Pay It Forward

I've seen this on other blogs today, and think it's a great idea.  


I promise something handmade or homemade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment on this post.  To be eligible, you need to repost this, offering something handmade/homemade to 5 other people.  The rules are that your make must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011.  Plenty of time to get inspired then...


I love the thought of trying to make something that the recipient will enjoy, even though it makes me very nervous...  Anyway, the genie is now out of the bottle, and I'm committed.  


Happy commenting!

*Blushes* I am pleased to accept...

...my first (and possibly only) blog award, which comes from the lovely and hilariously funny Carmen over at whoopidoo...ings, who has made me feel so welcome as a new blogger.  I am both deeply flattered and strangely pleased at the thought of rummaging through my past to find eight things that you don't know about me.  Although as I've only been blogging since September 2010, there are probably lots of things you don't yet know about me.

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin:

1. I have a real love of picnics.  Give me a small bag of goodies, and I'll roam the countryside for hours in search of interesting birds, strange water features and additions to my collection of narrow boat names.  Even in winter, I'll lurk in the car with a sarnie and watch the countryside happening outside.  Give me a small group of ducks and I'll be happy for hours.
2. I used to play the flute and piano and sing in choirs, madrigal groups, and very occasionally opera groups. I only remember that I had so many years of vocal training when I open my mouth now for hymns at weddings and the like and a very loud voice with loads of trained diction comes out. My speaking voice is very little, so I don't know where the BIG voice comes from. (Yes, former singing teacher Mrs C, I am supporting the note from my diaphragm, and using my nose to resonate...)
3. The Cow Parade (worldwide gallery here) absolutely fascinates me.  I have several of the small beasts dotted around my bookshelves, and I love the full size versions. I am convinced one would look great in the garden, and if I ever learn to make an armature, I'll be giving it a go.  Two years ago, I found a herd in Vigo, and embarrassed OH by tearing around the shopping centre cooing over them.  
4. I have a strange interest of anorak proportions in accidents and survival.  I could probably cite the flight numbers, causes and survival lessons of the majority of plane crashes.  Despite this, I absolutely love flying.  Side note here - I'll share my Roswell story at some time - now that was a white knuckle flight...
5. Against my better judgement, I went on a (very cheap) two day cruise three years ago, and was gobsmacked to find that I loved it.  The artwork on the ships is interesting, the music surprisingly good, the food delicious, the people watching potential magnificent and you get to wake up each morning in a different place, without having to haul bags.  I am rather worried as to what this says about me, but from my experience to date, there are as many lovely and rather bohemian cruisers as there are those who fit my pre-existing stereotype. 
6. I have a BIG BAD book habit.  I've been toying with buying a Kindle, but can't see that it would make me give up my shelves and shelves of beautiful books.  One of the attractions of moving to this house was the ability to have a library full of books, and we've now managed rather more than that.  You see, reader, I married him.  An author, that is.  And he's a journalist too.  So we have my books, his books, and his stock of books.  If books ever became illegal, they'd be round to ours first...
7. The two books I would give my eye teeth to have written are Donna Tartt's The Secret History and John Fowles' The Magus.  What links them is a deeper meaning based on myth and legend, and a story that can be read at surface level when you are too tired to think much.  Plus an amazing use of language.  Imagine Donna Tartt's "nights bigger than imagining, wild and disordered with stars"...
8. I've been blogging for three months.  I thought it might be boring, and I would struggle to find things to say.  In fact I've been babbling like a woman possessed, learned loads, laughed more than is becoming, and can't wait for more of the same.

Tagging the following stylish bloggers:

 - The lovely and talented Mrs A at It's an alien life

 - The playing card Queen (of Diamonds, if you consult Wiki) Rachel at katzelbows

 - Wipso (aka Annie), restorer of bears, feeder of pheasants and lover of poppies, at A stitch in time

 - Sue from the school of quick, messy, pretty (those are her words, I just say elegant) at Little Imperfections

Hope that was enough dirt, Carmen... ;)  It's certainly been fun!

