Magazines

Just a quick post this morning while I have my cuppa. I've been clearing away my drawing and colouring pens after my Zentangling spree....I could hardly see the table for pens! I don't know about you, but I sometimes reach the point where my untidy mess just goes beyond the pale and I can't do anything until I've had a bit of a tidy up. My Doo Lally room is still very messy, but I have put away most of the things that I know I won't need to use today. There's definitely a big clear up on the cards though!

Anyway, thanks to Chris for a heads up in the comment she left after my last night's post. I did a couple of magazine projects recently and, although I knew that the Crafts Beautiful one was in the current issue, I didn't know that the September issue of Craft Stamper was out yet. That sounds rather scary doesn't it? The "September" issue.....crikey!

I created a set of a canvas, card and tag for CB using the Anthem Collection from Bo Bunny. Here's a sneaky peek.....

 .....needless to say the magazine have photographed everything beautifully and my picture does not really compare in any way! The Anthem collection was really lovely to work with, gorgeous shades of red, blue and a sort of weathered white which gives a shabby chic feel.

As I haven't seen the feature in Craft Stamper magazine yet, I won't post any pictures until I see exactly what has been included, but it does feature my Doo Lally Pip characters. Thanks for the info Chris!

Well, I'd better drain my mug and get cracking now. I have to sort out papers, brads etc for my WI evening on Thursday....I wrote the quiz questions last night so all I need to worry about now is what I'm actually going to talk about at the start of the evening - think I'll just do it off the cuff!

Once I've sorted Thursday's materials out I'll be back to making Christmas samples again - just what I need too as it looks like, after all the rain yesterday, it's going to get pretty warm again today...my thermometers are pushing 21 degrees already and it's only just past 8am!

Visitors

Well, one visitor really. My auntie came down from Scotland to stay with me for a few days, hence my absence from Blogland all this week. It was mum's birthday on Wednesday, so we spent most of the day with her and she had a lovely time eating cupcakes and sweeties....mum's favourite things!

I've been trying to fit work in around being a hostess, but I never find it easy to be creative unless I can properly concentrate on what I'm doing. I have two events coming up though, so have been planning those, as well as finishing some pieces for my Etsy shop.

This coming Thursday I am the guest speaker at the local WI meeting! I'm going to be giving a talk about the kinds of things that I do, a few stories from my travels around the country, followed by a simple card making session and then a short quiz to finish things off. I hope the ladies enjoy it!

The following Thursday I'll be at Crafty-Nook in Durham teaching an evening workshop for around twenty five ladies, so that will be a fun night I'm sure.

I've been making good use of my arty birthday gifts and have been inspired to do some Zentangling which I haven't done for a long time.....I used to love spending hours on detailed "doodles" when I was a teenager! Anyway, I decided to draw some owls - well, two actually! Once I'd drawn them I filled them in with lots of different Zentangle designs and then came the difficult decision....to keep the drawing black and white...or...to add colour? No going back once a decision to start colouring was made, so I just decided to go for it and was pleased that I did......

 .....I was really happy with the vibrant results using my ultra fine coloured ink pens. Once I'd coloured the owls I painted the moon with matte Glue n Seal and made a wavy frame mask so that I could blend some subtle blue ink over the background...I was then able to remove the ink from the moon to leave it white again. I added a wavy border with a fine black pen and coloured some areas of it to match the owls.

This piece was going to go onto my Etsy shop but it was snapped up before it made it onto there! I have since created another Zentangled owl picture which I have added to my shop though, as well as this painting that I've called "Meadow Poppies"......

 ......I used my new Inktense watercolours for this one. They are lovely to work with, with very strong pigments that allow for all sorts of techniques.

Last night I was out at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for two friends from church. It was a lovely change to be at a party, although the fact that the music from the time of their wedding was 60's music gave pause for thought......surely the sixties can't be fifty years ago?! I had made a simple card for them using a Martha Stewart PATP heart punch, some My Mind's Eye paper, a Sizzix die for the numbers and a little hand written message. Very simple but they liked it!

 It had been another hot day but, thankfully, I'd heeded the weather forecast and taken my brolly with me as the heavens opened and I had to walk home (or should I say "squelch home") in torrential rain. Still, it was very refreshing after the muggy day!

