Bad Blogging!

I have been really bad at blogging recently - mainly due to that old enemy - LACK OF TIME!!!
Not had much time for anything apart from day to day living as it is just so full on at the moment. One forgets how time consuming it is caring for a four year old! I am getting back in touch with the school run, parents evenings etc when I thought those days long gone. I imagined a nice relaxed semi-retired life with lots of time for walks on the beach, artwork, stitching, reading and all those other lovely leisure pursuits. Instead we are busy gluing and sticking, painting and doing homework. It is a joy really and we should be thankful to spend time together, but it just all gets a bit tiring at times. Hopefully daughter no 2 will be much better in a while and able to take up at least some of the reins again, meanwhile we are trying to make the most of it and enjoy our time with the little one.

Saturday again!

Well it soon comes around to Saturday again! What I need to do is get all my craft goodies sorted out and organised. What am I doing? sitting here and typing this and messing about on the computer! Oh well ---- I just need to pop into town to get a new embroidery foot ordered for my sewing machine so I may do that ---- then I will come back and start tidying up!!

Maybe I could save myself some money - if I sort out what I have already I won't need to buy more stuff. Not much fun though!

Altered Coasterd for Autumn

The current challenge on the Art'n'Soul Group on Flickr is an altered coaster for Autumn. I used to do lots of these as wall hangings and loved doing them. However come to this one and what happens - complete crafter's block!!! It has taken me simply ages to mess around with ideas and come up with something.

I am not 100% happy with the results but they at least have the Autumn shades I was trying to achieve.

More collage and a course

Not much happening recently apart from lots of stuff to do at home so it is keeping me out of the work room. I have done a couple of collage efforts recently which are not too bad, but need more work.

I also had a wonderful day course at Alston Hall which was very messy but very enjoyable. Transfer dyes and fabric printing with wax resist. Managed to get lots of interesting effects and produce quite a lot of potential backgrounds for future projects whenever I get thet ime to actually make anything! Quite a few embroidery and stitching projects in the offing so I am just waiting for the opportunity to get my machine out and get going with some serious stitching!

Waste not want not!

I just love the Graphic 45 ranges of scrapbook paper! So much so that I can't even bring myself to throw away even the smallest scraps - so I used them to make a collage and I was quite pleased with the result (even though I say it myself!)

I have a whole new pack that I just keep opening and looking at and then I put it away again as I can't bring myself to use it.
I keep telling myself "It's only paper" - but it is very pretty.

Otherwise I have been keeping busy doing a few ATC's to try to get into swapping again and also some stitching. Crazy patchwork is quite addictive once you start and I just keep on getting out the sewing machine.

I am off to Alston Hall again next week for a day course which promises to be messy and full of lots of new ideas so really looking forward to that.

More time now!

I have been absent from blogging for a while but now getting started again as I seem to have a bit more time on my hands

Things have settled down a lot on the family front and I am getting more "me" time. I have been doing quite a bit of sewing and embroidery recently. I bought a new sewing machine and seem to have the inspiration back! I used to make lots of clothes for the kids when they were younger, but not done any sewing for quite a while. One of the challenges on Art'n'Soul on Flickr recently was to create a small mixed media piece incorporating fabric and vintage images so this was a perfect opportunity! Now I can't stop doing them! I ended up doing 2 for the swap and have done another one with one in progress.

I enjoyed doing the mini dresses for the Project Runway swap and this has got me thinking fabric and I certtainly have quite a lot stashed away which needs to be used! This is just a small selection of the paper dresses I received - one for each day in June.

Back to Base!

Just back from a lovely holiday in Menorca. Wonderful weather, lots of rest and reading by the pool! Back to work tomorrow ..got to pay for the next break somehow.
Opened my mail to discover I ws the lucky winner of 3d Jean's monthly art raffle!!!!!! Lots of lovely goodies to put on my walls in the office now! Thanks to all who entered their work it was lovely to be a winner.

Remember my bargain of the week?

Remember my bargain bag of Indian Silk scarves? I re-cycled them into a cushion!

I went to a Rag Bag Workshop at Alston Hall last week and we looked at ways of using up all our bits and pieces to make something new. I am very pleased with the result. My new sewing machine worked like a dream and I managed to produce this within the day. I have just been adding the finishing touches and it makes a fabby cushion for the bed!

I can see me using this technique again over and over as I have lots of bits to recycle!

Project Runway

Here are the dresses I have received so far in the mini dress swap.

I need a bigger closet to keep them all in so I will have to redesign something to hold all thirty!

It has been a bit like an advent calender having a little parcel to open each day during June and still lots more to go!

Back to crafting!

Here I am - back again - still with not much time on my hands but feeling much better. I am hoping to get lots done this weekend so you never know I may even take some photographs.
I have also started to open all the lovely dainty mini dresses which are part of a huge swap on flickr. Thirty tiny dresses - one for each day of the month made and sent all over the world. I am really enjoying opening all the envelopes and seeing what everyone has created. Pictures soon!

For my Mum
October 1919 - May 2010

Mum sadly passed away on the 17th May at the age of 90 years. She had a long and happy life enriched by spending precious time with her great grand-daughter.

She was a wonderful lady, the best mother I could ever wish for and a true inspiration. Her passing leaves a space in our lives which will be hard to fill.

