WOYWW 472

Well, nothing much to show.  My workshop at the club didn't go down too well but then I must confess I did do a lot of 'nattering' with Pat, our Chairwoman.

See the card with the flower and the fern in yellow?  Well that was supposed to have the flower bleached out with using just water.  Didn't work with Adirondack Inks (had just been told to take Dye inks) so mine remained the colour of the background.  In front of that is a pink flower, that was done on Vellum and coloured on the back with reinkers - it looks fine but I now want to use my ball tools and do some work from the back on it like Parchment Crafters do.  My other card was a total disaster as my inks did not dry on the pearlescent card - not my fault I might add.  The fourth card I didn't even get around to starting LOL.

Behind those cards are still the charms for the round journal I showed you last week and there is a super duper little paint palette that I once bought from my friend *Mary which has lots of colours all stacked up on top of one another.  Must open it another week and show you.

To the right is a book I once did with Julia Andress (I think that was her name) which I ever finished but am going to because I know just the person to give it to.  I will say no more in case she comes on here and read this blog post.

Well that is it.  This is a scheduled post because I won't be home until late Tuesday night and could be quite 'cream crackered' after my four days in Amsterdam.  Can't miss out on WOYWW can I?

* Heard last night that they are having a Memorial Service for her in July and her niece in law is going to take her iPad with her so I can link in and be part of the Service.  I was so pleased and am certain to cry a lot but at least I will feel as if I am there.

Jeudi Journal

'Jigsaw Pieces' and Blue and Copper were the parameters for this week.  Luckily inspiration struck and I remembered I had some large jigsaw pieces somewhere, the question was "where?"  I did, luckily, find them and so set to drawing around them so they would not be so bulky in my journal.

The pieces were then coloured using various Oxides and a bit of stamping in black was done on each one to create a kind of background for the figures I planned to use.  The small Dylusion figures were each stamped, coloured and cut out before I set to on the page background colour which I had decided was to be the prescribed blue.

I used Dyan's London Blue which is quite deep as I had some black marker showing through on one of the pages from a previous post and I used my favourite "Diamonds in the Rough" stencil with some Copper paint I had from my teaching days.  Being honest I didn't like what I had done and so I hastily stencilled a border in a Turquoise paint - better but still not happy - so more diamonds went on the page again in the Turquoise.  I was happier.

and close ups

Next, with bated breath, the figures were added to the jigsaw pieces as I did not know whether or not they would work as the pieces did not really fit together.  Phew!  It was ok and so the page was complete as soon as I had outlined the bits of jigsaw in black to separate them from the blue background..  

I kept having the word "discombobulated" running around in my head and so that had to be part of it.  Hope you like my page and think it is fun!  Another one I thoroughly enjoyed making.

WOYWW 471

Week 471 is here and I am joining in the greatest little blog hop around blogland.  You don't need to make anything for this one - you just show your desk to everyone - untidy works really well.  As for a prize - well I can guarantee lots of friendship and what is better than that - oh, and fun too.  Join in here.

I did promise last week I would show you one of the things I made at the Ministry of Mixology the other weekend - the book I did with Kate Crane.  Kate beat me to it and posted on Facebook so you may already have seen hers which was fabulous.  Here's mine:

Here are the various bits of it all spread out

It's a journal and you can see the crumpled pages underneath the circles (no they are not cd's) that I can journal on.  Might use it for quotes, or for holiday notes, or stamp on them .... endless possibilities.

The other side (different stamping and stencilling)

But you came on here to look at my desk - although the journal above was on my desk for purposes of showing it to you - notice the scruffy mat I took the pictures on?  Terrible of me but I have had back ache and could not start again.  

I have been trying to make some atc's for a swap in memory of my friend Mary.  She loved going to a place called Ventura so we tried to take her there each year when we went over, as our treat, also she always told me she had French blood in her and she had a bit of an affection with the country so I thought these images combined the two, well they did for me.

Hope I am not giving too much away but I don't think anyone involved in the swap comes on my blog.  I have also offered to do a set (4 in a set) for a friend who is in hospital, I know she would have been amongst the first folks to sign up for this.  Least I can do.

