Crafting Ainjewelz

When snowflakes turn out to be....

2011-12-28T13:49:00.008Z

.... stars!!!! How can that be? While doing my grocery shopping online befor Christmas I noticed Asda had some snowflake decortions at a very reasonable price so I added them to my order. My order was delivered but the snowflakes had sold out so they substituted them with star decorations. When I saw them they were the most hideous dark glittery stars I have ever seen, so a quick soak in water and the glitter was removed revealing a grey plastic star, so out came the old torn book pages and the glue and I covered the stars. I then rubbed a red ink pad along the edges and the raised centers, now I had stars that were more to my liking.

This got me thinking about what else I could make as Christmas decorations as Christmas was looming ever nearer, but I didn't want to spend much so off I went out into the old sheds to see what I could find.........
I put these finds together with a poinsetta, one of my stars, a couple of candy canes and a wee spray of fake snow and voila.....a festive display to sit in the corner of my hall. With the freshly cut pine logs there is a lovely smell as you enter the croft asthey start to dry out ready for the fire.

This just left the fireplace to be decorated, I usually make a very traditional holly and ivy garland, but this year I wanted something just a little different. I still made a quite traditional display of some spruce and pine foliage and cones which I gathered while out walking the dogs after a storm. I wrapped a cyclimen in a pot in tissue paper to match the tea light lanterns I made a couple of days ago. I then used a deers antler to hang a couple of stars and sparkly decorations from. To tie in with the old book page stars I used a 1" punch to cut lots of circles which I just stitched together on my sewing machine to make a paper chain to drape over the mirror.

To finish the fireplace off I filled a jar with more pine foliage, glued some cones to wire and arranged in the foliage. I then placed this in a basket and added a few logs and cones to hide the jarand another wee spray of fake snow. The only trouble is Shug, one of our dogs, has taken a liking to chewing the cones, so I am forever having to replace cones in the basket :-)

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and you are all looking forward to the New Year.

A quick n easy Christmas make...

2011-12-15T16:22:00.007Z

.... that is recycling too :-)

I was wanting something different from just candles on my fireplace this year so I made myself some lanterns. I used 3 small jars (one was a small seafood sauce jar to give you an idea of the size) and some tissue paper that I had saved from the parcel my new dress arrived in. I cut squares, sat the jar in the middle, pulled up the edges and tied with raffia. I trimmed the edges and opened them up slightly so they didn't catch fire from the tea lights in the bottom of the jars. They look ok in the day........

.....but look so much better in the evening when they are lit

I will have to decorate the rest of the fireplace now........ I wonder what I will do?

I made some....

2011-12-14T13:49:00.015Z

....Christmas decorations today as I thought I better start making this house look a little festive. I started by printing off my Christmas designs onto card, plain colour on one side and a christmas tree pattern on the other side, these are available at Ainjewelz shop on Etsy.

I then cut circles using various size punches, sewed them in a strip on my sewing machine. I left enough thread to make a loop at the top and enough thread at the bottom to thread on a couple of beads and tie in a knot. I've hung these at the end of my curtain rails where they spin in the rising heat or is it the draughts in the house :)

I also made some bunting from the same designs to hang along the front of my dresser. I punched small holes in the card triangles and threaded them onto string. As I had a few circle leftover from my other decorations I stuck these on to a couple of the triangle flags.

I'm quite pleased with how these have turned out and I have a few more ideas that I'm going to try out later, but I really must get the rest of my Christmas cards made and sent out.

I'm back to my normal....

2011-12-12T17:17:00.007Z

......blog whenever I can fit it in. Three days blogging in a row last week was definetly a one off, I can't see that happening again :-)

I had ordered a couple of my mixed media creations to be printed on canvas a couple of weeks ago. They are now hanging on my walls in my art/craft/computer/dining room (multifunctional room). I used a different canvas print company than the one I've used previously. I liked their very reasonable prices, the chunky 3.8cm deep frame, good colour match, fast service and help with sending a large file. The only thing that I think that could of been better is the stretching of the canvas which I feel could of been a little tighter on the larger canvas (58cm x 58cm). I liked the option of having the sides of the canvas printed a colour, instead of the image being wrapped around the frame, I chose black which was perfect for this image.

