CARMEN'S SECRET SANTA SWAP

Hello everyone, well sharing my other Secret Santa swap, this one part of Carmen's secret Santa swap that she has run over recent years.  I love these swaps so much fun and I was spoilt yet again this year!

Lots of yummy goodness, some beautiful 8 x 8 papers and 12 x 12 papers (of which I've been busy with them already).

Some gorgeous fabric button type brads, a box of paper flowers a knitted/crocheted brooch which is gorgeous.

A fab gift to open on Christmas morning - thank you!

A BLOG QUESTION OR THREE ...

Last week Carmen asked me to take part in a virtual blog tour - I felt very privileged to be asked by her and involves giving a peak behind the scenes as it were, however, similar to Carmen there isn't much goes on behind the scenes that I don't share - my weekly Rocking Your World round up usually touches on the things in my general life as well as sharing the crafting I do.

• What am I working on?
• How does my work differ from others of its genre?
• Why do I write/create what I do?
• How does your writing/creating process work?

What am I working on?

Well currently I'm working on a stay at home journal entry which is due near the end of the month. The theme of the entry is rust, costs and wheels - I'm enjoying working on this as well as the other entries that I've done previously. 

I'm also in the midst of scrapbooking again - on a massive scale I think yesterday's layout was number 157 of the year!  This take off in scrapping has occurred since joining the Wear Crafts design team and then happening across the counterfeit kit blog which I'm currently obsessed with as well as being part of a point collecting team on UK Scrappers. 

On the home front, we are currently undertaking a revamp of our bedroom and given that we have no intention of getting rid of our gothic bed means we are introducing more gothic elements into the room as we go.  This means hubby is currently learning to construct gothic arches and quatrefoils - the air has been blue on occasions! It also means that there is a chance that we will be reintroduing the Celtic Knots into our home decor - how I miss them.  Our last home was a veritable feast of knotwork in every single room, the obsession grew - knotwork off scaffolding was a norm!  Laying down to paint next to the skirting board was a typical end of the day task - it took over our lives, we got accused of tattooing our house - and if I'm honest I suppose that is what we did.  Having to paint over those hours and hours of work was one of the hardest things we had to do when we left that house and we didn't have the heart to recommence that in our current home.  Given that we've really no intention of moving, however, it seems sensible now to reconsider the personalisation of the same. 

Other than that I have my needle felter, my new current obsession, bought on the basis that said 13 year old will be doing art textile and therefore it would be a useful tool for him too, it was something of an indulgent purchase if I'm brutally honest, but we've had fun up to now.  This zombie cushion was done using a design created by my brother! 

Then there is the gelli plate - I love working on this, it's enormous fun, creates unique prints every time and makes me happy.  I haven't gelliplated for a while - I may have to remedy this!  I also love sending out mail art, another positive that makes me happy - it also brightens other people's day - so it's a definitive win win.

How Does my Work Differ From others of Its Genre?

Wow my work doesn't have a genre - it's whatever creativity I can fit into my spare time.  However, having bought a small tablet recently I'm hoping to make You Tube How to... videos my new best friend.  

I don't consider myself an artist as such, I like to dabble and create and it makes me happy.  I have a few pieces that I'm happy with but my process is never about the finished items it is always about the process. 

Why Do I Write/Create What I do?

This one is easy - when it comes to scrapbooking I do it to preserve memories.  My Dad died when I was 16 years of age, I'm sure at that point I had lots and lots of memories of time with him but as time passes I find my memories lessen each year, I can no longer 'hear' his voice and with no actually recording of the same it's gone forever.  

He also worked too hard, spent too many hours working and not enough soaking up the positives and enjoying life.  He passed away at the age of 40 - I'm older than he was when he died and I have so many things I want to do yet.  So scrapping is my way of preserving fun family time as well as making sure I go out and do something, without scrapping I'm sure we wouldn't do half the things we do.  I clocked recently that I had very few 'scrapping' photos for this year up to now - it pushed us out of the house exploring and led to a fabulous weekend and a whole heap of new memories to scrap.

I want my son to grow up in a positive creative house, where the answers are yes we can whenever possible and show him that the best things in life aren't things they are experiences - days out with family, holidays, trips, time with friends - all positive things to learn and live your life buy.

The rest of my creativity - well the art journalling stemmed from a time when I couldn't cope with emotions so I art journalled it was a great release and rebalanced my life, I haven't art journalled for an age - why - because I don't 'need' to any more I'm happy with my life. 

