Inspired by...

Happy Sunday all! Have you ever seen a painting or card, or any other crafted creation and thought to yourself "Oh Lord, I wish I'D done that!"? Of course you have, every one of us is inspired by others, whether that be other bloggers, famous/non-famous artists, crafters worldwide..... Every year in Bromsgrove we have an Arts Festival. It lasts for two weeks and there are a number of performances and street artists and concerts etc. take place all over the town. One of the things I love most is the Art Exhibition at one of the churches because it brings together some of the most amazing works of art by some extremely talented local people - one day I would LOVE to have the guts to exhibit something myself but up to now I haven't had the bottle! This year I found some mounted but unframed pictures by a lady who I think is called Linda someoneorother and I just swooned at them! Unfortunately though I wasn't in a position to splash out and buy them so I took these photo's of them to remind me how gorgeous they are and to aspire to be able to paint this good - ha! then I woke up!!!


The picture above is a painting of Chaddesley Corbett Post Office. I just love this lady's style of painting and I would give my eye teeth to be able to paint like this. Over at Tag, You're It! this week our theme is Inspired By..... and I chose this picture as my inspiration to make this Good Luck in your new home tag. This is my second tag for the June Swap which our lovely Janet is hosting.

I'm not fooling myself by imagining it's anything like as good as the original, but it's a start and it was such fun to paint - even though this was actually my 4th attempt!! LOL!!

Thanks for stopping by here, and I hope you have a great week! :o) xx

Too hot to sleep

Ugh! It's a fact that us Brits are always talking about the weather - maybe because it's so diverse. And right now it's just tooooooo hot! I'm really tired this morning because I just couldn't sleep at all last night! Instead I spent half the night tossing and turning and listening to Joe Public's solutions to Britain's binge-drink culture on TalkSport! I even had the fan blasting out all night but I just could not get comfortable. I did do my bit for England yesterday though - we're not footy fans in this house (thank the lord!) but I am feeling a bit left out by the red n' white craze that's taking over the country right now. But there's no way I'm going to be hanging flags and pennants out of the windows here so I made my hanging baskets using only frenzy red and vanilla white petunia's, and now I feel quite patriotic! LOL!

So, over at Tag, You're It! this week we're starting our June Swap. We are really hoping that many people will join in this because at the end of it, we all get back 4 lovely surprise tags from the other players as our lovely teamie Janet has offered to collect all the tags in, mix 'em up and re-distribute them for us. I know from doing this many years ago what great fun it is not knowing what you're going to get in return and how lovely it is to recieve something from another crafter that you may not even know! Our first theme is Needle and Thread. All our themes are open to interpretation, and although it was absolutely my intention to get my sewing machine out and do some proper stitching, unfortunately I just never got round to it so I went for the faux stitch look. You see the problem is, my workstation (aka dining table!) was in such a horrid mess and I felt that I just had to clear it all and get things put away. So I did and there was lots of room for my sewing machine then..... but there's nothing more enticing to me than a lovely clean workspace and an idea brewing in my head, so out came the stamps, out came the inks, brushes, acrylic blocks, d/s tapes, papers, scissors, box of scraps, flowers, pearls, bling, ribbons, the glitter glues, and lo and behold, it looked exactly the same again in no time at all - and still no room for the sewing machine! So I gave up domesticity - it doesn't suit me! I did however manage to produce this:

Very, very simple, but then I think tags should be. The image is coloured with distress inks and stickles and the sentiment is a home-made rub-on which I'm very impressed with and intend to make many, many more!

