ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY!

Well this could be a tough one because it's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster of a week, and I could go on about how you can't 'make' people be how you want them to be and that part of growing up and growing older is that 'happily ever after' isn't always possible.  But I'm not going to because it's 

What's Rocking Your World Friday 

 A few journal pages from my A3 journal - this is how I'm feeling at the minute just a little bit "CRAZY"

What's rocking your world Friday 

is about what has ticked those boxes for you this week - either made you happy or made you giggle or that you like to say - I'm grateful for that!   so here I go for my Friday shuffle

I am grateful to be alive (sometimes it's nice to be reminded that this morning I woke up - how awesome is that)
I am grateful to have another blue skies day
I am grateful for awesome blog comments about my first WOYWW - now the huggies baby wipes that you saw on the table are an essential art journaling tool as everyone knows (don't they?) - they are for painting with and I go through shed loads of them - thought my days of buying huggies was over then I discovered art journaling!  The sonic screwdriver is also essential just in case the Doctor comes to call, other things you might have noticed are the insulation foam for making stamps and the binoculars for when we need to look at things at a distance - I'm telling you all essential items on my work station 
I am grateful to have a fabulous Mum -who is loving her blog and the lovely comments but she really doesn't quite get all this blog hopping stuff!  I arrived on Tuesday to drop said 9 year old off whilst I went to work, she was in PJ's with laptop in front of her and this was her opening line  "I've won something on the goo-ash website" she says - "but i can't find it" - flip top lid of head remove brain and now work out the aquarian statement that has just been delivered!  "Firstly it's pronounced 'go-sh' not 'goo-ash' and I have a feeling it's french for left or something like that, secondly where are you?"  Reply "I don't know" so I found the comment on her blog, I found the link on Lara's blog, we sent Lara the relevant snail mail address and all was sorted - still don't know if she knows what she's doing but her final comment as I departed was "I didn't even know I'd joined a competition!"
I am grateful to have a fabulous sister - link to her blog go check it out - although Melanie's lack of presence on here needs to be remedied but I bet she's got an armful of excuses as to why she can't LOL
I am grateful to have a fabulous brother - now for those of you following the two above - you'll know that John has been the missing piece in the jigsaw - John is completely unique, just like my Mum and my sister but also very different!  John's blog is not going to be about scrapbooking or card making John likes three dimensional - John loves making replica props and loves fancy dress parties - so if you are anything of an Alice in Wonderland fan - or perhaps even a Tim Burton fan or just have a great love of films then John's blog is going to be one to follow - he currently has two followers - when I get back on here it would make my day to find he has lovely comments about his awesome work and also a few more followers to boot!  John is also someone who can speak amazingly eloquently and hold quite an audience so if you know me personally or via blogland, and you know my crazy sister Melanie and my equally crazy Mum then you have to learn the other part of the family!
I am grateful for an amazing son and a fantastic husband who has shown that just sometimes although decisions are tough he can make them and take them himself. 
I am grateful that I'm going to get a break this week and have the opportunity to visit a few different places woo hooo
I am grateful that I didn't dismiss the Treasure Hunt for my town and did actually go and do it - you wouldn't recognise it from the photos!  Does this look like Rotherham to you? 

and this 

 said 9 year old enjoying the Treasure Hunt

  Now the only other source of confusion was when we were stopped by the 'locals' the first asked little man
"What ya got a list for?" - they are obviously not used to seeing people with clipboards in the town centre and secondly when a young lad asked hubby "Tek mi fota?" - little man wanted to know what language he was speaking and I had to explain it was English - "what did he say then?" - To which the answer was that he wanted his photo taking - look of complete bewilderment on little man's face.  

We found this through a 'things to do' type website on the internet - it cost us £12 for 3 Treasure hunts that are delivered as PDF files - and basically you get to explore somewhere that you'll think you already knew - we had such a blast doing it and can highly recommend it, in fact enjoyed it so much bought 3 more last night (they've got a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment)

I am grateful that we went and did the Sheffield Treasure Hunt last weekend, we had great fun once again!

