Tiger - WIP # 2

Hi, for those of you that don't get onto to my Painting blog, the first take of this was over there.....but thought I better put some up on here. Andy says I am neglecting this one!
This is prismacolors (all your fault Nessy - now look what you have started) on Murano paper.
I am just taking this one slowly. The reference shot does have lots of leaves out of focus in the foreground but I am not sure that I like them. I will have to do something with that...just not quite sure what yet!

I hope everyone is good and dandy :)

Beautiful Fairy

Well, despite the postie going on strike *laughs hahahahah* sorry Em. I received a lovely card today, it is just so good....

I am not sure how Tina has done some of the effects...but is cool! And I got a lovely purply polished stone to go with it :D *Big smiles*
Thank you Tina - I'm lovin' it...

Sebastion

This is a post for FairieNuff. I keep saying that I will post up one of my bears. Whilst I have many, many photographs of the bears I made, this is in fact the only remaining one in MY possession. At the time I kept it because I couldn't justify charging people for some very expensive german mohair. I made lots under the name of "Happy Hours", a lot of them were quite distressed as it was a style I loved. Scary to think that Sebastion must be about 16 years old now!!!

Sharing my days down the flying field

I thought I would share this one, lovely weekend and so excellent for a little remote controlled flying. This does explain why I have got very little in the way of crafting done. However, I do also take a long a few art supplies.....and I have a few followers. I would normally be quite embarrassed but when Sid asks to have a look, I am happy to comply....


Andy took this photograph, Sid was making me laugh...I only hope I have the ability to make people smile if I get to live to my nineties too.

Fridays Fable - Sunny Sunflowers

Vincent Van Gogh


GARDEN OF SUNFLOWERS
A garden of Sunflower beckoned to me -
Come join us, my lady, and joyous you'll be!
We're large ones and small ones, some dainty and fair,
And even some delicate to wear in your hair.
We follow the sun, swaying slowly without a care,
We have a new dance that with you we will share.
Gently hold onto our leaves, allow us to lead the way,
To our Sunflower two-step, dancing throughout the day.
I couldn't resist them, so dandy a sight!
So off I did go in my Sunflower flight.
What a glorious time, right up til twilight,
And then I had to bid my Sunflowers good-night.
So happy were we, a long day filled with fun,
Upon leaving I kissed them, each and every one.
So tender the moment, as I turned to leave.
With eyes brimmed with tears, could I truly believe?
OH! It was so true!! I then knew it to be!!!
I had to smile, 'cause they were all winking at me!!!!
~Author Unknown~

People, as it is so warm and sunny, here is my inspirational painting and poem for this week. I hope you enjoy them whether you need inspiration or not ;)
I will announce the winner of my blog candy on next weeks Fridays Fable. Have a great weekend.

Oriental Moments

It doesn't look like I am getting much done - probably because I am not....I have rather too many projects on the go, at least three paintings now and not very much time!
So, I thought I would share some oriental cards from last week...

My cyber credit card

I was given this today by Emma at Elf Creations:



Thank you Em, but your words touched me more............."but I am lucky enough to call them good friends as well"
These are the rules:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

I do consider Emma to be a friend, I know we would enjoy a glass of wine or two
I like this award, I am such a funny thing, I rarely take part in blog candy, I don't like to promote my blog so this award is doubly important.
These people need to be recognised because they are here, just for the ride and I so appreciate it!
Vanessa at Nessy's Notes It seems like she has been here forever but is such a lovely, good natured person, I so rate her and am constantly amazed at her creativity.
Jen at Fuzzy Dragons who has given me so much encouragement in my art, laughter, fun, I wish I was closer to meet up, I almost miss her when she is busy.I want a day out somewhere with Jen, LOL.
Tina at Purples, spurtles etc A fairly recent person in my blogosphere but so incredibly funny and I know we could share lots of stuff if we eva got together, the list is endless already!
Emma , because I feel like I know her, I have a laugh, I always feel like I have lots to tell her but haven't quite got there yet.....a kindred spirit.

And finally Kastlekaos fits the rules of number 3. if I ever do get to Canada which is one of my big dreams, I want to meet this lady!

What mythological figure am I?

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Got this one from Tinas blog....nice one, made me smile :)

Where We Live

Well after seeing the recent Muller adverts that keep extolling the virtues of the Shropshire countryside, it seems it is no longer a secret!
I also wanted a few reference photographs for another project so today Andy and I became tourists in our town :)





They even put on a parade in our honour, LOL.