The larger art works we have around the house, one stemmed from a low point in my work life - it's what I use for the rocking your world button, who would have thought that something created at a time of pain and distress would come to symbolise my take on the positive and grateful moments in life. 

The other one was created as a part of an anniversary gift between me and hubby - it makes me smile whenever I look at it.  It is a creation from a time when we needed to grow closer together and it symbolises that for me.  

We also have a family piece in the main TV room which comes from seeing a fab version of Macbeth at the RSC. 

How does your Writing/Creating process work?

It became obvious a few years ago that the creativity is a really important element of my life and when I didn't create I often felt upset that I could have been creating but didn't.  I started out in the spare room downstairs and soon found that the whole family also joined me in that creative space.  So when we 'moved' the main living area into another room in the house I decided that my creative space needed to come with me.  

So now I have my desk in the family room, the boys (hubby and said 13 year old), can chill and watch a film or play on Xbox or in said 13 year old's case build lego, or sit on the laptop (not literally - that would be silly) and I can sit and create.  I find that as it's in the main living space I tend to 'scrap' in that space but not paint and spray paint etc, so that is kept to the dining area. 

Blog wise, well I sit on the main PC and type away, I take photos when the light is good and I can get a reasonable shot of things - it works for me and I enjoy it! 

Plans for the future, well counterfeit kit challenge blog has set a challenge of a bucket list on a layout, I've only really come across bucket lists in the 'before I die...' genre - so the idea of having a bucket list for a short period of time or over a specific holiday really strikes a chord.  In fact I'm going to drag out some lining paper and stick it to the main door in the kitchen/dining room and put a pencil with it and ask us all to add to it - let's see what comes of that over the summer. 

And now time to move you on to someone else and share their creativity and spaces - 

First up Suzy at Sea Glass & Sand - I love Suzy's posts they are fabulously creative and positive, she loves to dabble in mixed media and isn't adverse to get inky fingers!  I also love that this mixed media is now spilling over into her scrapping style!   

Next up is Lesley at - Oh! Blog It! - a fellow DT member for Wear Crafts Lesley's style of scrapping is fantastic, always up for a challenge, part of the counterfeit kit blog challenge design team, she really turns out some beautiful pieces! 

Next up is Jen of Wear Crafts fame - her blog Scrappyjen spills out all the beautiful positivity she has for happy scrapping - her idea is to bring this to as many people as possible so they can be creative and join in with this fabulous hobby!  

Finally (because like Carmen I can't add up to three either) is Sarah's blog at are you flowin?  - this girl can create - her work is utterly fabulous and she throws her hand to all sorts of things - and I love love love her stencil work - amazing stuff! 

WHOOPIDOOS - SECRET SANTA 2013

Well it's been and gone, in the blink of an eye - all the work, time and effort has been opened, perused, ooh'd and aaah'd over and is being disseminated across homes throughout the world.  In amongst this years offerings were two amazing Secret Santa's that I took part in, this one celebrates the first one that I took part in which was Whoopidoo's (aka as Carmen) Secret Santa 2013, 

This year I got the hostess herself as my Secret Santa and look at all the amazing gifts I got

 A gorgeous piccie - now sat next to the home PC to remind me!

 The chunky ATC - can't wait to have a play with this!

 Nom nom chocolate and the canvas acrylic cards that you can just see.

And this - I can't tell you how giddy I got when I opened this, not only my favourite of favourite punches - but a celtic one too!

And then this gorgeous little thing, a mould and a cast of the mould that Carmen did for me - utterly gorgeous hun, can't wait to have a play!

And the icing on the cake - a fabulous card from Carmen - thank you sweetie - I've loved all of the items loved joining in - utterly fabulous!

Until next year! 

SECRET SANTA

Good Afternoon, well I'm taking a short break from my scrapbook table to document the fantastic Secret Santa gift that I received this year.  The Secret Santa was organised once again by Carmen and is something I've looked forward to all year, the idea of someone trying to fathom out what you like and  what they can gather, create and buy and stick to a budget and send out in good time - adds to the fun factor.  Now it hasn't been a straight forward Secret Santa this year by any means and I think Carmen's had pretty much every scenario that could happen happen, so she'll be more than prepared and armed ready next year in case things go pear shaped.  However, you'll be pleased to know that all came good in the end and all the Secret Santa's sent and received parcels from unknown Santa's!

However, this post is to show what I received, I was most excited to receive a pizza box shaped parcel in early December, I asked hubby to open to make sure the contents were wrapped (and wrapped they were) and then I placed the box and it's contents under one of the Christmas trees awaiting the big day.

