Tuesday, May 25, 2010

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!

14 comments:

  1. Those pages are really powerful Sandra and I love them especially the manipulation one which struck a chord with me too. Loved seeing you this weekend - despite the blistering heat it was a brilliant weekend with fabulous folk - I am still shattered though all that learning has taken it out of me LOL!

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  2. HI Sandra

    Loving all of your post particularly the last one - I could do with both those images - doors and pedestals mmm makes much sense in my life at the moment! Thank you for your comments on my blog - they mean the world!

    Hugs

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  3. Hello lovely lady!! I had a fabulous time too - was so nice seeing everyone again and Dy's new place is gorgeous. I'm trying to update my blog but there's so much going on I can't seem to get the time to get it done so I completely know where you're coming from.

    Love the journal pages - even if they are about not-so-nice subjects/feelings, they look fantastic and I hope they helped work through some of the bad stuff.

    Wish that we all had had more time to spend together - maybe next time we can arrange an evening where we all go out and catch up properly?!? xx

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  4. Some really great pages here - glad you had a good time - sounds like heaven.
    Journals are a great place to let it all out aren't they - I need to give mine a go!!!

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  5. Wow SP, sounds as though you had a fantastic time, I just love, love, love all of these journal pages, you are so creative. I particularly like your balls, lol. Glad Andy got time to relax a little, I'm sure it's done you both good. xx

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  6. I have been watching with interest, your journalling and am so amazed at the results you are getting. I am so looking forward to getting into it, ready for the winter months. Dy is a brilliant teacher and such a laugh. Can't wait to see more pages..... x

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  7. Whey hey girly, loving your balls..!!! lmao. Your pictures of the weekend are ace, much better than mine, but when did you take the one of me with my crown on, lol. Loving the manipulation page, also been there worn the t shirt..Love you loads babe xx

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  8. It's so lovely to see your wonderful pages, i'm so proud to have such a wonderful tallented mummy! I'm so glad you and dad had a lovely weekend, you both deserve the break, and you most def deserve the rest after (i want to say the last few months, but i know it's longer) I am so pleased you got the relaxation, and the time to re-charge you needed. These pages are lovley, i love the red one, i'm so pleased you have found an outlet to express yourself, and that you can use your wonderful creativity to help! I love you xxx

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  9. Blimey Malimey Sandral - what have you been up to! The manipulation page and the one after - well they're pro pages matey!! Jealousssssss! I haven't 'made' time to journal in about 4 weeks and now I need to get my ass in gear cos my stuff still resembles reception journalling whereas you girl, you have moved on to first class honours!!

    Love love loving it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xx

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  10. LOVE your journal pages, they are really powerful. Glad you had a good break at Dyan's - sounds like it was a blast :-)

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  11. Came hopping over to you from Virginia's blog - what a fabby time you clearly all had! I love those popping balls, stunning. Your journalling pages are superb - I really like the idea of putting the private stuff on a tag and then placing it behind the door. Great stuff!

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  12. Sandy you are doing some amazing wonderful journal pages!!!!

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  13. I so envy that you get to go to these places and get this crafty time :) I also need to get my bum into journalling as sometimes I feel like I'm about to implode. A LOT lately. These pages are gorgeous, love them both and all the work you did at your weekend. The colours are just gorgoeus!

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  14. Your journal pages are amazing. Love the variety.

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