Jeudi Journal - Never Too Late

 "It's Never Too Late to Make things Worse"  is the quote for today.  This has somehow got to be married to Halle's theme "I've got a notion" which is over on Art Journal Journey for this month.  Halle explains it is a bit 'tongue in cheek' and that she loves sewing so anything to do with the sewing room is acceptable, things such as buttons, lace, sewing patterns, hooks etc will do.

Now I have a problem this week.  Having gone away I thought I had covered all eventualities and packed everything I would need until I opened my bag and found my Thursday Journal stuff was on the table at home.  No Dylusion stuff means I cannot marry it fully but I can try something else.  As I am the only crafter here there is nothing I can borrow to fix the problem either.  So Wendy, it is my turn to apologise and I can assure you this was not intentional because you did the wrong quote last week.  Just brain fog!

"It was a sunny morning when Lori and Lola, two little hares, went bobbing along through the forest, and came across two little fairies sitting by the twin trees, known as Hope and Courage.

"Hello" said Lori to the little fairy sitting sifting petals through her finger tips.  "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for some petals to stitch onto the flowers that my friend is trying to mend" she replied.  "You see, we have been given the task today of finding all the flowers in this part of the woodland that have lost a petal.  It is important the for humans to have lots of lovely flowers to look at as they walk along the pathways.  My friend over there is busy stitching them back.  It takes an awful lot of skill to get them just right."

"I can see that" shouted Lola who was watching the other fairy stitching petals back onto the flowers.  "It must be hard not to make a mistake."

"Oh yes' said the fairy, 'we have to be very careful indeed.  It is so easy to not get the correct petal for the flower, besides which it's never too late to make things worse."

"It's like life in general" spoke up the other fairy, "it's so easy to keep on trying but you can always make things worse if you are not careful."

"Well" Lori said, "We had better get going on our way home, Mother will be wondering where we are.  Thanks for the chat, I feel we have learned quite a lot from that." and with that the two little hares went bounding across the grass heading for home with a story to tell their Mother."

Sorry but that is the best I can do for this week.  I hope you can imagine the two little fairies having needles and cotton in their hands as they sew the petals on the flowers.  I am sure there is one at the top of the page and there is a tape measure at the base (surely they have to measure the petals before they attach them).  Please delete if it will not suffice.

WOYWW 789

 It's Wednesday and that means it's WOYWW where we all met up with Sarah in her Craft Shed (not literally) to share our desks, tidy or untidy, nobody cares it's all about sharing.  Well, I've been in some groups here and there, both physically and on the internet and this is one of the nicest ones you could wish to join in with.  All you have to do is show your desk!  Simples!  They are such a lovely sharing, caring group of crafters, always there when you need them.  Cannot speak highly enough of them.  So if you are tempted I can assure you a warm welcome awaits you later today (or tomorrow or .... or .....  next week)

Well, I have been promising for the past three or four weeks to show something I made and still I have not got around to videoing it (hangs head in shame) but I do have a workshop I did online which I will happily share with you all today.  Hope that will make up for the lack of a video.  It was a Mono workshop with the lovely Jo Rice:

Sorry about the shadow from the phone

Below we have a boo boo on the left (Wink of Stella Clear came out yellow despite the fact I had last used it on one of the earlier blue cards on the lamp) so I had to do another one, and a mop up from cleaning the stencil on the right.  Isn't that hummingbird adorable.

These are spoiled ones from the books I was making (awaiting videoing) so in a way it's a sneak peek for you as way of an apology.

Oops!  I almost forgot my workspace.  

I'm off to a crop with a friend - see you!

Jeudi Journal - Upgrade

 "You live, you learn, you upgrade" is the quote we are working with today and we have to include something to do with stitching - well, the title of the challenge set by Halle at Art Journal Journey is "I've Got a Notion".

"Nina loved sewing.  Her mother had been an accomplished seamstress making Nina beautiful dresses when she was small but Nina was not into that kind of sewing preferring to do things that were far more arty and incorporating lots of different materials into her work, such as plastics, gems and seashells.  Embroidery was also a big thing with her and so her sewing often turned into pictures, many very artistic - enough to land in the local art gallery.  Indeed she almost always had a piece or two on show in the local library.

That is not to say that Nina could not make clothes, in fact she clothed her daughter when she was young, made curtains and duvet covers/pillowcases for the entire house thereby saving lots of money for other things such as holidays for the family. 

