Getting into shape!!!

Hi everyone, I am still around although don't seem to get to the computer much these days! 
We have had some personal things to deal with lately, nothing major, but had to be dealt with nonetheless!
I have also had to increase my activity levels as my blood sugar is beginning to creep up! 
We haven't been up to our caravan for a couple of weekends either as our weekends have been spoken for too! 
In between I have been busy preparing samples for February!

I have been taking part in Southerngals 15 minute a day challenge - Use it up - fill it up! Mainly used as a warm up exercise - and have been posting most days on Instagram - mostly via my phone while hubby is driving!!

Today I made a page which is also for Art Journal Journey where Alison is hosting with a brilliant theme - 'Geometric Shapes'

It's in my junk journal and I used a piece of inky paper along with some AALL and create stamps, a circle of magazine paper, a die cut umbel and some squares of my hand made tape(made by picking up paint from my plastic lid palette)I also added some spatter..because I like to!!!

Here are some that I could probably have added to AJJ too...

 ...and a couple I couldn't..

I will try to make more geometric style pages!
It is at least reducing my scrap pile and I am filling up some almost complete journals too!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T stands for talking, tidying,trips and Thanks....mainly!!

Hi everyone, here I am late for T again! I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth today for T stands for Tuesday but this week has been a week of talking, mainly on the phone but also with friends and neighbours. 
Today especially, as we attended the funeral of one of dear friends here, Ursula, with whom we played scrabble and as she was a crafter I have spent some happy times sharing crafty sessions too!
She was also our next-door neighbour so we saw quite a lot of each other! 
Ursula was one of the Kinder Transport children that arrived in England before the start of World War II and she occasionally talked of those times. She contributed to a film "Into the Arms Of Strangers" which won an Oscar in 2000 for best documentary.
She was part of a large family and will be missed by them and her friends here!

We have had/made quite a few phone calls recently too and some trips out for meals or coffee with friends too! Lots of talking!!!!

I have also made a massive attempt (it's ongoing forever think!!)
to throw out unwanted items - lots of books I have read and kept, lots of scraps of paper, grandchildren's toys, long outgrown!!
I do not want to buy more storage so a lot has to go!!!

We have had a few trips too - our shopping trip on Saturday began with a walk around the Winter garden at Dunham Massey.

If you are thinking it all looks a bit grey you'd be right! We have has grey day after grey day until today when the sun shone all day and the only time we were outside were in the car to the funeral and a walk down to the doctors!!

There was a patch of brightness though, as these have been leftover from the Christmas celebrations!!!  

In order to join in with T Stands for Tuesday I have gone back to another supermarket break in our shopping way back in October...

Hubby was lucky this day as he had cake and half a toasted teacake with butter!

Thank you to all of you who sent me such beautiful cards and e-cards for Christmas

 On the top row from left to right - Yvonne, Jo, Sarah, middle row Shaz, bottom row Joan, Avril and Eileen.

Last but absolutely not least is this Friendship tree tip in and the most beautiful quiltlet from Elizabeth - the photo does not do this justice - the sewing and the colours are just the most beautiful!
I have added the envelope from both Eileen and Elizabeth with the fabulous stamps too! 
Thank you!!!

Will be on my way to bed soon but will try to get my visits in tomorrow morning!

Thanks for looking, Chris

TIOT has something new!!!!

Happy New Year if you haven't already been here!

Our new theme at Try It on Tuesday is actually 'Something Old.. Something New'! 

Quite a few of us have had something new - some of us even have the same new thing!!! The Design Team's fantastic examples can be found here.

I know I am not the only one to have these fabulous new AALL and Create stamps by Bipasha. 

I so enjoyed using this stamp with the little birds on that I totally forgot to take any process photos!

I started with some black paint spatters across the page then added some stencilling with Autour de Mwa's stencils that I bought at the same time at the workshop run by Abs and organised by Sharon and Mark of Rowantree Crafts.
I did some random stamping with part of the stamp too.
I stamped part of the stamp onto Rice paper and rubbed an inky sponge around the edges before using matte medium to stick on my page!

I love the seeing the background through the rice paper!

The challenge runs as always for two weeks and you will find a link to the Rules and guidelines here.
Have you something new to play with or are you going to use a trusty favourite from your stash? Either way it would be great to see you over at TIOT.

Thanks for looking, Chris 

A geometric, a second look on the 2nd and WOYWW 500!!

I was up early this morning, while I don't 'do' New Year Resolutions, I am determined to start my days in a more organised way!

My craft room is suffering from post Christmas fatigue and I also swear that the scraps have been secretly multiplying!!!

Fortunately there are two challenges at the moment that may ease my scrap problem.

Tiffany Goff Smith of Southern Gals Youtube and Instagram has a challenge at the moment 'Use it up - fill it up 2' and for this I have added more pages to my ring bound junk journal!

This morning, following the 15 minute suggested time, I rooted through my scraps and made this.

The stencilled shapes are also using a scrap which I ran through a TH die and am going to use it until it disintegrates!

 While making it I also had another challenge in mind - Alison's 'Geometric Shapes' at Art Journal Journey - I haven't counted how many different geometric shapes there are here but there are quite a few!

