Happy New Year To You All !

I am busy getting ready for a

family gathering tomorrow -

So i want to take this time now

to wish you all a very Happy new year !

May 2009 bring you all have happiness , health ,

prosperity and creativity into your lives .

Wander from the normal path - and make your own ,

seek out new exciting adventures - just go do it -

even if your head says no - and your heart says yes .

There is no failure from it - just a learning process .

Be all you can be - and more .

See you in 2009 !!

xxx

Not another Christmas message !!

For those that viewed my last christmas

message - i remember Sherry saying

that it was better than the Queens speech !!

Which was quite a compliment for me !

I came up with another personal message

- just for you all ;o)

Wishing you all a very

Merry Christmas !!

Thankyou to all who comment

and the visits . From making new friends

and having support of all of those - i am

blessed to have you in my life .

If you don`t see your name - i

have not forgotten you - i would be

on forever with it - and being filmed

is "out of my box " - but just click on

play and ENJOY !!!

I will be back just before the new year -

Happy holidays everyone !!

xxxx

" Violet "

Another pen and watercolour drawing .

I am winding down for a short break for

christmas - but i will be here now and then

between now and the new year .

Hopefully with another christmas message

for you all !

My cracker swap goodies have arrived !

I just got my cracker swap parcel from

Karen this morning - so i can show you

the cracker i created for her - and the gifts

i received from Karen !

What i remember - the cracker is about 15" long

with the material . Which can be reused again .

3 different kinds of material with

vintage music paper body , small

crochet doily and pink rose .

My gifts from Karen ... yummy

flocked wallpaper pieces and border

wallpapers ..

The massive cracker - which is made from a tin can !

Covered in vintage wallpaper ..

Inside was a chocolate ornament , white

chocolate hot drink - and some wonderfully

smelling spice sachet ..

Christmas napkin ...

Rolled vintage wallpaper pieces !

I in love with these !

A beautiful handmade brooch ...

Buttons , appliques , lace , ballerina girl

Handmade matchbox ornament - where she

is selling some in her Etsy shop now ..

And a cute vintage elf ornament .

And more buttons , bling millinery flower

and seam binding !

Thank-you so much Karen !

You were very generous in your gifts

for me - and i totally do love them all !

And i am sure i will be creating with

some of these pretty soon .

Thankyou for taking part - and you were

a great partner to have - and to create for .

An added bonus is - i made a new friend ;o)

" Maisey "

Pen and watercolours

on tinted Bocking ford paper .

You can click on to see the details .

Matryoshka Babies !

Although i do not buy many magazines -

the odd craft one for inspiration -

I do like to buy the odd one around

christmas time - to see what i could

buy - if i had the money , as most is out

of my price range !

It seems that matryoshka dolls " are in "

this season - or we know them better as

Russian dolls. I have a nesting Russian doll

myself - bought for me when i was one year old ,

and have memories of playing with it .

So i thought i would make my own version

yesterday afternoon .

A set of Christmas baby matryshka`s -

made from felt and vintage ribbon

on a velvet hanger .

Then i decided to do a smaller one -

as a keyring - but with hair this time !!

My other half said the baby ones should have

hair - but i didn`t want to put any on !! ;o)

I`m in the process of adding these

last two items to my SHOP

and reducing some christmas items .

So if you fancy something different to

hang on your tree - please pop by !

More items will be added in the new year .

Cracker Peak ...

Thankyou to all who took part

in my christmas cracker swap .

The last posting date is today -

unless you have discussed it previous

with your partner . I do hope you

enjoyed yourselves - while making new

friends along the way ;o)

I have just posted out my creation

to Karen - along with many other

items - i`m hoping that she will love it all !

So as to not give away too much - here is a

couple of sneak peak photo`s

And a close up of her cracker ...

Hopefully now i can get back to

creating something - as i have neglected

this for a while !

Enjoy your weekend !

Walking In A Winter Wonderland ...

It`s beginning to look alot like

Christmas ! And i always have the

tune Winter Wonderland pop in my head

when we get snow ! An amount fell

during the early hours of this morning -

so i was out taking a few snaps - as it is

rare we have a good snowfall ! And the walk

was embracing - the good kind - where your cheeks

go red and tingle a little ...

Abandoned barbecue in a garden

View from the next street near my home.

Driveway up to a local farm house .

It`s slowly starting to melt now - but i do hope

that we get another snowfall ..

I`m in for the day now .. sipping a cup of

warming coffee .. and finishing my handmade

cracker - sneak photos to follow !

Happy December !!

The first of the final month - for 2008 .

And hasn`t it flown by too quickly ?

There`s a decidedly nip in the air and Jack Frost

is visiting - i`m just waiting for the snow !! ;o)

Here are two images - for you

to use as you wish ..

A Christmas one ...

And a Christmas free zone one !

Enjoy !!

Break Time ...

Personal circumstances are

drawing me away from blogging

and creating - so all i can say for now is ...

Be back soon !

Swap Partners Are Here !

Many thanks to those who commented

saying they wish to participate in my swap !

So here are your chosen partners as follows ladies ...

Rhonda and Trish

Sue and Noelle

Pea and Kathy

And lastly myself and Karen

Remember to visit your partners blog - to get an idea

of what they like and which style they create in .

Last year other players included other items

they could not fit inside the cracker - like little notions

buttons , lace . I even got a set of 3 tealight candles of birds

and mini clear stamps - just to give you an idea .

Of course you could email between yourselves and

sort out how many items you wish to include - so it makes

it fair for both parties .And at least one item has to be

christmas related - whether it is bought or handmade .

