Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Week 47 ...and counting.

Again ... like so many of you , I can not believe that it is WOYWW again so soon. I think the weeks appear to be getting even shorter as it takes me a good two days to get round everyone ...so I am thinking Wednesday when its actually Thursday ...or even Friday. I was so late today that I really was going to give it a miss ....but I couldn't.

I have not done very much crafting this week except my abortive attempts to paint glass ... I may have one more go before giving up ...thanks for the tips people have passed on.
I have done a lot of musing over the wk52 challenge ...and discarded many ideas. I also have had thoughts over the cover of my Zentangle Art Journal ... but I'm stil not sure what size and type of page I should work on ... but I'll get there in the end....there is no need to rush ...well I DO need to do the challenge before wk 52 lol.

Here is my desk ... covered in Gallery Glass bottles ... but not much else

Here is a snoop into another part of our humungus stash wardrobe...all 12ft of it.I have to point out that any tidyness is NOTHING to do with me ...DD and Vicki take the credit for that.

This is part of my mess ...still resigned to the floor.


My backpain comes and goes still but my knee has now come out in sympathy too ... if I take any more ibroprofen and paracetamol, I'll probably end up with an angry tummy or indigestion too ... wow that is so negative when I really have so little to worry about....I really do need to do some crafting and blopping to lift the spirits.

I shall have to start on the links this evening ....so bare with me

Take Care xx

Sunday, April 25, 2010

I know my Limits

I have to admit that am a very poor recycler but as the Douwe Egbert coffee jars I was washing up, are such a nice shape …and I have used them for storage …I pondered over what else could be done with them …and then it happened …. a flash of inspiration …TEA LIGHT HOLDERS ….for the garden. The thought progressed to painting them pretty colours … and then to glass paint … and then to Gallery Glass. Now GG is something that was a spur of the moment purchase many many years ago and it has never been used, but there on a shelf, carefully lined up by DD, stood the bottles …including the leading. The one thing that was not in sight were the instructions but I rarely let a little thing like that stand in the way of creativity….but I really should.

What I have discovered today is that …..

I really cannot paint glass….
I have no control over the pretend liquid leading (a bit like writing with icing)…
I really have NO patience …
I really should read instructions …
I really do not need another project and ….
The jars will work just as well … unpainted. lol.


Just thought I would share ...

Take Care xx

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Week 46…6 wks away from WOYWW’s 1st Birthday

My desk is sort of tidy and boring and there is nothing to nose around …in fact most of my bits have been moved on to the floor, as DD wants to create. Well she is actually having ‘mojo’ problems, so wants to be ready if inspiration strikes when she gets in from work.. …a thought has just struck me ….. should have snapped a shot of the floor lol …

I have been doodling …ie Zentangling … still not 100% sure which I do. Thought I would try white on black and have a play …DD lent me a pen she thought might work for me as I didn’t have the ones suggested by 'flutterbycrafter'... DD also lent me a silver and three pastels …I have warned her she may not get them back and even if she does, they wont have much ink left lol


Sorry for this poor photo …I took so many and they are all a little out of focus …maybe I had it on the wrong setting …I tend to keep it on ‘simple mode ‘ … great for us ‘complex settings’ challenged beings but someone may have changed it …not that I am pointing a finger at anyone lol

The 6x6 is mainly white with touches of silver …then I created a white and then a silver tag …not sure why it looks like tarnished silver in the photo but then, as I have said, its not a very good photo and finally I played with all three pastel pens, on an odd piece of card.

It was fun but I am not sure how much I like white on black or using black card with any of the pens …. next time its back to white card I think …and I have a germ of an idea for a Zentangle Art Journal so watch this space …. it might appear anytime.

Great challenge idea JD...hope everyone plays along …will have to put my thinking cap on …this might delay my Art Journal …these old and worn grey cells of mine fine it hard to concentrate on more than one thing.


Take Care xx

Monday, April 19, 2010

Phew ...I finished it ... at last

Well I have finished the LO I was working on last Wednesday .... and here it is.

I am quite pleased with it now … so I hope you like it too. I have put it on G the P with a few notes on the lady herself.

I have also been playing with Zentangling … white/silver/pastel on black and will show my efforts later on in the week…. think I like black on white, or colour, best though.

This next piece was part of a very long email I received from a friend … (I have sent it to a couple of you out there already)…but this struck home …. like a mallet ….so I thought I would share this part with all my Blog friends …no matter how young you are …this WILL eventually be how you feel lol


7 GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD

1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there..
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking c
hair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.




My back is really playing up at the moment and …I can feel the muscles tightening if I stand or walk about, for even a short time...…especially when I feel a little stressed...sitting is fine though …. Ho Hum … I really must loose some weight and stop feeling stressed.


Here is a photo I found on the net ....of the Shell garden...mentioned in the last post...I think it's maybe in the 50's or 60's, as the bus and some of the buildings are no longer there in this one.



