SUNNY DAY

What fantastic weather we have had today almost non stop sun.It was so nice I even ended up sitting on the decking with my jeans rolled up. Yes the legs were very white and Hairy but it felt good.

Last week the little lane which leads from home was re-surfaced although it was in a very poor state with many potholes we were all amazed at the amount of work they have done on it.  The council were there for several day's and they have also  dug out the drainage ditches in places the road is about 6 inches higher. Although this is the quickest route from my home I have not used it for a year because of the potholes and the fact that other drivers are not always willing to let you pass. And now that we have this wonderful new surface I will still not use it because as they have dug out the ditches there is no room to allow passing cars. I give it a couple of months before the first vehicle comes to grief.

The interesting thing about this resurfacing is that our local council has a limited budget and there are a lot of much more high profile roads that need doing. We are not complaining of course but some of the older residents are worried about boy racers. This is a very pretty lane and I have posted photos before but in the last few months more of the fields have been taken over for livestock or horses.

One of the most interesting is  the man who over the past couple of years has built up a large collection of chickens,ducks,geese. etc.But when I was passing yesterday I discovered he had added a Giraffe and a Playboy loving Lion quite a shock as you can imagine.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MORE MISERABLE  LION

A STRANGE PLACE TO SEE A GIRAFFE

At the end of the lane on what used to be the railway crossing at the beginning of the last century , the small community group I belong to has put a boat which we intend to fill with flowers and bulbs .I have volunteered to do this although I am a little worried it has been filled with topsoil which means weeds.

The following photos are different variety's of Daffodils that I found in the ditches and hedges in the lane HOW DID THEY GET THERE ?

Lastly I took this very poor quality  photo of the SUPERMOON  shining through the roof light last night the window was covered in condensation but I think it adds to the picture.

Just one more for any cat lovers this little beauty was living rough in our gardens last winter nervous and very dirty. Until  my elderly next door neighbour took her in and now she does not leave her side.

AWARD AND SOMETHING FISHY

As some of you may have seen on an earlier post I have been given an AWARD by Barb  http://bhappystamp.blogspot.com/ for my blog .And in return I was to award  7 other blogs I know that sounds easy but in reality I found it difficult. Not the choosing of the blogs but just the layout of the page I started working on it yesterday and after 2 hours this morning posted  it. I then had to let each of the 7 blogs know that I had awarded them and why and in return they had to do the same.Thinking about it now I suppose it is like an online chain letter.

Anyway the 7 blogs I chose were.in no particular order.
http://calicostudio.blogspot.com/

http://chocolatelifeandjazz.blogspot.com/

http://janetkeen.blogspot.com/

http://loveofcollage.blogspot.com/

http://paperkitz.blogspot.com/

http://theshabbychicbohemian.blogspot.com/

http://timeout-trine.blogspot.com/

Please if anyone you have not already visited these blogs please do as each one is an inspiration. I only wish I could have awarded the same number again as there are so many talented creative people writing blogs.

NOW FOR SOMETHING FISHY

I had my first 3 sets of ATCS arrive for the swap I am hosting on milliande and they are wonderful.

I promised I would blog about them as they arrive.

I will do this alphabeticaly.

Bridget Wilkinson  UK
As with all of these 3 the camera may not do them justice as it was overcast this morning.These are the most beautiful shades of blue and turquoise highlighted with gold. I guess they are Zentangles  very intricate and delightful.

Christine Stuart  UK

A very tactile set of cards using Decoupage peel offs and glitter giving a tropical look .And once again great colours for this swap.Wait until you feel them.

Kitty Van den Heuvel The Netherlands

Another set of beautiful vibrant cards  I believe Kitty has used ink ? for the background or it may be watercolour but the cards are collaged with images of Carp and finished off perfectly with brads.

I am so pleased I decided to host this swap as the colours alone are so bright and cheerful for early spring.

