WOYWW 312 and the Anniversary ATC Swap

Drums beat, trumpets sound ... the day has arrived ... it's the Anniversary ATC Swap on WOYWW. Guess who did not get many more atc's done?  Yes, that's right, moi!

Not putting my ATC's up here yet but here are the folders for my atc's to fit in, made from some Gelli printed paper that I did when I went to stay with my friend Wendy a few weeks ago.  If you look closely you might see an atc peeking out now and then.

Not only did I do those covers last minute but as you can see from my desk I have been rather busy.

I spent most of Bank Holiday Monday trying Tangles, going through the book (Anya Lothrop - I can recommend) and looking on the internet and copying lots of squares and filling them with ideas which I can then keep and use in the future.  So there are one or two bits, if you look closely that I have been doing.

Unfortunately I found out the other day that Flat Susan (you remember her?) had got separated from her belongings so also on my desk are duplicates, thank goodness I saved them on the computer, of the blurb that goes out with her.  Also the laminating pouches as I laminate what I can so it is durable. Sadly her passport is one of the things that is missing and I cannot get back the 22 signatures that it held from those that have already hosted her.

This is the side bit (the "L" shape I now have to work on, remember last week I showed you I had moved some stuff to make more room?) and it just has some passport pages I am in the process of cutting out, a die I want to cut out, and some folders at the back which are going to be moved (and decorated when I get time).

Well, that's about it folks so meander on over to Julia's place and see just who is posting atc's - and you might get a sneak peek at some of them.  Me, I'll get over asap and see who I have to send my atc too.  (Note to self: do NOT forget the asterisk)

Friday - A Poppy Comes Home

On Friday my son came over with his partner because it was 100 years to the day since my Great Uncle (Andy's Great Great Uncle) had been killed at Gallipoli.

To mark the occasion I had decided it was the appropriate day to put the ceramic Poppy, that had previously resided at the Tower of London, in the garden so Andy and I went outside and hammered the metal rod in and then attached the ceramic head.

Wanting to verify that Great Uncle Harry really was 21 when he was killed I got the family bible out. Andy searching in it amongst the pages found some newspaper cuttings and I cannot remember ever having seen this one that he unearthed which mentions Great Uncle Harry being killed on the 4th June 1915 so maybe someone got it wrong somewhere.  I think I'll go with the War Commission date.

To keep in with the day I had made a Lamb Tagine (Turkish'ish) which we had with roasted veg, from a Mediterranean recipe which was the best way of serving veg I could think of to be in keeping with the day. The veg recipe was new and we really enjoyed it, so much so that Chas and I had it again yesterday with some fish.

I used courgette, aubergine, peppers, onion, all cut into big chunks, and cherry tomatoes, baby potatoes (parboiled) which I put in a bowl and marinaded with basil, rosemary, thyme, pinch of chilli powder, garlic and balsamic vinegar for an hour or so.  Then I put the whole lot in a dish and sprayed with some Frylight before putting in the oven on a high heat for 30 minutes.  Try it and add anything else (I added mushrooms last night) that takes your fancy.

Now Andy and I have a laminated copy of the War Graves Commissions certificate and I have a couple of copies to give to other family members and I will send copies off to Australia where we have other family members.

My poppy has come home!

Au Revoir to Artful Times - with a Party!

Today marks the end of yet another chapter in my book.  I can remember the flush of enjoyment and anticipation when we first launched the Artful Times blog.  It was hard work in the weeks running up to the launch and the three of us (Sam, Von and myself) had to choose a name, two of us agreeing and one not, then another name, same voting, then another ... and so on.  Eventually we agreed and we then had to sort out the header.  Neither Von nor I had a clue how to go about it but Sam came up with the goods, it got tweaked and pushed and pulled and tweaked until we finally settled on what has stayed with us throughout close to 200 weeks.  BIG Thanks Sam!  Also for staying around and helping out when I was desperate at times for a bit of TLC or assistance.

