Father In Law

Passed away on 7/7/11 ..... around 7pm .

Above is a heart i made for one of my sister in law . .

From the hankies he used .. stuffed and filled with lavender

with a small pocket on the back incase she needed to put a

message in it for him ..

I`ve been putting off this post .. or even deciding whether to

hit publish at all .. But i think it`s for the best keeping some

of my followers up to speed .. so now ... for those who aren`t on

Facebook will know the sad news ...

And for those who wish to continue reading .. you can ..

I am being very honest and say it is my own

opinion only and experience .. so i do not wish to offend anyone ..
Death is something which we cannot avoid .. Whether it is sudden

or expected .. you are still shocked and saddened that it has

happened to a loved one . Even talking about it in this day and age ...

We can see it as something which we will deal with later ..

It`s one of those taboo subjects that people often get edgy about ,

and think .....i have plenty of time .. we never know how long we

have .. but to do some preparation for it .. does help your family

or those that are dealing with it for you .

As a family .. we are thankful that our father had prepared somethings

like life insurance to help pay for the astronomical funeral costs ..

When i say astronomical .. i am not kidding !! I was completely shocked and

to say the least fuming , at the charges we were given .. It seems that when you die ..

those left are charged such high prices at a very emotional time and

are not thinking properly themselves and do not question charges or shop around .

That said .. of course you do want to give lost ones the best or what they requested..

But it could cause more worry for those who do not have the money and they

may end up in debt with it . So .. that lesson gone through .. is to try and sort

something out for myself .. and maybe you too ..

Death is something i am afraid of ... i will openly admit it ..

I don`t like heights .. and a few other things ... But this ...

i can`t get my head around it ..

It`s probably at least 10 years .. since i have had to go to a

funeral .. so you do not think about .. you`re too busy trying to live

your life .. you see things in the media .. word of mouth etc .. and you will

just stop maybe for a moment and think maybe why .. how sad it is ..

express your sympathy and then carry on " as normal " ...

But i think because i am getting older myself .. when a death happens ,

and this seems to have affected me more than any other ..

It`s actually stopped me in my tracks and made me really think ...

My father in law died when we should have been away on holiday .

He was taken into a hospice for the final 5 days of his life ..

He was only given a bed there .. because a few days beforehand he was

very fidgety and couldn`t settle , not eating and very confused and we

could not cope between us to care for him ... Seeing him go in .. was heartbreaking

as he wanted to go home .. but it was the best place and care for him ..

Then being told that his confusion .. was the onset of the dying process ..

when i didn`t know there was one ... was the news we did not want hear ..

We were all at his bedside . most of the time .. still chatting with him

as normal and just waiting .. that`s all we could do .

I was with him when he died .. I had my head on a pillow noddding off in a chair

close by as i had done a night shift with him and had no sleep for 36 hours .

I was woken up , amidst the cries for help .. i saw him take his last breath

.... something that i will never forget .. and he was " gone " ...

Later .. with all of us around him ..... we had a drink

and toasted his life ...

I was honoured to know my father in law .. ...

To help take care of him during his last few weeks ,

never hearing once of him complaining or questioning why he had cancer

and i can still hear a thankyou Carolyn in my head i got on the

day before he went into the hospice .

He was a proud , old fashioned gentleman , who doted on

all his family ...

That`s what i want to remember ...

A couple of weekends ago .. i travelled to

London to finally meet a blogger and facebook

friend Tracey

Aside from going shopping ;o) We went to a park

which was in the middle of the area she lived in

called The Rookery , quite an unexpexted piece of gardens

in a built up area of a big city .

Just a few pictures are below ;o)

Tracey taking a photo of me while i was taking

a photo of her !!

Both of us ;o)

Taken by Tracey ..

Although i`m not keen on flying .. and the flight was

less than an hour , on my way back

it was a beautiful day , 19.000 miles up in the air .

To see a sight like this from my window seat , was

something i will never forget .. breathtaking

and magical !

It was a lovely trip away for a few days

and i hope to visit Tracey again in the near future ,

and it was lovely to finally meet you in the flesh !! ;o)

Here are a few select photo`s from our

couple of days away , which seem so long ago now !

View out to sea from the Northumberland coast

We visited a couple of places , this is Cragside .

The first house to have hydro electricity installed

and built in 1863 .