After church and then coffee at the church hall, I just got home before the rains came again today and then I sat down to do some more Zentangling. This time I decided on mushrooms - or toadstools if you prefer...they are the same thing anyway! This was my drawing once I'd filled in with various patterns....

 ....I think mushrooms really lend themselves to this style. I've now started to colour the design and this is the point that I'm up to as of tonight.....

 ......I really do like the monochrome look, but I have always been drawn (ouch!) to colours. Even as a little girl I used to carefully colour in the illustrations in my Enid Blyton books....I did do them very carefully!

The mushroom drawing will go into my Etsy shop once it's finished and put into a mount.

Well, I think I had better sign off now as it very nearly tomorrow! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend and apologies to anyone that I owe an email to - I will be catching up with everything as soon as possible.

Thoughts of snow

Thinking of snow has been a help over these past few very hot days. Thankfully it's been a little fresher here this afternoon, with a subtle breeze wafting through the open doors and cooling things down a little.

Anyway, back to the snow. I have a couple of snowmen cards to share today though they are two quite different characters. This first one is from my Doo Lally Pip Steampunk Snowmen set and I've used a decorative aperture card for a change.

 I distress inked the sky using a scrap of paper to mask off the snow line, then stamped a few simple trees from my Winter Silhouettes set. A couple more layers of scrap card edged with a touch of Tumbled Glass ink created a bit more depth to the scene.

I stamped, coloured and cut out the snowman before coating him with Rock Candy distress glitter - it's much less glitzy than everyday glitter, more of a vintage look.

I stuck him down quite loosely so that his stove pipe hat was slightly above the background.

The second card features a completely different style of snowman, one with a very friendly face! This one is from my Snowtime Snowmen set. I've teamed him with a great Sizzix die, one of Tim's Bigz dies called Holiday Lamp Post, which I cut from black Kraft Core card so I could sand it back for a slightly worn look.

 To give the lamp post a more rounded out appearance, I used a black pen to draw lines where the shadows would be. I also cut a piece of white card to fit behind the lamp which I inked to match the background sky before streaking some oranges and reds into the centre. I stuck a piece of acetate behind the lamp followed by the inked card to give a nice glowing light.

I've also added some white Gesso and I may well add some to the holly...not quite decided yet!

Due to those twiggy arms, I've stamped the snowman directly onto the card using Coffee Archival ink and then again onto white card ready for colouring. The hat and scarf were stamped onto decorative paper which I shaded a little before assembling everything. The robin and little nest were also coloured and cut out a second time before sticking down.

Well, hope you like my little touch of Winter on another very warm day! The eagle eyed among you may also spot some of my ubiquitous bleached out fir trees in the background too....well, it's got to be done!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

 

That was the day that was...

...and if the allusion to TWTWTW means nothing to you, then you're younger than me! Up here in the North West we have a level 3 heatwave alert and it's been truly unbearable today. I have little digital thermometers in various rooms in the house, and even in the shadiest rooms they were registering 27 degrees. As for the ones in the conservatory and kitchen, it was so hot that the displays had completely packed up! 

I woke really early today so I got up and opened all the doors to get some air flowing and let my two terrors out, although, being animals they are sensible about the heat and tend to spend most of their time asleep in shady spots. 
It being my birthday, once I'd brewed some fruit tea, I listened to Mario Lanza. David and I always began both our birthdays this way, starting with our song, "Because". David would always join in and serenade me with his beautiful tenor voice whilst I snuggled into his arms...hearing a tenor voice is one thing, but to feel it right next to you is something else.
Needless to say it was bitter sweet to listen to Mario on my own this morning and I did shed more than a few tears. "Serenade" was another favourite song, this one from the film The Student Prince, which featured Mario Lanza's voice although the part was acted on screen by Edmund Perdom. I found this You Tube video to share here - some of the pictures are an odd choice, but the song and the singing are out of this world....

.....despite the tears, this was a beautiful way to start the day.
It was always going to be a rather unusual birthday as I had to perform Verger duties at a funeral at lunchtime which rather split the day down the middle. Heather had been thinking we might take a trip to the zoo, but we've shelved that till the weather cools down a bit. She came round this morning instead and gave me some scrumptious gifts including some Inktense sets. I've been wanting to use their pencils or blocks for ages now, so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into using them. I think the blocks will be great for making backgrounds especially...and there are two layers of gorgeous colours in the tin!
Heather had also created something special for me, although she was convinced it was "rubbish"! I think that my reaction convinced her otherwise...it's a beautiful canvas....