Take care xx

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I am SURE its not Wednesday yet ... wk 45 and counting

I was going to give it a miss this week as I was busy to day ...but as soon as I was free I was drawn to the keyboard and here I am. I haven't done much this week but I have made a start on my FH LO ...the lady is my Great Aunt and I have recently ...through a family history blog ... made contact with her Grand son.
I got so far and was not happy ... so I walked away and had another look this morning. I think I like it now and shall continue with it. I am suffering withdrawal from not Zentangling so I think I need to do some ....soon ... and I think it is my mind wandering, towards my pens and paper, that is the problem with my LO ... lol

Went out with Vicki and her nephews the other day and had a wonderful day at the beach ....and it was actually hot enough for me to catch the sun.The significance of this photo is that this is part of a remaining wall of the Shell house. The owner, way back, around 1907 ...started to decorate his walls and garden with shells and pieces of broken china found on the beach. When my mum was a child in the early 1920's, there was even a bus covered in shells. People would stop and admire ...and even sit and rest in the garden ...as she and her father did when on the way home from the shops. I love walking past it, imagining mum as a child sitting in wonder, looking at all the shells and thought I would show Robbie and Kristopher ....shame so very little survives.

I will try to pop round to as many WOYWWers as possible, later ....please forgive me if I dont leave a comment on every ones blog this week.

Take Care xx

Friday, April 09, 2010

What a Surprise

The door bell rang ...I cursed as I was up stairs on the computer ... I speedily made my way towards the sound of the second, longer ring ... mumbling that it better be worth the effort and reminding my self, as I slipped on the stairs , that I really do need to discard these 'oh so comfy' slippers. I swung the door open ....ready to do battle with any unwanted caller ... only to find a pair of hands thrusting a large black box at me .... marked Interflora.
So why was I now the proud owner of this black box .... birthday? ... mothers day?... Easter? ...all past ....and more to the point who sent it? I clawed it open to discover this .........

I gave out a gasp of pleasure ... not often heard from me I must admit ....... but no clue from whence it came.
On the 4th investigation!!! .... I found I had looked straight past a card that was right in front of me .... these wonderful flowers were from DS Steve, Emma , Ben and Jake ... a 'Thank you' for some help I gave them ...they wanted me to know that they really appreciated it ... I was truly touched ....and I know that it was all your idea Emma .....so I send an extra big hug to you.
I love purple, yellow and green...a relgious yet regal feel .... here are another couple of shots, once I had them in a vase ....they are now high up ....out of cats way as a couple of mine are known to snack on flowers lol.The Irises' opened this morning ...aren't they beautiful set against the yellow roses



Another surprise was that
Cardarian was kind enough to give me 2 awards ....I was so chuffed with her kind words ... I shall be having a think as to who I shall pass them on to during the next couple of days and I will then put my awards on here ... I'm always slow at this passing on bit, so forgive me but I really am so so happy to have recieved them.

The third amazing thing that has happened is that my WOYWW post this week recieved the most comments I have ever had .... a staggereing 44.
Thankyou everyone who stopped and read my blog but an even bigger thankyou to those who found the time to comment. I do not have a counter so the only way I know that people pop in for a read, is when a comment is left ...time is precious to all you busy folk out there so I want you to know I really appreciate what you write and the fact that you have popped by at all.

Take Care xx

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

The weeks wizz by ...its wk44 already

I didn't manage as much crafting as I hoped this week but I did finish my Zentangle ...beware before you begin this art form .... it REALLY is addictive ...I want to start another but I am holding myself back....and it's hard ...very very hard lol
I started with white Bazzill card, which I coloured with Distress Inks for added interest, before I set to work on it with my black pens. I had a sort of theme in mind ...Nature . If you look closely you can see flowers and sugestions of wind and rain ...and growth ... but it is really just where my mind took my pen. I think I might frame it or start a Doodle album.

This is a close up of a favourite area ....I think it works well

I received a mini bird house this week from Jennie at The Artistic Stamper ....it is soooo cute ...I have started to muse as to how I am going to decorate it ....maybe a C*******s ornament ...note I didnt say the word ...far too early ...not sure what it will finally become. Thank you so much Jennie .

My desk is a little boring this week ... all I have done towards my vintage LO is hunt for papers that I feel might work and so that is all that is on show really as I had a little tidy ...well DD did as she wanted to scrap and I had covered everywhere in my bits.... didn't take me long to spread out again though lol. I takes me ages to do a LO.... the photos and papers, together, have to feel right to me especially when I'm doing a heritage one ...and only then do I work out what goes where etc. Such a lot of fuss for such a simple result but I have to feel happy about it all....one of my quirks.Sorry the photo is not very good ...the sun is streaming in ...just when you dont want it too lol

We had an Egg Hunt for Vicki's nephews on Sunday ...they loved it. DD had found some egg decorations ( going cheap lol) and hung them all over the garden ... when found, they were exchanged for the chocolate variety .... in all shapes and sizes.


Love the concentration

Well that's another week that has flown by .... cant believe it ...hope you all are getting over your overindulgence ... chocolate wise!! ... at the weekend.

See you all next WOYWW ...if not before
Take Care xx