Some Journaling and Musings

I've managed a bit of journaling recently, which is a nice change.  I'm still working on my August calendar page, but am much further on than last month :-)  My pages don't have much writing on this time - but one had all the writing done first and then covered over with gesso and the images and the other has all the writing hidden within the box.  The brown page is a bit of a departure from my usual style, but it felt good whilst I was making it - which is what it's all about really.

I've been quite distracted during the last few days as I've got caught up in watching the Olympics in the evening.  I hadn't really planned to watch that much, but have been fascinated by the swimming events in particular.  I've really enjoyed watching the races and have cheered on so many of the competitors.  I know that the main focus will be on the track and field events, but I think I've enjoyed this much more.

Anyway, better get on with my August page

Thanks for dropping by.

Whoa - where did July go, I am so behind!!

Yet again I'm blogging my calendar page late.  I don't know what's got into me but I just can't keep up properly.  I think all my energy is being taken up by the new (very unfamiliar) stuff I've been landed with at work and in the evening I just can't get going with arty projects, even though I want to.  I keep getting more and more stuff foisted on me at work, but never losing anything, and something is going to have to give.  I just don't have enough working hours in the day any more - and I really don't like the new work that I've got to do.  Anyway - enough of that!

I've still got to write up my squares for June - all the info is there I've just got to get on with it.  July is done and I'm also keeping notes for each day on a special grid.

Here's July - all ready for the words .......

Tree and Cheshire Cat by The Octopode Factory

Thanks for stopping by - hopefully there'll be more art next time.

A Sunny Day

Had a great day out in London on Saturday.  We'd been watching the weather forecast all week hoping for a bit of luck - and we got it.  We had sunshine all day and it was so lovely to be able to walk about without a coat (although we'd taken raincoats just in case).


I found a little piece of heaven just outside Covent Garden - London Graphic Centre.  I think I'm going to move in there.  Pens, pencils, Promarkers, paint, books, etc, etc ...........  I could have spent hours and a fortune there, but only bought a new Seawhite book for my calendar challenge and a pot of Golden Fluid Acrylic in Titan Buff.


We walked for miles and miles during the day, quite a bit of it along the Thames Path.  It seems like more of it is open again because we didn't get diverted away from the river as often as we have recently.  We did take a diversion through Borough Market which was great.  There were so many interesting stalls selling different foods and products and we bought a few bits and pieces.  We had a slice of fresh watermelon which was a real taste of holiday and very juicy.


Tower Bridge is decorated with Olympic rings at present, so we made our way up there to have a look.  the South Bank always seems buzzing with activity and is such a nice place to be.

The Emergency Poet on the South Bank

We made our way via the Tube across to Knightsbridge and then across to Hyde Park.  We had wanted to try and find a particular tree with amazing bark that we'd seen at Christmas - and believe it or not I took us straight to it.  I was quite impressed with myself.  The tree itself is really impressive and with a full canopy of leaves looks very imposing.

We then just wandered down towards the river, but kept getting diverted because of the works that are taking place in preparation for the Olympics.  Pretty much all of Green Park and St James's Park were out of bounds so we had to stick to the roads until we got pretty much to Westminster.  The whole of London is going to be unbelievably busy during the Olympics and I'm not sure that I'd want to go anywhere near a Tube station during that time.


It was such a lovely evening that we weren't ready to go home so we walked on along the river along the embankment opposite the Palace of Westminster towards Lambeth Bridge.  It was here that I found a lovely place to get a cup of tea.  The chap there took so much care about making the tea - using tea leaves!  If you're ever in that part of the city go there for a drink, it's great.  Not expensive either, especially given the location and quality of the drink (£1.50 for tea).  In fact it's the best cup of tea I've ever had made for me.

