Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to the NEC I go...!

This blog post title came to mind as I was watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves yesterday afternoon whilst I was die cutting! I haven't seen it for a long time and I really did enjoy it, singing along to all of the songs...and especially "Hi Ho" - love it!

Singing seems to have been the theme over the last couple of days beginning with Monday evening when Heather and I went to see Madame Butterfly at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. This was one of my gifts from Heather for my birthday back in July, so we were joking that I now have two birthdays like the Queen and 3rd November is now my "official" one! 

I had been so looking forward to this as I've not been to the opera for a few years now. It was the first time for Heather and she was open minded but dubious! Needless to say, I absolutely loved the whole evening and spent most of the opera an emotional wreck! The set was gorgeous, the costumes were beautiful (including some antique Japanese kimonos) and the singing was first rate - especially the soprano.

Heather's still not convinced and I don't think she'll be going to see any more opera! Heathen! Lol!

Last night I was in Blackpool again, this time at the famous Tower Ballroom - not to see strictly, but for an evening called "Light in Darkness" with the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu. In my head I'd pictured tables placed around the ballroom a la Strictly, but it was quite different....hundreds of chairs filled the dance floor, all facing the stage and it was obvious that this was going to be a huge event. Sure enough, people were streaming in and soon the two tiers of balconies were also packed - so much so that two coach loads of people couldn't get in and had to go back. This didn't go down well with the Archbishop when he found out what had happened...I'm guessing the Tower staff got into their "health and safety" mode and decided any more people would be a risk.

There was a lovely moment when the Archbishop walked onto the stage to be greeted by the Bishop of the dioscese.....

....and promptly waltzed him across the platform! What a charsimatic man he is and his talk was inspiring. There was lots of singing too and being amidst those hundreds of people in such a wonderful setting was a real joy. For any like minded people reading this, it was heartening to see that, despite what we may read in the press, Christianity is alive and well!

My throat's pretty sore this morning so I am hoping it's a result of all the singing and not the start of anything else!

Well, I'm all set for my trip to Birmingham shortly. I've a walk to the station, two trains and a taxi to the hotel ahead of me. No problem except for this "little" lot that's coming with me...

Just the bags...not the cloth covered table in the background I should add! My bags are jam packed and there wasn't room for very many changes of clothes so I shall be wearing some outfits twice I'm afraid.

Thomas is sulking big time as he always knows when I'm going away for longer than a day, even though I try to stop it from being too obvious. Tara isn't too worried as yet! They don't go into kennels when I'm away as I think they'd find that far more stressful, so my neighbour will be popping in to feed them and will put the heat on if it's chilly and the telly from time to time to make them feel less lonely. Of course, if they got on with each other better it would help! I'll be glad to get back to them on Sunday night.

Well, I had better get back to tidying up the place a bit before I leave. Hope to see lots of you at the NEC - I'm on stand A17 with Card-io. Looking forward to it!

Saturday

Just a quick post this morning whilst I'm having a coffee to warm up...bbbrrrr it was a chilly start to the day. Mind you, not quite as cold as it was when I got up yesterday morning and found that I'd left the front door unlocked and ajar all night! That gave me a chill in more than one way.....good thing I live where I do! It's not something I normally do (though I confess that it has happened once before - ages ago) but I will be double checking things from now on.

As I type there are about forty Starlings chattering and fighting for room on my bird feeders - another sign that Autumn really is here and it does remind me of something that I look forward to at this time of year when their numbers swell and the spectacular swarms, or murmurations, start. Luckily for me, this area is one of the best in the UK to see them and, if I'm lucky, they will be creating their spectacular swirling shapes right overhead. I'll be keeping the camera charged up and handy!

On Monday Heather came round for the day and we had a lot of fun, supposedly being creative but messing about might have been a more accurate description! Heather wanted to alter a box in the style that I've been using on my mixed media canvasses and somehow (between all the nonsense!) got it to a stage where she can finish it at home. 

