365 Challenge...and other interesting goings on!

We paid a visit to our daughter in Leicester on Saturday...



Andy joined in a game of football tigs with Charlie, Jim and Ricky... what did Andy do but kick the ball into...well, into Charlie's very important place!!!



Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect Charlie's affection for Andy!



We went to Fosse Park to pick up a little shopping, Laura-Beth and Charlie travelled in our car, Charlie brought his CD and they sang all the way...with actions too! When he started singing, it made my heart swell - it took me back to the days when our own children used to sing at the top of their voices whenever we set off on a car journey - a truly happy sound!



I love this little man. He's decided he wants to grow his hair so I'll let you know how that turns out!



On Sunday night we went Northern Soul dancing at the Metrodome in Barnsley, met up with Dyan who got up to a few antics - not unusual eh?



One thing that amazed me was this 12 year old young dancer... I couldn't take my eyes off him all night - he had come along with his parents and he was dressed in "all the gear" If you're a Soulie and went to Wigan Casino, you'll know what I mean - baggy trousers and t-shirt. I wish you could see him dancing, it took me back 34 years - backdrops, spins and all!! Brilliant!



I just love this 'photo of Karen - Martin is looking at some old photo's of us all when we were young - I think she was laughing at what Martin looked like with hair!



Andy dancing... this is our new fitness regime - we are eating healthily and increasing our exercise in the hope that we both lose weight for our daughter's wedding next May - less than 51 weeks to go and we've set ourselves a target of losing one pound a week...watch this space!



Here is May all filled for my art calendar... at the beginning of the year, Kate set a challenge for any who wished to join in...not just an ordinary challenge .... a 365 day challenge! In the form of an art calendar. Well I love messing about with paint and I like keeping record of what I've been up to, so I was in!





and here is June, just about ready to go... nice and bright and summery...I used texture paste and a stencil to make a flowery border. I painted the flowers orange, they don't look very bright here but I'm sure you get the picture.





I shall probably faff about some more but at least I'll be able to fill in those scrumptious little journal blocks starting tomorrow!

News from Sunny Harrogate!

I've just had a blisteringly hot five day break in Harrogate with Andy, he went to the Spa for a little pampering while I pampered myself at AFTH with a little art journaling along with a fantastic bunch of ladies...






We stayed at The Old Swan (a bit of luxury!) known as Agatha's retreat. Jude and hubby Paul stayed here too, so Jude and I travelled in to Dy's together, its really great to chit chat with bloggy friends.



We picked up loads of tips and ideas from Dy, had fun playing with her downloads (utterly gorgeously colourful and wacky!)



Had a tutorial on shading the balls....and we all did good...Dy said so!
They do really pop off the page don't they?



Then we picked a colour and created a page using only that colour...after I'd made the border, I used the first red image I came to and wrote a bit of drivel so I could see the impact of the completed page, I also cut out the white strip as the wording was so apt for what we were doing. I enjoyed doing this - very effective...



We made a journal out of water colour paper for another style of journaling, lots of painty, inky, watery, dribbly messy goings on here with a little Dina Wakeley influence thrown in along with Dy's inimitable style - although I applied so much water, mine fell apart! No worries, I shall cut these gorgeous pieces up and use them in something else.





And here are a couple of pages I created a while ago but haven't posted as I haven't had much blogging time. Our son came from Belfast with his girlfriend Niamh so we had a wonderful few days with them. Its a balancing act isn't it when it comes to blogging - you need time to create the art that you're going to blog, you need time to visit other blogs to say hi and leave comments appreciating THEIR art, but you also need family time too...somethings gotta give.

This first one came about because I felt I was being manipulated by someone - I know we all use manipulation to get our own way to some degree but its not a nice feeling when you recognise its happening and feel powerless to stop it.



And the second one is also a bit depressing....sorry! I needed to get this out of my system. I spilled all the private stuff out on a tag and hid it behind the doors. I liked the images I used here - well I say liked but it was a painful time, the images were fitting for the subject! Pedestals are precarious places to live and it can be dangerous/damaging to place people there. Lessons we all have to learn at some point in our life.



That's it for now folks... see ya soon!

National Scrapbook Day Celebrations

As a tribute to all Scrapbookers out there, I thought I'd show you some photographs from the two classes I tutor at The Craft Box . Last week was National Scrapbook Day, so I prepared some games and challenges for the groups...

Here's Anne-Marie choosing her papers...



The ladies creating their pages





These are the pages at the end of the evening...
Angela's...she forgot to bring her photographs and 'phoned home to get hubby Kim to bring them down!



Anne-Marie's page - this class is the quietest she's EVER been - Claire if you're reading this, you'll KNOW what I mean! She worked hard tonight.



Virginia is also a bloggy friend
and she brought a mini book to show me, I'm sure she'll post it on her blog so check it out, Her pages were all painted and displayed the fabulous photo's brilliantly.



Lesley's page (Anne-Marie's partner in talking crime!) This pair are always last to finish (I love that these ladies have built up such friendships in my classes though)



Janice's page....



Jane's page... Whitby - Jane has recently had a hip replacement and proudly told me that she had managed to climb steps up to the Abbey AND TWICE up the the Whale's jawbone (both incredible feats as both features sit on top off the cliffs!)




Pat's page, this was Pat's last evening with us for a few weeks..she was like a giddy kipper because her husband arrives home this Friday. Happy reunion Pat!



Diane won two prizes during the evening by stepping up to the challenges..



And check out that Kapow on Karen's page...



A lovely bunch of ladies..



Lynn picked the winning page and Janice received a voucher to spend in the shop



That was my Monday class, here are the Friday class shannanigans!







Deborah and Mum Irene look quite co-ordinated don't you think...



Pages were coming along nicely so I thought I'd nip out to the loo... "carry on ladies, no slacking" I said..



I had such a laugh when I was uploading the photos from my camera - Julie had obviously taken this while I was gone - an unruly lot but I love 'em!



Christine's page



Cynthia's page



Helen's page



Deborah's page



Irene's page...Julie almost chose this one as the winner...just so you know how close you were Irene!



Elizabeth's page. Elizabeth joined the class today and boy was she thrown in at the deep end but she coped really well and won a prize for the best tag challenge.



Christine's page



Karen's page...don't you just love that heart frame?



Another lovely bunch of ladies..



Julie chose the winner... Christine, she also received a voucher to spend in the shop



I've been teaching at The Craft Box for five years and the classes have become a community in themsleves. It's a privilege for me to pass on something I love doing to others. In recent years I have taught classes for Age Concern and other Community groups, helping people to preserve their precious memories for future generations. Just love it!