MID WEEK POST - A QUICK UPDATE

Morning all, well finally I've broken into crafting again, it took some time and perseverance but hubby realised I was starting to lose it, so gently encouraged me to basically do something, anything, so I did, I got some card and some magazines and some paper, some baby wipes and a glue stick and basically made a mess for a few hours, then I moved back to my craft table and added to it and played and sorted and played a bit more, it was great fun and now I have officially started my mail art.  However, I had to giggle because I sat there wondering what goes on the other side of mail art?  Does it create a post card, or do you decorate both sides to confuse the postie and then I thought does it matter?

Anyway I arrived home yesterday to a gorgeous piece of mail art from Shirley and this answered one question which is how she does it!  I love it and have admired it's depth and colours and well everything about it since it arrived.  So now I'm even more focused to finish off the ones I started, the downside is that the cardstock I used wasn't really thick enough and the paint I used was nice and wet - which means I'm currently trying to flatten them, which meant that I started another batch of mail art cards last night before falling asleep, absolutely exhausted not much better this morning if I'm honest!

So there you go, I finally broke back into my crafting hurray!

Layout to share this morning? I loved this silhouette photo hubby took of me and said 11 year old at Chatsworth last year but thought I might struggle to scrap it, however I found throwing enough black and grey-ish papers together and matting everything did the trick nicely!

Hope you're having a great Wednesday (even though I thought it was Thursday grrrrr)

MONDAY MORNING TIREDNESS AND A BIT OF CRAFTING

Well after doing in excess of 60 hours work last week I found myself struggling to get out of bed this morning - I mean what's wrong with me.  So I didn't - get out of bed - well not initially anyway - I decided to sit and savour my morning cuppa in bed and rest my eyes a little.  Then I dragged myself out (finally) and got ready but with no speed at all.  I woke said 11 year old and told him "you're not going to breakfast club" and then headed downstairs.

I look dreadful, fit to drop and a full day ahead with a meeting half way through the other side of Sheffield, not exactly what I need on a Monday.  I was so tired last night I actually felt poorly with it, this morning I'm just very very tired so might end up feeling that way again come this afternoon. My job is mentalling taxing but physically it doesn't get me moving around an awful lot (I sit at a desk), so I've got back pain from lack of movement and my brain is so very tired.  Added to this I've done zero - I repeat zero crafting since returning home and it's making me quite a sad person at the moment.  So if you have the luxury of crafting time today - create - anything - just create and if you do create let me know what you made so I can admire, because I can't see me heading to my craft table any time soon.

If I had the day off I'd get six photos I've been wanting to scrap (any six) and then I'd go and find some papers and cardstock to match, I'd probably use the sketches from the scrap 365 magazine from this month as a starting point (which are downloadable from their website) and play for a bit.  I might cut myself some cardstock into postcard sized pieces and then throw some paint at them - literally, maybe add an image or two, some squiggly lines, a mask to create a little mail art, I might rummage through my alterables box and start on something "I've been meaning to alter"  - ooh to create - I would I'd do all that.  I'd play my music loudly or I'd put on a film to keep me company and I'd keep my cup constantly filled with hot tea.  It would be bliss, but today, well today I'll go to work instead and dream of a day off all to myself - the luxury!

Sharing a layout from an age ago now (ooh and I forgot to mention but I'm aware of a local crop that meets once a month on a Saturday in a church hall at Broom in Rotherham, they charge £5 half day, £10 full day.  There is plenty of space, hot water on tap and refreshments all day long.  Lots of encourage and lots of great chat too.  If you live local, let me know if you want the details of the next one and I'll post on here.)

A photo from an age ago (taken on the duck bread eating day by said 11 year old on my phone!)  It was pink so it's poor on the red's again but I took the photo ages ago and have since learnt I need to work with my white balance

 Up close photo even worse on the 'red' tinge bit but you see up close what I've done used some ribbon that had wire running through it, so scrunched it up to add texture to the page!

Hope you have a great Monday!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Morning one and all I'm back safe and sound and ready to let you all know that it's

now you are going to have to forgive me because, this week has been predominantly work work and a bit more work - with a weekend of well work - so I'm going to cheat (only a little bit) and tell you about what a fabulous week we had away with a dose of this week added for good measure!

So in no particular order me and said 11 year old at Beamish - next to an egg shaped boiler that had been converted into a little office for the workers next to the Locomotion

 The quarry garden at Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens - simply gorgeous!

 Mischief one and mischief two!  Like I always say - two peas in a pod!

 Exploring the quarry gardens with hubby!

 The angel of the north - she's gorgeous and huge!

 And this cool little guy who basically fancied any bread and biscuits that were going!

