Some original art journalling...

So this is my first piece of totally original art journalling - and I love it! I am following a few different art journal and gluebook sites at the moment (please comment for details if you're interested) which provide great prompts every day, or every week, or every two weeks :) I have been overwhelmed with wonderful prompts since the new year started :)

However! I spotted a few things in magazines when I was cutting things out that really caught my eye, so I cut them out and stuck them down and over the course of the past few weeks I've been adding paint and pens and all the things I could think of!

This is a TERRIBLE picture ( but I will add a scanned image when able) of this page, which may not look like much, but I am quietly proud of - this page is just about me, without prompts, just totally and utterly what I wanted to do with it.

As a scrapbooker, this is some new ground! Thanks for looking :)

Circle journals

At the moment I have two circle journals that I'm sending on their way tomorrow. The Sheilas Postcard Circle Journal has been going for over a year now, and along the way has gotten a little bunched up at times but we have no losses and they are still working their way across America, the UK and Australia!

The journal above started and will end its journey in Arizona, and the one below is from Texas.

I think all of my pages have been different, not just because all the journals are different shapes and sizes but because I love doing something different in each one :) I have had to change the way I started out, if only because I have moved house halfway through and there are no postcards of the town I live in now!

Seeing each new journal in person when it arrives is a real excitement, and sending them on their way again brings that little buzz of looking forward to the next one.

Tonight, I want to work on some art journalling I started last weekend - hope to share it soon!

A weighty issue!

So today I am giving myself a wake-up call! I was thinking about the things I want for this year, and one of those is getting myself back on track with a healthy diet again after the redundancy/Christmas/New Year/brother's birthday/work colleague's 50th birthday party indulgences! There's always a reason, right? ;)

Well today I'm posting this photo:-

...to remind myself that last summer and 30lbs heavier I was NOT happy in my own skin and it's a slippery slope back there again! I had lost more than 30lbs by November, but I'm running that risk of heading back there due to the aforementioned indulgences, and today I am putting my foot down and saying NO MORE!

I am blogging it with the hope of shaming myself into action ;) I have got some important things coming up this year that I want to feel good about when I'm there, and a really big important thing coming up next year in the form of my wedding! Now don't think for a second that I even have any idea what colour, shape or style of dress I want to wear, but the size? That I do have ideas about. And I don't want to have to make good on my threat of not going through with the wedding because this weight is still hanging on for the ride :-D

Sounds outrageous to say that, huh. But it's an issue that affects a lot of things for me, and for other people I know who struggle with their weight, whether it's too high or too low. Yes, I really have refused to go out on a night out because I felt so awful that my clothes didn't fit properly. It's a tantrum, I know this, but at the time it's such a panic and upset that it doesn't feel possible to do anything else!

So my wedding is not going to be like this. I refuse. Taking charge today, and every day. I have done it before, and I will do it again.

Thanks for listening to my waffle :)

CHA

So this weekend is the big weekend for all us crafters - CHA in California is this weekend! I have a good scrappy friend who will be going, and having instructed her to take LOTS of photos; I am looking forward to vicariously living through her!

I am on Twitter and am picking up updates from some of my favourite scrappy people during their time at CHA - how much do you LOVE this 'grungecoat' as modelled by Tim Holtz?

Totally fab :) a friend of mine picked up some grungepaper on Friday, I will be sure to mention this pic to her!

To occupy myself I am catching up with Celebrity Big Brother - who knows why but I am finding it quite entertaining! I think I am nearly getting DF interested; he always wants to know what I'm laughing at! It's nearly coming to an end so I'm trying to catch up before I find out who wins :)

Rambling on a Wednesday

Okay, so today is just going to be a bit of a ramble! I have been picture heavy lately :)

I should be scrapping right now but I am sitting back and catching up on blogs, and looking at all of the wonderful things that people are creating - it's so great to have all this inspiration around you, fabulous scrapbook pages, art journal pages, altered art, gorgeous photos - I love it! And the forums, the prompts, the people - yeah for just sitting back and soaking it all up :)

I just caught sight of a tag that I made among my scrapping stuff, and remembered taking pics of it underneath my lamp on my scrapping table - I miss it so much! Never realised what hard work it would be not having a scrapping table.