That is it for now, we will have to see what next week brings - hope it is more sunshine.  Toodle Pip!

Jeudi Journal

Not sure whose choice this is as I did send some themes over to Wendy and asked her to put colour choices in so it could be a mix - Wendy will know.  The theme was Steampunk (which makes me think it was my idea as I am a bit of a fan LOL) and the colours were Vintage Photo and Tea Dye.

This one has a bit of influence from a friend of mine who was crafting with me the day I decided to do it.  Had to be done in advance as I was away over the weekend and knew there wouldn't be much time when I got back (and I would be exhausted after a weekend with the Mixology Gang - yeah!)  The background was done with Vintage Photo and Marmalade and then a paper Tea Dye border was added with a crackle stamp randomly over it.  I outlined the edge with black to finish it off. 

A stamp of some cogs in Archival Sepia were scattered all over the page and the "Deep Red - Lady Captain" was stamped on Tea Dye coloured paper.  (She was also stamped on white and on blue and it was a difficult decision which image to use).

The words started off as a suggestion by my friend but then he said he was a 'rebel' whilst we were talking of something else and so they got changed, just a little, to include that word - a lightbulb moment!  I used Mustard Seed to colour the paper for the words.

A little dull compared to previous posts but hey ho, steampunk lends itself to dark colours and these were what were prescribed.

WOYWW 470

Nice for me that the atc swap wasn't quite over last week as I still had my PiF to look forward to and it came in time - a lovely handpainted watercolour piece by Robyn from America.  Thanks Robyn.  A lovely atc!

Well, I was going to show you my latest project but as I am still "fiddling" with it you can just see one or two little bits that I was doing late last night.

Not much of a clue as to what is there but next week, without a doubt, it will be shown to you.  I just wanted to do some additional things to it - might not work but we can only see.  I have so much enjoyed doing it that I want another one to do, mind has been working overtime with ideas for the next one but I think it will have to be totally different and might not work out as good as this.  But then I did not think up the idea - Kate Crane did and she does some beautiful work.  Wish I could use a brayer like she does!

As you can see I have been using my DecoArt paints and the tiny coloured pieces are the cut outs from a Tando Kit.  Somehow I think these were cut out solely for this project and the next one might be a lot plainer.

Anyway, will leave you with just that photo above, not much to get excited about but I do hope you like next week's picture.  Very colourful is the only clue you are getting.

This is a card I made a couple of weeks ago for a friend's birthday and forgot to show you

That's it as I have to go for an ECG shortly so I had better jump into the shower.  See you over at Julia's blog, the Queen of Deskers where you can view many many more desks.  See you!

Jeudi Journal

Again Wendy's choice of topic - Bright and Beautiful - and this time she stipulated "Rainbow" for the colours.  Not quite sure what she meant and not a clue why I did not email her to ask, I went along with a pink and yellow background that had a bit of grey in it that was already done in my journal.  I just liked the colours I had used but have not a clue what the shades are or whose paints they were.

Remembering that 'Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain' I wrote down the initial letters of the mnemonic on a scrap of paper and chose ink pads according to them all, stamping small background shapes all over, finishing with a Violet wall at the base.  This was to stand my "Mirror" on so that I could use the words "Mirror, mirror on the wall ..." although most people would expect it to be a nicely painted wall of a house and not a brick wall.

Then I used my newest Dylusion rubber stamps (bought in the sale at Art from the Heart) when I was last over.  I used the glass dome on the set with a few bits cut off to represent my mirror.  Remember me winning a Black Journal that trip?

I really enjoyed making this page.  Hope you enjoyed looking at it.

WOYWW 469

No asterisk this week - wonder how many of US will remember to publish our names without it?

Well our ninth anniversary has come and gone in an avalanche of mail that the poor posties had to deliver as best they could whilst we bloggers sent out atc's all over the place.  These were nine of mine, sent out on the day in case my Pif was the same person as one I had agreed to swap with.