I am grateful for wide open spaces that allow you to let your mind relax and de-stress whilst providing "culture, art and .... don't you know" - bottom quote can't remember the third thing but making me giggle - if you know the word fill it in LOL.  This was because we went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and look at what we found there 

which when up close had these items amongst many incorporated into it

Finally I am grateful for meeting all you amazing people in blogland whether it be in person or via my blog. 
So why don't you join in and tell me what has been "Rocking your World this Week" and let's have a mighty grateful Friday!   Message to Jo - who left me a message this morning - go for it join in one of these days I'll make a button (when I fathom out how) and put it on here and then there might be more than 3 of us joining in - myself - the gorgeous Heavens2Betsy and of course Carmen - extra message to Carmen - the sign is still twinkling and blinking and pps - go check my brother's blog out.  PPPS - Jude you got a hotel - phew - what do you mean it's not the Premier Inn boo hoo - Melanie may need to sit in a corner for a while to absorb that information!  


Right need to go and pack something ta ta for now 

A BLOG AWARD, PART OF A MISSING WEEK AND A BIT OF ART JOURNALING

Well believe it or not  this is the first time I've been on the PC since the weekend, straight back into the depths of work as always so now I'm on mass blog catch up.  First stop Dyan's blog to have a read and read and read and read and read and read a bit more and then read and then made a cup of tea - so you think must have missed loads of blog postings from Dyan - two - that's all - but that lady has an amazingly busy life, I honestly think she has one of those time-turners that they have in the Harry Potter films, where she goes back and does the things that she didn't have time to do the first time - provided she doesn't spot other self - no problems will occur LMAO.

Anyway, the lovely lady in question has passed on a blog award to me - so thank you Dyan 

The idea is that I pass it on 

Annette

Kerry

Ann  

Carmen

Sandra

Then I have to list 10 things that make me happy 

1. My little boy (little almost 10 now!)
2. My hubby who makes me smile every day
3. My amazing family
4. Snow at the weekend when I don't have to worry about going to work 
5. My art journaling - an absolute passion
6. Going to the theatre - love the atmosphere of live productions
7. An empty ironing basket 
8. Curling up on the sofa late at night
9. Sookie Stackhouse novels - pure escapism
10. The sounds of the sea on a crisp bright morning.

So here's a few things I've been on with; this is in my large art journal - sorry about the wood either side of the photo - not had time to crop this morning and posting before school run and work!

I've really struggled with this double page over the last couple of weeks, because my style has changed again and this was started before this transitional period but I left it alone and came back to it and now I absolutely love it!  I extended the brick work on the picture which was good fun, although my pointing of the bricks leaves a lot to be desired, if my Dad was still alive he would certainly criticise the state of it LOL (he was a builder)

The other side was harder work as I did quite a lot of alterations on the image - for a starter the original picture was a white suit!

 

I also altered the mask and the shoes - mmm - can you see the transitional stage now!   
 

A close up of the extended brick wok I love it that much LOL!  And now for something completely different this is a double page layout done with a kit from my local scrapbook shop, I missed the class and although the lovely Sandra sent through photos of the original it was stamp heavy and stamps I don't have so I took up the challenge and did something completely different with it. 

It was also to prove that I can still scrapbook as it's been an absolute age since I have, note the art journaling style blocks on the left hand side!

And I added sewing on the page as well - something I haven't done in ages, although not sure if the combination of crossbows and hearts makes sense?

Ok I'll leave you with photos of the in progress art journaling day my Mum and I enjoyed last week - I had to document just how messy we were on the day! - Look at the state of it!

We had such fun though so I didn't mind at all! 

OK you've reached the bottom of my war and peace - if you got to this point without dozing off leave us a message!  Hope you're all having a good day - make up bag calling and seven minutes til we need to set off!

A LITTLE MORE ART JOURNALING

Well another page I've done recently, I loved this image that I cut out but have 'altered' it quite a bit - for one thing the hair was no where near as 'big' on the original - maybe it reminds me of my heavy mental days LMAO!  

