WOYWW 491

Another quickie from me and a staged desk taken by my other half just to show you what he bought me last week.

We both sat watching Hochanda on the tv in the bedroom when this little purple number came on.  Well, I went a bundle on the papers (Roaring 20's and me?) and he was rather blown away by the envelopes he saw them making.  Knowing how I struggle to find an envelope for the different sizes of cards I make (do I make cards these days?) he thought it was a wise investment.  I did chip in saying that with all the paper I have there would never be a shortage of what to make them with.

And so to cheer me up he sent off for it for me.  Haven't looked at it as yet but no doubt when I do I will have a ball.

You will have noticed my posts have been rather short recently and may have wondered why, well, my back went again.  I have been going back to the Chinese doctor for the past month but as up to now it has not made much difference.  Still it took 5 sessions last year so I am optimistic.  The only reason why I am telling you all of this is that I missed out on visiting Sarah in her Craft Shed on Sunday because of my back and other things.  Not just that but I have anemia again and then i developed peripheral oedema.  That has a funny story though.

Last week when I went for my acupuncture he put a needle in my leg, as usual, and I noticed my foot was feeling sticky as I made my way home.  Chas had a look and I had a little fountain on the side of my leg - I was leaking!!  Dressings were soaked in no time so I went to bed with a rather large pad strapped over the fountain.  Very resourceful if you get my meaning.

My list of woes does not finish there - I changed from Warfarin to Apaxaban just over a week ago and have come up with one of the side effects. I feel as if I have millions of little spiders crawling all over my skin, I am itching like crazy - the only person in the whole of our town who has got this side effect according to the clinic.

Whinges over - at least I have got it out in the open so you now know why I have been quiet these past few weeks.

Now lets all hop over to see Julia and her deskers.

Jeudi Journal - The Dark Side

It doesn't seem two minutes since the last Halloween pages, in fact I remember them well.  This time I thought I would do something different - not sure what you can do with the Dylusion figures regarding Halloween but I gave it a go and had an idea in my head.  Then it grew a bit to include a skeleton.  If only I had these figures a bit smaller so I could have included a witches hat on my female.  As it was I had to chop her legs down a bit - did you notice - can you see?

Thought I would try to introduce a bit of humour with the female and the "skellie bobs" and was just leaving it at the words about her but then the "Mr Bones" came to me and as I said it I sounded like Sean Connery (my favourite Bond) so I had to introduce more and it became a double page spread instead of the original single.

All Dylusion figures and stencil for the web.  Now where did I put that spider?

Sorry I am late but I have been in bed with odema in my legs.  Dreadful swelling, but then yesterday I went for my acupuncture on my back and as usual had a needle in my leg.  Little did I, or the doctor, know it would develop into a little fountain.  Much later I thought my shoe felt sticky and then when I felt a tickle on my leg I discovered it was wet.  Closer examination showed a small puncture was sending water out.  Now if I cut myself do you think I could get rid of fat like that?

Anyway, I hurried with this page and here it is.  Hope you find the dark humour ok.

WOYWW 490

Another short blog post.  Not done much again apart from a bit of white work in my black journal.  Been too busy sorting out the house with the insurance company.  Gosh, it takes so long with trying to chase tradesmen to give quotes and all that.  Think I have "telephone ear".

On my desk is the back of the box from Mark's workshop a couple of weeks ago - repainted but waiting for the drips and then the crackle to be put on.  Lorraine gave me some new Crackle Paint  and it worked really well.  I put it on over the top of the old stuff and it all bubbled up and peeled the old stuff of as well as the new.  Now I am waiting to start again.  Fingers crossed.

Well, that is all for now, see you over at chief deskers and then I will be here again next week - hopefully.

Jeudi Journal - Wings

This week the topic is "Wings" and the colours to use are purple and orange.  As I had a page with some purple on it and I wanted to use up some of the pages that had paint on them I decided to go with this one and add some orange to it.  I must add, at this stage I had not a clue what I was doing.

I decided to use wings on two characters and then remembered my new stamps, three little maids,  and decided to use them and so I duly coloured them in with Promarkers and put to one side ready to stick in.  In my searching through my stamped images I found two sayings "this way" and "that way" - perfect for this page with the words I had in mind.

Then it was on to the background.  My "arrows" stencil again was a perfect choice and so I began by using my "squeezed orange" followed by my "crushed grape" - oh dear!  The purple showed up but the orange faded into the background, especially against that purple.  Out with a black pen and an outline of all the arrows - Oops!  Now it was too much in your face and placing the figures on top it was such a muddle. What to do?  I had to go for it so I glued the figures down and outlined them in black like a well-known journalist does.

Finally I was ready for my words, typed out and left, in a block, a little like Dyan does hers (sorry Dyan) a quick colouring with highlighters of the "this way" and "that way" images and it was finished.

Still a little too busy (or muddled) for my liking but hey ho, someone might like it!  Wish I had never used an outline on those arrows.

