Jeudi Journal - Never

 "Me?  Sarcastic?  Never. "  That is what we have to work with today on our journal page.  Plus somehow marry it into a page to work with Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey which is to 'use a photo'.  Now in previous weeks I have noticed Wendy has said one or two of our Tim Holtz Snarky Comments have been hard to work with, I have found them fine.  But this one - oh no - I found this one difficult.  What's the betting Wendy has sailed through this one.  We seem to be in tandem so much with figures we use but not with how we find the Snarkies.

Today I am featuring a picture of a sunset taken at the seaside.  I am always striving to find the perfect picture, as good as the ones I see on the internet taken by others.  Guess my little phone camera is not as powerful as some of the cameras used out there.  Anyway, my story goes ...

"It was Betty's birthday and she had just been out for lunch with her best friend Sara.  The two of them had been friends since childhood, and were more like sisters than friends.  In fact they had more or less had their babies at the same time as one another and now, as they were much older and found they were without their husbands the friendship was something very special to both of them.

People did not understand why they each kept on their own house but both knew that the quickest way to end this perfect friendship was probably to live together and so they kept their own houses but spent such a lot of time in one another's company.  It was the perfect friendship.  Or so Betty thought until that day they went out for lunch and met up with Mary.

Mary had known both of them for a long time too, but she had never been a particular friend of Betty's, leaning more to Sara than anyone.  In fact other friends had warned Betty that Mary was going to push her out if she wasn't careful.  So Betty was a little wary that day when they went to their favourite restaurant and who should walk in, and more or less invite herself to the party, but Mary.  

Betty being the lovely person she was had just accepted the fact that Mary was joining them for lunch and not queried anything.  However when Betty and Sara mentioned their holiday plans, Mary said how super it would be and could she join them.

"It's going to be quite warm" said Betty, "I don't know if you'd like the kind of holiday we were planning." 

"Oh, I don't mind" Mary had said.  "I am easy to please, and will fall in with any of your plans.  I am rather surprised at you though, Betty, I would never have put you as the type for going somewhere warm.  With your complexion I would have thought you needed to keep out of the sun."

"We've been to Spain a couple of times before" interrupted Sara, trying to avert the discussion from going to Betty's red hair and rather pale complexion.  "You were ok then weren't you Betty?"

"You mean that time you came back with a lovely tan and Betty looked like a boiled lobster, all red and peeling." said Mary.  "I remember her looking a bit silly with the red face and the shape where her sunglasses had been.  We all had a good laugh when she came down to the garden centre."

"Don't be so nasty, you can be quite sarcastic at times" said Sara.

"Me?  Sarcastic?  Never" retorted Mary, "it's true she looked so stupid, I wonder why you would want to go somewhere warm again."

"Sorry" said Sara, "there's no room for you on a holiday with us if that is how you are going to be.  Come on, Betty, let's go and find somewhere else to eat lunch."

And with that the two friends got up and left.  Poor Betty was in tears when she finally got back home to her little dog, she let them fall down her cheek as soon as she closed the door.  "Thank goodness I was warned about her and Sara finally saw what she is like."  And with that she looked at the lovely picture of the sunset that hung on her wall "I'll show her, I can go somewhere warm and not come back looking like a lobster.  Just wait and see Mary Jones.  To Hell with 'Me, Sarcasm, Never' I'll show you."

My page began life pink  (evidence was on my desk yesterday when I posted WOYWW) and I wondered whenever I would use that colour again and what I could do to cover it.  I looked at my stencils but didn't find anything suitable so a quick coat of blue paint covered the sickly pink right up.  I used my favourite wallpaper stencil over the top with some Blue Distress ink and "hung" the picture on the wall to allow me to be part of Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey.  It's a super theme and there is lots of inspiration if you pop over to the blog.  Hopefully I might see you there.

WOYWW 709

 Well ... it's 2023 and a new year for all of us.  Hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year if you stayed up long enough to hear Big Ben chiming.  Years ago when I lived in a little place called Rawtenstall we had the parish church close by and it was a tradition with me and my two girl friends that we had supper at ours and then we went outside to listen to the bells at midnight on NYE.  Those memories stay with me.  Lovely ones.

