All At Sea Again ...

Expressing myself , the only way i know how ...

To let you all know - i am still here , just

going through a personal rough ride ...

Some lyrics from Echo And The Bunneymen

OCEAN RAIN


All at sea again ,

Now my hurricaine ,

Brought down this ocean rain ..

To bathe me again .

My ships a sail ,

Can you hear it`s tender frame ?

Screaming from beneath the waves .

All hands on deck at dawn .

Sailing to sadder shores .

Your port and my heavy storms ,

Harbour the blackest thoughts .

The dark cloud has cast it`s shadow over me .

And i am waiting for the sun .

And i cannot hide ,

behind the person , who i am not .

And still walking through ,

Making my own new path ....

It will just take time ...

Grateful thanks to special people in my life , who i can

turn to in times like these ...

You know who you are ....

Kathleen`s Love Letter , Webs And A Freebie ! ...

This is an altered scrabble board ( cut in half )

That i decided to rework on a little. Sometimes ,

when you leave work , and go back to it , you can see,

if anything , whether it is finally finished , or needs

adjustments at all .

Done on the theme of The First World War ..

Two lovers being apart , and sending correspondence.

I based it on the mans photo , an actual vintage postcard.

I`d bought it , and thought , what could i do with it .

As i find men`s artwork more challenging myself .

Then i found an old book , on how to write letters .

And one stood out , a lady named Kathleen , expressing

how she missed her man - Stephen - And wanted

him back with her . The rest of the idea was there to create .

Below , is a close up of the letter written ..

I am considering selling this piece . It is not in my shop ,

as of yet . But if there is any interest , please let me know !

And remember when i said , we have crazy weather ?

One day of snow , the next fine ?

Two days ago , we had freezing fog . Everywhere was

covered in a thick blanket of frozen water droplets .

But outside , in my back garden , i found these ...

Frozen spiders webs !!

These were everywhere , and until they became more

visible to our eyes . I would not have known they were

there at all !

Below , is an Easter Egg photo ,

for anyone wishing to use it in your projects .

From my own personal stash ! Enjoy !

Another Play At Tag .. And A Happy Birthday ..

Again , i have been tagged - by Rhonda .

I have only just got around to doing it , so here it is for you all .

For 5 more things you do not know about me ...

1 . I have a tattoo , on my right arm , near the top .It is

a small blue heart with a streak of lightning through it .

One of those painful experiences , which i do not

intend to do again ! I nearly passed out !

See below`s reason .

2 . I have a fear of passing out ! I came close while i

was having my tattoo done . I got tunnel vision ,

sweating and told the guy to stop doing it ! I guess ,

i need to know what i am doing , and be in

control of situations i`m in ....

3 . Long fingernails on men ! I absolutely hate it !

Need i say anymore really ! ??

4 . I have a " thing " about keeping the kitchen

worksurfaces clean . I wipe over them with a

bacterial cleanser . But what usually happens is ,

my partner wipes over it with a used tea towel ,

as it`s still " wet " to dry it ! It really annoy`s me ,

as the tea towel will have germs on it !!

5 . I have a habit of , running my fingers through

my freshly washed hair , and then looking at the hairs

that are coming out ! Not exactly intentionally

pulling them out , i know there is a medical condition

for that . Sometimes , i do not know i am doing it ,

until i see a small pile of hairs on the carpet , or

i get told off for doing it !!

So there`s a few more facts about moi !

Not too revealing i hope , or think heck , what is

this woman like !

I will not pass this on anymore .. I think many have

taken part in this one . So you can all breathe a sigh of relief !

Also i would like to wish my mum today ..

" A Very Happy Birthday ! "

I miss you all , and wish i could be there .

And a new listing in my shop today ..

A pack of tiny hand cut envelopes for you to alter ,

or add to your artworks .

Swaps And Gifts Received

Time for sharing my swaps and wins , won from my

friends recently . It is always a good feeling , to receive

something in the post . When you leave a comment ,

in " hoping " you will win - it is always a surprise ,

when you actually do so . And when others think , to

send you something by snail mail . It makes it more

of a special gift received , in times now of email , it is

to me , even more of a personal touch i think .

My friend Rhonda , just sent me some of her vintage

tickets , she had bought a while back . Not that i had

asked for any , she just sent me some to use myself !

So Thankyou for thinking of me Rhonda !

Next is my win from Sherry`s 100th post giveaway .

As Shery said - I seem to have some luck at winning at

the moment ! As i have also won part of her One

World One Heart giveaway as well !

Another journal , for me to write in - you can never have

too many i think ! And a gorgeous handmade card .

Many thank you`s Sherry !!

Abbie`s Valentine Swap Package :

It arrived the day after Valentine`s day , all

packaged up , in this cute little box ! She had

9 people to send out , for this swap . So i would

liketo say thankyou , for being generous to us all !

The goodies , including lace , 2 vintage wooden spools ,

thread and glittered heart .

But what i was totally smitten with was ,

this ever so cute , and tiny birdie !

Something that tiny , gave me alot of pleasure . I

simply adore him Abbie ! Thankyou !!

I would also like to say , Rhonda , is having a

50th post giveaway !

So please give her a visit , and leave her a comment .

She has a mixture of items , including tags ,vintage paper , you could win !

Draw to be done this Friday !!

http://rhondamum.blogspot.com/

A Sign Of Spring ?? ....

Snowdrop flowers appeared in my back garden ,

amoungst the grass - which desperately needs a cut !

I hope everyone has a brilliant weekend !!

I know some are having more snow - Like Sherry -

This is for you , to cheer you up !!