We are nearly at the end of our topic and three colour time (black is not a colour in case you are thinking I have not stuck to the rules - and my third colour is white (also not a colour but I am using artistic license here) LOL.  We have the next session planned but you will have to wait and see what our new rules will be.

WOYWW 489

Just a very quick blog post - here is my desk with the cover for a Midori Book that I made at Vicky Stampers last Saturday.

Sorry about the shadow but doing this in a hurry.  My pencil case to the left of it has all my white pens in and is on top of my small travel book.  Behind it is the back of the picture that didn't crackle - my bff has given me some crackle of hers to try and I think it is working.  Underneath the pens taken out of my pencil case are some bits of hardware I have just removed from an old bag I am throwing out.  In front is some round elastic to make the closures in the Midori type book.

That is it for week 489  you know the drill:-

Please go to see Julia and find out all about WOYWW

Jeudi Journal - Circles

This week the colours we had to work with were brown and yellow and I added some orange.  Not that you can see it much.  I so enjoyed putting first of all brown, then yellow, then brown, then yellow over and over again with my brayer.  Then I added some orange and used the brown and yellow to make some circles on the two pages through stencils.  I used black also but do not regard black or white as a colour - if it benefits me in my journalling LOL.

Must be honest, this was done at the last minute (been away, had a bad week ) so the idea of using the dogs came into my head and I ran with it not knowing what I was going to say but then the 'sausage dog' gave me the idea of him chasing his tail around and around.  If I had used four dogs it would have made a square so I went for three and then the idea for the words was born. 

Now to see what I come up with on my workshop today - wonder what Tracey has in store for us. I know it will be good!

A Tribute to a Friend

Just one year ago today a friend lost her battle with breast cancer.  When my friend Liz was alive she was "sunshine, inside and out" - she had the loveliest sunniest disposition of anyone I know.  And I was truly blessed to be able to call her my friend.

I first met Liz Welch on a workshop in Oswaldtwistle, near Accrington when she was making Friendly Plastic Masks at Dawn Bibby's.  I fell in love with the work she produced and her style of teaching really suited me because I actually finished the project at the workshop.

one of Liz's - not mine

A few years later I had the fortune to meet her through my working with Friendly Plastic at the NEC Showground and she would send people over to buy the FP from us despite the fact that she did sell it herself online.  She was such a beautiful lady, and a lady she was.

Then I discovered she was doing workshops using FP in various parts of the country and so I took myself off, with some friends, to do one in Chepstow.  That was the start of it all and I did several afterwards in various castles in Wales each one drawing me closer to Liz as a friend and Liz and I stayed in the same guest house in Caernarfon when we had them there in the castle.

Three of us and Liz decided to have a week away crafting, each of us teaching our special interest to the others and so we found ourselves as a group of five (yes, we grew) staying in a large house each taking turns at cooking an evening meal and taking a class.  

We had two of those weeks away with Liz collecting me from the railway station in Nottingham and us continuing our journey which meant I got to spend more time with her to cement our friendship.  Then as I was into polymer clay she became interested in the media and that soon became another string to her bow.  She was the most talented person you could imagine.  Anything she touched turned to gold.  So we went on a couple of polymer weekends too - I stopped but Liz, with her talent for the medium, carried on.

I also managed a weekend at 'Chez Welch' whilst Neil, her husband, was away.  I was so excited to find that I was sleeping with the big clock she had made for one of the Nolitex exhibitions.  Those were something else she was into and I always remember her 'glove garden' which contained lots of flowers all made from gloves she had had donated for the purpose.  Told you she was talented.  I managed to go to every Nolitex exhibition after that and was so proud of the work she exhibited.

Then came the news that she had breast cancer.  It was devastating but Liz being Liz went through the whole thing including chemo with a smile on her face for her friends.  Probably for her family too but that was too private to ask about.  During that time Chas and I went down and stayed overnight at Nottingham University so that we could see her.  What a wonderful time I had.  Intending only to stay for a short while and taking some home baking down I stayed far longer than I should have and Liz had made biscuits for us!!  Apart from having petting time with Poppy, her spaniel who was her constant companion, I had a whale of a time trying all the headgear that she and a friend had made for her.  What gorgeous talented ladies those two were.

Liz bounced back and all was going well when we heard that the cancer had returned.  Despite going on a trial programme just a year ago today Liz lost her hold on life and left her wonderful husband and two beautiful boys (and Poppy).

In typical Liz style her funeral/memorial service was a true celebration of her life that she had planned herself in so many ways - and we were asked to please wear something bright - most of us wore something orange which was her favourite colour.  How appropriate that she was pure sunshine inside and out and her favourite colour was the same as sunshine.

Liz, I still miss you today as much as I did yesterday, but you remain in my heart and I will always always remember you.

A very special lady

WOYWW 488

Went on my workshop weekend to Lancaster and here are my projects - well most of one anyhow and another one that is just being crackled at home 

Went in my craft room to start putting some crackle glaze on the back piece for the project with Mark and found that something was dripping on the floor.  Panic!  Please not another leak in the loft.  Thankfully "No", but what it was is a mystery.  Pulled all the bottles and cans out from the back and although they were wet on the outside couldn't find any obvious leaking one.  Dried them and stood them to one side - still no leaks an hour or so later.  Took ages to dry everything up as all the boxes had to be pulled out and the craft mat had to be redone as the liquid had gone between the old green mat and the Ranger Craft (brown) one.

