cheryl's page

Joanne's page

Zoe's page

Sonia's page

Karen's page

Thanks, girls, you all did wonderful work - I love my book !

A Bit of Art Journalling

2011-07-16T22:51:00.000+01:00

As promised, I thought today that it was time I posted up some of the art journalling pages that I've created over the past few weeks. I've been using prompts posted weekly by Ali Brandist on one of my Yahoo art groups (I'm playing about six months' catch-up!) and find them a really useful starting point for my pages. So here are some that I've made - as you can see, they're mostly quite messy and collagey, quite different from my sister, Lindsay's, journal pages, which are far more artistic.

Ali used her pack of Angel Cards to select a message for each of us - this was mine, appropriately to do with new ideas and inspiration, something I was most definitely lacking in at the start of the year. The background was distress inks over gesso, dabbed over with a scrunched up paper towel containing mopped up copper Krylon ink. I'm a big Klimt fan so I couldn't resist using this image from one of his paintings for my angel, with the addition of a stamped wing. (The hand is my own).

For this page the prompt was "Word Inspiration" and I took mine from an old fiction book - both the cut out words and the written words. I threw everything at this background - gesso, inks, blended oil pastels, stencilled punchinella, stamps, H2O paints, then collaged with a gyspy image, wings, butterflies and finished with Stickles and Beadazzles.

The next two pages are a double spread - "Silence Your Inner Critic/Develop an Inner Enthusiast" ..........

For the "critic" page I chose acrylic paints and inks for the background in dark brown colours, with a dictionary definition of criticism and stencilled cogwheels. The Victorian lady reminded me of a very stern, bossy great aunt from my childhood and Queen Victoria provided another disapproving figure. I used Dymotape for some of the words, handwrote others.

By contrast, I wanted my "enthusiast" page to be full of colour and liveliness, so I used a colour palette of orange, deep blue and purple for the background; lots of images of people dancing and leaping for joy, and again, a dictionary definition for "enthusiasm" and Dymotape, stamped and handwritten words. I rubbed Distress Stickles over the harlequin stamp and other areas of the page.

All of these pages were great fun to create - the hardest part is always making the first marks on a page, but once you get going, you just don't know where you'll end up.

Well, that took me a lot longer to type than I expected. I've been playing a game of Tag with Mia downstairs whilst I was brewing a cup of tea. It's one of her favourite games, she creeps up behind me and tags me on the legs, then runs away, so I've been chasing her around the house as well - she loves it, it's kind of scarey and exciting for her, but safe too. She likes to hunker down and leap out at me or run round the sides of a room, hunting me while my back's turned. So when I came upstairs to use the computer, the game continued with paper ball throwing - over the bed, down the stairs, then behind the computer, under my chair ....... till she's tired herself out (or got bored) ....... and I can finally concentrate on finishing this post!

Pink and Orange

2011-07-08T21:44:00.000+01:00

I came across a new journal challenge blog the other day and as I want to do more journalling I thought I'd give this one a go. Check out Dawn's Journal Journeys blog to find out more. Dawn has begun the challenges this month and will post a new one the first of each following month. For July the challenge is to create a page using the colours PINK and ORANGE, not a combination one would normally associate together.

I've already started one journalling book using prompts posted in one of my online groups, but decided to start a new journal for this challenge. Well, I have a blank book of handmade papers which I picked up in Paperchase in Manchester last year and was waiting for the right moment to use it ...... the paper is made from recycled cotton rag and suitable for ink, watercolour, paint, etc, has torn edges and a lovely feel to it ..... the book itself is 6" x 6", a comfortable size to work with.

This is the page I created ............

I used a mixture of Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade) to create the background. I drew some cloud shapes on paper scraps, cut them out and used them to mask off parts of the sky, before stamping the Sun image in Spiced Marmalade. I then bleached out the background colour from the clouds and tinted them with Weathered Wood ink. I swooshed the same colour along the bottom edge, sketched in some dark pen lines and sponged some areas with Fuschia Pink Stazon ink. I drew the silhouette of the girl onto black paper, cut her out and collaged her onto the page along with some rock images. I added three bird shapes to the top right-hand corner for balance. I found the quote in a book of meditations that I have and it absolutely expressed the feeling I had from creating this page.

Really enjoyed having a go at this challenge - thanks, Dawn - and look forward to seeing what the next one is in August!

I've been asked if I can show some of the journal pages I've created (not many to date, due to lack of time recently) and have finally gotten around to finishing some and photographing them, so I'll be posting pics of them in the next few days.

Don't forget my bookmark swap (details in the sidebar) which is running until the end of July. I've already received two sets of bookmarks and I can tell you, they look great, so if anyone fancies joining in with this one, there's still plenty of time to do so.

Three Little Piggies

2011-06-25T00:01:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks or so ago, late one night the outside light went on and we spotted a rather plump-looking hedgehog troddling around in our back yard, hunting slugs no doubt, and then disappearing into our shed (through an arch my rather eccentric other half cut in the door years ago - in case any stray cats needed shelter)!!! We kept a look out for another appearance, but apart from a brief glimpse the next night, that was it.

Yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon, Graham and I were sat outside by our little pond (it was a lovely sunny day) discussing things that needed doing in the garden, shrubs trimming, weeding, a couple of trees that have grown too big and have to be dealt with, when out from the shrubbery a couple of feet away from us appeared .........

not one .......

not two .......

but three baby hedgehogs .........

We were so thrilled to see them and I was able to dash indoors, grab my camera and get some pics - aren't they just so cute? They were quite unconcerned by our presence, snuffling around for food and twitching their little noses. Graham put out a bit of cat food for them and whilst two of the "babies" headed back off into the undergrowth, the first one we spotted (the cheekiest, boldest one) merrily tucked in. A few hours later we saw him out again, finishing off the last of the cat food. We feel so privileged to have a family of hedgehogs living in our garden, especially as they are quite a rare sight apparently nowadays.

Here are a few more pics of our little "family" - a bright episode in the midst of a rather stressful week.

I'm afraid I've had no time at all this week to do any kind of crafting, a shame really as I was just enjoying getting stuck into the art journalling and had been making several ATCs - however, it can't be helped and it's just had to take a backseat for now.

Meanwhile, I've had quite a few sign ups for my Bookmark Swap, which I'm pleased about - there's still loads of time to sign up for this if you fancy having a go (check it out in the sidebar under my profile and just email me if you're interested) - looking forward to seeing which books and authors everyone has chosen to illustrate on their bookmarks.

Well, time to sign off for the night - it's been raining a good part of the evening and now the wind has got up a bit as well, not looking good for tomorrow - what a contrast to the lovely day we had yesterday.

A New Swap (for the Book Lovers amongst you perhaps) ! .....

2011-06-17T15:30:00.000+01:00

As promised, today I'm announcing a new challenge swap for you all .... but I thought just for a little change, we wouldn't do ATCs this time, but would create Bookmarks instead. The theme would be "Books and Authors" and, as usual, you'll be making three, decorated on one side with imagery to reflect the book title and on the back, a little decoration and a few details about the author's life. Although the bookmarks themselves will need to be flat, in order to make them practically useful, you can add plenty of fibres, ribbons, charms, etc, to the top edge for dangling outside the pages of your books. There are so many wonderful books and writers to choose from (Will Shakespeare to Charles Dickens, Jane Austen to Catherine Cookson, JK Rowling to Roald Dahl - the list could go on and on) that you might have a hard time deciding which ones to select - just please make each of your bookmarks different (eg three separate books and authors).

I've added some details about the swap in the side bar on the right, under my profile, with a request that anyone interested in joining this swap, please email me first to sign up and I'll send out an information sheet containing full swap details along with where to send your finished bookmarks.

Here are some samples of bookmarks I made for a swap a couple of years back - they're quite simple, a bit narrower than the measurements I've given for my swap and the theme was a general one (I used 1920's stylish ladies in mine) - but they might give you some idea of what this swap is about (think ATCs, but just a bit longer!) ........

Well, I hope some of you fancy having a go at this one - you've got till the end of July to make them. I'm sure there'll be some wonderful creations made and we'll all end up with some lovely bookmarks which we can use in our reading.

Just a quick post to say .......

2011-06-12T22:29:00.000+01:00

..... thank you for the lovely comments about my ATCs; I enjoyed making them, and as the weather has been so yucky today, rain, rain and - guess what? - even more rain! - I carried on creating a card or two with the steampunk theme. I've ideas for a couple more cards before I decide which three I'll be sending in for the Steampunk swap; the rest will be for general swapping. (Still not posting pics of them though).

Anyway, what I really wanted to just say was that I've more or less decided what my next blog swap challenge will be, so watch this space - I'll be posting details later in the week - and I hope it's one that will appeal to many of you; I really need to have at least four people sign up for the swaps or else folks end up with some of their own work back. So if you know anyone who's thinking about having a go at a swap or two and not sure, point them in this direction - it's all very friendly, newcomers and old friends, beginners and experts, all of you are welcome to join in the fun - and remember, it's purely for enjoyment!

This week I have mostly been making .......

2011-06-10T23:39:00.000+01:00

...... ATCs! The mood came upon me (at last) and I had a couple of sessions, making a mixed assortment of cards, some for a specific swap (no theme) and others to build up my depleted stash. Nothing too fancy or complicated, but it felt good to be playing around with inks and papers again. Here are pics of what I made.

These two cards were made for a monthly partner swap (no theme)

The next few cards are an assortment I've made to keep for swapping out on a one-to-one basis:-

"Bird Call"

Background created with torn page from telephone directory and distress inked. Stamped bird and word images. Words cut from dictionary. Finished with heart embellishment, paper flowers and Stickles.

"Dream Time"

Background created with alcohol inks using a "Spinart" machine. Girl stamp (Craft Stamper freebie) tinted with Promarkers and extra circles stamped and adhered around card. Time Holtz adage ticket (Dream) distressed and torn, with added eyelet and ribbon tie. Finished off with adhesive stones and Stickles.

"Gorgeous George"

Alcohol ink background stamped with Paperartsy image. Embellished with paper flowers, buttons and fibre. Word 'gorgeous' created with Dymo machine; 'George' from clothes label.

"Playful Days"

Background created using papers from Crafty Individuals mini books and seagulls from CI-278 rubber stamp plate. Beach belle image from a Somerset Studio free sheet. Embellished with inked fibre, shells and Beadazzles.

The last ATC I want to show you today is one that I've made for a monthly draw in one of my online groups. Each month there is a draw for ATCs, the winner takes all the ATCs that have been entered that month and chooses the theme for the following month - this month it's "Pigs" and as I do like pigs (I absolutely loved the mother pig with all her squeaking little baby piggies in the Woodentops when I was a child - anyone remember them?) and I remembered I had a 'pig' stamp lurking somewhere, I just had to make one. So this is my entry for this month - won't know till the end of the month who is the winner - but it would be rather nice to have a collection of 'pig' cards:-

I really love all the Steampunk art that's around at the moment and was tempted to join a swap for Steampunk ATCs, so I've had a go at making a few in that style this week - been rummaging around in my stash for old watch parts, metal washers, tiny glass jars and bulbs, anything I can lay my hands on that can be interpreted in a steampunk style, plus going through old encyclopedias I have with Victorian/steam/industrial machinery image in them (I picked up a set of 8 very old but not rare cyclopedias - yes, that's what they're called - for £3 at a car boot fair some years back and they're full of line drawings and maps). So far I've made four cards and halfway through a fifth, but the swap's not due yet so I won't post any pictures until they've gone out.

Look at my little cheeky madam Mia having a good rootle around in my bin just now - she's obsessed with bits of paper so she's in heaven rummaging about amongst all the crafty rubbish! (Note the stack of dictionaries - great charity shop finds and an endless supply of words).

And what's this fearsome creature with the sharp fangs and gaping mouth ..... is it a monster or is it a devil? No .... it's Mia, leaping up and attacking the strap of my camera! (What a good game that was)!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get a bit more crafting done over the weekend, one or two different projects I'm starting on, plus slowly adding some more pages to my art journal. Might be time to run another challenge/swap on the blog too - if anyone fancies it and enough people are interested in joining in. ATCs - or something different ...... what do you think?

What a Waste!

2011-05-27T22:33:00.000+01:00

Not been around a lot, I know, I know ..... can't believe how quickly the days are flying by, it's almost June already!!! But I have done a "little" bit of art journalling, couple of pages, and a page for a story book swap that's been doing the rounds for several months now. So I'm starting to feel like some creativity is weaving its way back into my life.