It's very different now and midnight heralds all the fireworks going off around us.  We can even see as far as the city on a clear night - and we could this year.  A lovely display of everyone welcoming the new year in.  Sadly one of the girl friends is no longer with us and distance stops me seeing the other one but we celebrate it with our loved ones nowadays anyhow.

It is also time for us to take down our Christmas tree.  Didn't have much else in the way of decorations up but the tree is my main love anyway and I really do not like taking it down, I'm going to miss it.  So here are some photos of the various bits of the tree that I particularly like.  Maybe on Thursday when it comes down I will find other bits that are special and wish I had taken photographs of them.  Anyway these are my special bits:

Love this clock and the shoe

Father Christmas' beard is so full and this angel, cute?

Have had these musical instruments years

The mask reminds me of Venice

and this is our Tree

So no excuses, still not done any crafting (apart from my Thursday blog pages) but need to get back in the mood somehow so with a bit of luck next week, even if it's a birthday card like the usual ones for club members.  I will definitely do something.  Even my trolley remains bare.

All I have on my desk is this ugly pink page - yuk!  What can i do with it now?  Now you know why you got pictures of the tree.

Jeudi Journal - Pants

 "It's New Year's Day and Holly is wanting to go to the Sales so has called for her friend Ivy to go with her.  Holly is wearing her new hat which Mrs Claus bought her especially for the New Year's Eve Dinner which they all attended last night.  So thrilled with it Holly is wearing it again to go to the sales in the hopes that she will find a new coat to wear with it.

Ivy's dog, Mistletoe, is there outside the house wearing his new outfit that the girls bought him for Christmas.  Holly hadn't seen him wearing it all, she had bought the boots for his little toes to keep warm, they had fur right up to the top and Ivy had bought him a coat, hat and tail topper all to match.  He was her dog afterall.

"Hello Mistletoe" Holly said as he came over to her wagging his little tail, "is Ivy in?  I wanted to go shopping and thought it would be good to have her go with me, always better to go shopping with a friend."  And with that she went in through the gate by the holly bush.

Letting herself in she went through to where she found Ivy lounging on the sofa in her pyjamas.  

"Hi Holly" said Ivy, "what are you doing and where are you going?  It's a bit cool today, and have you seen that sky, it's full of snow and there is a bit coming down at the moment." She paused for a moment or two and then continued "Aha, I see you are wearing your new hat, perfect for New Year with the clock face and the veiled bit over the eye suits you down to the ground."

"You being sarcastic?" asked Holly, with a grin over her face, she had already been ribbed about the veil the night before, and well Ivy knew, so there was no offence taken.  "Actually I was calling to see if you fancied coming to town with me for a bit of sale shopping.  I could do with a nice new coat or a cape similar to the one you wear."  The two friends often wore clothes very similar to one another both having similar tastes.

"If it requires pants or a bra, it's not happening today" replied Ivy, "Sorry and all that but today is my chill day and after the party last night I could well do with one ... or two maybe."

"OK" replied Holly, "You do know Mistletoe is out?  I saw him by the gate as I was coming in.

"Not again" replied Ivy, "I've tried to keep him in but he keeps on going out again, I think it's those boots you bought him, he loves plodding in the snow in them, leaving footprints everywhere."

"Do you want me to bring him in?" asked Holly, "I'd better get off if I'm to get a bargain in the sales and can easily bring him in.  Save you putting a coat and wellies on."

"Thanks, you're a pal" said Ivy as she settled back on the sofa, all snug and warm in her PJ's and snuggle cape."

Once more I just did a simple snow scene but this time incorporated a brick wall to represent the house where Ivy lives.  Can you see the snow falling in the sky?  The words this week from Tim Holtz and his snarky book are "If it requires pants or a bra it's not happening today."

This brings to the end the stories of Holly and Ivy who work for Mr and Mrs Claus and it brings us to the end of the theme chosen by the lovely Jo over at Art Journal Journey.  I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did I only wish I had had more time to do more entries but with the Christmas rush and then the activities time just went.

I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy, Joyous and Peaceful New Year.  May 2023 be a Good Year for Everyone!  Happy New Year!

WOYWW 708

 Here's hoping everyone had a lovely Christmas.  No mishaps, just lots of fun, family, presents, good food and a lovely warm cosy fuzzy feeling inside.