Thanks also to Chrissie who came in and helped Von and I for a short time and thanks certainly to Wendy, who joined the team in March 2014, stepped into the breach when I was left on my own and has remained with me until now.  (Wendy had entered every single one of our challenges so she HAS now done all the challenges from the very beginning, some achievement I think you will agree.)

Anyhow, rather than dwell on that at the moment it is time to move onwards and upwards and to put this edition to bed.  Wendy and I have agreed it is time to close and maybe we can join in a few more challenges ourselves now so regretfully this is our last challenge at Artful Times.

Mr Linky runs out on the 4th June so this challenge has to finish the day before and so you will notice it is ending close to midnight that day.  We hope you will help us to celebrate the fun times we have had on this challenge blog and join our Party.

My journal took on an unexpected "Party" theme when I did this page on Friday morning - but, as per usual, I cannot think of any caption to put with it.  I thought of "taking my Louboutins to the Party" or something like that but it didn't sit right.  Anyone able to offer help out there?

Here is the first thing that I made (then changed my mind and did the journal page as well) - a bit late for Mardi Gras but a party is a party at any time and this is more of an "Anything Goes" theme as long as it is celebratory, hence my "Carnival" interpretation. See, last challenge and I give you two for the price of one. LOL!

I knew I had this Spellbinders' die, which is long since retired, as I did use it in a sample when I was told it was no longer going to be available.  I remember making a card with it and we sold out of the dies we had.  Good result!  So here it is again, this time in a page format for one of my art journals. Pretty self explanatory, all the diecuts are from the one die except the lettering.  Silver card and a shiny black card has been used.  Lettering has been coloured with Twinkling H2o's.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us with our challenge blog over the years, especially those of you who stuck by us through the leaner times.  Cheerio!

woyww 311 - long but you don't have to read it all

Got all muddled and thought it was the great ATC swap today.  Doh!  Still time to do some more.

Well, what a busy time I have had of it, travelling around.  First Spain, then home for three days and off to my friend's house for a few days and a trip to another friend straight afterwards.  Then home for two days and off again to Nottingham to see my lovely friend Liz who is going through chemo at the moment for breast cancer.

What a wonderful lady she is.  It was so good to see her and reassure myself that she is still, kind of ok, and the little tinker had gone and made us some biscuits (I had made some buns to take down with me).  Well, Liz has discovered zentangling and what wonderful work she has been doing.  You can check it out on her blog here because she has now posted some pictures of some of her work.  We had a wonderful time with me trying on her hats, she has some amazing creations and they are so comfortable to wear.  Anyhow it is the 'tangling' I was going to mention, I am digressing.

Liz is convinced I can do it (me not so) and as she pointed out, it will be good with the journalling that I have been doing of late.  Imagine me doing my own borders.

Well, she set me off on a hunt for a couple of books she recommended.  One was available in supermarkets - err, supermarkets?

After visiting quite a few and then ringing other branches of Sainsbury's/Tesco/Asda/Morrisons I gave up.  Chas finally found one of them on a bookazine for me and I duly paid up and was ready to receive it tomorrow when I got an email telling me they had refunded the money as they did not have any copies.  To cut a long story short I am now paying over the odds for it via ebay.  Guess what? Chas was in our local tiny Morrisons today and he rang me to tell me they had it on the shelf!!!  The one place I had not checked ... ah well, woe is me.  I don't need two and the order is on its way.  Roll on Thursday.

Anyway, here is my desk, complete with a journal page that needs some doodling on:

Observant followers of WOYWW will notice that I have a little room to the left of where I normally sit - I have cleared a bit of space by moving some drawers along.  Much better for me to work.  But look what I got today

More Dylusion stamps.  Have waited ages for these and am now raring to go in my journal with some more images.  There are some new stencils underneath too.  Doing a (Helen) Happy Dance.