So here it is, a photo tribute to my lost scrapping table...

I have been working on some gluebook type stuff today, separate from my art journal for the Caravan. Waiting for paint to dry is a LOOOOOOOONG process! It's hard to try to find somewhere out of the way to leave it dry! Someday, I will win the lottery :)

Accessorize dahling!!

Another London post! We have an Accessorize shop here at home but the London one just looked so much better! Loving this shop window.

And the contents of the shop looked as fab as the window - I was lucky enough to be bought this lovely necklace as part of my Christmas gift! I just loved all the layers and different elements to this.

Art Journaling part 2

Bit more art journaling to share :) courtesy of the Art Journal Caravan! This first one is based on a prompt from last week, but I thought it was so fun I really wanted to have a go! We needed to take some inspiration from the week's diary style used by Geninne here.

This second page uses this week's prompt, mend. I wasn't sure what to do for this one, so I searched for some poetry that used the word mend, and found this pretty poem by Emily Dickinson which I really liked alongside the image of this girl.
I felt a bit scrapbooky with this one (the flower and brad mark me as a scrapper, right? ;)

but I really loved using the paints and pens, and going a bit wild for a change! I feel like I could still add some more doodling to this one, work in progress perhaps...

Harrods

So on Saturday, I insisted that we had to go to Harrods. Even though I lived on the outskirts of London for a couple of years, I never went to Harrods! Criminal ;)

You know that you're getting near to Harrods just from the tube stations - this is the subway wall at Hyde Park Corner...

We took the scenic route and walked from Hyde Park Corner to Knightsbridge and could soon see the corner of Harrods in the distance! Can you see my mum trying to hide behind a lamp post??

This is the classic picture of those shop windows with the trademark green and gold Harrods colours....

And in the expensive shopping halls, this was one of the light fittings that caught my eye! Isn't it beautiful?

However! We were there for souvenirs so we went to Harrods Arcade!

... where they had sweeties....

...teddy bears....

...and mugs!

Plus these cute little shopping bags that totally reminded me of this month's inspiration challenge on TST! Thought of you Jules :)

A few more pics from this trip to share, but this was pretty heavy on photos today so I'll save them for another time!

VERY excited for the next art journalling prompt tomorrow!

London calling...

So on Saturday, my mum and I went to London to see the musical Wicked! It was my Christmas present from my mum this year; I had wanted to see it for a LONG time, ever since I went to New York about 5 years ago and saw that it was playing on Broadway! The Wizard of Oz is one of my favourite favourite films; apparently I started watching it when I was 3!

These pictures are outside the Apollo Victoria Theatre, near Victoria Station in London.

The picture below is inside the theatre; there was a really detailed surround to the stage, with lots of cogs and stairs that the actors used during the show.

This is a closer view of the map of Oz which later went up to reveal the rest of the stage - I loved how the Emerald City was lit up! Plus of course the map looked very scrappy and distressed ;)

And this is me and mum just before the show started, looking a bit tired already from the early start, the mad dashes around the subway stations and the bustling arcade in Harrods! (pics to follow in a later post)

It was a great day and I really enjoyed the show - thanks Mum and Merry Christmas!

Art Journaling

So I spent Saturday in London with my mum (pics to follow in a later post!), yesterday recovering and scrapping, and today cleaning and cooking!

I finished my first ever art journaling pages; not a patch on the ones I've seen, but I really enjoyed making them and you have to start somewhere, right? :)

The prompt for the first week was to journal about your chosen word of the year (a la Ali Edwards) which was just perfect to start off with as I'd been thinking a lot about this word.

