'New' (to us!) conservatory furniture is here!!!

Our 'new' contemporary gothic wrought iron sofa, armchair and footstool are here! (It's from e bay, of course) and yesterday my dear husband went all the way to Leicestershire to get it!

Here are the ebay pics but it looks SO much nicer in the conservatory, with the covers all washed, and with some extra damask cushions.

Jackdaws in Colchester

For the last few days, early in the morning, four jackdaws have been visiting my birdtable in Colchester, Essex UK for bread. Then they fly up to a neighbours roof where they sit and preen themselves. I'd never seen any in the flesh before - in fact I got quite excited. Below is video of what they look like. I'd like to know here they roost around here and if there is a colony of them.

Funky dyed Kitchen Paper Tutorial

Funky Dyed Kitchen Paper Tutorial

Do you like easy, funky, handmade backgrounds for your atc or altered art projects?

Take a look at this technique of creating great kitchen towel backgrounds using Ranger’s Adirondack Colour Wash and a microwave oven!

Takes just minutes to do!

You will need the following items - plain kitchen paper ( two ply or the thicker stuff, it doesn’t matter), several Adirondack sprays as mentioned, an old plate, a little water, a microwave oven, some old newspaper.

Step one - dampen the plate with a little water and spray on one colour after another. I used three colours for this example.
Step two - saturate one towel then another one on top to absorb all the colourwash.

Step three - mop around the plate with the scrunched up paper.

Step 4 - Flatten the sheets one on top of the other and bake in the microwave on full power for about 2 mins or until the colours lighten and make a nice tie-die sort of pattern. Turn the papers over and repeat for a little while if you want to.

Step 5 - use an old iron and press flat on the newspaper (this just saves your ironing board getting messy).

Step 6 - cut to size as shown.




The effect will turn out differently every time you do this technique. The water boiling and evaporating through the paper thicknesses give you the pattern. Be careful not to leave in too long though - it could catch fire! You can elaborate on this technique by using more than two sheets at a time, using baby wipes, adding other paints such as acrylics on the plate, gold and silver coloured paint, inks, or try adding bleach. Work in a well ventilated room - always, and gloves are recommended top avoid staining! Most of all, have fun!

Wedding hair

It gave me great pleasure to do the hair of a favorite jazz artist of mine for a trial run for her forthcoming wedding. I took lots of photos which turned out brilliantly - loaded them tonight into My Pictures, opened a special folder for them ... et voila...EMPTY FOLDER!

I am soooooooooooooooooooo ****ing ***ed off! Just nowhere to be found. But I shall tell you folks she looked a million dollars! - a fashionably messy chignon, with curls and fresh rosebuds with little ivy leaves. My dear, if you are reading this, I am so sorry I can't find the photos on here - I don't know what happened. I shall make sure on the big day I take two cameras with me - just in case.

Anyway, we had a bite to eat at the house (a veggie moussaka thingy I made yesterday, and then had a good old chin wag about children, ebay, marrage and lifestuff.)

Genuine 50's cat's eys sun glasses FOR SALE!

I am offering these wonderful genuine 50's cats eye sunglasses, with glitter lucite frames for sale on the UK ebay site (just do a search NOW and you will find them). What makes them special is that they are PERFECT - no cracks or scratches. Just adorable if you like that Dita Von Teese, burlesque rockabilly look! Hurry and get your bid in !

Karen Millen coat for sale on e bay

Just look at this fabulous Karen Millen coat I am offering on ebay this week - it's a useful size 12. but hurry - you've only got one day left to bid on it. If you do a search on the ebay UK site you will find it NOW!

Jordan aka Katie Price has nerve palsy!

Guess what? I read today in OK magazine that after her recent breast op Jordan (Katie Price) now has paralysis of the hand. It says this is due to her arm being kept in the overhead position for some 5 hours during the operation. She says in the magazine that she is receiving some ultraviolet light treatment for it and hopes it will only last a couple of weeks. Jordan, if you have googled 'nerve palsy' and chanced upon this blog - get in touch, gal! This type of problem is temporary but can last an annoyingly long time....(my arm has only just woken up - it's taken 6 months from hardly any movement to nearly full recovery.)

It can really help to chat to someone who has gone through a similar ordeal! Good luck to anyone who has this problem.

Office and creative space

Herei is my office and creative work space... although it's not always this tidy. I've managed to have on display about two thirds of my mounted stamps - like most homes there's never enough storage for art stuff! At the bottom is an altered CDV I made today.

Zettiology Swap

There is a new swap posted on Advanced ATC's. UK group (the button to join is at the bottom of the page by the way) - and it's for Zettiology. It's a 4/4 swawp due mid November. It's for those who are experienced card makers and typically take all evening to do four cards. Here is the link if you want inspration -

http://www.zettiology.com/

Altered CD's - subject is Music

Halloween offends Christians?

I popped into a local craft store today, asking if they had any Halloween themed items for cards - ( I was thinking black cats, bats, cobwebs, witches hats... that sort of thing.) To my bemusement, the owner said she did not stock Halloween themed items because of her Christian principles, stating that Halloween was a pagan festival.

Has anyone else come across this stance in the ATC / card making world before? It's something I had not considered before.

Swan Lake ATC

Gothic Halloween ATC's

Lady Luck Swap ATC's

We were given a list of great female ATC titles of which we had to choose four, by alison Brandst for the Advanced ATCUK group. As I hadn't made an ATC for two months at least I thought it was high time I set to work on the project. My titles are Sweet 16,Courtesan and Sinister Housekeeper and Historical Queen,. Hope you like what I did. If you are interested in joining the Yahoo group and have experience and artistic talent, please click on the link at the bottom of the page....

Noah's Second Ark

In the year 2008 the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in England, and said,
'Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans.'

He gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying;
'You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.'

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard, but no Ark.
'Noah!' He roared, 'I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark ?'

'Forgive me, Lord,' begged Noah, 'but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval and I've been arguing with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbours claim that I should have obtained planning permission for building the Ark in my garden because it is development of the site, even though in my view it is a temporary structure.
We then had to go to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision. Then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the Ark 's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.
Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the Environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go! When I started gathering the animals, the RSPCA sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and It was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the County Council, the Environment Agency and the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an Environmental Impact Study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many disabled carpenters I'm supposed to hire for my Building team.
The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only accredited workers with Ark-building experience. To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.
So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark. '

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked,
'You mean you're not going to destroy the world?'



'No,' said the Lord. 'The British government beat me to it.'