BUSY>>>>BUSY>>>>>>BUSY

Sorry - not much time for blogging recently - or for anything else come to that! Unfortunately we have had lots of illness in the family - I won't go into all the details but suffice to say it is taking up lots of my time. Not much time for arty crafty things and very little time to sit and play on the computer either.

Life is never dull - however I am having a precious day off tomorrow to go to London with my daughter. We have tickets for the V+A to see the Quilt exhibit and the Grace Kelly dresses so really looking forward to that - even though it will be a tiring day it should be inspirational!

Bargain of the week!

How about this for colours?

Walking through town yesterday I noticed a tub outside the Barnado's Shop full of silk scarves - even better a pack of TWELVE for NINETY EIGHT PENCE!!!!!!! Yes thats right - so of course I bought two packs (should have bought more but will probably go back for some more tomorrow!)

OK so they are not all brilliant and some have holes and tears, but it looks to me as if they are Sari offcuts and will be very usefiul in various projects. I may even wear one or two of them. One pack was squares and the other one was rectangles, but there are lots of lovely colours some are plain and some patterned.

Holidays again

I can't believe the Easter weekend is upon us already, it seems hardly any time at all since Christmas. Should be having a bit of time at home this weeked so hoping to get lots done. Have spent the morning making huge amounts of home made soup and chilli for the freezer so I think I deserve some "me" time now.

I created this Joker collage after seeing something similar in the background on a TV auction programme. I had several bits and pieces left over from a previous project so it all came in useful and I have actually framed it!

My granddaughter, who is almost 4 has the measles, so we won't be going out much over the weekend. Fortunately she had her vaccination so she is not too poorly but just has a rash and is very lethargic. I can't believe they had almost eradicated this awful illness and then by some parents not having their kids vaccinated it is back as bad if not worse than before - it can be such a dangerous illness too. (Sorry that is my rant of the day!)

We also have my mum staying with us for the holiday and she is quite frail and dosn't go out except in her wheelchair so it is no good if the weather is to cold or wet. So great opportunity to catch up with lots of sewing and art work - I hope......

Happy Birthday to me!!

Yes it was my birthday yesterday - not sure whether or not to celebrate as they seem to be coming around far too quickly! Had a very nice day however and a great meal out at a local restaurant to top things off. Also managed not to overdose on cake!

Art Dolls again!

I really enjoy making these art dolls - not keen on some of the scarier ones, but they are a joy to do as you are never quite sure how they will turn out. Mine just sort of evolve as I go along.

I based this one on an idea I saw in Craft Stamper magazine and it is my entry for this month's Art Raffle at 3D Jean.

I have also been doing some postcard collages as they give more space than an ATC. I used the same images sheets on this one as I used on the village picture and the result made me smile.

I have been having some fun doing altered jigsaw pieces for a challenge on one of the Flickr groups. Monochrome is always a challenge but I really enjoyed doing these.

I actually bought a child's jigsaw feom the charity shop, taped a few pieces together and made it the size I wanted and I think it worked quite well. I struggled a bit to find a subject, but once I got going it just seemed to come together. I feel rather pleased with the results even though I say it myself!

This was also a good reason to try out some new stamps I got recently. The one with the bike is a Darkroom Door stamp and I really love the images on this one. The Laughter stamp is one I have wanted for a while and I eventually tracked it down in an e-bay auction and it was quite a bargain!

I seem to be doing lots of monochrome at the moment - I have been doing some cards with a similar theme the only problem being I have done so many I am going to have to try to sell some of them as I will never use them all myself!

Not had too much time for blogging - or anything else for that matter just recently, but hopefully that is now set to change!

I had a go with some downloaded images from Dyan Reavley (Art from the Heart) and came up with this little village collage. It makes a change to go back to 12 x 12 format and I think I may get back into doing some scrapbooking again now! I have only just sorted through all the Christmas photographs so that may get me going to update my albums.

I have also been making lots of Art Deco cards, and I am really enjoying using all the different images from that era.

We were supposed to go up to York today, but the weather was so awful this morning we decided not to risk it. Shame really and I was so looking forward to it - we will try next weekend instead!

Valentine Madness!

I am taking part in a Valentine Swap in one of the Flickr Groups and it got me started on hearts! Now I ncan't stop it is hearts with everything and lots of pink and sequins - I hardly ever use sequins!!!!

Back from Holidays!

Back from holidays already - why does time go so quickly when we are on holiday? After a bad start and 24 hour delay due to snow and aircraft being in the wrong place we finally made it to sunny Tenerife. The weather was fantastic - much warmer than last year - and we had a lovely restful time. Of course I ate (and drank) too much so now back down to earth and back to the Weight Watchers Plan.
Need to keep my hands busy so lots of new challenges and crafting ideas to look forward to especially as there seems to be wall to wall football on the TV.

Something Different

As it is still covered in snow outside I decided to cheer myself up and start thinking about beaches and summer time! I have been making these little beach themed hanging plaques and I am quite pleased how they worked out. Initially I was just going to make one for the Monthly Art Raffle run by 3D Jean, but then one thing led to another and I am doing a whole stream of them! I love the vintage postcards of bathing belles - they just make me smile.
Hope this snow clears away soon it is getting past looking pretty now and getting to be a bit of a nuisance. Is that just me getting grumpy?