The Morning Sun mixed media canvas print (58cm x 58cm)

The other canvas I had printed at A3 size (29.7cm x 42cms), this too looks good with the chunky 3.8cm deep frame, I opted to have the image on the sides of the frame mirrored and this works really well with this design.

The Red Butterfly mixed media canvas print (29.7cm x 42cms)
This definetly needs a better title :-)

I will definetly use Viva Print & Design Ltd again .

After creating a page in my Art Journal last week featuring my grandsons and their sisters, I found time at the end of the week to create another page featuring my grandaughter Ellie Louise, just a bit of fun which is now my festive desktop background on my computer.

I was getting worried about Bertie the buzzard, as I hadn't seen him for 5 days and he is getting to be a familiar sight on his post outside the croft, but he is back and looking well. The dogs running around the garden don't bother him, he know he's safe up there. I love watching him, he is so graceful when he flies, I threw him a sausage the other day but he just looked at me as if I was mad. Just wait till the snow arrives Bertie, I bet you'll be thankful for a sausage then :)

OMG! I've managed to blog 3 days in a row....

2011-12-01T14:50:00.005Z

..... and this is so unlike me.
Yesterday I felt a little creative but just couldn't concentrate on anything, so I made a background in my art journal and because I was thinking about my grandkids I printed off their faces, stuck apples on their heads and just lost myself in doodles. This is just 5 of my grandkids, they are all brothers n sisters. I have another Grandaughter Ellie, who is going to get her own page in my art journal and I know just the face photo I'm going to use for her. I will post he doodle when it is completed.

The fungi on the log is still there, which I am very surprised about when there are 3 dogs running around outside and last night we had torrential rain and wild wild wind. They are slightly larger (I think!). I wonder how many more days they will survive? This is turning into fungi watch lol

Bertie the buzzard made his usual morning visit and then I spied him in the field across the lane, looks like he was eyeing up one of the local pheasants (not a great photo, I would love a better lens for my camera).

As it was quite a nice day I decided I would walk to the village shop with the dogs, taking the shortcut through the woods. This turned out to be not such a good idea, as I got to the end of the woods I met the local gamekeeper, there was going to be a pheasant shoot in the woods (poor pheasants) so I would have to walk the long way home. Oh well! I do need the exercise and it was a nice day for a walk and the dogs seemed to enjoy it. I also know now where there are some beautiful highland cows for me to photograph and I love highland cows. If I ever won the lottery
highland cows would be at the top of my to buy list :)

The last fungi from yesterday has.....

2011-11-30T11:21:00.006Z

..... grown and changed its shape. This is how the fungi in yesterdays last photo now looks, it has started to open up and has gone lighter in colour.

It's been a while since I last took a photo of Charlie the chick, well he/she is nearly as big as his mum now and getting adult feathers. Charlie still follows mum around and sleeps beside her in a nestbox, we always know where Charlie is as he/she still goes about cheeping all the time.

While I was taking photos of Charlie one of the wellsummers hens was wanting her photo taken

Then the sun shone down on her and made the colours of her feathers shine like gold.

and look who was out front of the croft this morning, Bertie Buzzard. He is becoming a regular visitor now and we see him just about every day.

He seems to have chosen part of the lane and the fields either side as his territory. Quite often when I go out in the car he swoops down off the telegraph pole and flies in front of the car and then up onto another pole. I'd love to be able to get a photo of him flying, with his wings open he is so big.

Well not much crafting has been going on so far today but I'm feeling creative so hopefully I will create something today which I will show you the next time I blog :-)

Winter is most.....