From the prompts for this week (there's a new one every Friday) I chose 'accept' - this was close to my heart this week as I had a claustrophobic few days where I was feeling like I needed to get away from everybody! It was surprising how much making this page seemed to relieve the stress (once I got some time on my own of course!).

For a long time I have wanted some black gesso to play with, and when I went shopping on Friday there it was in the store! Of course I had to have some, and play with it at the earliest opportunity!

ATCs galore!

Tonight I had a cool scrappy night with my mum :) she was working on decorating the box she keeps her paper in, and I finished off heaps of ATCs! I love scrapping with my mum, either we chatter away about things or we're both concentrating really hard! My nan didn't want to join in tonight so it was just us :)

Gavin made me a Winnie the Pooh tuna and cheese toasty for sustenance!

And here are my ATCs! They are going to be winging their way to California in the next week - I wish I was going with them; it's pretty cold here right now! This is the 'singer/band' category...

This is my favourite one! Favourite quote from Monty Python - always look on the bright side of life :) I had great fun doodling round the edge of this one.

And this is my favourite book, The Hobbit. I first read this book aged 7 and I've loved it ever since! I far prefer it to the Lord of The Rings, and always enjoyed going on adventures with Bilbo and the dwarves to get the treasure from the dragon Smaug!

Tomorrow I am hoping to go to the craft shop - Mum found a voucher and after I introduced her to the joys of double-sided tape to attach your ribbons she NEEDS some! I may be able to go tomorrow morning if the ice isn't too bad. Tonight is due to be a record-breaking cold night here in the UK, I think they said -20C which is colder than I have ever seen!

I got a Christmas parcel from Gav's sister this morning though - hat, scarf, gloves and socks, so I am well equipped!

Working hard...

Ok, so I finally got some scrapping done! Will share pics tomorrow night :) I have been off the internet ALL evening, not through choice but because the need of others to use the laptop was greater than mine! Needless to say, spending the WHOLE evening without internet connection needed some other occupation... so I scrapped! Got 16 ATCs done for the swap I am late for so I am feeling very productive! Plus, I got some doodling practice in - this we like!

So here's my photo for today - more scenery! Which I know will keep Michelle happy :)

This is on a street called 'Pont Aur', or in English 'Golden Bridge'. It's the remains of the old ironworks and is next to a street of houses and bungalows on the left of this picture, and also a sheltered housing block. When I dropped off a client this afternoon I couldn't resist taking a photo! This is just over a mile from my work, and has been preserved as a monument to the industrial times of the village.

Gavin's nan lives just down the road from this place, and his dad used to play here when he was little - lots of local history for us! Gav's dad and nan both have paintings of Pont Aur on their walls, one in Wales and one in Texas in the U.S.!

Snowy day!

Ok, it snowed like crazy for about two hours this morning, everyone went nuts and ran home apart from me, and by the time I finished up and was ready to go home the snow had cleared up! AND I forgot my camera so no scenery today - you'll be glad of the break :)

However! I did get a good pose from my cat, Kitty - it's rare to get a good photo of her because she often appears invisible to the camera lens because of her luscious black fur! She looks like she is adoring the attention :)

Tonight I am working on some LONG overdue ATC's - oh dear! I am also giving some thought to an inspiration prompt given to me by a scrappy friend... I am probably taking the inspiration in entirely the wrong direction but am loving the thought of giving it a go... will remain mysterious for now so as not to spoil the surprise! But I will say thank you Julie for the inspiration! ;)

I managed to fit in some sly doodling practice during the quiet afternoon in work (we probably lost about twenty people to the mad dash home from the snow that didn't stick!) which I am nervous about putting into practice on some of those journal backgrounds...

More scenery!

More scenery today! It's all looking so lovely at the moment, so pretty with the snow! When it melts it will all look brown again, and when it rains it will be GREY! This is the view further up the valley from where I live, it looked glorious this morning with the sun beating down (I am trying to make it sound warmer than it is!)