Keep safe dear friend !!

We do not seem to have definate seasons here ,

which i miss alot . We had 1 day of snow , the next it

disappeared ! Torrential rain ,high winds , and a little

sprinkling of sunshine .

It seems Mother Nature is taking a holiday here !!

Update : Sherry , i decided to change the words on my

banner head ! After what you had said . Not that i intended to say ,

my world is a small world , but i am one of the many

participants in this large blogging community world :o)

Banner For Rhondamum

Banner made for Rhonda`s Etsy shop

http://rhondamum.etsy.com/

The Winners Of My OWOH Giveaway !

After having what can be only described , as whirlwind of a time globe trotting to all the OWOH participants - here`s the winner of my collage giveway ! I didn`t get to everyone i had wished to , due to the large volume of participants and time . But i have met many great artistic people out there . Without this event happening , I would have never have met you all !
Thankyou to all who left me comments


I used the random number generator , which Lisa provided for us all , if we wished to use it .

So here goes ....

It is someone new to me .....

It`s Theresa ! Of Tze`s Mixed media designs !

Congratulations !!

Please email me , so i can send it to you ASAP !!

And the winner of my Grace Tag is ....

Someone i have known for a while now , from firstly

purchasing from her Etsy shop ... All of which are beautiful

and packaged with care and attention to detail ...

Abbie ! Of Damsel Designs !!

I will be in touch with you soon , and Congratulations

to you too !!

Also to Lisa ... Thank you .....

For spending her time on this event , for the second year .

And here`s hoping , she will do it again for us all next year -

With many more people involved !!

Fancy Getting Your Own Book Published ??

While i was browsing the web , i came across this site . Whether you have come across it yourself , i thought i would share it with you all .

http://www.blurb.com/home/3

It`s a site where you can download a programme , to create your

own book even from your blog , and get it published yourself !

The pricing goes on what layout you choose , and how many pages

there are in . Doesn`t this sound a great thing that you can do ! ??

I know many of us dream of getting published in some sort

of a way , either in Somerset Studio magazine for eg . But this is

one option open to us all,where we choose what we want printed .

Even if you just geta copy for yourself ! Do take a look , if you

are at all curious , like i was .I`m seriously thinking of doing one myself !

Also a new item in my shop today . A spring theme fabric box of goody supplies !

Early Works ......

Sometimes , you wonder what you will post about . Today was my day for this .

Being busy doing banners and setting my shop up , i came to a "stand still " , and then thought " what next now " ?

Looking through my old photos from when i first started creating , i came across these , of which i have not shown to you - i think - without going way back myself through all my posts ! So i thought i would share them with you all .

My first altered art doll . The body is a vintage buckle ,

head with an old image in a glass watch face with a bottle

cap as a halo . Spelling angel with various embellishments .

An altered book , i did as a present . Just 3 pages altered , the rest

of the pages were stuck together . The first page had a

leather pocket ,sponged with gold acrylic paint .

The back , i cut a niche inside to store something

Copper brooch .

I bought this plain , and applied alcohol inks to it .

I love alcohol inks ! But not used them for a while . A vintage

button and a brad was stuck on the top .

All this has got me thinking , what should i do next ?? I have that many supplies , that i can pull from to create , it overwhelms me . My creative space i use , is in dyer need of a damn good tidy and sort out- i feel i don`t want to go in it ! I love doing so many different crafts , i cannot concentrate on one . Although trying new things out is good , to challenge you , and see if you do like it or not - or see if it`s " your thing " . I cannot decide on what to start next ! It can be so frustrating !! So i need to embrace the stillness and see which direction i need to go now. I just need some me time to sort myself out ! I will still be here - no worries about that -

Wishing you all a happy weekend !!

My Shop Is Finally Open !!

http://fromthenestofmagpie-pixie.blogspot.com/

After what seems an age , i`m proud to say ,

my blog shop is open !!

I have just added a few items for now , and i hope you will take

some of your precious time to take a peak ! Below is just a few things i have posted .

Handmade plain paper journal .....

Hand dyed string .....

One of my premade blog header banners .....

I know some of my close blogging friends knew about this adventure for me .

So i would like to say

Thank-you so much for your continued support !

One World One Heart Giveaway ...

Having read about this on many blogs out there , i thought

that i would take part in my first .......

- One World One Heart Giveaway -

As Lisa of , The Heart of the Nest , the host said ........

" It is a blog-wide giveaway event. The original idea behind this was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. "

Participants will announce what their giveaway is , and announce a comment

winner on February 14 th

I will ship international , and you do not have to have a blog ,

to take part in my giveaway .

I cannot think of a better way to meet people out there in blogland ,

when there are so many out there , you do not know about !!

I have created a mixed media collage , mounted on acid free card ,

vintage buttons , music / ledger paper . British vintage tea card ,

fabric scraps and an aged rose playing card ..

Entitled " Edith " .

As it reminded me of my grandma - when she was a younger woman .

Along with this tag ....

" Grace "

I hope you will enter my giveaway ,

but if you are just taking a peak here

thankyou for dropping by !!

A big thank-you to Lisa for hosting this wonderful event again !

Another Banner .....

Here`s another banner i have been working on over the weekend .

Again for Sherry .

http://thejournalsofthemeanderingmuse.blogspot.com/

It was a great pleasure to work with you again !!

Custom Banner .....

Custom made blog - header banner for

Sherry of

http://sageandthyme-sherry.blogspot.com/

Thank- you so much Sherry ! You were a delight to work with ,

and i hope you enjoy your " new look " !!