Anyhow, the title of this blog (and I do have trouble coming up with titles) refers to the day I've had as I had to travel over to Preston first thing this morning to the hospital for my appointment with the consultant regarding my weak hand and to find out the results of the two scans I had about four months ago. Somehow I knew it was going to be a waste of time and money - after spending around £10 in bus fares to get there, the consultants' clinics were all running behind schedule and my appointment was over an hour late. When the consultant did see me, basically he asked me if the weakness in my hand was same or worse (some days it's stiffer and weaker than others), told me the scan results had all come back as normal (no bumps or lumps for him to operate on), that he was referring me to the neurologist to see if there was any inflammation or suchlike anywhere (it's the radial nerve that the problem is with - but no-one knows what the cause of it is) and was discharging me from his clinic. All in all, I could've been with the consultant no more than a minute!

All that wasted time sat around, not to mention the expense, just to be told something that I could have had in a letter - no wonder the clinics are all clogged up and running late! How much more economical would it have been to send a letter out instead? I'm sure these consultants must only look at their patients' notes a few minutes before they see them! Grr!!! Well anyway, rant over - at least I don't have the worry of surgery hanging over me, just got to see if the neurologist turns anything up now ...... whenever that will be, it's already been going on a couple of years now and no proper diagnosis of the problem so far.

So ...... better shut up, ignore the hand and get on with as much arty-crafty stuff as I can *LOL*!

Whilst I was in Preston I had a bit of lunch and a look round the shops, so as not to let it be a total waste of the day; popped into one of the bargain book shops and was leafing through a "cat behaviour" book. I was amused to read that apparently some Siamese cats, apart from being very vocal, affectionate and with a passion for wool (oh yes, I know about that one!), also have the habit of urinating on their owners to get attention! (Mia, you better not try that trick, thank you very much, or you really will be in trouble)! She's actually curled up, very sweetly, on a cushion on the floor next to me right now, no doubt dreaming up new forms of mischief.

The Pink Gents are on their way .....

2011-05-03T14:49:00.000+01:00

The "pink gents" swap ended at the weekend and as I only had three participants, as well as myself (first cards I've made for ages!), everyone has received a card from every other person. I swapped the cards out today and Graham has assured me that he dropped them in the postbox at lunchtime (first collection day after the bank holiday weekend). Thanks to Joanne, Mel and Sonia for taking the time to join in this swap - you really came up with some interesting and amusing takes on this theme ...... here are pics of what they did!

Joanne Parkin

Mel Dunkley

Sonia Jones

....... and these are mine

I was also going to have a draw to win the "Dandy Gentleman" cabinet card which I created (see pics in previous postings). As there were only three names to choose from, I decided to let Mia once again pick the winner for me, so this is what I did ....... first I wrote everyone's names on differently coloured pieces of paper and then scrumpled them up into little balls. Mia's absolute favourite game is chasing balls of paper up and down the hall and stairs, so I threw them along the hall to see which one she'd go for.

As you can see, Mia very definitely made her choice .........

..... and (drumroll please!) the Winner is ..........

Congratulations, Mel - the "Dandy Gent" is coming your way soon!!!

Any more for swapping?

2011-04-18T21:54:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder that my "In the Pink" ATC swap (details in post below and sidebar) still has another week and a bit to go before the cards are due in to me. I know this has proved a challenging swap for some (even so, I've had some fab cards come in), but it's just a bit of fun for spring and it would be lovely if I could tempt a few more of you creative folks out there to join up as well!

If you fancy having a go, drop me an email to let me know.

In the Pink ..... and an ATC Challenge!

2011-03-31T15:46:00.000+01:00

I've noticed an increasing trend over the past few weeks ....... men have taken to wearing "pink". Every time I turn on the TV there they are - broadcasters, celebrities, antique experts, chefs, students, pensioners, sober politicians, flamboyant artists, sportsmen, old and young ..... there they all are with their pink ties, pink shirts, pink trousers, pink jumpers, pink hats, pink shoes! I've even seen a couple of football teams sporting very fluorescent pink shirts! I even had a quiet smile to myself the other day, driving home, when I passed an elderly couple out for a walk - she was dressed all in blue, he was dressed all in pink (shirt, jumper, trousers)! *LOL* I must admit, I rather like it! In fact, it seems that men are quietly reclaiming the colour "pink" for themselves as back in Victorian days, it was a masculine rather than a feminine colour.

And so, as my own little homage to men's new found "pinkness", I thought I'd create a little piece of art using one of my Victorian cabinet cards. I've turned it into a wall hanging. Hope you like my "Dandy Gentleman".

Before

After

Now, I thought it was about time I posted another little ATC challenge for you all so here's what I propose - you need to create three ATCs containing an image of a Victorian gentleman (just google away to find suitable images) dressed in or surrounded by the colour "pink" ..... you can keep your cards serious, quirky or humorous, entirely up to you. (Details in the sidebar, as per usual).

Hopefully, plenty of you will want to join in and what I propose to do is put everyone's name "into a hat" and whoever is pulled out will also receive my "Dandy Gentleman" cabinet card as well. You have until the end of the month (30th April) to make your cards and post them to me (just email me please to sign up).

Finally, if any of you want to give your brain cells a good working out, pop over to my sister Lindsay's blog and have a go at her crafty quiz - it's quite challenging, in fact very challenging, but there's a prize for the winner (closing date 9th April) so it's well worth having a go.

My Little Helper!

2011-03-07T14:32:00.000Z

It's been a few weeks now since I last posted and I'm afraid not a lot (if any) crafting has happened in the meantime; my hand is still "dodgy" and playing up, making me clumsy and not easy to do a lot of fiddly work - or use the keyboard for any length of time! One way or another, I think I'm definitely falling apart! *LOL*

Still, I wanted to join in the fun on Joanne's new blog for our crafting pets and took some photos of my little minx, Mia, helping me the other day when I was having a clear out in my "craft room" - I sorted out some old jigsaws and an assortment of leftover balls of wool to take to the charity shop. I packed them all away neatly in a large plastic shopping bag, but it wasn't long before Mia sniffed out the wool (she's obsessed with it!) and decided to reorganise it all for me - would you believe, there wasn't a single hole in that bag before Mia started on it! I came out of the bathroom the other morning and walked back into the bedroom, only to discover bags of wool strewn all across the floor and the wardrobe door wide open - she'd only nosed her way in and dragged it all out - it was so funny. I've had to give her a ball of wool to play with and she's now proudly trotting round the house with it in her mouth, the ends trailing along underneath her - what a comic!

"Now if I could just move this ball here and put that one there,

I think you'll find that looks better!"

"If I lie very still, maybe no-one will know it was me"

"Agh, now this looks interesting!"

"And if I could just check it out from over here"

"Hmm, yes, definitely prefer this blue wool -

I might just have to move it into the light to get a better view!"

If you want to check out the antics of other "crafting pets", then please go pay a visit to Joanne's blog here.

I'm Back

2011-02-15T21:42:00.000Z

Just thought I'd let you all know I'm back on line again. My computer went kaput a week or more back; I was just sitting there, looking at a website (a quite respectable BBC one, before you get any ideas!), when the screen went completely black and the computer shut down. I tried switching it back on several times, but it wasn't having it for more than a few seconds - I thought maybe the fan had gone and it had overheated, but no, still wouldn't switch on the following morning. So it meant a quick phone call to my techy friend and then having to wait until he was able to come round and take a look at it. As he suspected, it turned out the power pack in the "tower" had gone, but it wasn't a difficult job for him to replace it with a new one - and a lot cheaper than a whole new computer would've been .... whew!!!!

It was very strange being without a computer for so many days, but I did at least get some early nights (I'm guilty of being a real night owl staying up till all hours, which can't be good for me), so I'm hoping to keep that good habit up now. But by the time my computer was fixed, I was quite glad because I was beginning to wonder what I'd been missing out on and seeing what everyone else has been up to this past week or two.

I think I'm still catching up after the winter and having a couple of bouts of ill health through January, and my creative levels are pretty low at the moment. In fact, I've only managed to create one page of an art journal so far. The art journal project is one suggested by Ali in one of my online groups, where we are given "prompts" for each page, to follow if we want. This is the first and only page I've managed so far - the prompt for this was "Every Journey begins with a Single Step".

I think maybe it's time I took my own advice from this page - basically, stop thinking too much about what lies ahead and just get going!

Resurfacing!

2011-01-21T22:37:00.000Z

Thought it was about time I resurfaced now that we're well into the New Year and my apologies for being absent so long! Thank you to everyone who sent such lovely handmade cards at Christmastime - I really do appreciate them all, especially as I'm very bad at cardmaking myself.

Before Christmas, with much trepidation, I visited the consultant at the Royal Preston Hospital for the results of my neck scan and electrical conduction tests on my arm ..... the good news is that I don't have to have an operation on my neck (which I'd been told previously might be the case and which I was really worried about). The consultant did a few more tests and concluded that I appear to have radial nerve damage in my arm (hence my weak hand), but has sent me for more scans to try and locate the exact centre of the problem before coming to any decisions about treatment (or not)!

Just before New Year I came down with a nasty cold which lingered for a week or so and then just after I got over that, last week I became really ill with an even nastier stomach bug which had me laid up in bed - I don't remember ever sleeping for so long or for so many days before - I struggled to eat anything and was left very weak and tired, I've never experienced anything like it before nor ever want to! I only just started to feel back to normal yesterday; ventured into town today but noticed I was walking around more slowly than normal, so I think my energy levels are still not quite 100% yet!

Sooooo ........ I've not really felt like doing much at all since Christmas as I've been unwell most of the time. And as I'm still having ongoing problems with my hand which means I'm struggling to grip things and it takes a lot longer to try and create anything, until it's sorted out, I'm pulling back from taking part in any swaps or doing much hosting. I'm going to try and do a little art journalling for myself (Ali in one of my online groups is throwing out weekly prompts for journalling ideas so I'm going to go along with some of them when I can - but no pressure involved) and will post swaps/challenges on my blog as and when I'm able.

Be back again soon !!!

"Merry Christmas"

2010-12-24T00:00:00.000Z

Wishing You All a Very Merry Christmas

and

A Happy New Year 2011 !

Enjoy the holidays, however you celebrate them, and I'll catch up with you all again next year.

What's this White Stuff?

2010-12-15T22:52:00.002Z

During the very cold spell of weather we had last week, Mia experienced being out in the snow for the first time. There wasn't a great deal of actual snow, but the flakes that came down were quite large and she enjoyed leaping up and trying to catch some of them. I don't think she knew what to make of all that "white stuff" though!

Check out the bushy tail - all fluffed up because of the snowflakes !

A few days ago we decided to put up the Christmas decorations - we set up the tree, tested the fairy lights, decorated it with lots of tinsel and baubles. We put up garlands and tinsel streamers around the room and Graham festooned more fairy lights around the bay window in our front room. All the while, Mia was investigating what we were doing - checking out the box of baubles, running off with tinsel, exploring under the tree, sniffing the lights - absolutely no problem, nor had she with the decorations in the hall.

Then we put up some tinsel garlands in our living room - well, what a pallaver that turned out to be! Mia saw what we were doing and went and hid behind the television for ages, too scared to come out, despite all our coaxings. After a while she made a dash for the stairs and hid in the bedroom, until I picked her up and carried her back down, wriggling like mad and "shrieking" - I cuddled her and tried settling her on my lap, but she kept peering up to look at the tinsel then immediately buried her head in my arms so that she couldn't see it. I thought she was finally getting used to it, but then she spotted some on another wall and that was it - up she jumped and fled behind the curtains, before once more going behind the TV. No matter what we did, none of us could coax her out. It wasn't until we all came to bed and switched off the lights that she ventured out and came upstairs to spend the night in our bedroom (as per usual).

Next morning, all seemed well - Mia was as perky and playful as ever whilst we were showering and dressing, but refused to come downstairs with us for her breakfast. Once again, we had to carry her down and once again she wriggled and screamed in fear. Sooooo ..... that was it ..... the tinsel had to go! I pulled it all down and Mia was happy again. We just can't figure why she took so against the tinsel in the living room, but is absolutely fine with it everywhere else in the house - Graham believes it's because she thinks of the living room as her safe place (it's where she spent most time the first few weeks we had her) and was scared by the tinsel being in it.

What a comic Mia is - never a dull moment these days with her around!

Brrrr!!!