I think I read that it was a white Christmas as some places (five?) had snow.   That is in the UK as I believe some parts of the USA have had really bad weather with temperatures way way down low.  I just hope you all have been safe and warm.  It's been cold enough at home for me at times and I have been glad of central heating and warm clothing plus lots of good home made soup inside me.

Finally the last cards got sent off and there were far more Christmas cards received than I thought with the threatened postal strike.  I think our posties did a splendid job here as they seemed to call each day.  We don't seem to have one particular one nowadays and there was an assortment of faces, both male and female, dropping things off for us.

My craftroom has hardly been touched and I hate to say it but the dies that were out on my desk are still there.  Mainly because I have nowhere to put the largest one.  Here's the evidence:

You can see them peeking out at the far side of my desk.  Also on it is my pencil case containing my tiny background stamps, then my blog waiting to be done for tomorrow (just have to finish the story off).  The pile of brown paper are bits cut out from some fab wrapping paper.  It was around my Secret Santa gifts from the club and featured the 12 Days of Christmas.  For example the 'ladies dancing' were pigs in frilly tutu's, and the 'lords a leaping' were frogs twirling around.  Someone had started colouring them in but I can finish them off and use them for a layout in one of my journals for another year.  Then you can see the dies and behind those are my orange circle cutters.  A fiver from The Works and better than the one I paid a tenner for and certainly better than the £25 one which broke first use.  (Dare I admit I have had them for years and only just found that they have a lock on the back to stop them moving the size)

Now to see how the other WOYWW'ers have been over Christmas and to wishYOU ALL THE VERY BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR.

Jeudi Journal - Doubt?

My Journal today has a simple window looking out over the town where Holly and Ivy live and work alongside all the little elves who help Mr and Mrs Santa Claus get all the toys ready for the children all over the world in time to celebrate Christmas.  I finally found my Dylusion elf but as he does not have a body I decided to hide him behind a rocking chair.  I drew a simple window shape and masked the area off so I could use a stamp with Santa's sleigh on to look as if he was setting off on his journey.  Added a Christmas tree, the rocking chair and some presents and put a tiny floral border around the top of the living room where Ivy lives.

Today the snarky comment from Tim Holtz is "I may be wrong, but I doubt it" and once more we are back with Ivy who works for the main man himself in the accounts department.  I am entering this, as usual, to Art Journal Journey where the lovely Jo has chosen 'Snowy Winter' as her theme for this month.

"It was the 24th December and Ivy had finished work for a much needed break.  Work had been full on for weeks with the rush up to Christmas and all she wanted was to go home and put her feet up.  Maybe sit and watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV with a nice hot chocolate and her new furry slippers that Holly had bought her especially for Christmas Eve.  

"Surprise" someone shouted as she walked in through the door, "Surprise Ivy" and from just behind her favourite rocking chair a little head popped up.  It was Elvis the elf with a big smile on his face.  "I've just let myself in, hope you don't mind.  But I wanted to give you your present tonight."

"Oh no," said Ivy, "It's lovely to see you, I missed you this afternoon at the party" and with that she smiled sweetly at Elvis, as she shook off her party boots.  He was a favourite of all the elves she worked with and she was secretly glad of the company even if it did mean she couldn't go to bed too early.

"What you doing?" asked Elvis, "staying in and having a party?"

"No" replied Ivy, "too much partying today, I am about to have a nice hot chocolate - would you like to join me?"

"Ooh, are there marshmallows too?" queried Elvis.

"Of course there are.  And mince pies too if you want one.  The special ones from Aldi down the road, you know with the flaked almonds on top.  I think I have some gin and some rum flavoured ones."

Just then they heard a loud woosh and someone yelling at the top of his voice.  Looking out of the window Ivy saw Mr Claus heading off in the sky pulled by his reindeer with Rudolph at the very front lighting the way with his nose.

"I think that means Mr Claus has set off" she said, "I may be wrong, but I doubt it"

Elvis rushed over to join her at the window and sure enough they both watched as Mr Claus set off on his journey around the world with sacks full of toys for all the little girls and boys.

"Merry Christmas" they both shouted at the window, 

"Merry Christmas to You All 

and Best Wishes for a Happy Peaceful Year Ahead"

WOYWW 707

Phew!  What a week.  It's all go go go at the moment with Christmas less than a week away.  I've got the cake almond pasted but not yet iced I think it might be a hurried snow scene the way things are going at the moment.  Mince pies are still waiting to be baked and I have the red cabbage and baking apple ready for one of my favourite dishes.  The freezer is well stocked with soups (my favourite is called Pistou and is delicious, a kind of, thick with veg, minestrone) and there is a pan full of leek & potato waiting to be packed up and put in the freezer.  I think all the shopping is done.