 Nina had been a member of the sewing group for quite a number of years.  She had put her heart and soul into making it a success and always always wanted the best for them.  So many times she had worked hard to encourage members to enter into a nationwide sewing display and they had done well, receiving the Silver Cup one year.  Not one member ever went without a birthday card made by Nina on her sewing machine but sadly this was rarely reciprocated.

Poor Nina, one day had an accident and broke her leg.  That meant she could not do her sewing on her lovely pink machine and therefore did not attend the group meetings where they all made things.  A couple of weeks went by and she heard that someone in the group had been spreading malicious lies about her.  Poor Nina did not know what to do and so she sent a message to the group defending herself with proof that these were indeed lies.

Next thing Nina knew most of the group stopped contacting her to see how she was, only a handful remained asking how things were.  Several hurtful things became known to her via the two loyal friends she had.  Poor Nina then made the decision.  She would not go to the group any more.  They would miss her eventually,  it would happen to someone else and then they would regret the way they had treated her.  As she said to her little dog "You live, you learn, you upgrade" and with that she put her thinking cap on, held her head high and started a new group of stitchers quite close to her own home.  No more travel, no more back biting - just happy times ahead.  And lots more awards for the new group. That would show them!"

WOYWW 788

 It's Wednesday again, another wet day yesterday here in the north, but two glorious days before.  Why does it change so much and so quickly.  In fact yesterday it looked like the middle of winter, the trees in the garden were blowing like mad and it was absolutely pouring down - and we were off to a funeral in south Manchester.  What a journey!  But I won't bore you with that.  Instead I will show you some photos from Ruthin, well Lavinia to be exact.  What a fabulous shop it is.  Have I shown you before?  Hope not  - so for those who have never been.

The first photo is to show you the ceiling,  It hangs with all mystical foliage and things creating a magical atmosphere.  You can just see one of the demo's through the door

The second and third photos show you some of the wonderful home decor you can buy in that part of the shop.  Isn't it beautiful?

Well, I didn't buy anything from here, spent up in the craft side of the shop.  No, I did not buy the entire new collection - bought a fair bit of it but there were other things that I really wanted and had to buy.  Silly old me forgot to take a photo of my stash but I was so eager to put it al away and catalogue it that I just got stuck in.

As you can see on my desk I bought the bumble bees.  They are truly adorable.  They come as a mini colony or two on their own, "Bumble and Hum"!  I just had to start stamping some and cutting them out to put in a tin as I know I will be adding these to many things in the future.  Instead of a butterfly covering an error it will probably be a bee.

Sadly I have not finished all my books I promised you on WOYWW ages ago.  Four are completely finished but the final one (and my favourite) is taking a while to dry where I stamped on Designer Paper.  Surely next week I will have them done and on video.  So my desk, and my bees plus a couple of the new stamps

Have a Good Week!

Jeudi Journal - Exhaust You

 I was in a bit of a rush this morning but am so late in posting my Journal page for Halle's "Ive Got a Notion" at Art Journal Journey because I had an early doctor's appointment.  8 am believe it or not when I joined the queue outside the surgery waiting for it to open.  That set me all of a "flunter" for the remainder of the morning and I have only just got around to doing something,

My sore thumb holds me up a bit, I never knew how much a thumb on the non dominant hand could be a problem.  Trying to find something to do with sewing, ie rummaging through boxes, was out of the question but in the end I managed to do a bit of cross stitch on a piece of cardstock.

"Marnie was known as the Glitter Queen amongst her family and friends, but what not many knew was that her house also fell under the spell of being a little eccentric,  Her friend Mae knew only too well that Marnie loved anything a bit different.  Take yesterday for instance ...

Mae had called to see if her friend wanted to go out shopping, or even wanted some shopping doing only to be told "No" and to "Call around tomorrow".  So being a good friend and not wanting to upset Marnie Mae went around the next day and found Marnie had been waiting in for a new piece of furniture yesterday.

There it was, a white armoire.  Not just any white armoire but a padded one with glittery cross stitching along the side and front panels, and perched on top was - a fawn!  No, it wasn't a real one, it was a plush velvet, life sized toy, beige in colour with light brown spots and a leaf which it looked as if it had been munching on.  

Marnie had placed it up to the wall and put her favourite ornament next to it - a large glass specimen jar in which she kept her pet caterpillar, Harry.

"What on earth have you been buying now" asked Mae.