.....the words "Wherever there are birds there is hope" are written along the birds' bodies. Isn't it lovely?
So, along with some gift vouchers, I've had some very special gifts today, as well as lovely cards.
Heather dropped me off at church in time for me to set everything up for the funeral...I have to set out candles, service sheets etc and I'm in charge of the CD's if there is any special music to be played ....which can be a little nerve wracking! Poor Heather had to wait around for over two hours in the blazing sun whilst I did my duties and, by then, we both decided it was too late and way too hot to do anything really, so we just came back here to cool off again!
I've just had a quiet evening, finishing a small plaque, deadheading some flowers and making a very simple supper that was both delicious and healthy! I just sliced some freshly picked courgettes lengthways and laid them in a baking dish, threw some home grown cherry tomatoes, stalks intact, on top of them, drizzled with olive oil and a few grinds of course salt and popped the dish into the oven. Absolutely delicious! I don't know about you, but this weather makes me less hungry, so this was all I needed...no meat, no carbs!
The little plaque I finished uses the deer from my Winter Silhouettes set and the words are from our Tinchies range of stamps.

The trees are a Sizzix "on the edge" die that I'm very fond of. I've used Distress Paints over the corrugated backing, with Deco Art Silver Sparkle metal lustre stroked across. I used white Gesso for the snow. The deer was stamped onto acetate but I wanted it to be much blacker and stronger so I used black enamel accents to carefully pipe over the stamped image, then sprinkled a little Distress Rock Candy glitter over it. A few dabs of silicone glue lifted it from the background and I added more Gesso over the feet to secure it more fully.

I had been looking through my old blog posts and came across a plaque that I'd made a couple of years ago so I decided I'd make this one the same way but with a totally different look. It's good to look back at what you made and surprising how you can forget about techniques or ideas, so it's nice to use them again! Here's the one I posted a picture of back in 2009 - crikey!

It was a much larger piece and I think I cut all the trees by hand! The one I made today is a much simpler affair, but I'm sure I'll be making another more full on version again.
Well, I guess I really should sign off and get to bed. Hopefully it will feel a little cooler tonight as there's a bit of a breeze out there now. I have my spritzer bottle of chilled water on my bedside table just in case though!
Oh, just to leave you with an image that might make you laugh...I'm still without a lawnmower and the grass has been getting longer and longer again. Yesterday morning I was so fed up with it that I cut the entire lawn with....a pair of scissors! I was on my hands and knees for over an hour. It doesn't look great, but it does look shorter!   

All sorts!

I'm just having a little break from the Doo Lally room. Even though it's one the coolest side of the house, it's been so bakingly hot today that Ive been flagging a bit! So, it was time for a cold, really cold (!) shower, a long cool drink and a break from the inks and stamps. Tara's been hiding under the long leaves of the Crocosmia and Thomas even let me drape a soaked towel over him when he plonked down looking a bit frazzled!

Tara found a rather shady spot yesterday after the UPS delivery man had called with a very large box.....

 ...she's such a comic and every new box has to be investigated and claimed as her own! However, I was more interested by what was in the box, which was the second of two parcels that were delivered. The first was somewhat smaller, but here's what arrived.....

 .....the small package contained the three tubs of DecoArt Metallic Lustre which I'll be making good use of in my Christmas samples. Behind them is a new wheelie bag for my travels....my faithful, twice "re-wheeled" Tardis of a suitcase has been really struggling of late. Well, it's me who's been struggling really, with the worn out wheels, pull out handle that gets stuck and the holes that are getting bigger with every trip! I'm so attached to that case, and it holds so many memories for me that I can't bring myself to throw it out, so it will find a place in the garage where I can still look at it from time to time and remember happy times - I know that sounds weird, but inanimate objects do evoke feelings don't they.

Anyway, my new bag is very posh, a Marie Osmond one from Advantus, very lightweight and spacious. The only problem now is that I've got so used to packing my old case in a particular way that I'll have to learn from scratch again now!

Last night I picked some cherries...they are being snaffled quite quickly by the Blackbirds now, so I won't get too many more....