On my way home tonight the sky was a beautiful colour, not quite dark but beautiful shades of deep blue turning to oranges and yellows on the horizon. I just had to stop and take a photo. This photo doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea.

I have large amounts of scrapping to do! But tonight I coloured some journal page backgrounds for my first page for The Art Journal Caravan. I know what I want it to look like, but of course it won't! But you have to start somewhere, right? Although it is TERRIFYING looking at all the great pages out there!

I had a great find today - my mum was putting some hardcovered catalogues out for recycling and asked if I could use them :) I am thinking these covers will be a great place to start making an altered cover for a journal....

Next year...

It dawned on me on Friday morning that I am getting married next year.

For the longest time I have been telling people that no, I haven't made any wedding preparations because it's 2 years, 3 years, 4 years away! And now all of a sudden, with the passing of a day, it's next year.

Yikes. I have a lot to do.

But anyhoo! In the meantime, more scrapping than I can shake a stick at :) and still I want more! I have joined an art journalling course called The Art Journal Caravan so I am meeting my resolutions head on already :) I am excited about making pieces that are not just about documenting my photos but to indulge my fanciful ideas about doing something 'arty'! I have been slicing up magazines to get as much material as possible, but there are some great digital sheets that come with the Caravan materials so I have plenty to keep me going. It almost seemed like fate that the first week's theme is... journalling your word of the year! I have been giving a lot of thought to my theme over the past few days so I am looking forward to trying to approach it in a different way.

The snow still hasn't melted from trees at the back of the house; it looks like Narnia!

No more snow though so I think I will be fine for work tomorrow (is that a good thing or a bad thing??)

New Beginnings

The snow that fell last night left this pretty picture this morning. This is the view from the upstairs window at the back of the house; it really does look lovely with a sprinkling of snow!

I've also finished my first project of 2010, for The Scrappy Tree of course! This will be my 'bliss' book for the New Year. I can honestly say that looking back over the last year, I would have difficulty picking out something good from every month, so I want to make myself a book of happy things to look back on; find my bliss!
I probably had a little too much fun with the front cover of this! Went slightly overboard with the embellishing! :)

I want to start using more doodling and writing on the projects I do this year, so the front cover of my New Beginnings book seemed a good place to start!

Loving these vinyl stickers from Papermania! And the vintage metal from my Secret Santa Kellie! Love it love it love it!

I have spent today eating home made cookies all the way from Wisconsin! Thank you Michelle, they have been absolutely HEAVENLY! I think my favourites were the Rolo ones, the Andes Mint ones, the ginger cookies and the candy cane blossoms! You know what, I loved them all!! I would post a pic but most of them are missing now :D

Happy New Year's!

Well I had a great celebration of the New Year with my family :) I insisted they posed for a pic halfway through a Disney quiz on the Wii before things got too messy! We were all struggling to keep our eyes open at about 10pm after a long day, but we managed to perk ourselves up and stayed up til 2am!

We all went to see Avatar at the cinema today in 3D - wow! Absolutely amazing. I want to go see it again! I couldn't believe that 3 hours passed so quickly and was sad when it finished! It won't be the same on the small screen so I hope I get to see it again in the cinema before it goes.

It started snowing quite heavily this evening and even though the ground was wet the snow had no problem sticking! The four younger people in the house decided that we would go out and build a snowman.

My brother didn't quite understand that the head was supposed to be ROUND so I did my best with what was there and made a snow-clown instead!

The boys weren't exactly focused on making the snowman and it wasn't long before Gavin got snow down the back of his neck...

...but he soon got his revenge!

My brother has been working all over New Year's and so hasn't gotten to celebrate properly; hopefully we will make up for that tomorrow! All of us are pretty tired out tonight and need to recharge our batteries. My nan was due to go back to Essex today but hasn't been too well so stayed an extra day - she planned on going tomorrow but we are trying to convince her to stay longer until she really feels better and the roads are safer.

After a good night's sleep I am hoping to get back to something creative tomorrow :) Happy New Year's!