We actually took over 800 photos - so the above is a tiny selection of the photos taken!  The above and some of the 800 (although I hasten to add not all the 800) will be appearing on a scrapbook page very soon!

So what else has been great this week - well the week away was bliss - the 6 foot bed we stopped in completely bliss and we've missed it when we returned as ours is decidedly less comfy and definitely not 6 foot!   But being home back in our home surroundings enjoying time with my family is always awesome!

This week has also brought a smile to my face from Sarah for an invite - thank you sweetie - I'm very giddy about it all!

This week has also seen a grand announcement from Carmen our fellow Rockette - squeeeeeeal I'm so giddy for you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday - 14 years - awesome stuff, we had a couple of hours in the afternoon where we had some time together which was bliss!

Art Journaling - I art journalled my way through our break - taking an hour every night to just jot down what we'd done - it was only half way through the week when I thought I might actually want to read what I'd written for scrapbook pages and started to try and make my writing decipherable - whoops!

Anniversary flowers!

David Guetta - for his album Nothing But the Beat - which kept us occupied on the way up to Beamish where we were staying last week - his track The Alphabeat is awesome - even if hubby did decide it would be the advert for the Renault Twizy when we came home having seen the video - and he is absolutely correct!

Right there's chance I'll be adding to this before Friday but for now - I'll pop on a bit of scrapping, these photos were taken on my phone and I had them printed out and because I didn't crop the photos - when they arrived they had a thick white border which I removed and got two photos on a single layout!  And the statement - well technically the bread was for the ducks!  Not that it bothered him!

 Up close, letter stickers and stamping, black pen, stuck down, layered up etc and a bit of hand stitching - using up existing stash!

I hope you all had a fabulous week if you fancy joining in throw a blog post together and come back and post your link here that way we can come and link - we welcome everyone - Rockers and Rockettes alike - if you don't feel you've had a great week - cast your mind back, think about the positive, no matter how small or infrequent if they made your heart lighter and most positive then they were Rocking moments and those are the moments in our week that we grasp with both our hands and write down so that we can think of the positives in our life!

May you all have a truly beautiful and blessed week ahead

Sometimes you just want to connect - don't you?

Good Morning - yes I know a Thursday post what is happening with the world - and yes before you ask Rocking your world will be here on Friday, but this morning I find I have a little time on my hands and I wonder what to do, so I wander around the fabulously inspiring blogs that I follow and am amazed and delighted with the creativity, I add myself to a mail art list and promise myself I'll start some post cards later, I have a stack of photos that arrived from bonusprint that I can now start work on.  I have an art journal page open on my desk, these are all things I could technically do before I leave for work, but I find myself sat here inside my own head, the TV's blaring in the other room - Spongebob or something of that genre, other than that all is quiet, a bunch of anniversary flowers sits in front of me and my kitchen window shows that we're in for another wet and dismal day and I think what next, I've checked UKS, blog and facebook and then I think - I'll put a quick post together because I knew you'd pop along and have a quick look when you got chance, so just thought I'd say hello and how's your week been and to say sometimes I just want to connect with people.  Is it just me or do others do this as well?

Right crafting I'll pop a page on here as I have many still sat in my blog folder waiting to be shared, these three photos were printed off my phone, they are such a great size when they arrive as I never let them be 'cropped to fit' so they arrive with large bands of white either side and when they are trimmed you can actually get three across the page!  Great if you've got a sequence of photos! 

Up close, the journalling was done along the strip of green at the bottom, the title hand stamped and layered up several times (due to the tiny stamping)

Hope you had a good Thursday - see you tomorrow!

I'M BACK -HELLLLOOOO AND FAMILY ART!

I have been meaning to post since we got back, but to be honest I'm struggling to pick up the threads of normality at the moment - so you'll have to forgive me for not having posted sooner.  I'll tell you all about last week on Friday as have a feeling I might need 'two weeks worth' of Rocking moments to make a decent post - this week looks likely to be wall to wall work - but we won't dwell on that.  A few weeks ago we finally got around to creating the family canvas that we wanted for the TV room.  First off we needed a theme.  First thoughts were films (made sense) then potentially TV (also made sense), but then we decided on a Shakespeare themed canvas and before we knew it this converted into a Macbeth themed canvas, firstly because this is mine and hubby's favourite Shakespearean play and secondly because we'd seen an awesome version of this at the RSC last year.

The colour scheme for the canvas was already technically set because it had to go with the room - so we were looking at creams and browns and reds - sounds pretty awful but hopefully you'll see how we got away with it!  I'd already 'attempted' this canvas (unsuccessfully) last year, but had subsequently painted the same cream, what you can see is the texture as I'd added some pieces of paper onto the canvas at that point.

Next up was the base - key people from the play on the canvas, we took it in turns to create the same.