"It's a white armoire but I had them embroider some glittery stitches on it, you know how I love my glitter."

"Ans what's that thing on top" Mae asked.

"That, my dear friend, is Fenella, my lovely little fawn.  I have always wanted a real one but nobody would sell one to me that was house trained so I had to settle for this little beauty.  Isn't she gorgeous?"

Mae looked over the top of her glasses, "I'll never figure you out" she said.

"Don't try and figure me out, it will only exhaust you." was Marnie's reply.

"I know" said Mae, "I've said it so many times and given up.  You are what you are, a Glitter Queen, but I love you."

And with that the two best friends had a little hug and it was time to put the kettle on."

I hope my little attempt at cross stitching will be ok with Halle and hopefully next week my thumb will be so much better and I will have time to find my sewing stuff or something.  In the meantime, thanks Halle for a lovely challenge for July.

WOYWW 787

Another Wednesday, another month, another WOYWW day and another wet one up north.  Honestly we get two or three days of sunshine and that seems to be it for summer up here.  And here am I talking of moving further up north than we are.  Thank goodness it's all a pipe dream with me.

Last week I showed you the beginnings of a book I was making - well, I am still making it - but the fifth one.  I have managed to do some simple stamping, nothing too elaborate but it has given me lots of enjoyable hours so that is what it is all about.

The thumb is ok, not too bad at all, just very bruised on the fleshy bit but the nail seems to be saved and only affected at the top half.  Who knows, next week you might get a little bit of a video but for the time being here is a sneak peek at what is on my desk

and a bit more interesting and a sneak peek at my stamping (my counter top):

I did some stamping on Kraft and embossing in white, some monochrome, the original watercolours, a painted one and an underwater one.  At the far right you can maybe make them out, the books that these pictures will stick to.  I cannot get the hang of this technique - Jo made hers look like lovely pale blue fencing - mine looks like ticking from the old fashioned bed thingies that grandparents had.

Not entirely happy but it will do and I still have three more to do but some will be plain coloured card and maybe some will be designer paper.  Time will tell.  And time is telling me I need to stop typing and get moving.  See you next week.  Take care.

Jeudi Journal - Unicorn?

"Being an adult is too complicated, time to be a unicorn" is the quote we have to work with today.  Marrying it up to Matilde's challenge at Art Journal Journey is not so easy but again I have managed it with the aid of a story so that you understand why we have the journal page we have.   Otherwise you would maybe think it all a wee bit strange.

I have trapped my thumb in the patio doors at the caravan.  Silly or dumb?  I just had one hand steadying my stance by the door whilst I leaned out to grab the door and swing it to - squashing my thumb on the way.  It's not broken I can wiggle it about but it bled like crazy all underneath the nail.  And it still throbs.  So my typing and my artwork has to be a little less than usual.  Luckily I had a page in my journal that had been there for ... years?  I have not a clue how I made it, it kind of has a feel of linoleum and there is a shine to it.  Anyway, it came in useful today.  No background to do and minimum of figures to colour, luckily they were already stamped and cut out.

"Mama Cat, or Sophie as she is known to her cat friends had had a really tiring day.  The weather had changed rather suddenly, the summer they all thought was never going to happen arrived and boy was it hot.  Not the kind of weather you want when you have lots to do, like getting four little ones off to school in a morning.  Made all the more difficult when Daddy Cat is off on a business trip for the entire week.

Of course the little ones had been playing up, especially the twins who always missed their father when he went away and really put Sophie's patience to the test.  It had escalated when Tom refused to eat his breakfast and in one of his tantrums he slammed the dish down and food went everywhere.  

After cleaning the messy kitchen up Sophie had gone upstairs to find that none of them had tidied their nightwear away and the bathroom looked as if a bomb had hit it.  It really was starting to be one of those days.  And so it went on.  Endless jobs needed doing and it was so warm that by lunchtime Sophie had had enough.  

Sinking down in her favourite armchair she felt drained.  "Being an adult is too complicated, time to be a unicorn" she uttered to no one but herself.  Then her eyelids dropped and she fell fast asleep dreaming of being a lovely pink unicorn riding fast and furiously along the beach, with the wind in her mane."

Would you like to be a unicorn?  They are all so popular with children these days and it always brings a smile to my face when I see a little one, like I did as I passed the fairground on Monday afternoon, running along clutching one of those balloons that stay up in the air, shaped like a beautiful pink unicorn.