Getting ready for the New Year.....

I signed up to Kirsty's challenge and the next thing was to work out how to do this!
I had bought a couple of A5 sketch books while I was in UK in Nov, they were just on impulse as I didn't know what I wanted them for. I have also been looking for a descent size diary, but one I could doodle in. So I thought why not make my own diary and use it for this challenge as well!

First things first, I gessoed (is that a word) the pages (I just love what you can do when you have gesso on the page) then drew in a calender for the month, giving myself room to add notes and plenty or room around to doodle.


Then I added a bit of colour to the other pages.


Then added the squares I will be using each day.




With using a small book to do this I have had to do two pages for each month, so it works out that I have a double page as a normal diary page then two double pages for my challenge and a double page just to journal for each month.

I think it has come out well and I am looking forward to starting it.

Thanks for reading,
Cath

Calendar Challenge

I have just been over to The Kathryn Wheel and seen the great challenge she has on her blog. You basically do a small piece of art each day showing what you have done that day. I hope mine wont be to boring..... and I hope I keep it up as it will be a nice reminder of what I have done, as I can never remember what I was doing this time last week never mind last year...

Thanks for reading,
Cath

Merry Christmas

I got an early Christmas gift yesterday as the court case that has been running against us for the last 2 year was finally dropped. I feel as if the world is a whole new place and can start to live my life again.

I hope you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas. I will be back in the new year.


Love
Cath

Blog candy at The Stamp Man

Just follow this link for some great blog candy.

Hurray found spellchecker again..........

Not a good day today

I went out for our early Christmas lunch today with some of the ladies from the card class that meets at my house.And told them that they can't meet here anymore after the new year. It didnt go down well with some of them. But I have had enough, the rest of the ladies can just stop coming for a few weeks if they get fed up. I don't have that option as its run at my house and I want a break. I have a lot of things going on at the moment and I don't need any more agro. Its not as if I have stoped the classes I just want them to move somewere else so I can get on with my life and dont have to think about them coming all the time.

Ok moan over, It was a good lunch and we exchanged xmas gifts. I got a box full of glitter! all different colours and thickneses that will come in handy one day....

(Has anyone else lost the spellchecker on blogger or am I being thick at the moment?)

I thought of this page earlier as it seems just right for today, I think I will do a bit more on it now as I am in the mood.

I'm Back......

Well I left this sunny Island in the pouring rain with a stinking cold and arived in a sunny and warm England. Its amazing everytime I go back its as if I had never been away, nothing changes. Or is it just me as I was wishing I could of stayed in England this time? Nevermind we all get off days....
I never managed to get to the show at the NEC as I was full of cold the whole trip, so came back with the same list as I went with, plus a few other things. I will have to find someone who will post UTEE and not charge the earth.
I took a book with me that I had bought to do some Art Journaling in whilst I was away. I just gessoed a few pages and painted them, and took a few pens and cutouts from some magazines with me to have a play. What do you think?  lots of them are not finished yet but I have been having fun with them.

I am still trying to find my own style, at the moment I am just copying what I see others have done.

I am off to hide now as It is a big holiday here today. The one where they kill sheep, so I don't think I will be going out at all today.

UK here I come.........

I will be away for the next 10 days, so no bloging until I get back.

No photos......

Been very busy over the last week getting samples ready for a craft night I am doing in a few weeks, but before that I am going to the UK for 10 days so I have to make sure I have everything ready for when I get back. The kits will be for 2 cards, they are both the same just different colour-ways, a gift bag and a countdown to Christmas. I will post photos when I have them all done.

While I am in UK I am going to go to the hobbycrafts show at the NEC for a day, most probably the Friday.

I have also been busy getting pages ready in my art journal so I can take it with me and work on it while I am away. I did a page the other day and just as I was finishing it my other half came in to my craft room and started to read it. Well I was not to sure what he would say but he really got what it was all about. After he finished reading it he said you will have to be careful writing on such a dark colour, but its not really about the reading is it, its more about writing things down. I am so lucky to have him.

I will try to get some photos on here before I go away.

Next two pages

Ok I am back ready to face the world again...... as much as I will ever be that is!
I had a bit of a fright last week and ended up in hospital, but I am almost back to normal now so nothing to worry about.

I have finally scanned pages 3 and 4 of my Soul Journal so here they are.



What do you think? I didn't enjoy this as much as the first two pages but I think I was trying to hard.

I haven't started the next two pages as I haven't got much tape and I don't want to do the writing until I know I can cover it up straight away, silly I know but I would hate to think of anyone reading what is there. Not that I know what I will be writing yet anyway.

Did my first few Christmas cards this week and of course forgot to take a photo before I wrote and sealed them as they are going to Oz. But I loved the technique so I will be doing a lot more the same, so will post when I do them.

