Jeudi Journal - In My Experience

Today's words from Dyan via Dylusions are "In My Experience I Am Right" and I actually had a page that was almost perfect for it.  Well, almost right for it.

A while ago I had made this Dylusion bird, originally from bits from magazines and with the words 'judgement upon ur fellows' on him, and I felt that this worked in quite nicely with this particular page I was about to make.  He has an angry look about his face don't you think?

The background was made  with a brayer using Dylusion paints with a numerical stencil on in places which I went over with white pen.  There were some cherry bits of paint on and I almost added more but then decided to do a bit of stamping using chocolate ink.  Once the background was finished I had to decide on the figure so what else could I use but one standing with her hands on her hips?

The fact that the figures are pushed over to the left hand side is to emphasise that there is a little bit of intimidation going on - hope that shows.

If I was making the point that I was correct about something, anything, especially to a big bird like that with ginormous feet and a mean look in his eye I think I would have my hands on my hips just like her.

So here it is - my page for today:

WOWW 547

Another week has gone by and we are getting ever closer to Christmas as we share our desks on WOYWW with Julia and the gang.  Want to join us - click here and show us your desk and look at ours?  Mine is below.

This is my desk, the hive of activity in our house.

You can see the production line in process for one of my cards.  Had I realised it was going to take this long to make I would not have done it.  For seven cards I have cut out 14 large, 14 medium and 21 small poinsettias.  I have only stamped the pattern on the large ones at the moment.  Then there are 7 sprigs of holly, 7 scenes which were first stamped, then had Liquid Applique put on then Stickles, which has now run out.  I still have to cut out the card and fold it, Emboss 14 panels and mount the panels and the scenes on metallic card.  Why did I choose to do this?

There are also two nativity scene cards that I made as a trial and now I am making another two for sending abroad.  I want to make some other cards similar to these but as I have almost finished the Christmas cards that I am making I think I might (just might) make some ready for next year.  I bought some stamps from Cardio to make them with after getting the free ones on the magazine that they talked about at our club.  Here they all are:

The top one and the last three are all from the magazine and you can see I used the nativity one on the cards.  Now I want to make some with the other stamps as well.

Guess I had better get on and stop wittering on here.  I need to leave time to visit some desks and see what others are up to so I'll say cheerio for this week and see you next week if I don't see you at your desk.

Health Update:

Not had a good week with the back but at least it is better than it used to be with the periods of getting rid of the pain being quicker than they used to be - and I have gone two weeks since I saw the chiropractor - roll on Friday when I see her again!  Most times it does not take as much massaging as it used to and I am following the advice of a friend who has read that you should take your medication before you get to the stage where you really need it.  

Finished with the Pain Management Classes so now got my Wednesdays free - and I got a certificate to say I had attended.  The last session was taken up a great deal with filling in a questionnaire.  This was not anonymous and I feel that people do not give honest opinions when their name is on the front.  I did try to be honest in some areas but must admit I was a good bit lenient in some.  I know for a fact that others just filled in with what they thought the staff wanted to hear.  It's human nature I guess.

Not heard from the hospital re the Meckle's test, just hope it does not come at Christmas for the operation but I really don't think it will.

Jeudi Journal - Every Now and Then

Gosh - what a long quote this week - "Every now and then life needs to be turned upside down to get back to the right way up".  Long, and for me, difficult!  What on earth do I do to portray this one?  I think this must have been Wendy's choice because I do not have the quote and so I have had to type it out on a piece of paper.  Hope she is having a better time than I am with it.

In a complete muddle I first of all painted the page a light green - then, days later, I used a stencil that I rarely use (one of Finnabair's that I have had for ages) but I do like it now so it will probably come out again and again.  I feel as if I am coming down with that flu that is going the rounds so was not in the mood for spending a lot of time on the journal, hence the stencil only being in the centre of the page.  I am burning hot and aching all over.

I decided to use one of the lounging figures that I have used often so that she looks as if she is doing bicycle exercises and balance the word "LIFE" on her feet upside down.  That was all I could think of to go with this saying.  But this time I chose one of the large figures.  After I had stuck her down I wished I had put her first and the sitting figure after her but hey ho, couldn't do a thing about it. Did you notice the word "Life" is upside down balanced on her feet.

So there is is - my interpretation of the quote which I found so difficult - wonder how Wendy has interpreted it?

WOYWW 546

Oops, what can you see on my desk this week?  Christmas card prep?  And a few tags.  The tags were done in previous years but I think they might well come out of hiding this year.  Well, I have now done 16 "C"cards - the only trouble is I did this same card last year and cannot think who I sent them to so watch out, you might get the same card this time as last.  

I can remember making all those poinsettias a good few years ago with a friend of mine and not using them so this year I am hoping to incorporate them into a card, at least until the copper metallic card I need to use runs out.  They will be done similarly to the white one you can just see at the top left corner (back view of course because I don't know how many I will make as yet),

Last week I forgot to do my page for my Jeudi Journal with Wendy and so it had to be done in a rush that morning.  This week I am hoping not to be in the same position so the card making will have to go on hold for a day or so.  I have not been in the mood for card making at all, is it because I have not been to any shows for a full year - has all inspiration gone?  I do hope my mojo comes back for making cards.  I bet there are a lot of WOYWW'ers out there who have some lovely cards to show.  Why not join in with us here and show us what you have been doing,

I did make our Christmas cake on Monday, well Chas did the most of the stirring for me as that kind of action seems to put my back in agony.  Now it is busy being soaked in booze through all the little holes that I poked in.  Not sure about the decoration this year, it is a long time since I did my fancy cakes so it might just be a layer of marzipan and then a layer of rolled out icing - although  should really do some Royal icing as most people prefer it.  What is your preference - Fondant or Royal?

