Autumn already!?

Where has the summer gone? I can't believe it's the first of September already.

Aaanyway, in August I spent just over a week travelling around the beautiful British countryside in our camper van (with my OH), followed by 4 nights in a hotel in Glasgow (work-related).

When I'm away from home I usually take some prepared backgrounds and my little travel kit because I like to create little pieces of art when I have the time. I've whittled down my travel kit over a number of trips and it works very well for me. Here it is:

On this trip I decided to make some ATCs as I have just joined a swap group, so it seemed like a good idea to stock up...

I absolutely adore anything miniature and it's very satisfying to have a stack of these completed by the end of a trip. I always keep a couple in my bag in case I need a little gift for someone - you never know!

Sooo...it's been a while!

After having a conversation with some very talented arty friends who also have blogs it seemed like a good idea to try and revive this little blog of mine and rejoin the blogging community. 

Over the last 2 and a bit years my interest has changed quite dramatically from "nice clean" card making and scrapbooking to "the messier the better" mixed media. I knew nothing about acrylic paints, ink sprays, structure paste or gel medium back then but I have it all now, and then some! Amazing how quickly a new collection of "stuff" can grow!

As I explained all that time ago when I first moved to this lovely little town I had my first taste of mixed media at The Artistic Stamper which is right on my doorstep (how lucky am I). Jennie is an expert on all things messy, not only does she have great workshops but she also has all the goodies that your heart may desire in the shop.

I will post some of the art I have created so far over the next few weeks by way of a little recap, and then hopefully blog current stuff as and when. It's good to be back!

The joys of spring...

I've spent a long time (almost a year!) deliberating whether writing a blog is really for me.
I'm still not sure. So I'm just going to give it another go. It's not that I don't like the idea per se, I'm just not organized enough. I still procrastinate like I've always done. 
This year is my 50th year and I very much want to make some changes, get fitter and healthier (I have made a start on that), explore mindfulness (this is something I keep dipping in and out of but don't seem to be able to commit to on a regular basis), take a photo each day, write in my art journal each day, continue with a Project Life type of project, continue with Postcrossing and therein lies the problem - I spend time doing one thing and forget about another. I need some structure but I'm sooo not good at having a routine. Maybe I will make a list...
Are there any other disorganized people like me out there??

As for the joys of spring, the Kent countryside around us is at it's very best at this time of year. I love it and I like to spend as much time as possible out and about exploring it. I especially love apple blossom and bluebells. We saw many beautiful places over the bank holiday weekend. I can't wait or the next one...

Art Journalling

Hello everybody, how are you all?

Summer continues in our pretty little corner of England and we continue to love our new home and surroundings - we have lived here for 8 months already! Time flies...

Following on from my Altered Book adventures I also discovered Art Journalling and booked a weekend workshop (yes, a whole weekend - how lucky am I??) with Kate Crane at Jennie's shop. It's not until November so I decided I'd give myself a bit of a head start, bought a gorgeous Art Journal, some pens and pencils and also enrolled in Kate's online class, Journal Soup. I love everything she does and just wish there were more hours in the day for playing!

I've always liked the idea of a diary but have never managed to keep one up for any length of time, and although I like writing it's not necessarily what I want to do when I need to work through some feelings and emotions. I've always thought it must be nice to be able to draw in those situations but that's as far as I got, thinking that my talent didn't reach that far. However, after having a good look at Art Journalling I think it may be the outlet I've been looking for all these years. I spend some time most evenings now doodling. As I love anything to do with words and language I tend to start off with a quote I like and then go from there. I love it so much!

Altered Book update...

Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying the summer sunshine!
It's a bit on the hot side for me personally but that's a good excuse to be indoors in the shade and do some crafting! I don't mean to sound miserable and I am really happy that we're having a proper summer but I've just never been a sun worshipper and that's just how it is!

Since starting Jennie's Altered Book class at the Artistic Stamper I've been immersing myself in all things altered and journalling and I feel like I've discovered a whole new world and have been going on a journey of self discovery. Playing with techniques in my Altered Books (yes, books - I have 2 now, isn't that exciting?!) or doodling in my Art Journal is sooo therapeutic and I completely lose myself for a while and maybe work through some feelings or emotions - and most of the time there's something pretty to look at at the end of it! That's a win-win situation in my eyes. I'm also meeting some lovely like-minded people along the way which is great.
Life is good!

