Why can't folk...

...leave things alone.

I only posted this photo the other day and I was looking forward to seeing how the flowers bulked up and created a better display...

...as things stand, this won't be happening because mindless yobs wrecked the thing - why?

It wasn't harming anyone and it brought a bit of fun and colour to a very boring paved area of the Southend high street. What fun is there in spoiling things for others - if you don't like something, ignore it but don't deprive others from gaining enjoyment.

It just seems like we live in a culture of 'let's see what we can destroy'...'it's not mine so I can wreck it'.

What an awful outlook to have on life.

Unfortunately, it is becoming all too common as I know from the saga of my front fence.

I was so pleased with the result of repairing and painting my fence (Summer before last)...

...but within no time at all, yobs had damaged two panels even further...I ask again; WHY?

I work damned hard for my money in order to be able to keep things in good repair but it is very de-motivating to put in all the hard work only to have it ruined in the blink of an eye. Since the additional damage to the fence the little 'darlings' have also had a go with black spray paint on one of the concrete posts and a panel.

No-one gives me these things, I have to earn the money for them and put in the effort - so why do they think they have the right to spoil things?

Sorry, rant over but I just needed to get it off my chest..................................................................

Oh...

...bummer!!!

I missed it!

At 66,665 I went to have a look at a new post in my blog reader and when I came back it was 66,667.

Oh well; count down to 77,777 has begun LOL..........................................................................

Oh my...

...would you believe it.

What seems to have been a relatively short time ago I celebrated 55,555 page views on my blog. I thought it was fun seeing all those "5s" in a row.

I was amazed that so many folk would visit my little bit of cyber-space and joked that it would probably take ages to reach the next number consisting of all the same digit - 66,666.

The lovely Paula (Happy Snappy story teller with a camera) didn't seem to think it would take that long but I had my doubts.

Would you believe...at the time of posting this I am just 16 away from that amazing figure...WOWZA!!!

To say I am gobsmacked that this figure has been reached so quickly is probably the understatement of the year LOL

A very big thank you to all you lovely folk out there who drop by for a quick 'looksee' and even bigger thanks to those who leave me comments - I know we all find it difficult to make the time for things like that because life in general can be so busy at times.

When I started this blog I didn't know if I would be able to keep it going but I am so glad that I did because I have had the joy of  'meeting' some super folk from all around the world.

Thank you all for your kindness and support.

**I wonder how long it will take to get to 77,777 ?**........................................................................

What did you do...

...last weekend?

On Sunday I went to a mini-book workshop with Weasel over at the Barleylands Craft village.

This is the fabulous book that Barb wanted us to make...

 ...it is full of pockets and tucky-in places for photos and keepsakes.

The basis of the book is 6x6inch white envelopes with chipboard covers and hidden hinges.

This is the cover of my book so far...

...I don't want to finish the outside decoration until the book is completed otherwise it might get spoilt.
The main aim of the day was to get the basic book completed and try out some different techniques and products...

 ...here you can see the envelope pages attached inside the cover and ready for decoration.

We got to play with glitter paste and masks...

 ...isn't this just a fabulous colour and it works so well on the black background card.

We had so many different die-cuts to play with. These will be used on the front of the book (just like Barb's) and there is another set for the back cover...

...I just need to get my needle and thread out to make the ribbon skirts.

I know Marion (owner of Sugar & Spice) likes folk to come away from the workshops with a finished item but I really didn't want to rush this as it is such a lovely project. I did finish the basic book and got everything cut out and decorated for putting inside (I even made a mini maze book which once decorated will slip into one of the pockets).

The basis for the project centres around the fabulous Craftwork Cards "Tea Dance Collection". We all received an 8x8inch collection pack which contains sooooooooooo much lovely stash...PPs, Candi, Die-cuts...which is far more than is required but means we have lots of lovely stuff left over to play with.

All the pages in my book are now covered with PP and I am working my way through decorating the pages. I'll try to get some more photos done so that I can share them with you.....................................

They're Back!...

...no not the spooky things in the TV (can't remember what film that's from) but strange things containing flowers.

When I visited Southend-on-Sea last week the men were installing this...

 ...a rather large wicker teacup containing pansies and a variety of different types of daisies. To be honest, it is rather strangely placed - it is not in the centre of the paved square and although quite big, it still manages to look lost.
Then on Friday back in Stratford, these appeared...

...yep, the flower trees are back.
Last year as part of the Olympic preparation a circle of these 'flower trees' appeared on the traffic island just outside our office. These are very pretty...

 ...but still in the early stages of growth. They are certainly not as lavish as the ones we had last year but then we aren't expecting the world to descend on Stratford this year; are we!
It is much nicer looking out of the office and seeing these instead of a vast expanse of grey cobbles...

