Chills to the bone

Fear of Poverty

You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life and your reward will be that you will eat, but you will not live.
George Bernard Shaw

Oh what a quote - are you doing things that let you eat but not live? I am and the article that comes with this quote makes some fabulous points that I need to take to heart

Bottle Swap

I've just posted my first swap on Swap-Bot - a bottle swap! I'm keeping this one to UK/Europe only because of postage costs, but if there is demand - on there or through the blog - I'll host another one worldwide

STOP PRESS! USA one added due to demand!

So what the heck is a bottle swap you might ask? Here's the swap-bot blurb:


'Want to refresh your craft supplies or spread the joy if you have too much of some things? Here's just the swap for you.

To keep the postage cost down I've specified this one to be UK/Europe only - if there is demand I could run a US or whole world one.

OK - here's the deal. Take a plastic 2 litre bottle (cola or water bottles are the usual candidates). Wash and drain it. Take a pair of scissors and cut a sideways U shaped hole in the body of the bottle so that you create a flap. Now you can dry out the bottle and let the fun begin. Fill that baby FULL of supplies - as much as you can cram in. You can roll up paper, add fibres, stickers, ephemera, buttons, anything that you think your partner will appreciate. Make sure you tape the bottle cap on!

Once the bottle is full, place a piece of waste paper inside to protect the contents, under the flap, and then tape the bottle closed. Tape on the address of your partner and post!'

And here are some pics so you can see how to do the cutting and how much stuff you can cram in one (I can't remember the last time I had a table clear enough to spread out stuff like this!)

Small world. Netropolis Communicative Design | Sydney, Australia | Identity Design : Print Design : Website design : Graphic Design

Small world. Netropolis Communicative Design | Sydney, Australia | Identity Design : Print Design : Website design : Graphic Design

Food for thought

Post 100

Yay!

Memories

I decided to go in an out of the way charity shop on saturday and was so thrilled to find something I've been thinking about for a year (but why I have no idea) - a real lady's swimming cap!


Absolutely no thoughts about what I am going to do with it

PageBoost

PageBoost

Always great to boost your own ego - even if it's just with a generator huh?!

Yet another crochet idea

SF Furniture Seen

These Outdoor/Indoor rugs by Patricia Urquiola and Eliana Gerotto are composed on hand crocheted floral elements in rope yarns stitched together on synthetic mesh. They are water and mold resistant - washable and colorfast to UV rays, chlorine and saltwater. Almost too good to be true, almost too pretty to believe.

More Mixed Media Round Robin

This is Pat's canvas with previous work by Lucy and Maz. I discovered a new (probably only to me) technique while playing last night - hence the stencil of my father in law in the top right corner

It's not due out for weeks yet but I think I'm happy with what I have so far

Knitting for psychopaths

Crying with laughter

So much to do but no motivation, so here I am picking out fab web stuff!

John Guzlowski, A GUZLOWSKI SAMPLER. AGORA, May, 2005

John Guzlowski, A GUZLOWSKI SAMPLER. AGORA, May, 2005

Is there anybody in the world who could read this man's work and not shed tears? I hope never to meet such a person if so

Happy Birthday Mr Guzlowski - I wonder if I was guided to you today?

Katherine Bartel, EVERYDAY DEVOTIONS, AGORA, MAY, 2004

Katherine Bartel, EVERYDAY DEVOTIONS, AGORA, MAY, 2004

Wondrous artist

Artistic slobbery

Generate

So if you slop your coffee it's now OK!

My Heart is Full of Yearning (or is it A Strange Kind of Love)

I don't usually give much personal stuff away on this blog - it's neither it's purpose nor my thing. However I am on cloud 999 tonight because just like any fast approaching middle age saddo, I'm ecstatic that my old time favourite band are reforming to tour. But not for me the likes of Take That or any mainstream stuff. Oh no! My heart belongs to Cud. Either you know of them or you just have to Google.....

In my wild and dim and distant past I had connections with them. A strange time in my life, not so much to do with the band, just personal circumstances. Anyhow, here I am stirred up at the thought of a gig - who'da believed it?

At the same time that rumours of the gigs were starting to surface, I had to do an entry in a circle journal - about a momentous record in my life. Everyone else had filled their little paperbag book with details of the tune that reminded them of a birth, a meeting of or marrying of their husband - that kind of thing. I couldn't get Cud out of my head and fought it until I had missed the posting date, then just HAD to do my Cud thing. Hence, a group of ladies over in Northern Ireland now know more than they ever wished to about my life with Cud..........