Bernie x

Mr Laptop is unwell

Apparently he has a corrupt registry (which I guess can happen to any of us).  I'm awaiting advice from a friend who has infinitely more chance than me of knowing how to fix it.  Failing that, Mr Lappy will be on his way to the lovely IT guy for further TLC.  Mr L is getting a bit demanding; it's not long ago that the bank's "security software" *issues hollow laugh* gave him such indigestion that he had to be purged for three days.

I'm borrowing a laptop for now, but sadly this may be a picture-free zone until Mr L has received surgery.  It may also be a bad spelling zone until I get the hang of a different keyboard.

Playing Cards 2011: The Arden Oak

When I signed up for the 2011 Playing Cards challenge, I was determined that I was going to use this opportunity both to try new things, and to make a pack of cards that had meaning for me.  Well, card number one is now in play and waiting for the rest of its pack.  For more details of the challenge, hosted by Rachel at katzelbows, you'll find the linky button to the left.

I decided to go with suits reflecting the elements: earth, water, air and fire.  I guess I'm an outdoor girl at heart, and this was the best way to work in some ideas and themes that appealed to me.  First up this week is the Ace from the Earth suit, also known as the Arden Oak.  The oak is the symbol of endurance, as the lovely Quercus can live for a thousand years.

The Arden Oak, which is very close to home, is said to be the tree marking the border of the ancient forest of Arden, when a third of the local area was wooded.  Today the Arden Oak sits in the middle of a narrow road, in a little island all of its own, currently growing out a rather embarrassing haircut due to an overenthusiastic pollarding last summer.  I'm sure it dreams of the time when a young Will Shakespeare was inspired to write As You Like It under its shady boughs.

I chose some caramel colours, and a combination of the distinctive silhouette and the bole of the tree to reflect both the "heart" of the oak, and its longevity.

Trudging home through snow

We've been away for a couple of days.  Last year, we decided that whenever we saw a hotel bargain, we would snaffle anything within reasonable driving distance of home, and take the opportunity to have a mini holiday.  And this year we started early, with two days in...

...can you guess where it is yet?...

...Ewloe, near Chester.

The signpost is actually in Cheshire Oaks discount shopping village, where we spent a happy couple of hours hunting down some bargains on the first day.  (Yes, more stash, but practical stuff like files and pens...and a brief venture into East, over which I shall draw a veil made up of two cardis, trousers, two necklaces and earrings - oops!)  The hotel was lovely, and our room particularly snuggly and warm, which was important the next morning when we awoke to this:

The view from the car, taken while the lovely OH was doing his man against the elements routine and removing the snow.

We took the long way home down a beautifully snowy A41, stopping off in Newport (the Shropshire one!) for a great lunch at the Lutine Bell, and the sad discovery that the "Man of Cheese" as he is known in our house has closed his deli.

January's calendar seems to have shaken off its wrinkles and is looking much better.  I love the pearlescent inks, but need to remember that you can't actually write over them.  Not so helpful in a calendar.

I finally plucked up the courage to draw February's date boxes by hand.  You probably can't quite see in this picture, but the hearts work outwards in a spiral from the centre, and are all outlined with different patterns.  They are connected by a penned chain.  The illustrations are from an old story book  - the Firebird - coloured in Promarkers.

Finally, you may recall that I mentioned OH's enormous box of chocolate, which he received from the godchildren for Christmas.  This is what was left as at Wednesday night.  The blue you can see is tissue paper at the bottom of the box.  Time to suggest he opens those Minstrels, I think...or I might be forced to eat another of those yummy chocolate coins.  

WOYWW: Work!

What's On Your Workspace Wednesday is where the crafty of the blogosphere go hopping to glance in admiration, envy and sheer pleasure at other workspaces.  The practitioners of tidiness and the "pile it high, push it back" brigade (no prizes for guessing my own school of working practice) can find plenty to marvel at under the supervision of Head Desk Meister, Julia at Stamping Ground.  Try the link to the left to explore further.