Heather has had a recent transformation too - losing loads of weight and finally taking the plunge to dye her hair - so we were taking photos so she could update her Facebook image. This also resulted in some silly photos in my garden....and confirmed why we don't like taking "selfies" as they looked pretty horrendous! This is about the only one I dare show, or Heather will punch me! Lol!

It's a nice one of Heather and, luckily, I don't mind looking a prat!

This was the table part way through the day....

....the lid of the box in the background and the pieces that I was working on at the front.

I'm working on  more mixed media pieces today in readiness for Saturday's demonstration event at The Craft Range in Burnley....

.....as you can see, there will be lots going on, so it's going to be a really interesting and fun event to come along to. Hope to see you there!

Well, the sun is finally making an appearance from behind the clouds, so I am going to go back into my Doo Lally room, turf the permanent fixture (ie Thomas) off my table and carry on with work for the rest of the day. Have a good one everybody.

Autumn approaches

Thanks to everyone who came along to my demonstration at Crafty Corner in South Shields yesterday. It was great to meet you all and I hope that you will all be getting nice and inky with the ink sprays and spritzers! As promised, here are just a few of the cards from yesterday to remind you of what I was doing.

The snowman from my "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" set,stamped coloured and cut out and I used Stickles Icicles over his ruffles and pom pom buttons. The background is the Crafters Workshop Aspen Trees stencil that I used Distress inks through, adding less pressure as I moved down the card. The words are from my Inspirational Christmas Quotes set. Super simple!

This card is one of those that came from creating something else! I was inking a Sweet Dixie die cut dove with Versamagic and I decided to make use of the negative. I placed the dove onto a piece of card that I'd already decorated with Goosebumps spray and Distress inks and then stroked the ink over the image...thereby coating the die cut and creating the negative at the same time. I embossed the dove with both gold and silver powders and the card below with just gold.

I was showing how brilliantly Dylusions ink sprays work to create backgrounds on white card but here I used them on some manilla coloured card. By adding the opaque White Linen spray to the other, transparent, colours,it completely changed the look and toned them down. I used images from my Moon Gazer stamp set and a white gel pen to add highlights.

 Of course, as I hadn't been to Crafty Corner before, it was only right to do one of my faux bleached snowman scenes! This time, to ring the changes, I decided to work directly onto 300 gsm card that I had cut using the Sweet Dixie Holly and Star die. Those of you who have seen me demonstrating this technique before will know how simple it really is....just Distress inks blended over the card and then the snowy foreground, trees and snowman created just with brush and water...with a few details added to the snowman of course.

Of course, the cards I make on demo days do tend to be rather "unfinished" looking...often without greetings or those little extra dimensional extras - it's all about the techniques on the day!

I'd gone up to Newcastle on Friday (quite a trek) and stayed in a hotel right next to the rail station. A beautiful interior greeted me as I entered, including two magnificent chandeliers....

....they were e-nor-mous! I wouldn't fancy the job of cleaning them and they did give me a smile remembering the famous Del Boy chandelier moment!

Today has been a bit of a rest day as I was really shattered after all the travelling and getting home late. Church this morning followed by coffee with friends and then home to enjoy some sunshine in the garden.I'm making the most of the warmth as there are definite signs of the waning season...coming home last night it was already dark by 7.30pm (groan) and this morning I had to squeejee the condensation from my  windows - how depressing! To crown it, when I set off for Church, there were skeins of geese flying overhead, honking away....there we have it...autumn is on the way!

Still, the darker evenings do tend to herald good telly programmes! Downton was a real treat tonight...no spoilers though in case you haven't watched it yet! Good start to the new series though.

Well, I'm away to my bed now.My sister, Heather, is coming round tomorrow and we're going to be spending some time together in my Doo Lally work room....I guess that means we probably won't get much done if past experience is anything to go by! (Yack, yack, yack.....!).

Don't forget to leave a comment below the Blog Candy post (a few posts back) if you haven't already done so. It finishes on the last day of September. Night all.

