Well since my last post I have become a Grandmother and it was a very worrying time. My Daughter -in-law had a very bad time and it reminded me how precious life is. I realized that however badly we believe we are treated by the health service in this country we are lucky to have it.

I have also discovered that however undomesticated a man may seem when they have to step up to the mark they do.

I am very proud of my Son who for a week due to an emergency Cesarean has been the main carer (apart from feeding ) of course.

A week on from the birth I had to create 4 journal swap pages in a hurry I have had 6 weeks but as usual left it to the last minute.Also Nina who is hosting that swap on Milliande.com is also hosting a Holiday ornament swap. Based on the size of an ATC.. Now the thing is I do seem to craft better under pressure Nina asked us to produce a minimum of 3 and I did 18 in 1 evening .

Now I can relax for a couple of days before the next swap.

Sometimes I think I take on too much although I also think I work well under pressure.

So when I decided to submit artwork to the friends exhibition at the RWA Bristol why did I leave it until the last week to get it ready.4 items are being submitted 3 of them may get me banned as they are not conventional art pieces but I have made them from items I have collected on the beach when walking Wilson.

I also have work entered into another exhibition 20 miles away 2 pictures and 10 necklaces.

During these times when everyone is strapped for cash I am not hopeful that I will sell anything and with the RWA i have to get them past the selection judges so please watch this space.

How things have changed

Last weekend a spur of the moment decision found us in IKEA with the intention of buying 2 sofas, we only took 15 mins. to choose them and then nearly 2 hours to arrange delivery.There arrival meant we only had 3 days to find a home for our 20year old leather suite which actually was not at all bad. But we had made the mistake of allowing a 40kg black lab to sleep on it and the top coating was rubbed.

We decided to sell on EBAY the listing made and several watchers later it sold for £2.70 which just covered the cost of listing 20 years ago it cost £2500 .

It makes me think how things have changed in size as well as cost. We have now decided to clear out more clutter another listing on EBAY . A JVC video recorder several years old and heavy (did we really carry that around on our holidays ? ) My new tiny mobile now does all that the camera used to do WOW. I dread to think where this de clutter will end I may have to barricade my craft room because i Have more STUFF crammed in there then the rest of the house put together.

On the creating front I have made a few items which I have forgot to photograph but I did remember to snap my lastest 2 pages for the journal swap + some tags I made for NINA the host.

The nights are drawing in so I do not feel so guilty about crafting.

Not so many swaps going on at the moment but I made ATCs on the theme ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS and a NATURE GODDESS both on milliande.com along with the ongoing monthly journal page swap.