...and with luck (and a bit of sunshine) they should bulk up beautifully.

Let's hope they plant up the round flower beds that are under the trees further to the left of the 'island'. At the moment they are bare apart from the weeds - and perhaps we might get a few hanging baskets dotted about the place. After all, it is only about a month before the first part of the "Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park" re-opens to the public.

We'll certainly be waiting to see what events they have lined up for the area to celebrate the anniversary of the Olympic opening ceremony. Watch this space.........................................

Bloglovin...

...do you need it or something similar?

I don't know!

The chat/debate about whether our reader function will disappear at the beginning of July continues and I have to say I am still none the wiser.

When this issue first started to do the rounds in Blogland the thought of losing details of the 200+ blogs that I follow was scary - especially as I don't 'do' Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social networking media...I just blog.

Lots of folk had signed up to Bloglovin, so I went and had a look - and yes, it was easy to copy all the blog details across (even for a techy numpty like me) but I did notice that a few didn't transfer. So last week I went into the reader management part of Blogger and printed off the list of blogs I follow - it ran to 13 pages (it could have been less if I'd had an idea about how to reduce the spacing between lines before I printed LOL). This means I have a hard copy as reference...just in case!

So how am I 'lovin' Bloglovin...

Well, as I said, I'm a techy numpty so things need to be simple and yes, I get a lovely email everyday with details of new posts from the folk I follow - but that's just it - it's an email. It is somewhere else that I have to go and look whereas my reader is right there on the dashboard of my blog.

I don't know enough about PCs to be able to link this sort of thing so I can read it in my blog - I don't know if it is even possible.

With my reader I can scan through quickly when I don't have much time and get the gist of what is going on out there (even if I don't have the time to drop by and comment) - I've noticed with Bloglovin that the email doesn't always contain links to all the new posts that have appeared that day...am I supposed to go into Bloglovin itself to look for all the posts that have been published?

There are probably folk out there reading this who are rolling their eyes and thinking 'doh!' - but hey folks, I really don't know.

Blogger has caused me grief on & off but I always manage to get over the problem (often with much nashing of teeth - but I get there) so why can't the techno-nerds leave things alone.

I'm a great believer in "if it ain't broke - don't try and fix it!"......................................................

How's your Sunday going...

...we've had a real mixed bag of weather here.

It hasn't been cold but we've had fine showers off and on for most of the day.

I went over to Mum's to take her shopping and I would swear that these chives have multiplied since last week...

...they are by the front gate post on Mum's driveway...

 ...although they weren't planted there by her she hasn't pulled them up because the flowers are so pretty and they attract the honey bees. They also remind us both of Dad as he loved to eat chives and onions. The tiny pink flowers with them are hardy geraniums which seem to have gone mad this year but look really lovely in the way they tumble over the edge of Mum's raised beds.

Mum was always the gardener in our family although these days she limits her garden to things that pretty much look after themselves and come up year after year. Dad could never tell a flower from a weed and this lovely bloom would have totally confused him...

 ...it is a paeony rose (peony) and has the most wonderful scent...

 I snapped these pics between showers...

...and you can see the raindrops on the leaves.

Dad would never have considered this to be a 'rose' in any shape or form - his idea of a rose was the typical climber or bush rose and was probably the only flower that he was ever able to be confident in recognising. Over the years he did most of the donkey work in the garden under Mum's direction but would never have considered himself a gardener.

Mum's front garden looked very pretty today with all the shades of pink nestling against the green and I'm sure it was all thanks to a certain Angel - thank you Dad..................................................

Happy Father's Day...

...to all those lovely Dads out there.

May you all have a lovely peaceful day in which you can relax and follow your dreams.

Thinking of you Dad even though you are no longer with us to share the day...........................

How do you...

 ...I love to sit and colour.

I can happily lose myself for hours with some stamped/printed images and a set of pens or pencils.

Whilst I'm not a fan of repeating the same image in the same colour-way (boring...) I will merrily spend my time colouring multiples of the same image - but in different colour combos.

This is another version of the RoseRed image by Krista Smith (Saturated Canary)...

 ...this time coloured as an ash-blonde with a lilac gown using Spectrum Noir pens.
Skin: TN1, TN2, FS1, FS7
Hair: TN1, EB1, EB2
Dress: HB1, HB2, HB3 and a touch of PP1 added to the HB1 on the skirt

I hope none of you have fallen off your chairs because I never usually remember what colour pens I've used LOL

I really love seeing how different colour combos work.

Here is my little blondie side-by-side with the ginger image I showed you the other day...