 ....I strategically placed them on the plate so you can't see all the dinks made by the ants which I have to nip out before eating them! (the cherries, not the ants!) They're delicious but between the birds and the bugs I don't get a lot. I'm happy for the birds to have a good feast though.

Yesterday was one of those days where I got very little done. The phone never stopped ringing and I couldn't get into a flow of work. Today I've got quite a bit done though, and I'm working my way through my new Christmas stamp sets. Here's one for a different occasion though.......

 .....mind you, the art journal fans amongst us will know that characters like this can be used at any time! This is Mr Pumpkinhead from my "Fright Night" Doo Lally Pip set. I know the photo is a little busy, but I couldn't resist positioning the card amongst some of my orange flowers! 

I used Graphic 45 "Magic of Oz" paper for the backing and the characters on the left which were cut from another sheet from the range, except for the bottles which are from the stamp set. I've used Glue n Seal to draw the webs on the stamped panel before Distress inking it. The "Fright Night" words were stamped onto white card and then cut into a suitably drippy edged panel before inking.

Here's a wintry card with no snow for once!

The colours look a little different than in "real life" unfortunately, and it's quite hard to see the orange glow in the windows. Anyway, this one's made using my "Winter Silhouettes" stamp set which I used over a background made with Dylusions ink sprays. No surprises in my colour choices I'm afraid! I cut hilly shapes from black Bazill card stock and overlayed them using silicone glue - hard to see the dimension here. I added a touch of white gel pen along each card layer just to define them more. It's a really simple card but I love using silhouette stamps for that very reason.

Well, I have made more than two cards today, but that's all my pictures for this post. I'm now getting too warm sitting at the computer, so I think I'll drain my glass and get back into the work room for a few more hours. Keep cool everyone!

Ooooh, look what just arrived!

The postie just arrived with a package for me..........

 ......my new Christmas stamp sets! There are also a Halloween set and a hats set in there. The ones along the top are from the Crafty Impressions range in their new festive red packaging. The bottom row are from my Doo Lally Pip collection and, in the middle are my "Little Doo Lally Pip" stamps. There are loads of them....thirteen Doo Lally Pip sets, nine Crafty Impressions sets and ten Little Doo Lally Pips.....makes me realise just how much drawing I did a few months ago and it still gives me a thrill to see them turned into the finished product.

All the new Christmas stamps are available now from Personal Impressions stockists - if they don't have them in, just ask!

Along with my own stamps there were a few of the general Crafty Impressions Christmas word sets.....

......these will prove very useful additions in my sample making.

Speaking of which, it's all hands to the deck now (well, my two hands anyway!) to get lots of samples made with them all. The only question is.....where do I start!
I've just popped back here to add a couple of pictures of a canvas that I finished today - I didn't want to leave it part done when I started my Christmas samples. This one features my Piffy on a Rock Cake character and I've used calico across the bottom of the canvas again for grass. I really like the tactile quality that the fabric gives.

 Here's a closer look at the "grass"....

.....the tiny flowers are circles of painted card that I've wet and scrunched up before heat setting to stiffen them. I added little dots of dimensional pearl paint to the centres. You can see more close ups of the canvas on my Etsy site.
Well, it's been dull and misty here all day, with some showers too and the sun has only just put in an appearance. Yesterday was perfect weather for the garden party at the Vicarage where there was a barbecue as well as three tables weighed down with delicious salads of every description, cous cous, potatoes, trifles etc, all lovingly prepared by members of the parish. A lovely afternoon was had by all though I didn't win anything in the raffle (I never do!) and I didn't go on the bouncy castle either!
I did get some more good bat shots last night and will keep on trying until I manage to get a picture of one face on as it flies towards me....I'm determined!

Summer brings cricket bats

The British summer is certainly making up for lost time now and at a cracking pace too! Every morning brings fresh delights in the garden with glorious colours and tasty crops.

Today I was greeted by this cheery Sunflower amongst the Sweet Peas and Nasturtiums. I've grown quite a few of them but this one has beaten the rest to open first. I've got three vases full of Sweet Peas filling the house with their lovely perfume and still masses of them in the garden. And some of these little belters were on my plate tonight!

I was away from home for a couple of days this week, meeting up with my colleagues for a day at Sizzix HQ, looking at the forthcoming new releases and learning more about how some of the products work. It was a really interesting day and gave me lots of inspiration. 

