Jeudi Journal - Crazy

The Snarky Comment from Tim Holtz we used today is "Relax, we're all crazy ...  it's not a competition." and so I painted the background a pale blue and then added some lilac circles (Aal & Create stencil) and then an Andy Skinner one too.  I wanted the background to look like a bad headache, almost a migraine.  Because of this I decided when choosing my characters to leave them a contrasting black and white, not too much colour seemed to fit the comment much better.

"The Moggy family had been having a bad day.  The little ones were up to their normal mischief and the two older children had been left to look after them whilst Momma Cat and Daddy Cat had gone out for the day, after all, it was their anniversary and they deserved needed a break.  

Susie was the eldest cat and Topsy just a year younger.  Both were perfectly sensible girls and quite capable of looking after the young twins, which is why Momma Cat felt able to leave them alone for a few hours.  The only problem was that the little ones had been playing with a couple of balls of wool that were left in the sewing room and they had got a little, let's be kind and say, 'giddy'.  As a result a photograph of Great Aunt Thomasina had got broken.  Smashed!

"It's all Selma's fault" said Thelma, with her head tucked on one side, "she was the one who got the wool from Momma's room, t'wasn't me, honest."

"You were the one who threw the ball of wool in the first place" replied Selma, "in fact you threw both balls of wool at me at one time."

"Now, now" said Susie, hastily thinking how Momma Cat would handle this situation, and then realising there would never have been a 'situation' had Momma Cat been at home.  "I need to think about this one carefully before I decide which one of you is going to be punished.  Momma will expect me to take charge and act as she would."

"You're not going to punish one of us" chorused the twins, "you can't do that, we were playing together."  If there was one thing the twins were, it was loyal, loyal to one another.  Both were willing to take the punishment even though they blamed one another for the accident.

"You two are crazy!" shouted Susie.  "You argue who is to blame and then you both expect to be punished.  Crazy indeed!  If you two hadn't been acting crazily this would never have happened.  Oh what a crazy pair you two are at times."

Just then Topsy spoke up.  She was always the more serious one despite the gap in their ages.  "Relax, we're all crazy ... it's not a competition.  Besides which we have time to tidy up and think what we are going to say when the parents get home."

The others looked at her, that wouldn't repair the photo and Momma thought so much of Great Aunt Thomasina, she would be so angry.  They would all be in trouble, the twins for playing with wool in the parlour and Susie and Topsy for letting them.  What on earth could they do?

Suddenly the door opened, and in walked ... Momma Cat!  Oh no!  She looked so happy and relaxed having been out with Daddy.  What was going to happen now?"

Think that is where the story should end and you can make your own assumptions as to what happened next.  See you over at Art Journal Journey with the lovely Mia and her theme 'Use a Photo'.  Why not join in - but read the rules first please.

WOYWW 712

 Another week has flown by and I have a card to show you - at last.  It's cold but the snow has gone although yesterday we went to see a friend about 6 miles away from where we live and they had some little piles of snow still.

Did an online workshop on Saturday last and this is the card I made.  I've done a second one, at my own pace - and where I could stop and start the video so I could look closely at some things but ... I've messed it up ... at the end.  I can resurrect it to make another card, just a wee bit smaller, but I still want to do the card again but this time put it into my journal.  My new journal that is.

You can't really see but the surrounding card has some light stencilling on.  Something I intend to do on my journal page when I get around to doing it correctly (or to my satisfaction).

This is the kind of mess I got myself into and left ready for my second (and now third) attempt.  Not messy - a work in progress desk.

and my two girls from last week further down

Yes, I took your advice and used a darker Promarker to colour them in.  I love them.  I'll do lots more like this in future.  The eagle eyed amongst you will notice there are bits, mainly where the legs are, that still need cutting out.   That's tomorrow's job and then next week on WOYWW  I will have them in the little black concertina book that is peeking out left.  See you then (yes it's short and quick this week - lots to do).

Jeudi Journal - Trapped

 "It was early evening when Betsy called to see her close friend, Maisie, as they were supposed to be going out for the evening.  Maisie had just recently broken up with her boyfriend and the girls were rallying around her to try to cheer her up and get her out of the doldrums, and to stop her keep crying and staying in alone.  Betsy kept ringing the door bell but there was no reply and so she began to get a little worried, there was a light on and she could hear music playing so she knew Maisie must be in, why then was she not answering the door?