2010-12-02T21:57:00.001Z

....... how's everyone doing in this freezing cold weather? We've been lucky here not to have had any real snow (so far), just a few flakes, but it's definitely feeling Arctic with frozen and slippy pavements. It was like an ice rink in our garden where water had frozen over the paving slabs. I hope the rest of you are all keeping warm and safe, if you're surrounded by snow and finding it difficult to get out and about. Wonder if we'll have another White Christmas this year?

I've now swapped out all the ATCs and Xmas Triptychs for the last swaps of the year and hopefully they'll all be posted out tomorrow. Here are pics of the four Triptychs I received for the swap ..... aren't they lovely and all with a nostalgic Christmassy feel to them ......

Sheila's

Chris's

Sandra's

Hilda's

As I mentioned in a previous post, I won't be running any swaps during December, but hopefully will come up with some new ones again after the New Year.

It's all been happening in Blackpool!

2010-11-23T21:44:00.000Z

Well, it seems that Blackpool was THE place to be this weekend! I've been going along to some of Blackpool Football Club's home games - it's within walking distance of my house, it's a good afternoon's entertainment in the fresh air, with a good-natured crowd - and this weekend our opponents were Wolves (we won 2-1). Little did I know that Prince William (complete with blue baseball cap) was also at the match, not tucked away in the director's box but in the stands with the rest of the crowd - he was spending the day in Blackpool on a "stag do" with friends and was also seen later enjoying some of the rides at the Pleasure Beach. The media are now, of course, speculating that he was checking out the resort for his own "stag" celebrations next year!

And then, Saturday night, "Strictly Come Dancing" was televised from our own Tower Ballroom (the mecca of ballroom dancing) - tickets for this event are like gold dust, a friend of mine has been trying to get tickets for us for this event for the past couple of years, without success. I've been watching the show each week on TV and there are some wonderful celebrity dancers this year - my favourites have to be Matt Baker and Kara Tointon - but I cannot believe that Ann Widdecombe is still in the show; I was sure this was the week she'd be voted out but no, it wasn't ....... sorry, Ann, but the 'dance' routines aren't funny anymore and poor Anton now looks like he wants to be put out of his misery as her partner .... definitely time to go and make way for the better dancers now.

Now .... just a reminder that the "Movers & Shakers" ATCs and Christmas Triptychs are due to me in a week's time. I hope everyone's getting on well with making them, but I know how busy everyone must be starting to feel with Christmas starting to appear large on the horizon, so if you're likely to be a day or two late, please let me know. As this is such a busy time of the year and we all grow short of time, I've decided not to run an ATC swap in December ........ I'll think up some new swaps for after the New Year and hope that's okay with everyone.

What a Night!

2010-11-12T23:16:00.000Z

It looks like Lancashire took one of the biggest hits with the heavy winds (80 mph here in Blackpool) last night so I hope none of my fellow Lancastrians suffered any big damage. The wind didn't sound too bad at the front of the house where our bedroom is, but in the bathroom you could really hear it roaring outside and it set up a very weird and ghostly-sounding high pitched whistle - creepy! This morning we found a tile had blown off the roof and a few more have become dislodged, so we're now waiting for a roofer to come and take a look at what needs repairing (roofers were in very big demand today!!!) .... apart from that, we seem to have escaped fairly well. But neighbours had several fence panels blown down and someone else had a lot of their roof tiles blow down and smash through their conservatory! In Blackpool, some of the scaffolding at the top of the Tower blew down so the roads beneath were cordoned off, an estimated £1,000,000 worth of damage was done to the Illuminations and one of the sails was blown off the Windmill on the seafront at nearby Lytham ..... thankfully, no-one here appears to have been injured. Tonight all is calm again, thank goodness.

I've not been able to craft much lately, but I did receive my beautiful altered book home again and as promised, here are pictures of all the pages everyone contributed ....... there were quite a few blank pages at the end of the book so I plan to turn them into an extra "shaker niche" type page and I've still to decorate the front and back covers. The title/theme of my book is "Flights of Imagination".

My Pages - Collaged, Painted, Stamped

Ali's Pages - "Found Poetry" Technique

Liz's Pages - "Window Technique" (1)

Liz's Pages - "Window Technique" (2)

Mel's Pages - "Tipped-In Tags" Technique (1)

Mel's Pages - "Tipped-In Tags" Technique (2)

Barbara's Pages - "Folded Pages" Technique with inserted ATCs

Mima's Pages - "Karen Whimsey" Technique

Sandra's Pages - Own Choice Technique

These pages are all so beautiful and wonderful to see and touch close up, I'm very happy with how it turned out and hope to alter some more old books in the coming year - maybe some of you will be inspired to have a go at altering an old book too.

I can't believe how quickly November is moving along - and I'm looking forward to seeing your "moving and shaking" ATCs coming in for this month's swap, as well as the Christmas Triptychs .... still time to join up to one or both swaps though, if anyone is considering having a go.

Bonfire Night

2010-11-05T23:36:00.000Z

I have to admit to being a real "scaredy cat" when it comes to bonfire night - I do like to see the dazzling bursts of colour as the fireworks explode across the night sky and I don't mind sparklers, but I'm not fond of the big bangs and the nearest I want to be to the fireworks is behind the safety of a window (or TV screen)!!! Graham, on the other hand, has always loved bonfire night so for many years, especially when Max was younger, I've gone along to the local fireworks displays or stood at a safe distance in the garden whilst he let the rockets, volcanoes, starbursts, catherine wheels and roman candles off. So I hope for those of you who enjoy this night, that you've had a safe and happy one and that your pets have all been tucked up safely at home too.

Mia has been okay - it got very noisy earlier on and she was a bit uncertain as to what was going on, but it didn't stop her looking out through the window to watch the rockets shooting up into the sky. Now all is quiet and she's curled up asleep on her cushion at the side of me as I type. Max had been to the local shop on an errand for me at the start of the night and came in furious, because he'd seen a dog (spaniel type) running down the middle of the road, obviously unnerved by all the loud bangs going off around it, and cars having to slow down or swerve to avoid it. There was no-one with it so it had either escaped from someone's garden or, even worse, someone wasn't bothered that their pet was running around alone and afraid in the dark. It ran off down the road too fast for Max to be able to catch it (if that had even been possible) but he was disgusted, to say the least - he absolutely can't stand any kind of cruelty to animals at all!

It also looked like there'd been a bit of an incident too, up the road from us - there was an ambulance blocking the road and a police car, outside a house where some new people have just moved in this week. Several people were standing around in the road, but we didn't see who had been put in the ambulance - I know there are young children in the family that moved in and I'm guessing they might have been having a bonfire party, so I do hope that if anyone has been injured as a result of a firework accident, that it's not too serious. The daughter of some friends of ours was injured by an exploding firework a few years back - she did recover, but it was pretty traumatic at the time.

Now - to something more arty. I've just received a link to a new blog by Laura Carson, an American lady who creates beautiful artwork and some of whose ATCs I'm lucky enough to own. Laura will be posting instructions for some of the techniques she uses in her art (check out the wonderful stained glass effect one) and will also be having a draw every month where you can win a piece of her art. So I would highly recommend that you check out her Artfully Musing blog right now - you'll love it!

NOVEMBER ATC SWAP - "MOVERS AND SHAKERS"

2010-11-01T12:15:00.000Z

I had such fun creating the "shaker niche" into the pages I made for the altered book round robin (see previous post) that I thought it would be a good idea for this month's ATC swap. You can make your cards in any style you like, to any theme you like, but you must include something that moves or shakes on each card - it might be a shaker niche as I have done, something that opens like a door or window, maybe a tag that swings - these are just suggestions ..... I'm sure you can all be inspired to create your own "movers and shakers" and I'm looking forward to seeing all your cards. (Details of the swap are posted in the sidebar).

The "Things that Go Bump in the Night" ATCs are now all swapped out and I'll be popping along to the post office shortly so they'll be with you in the next few days. Thanks to all who joined, I loved seeing all the spooky ATCs you created and I hope you all enjoyed making them.

Don't you just "love" the Internet? ......

2010-10-30T13:36:00.000+01:00

Grrrr!!!! There I was, typing up this post last night, just about to check and upload it, when our whole internet connection went down - funny peculiar how it always seems to do this when the weather is horrendous outside (it was bucketing it down and blowing a gale!) ..... neither myself nor Max could get back online and I went to bed feeling very exasperated at the thought that everything I'd meant to post had been lost! (It's as frustrating as the times I've gone to delete one character in a long text message and instead it's deleted the whole lot ..... aaagh!!!). Anyway, with much relief, I've just discovered that most of the post had saved before the system went down, so here it is complete .......

I haven't had a lot of time for much creating as it's been quite a busy week one way or another (including a trip to the dentist - just a check up!), but I did manage to spend a couple of hours yesterday finishing off some pages for an Altered Book Round Robin. For these final pages we could do what we wanted (in previous months we've worked to set techniques and instructions) and now this book will be travelling home to its owner, Liz, on Monday ...... mine will be on its way back to me soon too (can't wait to see it)!

I actually remembered to take a photo of these pages so I thought I'd share it with you to give you a flavour of what you can do with an old second-hand (NOT rare or valuable) book!

The theme of Liz's book is "Life's Tapestry" and we could choose whatever colour scheme and interpretation we wanted. I decided to use all the remaining blank pages at the back of the book and cut out a rectangular window shape in them. I then glued them all down (apart from the top sheet) with a gel medium to the back cover to form a shallow aperture. I gessoed over the top pages, then coloured them with acrylic paint dabbers (boy, do I have trouble with those dabbers ...... they always seem to dry up on me and I end up smearing some of the paint over the sponge bit to get them to work at all ..... grrr!). I then stamped flourishes and flowers onto the background and added some images over the top (some from Crafty Individuals mini books).

Inside the aperture, I stamped an appropriate quote and added some feathers, sequins and Beadazzles, plus some copper metallic rub-on and ink, before adhering some acetate over the top and then sandwiching it beneath the top page. I finished the pages with self-adhesive ribbon strips, more words, paper flowers with button centres and fibres.

These old books are wonderful to work in, the pages are quite thin but they have a wonderfully absorbent quality which is great for throwing gesso, paints and inks onto. It's also important to choose a book that's stitched not glued so that you can remove several pages in order to allow room for embellishing the pages you're working on. I know that a lot of people find it very difficult to "deface" a book and of course I would never suggest cutting up anything that was rare or valuable, but visit any charity shop or car boot these days and you'll find stacks of old hardbacks that nobody wants any more ...... why not have a go and breathe new life into them as a "work of art"? (They'd also be brilliant for art journalling into ..... hmm, I may well have a go at that)!

I'm really looking forward to seeing my own completed book "Flights of Imagination" and I'll be posting photos of all the pages in it as soon as I can. I was wondering if anybody might be interested in trying out some techniques to alter an old book some time after the New Year - either just for yourself or part of a swap/RR, it could be fun!

Well, it looks like all the cards are now in for the "Things that Go Bump" Swap (and some really spooky cards there are too - love what everyone did!) so these will be swapped out over the weekend and posted Monday. If anyone fancies having a go at creating the Vintage Christmas Triptych, there's still plenty of time - you only need to make one (see details in previous post) and it isn't due to me until the end of November. I'll also be posting a new ATC swap theme on Monday, so do come back then and check it out.

Finally, don't forget the clocks go back tonight (well, 2 a.m. to be precise, but I always change them earlier in the evening before we go to bed)!

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS TRIPTYCH CHALLENGE SWAP

2010-10-19T23:10:00.000+01:00

I was hoping to post the promised Christmas challenge a few days ago, but you know how it is, the realities of life have a habit of taking over and eating away at any free time! However, here is my Christmas swap idea for you.

I'd like you to create ONE Vintage Christmas Triptych but larger than ATC size - I would suggest that the centre panel of the triptych be about 4" x 6", the other panels can be the same size or smaller (however you wish) and the tops can be any shape you like - rounded, gothic arches, triangular, etc. You may join the panels together by whatever method you choose - for example, eyelets and ribbon, wire, small binding rings, beads. Please use sturdy mountboard or chipboard for your triptych and add as much embellishment as you like, using your preferred techniques for decoration, and ensure that the triptych is able to stand up properly when completed. Please remember to decorate the back of your triptych as well and add your name and any other details you wish - thanks.

Usual swap rules apply - your finished triptych should be with me by 30th November (if you join next month's ATC swap you can send them all together), plus postage and address label for return. Please email me if you want to sign up for this swap and I'll let you know where to send your completed triptych.

I haven't created a Christmas triptych before but I did make an ATC-sized triptych with a "Goddess" theme some while back so here's a picture of it to give you an idea of the sort of thing I have in mind. You may also find lots of ideas if you try googling for Christmas Triptychs.