Wedding Guest Book

No, not my wedding!!

I'm going to be a witness at my friend's wedding in August and recently decided to make a book for her that the guest can write messages in on the day. We made her invitations together which were purple and cream so I have made the book in similar colours. When I say I made the book what I actually mean is that I took a kraft spiral bound book with blank pages and made a layout to decorate the front cover. I haven't adhered it to the book yet so in the picture it's actually sitting on top of the book. 

I don't tend to follow any particular instructions or patterns and my artwork usually evolves as I go along. I like to build up layers of paper and ephemera and often use scraps, book pages, bits of lace, decorative pins etc. Occasionally I hit a wall and walk away from my craft desk for a little while, or I put my project on the mantelpiece in the living room where I look at it from time to time until I have an idea of how to carry on. I'm pretty pleased with this one and I'm fairly sure my friend will like it!

Felties

This week I started running out of the wool I'm using for my current blankie project (which around here is known as the "Seaside Ripple"). After some deliberation about whether to order some more wool or not I decided not to, as it's getting a bit too warm to be working on a ripple blanket, where the whole thing is resting on your lap and legs all of the time. I considered starting another granny square blanket, started looking at patterns and yarns etc. but then thought: "what am I doing? I have a whole room full of crafty stuff, why don't I use something I've already got?" That's when I remembered my box of felt, sequins and embroidery thread, found my felties pattern books and set to work. I've never used a sewing machine other than at school but I love sewing by hand, especially in the evenings in front of the telly. Or absolutely any other time for that matter. I just love being creative. I seem to think of little else during the course of the average day. Am I obsessed? I like to think I'm passionate!!

Aaanyway, I set to work and over the last week I have created these two lovelies:

"Mushroom Girl"

"The Mermaid"

I'm totally in love with Mushroom Girl but a little unsure about the Mermaid's large head (and Danny asked why her hair looked like a Smurf - remember those??) I did thoroughly enjoy making them and am already halfway through making the next one. Pictures to follow!

Altered Book

I had the best time earlier this week when I was introduced to Altered Books at The Artistic Stamper. Of course I knew about Altered Books and I've dabbled with one on my own at home but I've wanted to do a proper class or workshop for years. I'm so lucky because the shop is only about a mile up the road on the same road that I live on now!

4 hours of crafting, playing, altering, laughing and planning the next get-together went by in a flash. Jennie showed us 3 techniques and my head was absolutely buzzing with ideas when I got home (only slightly wet after walking back in the rain!), so much so that I also dreamt about playing with my book all night!
As it's a Bank Holiday weekend here in England I spent all day yesterday finishing Wednesday's 3 pages and playing a little bit more. I tried some Tim Holtz techniques from his "Compendium of Curiosities" books, some more successfully than others as the paper in an older book can be a little bit unpredictable so results can vary!

Anyway, here's what I've done so far - I'm quite pleased with most of it and the first one is my favourite so far:

(This is the first time I've blogged from my I pad so I hope it works!!)

That's all for today as we're off to see our best friends for the afternoon, enjoy the rest of the weekend wherever you are!

Big hugs!

Travelling and Scrapping...

Last week I decided -more or less on the spur of the moment- to visit our youngest son in Oxford. He is coming to the end of his studies (in fact he had his last exam yesterday) and as my OH would be passing through there I would be able to get a lift back home.

I travelled from our home in Kent to Victoria Station in London and then on a bus called The Oxford Tube all the way to Oxford. My OH is a confirmed car driver but I'm quite happy to travel the way I did - as far as I'm concerned there's always something to see and if there isn't there's always something to read!

I spent a lovely afternoon walking round Oxford with my son, as well as fitting in some lunch and coffee. Oxford is such a beautiful place and I can't get enough of all the gorgeous buildings - sadly my son wasn't keen to be in any of my photos!

My OH met up with us in the evening, we all went for dinner and then on to the theater to watch "Pygmalion", which may make us all sound very cultured and posh (which is really not the case!), but No 2 son has been wanting to go to the theater in Oxford for ages, and "Pygmalion" happened to be on - and was very enjoyable and funny.