Unseasonal apologies

I know it's still only August, though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was almost October after the crummy weekend weather we just had, so I feel I should apologise for posting festive images this early. It's the nature of my work, of course, to be always a few steps ahead of the calendar and it's Christmas products that I'm using on demonstrations at the moment. Only a couple to share tonight though and quite straightforward ones at that - I'll be at Paper Warehouse in Kendal on Saturday and they prefer clean and simple cards there. I find them harder to make than my usual messy style!

Anyway, I've been working with my Zendoodle range of stamps today, both the ready doodled versions and the plain ones. Although the idea with the plain ones is that you can fill them in with Zentangle patterns, they are also perfect for paper piecing. As I'm using some Teresa Collins papers on Saturday too, I thought it was a perfect way to utilise them. This one is an ultra simple card using my Zendoodle Tree stamp...

...told you it was simple! Just a few adhesive gems and some Stickles (oh yes, and I get a bit of sneaky distress ink in there with a little water spattering!) to add some sparkle.

Next is my Zendoodle snowman and I made the background directly on a folded A4 white card using a Crafter's Workshop stencil (Aspen Trees) and Weathered Wood Distress ink, just blended more softly as I went further down.

The sentiment is from my Inspirational Christmas Quotes set. I must admit that I did enjoy cutting out and piecing all the snowman's clothes - for a change anyway! I finished off with Aged Mahogany Distress ink smudged round the edges and some baker's twine wrapped round the spine.I stuck little circular stickers, from the Teresa Collins paper pack, back to back at the ends of the twine. Simple but I quite like this one!

I was looking back at my "photos from this day last year" but, as they happened to be of a ginormous spider, I decided not to put them up here! Tomorrow will be a year since Tim Holtz and the Ranger team came over to the UK for the weekend event with Personal Impressions - where has the time gone?! This was what I was doing at the event....and it was fun to be on the other side of the table for a change!

Heather and I spent some time together for her birthday - it was very low key but that was what she wanted, so the birthday stripper had to be cancelled....no...I'm only joking! We just went for a Sunday lunch and both felt like we never wanted to eat again! If you haven't seen Heather for a while you'll get quite a surprise next time you do as she has lost over three stone to date and looks great.

Well, it's only just past 9pm and it's dark already...how depressing is that?! Worse still, Blackpool Illuminations are switched on this Friday (by Peter Kay this year) so that's that! Time to wash the dishes and make a coffee I think so I'll say goodnight. 

Oh, if you read my previous post and went to look at the canvasses on my Etsy shop - they're not there anymore! I'll be adding some new items very soon though. Right, off to the kitchen now - night all.

Check this out...

If you have time, please pop over to my sister's blog as she is asking for some suggestions regarding a new venture. Here's the link http://fennedwards.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/crafty-call-out.html. My late brother in law, Graham, was an amazing artist who specialised in sculptures, particularly bronzes. Heather and one of Graham's best friends are hoping to cast some pieces from the original moulds but they would also like to create some new pieces and Heather is wondering what might appeal - including things that could be incorporated into altered art or jewellery making for example.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts I know that Heather would really appreciate some feedback. Worth a look just to see some of Graham's fantastic work.

A little holiday...and a loooong post!

Well that's an overstatement! I've not actually been on a proper holiday for over twenty years (seriously!). It's one drawback of being freelance because if I don't work, I don't get paid! Still, the freedom of being my own boss makes up for it.

So, my little holiday is really just a having a few days off, at home, without feeling guilty about doing whatever takes my fancy. Yesterday, being Sunday, began with Church in the morning. There was a baptism during the service so that was jolly - always fun to see whether the babies will cry or just look surprised when they have all that water poured onto them...yesterday's baby cried!

After Church there is coffee which is always a good chance for a catch up and then I was invited to join a couple of the ladies for a spot of lunch which made a change. As it was a beautiful day I then had a lovey stroll home through the park. After a very long day on Saturday (more later!) I was feeling really tired and could hardly keep my eyes open in the afternoon. I decided to go outside into the fresh air. Lots of lovely things to look at in the garden just now too....

....lovely peachy roses right beside my bench....

 ....and David's beautiful memorial rose is flowering profusely and looking stunning......

