1. 

Hi everyone a few more pics from our weekend at harrogate so sorry I have not updated this recently but the reason is I am dead on my feet, as I am working 45 hours a week at this time as the other lady that worked two days a week has left which left us all in the lurch,  so I have had to cover the other two days with the help of all my volunteers so what with running a home and keeping topside of housework as well as catching up with old friends it has been a nightmare.I have done no art work so I have promised as soon as they get someone else in post and I can have a few days off I am spending the whole day playing with all the wonderful things I bought from Dyan's shop before I forget what to do with it all .I will try to update this again in the morning Bye for now.

Harrogate weekend

This is myself and my sister vanessa on our weekend in Harrogate which I really enjoyed and hope she did too we learned so much but most of all we enjoyed each others company and shared an  artistic experience .loved it all. 

Honesty

This is my peice about honesty it is also about blue eyes all my family have blue eyes and there are ten of us mum and Dad had them too.Thing is with blue eyes you cannot hide how you feel as you give your moods away with a single look and you cannot disguise your emotions either as they are a give away with blue eyes.So honesty is is the best deal with blue eyes as you can never get away with anything.I haven't posted much recently as I have been working my notice for Debenhams while managing the Charity shop.  I love it all this wheeling and dealing and meeting some real down to earth people in the process.Someone gave us some new calenders to sell they were from another Charity shop and featured very Hunky Firemen so we have had a real laugh sellng them to everyone that has been to the shop.One of the young volunteers tried to sell one to a man in the shop who was slightly miffed about it and  said do I look like someone who would buy such a thing.Told her only sell them to the ladies they are very cheap at 50  pence and we have sold quite a few it is a laugh a minute.It is a very worthwhile job and all the money raised is ploughed back into the projects that the charity supports .speak again soon regards Valencia xxx

Hi everyone quick post not got a lot of time as trying to catch up with house work today. Still working for Debenhams while serving my notice and have started new job, as charity shop manager for well known organisation enjoying the work and it will be great to give it my entire attention and for me not to have to work six days a week.Thankyou to all Virginia's fellow bloggers that have sent her messages of support I am sure she will get there, the star she is and she will bounce back.I may have to go buy a canvas and have an afternoon at Virginia's and throw paint and inks at it it was awesome well done dear daughter.Speak again soon when I have more time.

Just celebrating the female form.

This piece is a celebration of the female form in whatever shape it comes,  in mine it would be very small and carrying more weight than  I would like , a friend recently said I was just right as I am which is cuddly but that is not where I see myself .After breast cancer treatment my weight rocketed to some unmentionable figure that we won't divulge and I managed to lose a lot of it but since giving up the cigarettes my weight has gone up again so have joined Virginia and Melanie at slimmers world.This is an  art work I enjoyed doing if only to be now saying we need to be happy with ourselves no matter where we are with our looks, figure ,personality,and life in general.We are all very differant human beings and us ladies should be greatful for  what we have even if it is more than we would like(weight that is).because we all have some of whatever she has the female in my piece and we should all celebrate it . 

Unseen hands.

Love this one its all about unseen hands I feel they are often about in life pulling you one way when you know you should go another,

Wether it is unseen angels or our subconcious minds I often feel I am pulled differant ways .So do we ignore it or do we let it lead the way.Is it a help or a hindrance, should we listen or turn them away.

The sixties

Hi everyone this is a recent piece that I finished it is my view of the sixties I worked for Cole bros in the sixties and believe me the place to be was all the big cities .I made lots of new friends in my line of work I was a silver service waitress at Cole bros restaurant. The time was taken up listening to all the new groups on the go the charts were littered with talented musicians  and wonderful music.I was often early for work just so I could go into one of the below street level cafes to have a coffee and put money into the juke box to play the beach boysGood Vibrations.We had a social club and went ten pin bowling and the best evening was always Saturdays as the staff called for a drink in the Sportsman on Cambridge street before having our two days off.There were mods and rockers and daytrips out  to Chester zoo the sillohette club down London road was a good place to hang out where two brothers played all the latest hits and everything was blacked out windows and Dancing and no alcohol .The stones and the beatles music was amazing  and radio caroline had not been sunk and was still riding the waves .The city vibrated to the tune of the young this was our time this was my time ..