This week I have managed to squeeze in some scrapping too, I'm definitely getting back to my crafty self and my craft room is also coming along nicely (note to self: take some pictures!).
I went through a phase of experimenting with brighter colours and even some pastels but have come to the conclusion that these are not my thing and that I should stick with what I like, i.e. kraft, slightly darker, distressed, grungy, vintage or retro kind of layouts like the ones in the pictures below. I'm back!!

Scrapbooking again

Having lived here for 5 months now, I finally picked up the courage to book my first class at the local craft shop, The Artistic Stamper, which is run by Jennie, who is the most welcoming person imaginable.

I say "finally picked up the courage" as I am a very introvert person and I find it very difficult to go anywhere on my own! However, everyone at Jennie's shop is extremely friendly and welcoming and I had a great time and lots of laughs, as well as coffee and cakes. Oh, and I made a scrapbook layout too! I booked my next class there and then and also joined the Club, which sounds like great fun.

The class was run by Jane Dean, whose blog and work I have admired for many years so this was the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start. Jane showed us some great tips and tricks and the finished layouts looked great.

Here's mine - as the layout was travel-themed I used a couple of pictures I took in 2011 when we visited Antony Gormley's "Another Place" sculptures on Crosby Beach near Liverpool.

I managed to spill coffee over the page when I added the finishing touches at home because I got glue in my mouth (yes, I know!), reached for a quick gulp of coffee to take away the taste and spilled it on the bottom right corner. Thankfully I managed to clean it up! I also glued the letter E to my top! Needless to say I thought it was safer to put the craft stuff away after that..

It's been a while...a long while!

I can't believe the last time I blogged was May.

In April/May we believed we had finally found our new home and were quietly excited about our new beginning in our new home. Then everything went wrong (at least where the move was concerned), the sale of our house fell through and we consequently lost the house we were buying. The months went by, our hopes were raised and then dashed many more times and we were almost ready to give up but we found another place, not quite as close to the sea as my OH would have liked but just outside a pretty little market town in Kent, surrounded by countryside and -most importantly to me- trees. It's about a 10 minute drive from the original location so close enough for OH's much longed-for runs by the sea.

I love it here. It seems everything worked out for the best, even though the heartbreak was almost unbearable when things seemed to be going so wrong. We moved at the beginning of December so it really did take a long time. But we were settled in time for Christmas, both our boys came home and seemed to wholeheartedly like their new home and surroundings.

I completely lost my mojo last year and didn't even want to think about crafting or blogging, I think given half a chance I might have stayed in bed for the duration.

I'm ready to get in touch with my creative side again now that we've settled in, but I feel I badly need some structure in my life as I still spend too much time procrastinating. Some planning is needed so one day doesn't just flow into the next and before I know it another week has gone by (several already have!).
I'm not an active or fit person but would very much like to become one, and the countryside around me is definitely inspiring - although the weather in this part of the world has definitely put a stop to any outdoor pursuits for the time being - it has rained almost non stop since we moved in.

But I have now resurrected my blog which is definitely a step in the right direction. Onward and upward.

April - where did it go?

April is a busy time in our family as it's my husband's birthday as well as both of our son's birthdays - and invariably Easter is usually somewhere in the mix! This year was my OH's 50th, so an extra special birthday and both boys managed to come home for it so we had a lovely family day.

The weather in our little corner of the world is still very changeable and unpredictable, there doesn't seem to be so much rain anymore and we even seem to be getting the occasional ray of sunshine but boy, the wind is dominating everything now and it's oh-so-cold! Every time I open the door to leave the house the door almost gets ripped out of my hand!

We are STILL in the process of house-selling/house-buying and as I can be  little superstitious that's all I'm going to say at this point! It does mean, however, that crafting has taken a real back seat due to all the other things that are going on and I'm managing to keep on top of the scrapping addiction with my Project Life, it's been my salvation. As it's only a small album I don't feel guilty about making a little time every weekend to satisfy my creative urges! I can't wait for the day I can surround myself with all of my stash again though!