Goddess Triptych - ATC Size

I hope some of you will fancy having a go at making a Vintage Christmas Triptych as I'm sure there'll be some fabulous creations and wouldn't it be lovely to have one to add to your own decorations this Christmas?

I'm Still Here!

2010-10-15T23:27:00.002+01:00

Yes, I'm finally back, posting again - nearly two weeks since I last posted (shame on me!), but I've been suffering with the same "lurgy" that struck down David and Lindsay (and numerous other folks too). So I'm afraid I've been doing very little craft-wise, but I am at last feeling more normal again so hope to get caught up on some crafty projects over the next week or so.

I've been receiving some absolutely gorgeous ATCs in the post this week for the "Things that Go Bump" swap - I really don't want to part with any of them! - so if you want to participate and receive some of these spooky cards, there's still plenty of time - the deadline isn't till the end of October.

Rather belatedly, here are photos of all the wonderful and varied pages in my Grunge Chunky Book - I intended posting these sooner, but what with a combination of being unwell and the new Blogger uploading system which played up last time I tried to use it, this is the first opportunity I've had to show them off to you all.

Grunge Chunky Book - Front Cover

The Timekeeper - Susan Jenneys (Artyjen)

Heart & Soul - June Benton

Heavy Metal - Sheila King

It's Only Words - Hilda Moffett

Ghost in the Machine - Ali Brandist

With a Little Flourish - My Page

I Dreamed a Dream - Lindsay Mason

Vintage Journeys - Sandra Zengler

Take Flight - Joanne Parkin

As you can see, everyone created some beautiful grunged up pages - thanks to each of you for making these books so gorgeous! Now Sheila is running another chunky book swap (sorry, folks, it's already fully-booked!) with a deadline next March, but this time there are 12 of us in the swap and we've each chosen a theme for our own books (mine is "Heavenly Bodies" - interpret how you will, angels, planets, stars, sun and moon, glamorous ladies ......!!!) - there are some really interesting themes this time including "steampunk" (which I love but have never been confident enough to have a go at before - so time to jump in and play)! Anyhow, I'm sure we'll all end up with a marvellous book each and lucky Sheila gets to see everyone's pages too (the biggest perk of hosting)!

Well, enough from me for now ...... I'll be back posting again soon (and I haven't forgotten that I promised you another challenge with a Christmassy theme, so watch this space)!

A Mystery Torso!

2010-10-03T11:46:00.000+01:00

Well, I WAS meant to be posting this yesterday but my computer decided to have an argument with Blogger's new downloading pictures link and I couldn't load up any photos .... grrr!!! But, today it all seems to be behaving itself (fingers crossed)!

So, anyway, look what came in the post for me yesterday ...... these wonderful Torso ATCs from the recent challenge swap at "Something Completely Different" (see Link in sidebar). I love these cards, but unfortunately one of them has no details on the back so I don't know who created it - what a shame! So please, if you recognise this card as being yours, let me know as I'd love to put a name to it!

This is the "anonymous" torso which I believe was created for the "Red" Challenge

I received this great "By the Sea" Torso, which was created by my friend Joanne

I love the poppies on this "Bling" Torson by Gina

A lovely "Memories" Torso made by Zoe

Thanks to each of you for these beautiful cards, I really enjoyed the challenge of making them myself too and hope those who received my attempts are happy with them as well. Unfortunately, I've not been able to join in the recent SCD challenges but hope to have a go again soon.

OCTOBER ATC SWAP - "THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT"

2010-10-01T11:48:00.000+01:00

It's that time again, the first of the month and time to post a new ATC swap. As we have now very definitely entered the autumn season (in fact, today is particularly unpleasant with lots of lashing rain and winds - more like winter actually!) and as Halloween seems to be becoming more popular over here in the UK, I thought we'd go "spooky" this month. I know a lot of you love creating cards with a Halloween theme so hope this swap will appeal to many of you and you'll sign up. You can really have fun creating your cards for this swap - witches, ghosts, spooky creatures, spiders, cats, broomsticks, haunted houses, ghost trains - anything at all. Why not try shaping your ATCs too into haunted houses, windows or arches? I'm sure you can come up with all sorts of spookiness for this swap! (Details in the sidebar, as per usual)!

All the "glitter" atcs are now here for September's swap so I'll be swapping these out over the weekend - thanks to everyone who joined in!

Just a Little Reminder .....

2010-09-24T23:34:00.000+01:00

...... to say that the Glitter Swap ATCs are due to me by next Thursday, 30th September. There's still time to join in this swap if any of you are still thinking about whether to or not. Next month I'm hoping to post details of a new swap with a Christmassy theme (sorry to bring Christmas up in September!) - it will be separate to the regular monthly swap - so I hope some of you will be interested in joining that one. All I'll say now is that it won't be ATCs.

Lindsay's Matchbox Shrine Workshop

2010-09-20T23:41:00.000+01:00

On Saturday I made the trip over to Oswaldtwistle once again to attend one of Lindsay's workshops at the Dawn Bibby Studio/Topaz Crafts and also to hand-deliver some of the "grunge" books to those 'girls' who were going to be there too. In fact, I was the last to arrive as they were already hard at work decorating mirrors in Lindsay's first workshop of the day. Still, it gave me a chance to browse round the shop and pick up a few Rangers products whilst it was quiet.

These are the two matchbox shrines that Lindsay had created as projects for this Workshop

After a bit of a hectic half-hour to tidy up and set out everything for the afternoon workshop, we all set to work trying to concentrate on making our matchbox shrines (I wasn't the best pupil, in fact I should probably have ended up in the 'naughty corner' because I had to keep asking "please miss" questions of Lindsay due to lack of focus and thinking I'd missed some instructions - honestly, I really think I was away with the fairies on Saturday, my mind was all over the place *LOL*)! Still, I did manage to get most of my shrine finished, just got a few bits and pieces to add to the front and put a backing on it and I'll be able to hang it on the wall with other pieces of art I've received or made.

My shrine - a work in progress!

Of course, we took much longer than anticipated working on this larger shrine, even though Lindsay had a second smaller shrine for us to make too ...... everyone jotted down notes so that they could recreate it at home if they wanted to.

It was lovely to meet up with everyone again - Joanne, She, Gez, Elaine, Chris - even though we didn't get a lot of time to natter ... and also meet Sioux (Artyjen) for the first time (sorry we didn't get more of a chance to talk)! We did all get to swap ATCs and I came home with a bunch of gorgeous cards and I think everyone liked their grunge books too.

Lindsay modelling her pink & black furry slippers

(comfort is all when you're standing around all day)!!!!

Joanne, Sioux and Gez hard at work

Joanne, Sioux, Gez and She - just look at the concentration on their faces!

Here's everyone looking very happy with all their day's work!

A gorgeous set of "Alice in Wonderland" ATCs that She gave to me,

(all contained in a beautiful ATC tin)

ATCs I received from Chris, Sioux, Joanne (top row)

and Gez and She (bottom row)

These were from Joanne too

(love the flower on that ATC - I'd really like to know how to make it)!

By the time I got home again I was really tired (I think we all were) and not fit for much besides putting my feet up in front of the tv, but it had been a good day out (of course)!

What the Court Decided ......

2010-09-16T00:03:00.000+01:00

I can't believe how quickly the days are flying by and now we are very definitely into autumn, just this past week I've noticed all the yellow-brown leaves swirling around on the ground as they drop from the trees. Actually, this is one of my favourite times of year ... there's a particular fresh feel to the air, especially early in the morning, and the light takes on a certain golden glow in the early evening (when it's not raining that is!).

So ..... we had a letter this morning to let us know what happened to the teenager who attacked Graham (he was in court on Monday) and as we suspected, as Graham says, he just got away with a "slap on the wrist". Basically he received (1) a Rehabilitation Order with a supervision requirement for 12 months (this means he has to visit probation several times while they decide how best to rehabilitate him); (2) a Curfew Order from 9pm to 8am for 28 days (hmm, fat lot of use that is - four weeks! AND don't forget, he committed the offence at 4.30pm in the afternoon!); (3) an Activity Requirement for 28 days (this is some kind of community work that probation decides he has to do); and (4) £30 Compensation for Graham (which this youth is supposed to pay, contributing a bit at a time, and Graham won't receive it till it's all paid - so you can bet that'll be a long time coming!).

It's all a bit of a joke really, isn't it? And of course, just to add insult to injury, he can appeal if he thinks the sentence is too severe but the victim can't appeal if he thinks it isn't severe enough! But that's the law for you - and the police are just as frustrated too, they put all the effort in bringing these "yobs" to court and then it all gets watered down by the "do-gooders". It's really not much punishment at all, but we mustn't criminilise the little darlings, must we? ..... (that was the cry at Social Services when I worked in one of their children's homes). So, anyhow, that's an end to it now and Graham just wants to put the whole thing behind him and bring closure to it.

I'll be at Oswaldtwistle on Saturday for Lindsay's Matchbox Shrine workshop at Topaz Crafts/DB Studio and will be bringing some of the grunge books with me for those of you who'll be there as well .... the rest are being posted out on Friday.

Grunge Book Update

2010-09-08T23:36:00.001+01:00

Just to let all those taking part in the grunge book swap know that I've now received everyone's pages - and what a wonderful lot of pages they are too! What a job I'm going to have sorting them all out into books (81 of them - pages, that is)! I've been working on the covers this week and I'll be setting aside a few hours over the next few days to put all the books together - I really can't wait to see what they all look like. Some I'll be delivering by hand when I come over to Oswaldtwistle next weekend (18th Sept) for Lindsay's latest workshop at the Dawn Bibby Studio/Topaz Crafts and the others I hope to post out after the weekend (so keep a watch out for your postmen delivering some goodies next week) ..... :o)

I also just found out that some of my emails weren't being delivered, for whatever reason, so if you've sent me an email and not had a response - that's the reason why and NOT that I was ignoring anyone! Suze, I know you left a comment to say you received the seaside atcs - yes, I did get your email and replied, but that's one that apparently just vapourised into cyberspace - grrr!!!

For anyone who's been wondering, the teenager who attacked Graham appeared at the youth court last week but his case has been adjourned until next Monday (13th Sept) at the magistrates' court, pending more reports from Social Services, etc - I hope this doesn't mean there are some "do-gooders" there trying to come up with justification for what he did (deprived childhood, etc, etc) - as my son says, lots of people have a bad start in life one way or another, but they don't all use it as an excuse for a life of violence or crime.

And finally, if anyone wants to join the "Glitter" ATC swap, there's still loads of time to play - just drop me an email to let me know and I'll sign you up!

SEPTEMBER ATC SWAP - "ALL THAT GLITTERS" !

2010-09-01T20:26:00.000+01:00

The "Seaside" ATCs have now all been swapped and posted out to everybody, some may even have reached their destinations today (thanks to everyone who joined in and sent such beautiful work), and it's time to post a new swap again.

I had a few different ideas floating around in my head for the theme this month, but this is the one I finally settled on ....... you can actually choose whatever theme you like for your cards, just so long as you really "glitz" them up with lots of sparkly bits, glitter, sequins, Beadazzles, shiny beads or threads ...... you get the idea! Just have fun! Usual "rules" apply - details in the sidebar under the "Object of Enchantment" ATC that I posted, just to give you all a little taste of the sort of card you could create - oh yes, for this swap, you are definitely allowed to go over the edges of the cards with your embellishments if you want to!

So ...... hope you all fancy having a go at this one - enjoy!

"Of the Sea" Torso ATC

2010-08-29T00:07:00.001+01:00

The final week's torso atc challenge at SCD is "Of the Sea" and I was quite pleased when I read this, because I'd already created a sea-themed torso (1) because I was having so much fun making "torso" cards and (2) because I was already creating some sea-themed cards for the seaside swap on my blog. This is the card I made and which will be joining the other torsos to be swapped out by Carol from "Something Completely Different".

I inked up the background and stamped text from Crafty Individual's new seaside stamp set CI-278 onto it. I stamped the "bather" from the same set onto white card, then coloured it with some Pro Markers and layered it onto the card with the stamped sun. I finished by adhering some frayed hessian, shells and stickles to the bottom of the card and around the edges.

I created another torso atc with a vintage seaside feel, in more muted, sepia tones, this afternoon - but haven't taken a photo of it yet ...... I haven't made my mind up yet whether it'll be going out as part of my Seaside ATC swap or whether it'll be going into my own stash of cards for swapping.