Health Update:

The chiropractor is pleased with my progress (as am I) and so we are skipping a week and I will not be going for treatment this Friday.  Time will tell - I do hope I manage the two weeks without any really bad bouts.  I still have the pain a few times a day but it seems to go much quicker with some massage on the area affected and I think I have longer periods during the day without pain if I am careful.  Funny how just simple things like cleaning my teeth kicks it off.  No rhyme nor reason for it.

I have not heard from the hospital about my Meckles.  Each day when the postie comes I think it might be a letter telling me to go in but nothing as yet.  Knowing my luck it will be closer to Christmas.

Chas has succumbed to the dreaded cold that seems to be going, accompanied with a bad cough.  This is not like him at all as he rarely gets a cold but me, the one who always had colds, seem to be free for the moment except for a little runny nose.  Flu Jab?

Jeudi Journal - How About Never

"How about never is good for you" is the quote we are using this week.  Interpreting this pictorially was a bit of a nightmare.  It is so easy to just put a figure on without it really saying whatever the quote is but that is not the name of the game here.  My immediate thoughts were someone with a wagging finger but there isn't a figure in the Dylusion range like that - so what do I do?

First of all I had a page already painted blue, some streaks here and there but what about some stencilling/stamping?  In the end I chose an Andy Skinner (love the man) stencil and used the two faces in alternate corners and one of the shapes in the other two.  No idea why except that I like the faces and they did look kind of wistful.

Now what? Suddenly in a light bulb moment I thought about Christmas and children being good now in the run up to the festive time.  The adult is saying "how about never is good for you" because they have been naughty and that is the kind of response I think the adult might make to their requests for presents.

To give it the Christmas feel about it I have put Father Christmas hats on the children (already done for my "C" cards) and the adult is pointing to both of them.

Hope the picture becomes a bit more clear now that I have explained it.  It was done in a rush and I need to get thinking about next week which is even harder to think of.  Oh dear!

WOYWW 545

Gosh these weeks are going by so quickly - it will be Christmas before I know what I am doing.  The only thing I know at the moment is that I am joining in with Ms Julia and her long running blog hop - join in here, it's fun!

It's all about showing what you are up to and what is on your desk (work station) at the time.  Here is mine - two photos this week:

We went away again so that is why my black tote was on the desk - I have just unpacked it.  The little Green Cricket/Cricut on top of my other box is usually attached to the black tote as I got him at CHA once, long time ago, but he fell off on Saturday so off he will stay now.  Next to the white box are two plastic envelopes, one with a selection of clear stamps in and the other a pack I was given by the tutor at the Club on Saturday (hence the clear stamps and the scenic stamps at the front of the worktop).  Then there are some Promarkers, some small ink pads behind and my glass mat.

My glass mat again, some small ink pads and .... those brown cards are my "C" cards to date - yes, I have made some now, my Moleskin again, my black and white journal, some Promarkers and my Misti.

Everything above was taken away with me but all I did was finish off some parts for my "C" cards - I still have one thing to do on them but I must get a birthday card done today and then begin on some special cards - and YES, I have taken your advice and bought some cards.  Just handmade ones for those who really appreciate them.

Right, have to get in the shower now as I have my pain management class (they call it rehab) but I won't be doing the exercises as the doctor has said "No".  See you next week but hopefully will get around to some visits during the week.

Jeudi Journal - Not Listening

This week the quote is "No, I hear you, I'm just not listening!".  Ideally I would have loved a head where I could put the hands over the ears and a "la la la la" somewhere.  However,  I went through the heads in my ready done collection and didn't have one of the head in a hat covering most of the face which is what I immediately thought of so I settled on the head in a cage.  In fact I think it is the better choice of the two as you can actually see her but she has her ears covered.

Because of the size of the page I had to find a figure that was sitting down so I played about with four of them before ending up with the one with the jacket nonchalantly draped over her shoulders.  She doesn't have a neck but that doesn't matter because the cage affair would rest on the shoulders surely.  Do you like her patent leather shoes - a bit of Glossy Accents actually.

I used Cherry Pie Ink spray (Dylusions) to begin with and then wanted to bring an orange look into it so I let it dry and sprayed again but this time with Pure Sunshine. This has given the effect of orange with some areas more pink and some a little on the yellow shade.  Exactly what I wanted.  I didn't want a block colour and didn't want patches of two or more colours so I was happy with the end look.

I don't think I have ever used this large stencil so I used Fired Brick to rub some ink through the alphabet down the left hand side and then the same but with the numbers across the top.  At first I was going to give it a continuous border but thought it would be a bit like a prison with the figure inside it.  The same stencil had those flower like dashes in the centre so I went with them but not all over - just in one or two patches about the middle of the page - subtle and not in your face.

Wanting some grounding for my figure I went with some Washi Tape depicting Van Gogh pictures.  I have had these tapes for simply ages but they have been like that lovely paper you buy and take out now and then to stroke but always put back.  This time I plucked up my brave and used two of them.  I think they will be coming out again and I was actually thinking of using the complete set to create a striped page by using one after the other up through the page - dare I use so much though?

So there you have it - my page for the beginning of November - reddish orange to acknowledge Bonfire Night and a blazing bonfire.  Hope you like it.