Jeudi Journal - Narky?

Well, what a quote for today!  And if I want to enter this into Erika's challenge over on Art Journal Journey I don't think I can use this quote as something that is amongst my favourite things.  The quote I was faced with for this week is "I'm not Narky - I'm selectively polite" so that would not do at all but I did manage to sneak in a couple of my favourite things on this journal page.  I had to, you see it is almost the end of the month and the last chance I will get to enter the challenge.

So I first of all began using my new Distress Oxide Spray.  I vowed I would not buy any more sprays but when I saw the result Tracy Evans got with the Frayed Burlap I knew I just had to have it.  The only trouble was I sent for the Bundled Sage!  It does not oxidise in the same way.  So now I am awaiting delivery of a Frayed Burlap Oxide Spray and in the meantime I sprayed the Bundled Sage on my page in five short bursts, quite near the page to get a circular pattern.  Didn't like it so I chose one of my favourite stencils and using Broken China Distress Ink I did a bit of reverse stencilling.  Then I added a bit of background stamping with what is fast becoming one of my favourite small stamps.

Next, which figures to use?  Well, it all depends on the story - or does the story depend on the figures?  That is my secret but the story this week goes:

"Emmeline is out with her aunt Rebecca and they have had a lovely day at the zoo.  Aunt Rebecca has taken Emmeline to her favourite restaurant for an English High Tea thinking it would be a real treat for the young girl and a perfect ending to a lovely day.  After a delicious sandwich (crusts off of course and thinly sliced cucumber), devilled eggs, scones with cream and strawberries plus a slice of Victoria Sandwich aunt Rebecca thought that Emmeline would be ready for home and possibly an early night for her mother, Rebecca's favourite sister.

But oh no, Emmeline has other plans in her head and she wants to delay the ride home and insists that her aunt takes her somewhere else AND buys her an ice cream.  Aunt Rebecca tells her "No, we must go home now, you have had sufficient to eat and will be sick if you have ice cream on top of all that", but Emmeline stamps her feet and refuses to speak to her aunt.  Aunt has been a nursery school teacher in her time and has witnessed many a child's tantrum so she decides she is having none of this behaviour and so she tells her niece in no uncertain terms that she will do as she is told.  Emmeline just stands there, refusing to speak or move.  When auntie takes her to task and tells her there is no use her having a mood as she is not going to stand for it,  Emmeline replies "I'm not narky - I'm selectively polite".  Now what does auntie think of that and what does she say next to Emmeline?"

I will leave you to write the ending to this story - I think I am going to be a wee bit selective over this!

WOYWW 608

Another week has gone by and the past week has been an enjoyable one because Mr Mojo came back to bite me on the bum and I produced stuff.  Not jaw dropping stuff but stuff all the same.  Blame Marjie Kemper for doing a 5 day challenge which was doing a page a day in a sort of junk journal.  I paid my dues and joined in.  Won't say we made two pages each day, or even one because some days we prepped pageS for the following days.  Anyway, here is what I ended up with:

Top L is a paper bag, bottom R cereal box

Top R is washi tape

Well, after crafting each evening for an hour Mr Mojo was definitely back and so on Friday night I immediately signed up for a workshop with Jo Rice.  

Jo used hearts where I have used stars

I loved that card and was raring to go on another so I got my journal our and made a similar page in my journal.

Now if I show you my desk as it is this morning (and was last night) you will think it is staged.  Well, you might be kind of correct but it isn't, it is just waiting for me to decide which stamps I am going to use in my next layout which is going to be along the same lines but with different stamps.  Can't wait to get started.

Was raring to go both Monday and Tuesday but other things got in the way so it is all ready for me to get going today.  But first of all I have to order the correct Distress oxide Spray - I ordered Bundled Sage when I meant Frayed Burlap.  Doh, still am a dizzy blonde despite the blonde having faded over the years.

Well, see you all next week on WOYWW when I hope the mojo has kept working, but in the meantime here is my desk today - I am off now for a snoop at other desks.  Toodle Pip!

and here is space around the corner

Jeudi Journal - Sugar?

 Well I am struggling typing as I cut my finger on a piece of paper and, perhaps because I am on blood thinners, it keeps on bleeding,  third plaster now.  So that's my excuse for the state of my blog today.  Did it work?  I don't want sympathy just you to acknowledge that typing and painting was a bit difficult to do.

To begin with I had a page covered in Victorian Velvet Stain but I did not like it.  I decided to paint over it with a red which I toned down a bit with some white.  Talk about in your face!  I had also been doing an online workshop with Marjie Kemper and one of the things we did was use texture paste through a stencil so the obvious thing was to clean it up by putting it on my journal page.  Some left over paste had to be used up rather than put in the pot so it got quite a bit on it - little did I think about the writing I was going to have to do later.