I'm pleased to say that I've now received all the cards for this swap - and some beauties there are too! - so I plan on sorting these out over the Bank Holiday and posting them out soon as I can. Don't forget I'll be posting the new monthly ATC swap sometime on Wednesday (1st September), so pop back then if you want to see what the theme is!

Hope you're all enjoying a lovely extended holiday weekend, whatever you're doing - no big plans here, just general pottering about and doing a bit of art when I can.

Red and Black Torso ATC

2010-08-25T16:45:00.000+01:00

Well, after my lovely day out yesterday and then popping over to see my parents this morning, I've been able to spend a bit of time this afternoon making my torso atc for this week's Red and Black challenge at SCD. I already knew the kind of card I wanted to create and had found a suitable image - it was just a case of putting it all together and hoping it turned out okay ..... and here it is .......

For the background, which you actually don't see much of in the finished ATC, I used some black velvety card cut from a cologne box that my son had finished with and asked if I wanted (the family are so well-trained nowadays - don't throw anything away till they've checked with me first! *LOL*). I then attached a luxuriously soft red feather and added the image of the young lady, at the same time wrapping part of her body with some lacy red fabric. I also added a lacy flower, button filled with silver stickles and a red heart, plus a black gauzy flower with a red gem centre and another red gem in the top right corner. Stuck the word "pose" across her back and added more silver stickles around the edges and under the flower.

Hope you like it!

Birthday Thanks

2010-08-25T01:24:00.000+01:00

It was my birthday today (well, actually, as it's now well-past midnight, strictly speaking it was yesterday) and I took the train over to Manchester for a girls day out with Lindsay - we had a lovely time together - Starbucks for coffee and toasted fruit bread (delicious!), a lot of (window) shopping with a bit of actual shopping thrown in (I picked up a couple of blank books, including one with Indian handmade paper from recycled cotton rags, for some future art journalling) and a yummy lunch (chilli king prawns for starters and meatball spaghetti) at Bella Italia in the Arndale Centre. The day began very, very wet and windy - in fact, it was really horrible - but by the time we finished our lunch, the sun had come out and the skies had turned blue. By the time I got home in the evening, I was feeling pretty tired (and I know my feet certainly were!), so I've just chilled out all night with my feet up, a sip or two of wine and a few chocs.

And I have to say a big thank you to everyone who sent me a birthday card - Gez, Hazel, Chris and Joanne and Terry (with a beautiful bouquet of freesias and carnations too) - I don't know who the naughty little birdie was who told you all it was my birthday *LOL* ! Once again, thanks everyone for making today (yesterday) such a special day!

Now I really should switch off the computer and go to bed or I'll be too tired to get up in the morning!

"Memories" Torso ATC for SCD Challenge

2010-08-17T16:36:00.000+01:00

The theme for this week's torso ATC for the SCD Challenge is "Memories". I struggled a bit at first with this one as I had an idea in my head what I wanted it to be about, then when I began, nothing seemed to work - it was all a bit of a hotch-potch and I wasn't very happy with it. However, I played around a bit more with the card until now I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. My torso is a remembrance of all the wonderful and different cats that my family and I have had the honour of sharing our lives with over the years.

The background was some Crafty Individuals paper, inked and edged with a gold Krylon pen. The stamped cat heads are from a Hampton Art Stamp - Kitty Tiles 4578 - coloured with Promarkers and pencils, edged with gold. I used rub-on words on the background, plus other word stickers, covered with Glossy Accents and Beadazzles. I love the little "heart with wings" charm which I inked with Butterscotch alcohol ink as it was originally silver. I finished by wrapping some wool fibres around the "cherish" sticker - rather appropriate as cats love playing with wool.

Hope you like it. I'm really enjoying the challenge of creating cards with this torso shape, to the extent that I've made one of my "Seaside" swap cards with a torso and plan on making another one. Looking forward on Friday to seeing what the subject of next week's torso will be and to swapping all of them out at the end of the month.

"Out of Africa" ATC Photos

2010-08-15T22:34:00.000+01:00

Now that everyone has received their cards from this swap, I thought I'd post pics of them all (yes, I remembered to take photos this time!) so you can all enjoy seeing them.

Ali Brandist

Chris Bedford

Gez Butterworth

Joanne Parkin

LuAnne Boyce

Sheila King

Mine

As you can see, lots of wonderful-looking cards and it was interesting to see all the different interpretations of them.

(For anyone who wants to, there's still time to make and send cards for this month's "Seaside" themed ATC swap - they're not due to me until 31st August - and I can promise you, I've received some very gorgeous cards for this swap already)!

Finally -

A Bit of an Update: The teenager who attacked Graham was in court again last Monday and we've now been informed that he will be appearing before the Youth Court (he's only 16) on 31st August for his case to be dealt with. Graham does not have to attend (unless he wants to - he doesn't) so it looks like the "little darling" has decided to plead guilty after all. I'll post again about this when we hear what the outcome is, but as he's only 16 years of age he's not likely to get as heavy a sentence as if he'd been an adult.

SCD Challenge - A "Bling" Torso ATC

2010-08-10T16:26:00.000+01:00

I decided to join in the challenge over at Something Completely Different (link in sidebar) - it looked so much fun, I couldn't resist having a go. The challenge theme for August is "Torsos" - we have to create and decorate a torso-shaped ATC, this week it has to have "bling", so this is what I made:-

I drew my own torso-shape to fit an ATC then covered it with paper from Crafty Individuals' "Travels in Italy" book. I stamped the female image in Staz-On Vibrant Violet and the "Goddess" word in D.I. Dusty Concord (both stamps from Invoke Arts). I edged the torso with more Dusty Concord and a Gold Krylon pen. I stamped another script flower (a freebie from Craft Stamper mag) in the top right corner, using Brilliance Cosmic Copper ink, brushed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls.

I stamped sript in black ink over two paper flowers, then attached them with a gemstone brad, then rubbed a bit of Rock Candy Distress Stickles over them. I added a feather, a bit of glitzy rik-rak, dictionary words, a small heart gem and finished off with more Stickles in gold and lavender, sprinkled with Beadazzles.

What do you think? It's quite sparkly in "real life" so I hope it's 'blingy' enough for the swap at the end of the month. I really enjoyed making this so will be looking out for next week's challenge - this is the first time I've joined in an SCD challenge (or any online challenge actually), but I don't think it will be the last!

Oh - and before I go - I thought I'd just mention that Lindsay has created another blog where she - and you - can let off steam and have a good rant (with a little bit of humour thrown in as well) about anything that's "got you going" recently!

GRUNGE CHUNKY BOOK PLACE NOW FILLED !

2010-08-05T02:08:00.000+01:00

Wow, that was quick! No sooner had I posted that there was a place available for the Grunge Chunky Book swap than I was emailed by two people wanting to take part. So congrats to Hilda for being the first person to get in touch and sorry to Elaine for missing out by 10 minutes - hope you're not too disappointed, but would love to have you join in any future challenges I post.

For all those of you in the Grunge Swap - please make a note that the new deadline for this is now 7TH SEPTEMBER, which I'm sure will be appreciated by those still working on their pages !

CALL OUT - ONE MORE PERSON NEEDED FOR MY "GRUNGE" CHUNKY BOOK SWAP

2010-08-04T22:50:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, one of the ladies who originally signed up for the "Grunge" chunky book swap has just let me know that she is unable to participate due to unexpected personal issues. I know this is very short notice now as the pages are due back to me on 31st August, but is there anyone out there who fancies the challenge of making nine pages (each with a particular theme) for this swap? I promise you will be in for a treat with the finished book you receive back, judging by the pages I've received so far. If it makes it any easier, I can extend the deadline by an extra week, but must restrict it to people in the UK due to the time factor.

For those already in this swap, I'm sorry for this bit of disappointment - if I can't find another person to participate, you will each be receiving one set of two pages created by the same person (if that makes sense?). Here's pics of my latest pages, which might inspire someone to have a go:-

"Take Flight"

"The Timekeeper"

So - if anyone wants to take part, please email me ASAP - it will be a case of first come, first served - and I will send you full details of the page size, themes, etc. You will find brief details in the sidebar on the right, but please ask, if you have any more questions.

Now - have I tempted anyone?

Quick Update

2010-08-02T16:32:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update to say that I took Graham to the doctor's this morning and he was given a thorough checking over - relieved to say no cracked ribs, "just" severe bruising all down that side over his ribs, which is causing a lot of the pain, so has been given some anti-inflammatories (I think that's right!) to help with this. Apart from that, nothing more serious lurking that we hadn't spotted. He also had a call from the victim support people today to check how he is. We won't know what happened at court this morning (only the initial appearance) for a few days unless Graham rings them up later on to find out about it. He's still shaky but at least today he's managed to walk down to the shop again and back - he suddenly decided that he need to do that now, the longer he left it the more likely he'd be to not want to go out again. So that was a good sign.

"OH I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE" ATC Swap for August

2010-08-01T16:34:00.000+01:00

Okay, after all the excitement of the last couple of days, time to concentrate on the new ATC swap for this month. As we are now into the month of August and the summer holidays are in full swing, I thought it would be fun to create some cards with the theme of the "Seaside", one of my favourites and I hope will appeal to you too - you can create with any technique and in any style you like - I rather like adding those vintage bathing beauties to my cards and "here's one I made earlier" *LOL* .........

Funnily enough, after I had decided that this was going to be the theme for August, I received an email from Crafty Individuals with all their newly-released products and would you believe, they've brought out one of those wonderful little 6" x 6" books of decorative papers with the theme of The Seaside, plus a new plate of rubber stamps with a seaside theme (including the phrase "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside"), so I think it was meant to be, don't you? Go check these products out by clicking on the Crafty Individuals link and don't blame me if you're tempted to go shopping! :o)

Looking forward to seeing what you all create. Full details of how to join the swap are in the sidebar to the right. Oh - and a quick update on last month's swap, Out of Africa - I'm just waiting on one set of cards to reach me, the post office has been slow delivering them and hopefully they should be with me tomorrow and then I can swap them all out in the next day or so.

Update on Yesterday

2010-08-01T16:03:00.000+01:00

Thank you, everyone, for your supportive and concerned comments about what happened to Graham yesterday. Today, he's feeling the aches and bruising a bit more, but there don't appear to be any deeper serious physical problems and, yes, I have tried my very best to persuade him to go to the hospital or the walk-in centre even, but he's a stubborn old so-and-so and has a big fear of hospitals, so has refused point-blank ..... short of giving him a knock-out punch myself, there's no way I can get him there! Just monitoring and keeping a watchful eye, but it's emotionally that it's hitting him now, the shock has set in, he's feeling shaky and not wanting to step outside the house right now ...... can you believe he actually said HE felt ashamed because he couldn't defend himself!!!! Put him straight rightaway about that! It's just going to take time to recover.

We had another call from the police today, the photos they took yesterday weren't professional enough for the courts, so someone from CID is coming along in the next few hours to take fresh ones (photographer has just turned up now as I type). Apparently, the lovely little thug who threw the punch is appearing in court in the morning, being charged with "actual bodily harm" - he's sort of admitting it, but was trying to say that it was self-defence because Chad had a stick and that Graham approached them first! Can you believe it? But there are too many witnesses corroborating the truth and that that is just a pack of lies. So let's hope he gets put away somewhere for as long as can be. Will keep you updated!

Generally, where we live is fine, it's not a rough area, the neighbours all get along, and there's not usually any serious trouble - it's just every now and again, you get these troublemakers turning up - these weren't from round here, just happened to know someone who lives nearby unfortunately. I hope they get all they deserve!

Right ...... well, enough of all this nastiness ...... time for something a lot more pleasant. Today is the first of the month, so it's time for a new ATC swap ...... will go and post up details now.

A horrible thing happened today ........

2010-08-01T00:00:00.000+01:00

....... My husband was attacked. He and a friend had just spent a pleasant couple of hours down at the Mere, doing a spot of bird-watching (the feathered variety), and on the way home stopped off at our local corner shop. The friend stayed in the car whilst Graham went into the shop ....... meanwhile, three teenagers were gathered nearby, hurling abuse at everyone who passed by, making threats to "cut or knife" someone, etc, etc, obviously out of their heads on something (this was at 4.30pm in the afternoon!). As Graham came out of the shop, they started shouting abusive remarks at him - the next thing, they came over and started to attack him - the most vicious of them gave him a hard punch to the side of his head and floored him to the ground (luckily he didn't bang his head on the kerb) and he lost consciousness for several moments.