I am looking forward to coming back to the UK in a few weeks to see my Mum, I miss her so much, Its not the same just talking on the phone. While I am over I am thinking of going to the NEC for the day to the Hobbycraft show, I haven't made my mind up yet as I am trying to find out if there are any special offers on to make it worth my while. If I know I can save at least the cost of the train fare then I will go but otherwise is it really worth it?

No internet for a week followed by a two day stay in hospital, hows that for an excuse for not blogging.

I will be back in a few days with the next 2 pages from my journal.

Page 1 and 2

I have just finished doing the first two pages of the Soul Journal prompts from Sarah Whitmire. I have had fun doing them but it was also a bit frighting as I don't like to let my feelings out that much. The Armor page I thought was quite apt as I tend to go through life wearing a suit myself, so people cant see what I am really like. On the whole I am finding this really refreshing.




only another 20 or so pages for you all to put up with.

Back to school......

So the kids are going back to school, the classes are restarting after the summer break and things are returning back to normal!

I am still not sure just what normal is any more. I am told by my Dr to carry on as normal just watch what you eat, then I am told by the dietitian I have to stick to a strict diet not deviate and walk for at least 1 hour each day. Then I have a look on the web site and they say feeling low and unsure is normal!!! Its just as well as I am so confused as to what am I suppose to be doing? I asked Hal tonight just what would happen if I had a piece of chocolate? he doesn't know either. Its a good job there's none around yet, but it should be back in the shops again next month so what will I do then?

While this is all going on I have started to Art journal. It all started with Dyan posting about Lisa's altered art on her blog, I went along to get the Queens to join in a comp she was running and just fell in love with her work. I had a look around on the web and found Sarah Whitmire who does a course called Soul Journaling, so I have been making myself a book and cutting out from mags, its like a second childhood as I used to love doing this as a child. I am not sure if I can open up enough just yet as I have always kept things bottled up inside, but I have decided to build a new me and being more open is just one part of this process.

This is my first page in my random journal, it's not totally finished yet as I feel it needs more work but I'm not sure just what yet.

Diabetes sucks...... long boring post

OK were do I start with this one? I went to the doctors a few weeks ago just for a check up as I hadn't been for 4 years and she sent me for blood tests as part of the check-up, so the next morning I go to the local lab give blood and wait to go back at lunch time for the results.
Wrong, I get a phone call from the lab to ask if I know that my Thyroid was not working as it should, yes that's OK I know all about that Iv had that for years now. So then she says do you also know your a Diabetic! wtf No says I, OK says she, I suggest you see a specialist as soon as you can. When I pick up the printouts from my tests my blood sugar is 460 when it should be between 75-110. So the next few days were spent on the phone trying to get an emergency appointment.
I manage to get in to one of the top Doctors as it is an emergency and go and see him a couple of days later. (While I am waiting for my appointment Hal has me on chicken and salad only.) When I get there on the wall in the waiting room is a nice poster telling you the main symptoms of Diabetes, drinking and peeing more, now I live in the Med were its 35 most days so who isn't drinking and peeing more at the moment! but the last one was the one that got me, did you know loosing weight is a sign as well? I know I didn't. I have been loosing weight, almost 4st since Christmas, but I just put that down to stress.
Anyway I gets in to see the Doc he has a look at my results and puts me on a load of tablets. (Now up until this point I had been feeling fine enjoying the summer with the ice cream and milkshakes.) He also sends me to see the Dietitian, so off I trot like a good patient that I am to make an appointment. When I get there, Its the Doctor will see you now........ Now I don't know how you feel but I hate talking about my weight with anyone especially a Doctor. Now this guy is good he sits me down and starts to ask about me how I am feeling and what I like and don't like to eat, everything is going fine. Then he asks me to stand against the wall to check how tall I am, then he gets me to stand on this really weird set of scales. This machine has handles that you hold and it passes a currant through you to check your BMI and fat placement. When I get off he gets a print out off the computer and starts telling me about the different areas of my body. By this time I am in that place you go to when Doctors are telling you things you don't want to hear, but my ears prick up when he says my body mass is 46% fat and I have the body of a 64 year old. Now I am starting to feel pretty shitty with things and this is just the start.
I have a few days of taking the tablets and checking my blood, its just like a game really as nothing is any different and then the hypos start.
I have now gone from someone who was quite happy with life eating and drinking what she wanted and loosing weight to someone who has to watch everything that she eats take tablets everyday and keeps keeling over with the lack of sugar. Isn't life grand as someone once said.
So that's been my life the last few weeks. I have managed to stop taking one of the tablets so the hypos are getting less and I am getting my levels down, but I am just so bored of having to think all the time about what I eat and when but I am told it will get better and I will get used to it.

If you have made it to the end thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Can you see the difference?

I just found this great blog candy over at Basic Gray Challenges I couldn't get the blinkie to work but I have put a link on this page. Do go over and have a look.

Queens Queens everywere.....

