Whoosh!

What a start to the week! Ooops! it's Wednesday already! Hubby back to work, I spent Monday getting things straight(ish!)and doing some needle felting(surprise, surprise)

I've still got to finish these!

Yesterday I went off to Sale to do some Encaustic art with Tina and Jo. I've never done this before and I really enjoyed myself(no pics yet- camera battery dead)

Afterwards Nicola and I met up with Sarah at the Bean and Brush for lunch -yummy fishfinger sandwiches!!

Picked Hubby up from work and went off to the Trafford Centre where I got a bargain linen shirt which by using some vouchers only cost me £2!!!

At the weekend we met up with one of my sons and two of our granchildren at Dunham Park near Altrincham.

the deer were very close

these lilies were at their best!

I think we were lucky to see them!

Beautiful!!

 Aliens??!!

They have also put in a fantastic little vegetable garden next to the Orangery.

With watering cans so that children can water the garden! My grandaughter loved it!

It was a lovely day and we finished by feeding the ducks!

Thanks for looking, Chris

A SCRAP BOOK!

or rather, a book made from scraps.I don't know how I manage to get so many scrappy bits of paper OR worse still why I hang on to them! I mean, some of them are really the tiniest of scraps and although some do end up in the bin I often end up putting them into a little box until the lid won't fit!(if I'm honest I don't just have one scrap boxlol) Sooo here is the result of my latest clear out. No theme, just a folded book of scraps although I have done contrasting sides.

                      The front and back cover

The oranges and greens

The purples and pinks

There is room in the middle for some post-it notes - if only I can remember where they are! 

There are quite a few Crafty Individuals images here and I used a combination of Kaisercraft, Paper Artsy and Artemio stamps to help the scraps out!!

At least it's kept me quiet while hubby is still recovering, hopefully he will be back to work next week!

Thanks for looking, Chris

JOURNAL PAGES

and little books have kept me sane while looking after hubby!(he is still quite poorly with side effects from the eye drops that have left him with a dreadful sore throat - doctor has told him not to expect to be back to work this week!)
Fortunately I had started some pages so it wasn't too hard to find time to finish them.

Decided to leave this one alone

    and all this needed was a title (or did it?)

This one was done after watching Teesha Moore on U-tube, I really enjoyed doing it......

..although this is more my style, Lindsay Mason showed this technique on an art journaling workshop way back in February - gesso over a magazine picture(this was a lady in a bra!!!)then draw in you own picture - Eleanor of Aquitaine was an amazing strong woman who was imprisoned for many years by her husband!!
I've also covered a cheap little note book from Muji that I've had for a while,

using a few scraps.

More to show but will leave till tomorrow, Adrian Edmondson on next with the last "Dales"

Thanks for looking, Chris

 

Kates Giveaway!

The extremely talented Kate Crane has made a fab set of DVDs on art journaling and guess what - they are up for a chance to win them on her blog

Visit her blog here for a chance to win before Friday 24th June. Back later, Chris 

Busy doing....

well, not crafting that's for sure, unless you count a bit of needle felting! I had plans for this week  - then hubby came home on Monday night with signs of conjunctivitis! He has been off all week and it is only just clearing up! But.. life goes on and on Tuesday I met up with a group of crafty friends at the Bean and Brush in Sale to look at what we might like to be doing together! We had a good chat and exchange of ideas and we are probably set for a crafty month or two!(and we had CAKE!!!) So decisions made we then got it into our heads to dash across Manchester to Paddy's, where we all picked up some bargains and had bacon butties too!(and me with a sick man at home - I'm a disgrace!!LOL)
Paddy is closing her shop at the end of next week and looking forward to retirement, although she will still be continuing with workshops!
On Wednesday I had my appointment with the diabetic nurse - a complete waste of time, as she was running twenty minutes late and what she told me could have easily been said over the phone - my sugar is down btw(I know - won't be if I keep eating cake!!)
I then had to deliver a friends birthday present so again abandoned hubby!
Thursday was service day for the car so I had to hie myself to Stockport and hang around (in a craft shop he!he!)until it was done! I also picked up some lovely old books including another very old dictionary from a nearby charity shop.
Today (bleugh!) I have had to clean - how can a poorly man make so much mess?
Sooo... here is something I started last week as an experiment to see if a used inky babywipe would hold up to needle felting, YAY! it does. I did a background using different threads,wool etc. I have added the 'flowers' this week.

  the back looks like this

 fungus!
It feels so soft, not sure where it will end up!

I also had a play on a square from a pile of fabric samples I bought at Abakan.

All I did was felt into some of the coloured shapes but..is it just me or can you see a funny little bird in here?

Here is the 'fungus' on the back.

I really hope I can get on with something soon, been reading up on image transferring and can't wait to start, which reminds me, take a look here, some amazing image transfers done by Susan Allan on her new blog.

Thanks for looking, have a lovely weekend, Chris.

On the beach!

I had one of the best Saturdays this weekend. The weather was just as I like it - sunny but with a breeze, I had my eldest grandson and my hubby and we went to one of my favourite places - Arnside!

We watched the Trooping of the Colour before we went out. My Dad used to watch every year with a critical (ex army) eye so I thought I would give my grandson the benefit of some of the tips I'd picked up from his GGdad. While watching it occurred to me that it's no wonder tourists come to see spectacles like this, and whatever anyone says our Royal family are a great asset to our economy(jump down off soapbox -NOW!)  
We took a picnic with us which we ate as soon as we got there! While eating we watched a group of girls/women,(possibly Chinese) wading in the water, the tide had just gone out and left water in the dips. Suddenly one bent down and pulled out a huge flat fish, they all had carrier bags, which within 15 minutes were looking very full and heavy. It was fascinating to watch, so much so that I totally forgot to take photos!! We then realised that they were being watched by an older couple who came along with coolboxes into which they tipped their catch before going back for more.