Put the crackle glaze on the back piece of Mark's project (the glaze did not crackle that he had, so I repainted the back piece and brought it home to crackle.  Fingers crossed. - but it is not showing any signs of crackle yet - I must admit I have had this crackle glaze a while)  Moved it to the window sill and found that it is definitely not level as the glaze had formed a puddle on the mat at one end.  Start all over again - something telling you it is not my day/week???  (We've been let down by the plasterer - no estimate for lounge ceiling so started all over again finding someone else today)

Anyway, the hearts - they are by Tracy Easson and what a darling she is.  Had great fun making those with Plaster of Paris.  Tracy makes it so appealing as you are going along with her little stories about "her girls" - they really do come to life in her hands.  They are sat there now and they want words cutting from the sheet she supplied us with and then putting on the hearts to finish them off.  Then what will I do with them?  Hang each individually or group together going down in size?  Need to think on that one.

Back pain is here again so later today I am off to the Chinese doctor for a bit of acupuncture - he worked miracles last year so fingers crossed.

Apart from that, house is in a pickle with some things packed up in readiness for  bedroom being started but need to get the ceiling in the lounge done first.   

Still, there are people far worse off than us so no grumbling - instead off to see what Julia has in store for us on the great 'nine year blog hop'.  See you there!

Jeudi Journal - Flowers

It is nice to go away for a bit of sunshine when we aren't getting any here but it is also nice to get home, even if the weather is not that brilliant.  Straight back into journalling with the Dylusion figures and other stamps.  I painted two pages all over with grey and then realised that it was almost as bad as black and I was going to have a very dull pink for my second colour.  So I tried out a different technique where you stencil by tapping the colour through and used white to begin with.  I let it dry and then went over it with a pale pink, it doesn't have to be exact or anything like that as it is the overall effect you are looking for - no crisp edges - a more muted dreamy look.

I stamped lots of flowers, all using the same stamp and coloured them in using variations of pink to allow for contrast.  Similarly with the stems, and I even used some leaves as a stem (see first flower, second page) which I wish I had used again somewhere else. 

The idea of the page is that two children are hiding, one is searching and the other is hiding amongst the flowers.  You know how children always cover their own eyes and think you cannot see them?  Well this is similar only the child has got her hat over her eyes instead of her hand, but she is behind a flower as well.  Such a child-like response to "where are you" - I can almost hear a little one saying "I'm Hiding" in a slight sing-song voice.

Hope you can tell this was another page which I enjoyed doing.

WOYWW 487

Sorry about last week.  I did a scheduled post and then forgot to ask someone to link me.  Realised some time on Friday when I got home and hastily published it and then raced around commenting like crazy for the rest of the day.  Apologies to anyone I missed.  

Was going to start this with these lyrics in true LLJ style

"What a difference a day made

Twenty-four little hours"

as we went to Cleveleys (nr Blackpool) on Saturday and the day could not have been different from what we left behind in Spain.  Left home Saturday in sunshine but by the time we were drawing closer to the coast the clouds were gathering and they were rather dark.  The colour of the water was a bit different too.

Which is Corralejo and which is Cleveleys?

THEN, on Sunday we woke to this

a hole in our lounge ceiling!

So not much crafting to show you - again!  I have, however, managed to get some of my doodling done and can say that there are several pages finished now.  Here's my desk with my doodle books on it and my white pens.

Now someone asked about white pens the other week.  Well, I use Posca, Molotow and Dylusion ones.  Trouble is with Dylusion you have to buy a white one and a black one in a pack - they are not sold singly.  The Dylusion one is definitely my 'go to' pen of them all as it is the only one with a real fine point making for better line work.  The only trouble is it works out expensive and I have a bundle of unused black ones now.

My Molotow is extra fine but still quite thick in comparison to the Dylusion one. The Posca is similar, again slightly thicker than the Dylusion pen but definitely a good pen to have and you can buy them as a single unit.  You need to remember that it is white paint that is inside these pens so the make up is slightly different to other pens.

Last week several people said they cannot get on with the Dylusion ones so here's a tip or two:

You MUST prime it at the beginning.  For the first time give it a shake. Then you hold it tip down and just keep it there on your paper, don't bang it, tap it or anything.  No need to shake it or anything.  You need to get into the habit of holding the pen upright rather than at an angle like you do with a biro when writing.  If it stops working all I do is wet my thumb with a baby wipe and run the pen tip over it to moisten and soften the paint that has probably dried around the fine nib.  Lastly, do not press down hard when using it, gently glide the pen across the paper to make your marks.  Try that and see if you have more success.

Guess that is it for this week - need to make some birthday cards, going to a workshop over the weekend with my bff so definitely something to show you next week that is not white pen on black.

Go and join in with WOYWW by clicking here and having a great blog hop day.  TTFN!