The cards are all delivered, some to the postbox so no idea if they have been received or not, and some to the actual houses along with gifts to those we buy for.  I just had one for my other half to get and that should be arriving via Amazon today.  I had to take out a trial with Prime to get it delivered in time for Christmas, so annoying when we have Prime but it's under his name.

I thought I had made enough cards to send out but on writing the names in them I found I was sixteen short.  Thanks to Jo Rice and a workshop I did with her I managed to make some quick ones one morning and get them sent out.  Then I found I had two more to do two special ones and so I ended up making two like this :

Yes, it's a take on the birthday cards I made for members of our craft group.  I've three more to do, of the birthday cards, and then all members will have had one.  I actually enjoyed making them so might do some more next year for Christmas.

My desk contains only the new dies which arrived the other week.  They've been sitting on my trolley since then and finally got moved into my craft room yesterday.  One of them is for the four tags and the holder that I showed you a few weeks ago when Carol did it at the club.

There is also my Dylusion Journal showing the last two pages I did and I now have to do a page for tomorrow to fit in with the winter theme that Jo chose on Art Journal Journey and the snarky comment that Wendy and I chose for our Jeudi Journal.  That should keep me busy tomorrow for an hour or two, then I can ice the cake and write a note to Chas' brother.  (His brother has had a fall and is in hospital down in Gloucester with a broken fibula, operated on on Monday, so that's been a worry with him being so far away.  He rang me on Sunday so we were able to have a nice chat despite him being in pain.) 

The car front passenger window decided to play silly games and in all the rain on Monday it kept opening on its own.  Guess who got wet?  Apart from that we are relatively ready for the big day and so I am taking this opportunity to thank you all for the support over the past years and to wish you all ...

A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS, MAY YOU BE SURROUNDED WITH LOVE.  

Happy Christmas!

Jeudi Journal - vacation

 "I need a six month vacation twice a year" is the quote for this week from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments and we are meeting up once again with Ivy who works for Santa in the Accounts department.  Once more we have a snowy scene so that we can enter this into Jo's "Snowy Winter" theme over at Art Journal Journey. This time I have used an elf from PaperArtsy as I cannot find my Dylusion ones anywhere.  Hopefully for next week they will turn up.  It's chaos in my craftroom as I've been rushing to get all my Christmas cards done and out in the mail.  It's an absolute mess!  My story continues from last week in a way.

"It was late and just a few days before Christmas when Ivy stood down the road from Santa's workshop waiting for her friend Holly to walk home when she noticed one of the elves standing just a tiny bit lower down and he appeared to be wearing a sandwich board.

"What are you doing?" she enquired as she got closer to the little elf, "and why are you wearing a sandwich board?"

"Oh" said the little elf, "Holly will probably tell you all about it."

"Tell me all about what?" asked Ivy, "surely you can tell me, you know who I am, Ivy from accounts"

"Well" said the little elf, "It's Leo you know, the lazy elf.  He's handed in his notice.  We all thought it a bit off as we are getting so close to Christmas and when we asked him what he was doing he just said "I need a six month vacation, twice a year" and with that he took off."

"What do you mean, he took off?"

"He just hung up his hat and walked out of the door.  The chief elf was angry and I think he had a word with Santa who was most upset.  Mrs Claus had just finished baking another load of gingerbread for us when all this happened, it put her in a right spin I can tell you."

"Poor Santa" said Ivy, "So that is why you are wearing that sandwich board, you are looking for someone to take his place.  I guess Holly might have to work a bit later in the purchasing office to help out,  I think I will go back inside and see if I can help."

"Could you ask Phil if he can come and take over from me" shouted the little elf, "It's awfully cold standing here and my knees are knocking - Santa did say we should only do ten minute shifts outside,"

And with that Ivy walked back into work to see if she could help out.  There was no way any little boys and girls were going to miss out on a visit from Santa if she could help it."

I hope you are all nearly ready for Christmas if you celebrate it - only ten more days to go!  Oh heck!