This is me opening the gift on Christmas morning, it was the second gift I opened and I was so excited - look how pretty they all were, all wrapped in their individual parcels, hand stamped paper, wrapped with string and tiny embellishments!  I'd show you the picture of me but I might scare you so thought I'd show the close up shot!

 Look at the pretty paper, I'm loving this as an idea for next year!

 Now a little bit of chocolate is always a good start - nom nom nom

Then some journalling cards which I love and have already used one on a layout today!

Next up home made embellishments in a gorgeous organza bag!

Some Christmas mail art

Some stickers and some scrapbook papers which I love (again I've used one of these today on a layout and most of them are double sided!)

Then the two handmade items that are utterly gorgeous (I mean utterly utterly gorgeous).  A brand new A5 journal with the most divine cover handmade by my Secret Santa, I adore the colours, the masking, the added elements the accents, the stamping - well all of it!   This is the front

And this is the back

And this is the spine!

 But I didn't get just one handmade item - I got two!   This gorgeous wrap which when unfolded...

 Looks like this

 And contains this

Utterly blown away - it's simply divine.  Now I had no idea who my Secret Santa was until I opened my pressies and now have a sneaking feeling that I recognise the beautiful artwork above, but I'll wait for Carmen's grand 'unveiling' to see if I'm right!

So thank you Secret Santa for an utterly amazing and gorgeous gift and the letter you sent, it made me smile and was an added blessing and one which will be making it's way to my Journal Your Christmas this year so that it can be kept and reflected on in years to come!

And finally a massive thank you to Carmen for keeping us in order and in check whilst we sorted this out.  I'll be back next year provided Carmen will have me for the next Secret Santa until then well I'm off to play with my new art journal! 

THE FUN OF BOARD BOOKS

As some of you may be aware it was Carmen's birthday this last week and I've been puzzling over what to make her for quite a while.  The last circle journal book I had was a children's board book and I really enjoyed working with it (I'd forgotten what fun they were).  Anyway as the idea for the present started to formulate I decided a children's board book would be a great starting point, so off to the local charity shop and I put my hands on a tall thin board book which I quite happily dismantled (with the help of hubby dismantling and sanding as I can't stand sand paper), then I set too with a few magazines and started to think about the story.

Carmen was originally intended to take part in the rock in peace resurrected circle journal that started late last year, but due to having too much on decided to bow out at the last minute, however, this was not before she'd decided on what she was going to ask us to do with regards to a circle journal which was a rock fairy tale.  As she left the group before the circle journal really got going this 'idea' obviously ended up shelved, so I wondered if I could do a book for Carmen that would include the idea.  I also know she has a love of the Grimm fairy tales so quite a lot of time was spent trawling the internet looking at the stories.  Eventually I came across the story of the raven which I'd never read and before I new it I was working on a re-writing of this traditional tale.  A flurry of paint, gluing, sticking, typing and retyping and the finished book came together and unusually for me who always thinks these need something else I was actually happy with it once it was completed.  So here for my fellow circle journallers and anyone else interested is the story of the rock raven.

THANK YOU SECRET SANTA

As part of the festivities Carmen organised a Secret Santa swap between a few of us bloggers and like a good girl I saved mine for Christmas day, I was really giddy about opening this present because I had no idea of who it was from let alone what it was - well I wasn't disappointed it was utterly gorgeous, there was a note on the outside with little clues to the contents but I couldn't have guessed for what loveliness was inside

So the goodies looked a little like this once opened

How gorgeous is this lovely lot!

So we had truffles which were yum

 Then a gorgeous Celtic knotwork stamp - I love this!!!

 Then this gorgeous Jack Skellington keyring

 Some ink for my artwork and scrapping and stamping

 Then this little beauty - how utterly gorgeous is this, a handmade fabric covered box with lid with what looks like hand felted knotwork on the outside - completely gorgeous and so much work on the same and unlike some people who don't 'get' knotwork and the way it works every under and over is absolutely perfect so Secret Santa thank you!  But wait - I'm not finished nope look at this little beauty

 A mini book or more like a maxi book - I love maxi books they feel so substantial when you pick them up a Halloween inspired book, I loved the outside and initially didn't know how to get in but discovered the door was in situ over a strong magnet which opened the book up into this

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow - utterly amazed I was utterly amazed, I admire things like this on blogs all the time but this is just out of this world!

 Each bat hanging upside down (as they should) inside the book, each one pulling out with unfolding wings - this us just amazing!

So a massive thank you to my Secret Santa for making me a very happy girl on Christmas day and thank you to Carmen for organising this and keeping us all in check - can't wait til the next one!