Thank you again

Bridget ,Christine,and Kitty

I HAVE WON AN AWARD

BEFORE I START I AM MAKING ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO POST THIS BLOG WHENEVER I TRY TO ADD LINKS IT ALL GOES WRONG. BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME. AND IF YOU CANNOT READ THIS TRY THE EARLIER POST AS i HAVE AWARDED 7 BLOGS.

By accepting this award i have a few rules to follow the first being thank the person who awarded you and link back to them.
1.
So I would like to thank Barb at       leaflizard       for her kindness in giving  me this award.
2.
LIST 7 THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF.

1. I am 57 years old  and will have been married for 30 years in JULY.
2. I have 2 grown up sons the eldest became a Father in October.
3.   I have a black Labrador called Wilson .
4. I have so much art /craft materials I feel ashamed.
5. I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome ) not life threatening just annoying.
6. I am a worrier
7. IN MY HEAD I AM A ARTIST

3.
AWARD 7 BLOGS AND TELL THEM WHY.

1.           Paper Kitz       Because Kit is so humorous and her blog fills my life with the warmth of the Florida sunshine.

2.                    Time Out - Creative Art Journaling        .Because Trine style is amazing typically Scandinavian and classy.

3.         LOVE OF COLLAGE             Because Lorraine manage to create constantly and look after a young family WOW

4.        CHOCOLATE LIFE AND JAZZ!        Because I am always inspired by Lynda's photos especially the candid shots of people in the street.

5.         The Shabby Chic Bohemian    Because Sharon has some great ATCs and photos.

6.         CalicoStudio                 Because I love Patricia's mixed media work.

7.                  Janet Keen Artist, Writer, Teacher, Recreational Photographer, Creativity Promoter...            Because not only is Janet a great artist but she teaches art as well.

I would like to thank you all for your inspiration.

This BLOG IS A COMPLETE MESS DUE TO THE FACT I AM INSERTING LINKS WHENEVER I DO THIS THE POST ALWAYS GOES WRONG.

HELP

Can you imagine how excited I was to have been given an award for my blog .I have had the blog for a couple of years but it has only been in the last few months that I have really stuck at it. When receiving this award there are a few rules to follow and they are as follows.

1 Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
 Thank you, Barb of  leaflizard  you have given me the confidence to keep going .And I just love your cute clock.

2.YOU MUST SHARE 7 THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF

1. This year I will have been married for 30 years.

2. I live by the River Severn  the longest river in the U K

3. I became a Grandmother for the first time last October.

4. I have a 8 year old  big black lab called Wilson who was my 5oth birthday gift to myself.

5. I am a constant worrier which hinders my life.

6. Because of the above I am a sufferer of IBS irritable Bowel Syndrome which means I need to be near toilet  at all times.

7. I am always creating in my HEAD ideas swimming around for the next big project ,but rarely do they emerge.

3   AWARD  7 BLOGS AND LET THEM KNOW WHY.

  

Here are the seven blogs I award.... 

1.Paper Kitz

Because Kit is humorous and brings the warmth of the Florida sunshine into my life.

2.CHOCOLATE LIFE AND JAZZ!

Because Lynda's photos always inspire me especially her candid shots of people in the street.

3LOVE OF COLLAGE

Because Lorraine's energy and artwork is amazing she seems to be able to create and look after a young family WOW.

4.Time Out - Creative Art Journaling

Because Trine has an amazing style which I LOVE unmistakably Scandinavian with class.

5. Janet Keen Artist, Writer, Teacher, Recreational Photographer, Creativity Promoter...

 Because not only is Janet an amazing artist but she passes on this skill to others by teaching.

6. CalicoStudio

Because I love the work Patricia creates especially her mixed media pieces.

7.The Shabby Chic Bohemian

 Because Sharon has a way with ATCs and some great photos especially of her cats.

Thank you all for being an inspiration.