Beautiful Stitched card

Well with my funky top, I also got sent a lovely card from Caroline. I have taken a close up of the stitching so you can see what fabulous work it is:

When it has been framed, i think it is another contender for my crafty space wall :D
Thanks Caroline X

Fridays Fable - Turner's Sun Angel

I am beginning to enjoy Fridays Fable as a trip down memory lane. As a teenager I was fascinated by Joseph Mallard William Turner and can remember being lucky enough to attend an exhibition of his works. I always thought of him as being the forerunner of all impressionism. His most famous painting is probably "The Fighting Temeraire" which I confess I have spent hours looking at in the Tate. But, for this week I have chosen a slightly lesser known work of the angel in the sun;

I thought perhaps we could all do with a little sun and this poem just seemed to accompany it nicely.

Angels, in the early morning by Emily Dickinson

Angels, in the early morning
May be seen the Dews among,
Stooping -- plucking -- smiling -- flying --
Do the Buds to them belong?

Angels, when the sun is hottest
May be seen the sands among,
Stooping -- plucking -- sighing -- flying --
Parched the flowers they bear along.

Happy Friday :D

You too can look like a garden

I thought I would share the contents of my arrival in the post today, LOL. I have been looking for a "happy" top and was beginning to despair finding one that wasn't aimed at Size 0 tiny people.
So I wanted a bigger one and I eventually found a great site, which just happens to be a fair trade company too and have some lovely things from Nepal, amongst other things. The good thing was that they certainly didn't over charge me for postage and packaging either and I'm loving it :)
Andy says I look like a garden, hahaha, well done to UK Firebird

Going vintage

I did say I had done one or two....


So here are a couple more from someone who is feeling a little vintage today ;)It was the wine at lunch time that did it...bad girl!

This Thursday - its all about opposites

For this weeks "This Thursday" I chose black and white for a card for this challenge...I am having a bit of a vintage "spell". I really did enjoy making this and I really liked the end result, which is unusual :-)


I used one of those cheap 99p stamps for the right hand stamped bit at the back. The image was courtesy of a lovely site with free downloads of ephemera art-e-zine. The swirly stamp in the corner is from Papermania and the sentiment is Rubber Stampede and was stamped directly on the card. Then I just added a flower and some little glass gems.

Mojo has bitten the dust...

I have spent about 30 hours this week working on my first oil painting.......sadly all has gone horribly wrong. I have blogged about it on my painting blog but I have lost my mojo - I just cannot be bothered! *throws teddy in the corner*
P.S I am O.K really just a little gutted...time to take a break!
P.P.S Thanks for your nice comments, a friend has actaully come up with a couple of solutions to rectify things, so am all smiles today :)

Fridays Fable - Monets Garden

This weeks inspiration comes from a painting by Claude Monet. I am quite an impressionist fan and have been for a number of years. So just for fun, if you are lacking inspiration, here is a painting and a poem to try to inspire you:

The Water Nymphs by Ellis Parker Butler
They hide in the brook when I seek to draw nearer,
Laughing amain when I feign to depart;
Often I hear them, now faint and now clearer—
Innocent bold or so sweetly discreet.
Are they Nymphs of the Stream at their playing
Or but the brook I mistook for a voice?
Little care I; for, despite harsh Time’s flaying,
Brook voice or Nymph voice still makes me rejoice.

Enjoy! Please remember that I am still running blog candy for anyone who takes part in last weeks Fridays Fable, open until 1 August, there have only been two entries so far, so you stand a good chance!

Look at my craft area - thank you Emma :)

Well for those of you that have been around a while, you will know it is a pretty recent thing having a dedicated craft area (for me). I am still working on it and just have a nice desk and some boxes, it is being developed all the time. but I do want a shelf above the desk and I always promised myself that I would have nice things on show in the area......well I might not have my shelf but here is my first nice thing hanging on my wall so I can see it when Iz crafting.