It is 21 years ago this Day that my childrens Father was cruelly snatched away from them gone well before his time,totally unexpected and left us as a family bereft .Some people never leave much of a mark on the world and he often said he was like a ripple on the water and once he was gone he thought it would be as if he never exsisted.How daft was he the kids never got over him going and there is not a Day goes by that I don't think of him but I see him in his children and there is not one day of our lives together that I regret even the bad times .He had an amazing sense of humour and could hold an audience he should have been on stage .The other role he could have played was a movie star as he was often my Clint Eastwood.After 21 years he is sadly missed R I P Paddy my beautiful man.

Rocking my world this Friday well not getting the job I know I would have been really good at and kicking myself for not being as focussed  as I should have been.Coming second best is no consolation I can tell you not a good place to be .I am grateful for the opportunity to try for something again after failing the first time must be barking to have a go a second time .So I am upsetting myself again so enough of that. I  am greatful for my wonderful family who I love very much and the sun is shining and I have a lot to be thankful for so we will say no more on the subject but I will leave you with a small piece I did ages ago.This is how I feel this morning so I am going to find my pillow and scream into it thus taking Virginias advice see if it makes me feel any better have the headache so wont scream too loud .

What is rocking my world this friday well I have been a real giddy bod this week as I recently got hold of an address for an old friend  .Her Name is Rita and I have spent a life time wondering where she went to. We lost touch in 1970 after she moved away from south Yorkshire and I have just spoken to her on the phone she now lives in Devon and and I cannot believe it has taken all this time to catch up with each other I am still up in the air about it we were such good friends and I have so missed her over the years .Lots to catch up on and I have every intention of keeping in touch .I know it is Saturday but It still rocked my Friday  just the thought that she might ring.Life still has some surprises and speaking to Rita was a real blast from the past loved  it.

Most of my images are in various journals of differant sizes the more recent ones are from my reclaimed not used 2006 Diary that I almost recycled.

Noise

This page was so messy and I looked at it and thought Noise, now noise can be anything you want it to be it can be the ticking of a clock to the Band making music but to me then that would be the word sound.The word noise can be a sudden sound ,an unexplained sound or just something differant when I first saw this image all I could think of with that amount of birds for hair it is going to be hellishly noisy and so needed to make the background very strong to complement it .

Ok I give in maybe I will play what is rocking my world this Friday it seems everyone we know has joined in so watch this space.

Missing family

My virginia and family are away at a place near Scarborough this week and I so miss them can't wait for them to come home and they have only just gone.

I did this one a few week ago when I thought about eyes and how as human beings we cannot hide what we are thinking because the eyes give it away.

We can see joy, fear , love excitement and a whole heap of emotions  I look back at photos and often think I could see sadness for a long time in pics that were taken after my hubby Paddy died and now I often see pure joy when in the presence of my family because I love them so much .

Off to see Nanny Mcphee  with the grandkids this morning and I am giddier than they are.

This is one of my messy ones I loved this one managed to get paint on everything  all kitchen cupboards and even kitchen floor it was great fun not sure what I want to say other than death is not the end  it is just the beginning.

NO words

Haven't put any words to this one yet, not sure why but I enjoyed this page so much when doing it and Virginia says maybe it does not need any.Time will tell I can come back to it later,sometimes I  need Virginias eye on my work difficult to tell as I seem to get more random the more I do. Not sure whether I am improving or not it is so differant to what I was doing originally .But as Dyan says anything goes .

It is my 17th Wedding anniversary today and amazingly My hubby Shaun had managed to find card and chocolates to put on my pillow before I went to bed, so he was a day early not half a day late like he has been in the past .That was a pleasant surprise and set the tone for the bank holiday weekend.