I joined the lovely Julie Kirk's "Push-up bra approach to blogging" a few weeks ago, I love her humorous style of writing and this series has been so informative and thought-provoking for someone like me who really wants to blog but just procrastinates about it most of the time. I really recommend it to any of you out there who like the idea of blogging but - like me - aren't really sure where to start. I also love that, instead of charging for this class Julie is encouraging everyone to donate to her Just Giving page in aid of "Save the Children". 

Again, I'm unable at the moment to give this the time it deserves and the time I want to give to it, but I'm making notes (in my shiny new notebook!!) for when I have a little more time on my hands again. There are so many good ideas to work through...

Well it's back to the mundane stuff for me for now, hope you're all well out there in blog land!
Much love.xxx

Life...

Sometimes life can feel tricky...

I've been feeling very restless for a week or so, a bit sad and teary and I don't know what on earth is the matter with me, but I know it's not the first time. I'm wondering if it's my age (does anyone know if this could be true? I was born in 1965 so I'll let you work out how old I am! ;))

Everything and anything sets me off at the moment and everywhere I look I see doom and gloom. But that's just me, not what's around me really. I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon...

I've been carrying on with my Project Life which I enjoy very much. These are some of the pages.

They seem to have uploaded in the wrong order though!

I have also got completely carried away making cards with illustrations from second hand books I bought from a local charity shop, as well as using my basket of scrap bits of paper and assorted embellishments. I'm particularly in love with decorative pins at the moment. 

I'm not usually a pastel person but I love the combination of turquoise and pink. Needless to say that being creative usually goes a long way towards making me forget things that are bothering me as I get completely engrossed in what I am doing at that moment.

Much love,

Angie x

Project Life

I did my own take on Project Life last year using a 12x12 American Crafts D-Ring Binder and my own assortment of papers and paper scraps, which is a very good way of using up bits and pieces. At times, however, I found the 12x12 page protectors a little too much to fill up so this year I have opted for a Simple Stories 6x8 binder and I am quite smitten with the Simple Stories Sn@p Collection, so I am using a mixture of Sn@p papers and elements, some Smash stuff and other bits and pieces I already have. I'm quite pleased with results so far, even though it's only been 4 weeks of course! Having said that, the 6x8 format may end up a tiny bit too small...there's no pleasing some people , I know!

I'm forever trying to organize and re-organize my crafting stuff and I currently have a reasonably sized plastic tub with all my Sn@p elements, journalling cards, stickers, random but cut-to-size pieces of patterned paper, pens, glue, washi tape, date stamps, ephemera and so on sitting on a chair in the dining room, so if it needs to be out of sight I can just push the chair under the table!!

I can't get enough of those Sn@p colours, they really do make me feel cheerful. 

Happy New Year!

 I'm back! 

I was lucky enough to travel to Basel in December for the second year in a row as my friend's brother lives there. Basel fascinates me as it sits right on the German/French/Swiss border, so coming from Germany originally a lot of what I see, hear and eat (yum!) there is familiar to me which is great fun.

We had the opportunity to visit a number of beautiful old towns and their Christmas markets which I love and can never get enough of. Who doesn't love a mug of Gluhwein!? 

I love how every nook and cranny is decorated for Christmas and I particularly love a lot of the windows.

Another thing I get really excited about is that in Alsace there are still REAL storks. Storks have been something magical to me since I was a little girl living in Germany and I do remember seeing the odd stork's nest on a roof. Of course there aren't any storks in Alsace during the winter but some of the nests are, and I love spotting them. (Is that really sad...?)

My favourite building has to be this one, the Gingerbread House, another thing that takes me straight back to childhood and stories like Hansel and Gretel. The Grimm Brothers Fairly Tales are one of my  most favourite things in the whole world, I am really just a little girl at heart.

There are often people in traditional dress at the Christmas Markets, and these two lovely girls in traditional Alsatian dress got a lot of attention from the boys!

I wonder which Christmas Market I will visit in 2013?

I'm not a great believer in New Years Resolutions and I don't generally make any, but I would very much like to blog more this year, and I want to craft much much more. But I think I may need to become a little more organised and focused, and somehow bring a little structure into my life.

I'd love to know how some of you manage to structure your lives?