If you click on Dyan blog link on the right you will see she has a great giveaway.
Basically what you have to do is go to Lisa's Altered Art and download a Queens sheet, then make something with it. Go and have a look there are some great pictures on Dyan site of what people have done so far.

This is my effort.
I wasn't to sure what to do but as I have just been diagnosed with Diabetes and all I want at the moment is chocolate and cakes it seemed appropriate.

Do let me know what you think.

A quick roundup....

Well what have I been up to this last few weeks?

I started card classes at a friends shop on a Tuesday night and they seem to be enjoying what they have done so far. I have also been doing a Friday morning class with a few children that enjoy arty things.



They really enjoy getting stuck in with the painting and gluing. We have done a few good things but my camera is not working so I can't take any photos at the moment, all these were taken by my friend Jack.


And a photo Jack took of me......

New craft club starting

There is a new craft club starting and I have been asked to demo paper crafts, so here are a few samples I have done with my Patti Picklicious Printables CD from the brilliant Kirsty Wiseman.

This is a shaker card using the garden paper and her cut outs.

This one is just a very simple card using the same products as before.

This is a spin card still using the same card and paper.

and the inside.
I just hope they like doing them as much as I did.

Me in a dress............

This is the first time this year I have been in a dress, could be the first time in two years not sure, but we had a lovely time at the High Commission on Friday night listening to the Military Band.

Pool's up at last

We have finally got the pool up and the yard almost tidy! It has been great just lying in the water cooling down and just chilling out. I have cleaned the old chandelier that has been hanging in the glory hole for the past 4 years and Hal is going to hang it over the seating area. I will take a photo when its done so you can see my new chill out space. Talking of photos here is one Hal took just after we got the pool filled.
Had a fun time teaching the dog to swim.....

My show canvas

I thought I would show you the canvas I did for the local Garden show we had. This is the first time I have scrapbooked on to canvas so I was a bit unsure at first, but decided to just treat it as a normal page, what do you think?
The class was people in Cyprus and I chose to do the young girls that live on the corner of our street. They have nowhere to play so they end up playing around the bins in front of their house. The youngest one has been hit by a car at least once.

Blog candy

All this lovely blog candy can be found here but only until the weekend.

Its a good day today the sun is shining, I got Kristy's CD and 2 mags in the post yesterday and Hal has gone to work so I have the place to myself for a few hours. But really I must make a start on cleaning out the glory hole in the courtyard or we will have no place for the swimming pool. I don't think I can go another year without my own pool.

Just found this link for the show Hal and I were in at the beginning of May, its weired seeing it on the web......

If you want to look try here but I worn you its a long clip and we are only amateurs.

Busy doing nothing.....

I always feel that I don't really do anything worth blogging about so there for this doesn't get updated much at all. But as I was sat the other day just thinking about what I have been doing the last few week's thought i should be blogging this or I will forget just how fun life can be at times.

So here goes......

St Georges day 23rd April You can only really enjoy being British when you don't live in the UK, we had a great night with friends eating Brown Windsor Soup followed by Steak and Kidney pudding then Apple Pie. I was a bit upset as the original menu had said Spotted Dick and custard one of my all time favourites.

Rhythm of Life 30th April to 2nd May I got roped into doing the follow spot for this show as Hal was doing the lighting and wanted someone he could trust to help, I just think he wanted some one he could shout at!!! lol It was a great show covering a lot of differing songs, from pop to opera. This was on at the same time as the local flower show (the joys of living abroad....). On the Saturday I ended up demoing all day at the flower shoe then on the the Rhythm of life on the night, mind you we had a great time at the after show party and rolled in at about 3 in the morning. Then up and back to the Flower show the next day to help out.
The rest of the week was spent trying to catchup on myself, I had my normal classes on Wednesday and Saturday but as the woman who normally teaches is away for a month I am doing all the teaching for the next few weeks.

Then on to Turtlebury this last Friday. It was advertised as 3 acts 2 groups and a fire eater, well the customs at the boarder wouldn't let the fire eater bring her fuel over in to this side of the island so that was one joy we had to do with out. But they managed to get another group so we still had plenty to watch, and what a fun night it was.... It started with a group that have not long been together but they did OK, then it was a group from the south of the island and they were great. Not the normal kind of music they play here a lot more modern and up to date. I would like to see more of them if I got chance. And then came the local band everyone had been waiting for and the dance floor was packed, I don't think I have dances so much in ages, It was great to feel the music again I didn't know just how much I had missed the feel of live music.

So lets see what this next week brings.

1000 hits...

I cannot believe I am almost at 1000 hits on this blog when half the time nothing has changed. I am going to try and use this blog a lot more than I did last year, as I only posted 7 times all year. I don't know what happened to me, I don't think I was that down all year. Must buck myself up this year.

Happy Birthday to me.....

Thank you to everyone who sent me card's and wishes for my birthday yesterday, I had a great day.
I will get the cards scanned and put on here as soon as I can so you can all see them as there are some really good ones.