It arrived in the post today from Emma.... :-D I have never seen an altered CD properly and this one is simply gorgeous. I love the colours and the little heart thingy :-D
Thank you Emma so much, it is very elegant and I love it :) I bet your Blue Peter things always came out lovely *sticks out tongue laughing* :-D

Arty girlz challenge - a friends birthday

I have combined this one using the sketch from this weeks Arty girlz challenge with a birthday card for a good friend. I did change the flowers on the sketch for brads as the card is for a man.
I used some free papers, Lakeland brads (from their closedown sale!) and my latest painting image. It looks summery which is more than can be said for outside ;-)

A card for someone special

I was asked to make a card for someone special. It just so happens that I very much rate the person who requested the card and although I don't know her too well, I also have a lot of respect for the recipient. So I really wanted to make something good:


As for me at the minute, well I am a little busy with something that I don't have the nerve to share. I started an oil painting yesterday...so Iz missing in action(MIA) as those from the states say...see ya sometime soon when I resurface:)

Mystical Box

As I was chatting to my son on Thursday evening over the telephone, he asked me to put him a few photographs together of him over the years and particularly ones of me and him together, he says he hasn't got many. So as we recently purchased a scanner, I shall find him a few.
However, I started to look for a box to put them in....I could find a nice sturdy one, the right size but it still had the remnants of stickers on it. So I decided to alter it. Now, I have always avoided this altered item thing, it holds too many visions of Blue Peter (which I hated), egg cartons and something amazingly useless and ugly at the end of it. But, I went against my principles and covered this one with Basic Grey Paper. I wanted to make it fairly mystical as I know Cal will appreciate that so the image on of the top is actually a tarot card image, the "World tree". This was taken from a delightful tarot deck "The Sacred Circle Tarot" by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason. If you have never seen the deck, check it out, it is beautiful particularly if you like celtic and pagan imagery.
I added a few stickers and embellishments along the way and think it will do for the job.

Fridays Fable - Midsummer's Eve - Blog Candy

Well I decided this weeks mojo generator should be a fairy picture so I have chosen this one as it is a personal favourite:


Edward Robert Hughes - Midsummer's Eve (1908)


If You See A Fairy Ring.

If you see a fairy ring
In a field of grass,
Very lightly step around,
Tip-Toe as you pass,
Last night Fairies frolicked there
And they're sleeping somewhere near.
If you see a tiny fairy
Lying fast asleep
Shut your eyes
And run away,
Do not stay to peek!
Do not tell
Or you'll break a fairy spell
Author Unknown

The idea is to produce whatever you like, for instance a card or an altered item or even a piece of jewellery. Use either the poem, a word from the poem, or the image itself as your inspiration, there is no need to stick to anything too rigidly, its just for fun.
This week, because I can, :) I have decided if anyone takes part, I am going to give away two lots of crafty blog candy. I have a big QVC pack that includes, papers, vellum, fibres and all kinds of little bits and pieces for someone in the UK. For those overseas I have some foam but lovely quality Angel stamps that would be great for Christmas cards. I will post some photographs up of these over the weekend.
Although I will continue with my Fridays Fable as normal next week, I will leave this one open four weeks from today (1 August) and make a draw with Andy as my name picker from a hat, so please remember to let me know if you take part!
Have a great Friday :D




QVC blog candy pack has vellum paper, some cards, a CD for ideas, a pack of all sorts of bits n pieces and I am going to put in 5 non messy pigment inks in neutral colours.
The stamp set has 13 stamps all with an angel theme.

Beautiful Moments

As I took the photographs in my previous post, an hour later it struck me how different it was again. There is no doubt that the weather is a little strange at the minute, these are the same view points slightly zoomed in.


I am trying to look at things and catch up but I keep being distracted by beauty, LOL.

Thanks and sparkly awards

First of all I need to thank Vanessa for sending me some lovely stamped images and the most gorgeous of cards:

She is just so talented!

I have also been lucky enough to receive an award from three great people who have lovely blogs themselves, Vanessa,Pauline and Richelle. if you have a little time, you should go check them out :-D
Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.
6. Wear a posh frock if you like, lots of bling and make a speech, but - sorry - no red carpet
So thank you all.
My nominated people are:
Tina
Jo
Caroline
Shirley
Gill
Jen
Terrie
I will try to get around and let you all know but I am struggling for time again this week...girls feel free to post this up if YOU want to (my rules ;) ), otherwise just accept that your blogs sparkle to me!
Finally just a couple of photographs taken this evening. As I was sitting writing this post, this was my view!

As I picked up the camera to photograph it, I also looked across the valley:

Have a lovely evening everyone :-D