frosty start today

Good Morning everyone, frosty start to the day in Cumbria! But the sun is shining, it may not be the warmest yellow ball of fire, but at least its trying to shine!
I have some craft to show you  a mix of scrapping and parchment. I haven't done heaps because of pain issues in my back and neck. Lack of sleep hasn't helped either, but upwards and on wards has they say, or have I got that the wrong way about! Bad luck to change it now! So, here I go....parchment first, The first one is a little Easter basket. Pattern by Christine Coleman. I filled the basket with chocolate eggs and a tiny bunny and chick on some shredded green paper. I made a few of these as small tokens for friends.

Below is a design by Dorothy Holiness from her Embossing book. I gave this to a class for homework. Be interesting to see how they get on with it. I do keep repeating myself, slowly and emboss in layers leaving the layers to rest each time, you can't rush it. with embossing, you can add but once you do the work then it can't be rubbed out like crayon!

below a close up. It can get confusing has some of the work will need embossing from the front,embossing is mainly done from the back you see. Always use a piece of cling film or cellophane under your tool when embossing from the front or it could mark your work.  

this is from a Pergamano M104 book. Using a red parchment under the  regular type.

so onward to scrapbooking, pages from my trip to Lanzarote. I had these cardboard frames for a while and I had lots of photos of views so I combined them to make the page. colouring the frames pastel colours. and a die for the hammock and trees. I just cut the die a few times and used the trees on their own and 3D'ed the hammock.

a close up of the die. Pro markers are used for the colouring.

Next Mothers day. This is my eldest daughter Karen with me. I was spoilt rotten by all my grown kiddies! LOL but Karen and her hubby were up north with me on the day.

Below Maraca Del Rio. We went on a drive high up one day to see this view. You paid to get in, but worth it and it wasn't expensive. The view was wonderful. "I can see for Miles and miles." that old Who song kept coming into my head.! Showing my age now! With the views are photos of myself with my two lovely daughters and two granddaughters.

Last a parchment card. I made this twice, once for the lesson and once to give to a friend. It shows how what you mount your work on makes a difference. The one on the left is mounted of pastel rainbow paper backed with white card. The one on the right is mounted on bright rainbow card. Its a Ann Jennings pattern.

Well folks. I hope you have a fabulous day. Remember be nice out there Everyone has their own problems, some are worse then others. So, show a little understanding. not everyone is having a great day! A little love and a smile can go a long way.... spread happiness and kindness and leave the hate and intolerance behind... the world doesn't need it....all we need is LOVE right???? Me? I'm off to chase dust bunnies and wait for the Tesco man to deliver the shopping! What an exciting life I lead eh???   

             take care out there and SMILE.. 

and  u

Guess what? its been snowing! LOL

So, folks, I hope you got through the snow and ice and wind chill. Windchill! WOW wasn't that something? I had to go out to walk the dog but boy oh boy was I glad to get back home. Not that it seems to have bothered Leo! Cumbria had its share of snow woe...but my area is largely free from white stuff now and it does feel a tad warmer but only a tad! still need the gloves and hat and scarf and boots!
So, this is the first post of March.I have been wondering if its worth blogging but hey ho... if nothing else I keep a record of what I made and I know from Facebook there are a few kind souls looking. So lets start with scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking, memory keeping,I hope in future my family will look back on the pages and be saying things like "Remember this" or "OMG I can't believe that we did that" etc.
First page is full of photos taken over Christmas in Lanzarote. My two daughters enjoying being sisters and dare I point out having more then one or two cocktails! They both shared a chair and laughing so hard fell off it! Backing paper is by Amy Tangerine  and emojis were part of another paper collection.

Next My Tribe! How I love them all. Two photos again taken on our holiday and one same day has the above page photos were taken and the other in the villa, during a evening we were playing card games.

close up below of some of the detail

Holiday again Granddaughter Chloe and myself

Next is Chloe and  Angela together being silly. :)

Of course I had to do a page on the snow! Those photos were taken from my bedroom window. 

Die cut snow man

Another page of winter weather. I was walking the dog on "the Line" which is part of the coast to coast walk, that goes from Whitehaven to the East coast.  The old railway line is now a lovely place to walk and cycle etc. These photos were taken at the part where the old station used to be.

Next two photos are once again from the holiday.. I loved watching the sunrises. and these are photos showing how beautiful they were.

I used mixed media on this page including cheesecloth dyed with  inky spray mists and some lace and ribbon.

A Disney page. Me and Daisy! I fussy cut those banners from a 12x12 paper

Parchment. These will be for a lesson. I cancelled the last one because I didn't want the ladies driving in the snow! Pattern by Anne Jennings

This pattern  below is by Judith Maslen.

Last of all another Disney page. My fave Disney person DONALD DUCK! YAY!  I used a stencil and paint for the background,  

So, that;s it for this time. seems to be a lot of craft stuff but there are a few pages I didn't show last time! I hope you all keep warm and safe in this awful weather. Remember to check any elderly neighbours are OK.Spread the love and be kind to people, you reap what you sow, so sow love, kindness and acceptance and understanding not hate and anger...that way we can all do our bit to make the world a better place.till next time byeeeeeeee

Last post for this month

Good evening all, so far this evening hasn't been going well thanks to Windows and their never ending updates. I have been sitting here near on one hour waiting to use the laptop while they hijack MY device to update...and then make the laptop run ever so slow. Annoying!
I have some craft to show but its mostly if not all art journal pages. I do not pretend to be a artist, more like, I enjoy messing about with paints and pencils and glue and getting a bit messy and seeing what becomes of it! But first of all two new photos of my little dog Leo. I took these this afternoon.

now, the craft stuff.