2011-11-29T13:24:00.007Z

..... definitely here! It's been cold frosty damp wet and windy, so far the snow has decided not to make an appearance just yet, but I'm sure it's on it's way. Something that is on it's way is Christmas, I can't believe how quick the days are passing and how disorganised I am this year. I haven't bought any presents yet or even wrote out my Christmas card list. I think I better get a move on and make a start.
I had been hoping to have the whole house decorated by Christmas, but I can't see that happening now. We have been putting off decorating as there was a chance we would be moving, but it looks like we are staying here for now so I need to get the paint and brushes out and get this place brightened and freshened up. Thanks to Gumtree, 2 men and a van I now have a very nice storage solution for a lot of my art and craft supplies, which won't look out of place when I need to use this room as a dining room.

I haven't been feeling very creative over the last few days, but yesterday I made a small felt Christmas tree decoration. I think I will pop this in with the next wee letter I write to my grandsons.Hopefully this coming week will be more of a creative one, I have so many ideas that I want to get making. I did make a start on another Christmas decoration yesterday, which I am going to put up a small tutorial about. This has had to be put on hold for now as I was using my laminator and it's broke so got to get a new one. So tutorial will be up as soon as new laminator is settled into my craft room :)

I was out feeding the chickens this morning and noticed these fungi growing on the log pile that's waiting to be sawn up for the winter fires. They are just calling for a fairy to appear, so I might have to have a wee play in Photoshop later :)

Today is the Official Opening of...

2011-11-17T14:04:00.004Z

...my Etsy shop. The virtual ribbon has been cut and Ainjewelz is now open for business. There is going to be a little bit of everything creative that I do in the shop and to start with there are some Christmas printable downloads and a few photographic greeting cards. As the weeks go by a variety of creations will be added to my shop. The printable downloads are linked to a Quick How To video, which is not my best bit of filming, the light was quite bad (enviromentally friendly light bulb). After quite a bit of editing a 45 minute film is now only 7 minutes, but I think the important bits are still there and I've speeded it up a wee bit :-)

In celebration of Ainjewelz opening I am giving away a FREE download for you to print off. Click on the image below to enlarge and then 'save image as' to save to your computer and print off on card add some glitter and ribbon and you have 3 festive gift tags :-)

Chance of a spur of the moment....

2011-11-08T15:45:00.012Z

..... visit to Fife happened on Thursday evening. Did I want to go visit my family on Friday or not? A free lift there on Friday morning if I was in Aberdeen for 8am and a lift back on Monday. I haven't seen my kids and grandkids for a couple of months so I really didn't have to give this much thought. So on Friday morning I was off to Dunfermline to start my visit. I had a great weekend seeing family and friends, even found time to pop into Carnegie College for a quick visit with a couple of my ex-tutors. I loved catching up with all my grandkids, they all seem to be growing up so fast. On Saturday evening we went along to Dunfermline Glen to watch the firework display, which for once was on a dry mild evening and was quite spectacular. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was great to see everyone and quite tiring so I was glad to get home again on Monday evening.

All work on getting my Etsy shop up and running was put on hold while I've been away so now I have to get myself motivated and get back to work. I have so many ideas but so few hours in the day. Today has just seemed to fly by, went for a drive and posted some Ebay stuff, but mainly to try and get used to the car. Caught up with emails, read a few interesting blogs by local creative ladies that had been at the Vintage and Craft Fair in Aberdeen at the weekend, put my fireworks video on Youtube and turned my craft room upside down looking for my vanishing cutting mat, which has still not been found.......might need to go and buy a new one tomorrow :)

Yesterday was .....

