Happy New Year

 

Towards the end of last year I discovered I actually had nothing to say,each day was the same as the previous ,and my blog suffered. Some of you may be thinking  that I never really have anything to say, and I must admit  I do so admire my other blogger friends with their intelligent conversation.

So here we are in the New Year  and I will try not to bore you ,I am just going to post  a few  photos with small snippets of information.

A set of Affirmations  for when I need a boost

 

 

I cannot leave out Little Miss X who is now walking

She really does like putting things on her head

And she will ride around on her scooter ,head covered  with no fear.

The rest of the family were reluctant to having their photo taken

but I managed a few shots

The newly engaged couple

Wilson sucks his comfort blanket when he feels ignored.

More about Wilson later

Mother in law and husband watching  a dvd of a holiday we all had in Canada 1990

My Mum  who has memory problems

Mother in laws twin sister (they live together )

My Dad who has just regained the 2 stone he lost when he was suffering with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

This was quite sad because they are all now in their eighties  and none of them are good health.

Now for a few crafty bits

Spoilt for choice ,but I chose two vintage books to alter

Book of quotations 1904

And a 1920s Enquire within upon everything,

This was inside the front cover

and today I managed 3 pages in the quotations journal

And prompted by  Milliande

A  large box of Ash offcuts destined to be burnt

but ended up

One of the rubber stamps part designed by Tina

and a paper artsy stamp

Now more about Wilson today we took him for a walk across our fields to the what we call the lakes ( more photos on that tomorrow) and being a lab he had to get in water ,be it ditch or lake and tonight he is very poorly. He has bad hips  and we know his limits but somehow today he must have done too much.

I have even had to call the out of hours vet for advice,and it may mean a trip to the vets tomorrow. Not good news when we  have changed insurance companies and they will not cover his hips.

I'm In A Purple Haze

 

This is a catch up Post as I have a lot of Friends to thank .

My first package in this bounty came from Lorraine  in Liverpool U K http://loveofcollage.blogspot.com/  I had sent Lorraine several  art magazines that I had collected over a few years ,and in return she sent me one of her landscape paintings.

Hard to believe she has only just started to paint landscapes,and you cannot  see it here but it arrived framed.

It came with  one of her crochet  flowers  part Purple  of course,as Lorraine knows it is  one of my favourite colours. and she thought I would like to wear it on my purple beret. (you can see that later )

Lorraine also sent me a book to help me with my quilting

The following day  another package arrived my elderly neighbour had taken it in for me ,and she braved the rain to bring it to the door. It was soft and  and at first I was confused as to where it had come from. And then I saw the postmark , Serbia ,and I think my heart skipped a beat,as I knew it was from the VERY talented Sonja   http://artfrommysoul.wordpress.com/

I asked my neighbour to wait while I opened the packet ,because I knew that whatever it was  it would be perfect.

And so it was

It was a beautiful hand-woven scarf, one of Sonja's wonderful creations. At this point I shrieked with delight ,which was probably quite scary for a 81 year old woman to witness,let alone hear.

This arrived as I was about to go to the post office ,and I did feel like the cat that got the cream, purple beret,with purple flower,and topped up with a  wonderful hand woven scarf.

I had to wait until today to take photos as it has been so dark all week and I could not get the true purple colour.

WARNING ! The following photo resembles a demented Cheshire cat.

 

 

 

Have you ever tried taking your own photo ? you have to hold the camera/ phone at arms length ,and try not to look at the lens, really difficult especially for someone who is not comfortable IN Front of the camera.

Thank you Lorraine and Sonja  for my Purple Haze.

As I mentioned last time I am taking part in a circle journal swap in the New year ,and somehow  we ended up saying we would send small gifts to each other. Because I had been taken over by Scotty dogs I sent a dog each,made with plain calico so they  can alter if they wish.

And in return I have been lucky enough to receive the Crochet flower from Lorraine,and one of Trine’s  http://timeout-trine.blogspot.com/  as always classy ATC/ cards

And a slice of scented handmade soap from Vigdis in Norway

And don't you just love the quirky card?

And From Lynn in the UK a delightful hanging ATC /Christmas ornament, which will look great on the tree.

Thank you all

And today from my monthly journal swap hosted by Liz http://studioartplay.blogspot.com/ over at   http://milliande.ning.com/

I received these pages from  Sandy in California

along with a fridge magnet

 

with a inspirational quote,and it was wrapped in some of the most unusual fabric

Now I wonder what I can make from this ?

And just a update on my circle journal, it was going to be vintage colours as I posted last time,

But inspired by the purple haze that I have been engulfed in ,it has changed to this

this cover is not finished ,and in case you are wondering the word  IS still has to be added.

One last thing my youngest son and his partner got engaged last weekend,and we are all delighted as they have been together seven years.I made this card for them.

I am sorry for the poor photo.

Just a few more

 

I do not seem to have done very much art lately  as the dogs were taking up my time.

I have made 10 more since this was taken.

I am taking part in my first circle journal swap starting in February, I find this quite daunting as I will be adding my art to someone else's which is quite a responsibility.

I have got as far as making my journal ,but knowing me I may change it before we start.

That is a circle cut from the front, done with my Sizzix of course.

I struggled with last months prompt for the monthly journal pages,Liz over at Milliande does a great job with this swap but I really had to think hard.

Inner Critic depicted as a monster

and a page about something we take for granted

I chose birds for this because when I returned home yesterday i was greeted by a Robin singing which was wonderful.

These pages are going to Beckie in the USA and it is her first swap,because I was not truly happy with them I have done a extra one,

Which I am happy with.

Trine over at  http://timeout-trine.blogspot.com/  will be doing guided hiking tours in Scotland next year ,please check out her website

http://www.timeouttravel.dk/tot/forsiden.html

Trine ask the members of our circle group to create a page incorporating the words Time Out, and using a specified list of supplies.

This was my first attempt which is OK ,I thought I was being clever using a page from a map of the destination area

I think it is a little washed out,

Then on reading the list again I saw that we could use acrylics,so I made another one.

A little more colour this time.

Last winter when we had a burst pipe a lot of my paintings got very wet ,but this little lady survived ,and she is now brightening up my kitchen.

And of course this other little Lady will be in my care tomorrow,and as you can see she is a budding artist.

When she leaves I am spending the afternoon demonstrating my Sizzix to a friend who has just bought one for herself.

And just to finish I would like to say thank  you  to Jackie Nicholls from Texas one of my Facebook friends who sent a lovely card and letter to my mother and made her day.