We set off on our walk along the beach at this point. My grandson is a great beachcomber and spent most of his time with his head down

looking

found a fossil(as well as seaweed, a crab shell, lots of interesting little rocks)

 He looks a bit like a waif and stray as he was cold and borrowed Granpa's fleece!
Sadly Arnside beach isn't great for beach finds as there aren't any waves to wash things up. It is good for little crabs though and he kept finding the tiniest of crabs.
While walking along we came upon a beach gallery. Someone had spent a lot of effort to create some beach art, all set out in sandy area.

There was this

this

and this

I can't make out what it spells, the top one spells out ARNSIDE(there were lots more but all have shadows over them DOH!)

After Arnside we called in at Leighton Moss RSPB centre.They have a great cafe, so a drink and a piece of cake was required before setting of to a hide! We were lucky to see a crested grebe nesting as well as lots of young blackheaded gulls with their parents and then in the distance a Marsh Harrier. My grandson is doing well with his bird identification and quite impressed a nearby 'proper' birdwatcher with his naming of the birds we could see. We finished by looking at the birdfeeders where he saw one of his favourites - a woodpecker!

Then it was home for tea and bed. Bless him, the little chap slept for eleven hours!

Sunday of course was a totally different day, RAIN! so it was homework then home via a pub for lunch!

Oh yes! I had a great weekend!

Off now to craft, took some stuff with me but it stayed in the bag all weekend! 

Thanks for looking, Chris.

I just can't stop...

playing with my needle felting! I went over to Paddy's Stamping Place the other day for more supplies as the colour range I had was limited (couldn't resist some new stamps though)and came home and made this

 and this

Paddy is having a closing down sale at the moment too, with some things on on offer at 25% off and a lot at 50% off. It may be good idea to ring and check opening hours before you go if you are travelling a distance, but there are still bargains to be had and she is hoping to clear a lot more stock. Her number is on her blog here.


I went out with friends last night, we have known each other since our children were babes, and we try to meet up every few weeks for  a meal and a chat. I thought it would be nice to take them a little surprise so I made them these

Margaret has two sailors in her life

I think they liked them...

I had a bit of trauma getting there as I had dropped in to my youngest son's with his partner's birthday card.When I came out I went up to the main road to get to the motorway, got into a wrong lane and had to turn right down a road that seemed familiar so thought I would be ok. Nope! driving along realised it wasn't familiar at all. Anyone sensible would have turned round and gone back but not yours truly:( I battled on till I did find something familiar, but it was so far out of the way, totally wrong direction and it took me ages to get on my way...consequently, late again.... fortunately there had been a mix up with their order so I arrived in time to put my order in with theirs! We all had a great time with lots to catch up on despite only having met up five weeks ago!

Here is the card that caused my downfall LOL

The little sweet jars are recycled wrapping paper, put on to my computer and then onto printable shrink plastic.He is doing well with his weight loss so I thought a little treat like this would be the best way!! He loved it, thank goodness! I used Print shop to make the little birthday banner.

Right off to pick up my new posh specs and then packing before picking up our eldest grandson!

Have a lovely weekend, thanks for looking, Chris.

MIXED BAG!

Where shall I start? We went away last weekend, so relaxing! Took a couple of journals and my new needle felting kit (more later) and also did loads of gardening. Everything seemed to have died off... until we cleared the weeds and cut the hedge back(this can be done for us but because I have unearthed four(yes four!) Hydrangeas in the hedge over the past 2 years I prefer to do it myself and just leave the tops to be cut)Seeds are coming up and we have bought some new plants and I think this year could be the best year yet. 

Mr and Mrs Duck came to help, Mr Duck liked paddling where we watered and Mrs Duck helped herself to a drink from the drip tray under a pot.

This pot is outside our bedroom window, where this lovely stump sits, surrounded  by weeds and I like to keep it fairly wild around there for the insects and birds.

Behind it is this view....and a little to the right...this

Lighting is different as first was early morning and last was evening.

We were lucky to see this tender scene over the road one evening.

So,what did I do with my needle felting?

and then added beads when I got home.

Oops! yes it is the same piece!

I also did this

I had a picture in my small journal that I put in ages ago when I first wanted to have a go at needle felting.

Not quite, but I'm happy enough with it.

We both felt very relaxed when we came back..then I had to go for my dreaded retinopathy screening. If ever you have had one you know what I mean when I say that the eye drops feel like a thousand needles have been shoved in your eyes. 

Still, two days later we went off to the Cubby Hole in Crewe for Sarah's Art of Moodling exhibition preview. That girl is so talented, such a range of artwork! See her pictures here,(includes a pic of my hubby who was persuaded to "have a go" at a communal piece)

So how to top that? Well, my son's ex-partner has gone 'mobile' so I had my hair cut at home and she brought my grandson over. He loves to craft and I just happened to have finally got my hands on some of Lindsay Mason's new stamps - 'I dreamed of castles' and 'Hoist the flags' so I gave him paper, stamps, ink and crayons and away he went...

He found he could make the castle bigger by adding to it with the smaller stamps - how clever! Here he is adding some trees that I got from Circa designs bargain box at Port Sunlight.His stamping technique is really coming on - not a single smudge!(obviously hasn't inherited the pearshaped way he!he!)

Finally (phew!)my other two grandchildren came yesterday and both had a go at needle felting and guess what - silly Gran forgot to take photos. Will have to see if I can get a photo next week.

Well, if you are still here, thanks for looking. I look forward to any comments you care to make and will be back soon with more of what I'm doing today.

Chris