WOYWW No. 156 The Third Anniversary

I've only been a part of WOYWW for a few weeks, but apparently 'The Gang' have been meeting for 3 years, and today's the third anniversary!!

So, I really wanted to join in today - despite feeling still yucky *sigh*

My desk hasn't been touched since Sunday, when I was feeling a bit brighter, and made this journal page...

I'd been sitting and dozing and listening to the birdsong through the open window... we're enjoying/enduring a mini heatwave in the UK at the moment.... and all i could think was how these tiny creatures can make such big, sweet songs...

As you can guess, my supply of readymade words didn't contain all I needed :)

You can also see an ATC...

I found this one inside a notebook a few weeks ago... I used to make and swap a lot of ATCs before the stroke - this one's dated 2006 - but I cannot work this small anymore...

But I wanted to join in the celebration of WOYWW third anniversary swap, so this lil creation will be travelling somewhere new...

And thank you for all the comments last week - I so enjoy reading them! - and big apologies for not getting round you all... surely, I must feel better this week...

Take care xx

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Sorry...

... still feeling rough...

not a great hostess, I know...

but I'm hoping I'll be much better next Tuesday...

Take care xxx

WOYWW - no. 155

Well, not much work going on, is there??

I simply haven't been near my desk since the weekend (except to take the pic!).

Entering day 3 of a fragile tummy, I'm now sure I have caught a bug... just glad you guys can't catch it over the ether :)

These goodies are a great stash I got for next to nothing on ebay, which arrived on Saturday. Since, I can't cut out images anymore, I'm always on the look out for cheap die-cuts...

When I feel more myself, I'm sure I'll have great fun playing with them all...

Looking forward to lots of peeking into your creative spaces over at Julia's Stamping Ground...

Till next week - the big THIRD anniversay of WOYWW - can't wait!!!

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Feeling delicate...

... so I can't even bear the sight of the usual lush hot choc photo...

Got a delicate tummy... don't know if it's a bug or something I've eaten, so this will be a quick post....

All I can face is a detox Pukka tea...

... and a plain biscuit...

Not much news to tell, except Number One Son is in the midst of his GCSEs, and I've been feeling a tad nostalgic... 30 years ago at this time I was sitting my A levels...

I found this footage on Youtube - A Trick of the Tail  was one of the soundtracks of my exam revision time... so sit back with your cuppa and indulge with me...





Then I'll settle back and listen to your stories of the week...

Take care xxx

IA Challenge - Art with Heart

I'm not a great maker of heart-art as in

... but I adore art-with-heart, which is how I've interpreted this particular challenge :)

I decided to make my first page in my new journal from Nellie Wortman, which just fills my heart with joy every time I see it waiting for me on my desk...

You can see more pages here.

I started with this page Nellie had pre-prepared...

... added different collage elements...

... with this deeply wise poem in the centre...

... and notice too the words on the linnet card 'delight in the little things'... the essence of 'noticing' what's in the garden of life...

And here's the finished page

It's not the greatest picture, as it's getting late here in the UK... but I think you can get the idea :)

Can't wait to see what the others were inspired to create by this great challenge - pop over to Inspiration Avenue to find out.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday No. 154

Inspired by Julia's night shot last week, this is my desk last night... imitation truly is a sincere form of flattery :)

I'm busily beginning a collage for this week's IA Challenge Art with Heart... I'm really not a 'heart' person - in terms of the ubiquitous heart shape - but I'm a big art-with-heart advocate :)

Here's a close-up...

My intention is to write/print this poem in the centre:

life is a garden,

not a road

we enter and exit

through the same gate

wandering,

where we go matters less

than what we notice

~ Bokonon ~

I love the deep wisdom of this...

And I think it's a fitting first piece to put in my stunning Nellie Wortman book, which I bought with my birthday pennies :)

You can see a few more pages in yesterday's coffee post...

Where I also share how the eye laser stuff went last Wednesday...

Thank you for all your lovely comments and good wishes last week, and I hope to globe-trot around many more of your desks this week :)

Come and join the party over at Julia's Stamping Ground...

Take care till next week xxx

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Art & Beauty Abound

Hello again!

What a week it's been....

I have lots to show and tell, but first let's get you settled with your tea (herbal or regular?), coffee (fresh-ground double-choc flavour, or instant decaf?), hot chocolate (skinny or full?), water (with or without lemon?)... whatever you desire...

Well, I haven't been online much since the mini-bleeds in my left eye were cauterized last Wednesday... it was seriously horrible, and the pompous doctor didn't help... he zapped my left eye numerous times and it took me a fair while to recover. They insist it doesn't affect the vision, but I've struggled to read and work at the computer this week, and I've been wearing my glasses a lot more...