View of the house taken from the iron bridge

my arty shot of the bridge ;o)

You could take photo`s inside .. as long as no flash was used.

Just one of the many rooms ..








and the other part of the same room with a magnificent marble fireplace

and a places to sit inside .. one of the most beautiful things

i have ever seen !

Next day was Parceval Hall gardens .. the house was out of bounds

to the public .. but the gardens were so well maintained and beautiful ..

And with a view like this from the house .. who wouldn`t

want to live there !! ??





just one of the many plants in the gorgeous garden ..






And it seems everywhere we go .. we see a robin !!

And this is the leather sofa i fell in love with

at our hotel ;o)

Thanks for popping by .. to see my more random postings

on here lately ;o)

I am currently looking after my FIL more so now ..

He was sent home from the hospital earlier this week ..

His cancer has spread dramatically and well .. to tell

the truth , it`s basically to die at home .. that`s his wish .

We`re not sure how long he`s got .. so i know you`ll understand

my absence fron here ...

Hi everyone ;o)

Where has my followers link buttons gone on my side bar !! ??

Does anyone know how to get it back ! ??

Anyway .. i will try and sort it out later ...

For those who are not on Facebook following me ..

The past few weeks have been worrrying , tiresome - to say the least ..

due to my FIL being rushed into hospital with internal bleeding .

3 weeks on .. he is better and getting ready to come home ..

He is such a fighter and proud man , and having seen him at his

worst with oxygen and tubes everywhere .. i have to admire him more

So i am sad to say .. i have not had any creative time to speak of ..

We went away for a couple of days recently , once we knew

that dad was in the clear and i have photos but not downloaded

them yet .. So i hope to share some with you soon ;o)

Thanks for dropping by .. and i hope to get back to

normal as soon as !! ;o)

I hope everyone had a good easter break !

And my international friends got to watch the Royal Wedding ...

I finally feel like getting back to "normal " after 2 long weekends

of visiting friends , having great weather and 3 BBQ`s ;o)

This is a vintage tablecloth i found .. It had worn holes

in parts , otherwise i would have kept it whole ..

So i`ve been coming up with things to reuse it in ..

I cut out 2 circle pieces and made a quick

pomander filled with lavender ....

vintage seam binding hanger

reverse side ...



Now it`s time to think of something else to create ,

as my muse was on holiday too !

Thanks for popping by ...

What do you do when you have a nice summer

blouse that does not fit you anymore ! ??

Why you .. repurpose it of course !!

I hadn`t worn this as it was tight on my arms

so i thought of a way to reuse it ..

And came up with this lined cushion cover !!

I cut the main body as it had ruching stitching

and the buttons on the front act as the closure

at the front - so not messing about with a zip !!

So easy to do !! ;o) Just cut to size of the cushion pad you

have then sew all 4 sides up ...

Mine fits an Ikea " Irma " pad which is 14 " square ...

I also lined it with white cotton material from a

pillow case i didn`t use ;o)

I then made a fabric flower from circles . some

folded into quarters and sewed it on , then added

a couple of hand felted leaves...

Back view .. with some ruched detail already on the blouse

Inside view where i lined it .. it needed

a lining as the blouse material was thin ..

So ...now i`m offering this to purchase ;o)

OOAK neutral dotty flower lined cushion cover

14 " square and will fit an "irma " Ikea

cushion pad - an excuse to go visit the place maybe ! ? lol

All cotton apart from linen in the flower i made and i would

handwash it warm .

Price includes shipping £ 8.00

Hope everyone has a great weekend !!

Flowers ...

With the weather being so nice .. I have been

outside in our gardens trying to put more

colour into them and along with a general

tidy up too ..

New front planter that i stained and created

and a couple of the neighbours came for a " nosey "

and said the loved it ! ;o)

small coated metal container .. made for under a fiver

now how much would a garden center charge for it !! ??

So with flowers still on my mind..

I finished this altered postcard ..

Gesso paint then stamped while still wet ..

various papers , butterfly stamp and watercolours.

The grid texture below is left over roll from

when we have some plaster work done ..

sticky on one side , white and can be painted or

whatever you think of to do to use a roll of it up !!

Thanks for popping by ;o)

Spring Bunting Swap pieces.

I am taking part in a spring bunting swap that Amy

is hosting and i decided to take part in it .

It`s something i have never tried myself so it

was alittle challenge for myself to come up

with something ! I decided on fabric bunting , as we

could do any art media to create them ...