Luckily, our friend Chad saw what was happening and leapt out of the car to help, carrying a walking stick he keeps in his car for hill walking, and waving it around to ward them off (he didn't use it on them at all as a weapon) - I think he did elbow one in the face who was coming at him though - these cowardly thugs then started to try and provoke him to "come and have a go", but were backing off at the same time. The assistant behind the counter in the shop saw what was happening and called the police, then returned Graham's glasses to him which had been knocked off in the attack (fortunately they weren't broken); several other people including the shop owner witnessed the whole incident. Chad meanwhile managed to get Graham back into the car and drove him home.

You can imagine what a fit I had when I heard what had happened and saw the state he was in ...... Graham is not able to walk any distance at the best of times, he has a lot of constant pain in his back, hip and leg, and is not very steady, has to take things slowly, so stood no chance against these yobs ...... his elbow was all bloodied and scraped open, also his knee, with scratches across his right temple, and the worst of it being a lot of bruising developing over his left ear where he had been punched ..... despite all our best efforts, he refused to go up to A&E to be checked over (concussion, etc) so I've had to keep an eye on him all evening to see he is okay ....... the pain is subsiding a bit, but his arm and shoulder are starting to stiffen up with the soreness, so I imagine he may feel very tender by tomorrow. He's also feeling pretty shook up emotionally, of course, and realising he can't hold his own the same nowadays as he might have been able to do in his younger days.

Two policewomen visited shortly afterwards to check how Graham was and to say that they had two of the attackers in their van and were taking them into custody. They would be back later to get a statement from Graham and photos of all his injuries, which they did. It was about 9pm by the time everything was done. At the moment it looks like the main offender is going to admit to it all (at one point they were trying to plead it was self-defence because Chad had a "bat"!!!! - a complete and total lie!) but if he changes his mind Graham will be asked to attend court if necessary.

So ....... not a very pleasant way to spend an evening, but it could have been so much worse - if Chad hadn't been there, I'm certain they would have all laid into Graham and kicked his head in whilst he was on the ground and that would have been that, one kick would've been enough before anyone in the shop could have got there to help - how many times have we heard about these kinds of incidents in recent years and how often innocent people have lost their lives because of these teenage gangs? It's such a terrible thing to happen and a big knock to one's security and confidence. I just hope Graham recovers his sooner rather than later. But it makes you worry about going outside, wondering if you're going to meet up with them again or other violent teenagers.

Let us hope that these yobs get their just desserts and the maximum punishment they can be given for what they did - too often they get away with it, but enough is enough! It just makes me so mad!!!

An Altered Book Page

2010-07-29T23:21:00.001+01:00

I've been catching up a bit with some of my art projects this week, didn't get a lot done last week due to feeling under the weather, but am slowly getting back into the swing of things. I'm participating in a round robin for an altered book, it's the first one I've done and I'm loving it - trying out new techniques and ideas for altering pages, it really is fun, so I thought I'd share what I did for the latest technique.

We had to colour some pages in the book we were working on, two colours that worked together, then fold them in a certain way and stick them down to create four diagonal pockets. The pages were then decorated with any extra additions we wanted, stamping, glitter, paints, charms, etc. After that we had to create four ATCs that worked together as a set and complemented the background pages, to slip inside each pocket. There was a fair amount of work involved in this month's instructions but I absolutely loved doing it.

I created an extra ATC using another of these beautiful female images, which have been digitally created by Julia van der Werf. Click here if you want to take a look at some of her work, which is available to purchase and download from Etsy (I am very tempted)! (I received this sheet of gorgeous ladies as part of the blog giveaway I won a few months back).

I have just one set of "Africa" cards on their way to me as I type, then they'll all be swapped out and posted on to their new owners after the weekend - everyone has created beautiful work and I must try and remember to take some photos this time before sending them out. (Check out my blog on Sunday when the new swap for August will be posted).

See what the little madam's been up to this time!

2010-07-24T00:39:00.000+01:00

I thought you might be amused to see what Mia's latest addiction is ...... she has developed a taste now, not only for paper balls, but for balls of wool as well. I've had to hide away as much as I can but the little madam has still managed to ferret some out through a small gap under the lid of a plastic box I was storing it in! I was wondering at how quiet Mia was when I walked into our bedroom and there on the floor was the tangled remains of what had once been a beautiful skein of sock yarn.

Oh, and the tape measure is another of Mia's favourite toys - it WAS mine until she sneaked it off me one day and now it's hers and spends its days being dragged up and down the stairs and brought to our feet whenever she particularly wants us to play with her!

The Sky at Night

2010-07-21T23:57:00.000+01:00

Thanks for the "get well" wishes - still not feeling 100% yet but getting there. Weather today hasn't helped much either, after a couple of days of torrential rain we had sunshine all day long, but it's been very close and clammy too, and then this evening the rain came back, along with a brilliant orange sunset and stormy black clouds. Even a rather splendid rainbow, with the "bow" arching right across the sky outside our house - I grabbed my camera and tried to take a couple of pics, but they don't really do it justice, but it's so rare we see a rainbow these days, it was worth a shot!

If you look carefully above the rooftops in the centre of this photo, you can just make out the top of the Blackpool

Tower - during the Illuminations we can watch all the lights flashing up and down it, from our bedroom window.

Apparently, I may lose my blog background on Friday, unless I connect with the "Cutest Blog on the Block" site (my background provider) and select a new one (something to do with them becoming hugely successful - it is a great site I have to say - and having to make "technical"(?) changes). Unfortunately, I've just tried linking to them and it ain't having it, keeps coming up with a database error (maybe the site's crashed if everybody's trying to update their backgrounds!), so I'll have to keep trying again tomorrow ..... if not, come Friday, my blog may look very bare ..... :o(

Rangers Techniques Workshop

2010-07-20T23:27:00.000+01:00

Sorry I haven't posted sooner, but I've not been near the computer for a few days as I came down with a really nasty cold, started last week with a sore throat. Still, I felt okay to go over to Dawn Bibby's Studio at Oswaldtwistle for Lindsay's Rangers Techniques workshop on Saturday. The aim was to create a number of ATC-sized cards, each demonstrating a particular Rangers technique using inks, paints, beeswax, stamps, etc, which we could then use as a reference when creating backgrounds and cards in the future. Lindsay also provided a list detailing each technique as well, so that we wouldn't forget what we did! Very useful too, because I know I for one am hopeless at remembering what I did in a class once I get home!

Here are some photos I took during the afternoon, showing us all hard at work (and having a bit of fun too), along with some of the cards I produced by the end of the afternoon. As per usual, ending up with very messy, ink-stained fingers!

Joanne, Gez & Sheila all hard at work

Just look at the concentration on their faces!

This sample was created with a Big 'n Juicy Stamp Pad (love the bird/cage stamp)!

Here are some of the card samples I created

It was a lovely day and good to meet up with Joanne and Sheila again (they both brought along their "grunge" chunky book pages too, for the swap I'm running, and we all drooled over those ...... the pages are gorgeous, there's no other word to use)! Lovely to meet Gez for the first time too (and thank you for the beautiful oriental ATC, an unexpected surprise).

Unfortunately, within a couple of hours of arriving home again, I started to feel much worse and the cold really took a good hold - I was sick during the night and even spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon falling asleep on the bed (something I would never normally do in the daytime)! I'm only now just starting to feel a bit better and I wish it'd hurry up and vanish altogether - I HATE COLDS!!!! Lindsay wasn't so well either Saturday night (a stomach bug, not a cold) so couldn't make her demo on Sunday - what a pair we are!

There's still time to join the "African" atc swap if you want, the deadline isn't for another 10 days, and the next swap will be posted on 1st August.

Some Free Vintage Imagery

2010-07-08T23:24:00.000+01:00

Sorry I've not posted all week, my mind's been a bit preoccupied as I was due to go for an MRI scan on my neck today and I've not been looking forward to it at all - for one thing, I get quite claustrophobic in confined spaces and I was worried about being inside the "tunnel", also thought I might start coughing or something and mess the scan up. Lindsay's been telling me not to be such a coward about it as she had to have one a year or so back, when she got an ear infection, and said that it was an interesting "experience"! Well, anyway, I have to admit, the scan wasn't as scary as I thought it would be and took place, not in the local hospital, but in the brand-new all-singing, all-dancing health centre not far from where we live - first time I'd been inside and it was pretty impressive, I think they must have a department for every kind of health problem there is, both physically and mentally!

Anyway, the scan .... I got over the claustrophobia bit by closing my eyes and drifting off into a dream-like trance, quite relaxing in a strange sort of way. The reason for the scan is that I've got reduced strength & grip in my left thumb and forefinger, it's been getting worse for the past year, and I finally insisted the local GPs refer me to the specialist - the consultant isn't sure why I'm having this problem (it's not carpal tunnel syndrome or RSI, which I thought it possibly could be) so he ordered the neck scan in case that was where the problem lies plus I have to go for some nerve conduction (?) tests on my arm - still waiting for appointments for that - then I see the consultant again in October (yes, I know, seems a long way off) .... so it's all a bit of a mystery really, I hope the cause can be found so that at least, if there's no treatment, I'll know what it is.

Right, that's enough of me and my problems!!! I thought today I'd put up some vintage pics of family groups from my collection of old cabinet cards - please feel free to download them onto your computer (click on each pic to enlarge it, then right click to save it) and use them in your artwork - would love to see pictures of any art you create using them!

Mia has been growing increasingly bold these past few days and has decided she wants to climb everywhere - she was eyeing up a tree in our garden yesterday and then was clambering about all over the car roof. And for some reason, has now decided that the worktops in the kitchen (it's a long galley kitchen so there's a good length of worktop) is a great place to wander around and explore. Mia jumped off the first time I told her to get down, but then waited till I'd turned my back to jump back up again, the little minx, and I think we're fighting a losing battle keeping her off there all the time. Only this evening I heard a clatter, went into the kitchen, and there was Mia sitting on the worktop, a picture of innocence, and on the floor the sugar bowl (stainless steel so didn't break) surrounded by a pile of sugar! Whatever next!

Mia loves dashing into my "craft/computer room" any chance she can - as she's addicted to having balls of paper thrown for her to fetch, she absolutely loves a good old root around amongst all the crafty bits and pieces - here's a picture of her in one of her latest favourite resting spots - on top of my "tower" where she can peek out at me or reach a paw up to grab me as I'm working!

(Mia isn't really as evil as she looks in this picture - she's just a very mischievous and determined young lady - but a real cutie)!!

And finally, please don't forget the "Africa" ATC Swap that's running this month - perhaps everyone's too busy with other projects or on their summer hols, but I'd love to have a few more sign ups for this one; if you're interested in joining, just let me know either by email (contact address in my "profile" section) or in a comment on my blog.

It's the First of the Month ....

2010-07-01T22:25:00.000+01:00

..... and time to post July's ATC swap. Just before the Football World Cup started in South Africa, they held a wonderful concert which I watched on TV. The music, the singing, the joy that everyone shared was so uplifting, it ended up with Mia and I dancing around the living room in the early hours of the morning - I know, I know, probably not a pretty sight, but we enjoyed ourselves! Anyway, this was the inspiration for the title of this month's swap theme - "OUT OF AFRICA" - and you may interpret it any way you wish (Africa is a BIG continent!) ...... you might want to feature Africa's wildlife or you may feel inspired by the vibrant colours and patterns of African art and sculpture, tribal costumes and beadwork, the colourful sights and sounds of a Moroccan bazaar or maybe look back into Ancient Egypt ...... you might even want to create cards to mark the ending of apartheid, Nelson Mandela and the fight for freedom. However you choose to use this theme, I hope lots of you will join the swap and feel inspired to create some really interesting cards. (Swap details, as usual, are listed in the sidebar).

A few items from my collection of stones, beads and beadwork with an African flavour

Today I've been swapping out the cards I received for the "Midsummer" ATC swap, beautiful cards they all were too, and these will be going out in the post tomorrow. Apart from that, I've not been able to spend a great deal of time doing any art or craft work the past few weeks, there's always been something else that's had to be done first, but hopefully that will change soon. I did manage to complete some cards for a Vintage Geisha ATC swap though, three for the swap itself and two extras for my own swapping stash. Here they are:-

I don't often create cards with an oriental theme so these were a bit of a challenge, but I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out. I used all sorts of bits and pieces to make them - origami papers, Stickles, Beadazzles, gold cord, metal charms, buttefly stickers, even cocktail sticks coloured gold with a Krylon pen!