Betsy decided the only thing to do was to go in, she hoped the door wasn't locked.  What would she do if it was?  She gave it a slight push as she turned the handle and to her surprise it actually opened.  Rather gingerly she walked in and there on the floor propped up against the wall was Maisie, clutching a photo of her ex boyfriend, George.  Maisie turned her head away from Betsy as Betsy asked her what was the matter.

Was Betsy stupid or what, she thought.  What the Dickens did she think was the matter, the love of her life had gone off with another girl and she was left all on her own.

"I know you are upset about James" said Betsy, "but you have to get over him, he is not coming back and you have lots of friends who love you and we want you to come out with us tonight."

"Oh, just go and leave me alone" replied Maisie, can't you see I don't want to go out and party, I just want to stay here warm and comfortable with a bottle of wine or two."

"I can't do that" replied Betsy, the girls are all ready and waiting for us in Enrico's down the road.  We thought we could have a bite to eat, it's your favourite restaurant, and then we could maybe go on somewhere and dance the night away,"

"I don't want to do anything" said Maisie in the most miserable voice you ever heard.

"Have you been drinking?" enquired Betsy, "you won't solve anything with a load of alcohol, come on, let's get you showered and then we can meet the others, I'll give them a ring to say we will be late and they can eat without us."

"I've not been drinking," shouted Maisie, "I just rescued some wine.  It was trapped in a bottle.  And now the room is lit up with stars, am I in Heaven?"

"Don't be silly" said Betsy, "Come on, let's get you sorted and then we can plan our next move, if you don't want to go out I can stay with you, or the girls can all come around and we can all stay in together."

And with that Betsy helped Maisie to her feet, put the photograph on the table and led Maisie into the bathroom to see what could be salvaged of the evening."

I already had a page painted with left over paint from last week so I just added the Star stencil from Aall & Create with Stormy Sky Distress Ink, all over.  I then drew a wiggly line border around the edge and put some random squiggly circles behind it.  I included a photo of George (not real obviously) so that I could enter it into Mia's challenge over on Art Journal Journey again and the quote this week from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments was "I just rescued some wine.  It was trapped in a bottle". Why not pop along and see what the rules are and then introduce yourself with a journal page and a photo.  See you there.

WOYWW 711

 Thank you all for including my BIL's in your prayers, they are working as I have had some good news from Oz.  I really was getting stressed worrying as to what was happening with Rob but Karen has come up with some much better news.  The surgeon has returned from his holiday and sorted things out and now he thinks Rob will recover much quicker and better in his own home so he is now home.  I have believed in the power of prayer for such a long time and am so thankful to you all who included him in your prayer lists.

BIL on the other side (Chas' bro) is sounding stronger in his voice now and has been having physio on the parallel bars so they have obviously got him on his feet at times.  Spoke yesterday and he had not been down for a few days so they are not rushing him.  Just hope they can get him up on his feet safely.

My desk has not seen much action as yet.  I did the card for one of our club members and that went off but the long legged girls are being held up because my flesh coloured Copics' have run out - well the main one has - and I can't manage without it.  My Promarkers went long ago so which shall I get?  Must send for some new ones.

Here is my desk/table with work in progress, ie colouring

the two top left are the ones I cannot complete

My desk is unchanged more or less

This was Olive's card.  It's open with a piece of acetate across spelling her name.  The yellow is just the background it was stood against.  (apologies for the shadows)

That is it for this week.  Got an online workshop this weekend so hopefully will have something crafty to show you next week over at WOYWW with Julia and the Gang.  See you then and Thank You so much for the prayers.

Jeudi Journal

 Began with same colour of paint as last week but this time with some white added, much prefer this blue/aqua colour.   Went over the top with the Lotza Dotz stencil from Aall & Create and what was left of the lilac ink on my blending tool.  Then with a border stamp from Dylusions I created a border which I hope says 'frenzied' to everyone using Versafine Claire Nocturne (it took ages to dry on the acrylic paint, note to self 'use Memento more' it dries quicker, not sure it is dry yet as it still leaves marks when I blot it.

I decided to use these two figures and call the male one Eric.  Maybe because I have been watching Hollyoaks and the villain is called the same name.  Here he is as a little boy with his big sister, so I guess if I was being true to the programme I would call her Verity but I think I will stick to Trish and make it quite different.

"Trish was Eric's big sister and had always helped her parents look after him.  He was a strange boy and got up to some of the most stupid things, sometimes they were not so nice either.  There was a ten year age gap between the two of them and, although he was not aware of it, he was a lucky young man to have such a caring sister.