Energy

Like this one reminds me of when I weighed about seven and a half stones and had discovered Bruce Springsteen still had hubby Father to my three children and needed to reinvent myself .This is how I felt as if I was super women and could tackle anything.It was back in the eighties and money was very tight and we were going through a recession and other half was in and out of work also had to put up with him working away .This proved to be difficult missed him like mad but realised I could cope without him  being there.It was a crappy time in my life but it made me understand I did not need another person I was capable of making decisions and taking control .Maybe it was preparation for the time to come when I would lose him to an early death.Such is life.

Forgot to say after seeing Graffiti books may have to Graffitti offending wall next door I am fancying a palm tree and a beach scene anyone else think of anything better Virginia still thinks a balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet .Bye for now.

Sundays and family

Hi everyone out there well what a Sunday managed to catch up with all my lot today ,even my John Yesterday was trying to help Virginia with her water logged garden after much deliberation we decided to send Craig for lots of pea shingle .He had removed the turf and dug out a very large concrete slab from under about two feet of soil .The underneath was clay and completely water filled so we put lots of sand and shingle and then returned soil and turf,.Everyone was laughing at me for stamping and kicking the turf to make it fit .This was quite difficult as I was wearing my diamante wellies and the garden is holding too much water  and my wellies were getting heavier by the minute although I appeared taller after an hour of tramping round in it, that was the plus side of it as I am less than five feet tall.There is enough clay in virginias garden to throw pots and open a ceramics shop.Decided to go see number one son and have a look at his grafitti books that he has and we all decended on him for tea and chit chat which was lovely ,his dear cathie was baking a cake which meant his kitchen smelled divine.I dont know why I said his kitchen as they usually fall out over whose space it is because she  likes to cook in it he likes to treat it like his own craft room so you can well imagine.Although his craft tends to be reproducing props from the films he has seen, ecto goggles from Ghost busters movie was the last thing he made but he often has three or four projects on the go at once.The journaling page I have put on today is all about time and how fast it seems to go as we age  .This one came to mind because Virginia always has a rant about the fact someone pinches an hour off us when British summer time begins and she hates it she says it is no good giving it back to her in October as she doesn't want it then it is so funny.

I had my rant yesterday and laughed my socks off at Virginia's reply fantastic sense of humour loved the idea of graffitti on the offending wall and the Juliet balcony  might have to do just that .Now for todays piece can we all remember what it was like to fall in love so madly that we were totally blinded by it all well the image I used for this was in a very expensive magazine that I bought and cut up  so that I could journal it.The image shows a man and a woman looking deeply at each other unaware of all that may be around them.They are differant that she sports wings like an Angel and he has large areas of his skin that are torn away to reveal what may lie underneath as if he is baring his soul to her.I totally get this image it makes me feel as I did when in  the early days of a relationship the feelings are so  strong we are oblivious to the rest of the world and love and passion blinds us to everything.

Have corrected spelling mistakes now so it looks more English and less double dutch anyway just to show how little a fan of high sided conservatory of recent ramblings, I will publish a piece of work on said subject. As everyone can see I am still pretty upset by it I cannot see the Magpies building this years nest, well same pair every year they alternate between two nests that they built several years ago I used to watch their antics and believe me there have been several wildlife on one moments, from chasing snoozing squirrels to having a  fight with a load of bullying crows.My garden pots that I have round the back of my house will need to be moved as they won't have enough light or  sun to grow and my sitting out area now looks at a ten foot badly pointed brick wall.Worst of it is she failed to tell me that she needed to have such a big wall so she could spend all night singing Abba songs with Daughter number two right below my bedroom window on her very large flat screen T V. Does everyone think I have said enough on that subject.This is why I love art journaling as you don't just get to journal the good stuff.