*sigh*

I'm sure this experience has just made me appreciate everything I can see this week... (as a diabetic, losing my sight is a deep, deep fear...)

The weather has been awful around Britain, and I confess, I've been watching way too much telly...

I seriously enjoyed this dvd my dear hubbie gave me for my birthday...

... and I've ordered the book to read :)

And, lo and behold, somehow we have access to SkyArts... and I have been in seventh heaven!!

I refuse to line Mr Murdoch's pocket with a Sky subscription, but suddenly our Virgin package (phone, internet, TV box) is showing SkyArts!!

I've watched The Book Show, a documentary on Joni Mitchell, a brilliant programme on The Question Mark Inside - a light installation on the dome and facade of St Paul's and inside the Whispering Gallery by Martin Firrell, and E (my 14-year-old daughter) and I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Next Great Artist together - an Apprentice-type programme, but in E's words 'WAY more interesting!!', and we talked a lot about art and creativity afterwards...

Moments to treasure :)

And in the post on Saturday, this beauty arrived from my dear friend Zorana....

Sadly, I can't get a good photo - poor camera and it's an encaustic painting - and she's soooo beautiful in real life!!

And this, with a precious message on the reverse...

Pears are her new obsession :)

I've 'known' Zorana for years, but we've never met... her artworks adorn our home, and I'll treasure these two as much as all the others... Thank you, my dear friend :)

And finally, I have to show you an extra-special creation I've purchased with my birthday pennies from Nellie Wortman...

I've loved and admired Nellie's work for ages, and have coveted her books from afar... but now, I have THE most beautiful tome on my desk begging me to play inside it!!

Here are just a few of the pages...

front cover

I've already tucked in my pen and pencil ready to play...

blank pages patiently waiting for paint/crayon/collage...

this is a letter dating from 1899!!

and ledger entries from 1926!!

and prepared pages with Nellie's distinctive colours and fabrics...

and two mini fabric collage pages...

back cover

 (I think this unknown gentleman could be an ancestor of David Tennant's)...

And one last pic to show you what an incredible tome this is...

How many hours of fun will I have with this??!!

Well, I think this has to be one my l-o-n-g-e-s-t Virtual Coffee posts, and I'm sure you're more than ready for a refill...

Can't wait to hear about your week...

With much love xxx

 

PS I've just noticed I've now got 50 followers!!

WOW! A BIG thank you to all of you :) xx



What's on Your Workdesk? No. 153

I'm bright and early this morning - it's 6.20am...

This is all set up to start this week's IA Challenge which is about Hands...

I want to draw this image from an old Toast catalogue of a woman making a pot... creating with her hands...
I adore Toast's clothes, and their catalogues are works of art and full of inspiration, but I'd never paint/sculpt in them - way too expensive!!

And what is that, taking pride of place???

Yes, it's my WOYWW badge, which arrived yesterday :)
I am now officially a member of this worldwide gang of busily creative individuals who post every Wednesday.
Thank you so much, Julia - a true hostess with the mostest!!

I will get over to see all the lovely peeps linked with Julia over on The Stamping Ground, but not today...

I have to get a bleed in my left eye cauterized at 10.20am this morning at Boston Hospital over an hour 's drive away. I had it done 3 years ago in the same eye, so I know what to expect...
The laser's fine, but for the sensation of the eye swelling inside my head is seriously unpleasant... so I'll try and sleep for a few hours till the worst is over...
But I will visit as many as I can in the coming week :)

Wishing you a fun, creative week xxx

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - Hello again...

I've been trying to create a VC logo with this image... and I've made it, but I can't upload it here!! *ggrrrr* I so wish I were more techo-savvy...

But, I've invited you here to have a coffee and a catch-up, not to hear me moan...

So, how are you?
How has the past week been?
Seven days just evaporate, don't they??

Thankfully, it's been a largely good week energy-wise, so I've got a lot done! I've finished all five of my postcards for the IA Postcard Swap...

I tried to use all different media - there's collage, watercolour, acrylics - but I really like drawing, so there's two drawings :)

Here's the back of the envelopes...

... and they're now winging their way to the US, South Africa and the Netherlands!
I will show any of the cards I receive in the new few weeks.