A Secret Canvas

2010-06-21T00:41:00.000+01:00

If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of Lindsay's workshops then grab it ..... you'll really enjoy yourself, learn a variety of techniques and have a great time. Yesterday I joined Lindsay's workshop over at Topaz Crafts/Dawn Bibby Studio in Oswaldtwistle to make a "Secret Canvas Shrine".

Doesn't everyone look very serious here? I think everyone was just concentrating really intently on what Lindsay had to say about the canvas, because I can assure you we all had a lot of fun and there was a huge amount of laughter all afternoon! It was lovely to at last meet up with Sheila (in the foreground), who does some beautiful creative work and gave me her "fairy themed" ATCs for my Midsummer swap - look forward to meeting up with you again, Sheila, at Lindsay's Ranger Techniques class in July! Behind Sheila you may spot Amy Shaw (Dawn Bibby's niece and a regular craft presenter now on QVC), another lovely and friendly lady with a great sense of humour!

Here are photos of Lindsay's sample "secret canvas" to show what we had to aspire to!

The front of the canvas - I love the look of this and those beautiful blue colours are gorgeous!

The back of the canvas contains a variety of ephemera (including an altered matchbox), to reveal a secret tale or mystery

This is the first stage of making my canvas, using acrylic washes and tissue paper

Next, I dabbed on gold acrylic and created a word from grungeboard letters, painted with distress crackle paint

Here is as far as I've gone with my secret canvas - beeswaxed images, stamping, embellishments

We were all having such a good time that the workshop ran over - I still have to complete the back of the canvas as I need to decide what images and words I want to add to it, plus I'll be adding flowers, maybe other things, to the front as well, but I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out so far - and I'm getting more comfortable using the Meltpot and beeswax now too. I'll post pics of the finished canvas when it's done.

Still time .....

2010-06-15T01:06:00.000+01:00

..... to join in this month's "Midsummer Dream" ATC swap (see details in sidebar) ..... just three cards, to be with me by the last day of June. Received the first set of cards in for this swap today and they're looking good (thanks Joanne), but could do with a few more participants (if anyone fancies having a go).

Meanwhile, here's a photo of an ATC I made this week, no particular theme, I just pulled out the image when I was trawling through my stash, matched it up with the background paper and took it from there .... it's now part of my ATC trade collection.

Finally, if you're near a TV (in the UK that is) from midnight Tuesday through Wednesday, tune in to the QVC channel - Lindsay will be on several of the crafting shows throughout the day, demonstrating stamping techniques and tips amongst other things (will just have to wait and see). Good luck, Lindsay, hope it all goes well for you!

This weekend I have been making .......

2010-06-07T23:24:00.000+01:00

Goddesses for an ATC swap. The group this swap is part of will be closing at the end of the month, but the moderator, Ali Brandist, has started up a new UK group for all those of us who enjoy creating ATCs (and other art projects - inchies, tags, matchboxes, etc) with a vintage or "grunge" style - I'm sure it will be very popular and I'll be joining in a few swaps there myself, soon as I catch up on all my current projects! I tried to work out how to add a link to Ali's new group, plus a couple of other online art groups that I'm a member of, but I think I was doing something wrong ...... but I'll figure it eventually! Meanwhile, the name of Ali's group is Vintage ATC UK if any of you fancy checking it out. See - I can link up in my post but not in the sidebar - yet! Ali is a brilliant hostess and has a wonderful imagination for some great swap themes so I can highly recommend being part of her new group!

So, anyway, here are the Goddess cards that I've created over the weekend - it was a lucky dip swap, we each chose six goddesses to create from a huge list of names so everyone will be getting totally different goddesses back when the cards are swapped out.

"The Feral Goddess of the Volcano"

(also known as Hecate, Artemis or Kali)

"Nekhbet - Egyptian Goddess of Wild Birds and Heaven, Protector of the King"

"The Norns - Norse Goddesses of Fate & Destiny

(also known as the 3 Fates & Maiden/Mother/Crone"

"Atla - Norse Goddess of Water"

"Candika - Goddess of Desire & Fertility"

"Aine - Celtic Irish Goddess of Love,

Sun & Sky, Midsummer, Wealth & Sovereignty"

Don't forget I'm running a 3-card ATC swap throughout June (A Misummer Night's Dream) if you want to join in - details are in the sidebar.

"A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM" - New ATC Swap

2010-06-01T15:08:00.000+01:00

Here it is ...... this month's ATC swap. As we are now into June and the longest day of the year will be approaching in a few weeks' time, I thought that this would be an appropriate summery theme and it should give you all plenty of room for interpretation ...... William Shakespeare's play perhaps, a dream that you've had, something fairylike and fanciful, even humorous or whimsical. However you choose to create your cards, I hope you enjoy the process of making your little pieces of art ..... it's wonderful to see just how diverse everyone's ideas are.

Details of the swap and how to sign up are listed in the sidebar, along with a card I made inspired by this theme (The Day Dreamer).

I wonder what mischief Mia is dreaming up right now?

The Birds have flown .......

2010-05-31T22:59:00.000+01:00

..... or at least, they will have tomorrow - the "bird" atcs in my blog swap, that is! That's what I've been spending part of this Bank Holiday Monday doing, sorting out everyone's cards and packaging them up ready for posting. It's surprising just how long it takes to do this and the number of times I check to make sure I've not sent anyone their own card back! There were quite a few taking part in this month's swap, but sorry to say, I didn't get round to photographing them all this time ...... but here are pics of some that I made for this theme.

Tomorrow I'll be posting the theme for June's ATC swap, so check back then if you're interested in joining in.

At the Windmill

2010-05-25T16:22:00.001+01:00

Popped over to the Windmill Craft Centre in Thornton on Sunday to meet up with Lindsay as she was over there, demonstrating several techniques using distress inks, alcohol inks and stamping.

Lindsay did very well to keep going all day, considering she only had a small, too high area to work in and had to stand the whole time ..... as you can see from the pics.

Can you spot poor old Terry ("Pot Arm"), Joanne's husband - he broke his wrist recently whilst they were away on holiday. By the way, "pot arm" is what Joanne is calling him now, not me being rude!

Thought you might like to see a photo of the old windmill (Marsh Mill) where the craft centre and other shops are located. I think the mill was orginally built in 1702; it's now used for exhibition displays, craft fairs and workshops, which are held in a room at the top of the Mill.

I've received most of the "birds" now for the ATC swap and will be swapping them out after the weekend - check my blog on 1st June as I'll be posting the next new monthly swap then.

Tangerine Dreams .... do come true!!!

2010-05-22T23:23:00.000+01:00

Okay, I admit it, I'm "out of the closet" now - I'm a football fan! I'm really looking forward to the World Cup next month (much to the disgust of the men in my house, who both have no interest in the game) - I remember seeing England win the Cup back in 1966 (oh dear, doesn't that date me)?!? When I was in my teens, I was a huge fan of Blackpool Football Club (we were in what was then the first division), my friends and I would travel to lots of the away matches too - mum and dad were big fans as well (only Lindsay who wasn't - and still isn't - a fan).

At the beginning of this season Blackpool were on the cards to be relegated but today they've confounded all the critics by going down to Wembley (with their tangerine army in tow - Blackpool's colour) and beating Cardiff City 3-2 in a fantastic play-off final to take them into the Premier League of English football next season ..... I watched the match on TV at home, a nerve-wracking but exciting experience, which brought back many memories of the times I stood on the terraces at Bloomfield Road, cheering Blackpool on.

WELL DONE, BLACKPOOL!!! .... it'll be great to see you playing against the "big boys" next season!

Temperatures have soared the last couple of days, even with windows and doors open it's been hot and sticky, so not much crafting going on - just bits here and there. I have managed to complete another couple of pages for my chunky book swap though, so here's a look-see ......

"I Dreamed a Dream"

(I added one of my dragonflies to this page and took it with me as a sample for the "make and take" table I ran at the residential weekend)

"With a Little Flourish"

(I've added a few little adhesive pearls to the large flourish and side of the frame since I took this photo)

Well, I'm popping over to the Windmill Craft Centre in nearby Thornton tomorrow, as Lindsay will be there most of the day demonstrating a variety of products, including distress inks, stickles and stamps - I always like to see her demo if I can, as I learn new techniques and tips (not that I remember them all once I get home again)! Hopefully we'll get the chance to grab a spot of lunch too.

April Fool Photos

2010-05-16T16:04:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd post pics of the April Fool ATCs which I received for last month's swap. It was only a small swap but there were still plenty of different ideas of interpreting the theme. Hope everyone enjoyed the cards they received back.

Joanne Parkin's

Louise Baxter's

Sheila King's

Mine

This month's swap "A Little Birdie Told Me" has attracted more interest - birds are proving a very popular subject this year - the closing date for this swap is 31st May, but there's still time to join in for anyone who's interested; I've already received some great-looking cards so you don't want to miss out on the chance to own one of them!

Since last weekend's residential (is it a week ago already?), I've been thinking about getting down to do some bead designing again and have been browsing the internet, books and magazines for some inspirational ideas ...... one or two things have caught my eye and now I'm letting the ideas "percolate" in my brain for a few days to see what bubbles up to the surface. I'm thinking of new ways to combine my beads with the altered artwork, but it's too early to say any more just yet, have to see what I can come up with first!

Dawn Bibby's Residential Weekend

2010-05-12T12:58:00.003+01:00

Well, I'm just getting back to normal after Dawn Bibby's Residential Weekend .... I was pretty worn out when I arrived back home Sunday night after a whirlwind two days. I'd been invited at short notice to attend the weekend as one of the tutors for the "make and take" tables on the Sunday afternoon, plus (at even shorter notice) to help with demonstrating in the shop on the Sunday morning. So I arrived at Topaz Crafts on Saturday morning, not quite knowing what was in store for me, as it was all going to be a new experience.

I met lovely Rena (Dawn's sister) in the shop, checked the supplies for my "make and take", then her husband Stephen drove me over to the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Blackburn, where the residential was being held.

Everything was in full swing - Dawn was giving instructions out via a mike to the 70+ ladies who were attending the residential and each table of eight or so ladies had a helper with them to make sure everyone knew what they were doing (card and box making). I joined Lindsay helping on her table for the rest of the day, Dawn kept everyone working at a rapid pace, but I think everyone enjoyed having a go and came away with some lovely pieces.

In the evening we had dinner, Bingo and a DJ/music at the hotel and didn't leave until well after midnight ....... the food was delicious, the games were fun and everyone really let their hair down dancing the night away, as you can see from the photos .......

Dawn really let her hair down and was on the dance floor for most of the night - wish I had as much energy (and less inhibitions)!!!

Lindsay Mason (my sister) with Paula Pascual (they were both tutoring over the weekend)

Dawn Bibby, Stephen, Rena and Amy (Dawn's niece)

The next day we were all up early (well, some of us were! ... the rest overslept, they shall remain nameless *LOL*) and down at the shop ready to set up the demonstration tables and await all the ladies arriving in a relay of coaches from 9am onwards so that they could indulge in some retail therapy and watch the various demos that were going on - I was working with alcohol inks and glitter so you can imagine the state of my fingers by the time we finished at lunchtime and headed back to the hotel to set up our tables for the afternoon "make and take" sessions!

There was hardly a moment to think, time for a quick lunch and begin to set up my table and then the ladies all poured in, eager to have a go at all the different projects available to do on the "make and take" tables. Once again, it was a very busy few hours. The project I was doing was a Beaded Dragonfly from my book. Although not complicated, it was quite fiddly and we had a bit of a hiccup at the beginning when I realised the very tiny beads used in the project had too narrow a hole to allow the wire through (there can be a real variation in the hole size/shape of beads even if they are all listed as the same size), so I had to quickly swap them for a slightly larger bead and we started again .... after that, things went more smoothly and I hope that all the ladies who had a go at making dragonflies enjoyed themselves, they seemed to, and all planned to go home and create more of them.

Here are some pics of the dragonfly samples I had on display ......

The day ended at about 5.30pm and all that remained was to pack up, sit and relax with a drink for a short while, then catch my train home to Blackpool. All in all, it had been quite an experience for me (but a positive one) ...... it was all new to me but turned out not to be quite so scarey as I thought it might be. Big thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome and part of the "team" for the weekend!

Just to say .......

2010-05-07T16:18:00.000+01:00

I'm going to be away for the next two days at Dawn Bibby's residential weekend over in Oswaldtwistle. All packed and ready to go in the morning, back late Sunday night. Never been before, so it'll be all new and exciting for me ...... pics and "report" after the weekend!