2011-10-26T13:50:00.004+01:00

.... the day I managed to tick another thing off my mental list of things I'd like to achieve (before I leave this world lol). Yes! at long last I got around to learning to drive and yesterday I passed my test. I never thought I would be driving around Aberdeen but there you go, I have achieved it and I'm so pleased with myself..... *going around doing silly little happy dances with a big cheesey grin on my face* .... Just to get insurance arranged on the car and me and the dogs will be out and about..... no stopping us now :-)
Not much art or craft been going on here but all my plans are slowly coming together now and my Etsy Shop will be opened soon.
Still trying to clear out some of my craft stash as there is so much I have not used in the last year and don't think I will use so these thing are getting listed on Ebay. If your looking for a crafty bargain pop over to http://bit.ly/qGV6Vj . I should really stay off Ebay as I keep seeing things I want to buy, I'm watching some fabric at the moment that would make lovely cushion covers :) not that theres anything wrong with the cushion covers I have, but this fabric is nice. Then theres the fabric that would make lovely curtains.....no more looking on Ebay for me just now, even though I need to make a start on a complete make over of this house as I would like some of it done before Christmas
My head is just bursting with ideas at the moment, but I just seem to have enough time to do everything, I really must try and get more organised. Right I'm away to write a list of everything I must do, this one will be on paper not just a mental one :)

Busy busy.....

2011-10-20T15:39:00.006+01:00

....so very busy! I feel like I haven't stopped over the last couple of weeks, I am really trying to get everything tidy and organised. Don't think I'm trying hard enough though as I'm still working in organised clutter. Since moving here there have been quite afew of my craft supplies that I have not used and don't think I'm going to so I have been listing a lot of these on Ebay and there are still plenty more to be listed. If your interested in bagging a bargain pop over to http://bit.ly/qGV6Vj .

I've also decided to open a shop on Etsy and try to sell some of my creations. I tried to think up a new name for my shop but everything I came up with that I liked, there was already a design company called that, so for now I will still be going under the name of Ainjewelz. I have been busy designing some digital download printables, which I have had so much fun with and once I have sorted out my T&C's these will be uploaded to my Etsy shop along with some other creations of mine. My head is full of so many ideas at the moment so hopefully I will manage my time better so I can get creating.

I am trying to always have my sketchbook with me and I'm forever jotting down notes, quick sketches and doodling. It seems to be paying off as my faces are getting a little better and I'm trying to be looser with my pencil strokes. Anyway the sketch below was done yesterday morning when I woke up while still in my bed, just a quick couple of minutes sketch and I am quite pleased with it. So different from my usual faces :-)

Well that is all for now, better get a bit of housework done and dinner cooked 'cause I've just rememered I've registered for a webinar this evening on drawing.

I have been.....

2011-10-12T16:49:00.008+01:00

.... making a few changes in my blog layout and now realise I could do with a new banner heading. So this will be added to the long list of things I need to do. I have so many ideas going around in my head and so many creative projects that I've started, I need to try and concentrate on one thing at a time and get it finished. there just never seems to be enough hours in the day for me to get round to doing everything though.

I have managed to finish off a mixed media canvas called 'She thought about Archie'.

I hope to be blogging again very soon but I'm off now to create a new title bannerfor my blog :-)

Creativity has certainly....

2011-08-11T09:42:00.003+01:00

...been flowing over the last couple of days. I managed to complete a few Art Journal pages, below we have Choices, Don't let your Fears..., Oodles of Doodles and Summer Drinks with the Girls.I'm feeling creative today so once all the boring housework etc is done I'm hoping to get down to some painting.

So many ideas in my head and just not enough time to get round to doing them all.......

This summer....

2011-08-10T10:21:00.006+01:00

...... weather is about the worst I can remember! I know I live in Scotland but does it have to rain quite so much, just a couple of weeks with some sun would be great and cheer everyone up. This morning when I looked out my front door the Hill of Fare was peeking above the clouds that were trapped in the valley. So out came the camera and while eating my breakfast I had a wee play in Photoshop. The first image is the original photo but cropped to remove a electricity pylon and then the electicity cables that went across it were removed using the clone tool......Electric pylons and cables are the only things that spoil my view from my front door! Oh and the rain!!! I can't see any of the other hills that are in the distance today.
I then played about with colour in Photoshop

and then I gave the image a vintage look using an action which was a free download from here

The rain is just not letting up today and my view is slowly dissapearing in the mist, I can no longer see the Hill of Fare, just the field on the other side of the fence. I also now have the wood burning stove lit as the house feels cold and damp.........is this really summer?
Craft room is warming up now so its time to get creative, what will I get up to today?