Yesterday, I was performing duties at another funeral....I'm feeling much more confident about what I'm doing now. Heather met me in church afterwards and we drove up to see mum. There were some other people visiting a relative too and we all ended up having a sing song! Michael started us off with "It's a long way to Tipperary" and most of the residents joined in....it's wonderful just how strong our memory of songs can be. People who cannot remember who they are, who their family are, or who hardly speak at all, can suddenly recall all the words of a song. It was a lovely moment, though, sadly, mum wasn't able to sing along as she once would have done.

Last night I watched the first night of the Proms which had a sea theme. I was transported by the Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony which I've only heard snippets of before, but I'll be listening to it again, it was wonderful. It made me think how permanent music is. Of all the arts, it's the only one that's never effected by time. Paintings can fade or crack, statues can crumble and for sure, all our inky creations will be lost, but music is there forever. Mmmm....it gave me something to ponder.

When I got home I spotted something on the floor in the conservatory and I got some good photos of it.....

  .....isn't he amazing! I was only thinking that I hadn't heard the grasshoppers or crickets in the field this year, and then this chappie turned up. It's normally the duller, brown "versions" that I see, but this one was the most brilliant green. Just ignore the Tara hairs on the carpet by the way! I managed to pick him up without him leaping further into the house.....

.....and snapped this picture before I set him down in the garden. So, he was the cricket of my post title and the bats, well, sadly, I haven't been able to take a picture despite my best efforts, but I've been treated to them swooping really low over the garden for the last few nights. They have been coming really close to me but they do such fantastic aerobatics that I just cannot get one in frame! Fascinating creatures and I'd love to get a really good look at them. NB....see end of this post for update!

I finished another canvas today, and, at first glance it may look as if I used my Robot stamp which was released last year...or was it the year before now...eek! However, this one is an original robot which I drew onto the canvas.....

 .....he's a little more relaxed, with his bent knee, than the one on the stamp set! The canvas has a wire hanger that's hard to see in the picture, but it was more suitable than the ribbon hangers that I often add to my canvasses. He's now up in my Etsy shop and you can see some closer photos of the canvas there.

It's been too hot for T&T today! Thomas has been asleep on my bed for the majority of the day and Tara has been mostly lying amongst the long grasses at the edge of the field. She joined me on the bench late this afternoon though when it had cooled down ever so slightly....

 ....thought you might like this cute picture of her! I'm very lucky that I now live somewhere that I can happily leave every door and window open, so I've been working in my Doo Lally room but I've been able to get the breeze coming through from the back of the house. It's been so quiet here all day - I think everyone has taken the advice to keep out of the sun whilst it's so hot. I had a cold shower earlier...my technique is to get into a warm shower and then slowly trun the temperature down until the water is really cold - not so much of a shock that way! If it gets too hot in the night, my top tip is to soak a bath towel in cold water, wring it out and use it instead of a duvet - works a treat!

Oh, before I go, after a rather long and rather rambly post....I decided to make a bread and butter pudding last night. Don't ask me why! I replaced the sugar with a little Splenda and it looked great when I lifted it out of the oven....

 .....unfortunately, it was a real disappointment and tasted nothing like it looked! I think it needed more liquid, but never mind. So, no recipe for this one until I do a better job! It will still get eaten of course!

Tomorrow I'll be helping between services at church and then it is the Hog Roast in the vicarage garden which I'm really looking forward to. I'll take my camera!

Hope everyone is having a brilliant weekend and not getting overheated....any top tips for keeping cool?

Bats update! Well, after saying I'd like to get a better look at the bats, I had a couple of lucky shots tonight! I go outside at around 10.15pm and tonight decided I would sit on the bench as the bats like to swoop quite low over my lawn (for lawn, read more like a meadow at the moment!). The joy of digital photography....I was able to keep snapping away and, instead of trying to follow a completely unfollowable bat, I just pointed in the general direction and carried on clicking. I didn't think I'd caught anything till I loaded the pictures......

 .....and this one is a corker......

.....though you'll need to click the image for a better look. I don't think I'll be getting a job as a wildlife cameraman any time soon, but these pictures gave me a thrill anyway. The bats came so close tonight that I could feel the movement of their wings as they flittered past, though, of course, they didn't touch me. Doorstep wildlife....fabulous!