You have until Dec 5th to post off - or beforehand

if you have that arranged between yourselves -

as we know people have busy lives !

So happy creating - and let me know when they arrive

so we can see and i can share it with you all !

Enjoy your weekend !!

Just Doodling About ....

I decided to doodle the other night -

let my mind and hand do whatever

was drawn to creating - and i came up with this ...

It was a 15 minutes doodle - i didn`t want to

spend too much time on this - as i wanted to see

what i could achieve and do something different -

or what you might call " mindless creativity " .

I then coloured it in with watercolour pencils .

Having done this - i was curious to know

if it had any or no meaning - so i read up on this subject .

Doodling might occur accidentally, or may indicate

familiarity with the realm of knowledge they belong to. Note

also that 'doodle' reallyrefers to absent-minded scribblings,

not conscious works of art that happen .

It must also be considered whether the inspiration

for a doodle isinternal or external. Is the artist

expressing concern with a current situation or experience

(a person causing difficulties, something on TV, or a movie they

have seen) or is it a reflection of an internal state(their

personality, an emotional state or conflict)?

And here is somethings i found out about mine..

Triangles are a geometrically stable shape but also

suggest direction and sense of purpose.

Arrows represent direction and ambition. Drawn

aggressively,they represent a desire for action. Drawn

in careful outline, they indicate a desire for progression

or advancement, especially if pointing upwards .

Purple may represent sexual frustration or a need

to appear unorthodox, and is a favorite color of artists .

Red often represents power. It can indicate anger

('seeing red') or a need to impose authority .

That`s just some of my " meanings "

Even though i was not really thinking of

what i was drawing - it seems my unconscious mind

was telling me something else .

I do have plans for another direction - i wish to go

and feel more fulfilled creatively .

Although it seemed a childish way to draw -

i have discovered something else about myself .

What will your doodles say about you ??

** text from Doodle analysis on Ask.com **

Curtains ! ...

Hopefully now i am back !

We had a serious problem with our

computer over the weekend -

but hopefully now this is sorted .

Using something like your computer -

then not having it - makes you realise

how dependant you can get on them -

and having to find something else to replace this

It`s like telling a chocoholic - you cannot have any
and all you can think about is chocolate - and want more.

Anyway ... Onto my " makes " ..

A Christmas curtain ring ornamnet .

Made from a wooden curtain ring -

Christmas robin topper image -

stitched with embroidery floss and beads

and fibres added .

How i made this is HERE

And more Christmas items

Moo Cards - for Fun friday challenge .

These are 7cm x 2.8 cm .

Quite a small space to create on -

but fun and quick to create !

It`s That Time Again !

Yes - it is here once more ...

After doing this for the first time -

last year - i am doing my second

Christmas Cracker Swap !!

So here are the details - if you did

not take part last year ...

Please comment and say you wish to join in .

You have until Friday 21st November

to join in the fun !

I will then pair up swap partners - and post

on Saturday 22 nd Nov .

What you have to do is ....

Create a cracker - from a cardboard tube -

either made or from a kitchen / toilet roll inner.

However big you wish -

Then decorate the outside - how you wish !

Paper - fabric - thin card etc .

THEN - you have to place goodies inside the

cracker - for your chosen partner to open .

It does not have to "snap " like a real cracker -

but if you want to do this - go ahead !

At least one item has to be Christmas related - the

rest is up to you - and how much you wish to

spend- so discuss with your chosen partner .

It has to be mailed by

Friday 5th December .

So you have 2 weeks to create this !

Decide a date between yourselves -

i know some may need all the time

to create - due to other commitments .

Below is a button - to place on your blog

and to spread the word - if you wish ...

So .. what are you waiting for ???

Oh - and please say - if you do not

mind swapping with little old me ;o)

Rememberance Day ...

For all those who fought and fell ..

God bless - and thank you .

photo taken in Northumberland Nov 2008

At Fountains Hall .

It reads - or click to view ....

When you go home

Tell them of us

And say

For your tomorrow

We gave our today .

From this their home

They went forth to war .

Novembers challenge ...

Another new month - and another

challenge on Gails Mind wide open blog .

This was our image to use - with the word prompt

was beloved - to use if you wished .

I just made this one in time - with being away

for most of this week and doing our 80`s party as well .

So i decided on a digital collage ..

Voting starts on the 8th november -

so if you would like to vote for a favourite or just

see all the talented artists work

visit them all HERE

The celebrating is winding down ..

Click on the tape to play - one more time ...

I hope this one works for you Rhonda !!

Oh - damn it - have i forgotten something !! ???

Rhonda and Carolyn`s party !!! That`s it !!! ;o)

The Killers - have finally made it for you !!

And they`re singing Planet earth -

with Duran Duran !!

" Hey - it wasn`t me " shouts Brandon ...

Rhonda just pulled me off the stage and

we had a birthday smooch encounter ! !!

Dream on girl !! LOL !!

This is one of my gifts - i actually

gave Rhonda ...

A collaged canvas - with our love for Robins ...

And just one last thing

from Brandon ....

Thankyou to all who helped

Rhonda celebrate her 40th birthday !!

I hope you enjoyed our blasts

from the past and brought back

fond memories ..

For all those that took part or

commented - we have a gift for you .

I created this digital collage sheet -

to use as you wish !

We will sort out who will email who -

And thank-you for joining us both !!

See what Rhonda has posted

for today HERE

Enjoy the rest of your weekend !!

And thankyou Rhonda - for

having the idea to do this and combine with

your birthday ..

I hope it`s one you`ll never forget !!