Then on with parts of the play we loved, using my Manga Macbeth book to create the words we wanted to include we used a different sized writing and a slightly different coloured paint for this

The finished second stage

We then decided to include our hand prints - remember Lady Macbeth's speech where she is constantly ringing her hands - it made sense

Then some stencils a crown and a comedy/tragedy mask created by hubby himself!

Next up the dripping red paint down the entire canvas!

 Another stencil representing Birnham woods introduced in the bottom and to create a focal point

 We added some more depth to the canvas in the way of colour!  And the three daggers at the top made of grey chipboard painted with black, brushed with silver and the handle wound with some black and grey electrical cable we were throwing out - attached with a hot glue gun!

 Up close you can see the dimension of the same

 And finally the three witches hung on chains strapped around their waists on the left hand side!  Similar to the play we'd seen where the children who played the witches were lowered down from the ceiling!

 And finally - the photo I found on the camera a couple of days later - do you think he was pleased with it?

 So there we have it - another massive canvas created and it looks fabulous where it's hung a piece of art that we all created!  My influences for this as always massive credit has to be given to Alisa Burke - whose Graffiti Chic course sent me on this path some years ago, her Canvas Remix book is fantastic and really lets you explore your own style!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Morning Rockettes - how are you fairing this morning - tis Friday (again I know where is the time going to).  So it's

Now I'll let you into a secret - this is being done in advance because we're away Easter week for a weeks break - so I'm going to guess what I'm grateful for, when I'm back I'll head back over and tell you how close I was to my list!

1. Family time
2. A break from work
3. Time to listen to my mind and my soul
4. A lie in bed with no alarm clocks
5. Days out exploring 
6. Playing card games at night
7. Reading books
8. Taking photos 
9. Fresh air 
10. Exploring castles
11. A trip to Beamish (the must for the week)
12. Art journaling my week 
13. Using those English Heritage cards to get the most out of the week with minimum cost

Right I know that list is short but I promise I'll update when I'm back, as I'm preposting this I can't put Mr Linky on til I'm back, so if you're joining in - come back and leave a comment and your link so we can come and visit - again I'll sort when I return! 

On the usual final note a bit of crafting - said 11 year old pratting about last year, he had us in stitches

 Up close the layered title and hand stitching around the circles with hand written journaling off to the right!

I hope you've all had a beautiful and blessed week and have many gratefuls and positives to write about! 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Good Morning my beautiful Rockettes - how fair thee this morning?  Yes tis Friday again - can you believe it - it's also April - gulp - what's happening to the year!!!!!

OK - let's see what we can manage on the positive this week

1. Family working on a piece of art - sheer bliss for the weekend - given how bad my back was, I needed to stand upright for the majority of the weekend so we worked on a giant canvas and when it was my turn - Craig stood the canvas upright so I wasn't leaning.
2. Craig for being so considerate when we were at home at the weekend and putting up with me asking him to do pretty much everything, load dishwasher, empty dishwasher, fill washing machine, get milk out of fridge - you get the idea!
3. The new TV series Once Upon a Time
4. True Blood on FX - little bit of escapism
5. Black Dagger Brotherhood books (again - what am I like)
6. Sunday lunch out at a carvery on the spur of the moment! 
7. My Mum and my sister for having said 11 year old whilst I was at work!
8. Having a great team at work just for keeping going!
9. Popping to my Mum's on Sunday for a catch up and a cuppa - even if she did make me do graphs on her computer for her with the worlds worst program and some nonsense data!
10. A phone call from a friend I've not spoken to in ages - it was good to hear his voice!
11. My circle journal buddies for being so understanding with this stupid back - because I'm late sending this month's journal on
12. The snow for not amounting to very much here - which meant I could still get to work safely! 
13. The muscari flowering in the garden - a nice injection of colour now the tete a tete have gone for the year
14. Longer brighter days - now this I like!!!
15. Carmen heading back into blogland and facebook - we've missed you! 
16. The new blogger interface which I thought I might not like but just accepted was different - I've got used to it fairly quickly and I like overall - how's everyone else finding it?
17. Voltarol and TENS machines for keeping me upright 
18. My fantastic buddies here in blogland - I love catching up with your worlds!

There you go that is just about going to have to do for today!  Eighteens not a bad number though is it! 

So a bit of crafting as always (no sign of a Christmas tree in sight Susie you'll be pleased to know - anyone started their Christmas cards yet - tee hee)

 Up close, cut outs on die cuts with ribbon on foam pads, straight forward embellishment and I managed to use some of my Tim Holtz paper which is amazing because I normally just stroke it and put it away to be used another day!

So there you have it Rockettes my week of gratefuls a time to reflect, sometimes to dig deep and share with you what has made my days lighter and brighter! 

If you fancy joining in then Mr Linky for you