Today is the last day of the holidays - back to school tomorrow and my therapy starts here. I calculated that I have only 34 more school days to go before the 6 weeks holiday - great, except that my baby has exactly the same number of days left at First School. I'm struggling to imagine him beginning a new life at Middle School from September, though he's really cool about it - he just seems so young to be joining 'the big kids', and it's going to feel pretty strange for me being at my school without him..... Oh lord, get me a therapist, quick!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a happy Sunday - I will be spending it at the Cinema and Frankie & Benny's entertaining my son and his friends for his 9th bithday bash! Thanks for stopping by! :o) xx

Sweet Pea Stampers - A sprinkling of fairy dust

Whoops! Here I am again - 2 days in a row, it must be a record for me! I'm not in peak condition this morning, but save your sympathy, it's self-inflicted!! LOL! My SIL invited us to a barbie yesterday afternoon because the weather did a complete u-turn - it was glorious and the atmosphere was fab, and I'm afraid that I not only drank too much, but I committed the cardinal sin of mixing my drinks! Sooooo stooopid and I think I got off pretty light with just a thumping head and tiredness! I can just hear my mum this morning saying "That'll learn ya!" LOL!

Anyway, here is my sample card for this week's Sweet Pea Stampers themes - this week it's A sprinkling of fairy dust. so I used a bucket-load! OMGoodness, this card has so much diamond dust glitter on it that I'm thinking of getting it insured! LOL! The papers are Websters and I used a sketch from this weeks' Stempeleinmaleins challenge, which I've only just discovered but they have some fab samples so I was inspired to join in!


Well that's my lot for today - hope you like! Why not pop over to Sweet Pea Stampers or Tag, You're It! and join in with the themes for this week. Hope to see you there! Thanks for stopping by! :o) xx

Tag, You're It! Heaven Sent

Bloomin' heck, this weather wasn't heaven sent, was it!! I'm freezing! Happy Bank Holiday weekend, bloggers. Typical BH, cold, wet, miserable - and the weather's not much better!! LOL!! First of all I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who left me comments about my Supporting ASC course, and those who have already offered to answer questions for me. I have deliberately not published any comments because I promised total confidentiality and I will email you all individually if I haven't done so already. Thank You!

Right then, over at Tag, You're It! this weekend our theme is Heaven Sent and here is my offering:

I dunno, something is missing - in my minds eye I'm seeing a sillouette of swans or geese flying across the moon, but I don't have a stamp to show that, so try and picture it if you can, it might add that something needed! LOL!! It's a really simple tag - the background is just chalked and I masked off the 'moon' with a punched circle of paper, then I stamped on the sentiment (I love this!) and gave it a blast with some glimmer mist - but then I think tags should be simple. If you like tags, and you like to receive artworks from other crafters, I URGE you to join us throughout June because we're hosting a Tag Swap! Everyone who plays along with our themes has the opportunity to send all their June tags to our lovely Janet who will mix them up and re-distribute them so that everyone receives a lovely surprise in the post! Why not pop over there to see what's what and take a look at all the other gorgeous tags, past and present, we have to offer!

Thanks so much for popping in and I hope you have a great BH weekend! :o) xx

Can You Help?

I'm currently on week 4 of an 8 week course entitled "Supporting Children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions" and I am seeking your help. I have deliberated long and hard about doing a Level 4 Accreditation - last week I had decided once and for all that I would just do the course and get my attendance certificate. However, I have now decided that I would be wasting a golden opportunity if I don't do it and have therefore enrolled (OMG, what have I done!!!)

Last night at our course we were introduced to a number of young people and their friends and families who were very happy to talk to us about living with their condition and although we got to ask many questions, I still have loads more that I would like to ask. There are hundreds of books, You Tube documentaries, films, etc... and by enrolling on the course I get access to a huge library of resources, but in my mind there is nothing like hearing it "from the horses mouth", if you'll pardon the expression.

I wanted to ask if you are somebody who cares for or supports a child with ASC, or if indeed you yourself have autism/aspergers if you would be willing for me to contact you via email to ask questions? I would like to build a bank of people who live with or care for/support people with ASC in order to get a variety of experiences. It goes without saying that confidentiality is my number 1 priority and that no information you care to impart would be passed on to any second party - it is solely for me to gain a better understanding of all areas of the spectrum, and help me to prepare my assignments.

If you would be happy to let me email you, please could you drop me a line to my email address and I will contact you at the earliest opportunity.