This is my first art swap since the stroke - can you believe tomorrow is the fifth anniversary???? - so I'm a tad nervous about the finished quality of my efforts, but I have enjoyed making them, which is the whole point, I know :)

Tomorrow is not only 5 years to the day that my life turned upside down in an instant, but I go for laser surgery to cauterize a bleed in my left eye... I had it done 3 years ago, so I know what to expect - which is both a good and a bad thing... It doesn't hurt at the time, but your feel like your eye's swelling in your head for a few hours after, which is a not pleasant...

So, if you can spare a thought, I'd really appreciate it :)

Apparently today is the Feast of Lady Julian of Norwich. She is one of my favourite medieval mystics, and I wear a bangle with her words 'All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well'...

Sometimes that is all we can do... believe and hope that this is the case...

So I hope however your week has been, you're able to find glimmerings of beauty, hope and inspiration to carry you through the next week...

With love xxx

IA Challenge - Days of the Week

This week's Inspiration Avenue's challenge asked questions of me emotionally and physically...

I met the physical challenge by making a postcard for the Postcard Swap fit the requirements - the proverbial two birds, one stone :)

So one of you will receive this in the post in the next couple of weeks...

It's my attempt to draw Madeleine Peryoux's Half the Perfect World album cover...

... looks nothing like her, but there's a certain charm, I guess...

No, the deeper challenge for me, this week, was emotional... I was born on a Tuesday (full of grace...), and I was teased (mercilessly, to my mind) by my mother that I was Clumsy Claire, a 'fairy elephant', 'as much grace as a hobnailed boot'...

... my mother was mentally unstable, and my childhood was difficult... and all often it's her voice still playing in my head...

But I drowned out that voice, by playing Madeleine's CD as i worked on the drawing... letting the swoop and fall of her rich, rich voice wash over me... reminding me that grace has many forms - not just the physical...

It's an inner beauty too... being thoughtful, kind, gracious... being open to life's blessings... being, like Mary - the archetypal Mother - accepting of all that befell her, whether she understood it or not...

The past week has been full of life and death... you can read more here... so I've been on an emotional rollercoaster... and I'm sorry, this hasn't been a very fun, upbeat post, but it's a deeply honest one, and sometimes that's what Life asks you to express...

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday No. 152

Given the crazy up-and-down-ness of last week - you can read about here - I wasn't sure I'd get to join WOYWW this week, but here I am...

I'm still making postcards for the Inspiration Avenue Challenge. This is number 3 of 5 I'm finishing off this morning, and know what I have planned for 4 and 5...

Thanks for all the tips last week - masking tape is doing the trick :) - and yes, the paint and oil crayons I used are very shiny! The paint is Stewart Gill's Byzantia range which is perfect for a stained glass window!

On the right side of the main pic you can see the lovely pencil box a dear friend gave me for my birthday on Saturday - she almost cooked me a delicious lunch :)

And standing watch over my work is this little guy...

... who arrived yesterday. I bought him with some birthday money from the very lovely and talented Jo Lucksted, and I'm sure he'll help me out just as much as the amazing, how-did-I-manage-before Mod Podge, which is in the pic for scale....

I really want to thank everyone who left comments last week - I so enjoy reading them! And I'm hoping I'll get around many more WOYWW links this week over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

It has to be quieter week than last, doesn't it???

Virtual Coffee Tuesday - A New Beginning...

... Amy, our usual host, is taking a break, and I know some of us miss meeting up, so here I am...

You'll see at the end of the post, a Mr Linky widget, where you enter your name and url. It's the first time I've hosted anything, so there may be teething problems, so please bear with me...

Some weeks, so much happens it's just lovely to catch up, and last week was such a week...

Full of hospital appointments... some uplifting - my yearly MOT in Sheffield went well, and my walking has improved 55% - yes, a massive 55%!!!!

(I know numbers can mean anything, but when I'm coming up for my FIVE year anniversary since my stroke in May 2007, and some days it's impossible to see any improvement, such numbers mean A LOT!!)

... and some just painful, like my physio appointment on Friday *sigh*

Admittedly, I know I was feeling extra-vulnerable, as we heard Nick's father had died on Thursday... He didn't make it through a routine hernia operation, so it was a blow...

Nick's colleagues sent him this  gorgeous bouquet...

And after this deeply sad news... Saturday was my birthday!!

Cards and gifts rolled in... and Esther made me the MOST scrummy cake!!

It lasted two days!!

And Sunday as our 23rd wedding anniversary...

... so more flowers and more cards...

As I said, it's been quite a week!!!!

And I invite you to join me and share your latest news - the joyful the painful, the momentous, the mundane...

As the old BT ads used to say, 'It's good to talk'...



PS You're most welcome to just leave a comment, if you don't want to link up :)
It's all about connecting... and sharing our lives...


With love xxxx