Yes forgot to rant about said karaoki on Saturday night while turned 3.30 in the morning warblings of daughter number two and so called friend next door and she said they had chosen Abba just for meha ha   very funny I know they were good but not that good that after a rough shift at Meadowhall I would want to sit up and listen while Baby  sitting number two,s daughter.I suppose they must have enjoyed it someone had to.

siblings

Hi everyone have just returned from my great nephews Christening his name is Sonny Kay and he has the most amazing blue eyes and such a laid back baby, I think he must have been here before.The weather was beautiful the church was full and a brilliant time was had by all.Two years ago today I lost my dear mother and a worst death I could not imagine she broke our hearts but at the end all her Daughters and her Granddaughters were with her and we all were of one voice,we all hurt the same way and we all were bereft at her going .I have forgiven all of what went on after mum died but I will never forget it and put most of it down to being the worst time of my life .But life is very short and carrying a burden is no good for anyone so I take each day as it comes and celebrate all that life has to offer.I love my family and adore my two grandchildren and thank God for them all so I will give thanks to life that we are all here to enjoy the moment and the day and the celebrations and feel how lucky we are to be able to do this when so many people we knew and loved  are no longer around to enjoy it with us.The piece of journaling is about brothers and sisters asI have ten of them I feel  I am an authority on the subject none of us are the same and we often don,t see eye to eye.My second piece is a tribute to a very famous designer someone who chose to be very differant  but also my dear sister Vanessa who I adore  and both these females I regard as both very unique in there own individual ways .love them both well I will be back soon xxxx

Back again

Hi everyone including myself,woke with a rotten cold this morning and a crappy headache have to work late shift today so I am hoping I improve before I leave the house.Went to visit Dear Margeret at her 5 star retirement village yesterday my other halfs step mum,now she is a force to behold for a lady who runs round on her mobility scooter she puts everyone to shame .She had served in the village shop in the morning stopped for a bit of lunch with ourselves her sister and two old friends and at four o clock was off to her choir practice .She is a whirlwind all on her own .I then went to cardmaking group where we make cards for the charity group Virginia works for .They sell them in a post office they run .It was quite surreal as we were making Easter cards or sympathy cards Nirvana kept passing things to me saying you do the miserable cards nannan and I will do the nice ones she is only ten but she is fantastic.The page above I did when reminded of my first love I met him at Grammar school I was a Beatles fan he was an Hollys fan .Bus stop was a hollys hit the summer of 1966 and and it so reminds me of young love and I can,t listen to it now without thinking of him.

Following myself

Well you can tell I don,t know it all yet I meant to follow Carmen and managed to do it all wrong now I am following meself well someone needs to keep an eye on me ah ah ah

Sisters

This is a two page layout on the theme sisters .I have four sisters some I am close to and some not so close, I have some fantastic memories of life knowing my sisters but have enjoyed one of them in particular in later life as all my sisters are a lot younger than me and I spent my childhood growing up with my five brothers ,it was ten years after me that my first sister came along and what a blessing she was it made a change from all those boys.Anyway I needed to journal it .

First art journal pages on my blog

Hi everyone just thought I'd put a few of my recent pages on my new blog. Thank you for the lovely comments on my first post and thank you for following me I officially have 4 followers woohoo.

Can you believe that I've been playing with my photos all morning and I'm still in my PJ's I can see my blog eating up chunks of my life - but it is fun isn't it!

This first image is about how elephants never forget and reminds me of a difficult period of my life with lots of falling out, it isn't a happy memory but it is a memory nevertheless. This image is in a gorgeous 2006 diary that I found out that I'd never written in - how awesome is it that I can actually use something that I thought would just end up in the recycle box. It's a lovely A4 size and is leather bound so should take some hammering!

I love this image and just had to journal it and reminds me of all the adventurous men that I've met in my life!

This image reminds me on my Dad as he's wearing a flat cap, it would have been his birthday this last week and he would have been 84. My Dad was an awesome man and had 10 children and many many grandchildren. I miss him so much but it's been difficult in recent years as dementia robbed him of his memory. This page however reminds me of what a happy person he was always so gracious and loving and fun and just great company so it was nice to remember him in this way!

FIRST POST I NOW HAVE A BLOG

First ever blog, very new to this but follow quite a few, I like to see what people are up to and I've met some great people through Dyan at AFTH when I attended a beginner's art journaling course in February - had an awesome time and haven't stopped journaling since - it's taking over my life but I love it!

I've reached the big 60 recently and am now semi-retired which has given me much more time to come and play on my new laptop and with all my lovely paints and inks and papers and journals etc.

I promise to come back later once I've worked out how to photograph my journals and put them on my computer! See ya later!