We send 5 pieces in , then Amy mixes them

and you get a complete bunting of other participants work .

sent back to you ..

I created 3 of these , varying the flower colour / button

and ribbon

Then 2 of the same of a pink version

Something completely different to what i

create .. and no birds , eggs or a nest in sight !! ;o)

Thankyou Amy and i cannot wait to get my

complete bunting back and see all the other

artists work !!

EDIT .. THIS HAS SOLD !! THANKYOU !!

Vintage Hankie Journal

Size 5.5 x 4.5 "

Made using half a vintage hankie sewn on thick

watercolour paper , vintage seam binding tie with

a bead / cord page marker

Back view of journal ...

Handsewn pages using 140gsm extra wet strength

watercolour paper . 14 pages : 28 sides not inclu cover .

Ideal for personal journalling or however you wish to use it !!

Listed below to purchase ....

Price includes postage £7.75 - approx $12

Thanks for looking and i hope everyone`s

weekend is going great !!

Vintage Retro Holdall ..

size 8 x 5.5 "

Made from a thick wool cloth , the pic shows it more

blue when it`s a more teal colour !! Nevermind huh ?

Then i cut out a circle from the wool cloth and sewed a flower piece

from an old vintage tablecloth that was too worn in places

to reuse myself .. sort of like reverse applique ;o)

And added 2 of my own felted leaves hand stitched ..

And lined with a cotton stripe material ..

Hopefully i will have more time tomorrow

to list this for purchase along with a few other items !

Thanks for popping by ;o)

" Pilgrim`s Nest "

Wear then store your art ...

A new idea i had to store part of a piece of

artwork , which i don`t think i`ve seen before ..

I could be wrong ;o)

For the " house " part .. I used a cardboard inner

left over from parcel tape !! I couldn`t throw it as it was

a thick piece of card and i thought it would

come in handy .. one day ..

I lined the inner with vintage wallpaper then cut a circle

of card for the back and stuck vintage ledger paper on .

The size is 3 " diameter and 2" deep .

Glued thick paper on the outside and painted the rim of

the short parcel tape tube a white .

I hand crocheted a nest in chunky wool, then made a wire one to fit inside

with 3 vintage beads as eggs .Then sewed a brooch pin on on the back ,

so it can be worn then housed when it`s not being worn ;o)

Nest brooch size is 1.75 " diameter

I put some seam binding on the top , to hang it ,

but it didn`t sit right on a wall ..

So i came up with it`s own stand !!

A small jewellery box bottom lid , then sewed 2 small twigs

so the decorated roll tape wouldn`t roll off !

Pretty good idea , if i say so myself !! ;o)

Stand size is 3 x 2.5 "

Inside close up ..

Vintage text , bleached twig piece , faux moss , vintage flowers

Many thanks for the well wishes for my FIL

at the moment things are going good ;o)

And any interest in the above piece to purchase it ,

please get in touch , but i will try soon to list it ..

I`m just short of time right now

Thanks for popping by ;o)

" 3 Poppies "

canvas size 5 x 10 "

I`ve had this done for a few weeks

but with our FIL having health problems

and another stroke a few days ago , time is

spent more on him , as he now refuses to go

into hospital now ! So it is a very trying time

for us all ..

Anyway , i thought i`d better show my face ,

so to speak on here ;o)

The textured background is DIY filler ! ;o)

Much cheaper than textured paste and easy to use too

painted with acrylics , 3 dried poppies that i grew in my

garden last year , a small bark piece from a day out

that i aquired ;o) which is stuck with the filler onto the canvas.

Inside the bark piece is florists foam to place the dried poppies in

but covered with dried white moss type stuff ;o) Not sure what it`s called !!

Green Faux moss , skeletal leaf and 2 partial dried acorns

I`m still not 100% sure on the colours of it

though ;o)

Thanks for popping by ;o)

" Mabel in her garden .. "

Pen / watercolour drawing in an A5 sketchbook.

closer view of Mabel ;o)

Apology`s for the watermark on there .. fellow

artists will know why i did it ;o)

I`ve not done much else ... our father in law

had a stroke this past sunday

besides his terminal cancer diagnosis.

So we`re making constant trips to the hospital

he was made stable , having tests as to why it happened .

So i know you`ll understand why i may not be

on here or visit you ;o) I will try to though ;o)

Thanks for popping by !