In a rare departure for this blog, this WOYWW post contains......drumroll......wait for it......WORK!

Below is the second page of the 2011 calendar.  Get ready for a red hot and pulsating February.  Now I'm not normally a girl for hearts (flowers are another matter entirely), but I thought that OH's birthday, which falls mid-month, deserved a big juicy red heart.  So I broke out the pigment inks again and swirled away vigorously with the kitchen towel.  The squared border is made of two overlapping ink pads, and there's a bit of pearlescent rocket red in the heart.  I've decided that I'll draw the date boxes freehand this month - which will be a bit traumatic, but I'm willing to give it a go - so for now, consider this a work in progress.

If you're interested in seeing an icy blue January 2011 page, you'll find it in the previous post.

And I do need to share some of my lovely sales stash from Hobbycraft: stamps, stickers, journal blanks, elegant dress form toppers, stamps from the sea and a twizzly wire worker that makes interesting beads.

Apologies in advance if I don't manage to get around all the WOYWW desks quickly this week.  I'll be away for a couple of days (house is occupied, so no harm in posting that here), and I don't know yet if we have WiFi access.  I did manage to do the rounds last week, and enjoyed a peek at lots of celebrations.  To the many of you afflicted by foul pestilences (pesteli?), I hope you are now on the mend.  

Time for something a little different: 2011 challenges

Since becoming self-employed, I've realised that training and development is completely in my own hands.

That sounds a bit corporate doesn't it?  But on chatting a while back to the OH, who has been self-employed for more years than either of us care to contemplate, he couldn't remember the last time he did anything of the sort.  So we signed ourselves up with Business Link, and have been to some seminars for small businesses (at least now we have something in common about work apart from the fact that we are now both in the "creative industries").   I've also been to HMRC's workshop on tax, which was both surprisingly interesting and seriously helpful.

As someone who used to be responsible for making sure all our office got their targeted 9 days or more of training a year, I thought it was time I exercised my corporate muscle on a little personal development.  So here are my 2011 personal challenges:

Drawing Every Day
Inspired by Rachel at katzelbows, I've made a resolution to draw something every day.  Efforts thus far have ranged from the frankly piteous (Ernest the lovely bear transformed into a beast of spindly legs and a wonky neck) to the almost passable (the metal heron that stands on our hearth).  I'm laying bets with myself as to when you might get around to seeing anything I've produced...

2011 Playing Cards
Again led astray by Rachel, I've signed up for this challenge.  The aim is to create a playing card each week, using a medium of your choice.  So far, I've decided on my suits, - the elements of earth, fire, air and water - sent off for sufficient ATCs, and planned a theme for each card.  My first card will be the Ace of Earth, and I've chosen a theme of Hearts of Oak.  

For more details, see the linky to the left.

2011 Calendar Challenge


I saw this on a couple of blogs, was intrigued, and next thing you know, I'm sucked in and playing along.  Linky to the right - via the Kathryn Wheel - if you fancy joining in.

I love journals.  I've been keeping a personal journal incorporating a little bit of art for many years, and I also keep a series of travel journals (travel being my biggest personal vice, or maybe virtue).  So when I saw this challenge, I was almost salivating, and immediately started rummaging in my stash of pristine journalling books.  Having located an A4 plain paged number, I was immediately inking away at January 2011.  Here's the story so far:

Think we may need a bit of an iron there...or at least some pressing with a heavy book or two.

The background is a selection of inks: little pigment pads from the sale at Hobbycraft, and Brilliance pearlescents.  The inks have been pressed and rubbed onto the surface with scrunched up kitchen roll.  The tree stamps are in the same inks, with a bit of Promarker to fill in any gaps (oops).  I would like to tell you where I got the tree stamps, but after a bit of surfing, I can only conclude that they are no longer in business.  Which is a real shame, as the stamps are beautiful clear clings, and I love using them.