.....and this amazing rose greeted me yesterday. It's one that I planted a few months ago and the flower is huge. It smells as gorgeous as it looks.

Sitting on the garden bench was lovely but I decided to lie down on the lawn and I soon nodded off and spent an hour or two dozing in the sunshine which I think did me the world of good. Thomas thought it was great fun so he lay down too! 

After a phone call to Heather, my sister, I decided to make the effort, get ready and walk back to Church for a Songs of Praise service in the early evening. On the way there a group of teenagers ahead of me were dropping all their sweet and crisp packets on the road as they walked along so I pulled them up about it. Of course, I just got the usual jeering and I picked up the litter and put it in the bin myself after telling them that they didn't deserve to live in such a lovely place (not a very original remark I know!). 

This came up in conversation after the service....we were all treated to some sparkling wine at the back of Church.....and I was told "you were brave, tackling teenagers", which is something I hear a lot. It never seems that way to me, it just seems better to say or do something than to let things go. I was pondering on this as I made my way home, back through the park, and recalled how I've often walked that way on dark evenings in the Winter months. I rarely feel nervous though, and, when I do, I have a quick word with "Him upstairs" and ask him to look out for me! 

I was having all these scatterlogical thoughts yesterday as I entered the park and then spotted the teenagers that I'd had a go at earlier. I had no thought that they would do me any harm, but I was expecting to have to "run the gauntlet" as I went past them. Just as I thought that, I saw a male figure coming in my direction and then realised he was wearing a dog collar. He said "Good Evening" to me and the teens focussed all their attention on him, asking if he was the new Vicar, the old Vicar, or who was he. I heard him say that he was a Priest from the Catholic Church. I haven't seen him before and it made me smile that I'd just been thinking about how I always feel that I'm being looked after and protected and I encountered the Priest just as I was anticipating some heckling. 

This reminds me to say that I've decided not to continue with my second blog (My Rambling Spirit) which I'd set up in order to have somewhere to talk about more spiritual things. I never seem to get the time to post in two blogs and I also decided that, as my faith and spirituality have always been a huge part of my life, I shouldn't feel the need to keep them separate as if I'm somehow embarrassed  or worried that I'll alienate anyone. So, please feel free to skip over any part of my posts that don't appeal to you! I do try to make my blog quite encompassing rather than just being about art, craft and things creative.

When I got home last night Thomas was waiting for me by the gate and he decided he wanted me to go for a stroll up the lane with him so we had a nice wander and watched the Swallows racing each other round and round the big tree in the field - they are racing each other I'm convinced of it! The bats were also out and about, even though it was still quite light, and it made for a lovely way to end the evening, watching them swooping and dipping over the garden. Just lovely.

I had a great night's sleep and woke to another gorgeous day here. This was a day to do very little! I mowed the lawn, did some washing, cut back some Foxgloves and Snapdragons that had gone over and did a bit of weeding and feeding of plants. Then it was time to sit outside and read for a few hours. I've been reading Life of Pi since early 2013 and still not finished it! Terrible I know! I just haven't been able to focus long enough to really spend time in a good book, even though I had been enjoying it. As I'd suggested the film for one that some friends could come over and watch, I decided I really must finish the book first. So, I've got through quite a lot today and really enjoyed myself. This photo pretty much sums up the kind of day it's been.....

....Tom likes the bench as much as I do!

Later it was watching the tennis and egg and bacon sandwiches for dinner - yum! A refreshing shower and freshly laundered PJ's and I'd call it a pretty relaxing and enjoyable day.

Tomorrow I'm meeting Heather in Blackpool for some window shopping and to return the shoes that I bought a couple of weeks ago which disintegrated the first time I wore them! 

To go back a bit, on Saturday I went to Daisy Jewels and Crafts near Coventry to teach an all day workshop. This involved me getting up at 5.15am in time to get ready and then walk round to the station and catch the early train to Preston for the first leg of my journey. Imagine my horror to be told that the train was cancelled (due to staff shortages...I ask you!) and that, instead of arriving at 9.20am it would now be 10.53 am when I got to Bedworth! Thankfully, the ladies were all very patient and spent time looking round the shop until I arrived. We tagged the time onto the end of the day but it was a rotten start I can tell you!