I would like to extend my grateful thanks in anticipation. :o) xx

Running with the Pack!

Happy Sunday all! Phewwwww!!!! Sooooooo hot! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - too much! I had the most wonderful night's sleep last night after I dug out my huge fan and just left it running all night - bliss!! Well, today was the day - what a scorching day it turned out to be for the Bromsgrove Race for Life! But I did it, despite the fact that I was so hot and sweaty that I finished up looking more like Jimmy Saville that Jimmy Saville does!! Oh the shame of it! LOL!! But here we all are showing off our medals with HUGE pride and a sense of pure satisfaction. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I feel really motivated to get out and walk some more. I've made myself a promise (you heard it here first!) that next year I will jog it! We did jog some today but the heat was so unbearable that it just wore you down.

The next picture was taken at about 1km mark - it's quite scary to see how many people were in front of me, but when I turned around I was sooooo happy to see that there were just as many, and more, behind me! My biggest fear was being the last to finish but I reackon that there must have been at least 1500 after me - plus the girls here (some of my colleagues) were brilliant and we just kept spurring each other on, and we crossed the finishing line 54 minutes after we set off! Not bad eh?!

My first commitment next pay day is a decent pair of trainers - I have blisters on my blisters, but I also have a Remington foot spa which proved to be a Godsend this afternoon! LOL!!!

Onto my Tag creation this week - our theme today is A Whiter Shade of Pale and we are asking players to make an all-white tag. We're not really cruel though, we do appreciate how difficult it can be so we have allowed minimal colour, as long as the overall impression is that of a white tag. Here is my DT offering:

It's to say THANK YOU to all of you who very kindly sponsored me today (it's still not too late if you're wishing you did - the link is still at the top of my blog). I did pledge to raise £150 but unfortunately I only succeeded in raising £120 so far but I'm hoping that some of the people I missed at work last week will kindly sponsor me retrospectively!

Well I definitely won't need any rocking to sleep tonight - I feel shattered now. My boys are both going off on their school residential trips tomorrow and I am in need of Separation Therapy! Boo Hoo!!!!!

Hope you have a great week, and long may this sun shine! Thanks for stopping by! :o) xx

Vintage Romance

Aaaahhhh..... That's me and my boy back in August 1998 when we were young and gorgeous!! LOL! Our theme over at Tag, you're It! this week is Vintage Romance so I scanned one of our wedding photo's and sepia'd it up a bit! Unbelievably, although it was only 12 years ago (he says it feels MUCH longer!!!) our photo's were shot on 35mm and we had to do a deal with the photographer's to buy the negatives!! The bride wore lilac and cream - a dress I bought off the peg from Dotty P's the week before! We headed off on our annual holiday to a little cottage we used to rent just outside Oban, and stopped off en route to tie the knot at Gretna with my faithful pup Rosie as my bridesmaid proudly sporting her new tartan collar (though she hid it well here!!)

I had a moment of excitement and fame yesterday when the joke I sent to Rick Wakeman for his Planet Rock show was read out on air! As if that wasn't enough, 10 minutes later he revealed that I was also the winner of last week's Lyric Theatre! ROFL!!! My Saturday mornings are geared around Rick's show - he is so naughty and hilariously funny, and plays the best tracks and his interviews with rock legends are always brilliant! We went down to Devon a few weeks ago and I timed it perfectly so that we could just be hitting the motorway as Rick's show was starting, and with any luck, arrive shortly after it finished. So when the bloomin' engine died on the M5 with half an hour of the programme still to run I was furious! Not only did me and the boys and my dogs have to stand under a motorway bridge in the freezing cold and incredible noise for over an hour till the breakdown arrived, I missed the last half hour of Rick!!! Argh! Then to add insult to injury, Terry came home with a courtesey car that hadn't got DAB radio! Outrageous!

Thanks for stopping by here and if you find yourself with time to spare this week, get yourself over to TYI and make a beautiful romantic vintage tag of your own to show off! Go on, you know you want to!! :o) xxx