These were the same ones but in their little covers

There were a couple more but when I went to look at the photograph just now they had a big shadow over them, sorry.  And I forgot to take a photo of one of the ones sent to my Pif (all will become apparent when she posts as to why there were two).

Anyhow I sat and waited patiently for my collection to build up and it was exciting each day the postie called (asking me why I got so much post?).  Want to see what I got?  Course you do!

From the top left:- Angela (Felix the Crafty Cat), Julia (Boss Lady), Cindy (Plants List), Nikki (), Annie (Wipso), Shaz (Silverwolf), Zsuzsa (Inkydinkydoodle) and Sarah (Sarah's Craft Shed).

Apologies for it being a bit "skew-wift" but it was the third time they had been scanned and I gave up.  Top left again working across - Margaret (Glitter & Glue), Jan (LLJ), Jo (Twiglet) and Heather (Heather's Crafty Retreat).

A feast for the eyes?  Thank you so much everyone, and thank you to those who included all those little extras, the lovely cards, tags, envelopes and things.  I did intend writing and thanking every one of you individually but I had a dreadful ending to the week.  I am not functioning at all well at the moment.  I will try to get around to writing this week.

However, my desk - trying to make a sympathy card but not managing it as yet - struggling

Most of you will remember that I go to CHA/Creativation each January and stay with my friend Mary in California.  Remember me showing you my temporary desk on many occasions whilst I was there - her huge room of tables for classes?  Some of you may know that Mary was ill last November with Bullous Pemphigoid as a result of an infusion against osteoporosis and she didn't actually go to CHA this year but we still stayed with her, on her insistence.  Little did I know when I said "Bye" to her in February that I would not see her again.  Mary gave up her fight on Saturday and I am heartbroken.

I cannot begin to make you believe what a truly wonderful lady she was.  I only met her through a card making group we both were on when she casually (or so I thought) asked me what my plans were for my next visit to CHA.  She opened her home and her heart to us and so we stayed with her each year for the next eleven years, twice one year when she lost her home and I realised how lonely she was as her family were scattered around in temporary accommodation, for so many of them had also lost their homes.

Mary was so generous, she had the biggest heart and would never see anyone without a roof over their heads.  She opened her house to numerous people having parties for anyone who wanted to host a large gathering - her son's Super Bowl Party became an annual event and we were lucky to be there for most of them - a neighbour's special birthday - Stamping Parties (January/February ones she roped me in to do - when I made so many friends as a result) so many occasions this wonderful generous lady would welcome folks into her home.

Just before she was ill she went down to Pasadena giving card making classes to women who had been less fortunate than many of us.  It didn't matter to Mary that some of them had earned a crust living on the streets or committing horrendous crimes, they were trying to better themselves and her love was there for them to see - and they loved her for it.  I was supposed to be going with her this year but obviously it didn't happen.  We both thought there was next year.

I remember many times she would see someone begging on the street and would wait and cross busy thoroughfares to give them some money or stop the car at a junction to reach out and hand some 'green bills' to someone obviously out of work or homeless.

She was in many groups of card makers and the one I knew her in will miss her because she was such a bighearted, generous and loving member - no - more than a member, she was a 'stalwart' helping Cath the listmom in any way she could.  She always sent a birthday card to every single member and there was always a little rubber stamp inside the envelope. That was friendship, and then there was the "Sunshine Group" she ran.  If anyone was really ill or something had happened in someones' life where they needed "Sunshine" Mary was your man!  She had a little band of us she would contact and we would send off cards to that person.  No reasons needed be given, it was just to cheer someone up.

She did so many other things too, and I cannot sit and list them all here - I don't remember half of what she did but I do know that there will be a big hole in a lot of hearts now that she has passed.  

There have been many tributes from people on Facebook and her nephew Tim described her as "the glue that held us all together" and went on to say that everyone should have an aunt like her in their life.  A fitting tribute for a beautiful, wonderful, generous and most loving lady.  (Thank you Tim, it was beautiful)

I will miss you more than you know

RIP my lovely friend

God Bless you.

A favourite photograph taken a long time ago

Me, Mary (stood at the back), Carole