A great time was had by all (so they told me!). We made several projects.....

...including a wall plaque featuring a Doo lally Pip character and roses made from rolling up spirals of ink sprayed dictionary paper. 

I used my "Frayed Around the Edges" character, but the ladies all had a choice of which stamp to use....

....here's one in progress using my "Keep Dancing" set, before any flowers were added. I liked the way the burlap was cut out as a heart shape.
Here's one of the cards made on the day...

...lovely and cheerful!

Everyone was kept hard at work to get through everything....

.....including Zendoodle Owl cards....

....complete with stripey branches of course!

The shop has two amazing dresses on display which were made by DCWV for one of the trade shows. Just look at this fantastical creation....

....wow! Thanks to Wendy and all the ladies who came to the workshop for making it such a fun day and being so patient when British Rail let me down...again! Gggrrrr! I'll be going back there in October and will post more details nearer the time.

Well, I told you this was going to be a long post and I was telling the truth! It's almost 11.30pm now, so I should make a move, get the two terrors in and lock up the house before getting to bed. A nice day with Heather to look forward to tomorrow and then, on Wednesday I am assisting with a funeral at Church in the afternoon before our second Les Mis study group meeting in the evening. So, busy even when I'm having a few days off!

I'm waiting for my new Christmas stamps to be sent to me so that I can start getting samples made up with them, so will share those as and when of course. I won't post any more of my new designs tonight though!

You may like a couple of cute Tara pics to finish with instead! On Friday she was sitting on the chair facing into the corner and looking for all the world as if she'd been a naughty girl and was in trouble with the teacher. I couldn't resist making a little something so I could take a photo...

.....she didn't move at all and hardly seemed to notice her new attire! She even posed for a lovely close up for me....

.....cutey pie!

Right, I will now sign off before anyone still reading this missive drops off! Enjoy the sunshine everyone.

A day with the stars!

Back again....just like the buses....nothing for ages and then two in quick succession! Just a few more photos to share before Fargo starts in an hour or so. I've been planting some seedlings in the garden, potting on some tomato plants, tidying the area at the back of the conservatory (which Tara insists is her personal loo despite my efforts to dissuade her with chicken wire, sticks and pepper!), reseeding some patchy areas of the lawn and planting some Geraniums and Bellis to brighten things up.

I went into the garden at around 4.30pm and came back in thinking it would be about 6pm - only to find it was 7.30pm! Crikey! Time flies when you're having fun!

Speaking of having fun, Heather and I spent the morning at Madam Tussaud's in Blackpool on Tuesday. One of Heather's long time friends is an artist there and he arranged a private visit for us. We had a great time with some behind the scenes glimpses at what goes into making and maintaining the wax figures.

I especially enjoyed the photo opps though! Here goes......

 .....rock climbing with Bear Grylls. We thought this figure was one of the best ones.  And giving one of my heroes a cuddle.......

 ....in case you can't tell - it's David Attenborough! Not one of the best figures I'm afraid, but I couldn't pass up the chance to pose with Sir David!

Love this photo though......

 .....on the winner's podium with Mo Farah. It's really interesting to see the sizes of the figures. They are all life size and some are much smaller than you imagine. Others are taller than you'd expected, like.....

 ....the King of Pop himself who I really imagined to be much more diminutive than he was. I don't think much of my efforts to emulate the moves!

There were also some fun "heads through holes" scenes....I had to try every single one of course! This is me as Lady Gaga......

 .....wish I really had a waist like that!

And posing on the throne whilst trying (and failing) to look regal!

 Another heads through holes scene. This one was a bit grisly! The really tiny figure is of Madame Tussaud herself.

 Of course, as I'm one of the official puppeteers at Church, I couldn't miss the chance to perform with Sooty and Sweep.......

 ....I loved them when I was a child. Sweep was my favourite with his mischievous antics and squeaky voice (which I was convinced I could understand), Sooty was okay but Sue was a real drip!!!