Anyway I'll apologise for the quality of the photographs bad lighting and red on a page really don't mix!

 

Inspired by a DVD I borrowed from a friend recently, this documents things I already knew to a certain degree but haven't been 'applying' properly!  It explains that negativity attracts negatives and likewise positivity attracts positives and therefore if we apply positives we reap the benefits, now to a certain degree I 'get' this, unfortunately most of it was about material possessions which didn't really tick the right boxes for me, but I'm all for attracting positive people, life's lessons etc...

 
 

I used a little stamping, my hubby bought me some great circular stamps at Christmas which are highly addictive - like I said poor quality photos but you get the general idea.  The background was actually a sprayed background - not that you can tell from this picture.

  

This page was fun to do, free hand title as usual and I re-did the blackboard in the picture including the graffitti - tattooed legs and the sandals got turned into boots!  

I did another page last night that I really really enjoyed doing so I'll blog that later!  If you stop by and get to this point don't forget to say hi by leaving me a comment!

ART JOURNAL AND DIFFICULT TOPICS

Well I'm all for these fantastic challenges that are out there in blog land at the moment, documenting the world as we see it, whether it be monthly, bi-monthly, daily etc.  I've been on with quite a few of them, one of them though really hit a cord this month and I didn't realise until afterwards that I actually didn't want to do it.  The idea was to advise your younger self and obviously the idea is to give yourself a bit of friendly advice, you know the idea - using the advice means that the long and difficult learning curve can be avoided. 

Now on any other day it would have made me think of light subjects, fun things that would be fun to do, but when I read the topic the only thing that really stuck in my head was preventing my Dad's death - now how on earth could I do that, would the advice prevent it, or make it worse, would it have happened regardless, how could I do it, would it have eaten my life up trying to prevent it - I went around and around and around in circles to the point where the page in question ended up in pockets - did I want to give that advice no I didn't - why because I can't actually change it!  

I believe in the butterfly effect - you know the one where the flap of the wings causes a hurricane elsewhere so the thought of changing something like that would have far reaching life changing results

So this is the aftermath of what became 'too painful a subject'

 

I've even fought with this page - I should have realised then, this one has layers and layers and layers of paint, and paper and ink and black paint and fabric and stamping and - well you get the idea!   
 

So many of you may think why wouldn't I want to prevent such a life altering situation - well I would, I'd give anything to change that one instance in my life, but and this is the big but what would my life look like now?  I met my husband when I was only 17 and he was related to what was then my Mum's boyfriend (now my Mum's husband), so without my husband I would be without my child and honestly and truly I couldn't live without either of them.  Therefore I'm not happy to wishful think 'if only's' or 'what if's' and this particular learning curve - well some subjects should be left alone!  

Now don't get me wrong I love to journal difficult phases of my life and I'm quite happy to dream about what I'd do if we won the lottery but wishful thinking of what has gone before just doesn't float my boat -next time I'll leave the subject alone when it strikes the wrong cord!  

No matter what you can't actually change your past

ART JOURNALING, SNOW ART AND OTHER THINGS

Well I saw Sandy Poppins this morning and she said - get your blog updated and I thought - do you know what I think I will!  Didn't think I'd have a lot to put on but pleasantly surprised.  This page was started some time ago but I didn't complete it, it's in my A4 art journal and I took it away to Center Parcs last weekend and finally finished it, me and my sister had an art journaling night on the Friday and we were both really pleased with what we finished off with! 

Other side of the page

Had a bit of filling to do on both pictures to cover up words etc, but overall quite happy with the finished results.

Now I know we've all had to deal with the hideous weather this last week and I've certainly done my fair share of moaning about it, due to school closures last week I decided to take my 9 year old with me to work and because we were literally snowed in on the estate we had no alternative but to make the journey by public transport and using those things called legs!  The round trip took 4 hours in total - absolutely crazy when you bear in mind I can do the journey on a normal day in 10-15 minutes each way!  However, we were greeted with an awesome sight at the bus stop - I've no idea who did it but it brought a smile to everyone who saw it!