Anyway the quote this week is "Sorry but I'm, all out of Sugar Coating" and today we are in the home of Petunia the pretty cat and her other half, Bert the bulldog.

"Bert has just got a phone call to say he is to report to his doctor's surgery in five days time for his Covid vaccine.  He's been moaning for a while as to when it will be his turn, thinking he should have had it by now because of his bad chest, but now it has come he is reduced to a bit of a quivering wreck.  You see Bert is afraid of needles!  In fact when Petunia gets her knitting out he turns a paler shade of grey and 'whoa', when she starts to continue with her cross stitch he goes positively ashen.

Poor Petunia has had enough, he has done nothing but moan about him needing the vaccine and now it is here he is moaning that he doesn't think he should go.  She is getting a little tired of going into another room to do her sewing and knitting just because of his "fear" of needles which she seriously thinks is ridiculous and partially because he wants to stretch out on the sofa and watch what HE wants the whole time on television.  She is always finding ways to pacify him about the various phobias he says he has but this time she has had enough.  For the first time in her life she gets angry and yells at him "Sorry but I'm all out of sugar coating".  Then she tells him he is worse than the kids."

This story has come about because they are wheeling out the vaccines like nobody's business here in the UK.  Every night the news is full of the various places where they have set up huge centres in an attempt to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible.  Some areas are ahead of others but if people will only wait their turn it will come.  (Incidentally this is no reflection on my other half, he is happy to wait his turn, unlike some.). 

I am linking this to Erika's challenge over on Art Journal Journey where she asks you to choose your favourite things.  I think one thing I am very happy about at the moment is that at last it looks as if we might have a more normal life ahead of us - I just pray it is so and the medics and all associated with them  can start to relax a little and have less stress in their lives.  

WOYWW 607

Once again I have had to change my password - no idea why but it keeps telling me to change it.  Doing my head in.  Still, I am here now and ready to go showing you my desk in all its glory (that's code for mess) and a peek at what I have been up to during the week since last time we met.

Why am I showing you my desk?  Because it is Wednesday and the day to join in with others baring all - on the desk that is - and having a nose about to see what others have on their desks and also what they have been doing for the past week. Want to know more?  Want to join in?  Click here and all will be revealed.

This bit is not a mess but the hidden bit is, honestly!

I joined in a class, virtual, that is each night for an hour and that is what is on my desk plus a couple of die cutting machines.  Far right are some pages we did last night but by the side of the grey die cutting machine is the page we did today.  I made a tag to show what we did and on the back I am writing the instructions as I will perhaps forget.  I might show you all the pages next week in more detail.

I have been busy making cards.  I got the idea for these from my friend Maxine and did a worksheet to explain for my friends at the club.  It helped that I had lots of those Janet Klein figures readily cut out and coloured so I could add the to the cards but you could add a flower or something else - or even nothing as in the first one.

or an alternative way

That's all for this week, I just want to wish all my American friends a peaceful day as their new President is sworn in before I leave this post.  

Jeudi Journal - Crayons

Well, this week the quote is "I have neither the time or the crayons to explain it to you".  Now I do know that to be grammatically correct this should be "nor the crayons ..." but as it was presented to me by Wendy as "or the" and she had taken it from some polymer stamps I decided I should leave it as "or the".  No time to ring her and ask her what she was going to do I just went ahead with it as was.

Just in case you, dear reader, have never heard of the quote and think it a bit 'strange' it means "you are stupid and I don't have crayons to illustrate/draw what I am saying to you, and even if I did have some crayons I don't have the time to illustrate/draw it".

In my example today I have Great Aunt Mabel with her nephew George.  "Great Aunt Mabel is of the old school, she has never been married, not had many dealings with young people and can be a little intolerant at times.  As her sister Mary always says "our Mabel is a bit cantankerous at the best of times'.  Unfortunately poor George had been sent over to Great Aunt Mabel's to take her some flowers and one or two other bits.  (A little bit like the fairy tale of Red Riding Hood going to see her grandmother but in this case the grandmother, or Great Aunt Mabel, is the wolf.)

Unknown to both George and his mother Great Aunt Mabel is allergic to some flowers.  As soon as Great Aunt Mabel sees the flowers she shouts for poor little George to take them away as she has 'allergic rhinitis'.  Poor George has not a clue what she is on about and thinks she is talking about some animal rather like the rhinoceros he saw in a book of his the other day.  Trembling he asks her what she means and tells her he does not understand.  She goes on to say that 'an allergy is an immune system response to a foreign substance that's not typically harmful and is called an allergen' but when George stammers to her 'I dddon't knnow. wwwhat yyou are ooon abbout' she gets really angry.  That is when she decides he is stupid and she bellows at him 'I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain it to you'

Poor George just stands there and trembles before dashing off, back in the direction of home and his mother's arms, leaving the goodies on the floor.  Great Aunt Mabel has not a clue what has just happened so she picks up the goodies and takes them into her house, closes the door  and pops the kettle on ready to enjoy one of the delicious biscuits she has just had sent.  'Children, why do they not understand these things?' she asks herself."  