Finally, someone very tall.......

.....think my expression says it all! And there's Alan Carr behind me - better watch myself with those two lively characters!

Right, just time to grab a bite to eat and a coffee before Fargo starts, so I will sign off for now. If you'd like to see more photos of our day at the wax works, just check out Heather's blog.

I have more tales and pictures to share in my next post, so do call back again soon!

Awol for Christmas

Thank you to everyone who has sent me messages over the past few weeks to check that I was okay after being awol from my blog for such a long time. Thank you too, for all the lovely Christmas cards that I received which are all displayed on the walls in the lounge...it's going to look very bare when I have to take them down next week! I hope that everyone has had a lovely Christmas.

Everything's fine here, but I was in the grip of a persistent bug for three weeks and then just needed some "time out" to concentrate on Christmas, family and general relaxation time.

I began my Christmas break by getting some housework done though...my Doo Lally workroom was well overdue a clear out as you can see.....

.....disgraceful, I know! It's worse as, being the "vestibule" (as mum always called it) it's the first thing people see when they come in at the front door, as well as being visible to neighbours and passers by. It really had got beyond a joke....

....though I know it's a sight that's all too familiar to many of you!

After ten minutes of wading through "stuff" I really felt like giving up,but I ploughed on and after an hour or two I was relieved to view this sight....

......what a lovely feeling! Mind you, I probably won't be able to find anything ever again now that it's all tidied away in various drawers, boxes and cupboards! I painted the inside of the front door and all the woodwork to really make it feel even fresher. Next morning I cleaned the conservatory from top to bottom before giving it a lick of paint....I'd been going to buy a tin but I found an old can of yellow paint in the garage which I opened with little hope of finding anything useable inside. However, after peeling a thick skin off the top and a good stir it looked surprisingly okay! It wasn't yellow paint that I wanted though, but a soft lime, so I used  Ranger Colourwash Dyes to change the colour to just the shade I liked - that saved a bit of money!

After sprucing the place up it was treat time, that is, Christmas tree and decorations! I do enjoy getting the baubles and tinsel out. Tara was soon investigating the tree....

.....thankfully, it's stayed upright, though I had to tape it to the table after she almost knocked the whole thing over! The Doo Lally room got a Christmas makeover too of course.....

I hope everyone survived the storms and power failures last week, though it looks like the winds and rain are heading back to us today. I had settled down to watch the Strictly Come Dancing final and the winds were rattling round the house quite fiercely even then. Tara was settled on my lap when there was a sudden, and very loud, BOOM from the chimney breast behind the gas fire. Tara nearly leapt through the wall behind me and I jumped up very quickly I can tell you! Seconds later it did it again and then a third time, more quietly, accompanied by a whoosh of grey fluff landing on the rug. 

It really shook me up and I rang the gas emergency number to ask for some advice as to what might have happened. They told me to turn the gas off and that they were sending someone out. Then followed a rather nervous half hour until a man arrived to check everything out. The upshot was that he blocked off the gas fire and stuck a great big notice on it that it mustn't be used until I had someone round to service and clean the boiler - apparently the wind had caused a backdraught due to a build up of dust behind the fire and the gases "explode" causing the big bang. Scary stuff! 

So, Saturday night was a wash out and I was thankful that I'd bought a halogen heater a few weeks before, as were the two T's........

....as you can see! By Monday morning it was pretty cold throughout the house, so I was very pleased to see the plumber who gave everything a good service and connected things up again. Unfortunately, later on in the day the heating wouldn't come back on so, on Christmas Eve, the poor man had to come back to take another look. It was something to do with the ignition...starter...not sure really, but all was finally sorted in the nick of time before Christmas day!