February is going to be a riot of reds; the inks are already lined up and ready to go!

WOYWW: Had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

For more crafty workspaces on this What's on Your Workspace Wednesday, see our esteemed leader Julia's blog at the WOYWW link to the left.

No desk pictures today, as I am still in holiday mode.  Instead, I've loaded the pictures of our Christmas stay at the lovely Wroxall Abbey.

The Abbey was Sir Christopher Wren's country seat in Warwickshire, and is now a country house hotel, complete with the sweet little Wren's chapel.  This is the view from the back of the hotel late on Christmas Day afternoon.  The big windows on the ground floor are the restaurant and garden lounge (squidgy sofas galore), so you can see what a fabulous view we had over a sunny lunch.

This is the front of the main building.  It's just as welcoming as it looks, right down to guests wearing their slippers down to the bar/for breakfast.  The food was gorgeous, the company of the other guests great, and we had a wonderful time.

Finally, it's time to wish you a very Happy, Inky, Gluey, Sewey and Generally Crafty New Year.  OH, in one of his pensive moments, remarked that I had "met" some lovely crafty bloggers during my time blogging.  And he's absolutely right.  So thank you for the inspiration, scenes of desk chaos and tidiness, support for my new venture, making me giggle like a teenager and generally making my Google Reader a thing of beauty.

They'll be in trouble: A Farewell to Elf School

Tonight we had the pleasure of being guests at Goddaughter E's birthday party.  It was great to finally see her and her brother (Godson D) after our frustrated attempt to visit them on the Monday before Christmas.  She had a great deal of sympathy for our time spent at the services with a broken down car ("three and a half hours - that's a very long time") and understood entirely why we couldn't make it to see them.

It was also our opportunity to thank her and D for our lovely Christmas presents: a pampering weekend bag of body treats for me and a box of chocolates (at least 6 boxes of assorted chocolate yumminess poured into one gargantuan box for the husband).  In  fact, I had already texted them a picture of OH opening his present on Christmas morning.  The picture came complete with a blurred hand reaching into the box, such was the speed of his swiping the first chocolate.  What it couldn't convey was his shout of glee that must have woken up the neighbours.  Spoilt we are by E and D.

We also got to learn more of matters Elven.  All the mischief went down very well indeed, particularly the card sharks, and ElfDad's encounter with make up as did the movie night in, space rations, dancing inside  and playing on the Big Climbing Frame.  The reindeer food and Santa's positioning light also went down well.  D loved the volcano, and stared at it for the longest time (amazing for D, who's normally in perpetual motion), but the colouring and making weren't quite his thing.  He enjoyed decorating the igloo and laughing at the snowball fight the elves had overnight in the living room.   The naughty step (a big pair of Santa's trousers) was a big hit too.

The Chief Elf has asked if they would like to host elves again next year, and the answer was YES!  There were a few tears on Christmas Eve when the elves had to go home, but in a way I guess that shows their presence was appreciated.  Bless their little pointy toes.

And as for the title of this post...  When ElfDad woke up covered with lipstick and with Ha Ha written on this cheeks, Godson D was stunned into silence.  He stared, ran off, came back and stared some more.  E looked in and said sagely "They'll be in trouble..."  An expert on the ways of elf mischief after just 23 days...

Playing Cards - A Card A Week in 2011

The lovely Rachel over at katzelbows has set up a cracking challenge for this year.  Full rules are over at the link, but in summary:

• create 52 cards, plus jokers if you wish
• use any style, medium or technique
• use any suits of your choosing - either the originals, or those of your own imagination

Rachel has started the Ace of Hearts, which I think is a great starting point for the deck - a lone beating heart giving life to the project.  I'm doodling the Ace of Hearts, but I am still thinking about the suits; should I go for something other than the normal deck?  Ah, such temptations and so many choices!  

If you'd like to join in, you'll find the link button to the left of the blog.