At first I thought they'd used some sort of charcoal but on closer inspection I'm fairly sure it was spray paint!

A few people have said the one on the right resembles our only ever female prime minister - what do you think?

I just love the expressions - absolutely fantastic!

Warning - Change of topic LOL

A few of you may be wondering if I managed the Journal Your Christmas - simple answer - yes and here it is completed, I ran it until the 11th January (even though the prompts stopped on the 6th) primarily because I wanted to include our Center Parcs weekend away!

Did it end up as thick as last years? - You bet it did!

Now an A3 double page spread - apologies for the poor photography - I'm still tattooing my pictures have you noticed?

Close up left page

and right page

and an A4 one that's a work in progress

Orange isn't a colour I usually play with, but I'm loving this up to now, can feel some more painting coming on though.

Loving my art journaling at the moment, it's proving great therapy.  I've got my first ever circle journal heading off this week - quite excited about that - well I am now it's finished!  Didn't know if I'd manage it - I've chosen the top "Quotes to live your life by" or "Favourite Quotes" can't wait to see what it's like when it comes back! 

Done a photo order recently so need to kick into mini book making when they return! 

Hope everyone's got that Friday feeling! 

If you pop along and get to this point (presuming I've not bored you all silly before now) then leave a message I love knowing who has taken the time to read my waffle!

ART JOURNALING ANOTHER PINK BOOK AND FINALLY A COVER

Well after a rather eventful snow day and a lack of ability to actually go out in the car today we've been stuck in!  Goodness knows what it will be like tomorrow morning but I really could do with getting back to work!  Anyway enough of the weather if you wanted to know about that you could just turn on the 24 hour news channel for them to tell you its snowing. 

Anyway as mentioned in previous post I made two other 'Pink' books just before Christmas, one for my niece and one for myself, this is mine.  It's a mixed shape book based on a chipboard base.

The black 'frame' in the centre is actually a Maya Road minibook that was hinged together on thin jump rings, I loved the shape of it so dismantled to use as frames in the book.

Another close up of the inside of the book! I loved the photos they so lent themselves to the red and orange background which I created by using a baby wipe and painting acylic directly onto the chipboard, then stamped on the book with some new Tim Holtz stamps that I've got, before using my bind it all.  Here's the back of it in all it's glory...

and those gorgeous ribbons - next a close up of the cover.

As the original Maya road 'frames' were hinged with jump rings I had holes in the 'frames' - therefore I've covered the holes up with some punched hearts.  Another close up...

Loving this close up, yes it looks like a metal frame, but it's not it's silver mirror board, cut into a frame shape with my Big Shot, then but through my Big Shot with an embossing folder and then painted with cheap black paint, then wipe off the excess paint with a piece of kitchen roll, if you take the excess paint off in one direction it really does look like metal! 

Here the book is in all it's glory - can't you see why I loved making all three of these books. 

Now a bit of art journaling from inside my A4 book

I've had the pages prepared for some time but never finished it, I had a disaster on the photo page when I fought with a silver pen and lost!  However, I love the fact that art journaling means you can keep your mistakes!  So here it is in all its glory (plus you can see the real colour of the page)

I left it as it was, did a bit of moving around of the silver paint, a bit of stamping over the top and there you have it!  

For part of my sisters Christmas present I made us matching art journals - they are only small but quite sweet, the idea behind them is to generate a double page layout per month and then swap them.  We've chosen the word 'Positive' as the prompt for the entire book - this is my decorated 'Positive' page just inside the cover

I'm trying to go for more texture at the moment, hence the wired ribbon and this is January's double page layout, may still add more to this, so into layers!

I love it when I finish a page! 

Finally I've done the cover to my A3 journal - hurray!  It's taken an age to decide what to do, but some aged music sheets, with Tim's stamps and then a little bit of playing not to mention a large amount of red paint have meant that it is finally done.

And because you can't see the bottom corner due to my appalling photography here's a close up!

So there you have it, a few bits of art journaling to get me into the January mood!  If you stop by leave a comment I love to find out whose been along!