This developed from my finding a large bat made of MDF. I decided it would make a great mask. I drew the face around that using it for a starting point. I used acrylic paint markers for the hair and Jane Davenport mermaid markers, for the skin and normal acrylic paint for the lips

                                                      above is a close up of the face. All images are my own so any thing similar  is by chance. I Know she looks like a sort of super hero but I didn't have that in my mind when I painted her. remember the little faces? well this   page below, I made to go next to it. I used the cling wrap method to get the background with pearl paints. then inks to add a small design on top. MDF wings and bits of bobs all brought from FERNLI. Metal wings  were in a treasure tin I brought from Craft Box..

                                                two close ups so you can see the detail better

My wooden boy. FERNLI  are makers of MDF laser die cuts. When I brought something from them ages ago they sent a little bag full of tiny, tiny off cuts. Thinking people maybe could use them for mixed media. Well, this is what I made with some of them. I just sat on the floor with the bag of bits and glue and had fun!

has you can see, they really were tiny bits and all shapes and sizes.

Meet All-sorts! Coloured in pencil.Like I say I don't pretend to be a artist! LOL and I have never seriously attempted to draw a dog before!

Well, I think I have added enough for this time. I will have scrapbooking for you next time and hopefully some parchment.

So take care and be nice out there! I really have been  disgusted this past week over the awful press reaction to two guys announcing they are going to be Dads.Everyone deserves respect. You may not agree with them but there's no need or place for the vile abuse that was out there. So understanding each other and agreeing to let people be who they want to be, as long has they are not hurting no one, seems to be a easy thing to do but sadly in some cases and areas of the press that basic seems to be sadly lacking. so please spread the love and treat folks has you want them to treat you.

until next time....

mid February post

Good evening, Here we are on the eve of Valentines day. Time is slipping by fast don't you think?  Its cold and snowy outside, best to stay warm and craft. Unless I need to walk the dog! and when a dog needs to go..he needs to go! Right!?

At last I can show you the pages  held back because of the whisper swap on Facebook. If you don't know what a whisper swap is I'll explain. Each week I received a message with a picture of someone else's page attached . Then I had to do my version of their page and the following week pass it on to the next in line. very much like a round robin. At the end the host revealed them all in order so we could see how each person's page had changed. There were four in each group this time.Leo was the page I set off on week one.

below is week two.

Below week 3

and below week 4 with a close up below that. So that is the scrapbook pages for this time. 2,3,4, are all from my holiday at Christmas. I used maps and mixed media, plus on page 3 used some volcanic stones we were given from the tour of the site of the main eruption on Lanzarote.

On-wards to my art journal! I can hear someone saying "That's art!"? LOL I started by drawing the face with the blonde hair and red hairband. I didn't like how she was coming along, then I decided to fill the page with different faces. I used blendable pencils for this. Three different makes. Jane Davenport Magic wands, which I love. The leads are creamy and the colours wonderful. Then I used Prisma  crayons.I love the colours but the leads are a little too soft and break so easy no matter which sharpener I use. Because of this I wouldn't buy this brand again. Last of all I used W.H.Smiths brands. These are a good starter crayon that are blendable and nice colours. I would and do recommend them to beginners on parchment. On parchment I love polys, but they are expensive and over £100 for a full set.

Below the above are close ups. I think I shall call this page. Diversity not division. we are all different in any number of ways and how we deal with those differences is what matters.  

 

Last of all parchment. Julie Roces pattern. from Parchment craft magazine. Front and side view. I enjoyed making this one. Something a little different from cards.

it will hand from a branch on my fairy light tree.

Well, that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed seeing the craft I have been busy with. What is next? Who knows? I have nothing on the table that is work in progress. Tomorrow I'm sure that will change!

Until next post, keep safe and keep warm. and be kind to yourself and others. I saw a quote on social media today. Remember   just because its bad day doesn't mean it's a bad life!

keep smiling.

Happy February

Hello, It doesn't seem that long ago I was on here up dating my blog, yet here I am again with the first post of February!  Time flies when you are having fun right! Its freezing cold up north in north west Cumbria. first scrapbooking, these are photos taken by Chloe my granddaughter. One as taken of us waking away and she called us to look back. I raided my junk journal bag for this page. I used tissue paper, sand paper, cardboard box, a old map which had been stamped on, and a old film strip and tags. close ups show the mixed media I used.

Two more Disney pages, one of Minnie and below that one that shows my fave statues from Disney Paris. Thanks to Pol Prince for cutting the file for me. I did some fussy cutting for the Minnie page.

I just love the Donald and Daisy one!

Mixed Media! I dabble. I'm no expert. but my friend Chrissie is always telling me, the main thing is you enjoy it! She is right of-course! I used a couple of punches for this lady. one a tiny butterfly to make her hair and the other a tiny flower to make her dress. I added a ribbon bow in the hair and gems for a necklace and bracelet. I love Jane Davenport products. They are designed for mixed media by a lady who understands the art form.I used one of her stamps for the face outline. Which were sent to me kindly by a friend in the USA. The lady is painted with Mermaid pens. which are watercolour brush pens. I used a stencil for the background over the mermaid pens.

This was sketched when I couldn't sleep. It was some silly time like, 1 am. I painted it at a more sensible time later in the morning! LOL I used  Pitt brush art pens for the colour. I have no idea where  the idea of ladies sitting in chairs came from, it just happened!  

Well, that's it for this post. I hope you found it interesting to see what I have been doing with my time. remember to spread the love, let people be who they want to be without judging them. A hug costs nothing so give them freely and often! Until next time, keep warm and keep safe!