Christmas day itself was very different for all in my family this year. It was the first one for us without my brother in law, Graham, so I spent the afternoon and night at my sister's. It was such a completely different day to how any of us had spent it before so we just had to try and find a way through it really. I went to the morning family communion service at church and then went down to Heather's. She was already putting the potatoes in to roast with the chicken and I had made bread sauce, roasted and peeled the chestnuts and made strawberry Santas to take with me. My nephew, Max, arrived and then we sat down to a delicious dinner at around 3pm. Gifts were opened after we had washed the dishes...very strange for us as we normally would have opened them first thing in the morning. Heather had given me a few things to unwrap first thing though.....a lovely cup and teapot with a matching knitted tea cosy, complete with pom pom and fruit tea bags, as well as a matching Nordic design apron! For Thomas and Tara there were some foodie treats and a scratchpost toy which Thomas immediately took to....

.....as you can see!

I had made a few gifts after watching the Great British Sewing Bee special the week before.....I've never really been into sewing, but I felt inspired to make some very simple things. This was a new Catnip toy for the two T's......

 

...using some Christmas fabric that I found in the loft. I made one for Mia, Heather's pusscat too, as well as a scented one for Heather. Also a garland of hearts from Christmas fabric which I strung onto plaited ribbons - also for Heather. She was quite impressed with my stitched gifts as she shares my lack of enthusiasm for sewing! The one I had the most fun making was this owl from felt....

.....he turned out larger than I'd planned, but Heather liked him!

I came home on Boxing day and Heather and I played some games that took us right back down memory lane....The Beetle game (with plastic beetles that you have to assemble by rolling the dice to collect the numbered components) and the Magnetic Fishing game which anyone over a certain age is sure to remember! These were exact copies of the original games and we had a few giggles over them.

Next day I woke to the stormy weather of course and found mountains of litter strewn around the garden as well as one of the fence panels at the back of the house blown down. There were quite a few fences where they shouldn't be, but everyone has left them for the time being as the winds were predicted to strike again - and today has been very blowy indeed. Once the weather settles down there will be plenty of time to do the repairs. As I type, the heaven's have opened again and there are giant hailstones clattering over the garden and the conservatory roof as well as down the chimney! It's going to be another stormy night I think.

The services at St Chads have been really lovely, and have helped to lift my spirits up throughout the past few weeks when I've been feeling low. I've been on duty quite a few times and the Sunday before Christmas was a very busy day. After the morning service there was a party for the Sunday School children and we put on a puppet show of course. I was a camel in the first piece and then we did a song - thankfully there was a CD for us to mime our puppets to, so no actual singing was involved! Then there was another story with sheep puppets called Baaarnaby and Baaaarbara! 

In the evening was the Carol service, at which I did one of the readings. It starts and finishes by candlelight and is a really uplifting and beautiful experience.

Now it's getting toward ending this year. It's been another tough one for me and my family, but we get through everything together. I don't look forward to New Year's Eve...I've always found it more of a sad time rather than one of looking forward to new things....but it's especially hard, as David and I always hugged each other and stood to watch the fireworks together, feeling relief that we'd managed to get through another year with all the ups and downs that life throws at us all.

So, I wish everyone a New Year's Eve spent in the way you like to spend it and a new year that brings good things to you and yours. 

I'll be getting out and about again before too long, starting with a trip to Scunthorpe where I'll be officially opening a brand new shop on Tuesday 7th January, called Trent Valley Crafts ....I'll be cutting the ribbon and then demonstrating for the rest of the day. So, if you're in the area, do pop down to support this new venture. I'll post about my other work dates in a few days.

Sorry this is a bit of a rambly post - after being absent for so long it's a bit hotch potch really. I'll try and get back to normal service soon!

AWOL agaaaiiiin!

Hello folks, that is, if anyone is even reading this....after going awol for a couple of weeks it wouldn't surprise me if nobody is there now! It's been a very fraught few weeks, with the death of my brother in law, Graham, and, along with having to get lots of work done, it has led to me having a break from blogging and emailing - retreating into my shell for a while as I do when life becomes overwhelming. 

It's time to get back on track though. It's Sunday and I'm heading back to church shortly for a special All Saints day memorial service so I thought I'd take the chance to share a few photos. Talking of church, I've set up a new blog now, called My Rambling Spirit, which you can find a link to in my left sidebar. I sometimes feel uncomfortable talking about the more spiritual side of life on this blog...after all, I know that some people visit just to see what I've been making and maybe read a few exploits of my two pusscats or the garden! So, the new blog is where I can just ramble on about how I feel about things.