Rain rain go away...

2011-08-02T15:05:00.014+01:00

.... come again another day!

Today is another one of those rainy Scottish summer days that we are getting so many of, it would be nice to maybe have a couple of days of sun and we live in hope these will appear soon. Between showers I went for a wander around the garden with the dogs and my camera and captured a few of the rain drops.

I came across this.....

2011-07-31T14:59:00.009+01:00

collage making program while I was looking for something else this morning. You can download the free version from Shape Collage and it does stuff like this :-)
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so we went for a wee trip up to Portsoy, another place I have not been for years. We popped in to see an old friend of Frankies in his amazing antique shop full of chandeliers, grandfather clocks and large pieces of old furniture, all far too big for our higgildy piggildy hobit house. I could of stayed in there for hours rummaging about the place. We sat at the habour watching a mother duck and her 7 chicks swimmimg about, which I thought was a strange thing to see in a harbour, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Below is a collage of a few snaps I took while at Portsoy

At last.....

2011-07-29T12:18:00.008+01:00

....I've got round to updating my blog again. Its been a few months since I was last here and quite a lot has been happening, far too much for me remember but a few thing are;

We went to see Rush in Glasgow and they were absolutely amazing, just as good if not even better than they were when I last saw them in 1979. Geddy Lee still jumps about the stage like he did 30 years ago and his voice still has that magic that mesmerized me as a teenager. Neil Peart's drum solo was out of this world and the guitar playing was loaud and awesome. We had a brilliant weekend and an evening with Rush and Rush fans that we will never forget.

On the way home from Glasgow we took a different road than usual and went over the Cairn O' Mount where I found the old ruined cottage that I had been talking about a few weeks earlier and saying how I had happy memories of it and my kids but had no idea where it was. We went round a bend in the lane and there it was with the wee river running in front of it, so we had to stop and take some photos in the rain. We have been back to see it again on a beautiful sunny day, I feel drawn towards this place, I wish I knew its story. I have done a wee bit of research and now know it is called Spittalburn Cottage and through the census I know who lived in it for a while. When I have more time I will research further. I have also been getting creative again and a few journal pages are below

The next page was a promt from Milliande Art Commuinty for Women to create a page inspired by Teesha Moore, I just love her style and really enjoyed creating this page.

The next page didn't turn out as good as I imagined it, a free bookmark that came with my Pedlars catalogue got me started on this.

I was practising faces again but all my faces seem to look the same, just have to keep practising. When I finished this I thought it looked quite sad, but then I was feeling sad as I created it as I was missing my family in Fife.

I have been to Fife to visit my family for a weekend, but a weekend is just not long enough. It was quite an adventure as I travelled by train, something I have not done for years. I'm hoping to get to visit them all again very soon and I'm looking forward to the train journey. To finish of I will leave you with my favourite photo of my grandaughter, who is growing up so fast. I can't wait till my next visit to see all my grandchildren.

One day I might surprise myself and be a better and more frequent blogger, right I'm off now to walk the dogs........

I have 5.....

2011-04-07T13:53:00.007+01:00

....Art Journal pages on the go at the moment. They are all at different stages but none are complete yet, I have completed one though and this is called True Strength. The quote says "True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart." My favourite colour, purple, seems to have made another appearance on this page, I really try not to use purple so much but it just seems to appear whenever I am getting creative. I've had my brother and his wife staying for a couple of days so creativity has been neglected as I had to clear my table so we had somewhere to sit and eat dinner. Visitors have gone now and my table looks uncreatively empty at the moment, but it won't take me long to get paper, glue, paints and inks out again and have it so cluttered the top won't be visible again :-)

I can't believe my Tutorial~How to make a neverending card, has had over 4500 views on Youtube. This was the first tutorial I ever filmed and I'm thinking about making a few more films

My Art Journal is...