I'm going to journal the day because it was so great.  Mind you I think I'll not mention the journey home which was a bit fraught at times.  We knew that part of the M1 was going to be closed , but when we tried to get on at J10 there were no diversion signs at all.  You were just left to your own devices!  Fortunately we figured out where we needed to go and eventually rejoined the motorway after the section that was closed.  All was going well until the matrix signs advised of an 'incident'.  For some unknown reason the Police closed the WHOLE motorway, for around 30 minutes at midnight.  When we got past the site of the 'incident' all you could see was a couple of police cars and a burned out Landrover on the hard shoulder, but no Fire Engines, recovery or anything else - basically no obvious reason to close the whole motorway for such a long time.  I'm all for ensuring safety - but I think that sometimes the Police can be a little over enthusiastic with their authority and don't consider the number of other people that they are affecting by their actions.  Anyway - enough of that.


I'm still working on my July page for the Calendar Challenge - bit behind this month, but will get it posted soon.


Anyway thanks for sticking with this really long post - hope it wasn't too hard going.

Wow - June is flying past at warp speed

Blimey, where has June gone?  I had my June calendar page ready on time, but May wasn't quite finished so I thought I'd finish it, photograph them both at the same time and then post them in the same blog post.  Well, obviously things didn't go quite to plan as it's now 23 June and I'm only just getting round to it.  I'll post May at some point (if I can remember what I did on 1 May, cos I didn't make a note).

Moggi image by Lili of the Valley

I've done a bit of journaling during the month, some of which is below (the other stuff is a bit personal)

Pictures from Lolcats website (icanhascheezburger.com)

Postcard from Robert Opie collection

Centre image is photo taken in Arrecife, Lanzarote - thoughtful graffiti

Last week I went to a fab day at AFTH taught by Kate Crane to learn about Golden paints and mediums.  Kate is really knowledgeable and when she explained the science behind the art it all made much more sense.  It was a nice small group and everyone was really friendly.  There were plenty of supplies to go round so we could give everything a good try.  I already had a couple of the Golden heavy body acrylic paints, but I found that the fluid acrylics are much more to my liking - so I ended up buying one or two ..... or 5.  I love the sheen that the paints give to a page, they look really professional.  Although I've told Pete that I'm not going to buy lots of the paints - I might just have to buy at least a couple more colours.

Anyway - hopefully it won't be quite as long until my next blog post - although the outbreaks of CBA syndrome do seem to be happening more often these days.  I need to think of something to counteract it, as it's affecting all parts of my life.

Thanks for dropping by.

April Floats Away and in Drifts May

Where did that last month go?  I think the days floated away with the torrential rain that we've had.  I don't think Sheffield was identified as a drought area, and although we've had a lot of rain here it really makes you feel for the areas that are being told they have a hosepipe ban, potential for standpipes in the summer - yet are currently several feet under water!  To make light of the rain I've added a little picture of Zingy (the cute EDF energy mascot) sitting in a birdbath to my April page.  It makes me smile every time I see him (but annoyingly the theme for Hawaii Five O immediately starts playing in my head).  Ah well, a small price to pay for being cheered up by the little orange guy.

I've kept up to date with filling in my daily squares this month, and I'm so enjoying this project.  May's pages were started quite early on and it's been nice to be able to revisit them regularly and tweak them a little here and there.

Stamp image:  Gorjuss

Mind you, the weather has also brought some amazing sights, such as the vivid rainbow that appeared at the end of our road recently.  Don't you just love nature :-)

I'm hoping for a bit better weather soon as I'd really like to sit out on the new outdoor sofa that we bought from Ikea.  I've been after one for ages, but we actually bought two corner chairs which were designed to either combine into a sofa, or you bought a corner and straight piece and had a chaise-longue.  Since then it's hardly stopped raining for two minutes!  Mind you, at least the weather has stopped the neighbours from using the HUMUNGOUS trampoline that they've put into their small garden - right up against the dividing fence.  So now, instead of our lovely patio at the top of the garden being a tranquil, fairly private oasis, we face the prospect of the summer days with small faces appearing over the fence at very regular intervals.  I'm not against people having fun - its just that where they've sited it is a bit unneighbourly.  Ah well.