Now for a re-run as I and joining Bluebeard and Elizabeth for 'Second look on the 2nd'

Below is a Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday(WOYWW) post from 2nd January 2013
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Well, not actually my desk but the dining table at the caravan - what? Away again? Yep! We've been having a great New Year with my son and two of my lovely grandchildren. I hope that your New Year is starting as well as mine and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Now two have gone home and my grandson is staying on with us for a couple more days.
So this is what's going on, of course without Julia and her nosy curious followers there wouldn't be an occasion like this to travel the world's work desks! Want to see more? Follow the links from here.

 I'm trying to get my calendar journal ready(hopefully to post later today - it now being the 2nd of the month!)Ive also been making a few journal pages, although mainly balanced on my lap.
Yesterday this very same table was used to make Thank You cards with my grand daughter - whoops - no photos!
Today though the main thing that's showing isn't mine, the green page at the bottom of the post is my grandson's.
Here it is in full

Very clever don't you think, he's very modest but this came from what he said was a sort of mistake so he started to doodle around it! He's got quite a few of his friends impressed and starting their own as well as his little sister! He's now started one in a different colour - not bad for a ten year old eh!

Finally a photo of my view from our new caravan, its the same view as I've shown you before but now I can sit and look at it as the kitchen sink is over the other side now!
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WOYWW 500
As I have already shown you my junk journal you know what is on my desk today and I am joining the WOYWWers, especially lovely Julia at 'The Stamping Ground' blog who has hosted this weekly event for 500 weeks, to wish them all a very Happy New Year! 
Thank you Julia for this weekly link up which I miss so many of, but am still welcomed back with your open arms each time! 

Thanks for looking, Chris 

T Stands for.....the late night!!!

Happy New Year everyone!! 
We hadn't intended having a late night but when we had an invitation from one of our friends at the caravan site to attend a New Year party we decided that one night a year wouldn't harm!!!
We had a lovely time and got to meet up with other folk, some of whom we knew, and some we didn't!
Only thing is we didn't get to bed until nearly 2a.m. this morning zzzz!!!
I wanted to complete my calendar pages, which I started yesterday but   ...being half asleep, I cheerily wrote the month as December!

It is rescued now we are home 

If you are reading this after 1st January the post will have been edited!(from a photo taken in artificial light!)

I used Crafty Individual stamps - Winter Garden CI425 and parts of my favourite Christmas wreath stamp CI 504

I would like to link this to Art Journal Journey where Alison(Craftytrog)Hall has chosen the great theme  - 'Geometric shapes', well, with squares aplenty here I am!!!

Here is the real December (2018)if you want to enlarge it!!

I am also joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T stands for Tuesday

 This was taken a recent shopping trip coffee break! At this point we had shopped for all items that did not require refrigeration!

I had an Americano while hubby had a hot chocolate, I stuck to my usual fruit scone while he had a very sweet looking mincemeat slice!

Sorry this is short (and sweet) but we only got home a little while ago and I didn't want to miss T Day!

I will have some photos of a trip we took to Sizergh Castle later in the week!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Spring greens

Is anyone else looking forward to Spring and  walking in woods that are springing to life? We went for a walk yesterday at Styall - on our way to shop!!
It was great to see the tips of bulbs peeping through! A true promise of Spring!  Styall's gardens look lovely any time of year!

These wooden deer have been installed on one of the top fields!

This plant is competing with the Christmas decorations in the greenhouse!

The air plants seem to have transformed themselves into decorations too!

I have never taken the cottage from this angle before!

The Bollin river was in full flow

This is the ice house at the top of the weir!

I love seeing lichen - a sign of clean air!

This definitely isn't living any more!

We don't often pass this old spindle now that there is a new carpark but we decided to walk up the old path.

My page was started with paint, crackle paste and gold and white pens.
The stamp is a Crafty Individuals one(CL 487) which is stamped randomly and I then picked out two phrases I liked and stamped them onto some gelli printed paper.
I added some French text which has two of my favourite places mentioned - Lincoln, my home town and Paris which....well, you know, I love to visit as often as I can!!!
I stamped the leaves from the stamp onto the margins of the book paper. Finally I added pine needle DI to the page and the crackle leaves.

This is another entry for Art Journal Journey where Elizabeth has been an excellent host all month with her 'My favourite season or 'tis the season' theme!

I may just squeeze in another but if I don't - Thanks Elizabeth for choosing such a great theme, for which I had so many ideas but not enough time!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Summer memories!

Hi everyone! I do hope everyone had what they wanted from Christmas! We were lucky to spend some family time, first with my middle son and our grandchildren then with the whole family(including ex-husband and family)
We were rather tired after the second event on Thursday - a party hosted by us!!! It was lots of fun though, with a few games thrown in - it seems to have become challenge time between the three brothers!!

We recovered yesterday though, in rather sober manner, by attending a friends funeral! 

Today we came back from shopping and after lunch I found time to complete a journal page I started before Christmas.

The background is paint, handmade 'washi', my favourite Crafty individuals background stamp and some CI paper. I added the wren image from a CI sheet, some Sizzix (Tim Holtz) wildflower die cuts, words(computer and die cut) and some gold paint spatters!
The wren reminds me of Summer as that is when we see the wren on our decking in the mornings! 

It is my entry for Elizabeth's 'My favourite season or 'tis the season' theme at Art Journal Journey.

I will also enter at 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

I still have another page, which I hope I can add tomorrow!

Thanks for looking, Chris