I hope those who took part in the April Fools swap have received their cards by now, they were posted out Tuesday so hopefully they should all be reaching their destinations by this weekend. Will wait till next week to post photos of the cards that came in for this swap.

Don't forget this month's "bird" swap - there's still plenty of time to join in with this one, even if you're posting from outside the UK. I know there'll be some wonderful cards coming in for this swap, so you really don't want to miss out if this one takes your fancy!

So, whatever you're all planning to do with your weekends - enjoy! - and I'll catch up with you all again next week.

New Swap - "A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME"

2010-05-01T21:29:00.000+01:00

So here we are again, first of the month, and it's time to post a new ATC swap - sorry it's a bit late in the day, but a friend dropped by this afternoon and this is the first chance I've had to get on the computer.

For this month's swap, I thought I would choose one of my current favourite themes - birds. As in previous swaps, you will need to make three ATCs and as the title suggests, each card should have an image of a bird (or birds) on it plus an image of a person - you may create your cards in any style, medium or technique of your choosing. Here is a pic of an ATC I made some while back, which has an image of both a bird and a face on it - but this one has long been swapped out .....

Details about the swap are posted in the sidebar - hope a lot of you are inspired to have a go at this one ..... I welcome swappers both here in the UK and overseas, the more the merrier!

Thank you to those who joined in last month's April Fools swap - I've now swapped the cards out, they're packed up and ready to go, but I'll wait until Tuesday, after the Bank Holiday weekend, to post them out - hope everyone enjoys their returns.

Mirror Frame ...... finished!

2010-04-26T23:08:00.000+01:00

As promised, here is a photo of my completed mirror frame. After creating several embellishments for the frame, using a variety of techniques, at Lindsay's workshop, I was determined not to let it lie around half-done for several months. So I made a few more embellishments, using the acrylic fragments and the bottle top, plus added extras that I found in my stash (the "dream" key and sticker, a tree charm picked up at Aintree, an oriental dragon/coin charm and a brass disc with a palmistry hand on it - I found this at the bottom of one of my jewellery boxes).

As you can see, I've ended up with quite an eclectic mix of pieces, but many of them are quite meaningful - there's an image of Whitby Abbey in the bottle top (DH and I lived there for a year many, many moons ago and the view from our house looked straight across the harbour to the Abbey). I was born in a Water Dragon year, according to the Chinese "astrological" system, so it's appropriate to have one on my mirror. The buddha figure (created from a mould Lindsay had, using a mix of UTEE and Perfect Pearls) reminds me of one of our best, kindest and most generous friends, who is a buddhist. The palmistry disc represents the interest I've had in the past in learning about astrology and palm-reading. And of course, a cat had to feature somewhere on the frame didn't it .... considering that we are a family of cat-lovers and have shared our home with cats throughout our married life? *LOL*

The "madonna" embellishment was begun in Lindsay's class. We transferred a picture of our choice (mine was from one of the Crafty Individuals books) onto some adhesive-backed canvas - the image turned out quite pale so Lindsay suggested Glossy Accents may brighten it up a bit. I folded the canvas over some card, edged it with gold Krylon, and then used Crackle Glossy Accents over the top - I was quite pleased with the final effect once it dried as it has taken on a sort of "mosaic" finish in keeping with the Italian Renaissance image. I finished the frame off by rubbing some Gold Metallic Rub-On around the edges and between some of the individual pieces. It's now hanging up in the hallway of our house so I can see it every day.

A quick reminder now to say that the April Fools ATC swap is nearing its deadline, I have the cards in for this swap now so will be swapping out at the end of the week. There were only three players besides myself for this swap, but I'm sure everyone will be happy with the ATCs they receive back. Don't forget to check my blog again on 1st May, as it'll be time to post details of the new monthly swap then ...... I hope this one will appeal to more of you and that you'll consider joining in.

A Visit to Aintree

2010-04-25T23:54:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I went with a friend to the Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show at Aintree, Liverpool - it's not the biggest of shows, but I still picked up a few bargains (one stand was selling Tim Holtz distress inkpads, including all the new ones, for a very good price - so of course I couldn't resist - and I also spotted a reduced price pack of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Fragments, hard to come by at the moment so I just had to buy them)! There were several exhibitions at the Show and I remembered to take my camera this time, so I thought I'd share pics of some of the exhibitions with you ......

The Knitted Garden

"The Duchess" Collection

(costumes from the film)

A Day Dress worn by Keira Knightley

A Maternity Dress

(worn by Keira Knightley)

Costume worn by Ralph Fiennes

An Evening Dress (Keira Knightley's)

Dress worn by Charlotte Rampling

The costumes were absolutely exquisite and beautifully detailed, as you can see (in particular, the evening dress was breathtaking) - but the dresses were so small, tiny waists, and shorter than I imagined they'd be - these actresses must be so incredibly slim! I haven't seen this film yet, but I'll try to catch it when it comes to TV as it'll be interesting to see all the costumes actually being worn.

"In Celebration of Stitch"

There was also an exibition entitled "In Celebration of Stitch", which displayed pieces of handstitched work by Dr Isabel Elliott, who was the Mistress of Embroidery at Gloucester Cathedral. The amount of skill and detail in her work was wonderful to behold!

Dr Isabel Elliott

(don't you just love that wonderful whimsical gate)?

Neptune's Palace

A Seasonal Triptych

Button Box

Dinosaur Mad

I didn't manage to find any UTEE, let alone any Clear, at the Show, but undeterred, I have spent some time today finishing off the mirror frame that I began in Lindsay's workshop last week. I'm quite pleased with the result, just letting the Glossy Accents dry off properly overnight, and I'll show you a pic of it in my next post. Now I just need to find a suitable spot in the house to hang it.

My Little Helper ..... and another Grunge page done!

2010-04-20T23:27:00.000+01:00

I recently joined a round robin swap run by Ali Brandist, to create an altered book. It's the first real book that I've actually had a go at altering ..... we each had to choose an old book, not too big, and it had to be stitch-bound rather than glued. The first task was to pull out a lot of the pages (leaving about 30 double pages or so), to give enough room for adding embellishments later on. We then had instructions for completing the first two pages in our own book, along with giving it a title/theme. After a bit of pondering, mine is going to be "Flights of Imagination", which I hope will give everyone plenty of scope for creating their own style and ideas in my book.

Anyway, to begin with, I had to cover up some parts of the text with torn post-it notes, collage over the rest of the pages with scraps of different textured papers, then gesso over that. I then painted over the top of the gesso, once it had dried, using some lush coloured Paint Dabbers - Pink Sherbet, Raspberry, Wild Plum, Citrus and Pool - followed by a wash of Twinkling H2O's - I absolutely adore the finished effect and as you can see, my little helper was on hand to help with the painting!

I blended some of the acrylic paints together using a baby wipe and as you can see it ended up very colourful indeed - once dried, it can be turned into a background for an ATC or card (I'm all for recycling where I can and not wasting anything that might come in useful - one day)!

The next step was to add a couple of torn strips of paper, with inked edges, one on each page, then choose two or three stamps and stamp them randomly all over. (I chose a dragonfly, the word "imagine" and a swirly stamp).

Finally, I added an image to each page, plus a quote, all relating to the title I chose for my book (this quote is apparently one of Jane Austen's but it just seemed to fit perfectly for the theme of my book). A few embellishments .... and my pages are complete, just waiting to be posted out to the next person in the swap next week. We will receive more instructions from Ali after that about altering the pages in the next book we receive.

I definitely had a lot of fun making these pages - I wasn't worried about everything being perfect; I wanted everything to look a little messy and imperfect - a good lesson for me as I have a tendency to be 'picky' and want everything 'a particular way' ... so I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Then today, I got on a roll and made another Grunge page for my chunky book swap - this one is "It's Only Words" - I spritzed Mustard Seed, Broken China and Denim distress inks onto my craft sheet, then rubbed the mountboard page into the ink, front and back, then heatset it. I stamped a Tim Holtz alphabet stamp all over, using Versamark, then embossed with an aqua embossing powder. I also coloured some Stampbord with acrylic inks, then stamped over with the PaperArtsy 'writing hand' stamp and edged with Krylon gold pen. I glued this over an image of a man, which I had peeled from a rather torn and tatty carte de vue that I had. I glued a strip of text from an old book to some paper, painted it lightly with acrylic paints, gessoed, stamped, tore off bits, added more stamps, and stuck it along one side of the page. I rubbed in some Frayed Burlap distress ink around the edges, along with a border of gold Krylon ink. Other embellishments included pen nibs, a German scrap nib, a Rangers Muse Token and tag. (I may add a little something more yet before it's finally finished, not sure yet). But I'm happy to have more or less completed another page.

Now I was going to have another go with the Meltpot, but when I looked in my box of embossing powders I realised that I only had a very small amount of Clear UTEE left, not enough to have a proper go with (honest ..... it's not an excuse so I don't have to use the Meltpot! ... LOL!). However, I am going to the craft show at Aintree Liverpool on Saturday, so I shall keep an eye out in case there's any on sale there - if not, I'll have to check out the local craft shops next week. (I really do want to finish my mirror frame)!

Lindsay's Mirror Frame Workshop

2010-04-18T23:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had a lovely day out ...... caught the train early on a sunshiney morning and travelled over to Oswaldtwistle, where Lindsay was running the Rangers Mirror Frame workshop at the Dawn Bibby Studio.

I had a couple of hours to spare before the workshop began, so I had a wander round nearby Oswaldtwistle Mill (didn't buy anything), walked round the Mill's garden and pond and had some lunch.

........Looking across the Pond to Oswaldtwistle Mill

and the ducks and beautiful daffodils in bloom .........

There were about 10 of us in Lindsay's workshop and we spent three hours learning new techniques and ideas with the aim of creating a beautiful mirror frame. Several techniques involved using UTEE and a Meltpot, which I'd not dared use before, so I was really pleased to have a go with it and realise it wasn't quite so scary as I thought it might be! We also melted down some beeswax in the Meltpot pan for coating a "scrap" image which we added to one corner of our frames. We then scraped through the layer of beeswax to reveal a clearer image but with a translucent quality to it.

We began by painting a light colourwash (watered down acrylic paint) all over the wooden frame - I chose a purple colour, maybe a little darker than I'd intended it to be, but I did want a bright colour rather than my usual "vintage" choice!

Here is my frame with some of the pieces I made laid over it, nothing stuck down yet and I also want to create a few more items, using the techniques Lindsay showed us, before I assemble it all together (when I have the time!), but I think it will look lovely when it's completed.

Here are pictures of the two frame samples Lindsay had on display - aren't they beautiful? The first one has an aqua coloured background and the second has a more "vintage" feel to it. I like them both (of course)!

When I finally finish my frame, I'll post a photo of it then you can see how mine turned out too!

It was also very nice to meet up with Joanne and her husband, Terry, again (they popped in to say 'hello' as they were out that way) and to swap a couple of ATCs with Joanne as well.

Had a rather more noisy journey home though because at Blackburn our small train was boarded by a crowd of football supporters (standing room only all along the train) and some transport police to keep an eye on them. They were Everton fans returning from a match against Blackburn - they'd obviously been victorious as they were all in a very loud(but good humoured) mood, singing at the top of their voices (using rather ripe language I'm afraid), until they left the train at Preston for their connection home to Liverpool. But still - they didn't cause any trouble to anyone.

Butterfly ATCs - Pics

2010-04-14T23:50:00.000+01:00

By now I think everyone will have received their butterflies and dragonflies from last month's swap, so I thought it was time to post pics of them all for everyone to see the lovely cards that were sent in. Enjoy .....

Ali Brandist (Ali kindly sent an extra atc for me)

Joanne Parkin

June Benton

Lindsay Mason

Louise Baxter

Sandra Zengler

My Cards

I'm now looking forward to the cards coming in for this month's April Fools swap - still time to join in this one if you fancy having a go, deadline isn't till 30th April.

On Saturday I'm looking forward to going over to Oswaldtwistle (Dawn Bibby's Studio) to join a workshop being taken by my sister Lindsay - we're going to be creating a mirror frame (I know we're going to be using a melting pot at some stage for this one, so that's a new experience for me - would you believe I do have one, but I've not dared use it yet so it's just sitting gathering dust on a shelf)! Does anyone else know that feeling - you acquire a new crafting tool or buy some beautiful paper, and then daren't use them either because you're scared of messing up or you just don't want to use the paper because you'd rather just look at it!?! Anyway, must remember to take my camera with me then I can take some photos whilst I'm there. I'll be taking my ATC stash too, so I might be able to do a bit of one-to-one swapping.