In my attempt at tidying/reorganising my craft room  (which, because of my bad back is going to take about six months I think) I found two tins of Distress Ink Stains.  Now how or what I used them for in the past I haven't a clue.  I just tried a couple out on my journal page but don't think I will use them like this again.  Maybe I should watch a "You Tube" video or two to see how to get the best use out of them.  If all else fails I will decant them into spray bottles.

So why, if I am not that 'taken' with these stains am I adding them to Erika's challenge over on Art Journal Journey?  Well, to be honest I do not view them as a bad thing, I view them as part of this reorganising of my craft room that I have decided will take place this year.  Each part I tidy unearths something I did not know I had (like my Pergamano Paints that preceded my love of rubber stamping) and hopefully leads to a much more relaxed and easy use of all the things I have accumulated over the years.  I so enjoy de-cluttering, don't you?

WOYWW 606

 Oh dear, the news is not good on the Covid front but let's leave that back on the television and talk "desks".  Why desks - because we are showing what is on our desks each Wednesday here and have been doing so for such a long long time.  Last week I showed you my paints, all out on my worktop - well this week they are a little bit more compact - in my new three tier trolley.

I did have a three tier trolley before but gave it to the bathroom, when it was refurbed, as a place to hold our towels.  It was the perfect colour.  So 'housekeeping' bought me a new one - grey to match the filing cabinets.  You can see all those paints are now packed into this trolley apart from the Metallic Berol ones.  So what is next?

Decided to attack (and that is the correct word) the top shelf of one of my cupboards.  This is the result:

or a little closer

empty tins?

The next job was to look at the pencil crayons and suchlike.  Note I counted Gelatos and Distress Markers in with them.  Alcohol Markers too.

Soon we were looking much more like it and ready to start on the second shelf down (as shown below)

Top shelf shows my Prismacolours in the pink case then the silver tin holds my other tins of crayons plus Inktense, Polychromos and Caran D'Ache.  Next is my fold up spray booth, then some Arteza, Chameleon and felt tip  type (Marvy) pens with my Promarkers in the usual box that now needs recovering it is such a mess.  Oh and still in working order - my Archival Pens from way way back.

So my desk today is much tidier

See you next week folks!

Jeudi Journal - People

Made a complete mess yesterday of my journal page.  Went over it with a pale blue that I mixed myself and then decided to use my Eco-Friendly green paint!  It came out oily - you know, when the paint pigment does not mix.  Being in a tube I had shaken it well, or so I thought, but obviously not enough.  It made such a mess.  I then went over the whole thing with a baby wipe and got most of it off so used Forest Moss Distress Ink instead through a stencil.  Then my black pen would not work!

I never normally use this type of stencil and it is supposed to represent a meadow - not a bit wintry as I hope to bring some Spring into your step when you look at this. 

The quote is "I'm running out of people I can't stand" and so the story this week is about Shelley:

"Shelley is a little grumpy at the moment and it shows in everything she does.  She has a wide circle of friends at school but slowly but surely every single one of them is annoying her.  Take Emma for example - the other day she wore exactly the same shade of lipstick as Shelley, much to Shelly's annoyance.  Not only that but she had bought the matching shade of nail varnish too.  That really hit home as Shelley could not afford to buy it for herself - and Emma did not offer to let her use hers!

Then there was Sandra, she decided to be best of friends with Gemma who Shelley could not stand.  How could she do that?  So that meant Emma and Sandra were definitely not in the friendship circle any more as far as Shelley was concerned.

Peter, Imogen and Saira had called but with the mood that Shelley was in she did not know whether she wanted to hang around with them or not.  The temptation was there to say "No" to their invitation to go out but she realised that if she was not careful she would end up with zero friends.  All that was left for her was to give herself a good talking to and she did.  She popped back in the house and shouted to  her friend, Mr Nobody, "I'm running out of people I can't stand" in the hopes that he would advise her one way or another as to what she should do.  In the end she went out to meet them, better to have some friends than no-one."

I am entering this into Erika's challenge over on Art Journal Journey where the theme is 'Favourite things' - now what do we value such a lot?  Friendships.  Friends are more precious than materialistic things and it is the start of a new year when we wish friends all the happiness in the world.  So today I wish you all a Very Happy New Year, may your cup overflow with happiness.