Panic Over

I managed to go AWOL again last week - sorry. I'd planned to do my blog after I'd been to art journalling at Art from the Heart, however when I got home I discovered that my mum and daughter had taken one of my granddaughters, to hospital with stomach pains. My mum was worried it was her appendix and as she's only 3 we were all very concerned. After 6 hours in A&E the doctors finally diagnosed tonsillitis [! - I know but apparently if the glands in your neck don't come up then the ones in your groin will], they decided to keep her in overnight to monitor her [just as well when you have made a child snort diamorphine I guess] and she wasn't released util 4pm on monday and then spent that night thowing up. So hopefully you will understand why all thoughts of blogging abandoned me.

The only photo I seem to have downloaded since my last blog post is my 365 journal page for April - but I'm not sure it looks much different to the last one I posted. I am still filling in the diary dates but still haven't managed to combine the two.

In fact I haven't managed much craft wise at all in the last 2 weeks. I'd planned to do lots of sorting and crafting this long weekend, and while I did manage to sort my bedroom - in the process of finding clothes to take with me to the beadworkers guild workshops & agm in a couple of weeks [getting very excited] - I haven't done any craft sorting or playing.

Last sunday at art journalling I did two pages, one about being pessimistic [we had to pick a card from the emotion pack] and the other to go with an instruction we chose from some print outs [mine was what is the most embarrasing thing you have ever done] but I haven't yet taken any photos of them - note to self, must do better!

have a good week,

Sara x

Domestically Challenged

I've re-started my sorting out campaign this week [having no free weekends in March really put me back - and there was all the shopping I did, which made things worse - no I didn't think that was possible either].

I spent Friday evening, most of Saturday and a short while this morning in the closed attic [I have 2, the closed attic is home to my dolls house, material, thread and bead collections, not to mention stacks of yet more magazines - the open attic houses papers, inks, stamps, embellishments and alterable stuff, when it hasn't overflowed down the stairs and re-appeared in the kitchen] trying to sort out all the stacked lettuce trays [quite a useful, cheap way of sorting stuff - however if they are stacked more than 3 high I can't be bothered to move them to get to stuff so they'll have to go] and bags of random supplies so that I could try and organise what I have got. I am nowhere near finished but I have thrown out quite a lot of stuff [about 10 carrier bags full - which is also quite beneficial for my carrier bag collection !] Next weekend I'm supposed to be at a plant sale for Beeston in Bloom [gardening club of which I am a not terribly productive member]on the Saturday and on Sunday it's art journalling at Art from the Heart again. I'll have to try to get some more stuff done on an evening but I'm not good at that [I'm too lazy, all I want to do when I get home from work is veg in front of the TV].

I did take a break to plant up my hanging baskets and this is how gorgeous my magnolia tree is looking. I planted it about 25 years ago.

January

February

and March

I have been playing along with Kates 365 challenge this year [I have not linked any pages as I haven't worked out how to do that yet] and the pages above are January, February & March. I'm not really happy with the borders on February & March - they are too frilly but I was trying out the Claudine Helmuth border stamps.

This is April so far - as I'm a bit behind, I'm filling in the squares [almost daily!] on the page I printed them on and will cut them out and stick them on by the end of April [hopefully].

Sara x

And finally

I am up to date - Happy Mothers Day.

I have been playing with my altered book some more [you might wonder when I find the time to clean & tidy - the truth is I don't, the house is a tip !]

My queen pages - there are four pages but Marie Antoinette is on the back of her madge and you can just see Cleopatra peeking out from underneath her - using more Octopode digital collage images. I just love Lily's designs.

This features my favourite [non Queen] song, The Power of Love by Frankie goes to Hollywood. Love the richness of Dyans dylusion inks but it needs more doodling and a border.

And this page features my favourite poem, The Ballad of Semmerwater, featuring my new stampotique stamps, Smushasha, Smumauha, Smushallaum and their octopet [I probably spelt them wrongly even though I copied them down]. Again it could do with a border.

These are the mothers day cards I made yesterday using some of my new lavinia stamps [and quite a few older ones too].

I know you usually only make one card [especially as I haven't got a step-mum], but my daughter is my grandchildrens Mum and my Nan is my Mums Mum, so I made three.

I must go now - it's midday and I have to wash my hair [I need to get the blue ink off my fingers as I did the Semmerwater page this morning] and get ready to go to my Mums for lunch.

Sara x

27th March

Last weekend I went to the preview day at AFTH - and booked a class doing a Sir Tim configuration box, a book making weekend and all the art journalling sundays I could make [the one in June is on my birthday so I won't ba able to go to that one] - and on the sunday it was art journalling.

I am not happy with my page, which was based around the quote Dyan gave me to use - life is too short to chew on a stick of celery - so instead here are some more pages from my altered book [now I have worked out how to rotate photos - I am so technically challenged].

A torn spread of pages using characters from an Octopde digital collage sheet.

I'm not totally happy with this page, but I am proud of the poem I wrote. I don't usually write anything if I can get away with it, but was inspired to write this poem whilst watching the first episode of Professor Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe, I am awestruck by photographs of nebulae and star clusters and often buy the calendars featuring them.

And this page perfectly sums up my attitude to organised religion.





Sara x

20th March

My next mia weekend was spent at the Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza [GNPE] at the Yorkshire Showground. I booked morning workshops both days [I get a weekend pass because I am a member of Craftwork Cards - their factory and shop used to be on the industrial estate next to where I work - very convienient - but they have moved now and no longer have a visitable shop :(]. My first one was with Dyan and my second with Samuel Taylors [which wasn't my style really - much preferred getting my hands inky with Dyan].

I shopped till I dropped [if you're good at something I think you should get as much practice as possible - and I am very good at craft shopping, I like to think it makes up for being domestically challenged], and bought loads of the new octopode stamps, lavinia stamps, polka doodle stamps, some more Sir Tim stuff and various bits of bling, glitter and I can't remember what else - and I forgot to take any photos of my new stash - sorry.

This however is the canvas I made for my step brother to thank him for fixing my computer. I hope he likes it - he hasn't seen it yet and it might be a bit flowery to give a bloke. It is based on a class I did with Dyan [I don't really live in her studio - although I'd like to !!!] but it's not as good as the one I did then - I'm not sure what steps I have forgotten to do.

Sara x

13th March

Due to over booking myself I ended up in Harrogate every Saturday & Sunday in March, usually all day and had no time to blog - oops.

The first mia weekend I was at an altered book weekend with Dyan at Art from the Heart, although I double booked myself on the Friday night and Dyan had to start my book for me as I was taking my Mum to see Calendar Girls for Mothers Day [a little early I know].

It was a brilliant weekend and although I didn't manage to completely finish a page while I was there [not sure I have completely finished one yet as I keep going back to tweak them] I was totally inspired [Dyan has that effect] and have been obsessed with my altered book.

I have lots of ideas [mostly unworked out] which I jot down on post-it-notes and put on the page I think I want it to go on [and I change my mind regularly of course]

If I ever finish this book I will definately start another - although I think I need to do a little forward planning [actually a lot] so that there is a space to strap the book closed - I have so much stuff coming off the page on this one that no matter where I put a strap something will get damaged.

Sara x