2011-03-28T15:41:00.009+01:00

.... starting to get full of creativity. I still don't seem to find time to do a page every day, I wish I could, but the time I spend creating pages is a great way to experiment with different media and techniques. The first 2 pages were created using prompts from Milliande Art Community for Women ........... Singing in the Rain and Spring

The Liberty page evolved from an image torn from a magazine advertisement and just anything that was laying on my work table.

I have also started a painting a canvas, not going quite to plan but with a bit more work when I'm in the right frame of mind and it should work out ok. I might then post an image here.

Today my horoscope says ....

"Weird ideas are exploding in your brain and it's challenging to figure out what to do today. You want to take each idea and run with it, but you cannot possibly finish what you initiate. Be careful, for you could start enough projects to keep you busy for a very long time. However, don't stress if you still have lots of loose ends by the end of the day. It will be easy enough to clean up everything over the next few weeks during Mercury's retrograde."

....this is so true! My brain is actually ready to burst, I just don't know where to start! I have got so many ideas and plans, but there is so much everyday life stuff thats needs to get done before creativity can begin. So I'm off to get the boring stuff out the way before I can play........

I'm really feeling....

2011-03-18T13:21:00.003Z

..... homesick today. Well thats a daft saying 'cause where I am now is my home, what I should say is I'm really missing my kids and grandkids. I miss them every day since moving away from them, but I think because I had a lovely visit yesterday from my ex-hubbys mum and my niece and her son, it has stirred up a lot of emotions. I will need to go and visit them all soon, but then when I come home I will miss them all again. It's a never ending circle which I hope will get easier over time.
My creating has dwindled over the weeks, as I am always busy doing something or other. We had a few really nice days so they were spent taking the dogs for long walks and I really needed the exercise lol. It will be strange this year not having a litter of pups, but Fearne is now retired and I also needed a break from the dog breeding. I need to try and decide what exactly I am going to do now I've moved in with Frankie and live in the beautiful countryside. I have a few ideas going around in my head, but nothing yet that has grabbed my full attention. I do have one project that I have started work on, that does involve being creative with a range of mixed media and including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, but that is all I want to reveal at the moment. I will see how it goes and if I'm happy with it then all will be revealed in due course.

I have managed to throw together a quick page for my art journal, the prompt was 'Stories of Women'.

I used collage for this, something that I don't do very often, as I was doing this it reminded me of Justine who was in my class at college. I used to love her collages, she was so fast, just tearing and cutting images out of old magazines and sticking them down. She was so messy and clumsy yet her finished work always looked great. We used to have such laughs everyday, but our work was always done and handed in on time.....model students lol

well thats all for now till I find time to blog again and hopefully have managed to be a little more creative :-)

I'm still playing....

2011-03-02T15:59:00.007Z

..... catch up with the January Art Journal prompts. I just never seem to have enough time, the days just go by so quickly. I wish I could just get up in the morning and draw, paint, stick, create all day every day, but life just gets in the way :-)
So here we have days 23 and 24, 'Round and Round' and 'Paper Poems' .........

here is a slide show of the Art Journal Pages I have done so far

I have also been playing around in Photoshop and made a new desktop image with my grandaughter Ellie in her elf costume sitting on a toadstool in the forest. She is just the cutest wee scrummyest wee munchkin and I miss her lots n lots.......hoping to get away for a wee visist very soon to see all my family

I just don't know.....

2011-02-08T13:23:00.009Z

..... how some people have the time to blog every day! I never seem to have a spare minute, I am always doing something. I hear people I know say they are bored, but this is something I can say I don't think I have ever been, I've far too much that I want to do. So I never have time to be bored.