I am so tidy because as outlined at the beginning I have been away rather a lot and today my niece came with her adorable baby boy.  She is a beautiful girl, both inside and out, and as a result she has a very happy little boy who has the most beautiful blue eyes and is so so good.  I would love to post a picture of them but am always wary of posting kiddie pictures on the internet and would not do so without her permission.  You just have to take it from me, they are both beautiful.

Can't leave this post without telling you about last week when I went to see Liz.  We stayed at the Eco Hotel (De Vere) in the grounds of Nottingham University.  Fabulous - will go again.  Everything is "green" and the rooms are quite minimal but to a high standard.  Comfortable in every way - and I am hard to please about beds!

The restaurant was good, we had a lovely three course meal in the evening and a super breakfast next morning.  Staff are very nice and extremely polite and helpful.  All in all I can recommend it for a good night's stay.

Shower

Bathroom with lovely toiletries

Bed

Desk & TV

View from our window (floor to ceiling window)
Just to show how modern it is in design

Iron, ironing board, hospitality tray, safe, hairdryer (all tucked away in the wardrobe with a full length mirror and lots of coathangers).

Just wish I had taken some photos of the reception/bar/restaurant areas - everything sparkling clean and modern.

hotel entrance looking from side

(see the apple)

Hope I have convinced some of you to give it a try, it is very moderately priced.  The next day we went to Newstead Abbey, but that will have to wait for another post.  Must get over to the stamping-ground to see some pictures and hear the news about the crop last weekend.  Hopefully next year ...

WOYWW 310

Well, I am off again.  Came back from Nerja a couple of weeks ago and had three days at home and then went down to stay with Wendy for three nights and off to Liverpool to stay with Lorraine for one night so I could go to Port Sunny on the Saturday.  Back home and now off to Nottingham today to see my lovely friend Liz.  Life has been a whirl just lately.  Consequently nothing much happening on the crafting front but I have been doing some atc's ready for the big swap.

The garden is looking a bit of a mess too, the weather has been conducive to "weeds" and they, and the chives and bluebells, have sprouted everywhere.  A little weeding has been done but a lot more needs doing plus our gardener is off ill at the moment so we have a huge lawn which is going to be a meadow before long - and we don't have a mower!

Anyway, here is my desk - didn't buy a lot at Port Sunny, spent too much time chatting - so no point in showing you.  On my desk is a card (left) that Pat made me for my birthday.  It was a bit late so didn't get shown with the others but it is lovely and well worth waiting for.  Consequently I am trying to make a similar one for my friend Liz and that is what is on my desk.  Twinkling H2o's and cut out butterflies etc.  Just in front of my iPad are my atc's for the swap - yeah, I have got some made.

That's got to be it for now as I am running late (it's Tuesday night) and will be midnight in a short while and I am nowhere near ready for bed.  So run along and see what Julia and the rest of the WOYWWers are up to - thanks for stopping by.
xxx

Challenge 80 Artful Times - Hot Pink & Orange

Wendy chose the theme for this challenge and it fit perfectly into my busy schedule as I had just done a workshop with Dyan using her Dylusions Paints so I was 'hot pinking' it in great style.  Not many finished pages in my journal as yet but this one had to be completed for the challenge and so here it is

I used Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink Dylusion Paints and then did a bit of stencilling and some spritzing with the same colours.  Finished off with picking some bits out with a white pen.

I did try some fancy work around one of the squares but didn't like it and thought it would be too too much on them all so I decided to use a frog to cover it.  That decided me on everything else on the page and the figures are painted with Twinkling H2o's.  I thought there was a quote something about 'a frog' and 'kissing' but couldn't find it so I just wrote my own.

So there you have it - my page and my contribution to our penultimate challenge.  Hope you find time to join in with us.

WOYWW 309

My desk is exactly the same as it was before I went on holiday.  Pristine clean - in fact I didn't tell you that I had actually dusted my window sill and shelves before I went away.