SPRING SCRAP AND SERENDIPITY

I have wasted a lot of time today first of all creating another video of my pieces of art and uploading to Youtube and Facebook . I then discovered it was really simple to upload to a blog so that is why I have inflicted both videos on anyone who reads this . We have a new journal prompt on milliande SPRING and I rushed to put on my Bird page which has been seen before and another page using tissue and stamps.The latter was really just me experimenting with some of my new rubber stamps so it was a bit messy.
This afternoon I created another page using one of my favourite methods of using up scraps of paper.And it goes like this.

Take a sheet of card

Then paste on various scraps of paper ,fabric etc today I kept to tonal colours.

SCRAP PAPER BOX

GREEN SCRAPS INCLUDING EMBOSSED RIBBON

ORANGE 

SHADES OF BLUE

PINK PAGE USING SCRAPS LEFT FROM A SIZZIX DIE CUT

When this is done  you can cut out shapes I used my Sizzix Big Shot  to cut out flowers and leaves but I often use this method for ATC blanks.

I then painted the page with acrylics and doodled with sharpies and Pitt pens.

I then arranged the die cuts

I just finished the page with Pitt pens .

MY ART ????

ART

I thought I would see if I could upload 2 videos of some of my previous artwork.

NEW DESIGN

I have not much to talk about today so I have spent the last 3 hours redesigning the blog. Yes I know it looks the same that is because after spending all of that time I went back to the original.

 Not a lot has happened today I went to see my elderly parents only 40 mins. away they live in an idyllic spot but as the are both ill they do not get to enjoy it. It has a typical English country garden but major building work on the cottage next door spoils the tranquility.  I did photograph this Hyacinth and only saw the fly later after uploading onto the  computer.

I have 3 sets of ATCs on the way already for my SOMETHING FISHY swap and I will be putting each set on the blog as they arrive.

WILLOWS AND SWAP

                                                                                                         This weekend I spent a lot of time thinking about the people of Japan the images and sounds are haunting. As I live in a village below sea level in a area which a few centuries ago was wiped out by a tsunami my heart goes out to them.


Saturday I decided I should host a swap on milliande I had thought about it for some time but I guess I just felt I needed to give something back. I chose the title SOMETHING FISHY  probably because I am still excited by my fishy stamp from Trine. I clicked the START A NEW DISCUSSION  button and I was off
Start date /finish date/numbers etc. I thought I might get a few join over the weekend but within a few hours I had reached 15 so I thought I would say 20 which over the next few hours became 25.
My wish as this is my first swap is that it should go without a hitch. I am going to post the pictures of the ATCs as they arrive so that a wider audience can see the  wonderful creations.

RELAXING ON THE DECKING

Sunday was the most beautiful day the sun shone all day which was good as my husband had to dismantle our wind turbine and this task needed calm weather. He has a bad cold at the moment and Sunday morning I witnessed the very rare sight of him relaxing on the decking with Wilson in glorious sunshine.
Later in the day after cutting back and planting even more Willow stems I decided to create what I hope will become a Living Willow den for My Granddaughter.And the grass was dry enough for its first cut of the year.

THE LIVING WILLOW DEN

Today was another really sunny day I walked across the fields with Wilson and in the hedgerow under the dying oak tree there was a clump of daffodils I did not plant them and I have no idea how they got there.

DAFFODILS IN THE FIELD

THE DYING OAK TREE

Walking back I picked up a feather which I think is from my resident Buzzard.

BUZZARD FEATHER ?

Mid afternoon the sun streamed through the patio doors and Velux roof windows onto my Daffodil  painting  reminding me Spring is HERE.

My husband was asked to visit our Doctor this morning He saw her last Wednesday because he was getting breathless and she was arranging  a Cardiologist. But the surgery rang and asked him to go in urgently he has been put on medication while awaiting tests. I hope this is nothing more serious than his Atrial Fibrillation which we have known about for about 20 years.