Deco Entries

I've been a busy bee recently:


Sharon's Clocks and Time Deco













Lucy's on the same subject

AnnieP's Mystery deco



Lori's mystery deco













And a tag for Linda's tag book exhibit

Mixed Media Round Robin

Here's the latest addition to Lucy's canvas - I knocked back the blue using bleach and brasso then added the transfers and sewed on the acetate that had been enhanced with some perfect pearls

Mystery ATC

I ran a mystery ATC swap on Alternative where people picked a combination of numbers which then gave them 2 colours, an embellishment and a theme to work on. I got one of the players to pick numbers for me and ended up with yellow, orange, joy and fibre. This was out of my comfort zone but it will be winging its way to Cara. IRL the orange sections are neon bright.....

Nightdress woes

I was wearing my wedding night nightie (yeah - why bother for your wedding night eh?! cue cackles) - and DH asked why it had a few red marks on it. Erm, I popped downstairs to spread a bit of paint on something - it's only gouache so it'll wash out. Now

1) does everyone else do such things?

2) I forgot that the gouache was mixed with gel medium

3) I've washed the nightie - still red marks. Apart from it now matching Big Pink (don't ask, another nightie) with its alcohol ink additions, any suggestions?

Oh and this is what I was working on - a submission to the 'Do Not Fold, Bend, Spindle or Mutilate: Computer Punch Card Art' Exhibition at the Visual Arts Center, Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, Sioux Falls, South Dakota




I'm calling it The collapse of the Red, White and Blue

You Knit What??: Insert joke here.

You Knit What??: Insert joke here.

Oh fab blog - be prepared to laugh!

ATCs to trade

Here are 4 available - Andrea from a peek inside the fishbowl has first choice (if there's any she wants!)

Quaking in my Boots

Oooh - I've done it - something I challenged myself to do and am proud that I did but oh I feel scared. I entered the current Whiplash challenge. I was so unsure what to enter, so I ended up picking the thing most personal to me (after all, if you are going to put yourself on the line, better do it properly eh?) - so I gave the link to my SoulCollage card - something different to all of the fabulous fabric and fibre entries that I have already been drooling over.

I'm going to go work out how to proudly display my Whiplash button now!

Here it is for the mo - but will have to get it into my sidebar methinks

BLUE You give your love and friendship unconditionaly. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

My first SoulCollage card

Here's the I Am exercise that flowed from this

I am the one who is young
I am the one who wears make up
I am the one dressed in and surrounded by flowers
I am the one who is slightly scared, finding myself in foreign
lands, out of my depth
I am the one whose mind is in a whirl
I am the one who is enjoying the heat of the sun

I give you permission to be curious
I give you time to stop and smell the roses
I give you vulnerability and openness
I give you femininity
I give you an open future

I want you to accept and welcome your fears, your feelings of
awkwardness
I want you to protect me
I want you to be adventurous
I want you to honour your femininty
I want you to have fun
I want you to care

I want to tell you I am always inside you. Remember me, remember
being young - you are still that woman. I want to tell you that you
will survive even if you feel out of your depth. I want to tell you
that it is OK to be confused, to not know, to not have all the
answers.

I will remember when I see roses, raffia or swirls; when I hear the
chatter and laughter of teenage girls walking past.

Time and Again

Time and Again

What a wonderful article - I wonder if it will bring tears to your eyes too? The photos are great too

Naughty Knitting

How does she see if she's got her pattern right with her hands up there?



And yes, I do realise that she's really a pin up pegging out the washing - sexy and mundane all at the same time (From Swapatorium)

Chunky book pages are in the mail system

Thanks to those who have already let me know that they have arrived! Other people - keep an eye on your letterboxes.

Teeny Weeny Bits of Happiness

I've fallen in love yet again - with making bottlecap pincushions and recycled plastic shrink pins. Even more exciting is that ALL members of the household joined in with the fun on Saturday!

Swap-bot Booty

Oh my word - I wanted to cry when I saw what my wonderful swapper sent to me. I'm still thrilled every time I look at it all, thank you

Missellz

So many things I want to make or do

that I think I might burst! So why the heck am I lurking about on here? Anyhow, expect a little flurry of posts now!

Firstly, here are a couple of art journal entries.

High style for cuddly toys

Can't see the trend crossing over myself......

Spring Sprite

Oh I'm so happy - my Spring Spritee has received her second gift and I have revealed myself (ooer) so I can now show what I made for her. The oddest thing was that my Spritee was someone I know on alternative so it has been agony not saying anything, especially when she didn't say that she'd received her first gift which was this Misty Mawn inspired piece
















Her second which I test wore for a quite a while (to make sure it didn't fall apart of course!) was such fun to make that I'm going to make more - maybe I'll even keep one for myself

A nice pear or two

Image stamped onto my plaster technique background with sponging and some additional ink applied with a paintbrush and blended with water

Background is a used babywipe blasted with a heat gun to make it fluffy (who'd a believed it) - then send around the world as a deco cover. It fell apart by the time it got back to me, so I'm happy to recycle it!

PLEASE, can someone tell me where the remote control to the TV is? I couldn't give a hoot but other people here are very grumpy......!

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day/stormy petrel

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day/stormy petrel