Anyway, back to this blog! Hello to everyone who I met at recent demonstrations at the Leigh show, Card-io and The Paper Warehouse. A special thanks for all the lovely messages and cards for Heather and myself which were very much appreciated. I'm getting round to thanking everyone slowly but surely.

For the month of November I'm concentrating on demonstrating ideas for Christmas decorations and gifts - with a little stamping thrown in too along the way! I've been really enjoying working with the WRMK envelope punch and a range of Sizzix dies. I didn't expect to be so bowled over by an envelope maker but it really is terrific and makes much more than just envelopes. I've been making boxes and shaped tags too.

Not the easiest thing to photograph and the background doesn't help! The papers I used were from the MME Vintage Christmas range, along with some Bazzill card stock.The envelope punch has certainly proved to be a big hit and it does mean that you can make odd shaped cards which is good if, like me, you often decide to make something using bits and pieces of cardstock that are lying around.

All inkiness has been put to one side this week and I've moved from the Doo Lally workroom and into the lounge where I have been spreading card, papers, dies, embellishments and my Big Shot over the floor with a "me" sized space in the middle! I just needed the extra space to work in and I've been watching the old classic films in the afternoon while cutting and sticking which has been rather enjoyable.

Two new favourites have to be the TH Luminary die and the 3D Birdhouse Scoreboard die. The scoreboard dies allow you to cut and score heavy weight chipboard or mount board in one pass, though you can also use them with standard cardstock too of course. Below is one of the bird houses made up and decorated...I used a natural twig to push through the base of this one, so it could be used within a festive floral arrangement.

The dies are really easy to work with and I like the fact that they can be used throughout the year, not just for Christmas projects. Although Halloween is now over, I couldn't resist making a spooky, gothic Luminary with one of Tim's battery operated lanterns inside....

I used Graphic 45 papers for the Luminary itself - it's amazing just how strong this piece is even when made from paper. I cut out a few bats and cats and added some black gem spiders with wire legs as well as some wispy fibres - all great fun!

A certain someone has been keeping me company whilst I create, albeit from behind the net curtains at times....he still likes to keep an eye on me though....

....what a cute button nose! He won't be very happy, nor Tara, when I leave them for most of next week while I'm at the NEC though. My neighbour will be coming in twice a day to feed them and let them in and out, but they don't like their mum not being here at their beck and call. Poor little sweeties!

At least I haven't been missing out on nice sunny weather whilst I've been chained to the Big Shot machine! The view through my front window has basically been like this....

 .....but at least nothing has been blown down or swept away...yet! 

Heather and I were lucky on the day we had in town last week and we spent a sunny day wandering around the art gallery and shops for a good many hours. It helped to blow some of the cobwebs away and did us good. The exhibition at the gallery "creeped me out" though, much to Heather's amusement, as it was based around fairgrounds and Coney Island in particular and featured, amongst other things,  lots of images of weird waxwork figures accompanied by old soundtracks of music hall performers and slightly eerie laughter. Made me shiver!

I was glad to get into the "normality" of the streets and shops again and we had a nice lunch followed by some retail therapy where some new fleecy pj's were one of the must have purchases to combat the increasingly cold evenings. Don't let me get started on the cost of fuel and the fuel companies though.....and since when did it become the norm for them to harass customers by phone only a week after sending a bill? Gone are the days, it seems, of the polite reminder letter a couple of weeks after a bill - now it's straight onto demanding money over the phone....swines! Sorry, I did say don't let me get started!

So, I hope to see lots of you in Birmingham next week. I'll be on the Card-io stand and both Wendy and myself will be demonstrating - Wendy will be using her wonderful Tapestry stamps and I'll have my Christmas stamps, various inks and mediums and the gorgeous dies. I'll be there for the whole show from Thursday to Sunday inclusive.

It's now going dark - how miserable at 5pm! So, I had better get myself organised for my second trip to St Chads of the day. Take care everyone and keep warm!