Since moving to the country I am getting back into the kitchen and enjoying cooking again, I have now mastered the art of breadmaking after many years of failed attempts and love the smell that wafts through the croft when my bread is in the oven. I still miss my family being near, thanks to technology ie. mobile phones, email, instant chat and Skype I can stay in touch and feel closer to them.
I'm still playing along with Milliande's Journal January but have severally fell by the wayside here as I just never get round to doing a page every day. I have now started to get through the prompts, but not always in the order they were given out lol

So below are my pages for Crossword Puzzles, Stripey Dragonfly, Daily Debris, Taking Lines for A Walk, Favourite Number and Your Front Door.

Favourite Number was done digitally, as I need to keep up my Photoshop and Illustrator skills, which have been a little neglected since I moved to the country. I am hoping to get back to college this year, but if it doesn't happen then like I always say "it wasn't meant to be, because my life is taking me down another path". So I will just have to wait and see what happens and which path I end up going down :-) ...... Also I don't really have a favourite number so I chose 49 'cause thats my age, which by the end of this week I won't be! ........ I'll be 40-10 or 50 as most folk would say. It's just a number and I feel like 20 it's just my body that is starting to age lol

Well got to go now as my bread is ready to go into the oven and I've a quiche to make, as my wee sis is working in Aberdeen this week and is going to attempt to find our croft and have dinner with us tonight. I love getting visitors!

So till the next time its goodbye from me :-)

I'm already a bad blogger......

2011-01-19T12:16:00.006Z

......it' s been 5 days since my last blog, so what has been happeing? Not a lot really the hours and days just seem to fly by and I never seem to get everything I would like to do done. The weather is still cold, but the sun is trying to shine so I've had some nice walks with our dogs. I can walk down the lane and back and maybe see only the farmer passing in his tractor, which is a big change from living in a town, but I love it.

Ive managed to create a few more pages for Milliandes Art Journal January following the prompts set by Milliande, I feel I am starting to get my creative juices flowing again, which I am really pleased about. I really must find time to get on the computer and start creating in Photoshop and Illustrator, I haven't done much in these programs since I left college last year.

Here are my Art Journal creations for the prompts : Paint a zebra hand ala Guido Daniele, Stripey window, Vertical Journalling and Layered lines

its been a very long time.....

2011-01-14T11:01:00.008Z

.... since my last post and so much has happened. I've seperated from my husband of 26 years with the intention of getting a flat and carrying on my studies at college doing Computer Arts and Digital Design. Chatting with a friend on Facebook I discovered my boyfriend from 30 years ago was not dead (long story) as I had thought but alive and well. To cut a even longer story short, he phoned, we met, it was just like we'd not been apart and I now live happily with him in his croft in Aberdeenshire, with my dog Buzz, his dog Dan, a pup from my last litter called Shug, 7 chickens and a cockeral. College has been put on hold but I'm thinking of applying to Aberdeen College this year. So very big changes in my life!

While settling into my new home I haven't been very creative as most of my art/craft stuff was in boxes (some still is) till I could decide which room I would like to be creative in. When I say not creating, that is a bit of a lie because I have done some decorating, re-arranging lots of furniture, baked cakes and bread and created some wonderful meals that are very appreciated, I have also been taking lots of photos and taken up the hobby of fishing lol.............. Frankie does woodturning and is going to teach me..... so that will be another creative hobby I will have :-)

Just like last year I have started to do Milliande's Art Journal January to get my creative juices flowing again, I'm finding it hard to fit in but I am determined to do a page for every prompt that Milliande sets. I have only done 4 days and Milliande is on day 14, but hey ho I will get all the days done as I am enjoying it. So here are the pages that I have done far...................

I'm hoping to be a better blogger and get back into regular blogs, but we will see how things go and what time I have :-)

puppy dinner time

2010-07-21T15:33:00.000+01:00