 

Thanks for dropping by, its appreciated.  :-)

Hello April

Hmm, intermitent blogging again.  Must try harder. 

Well, I'm pleased that I've kept up with the 366 Calendar Challenge so far.  It was quite close this month as I normally prepare the coming month during the current month - but with going away at the end of March and all the prep for that, things went a little astray.

I had a lovely break in the sunshine in Lanzarote again this year - a complete and utter self-indulgence as there was only me to think about so I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, if I wanted.  Of course, it is a bit of a double edged sword though - I love the freedom and space, but I do really miss Pete whilst I'm away, but know that the time away makes me appreciate him even more (if that's possible).

Beach at El Golfo

Late Afternoon on Puerto del Carmen beach

My cake caused quite a bit of interest with the locals at Los Jameos del Agua

So, to mark my holiday some of the squares on my March calendar page are pictures of where I was on that day, which is a really nice reminder. 

The holiday also gave me another resource - which was to use one of my photos, recoloured, as the background for some of my April squares.  I took a picture of a jellyfish in the sea, but the ripples of the sea in the photo just cried out to be used as a background.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out.  I've always looked for interesting textures to photograph, but this is the first time I've been able to use anything.  It's made me even more determined to seek out interesting things to photograph in the future.

Already the calendar is proving really interesting as its shown that in Sheffield we've had snow on the 4th Feb, 4th March and 4th April - how spooky is that!  I don't want any snow on 4th May though!!

Have done some crafting during the past weeks, but I need to get more inspired and get on with making things.  I did make two Mothers Day cards with new stamps and Promarkers (which are my latest obsession).  Got to practice more with the Promarkers to get the shading and effects right, but they do give some beautiful results.

Lili of the Valley stamp



Lili of the Valley stamp



Anyway - thanks for sticking with this long post (and apologies if the pictures appear in strange places  - Blogger and I aren't getting on in this respect).

Happy crafting.

366 Calendar Challenge - adios February, hola March

Wow, another month has flown past.  Sometimes the days seem endless, but when you look back the weeks seem to have just zipped by.   I'm really enjoying this calendar challenge.  I started my March page in early February and have enjoyed just playing with it during the month to get it to the point where it's ready to go.

Anyway, here's February completed and March ready to start ...



Stamp - Hug Monster, Stampotique



I've left a gap towards the end of the month as I'm going away to Lanzarote for a few days and want the squares to have a background picture of somewhere that I visited on that day.  The first and last days are done, but I'll print the others when I get back.

I am so looking forward to my little break - work has been particularly stressful and upsetting over the last few months so I'm ready to just run away.  The thought of my holiday is what has been holding me together recently (along with a wonderful husband who treats me like a princess).

I've been doing some art journaling too which has been enjoyable.  There are some nights when I come up to my craft room and just spend time moving stuff about and not really achieving anything, but then there are others when I feel inspired and get loads done.  Those are the nights when I'm still mid-flow at gone midnight and should really be in bed, but they're also the ones that rescue me from emotional carnage.

The Ctrl-Z page came about because I'd forgotten to take interim pictures of one of my pages and one process had changed it a lot from how it started.  I just thought how useful if would be to be able to do Ctrl Z and take it back a couple of stages so I could take a photo, then redo the stages.

This is a posting of two parts.  I'd started the message last night and wanted to put some more images into the post - but had a major panic because loads of the thumbnail pictures on my files didn't match the names of the files!  So loads of virus checking, searching the internet for help, downloading new antivirus programmes, etc.  Finally, it turned out to be incredibly simple!  If you've ever seen files on your PC called thumbs.db - these control the thumbnails for your images and if they get out of date, things look weird.  So, all I had to do was right click, select update thumbnail and everything was fine.  Total relief.

Anyway, thanks for visiting - hope you liked the pages.