One day Trish heard some strange rumblings coming from Eric's bedroom and she decided she had better go and investigate.  There he was, with his chemistry set and he had a  huge bell jar in his room and some strange things emitting from it.  His bunsen burner was on the bench and all manner of flasks were bubbling away in various parts of the room.  He had a photo of Einstein hung in the corner and she often wondered how on earth he slept with that cartoon face staring at him.

"What on earth are you. doing?" she asked.

"Just playing" was the reply.

"Playing or getting up to mischief?" asked Trish.  "I don't think those things floating about in the room above that large jar are funny, what on earth are you creating now?"

Eric tittered, hunched his shoulders as he was wont to do and stuck his two front teeth over his bottom lip.  "I was trying to make some eyeballs that would fly" he replied.

"What on earth for?" asked Trish.  "Sometimes your crazy is showing, you might want to tuck it back in."

"Just to frighten the girls at school.  I thought I could put them in my pocket and bring them out when we were all in class.  They would then start dancing around the room in the air, just out of reach from the teachers and the girls would start screaming."

Just then there was a loud ringing which rather startled Trish, and she realised it had all been a dream and the alarm clock had just gone off.  Yes, Eric could be a pain, yes he had a chemistry set that mother had bought him for Christmas, but no, even he wouldn't be foolish enough to do something like that.  Besides which he wouldn't have the knowledge, or would he?  She reached out and hit the snooze button, just ten more minutes and she'd get up and see what Eric wanted for his breakfast.  She loved him so much despite him being naughty at times"

The words for Wendy and I to use are "Your crazy is showing you might want to tuck it back in" - again from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments and I have included a photo of Einstein so that I can enter it into Art journal Journey once more.

WOYWW 710

 I know, my desk looks completely staged, well, it is and it isn't.  It is all set out for me to begin stamping - at last!    I just happened to tune in on my phone the other morning to Abs from Aall & Create doing his Monday Morning Live and so enjoyed it that it reminded me I have not touched the long legged girls bought ages ago.

So I set out my desk with the stamps I was going to use and the die I had just bought before Christmas and not touched which was going to be the basis for my girls.  Found I had two of the base die cut outs ready and a set of the tags that go in the pockets so they are there too.

To the left you can just see my Tim Holtz Snarky Comments book, that's ready for more comments to use on a Thursday with Wendy when we do a journal page - and I do an accompanying story - and on the right, just peeking in is last week's journal page.  That's the die stood up at the back.

Maybe next week I will have some stamping and colouring to show you.  For now I will just get on with the stamping and fussy cutting of the girls.  I just wish I was better at colouring.

My BIL in Oz is poorly, things have not gone to plan since the operation and he is left with a drain in his back, a catheter and on morphine to help with the pain.  Been in hospital 29 days now and has no sign of getting out as yet.  My little sister is travelling the 103 kms there and back almost daily.  She has her own health plans to take care of too which involves a check up next Tuesday which will take all day with travel on the train to Sydney, but on her own this time, plus a hip replacement scheduled for March.  Any spare prayers are welcome.

Then my BIL in Gloucester does not seem to be making any signs of getting on his feet.  (He fell and broke his hip before Christmas.)  He moved hospitals but we're not getting any sense of what is happening - it's difficult.  Looks like a long job so we have been busy trying to talk to him as much as possible by phone and sending him little parcels to cheer him up.  We need to go down there and find out what the picture is really like.

So all in all a busy time, hence no crafting, but hopefully all will change soon and I can get back to something resembling normal.  In the meantime I will visit as many desks as I can because I love my Wednesday 'nosey around' with WOYWW.  see you over there, all are welcome so why not join in if you haven't already.

Jeudi Journal - Never

 "Me?  Sarcastic?  Never. "  That is what we have to work with today on our journal page.  Plus somehow marry it into a page to work with Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey which is to 'use a photo'.  Now in previous weeks I have noticed Wendy has said one or two of our Tim Holtz Snarky Comments have been hard to work with, I have found them fine.  But this one - oh no - I found this one difficult.  What's the betting Wendy has sailed through this one.  We seem to be in tandem so much with figures we use but not with how we find the Snarkies.

Today I am featuring a picture of a sunset taken at the seaside.  I am always striving to find the perfect picture, as good as the ones I see on the internet taken by others.  Guess my little phone camera is not as powerful as some of the cameras used out there.  Anyway, my story goes ...