Came home Friday and then had a Pacemaker check up appointment yesterday and straight away I set off for my friend Wendy's and that is where I am now.  A girly week!  So once again - no mess on the desk as I didn't have time to do any crafting over the weekend after I had put my shrink plastic stuff away.  You have me sussed too - this is a scheduled post again.

Not wishing to disappoint you though I will show you some "Glitter" cards I made at the last but one club meeting.  I have actually mounted them to make them into finished cards - apart from a greeting which I prefer to leave until I want to use the card.  You know me, I am so not into "glitter" but I did enjoy making them and I know my friend, Mary, in America just loves them so I now have three cards lined up for her (providing she does not see them on here first).  All made with peel-offs stuck on card and then glittered before colouring.

Just so Julia does not think I am not adhering to the rules here is my desk - boring or what?

See you over at the Stamping Ground later - adios!

Cream Crackered - Can't Stop Sleeping

Well, we got back from our holiday on Friday evening at 7 pm UK time (would have been 8 pm where we had left so as we set off from the hotel at 10.30 that morning it had been a long day - 9.5 hours!).  We had left a very very hot part of the world and returned to a very very cold and wet part of the world.  I could not get warm when we came in.  However, after good night's sleep and the heating having been on all night I was much better the next day.

Set off for our club meeting where we were revisiting Shrink Plastic and Pat, our tutor for the day, had made lots of things for us to see, had conducted lots of experiments with the various inks and things so there was lots for us to do.

I took some of the shrink plastic things I had made in the past and I made some bits whilst there:

The jewellery pieces on the right are what I had made previously and the three 'lady' pieces at the bottom were from printed images I already had.

On the way home I called at a well known Pharmacy for some lotion with Aloe Vera in it which Lynne had recommended.  Three applications later and my legs are not looking as red as they were

Still sore though and the right foot is still swollen when I sit with it down so a cushion on the stool is the order of the day.  Hopefully it will be better for tomorrow when I go to stay with my friend Wendy.  Whatever it is that is causing this redness (varicose eczema or blood pooling?) it obviously does not like the sun, maybe the pooled blood started to simmer?

Well, I am certainly catching up on any missed sleep, woke at 6.30 this morning, made a cuppa and slept until 9.30 am.  This is so not me - and I had slept most of last night in front of the tv.  I guess it is doing me no harm at all so I will just enjoy dreaming.  Got to do my reviews now on Trip Advisor - especially for the best burgers ever - Momo Burger in Nerja (and I am not addicted to burgers).

WOYWW 308

Only a few days late - but I could not let the week go by without joining in with WOYWW.  I did have a good excuse - I tried to do a post via BlogPress but I could not get it to upload my photograph. I even had super sleuth on it as well and he could not manage it (and he was a programmer) so very frustratedly I gave up and sulked.

Anyway - here is what you missed - my desk

As you can see I was busy journalling on the balcony overlooking the sea ... but where was I?  It was hot I can tell you that much.  In fact I have two badly burned legs but then that is another story and it was not from sitting in the sun.

As you can see I have a bottle of Diet Coke there, looks as if Spencer had stripped off because that is his t-shirt to the left of my journal and behind it are all manner of things.  A pencil case that contains loads of pens, my Caran D'Ache little travel box of watercolours and my favourite sticky stuff, Cosmic Shimmer.

Here are a couple of clues to where I was

A peep across the bay

Perfect clear water

This should give it away

or this beach may

Didn't go down to this beach as it was quite steep and involved more walking than my poor legs and feet would do.  In fact I had a very chilled holiday with very little walking involved.  Just ate some fabulous ice cream, had some lovely meals out, read a lot and did a bit of journalling.  I was ready to come home after eleven days of sunshine (hot) but when I got to Manchester early evening today (Friday) I longed to be back in the heat.  Is there no satisfying me or what?  Why can I not go on holiday, beam myself up (as Scotty) check on home and then beam myself back again?

Right, must go and see what other WOYWW'ers have been up to and visit our leader, Ms Julia, to see what important news I have missed over the past two Wednesdays.