"It was Betty's birthday and she had just been out for lunch with her best friend Sara.  The two of them had been friends since childhood, and were more like sisters than friends.  In fact they had more or less had their babies at the same time as one another and now, as they were much older and found they were without their husbands the friendship was something very special to both of them.

People did not understand why they each kept on their own house but both knew that the quickest way to end this perfect friendship was probably to live together and so they kept their own houses but spent such a lot of time in one another's company.  It was the perfect friendship.  Or so Betty thought until that day they went out for lunch and met up with Mary.

Mary had known both of them for a long time too, but she had never been a particular friend of Betty's, leaning more to Sara than anyone.  In fact other friends had warned Betty that Mary was going to push her out if she wasn't careful.  So Betty was a little wary that day when they went to their favourite restaurant and who should walk in, and more or less invite herself to the party, but Mary.  

Betty being the lovely person she was had just accepted the fact that Mary was joining them for lunch and not queried anything.  However when Betty and Sara mentioned their holiday plans, Mary said how super it would be and could she join them.

"It's going to be quite warm" said Betty, "I don't know if you'd like the kind of holiday we were planning." 

"Oh, I don't mind" Mary had said.  "I am easy to please, and will fall in with any of your plans.  I am rather surprised at you though, Betty, I would never have put you as the type for going somewhere warm.  With your complexion I would have thought you needed to keep out of the sun."

"We've been to Spain a couple of times before" interrupted Sara, trying to avert the discussion from going to Betty's red hair and rather pale complexion.  "You were ok then weren't you Betty?"

"You mean that time you came back with a lovely tan and Betty looked like a boiled lobster, all red and peeling." said Mary.  "I remember her looking a bit silly with the red face and the shape where her sunglasses had been.  We all had a good laugh when she came down to the garden centre."

"Don't be so nasty, you can be quite sarcastic at times" said Sara.

"Me?  Sarcastic?  Never" retorted Mary, "it's true she looked so stupid, I wonder why you would want to go somewhere warm again."

"Sorry" said Sara, "there's no room for you on a holiday with us if that is how you are going to be.  Come on, Betty, let's go and find somewhere else to eat lunch."

And with that the two friends got up and left.  Poor Betty was in tears when she finally got back home to her little dog, she let them fall down her cheek as soon as she closed the door.  "Thank goodness I was warned about her and Sara finally saw what she is like."  And with that she looked at the lovely picture of the sunset that hung on her wall "I'll show her, I can go somewhere warm and not come back looking like a lobster.  Just wait and see Mary Jones.  To Hell with 'Me, Sarcasm, Never' I'll show you."

My page began life pink  (evidence was on my desk yesterday when I posted WOYWW) and I wondered whenever I would use that colour again and what I could do to cover it.  I looked at my stencils but didn't find anything suitable so a quick coat of blue paint covered the sickly pink right up.  I used my favourite wallpaper stencil over the top with some Blue Distress ink and "hung" the picture on the wall to allow me to be part of Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey.  It's a super theme and there is lots of inspiration if you pop over to the blog.  Hopefully I might see you there.

WOYWW 709

 Well ... it's 2023 and a new year for all of us.  Hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year if you stayed up long enough to hear Big Ben chiming.  Years ago when I lived in a little place called Rawtenstall we had the parish church close by and it was a tradition with me and my two girl friends that we had supper at ours and then we went outside to listen to the bells at midnight on NYE.  Those memories stay with me.  Lovely ones.

It's very different now and midnight heralds all the fireworks going off around us.  We can even see as far as the city on a clear night - and we could this year.  A lovely display of everyone welcoming the new year in.  Sadly one of the girl friends is no longer with us and distance stops me seeing the other one but we celebrate it with our loved ones nowadays anyhow.

It is also time for us to take down our Christmas tree.  Didn't have much else in the way of decorations up but the tree is my main love anyway and I really do not like taking it down, I'm going to miss it.  So here are some photos of the various bits of the tree that I particularly like.  Maybe on Thursday when it comes down I will find other bits that are special and wish I had taken photographs of them.  Anyway these are my special bits:

Love this clock and the shoe

Father Christmas' beard is so full and this angel, cute?

Have had these musical instruments years

The mask reminds me of Venice

and this is our Tree

So no excuses, still not done any crafting (apart from my Thursday blog pages) but need to get back in the mood somehow so with a bit of luck next week, even if it's a birthday card like the usual ones for club members.  I will definitely do something.  Even my trolley remains bare.

All I have on my desk is this ugly pink page - yuk!  What can i do with it now?  Now you know why you got pictures of the tree.