...the same image but looking so very different just because of using different colours.
Oh, and before you ask...
Skin: FS3, FS4, FS5, CR3
Hair: TN1, GB1, GB6, GB7
Dress: DG1, DG2, DG4 and a touch of EB2 added to the DG1 on the skirt
...bet you didn't think I'd be able to remember - now did you!

I used the blender pen on both images to help even out the shading on the dress area.

I find colouring so peaceful and relaxing (unlike the hassle I had up-loading these pics to the PC - for some reason the automatic loading of the memory card doesn't seem to be working grrrr) and would be perfectly content to while-away my time pursuing this pastime.

Is there a specific aspect of crafting that you find particularly relaxing?............................................

Are we there yet?...

...is a chant that most adults dread hearing.

UK weather can never be relied upon to play nice so more often than not when you are travelling somewhere and there are children involved it will be - too hot - too cold - too wet - and as a result...the little folk are BORED!!!

Why am I mentioning this?

I have one of the smash-type journals from a recent DoCraft range about travel and on one of the pages "Are we there yet?" is shadow printed as part of the design...but I digress...

Over at the Saturated Canary Challenge blog, the latest challenge (#44) is to colour the hair of an image differently. So I decided to colour "Boobielove" with purple hair...

 ...and her clothes are mauve & aqua which match rather well with the 'Are we there...' page in the journal. Sorry the pics aren't better but I think you can just make out the saying...

 ...or at least you can see the word 'yet' LOL
I decided that I would use some coloured images to decorate some of the pages in this journal...

 ...and this is my first one.
I didn't want to add too much decoration to the page as this will be added to as I complete it with journaling, notes and keepsakes...

...obviously this will be a work in progress as I work my way through the journal but I hope this is okay as my entry for the current challenge......................................................................

On a bit of a roll...

...with the colouring.

Meet "RoseRed", another lovely miss by the designer Krista Smith...

...I've had this image a while but the other day when I was sorting through my images there was something about her that just screamed 'redhead' - so I gave her a mop of ginger hair and a lovely pale olive green gown. I think this one is definitely heading for my Smash book.

A colleague has her birthday this coming weekend so I used the Red/White/Blue "Boobielove" that I coloured the other day...

...the blue background paper is from last year's DoCraft range 'Portabella Road' as is the little blue polka dot bow.
Ah, the bow...

 ...yep, the bow wasn't on the image when you saw it last. In the centre of her tee-shirt was a charity ribbon which I had the grand idea of adding blue to so that it was Red/White/Blue like the rest of the image - the ink bled and attempts to tidy it up just seemed to make things worse - hence the appearance of the bow.
I'm not sure of the make of this ribbon but I do love it (and just happen to have a few metres of the stuff)...

...it is from a company that did some fabulous Scandinavian type design ribbons for Christmas (I have a few of those too **rollseyes**).
This is the finished card...

...it is 'tent-fold' and A5 in size. The image was rough cut and mounted on a doily. You might also notice a bit of 'bling' - after all - a girl has to have a bit of bling on her birthday................................

I have loads of 'Canaries'...

...the 'Saturated' kind - not feathered.

Krista Smith (Saturated Canary) creates the most super images for colouring and as all the ones I have are digi, it is fun to be able to print them off in a size to suit the project I have in mind.

I love colouring but have to 'own-up' to not having done very much of it recently...all the usual excuses; tired, busy...LIFE!

However, having now sorted out a storage solution which enables me to have one of my sets of pens on my desk, I'm finding that I'm reaching for the pens to...'just colour that little bit there...' or 'think I've got time to just colour that bit...' It's working well and I've done more colouring this week than I've done in ages.

I can't say that I've dashed off loads of coloured images but as you can see...

 ...these three are finished and ready to be made into something.
I printed these ones slightly bigger (2 images to a sheet of A4 rather than my normal 4 to a sheet)...

 ...as I want to make a few more A5 size cards and this size image gives the sort of effect that I want - decent size image but still space for decoration. I also wanted to get a collection of images done in this size so that I can use them to decorate my Smash books.
This little miss was a freebie from Krista and I've kept to a Red/White/Blue theme as this makes me think of Summer & Boats as well as being patriotic...

 ...'Boobielove' was given free in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness but it can so easily be adapted for any charity by just changing the colour of the ribbon.
This little miss is all frills & flounces...

...'Jules' was another freebie - don't you just love all that hair. I have kept the colour scheme very pastel with aqua & lilac'y pink.

I haven't shown you a 'close-up' of the other 'Boobielove' image as I'm hoping to get her made up into something for a challenge over at the Saturated Canary Challenge Blog.

So there you go, proof that getting organised has also been a motivation to get colouring again. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to my pens and if they are not in the right order for me to use, they just don't get used. I have to say that this is not something new that has developed over time. If I think back to when I was a child (no comments about me being able to remember back that far - thank you! LOL) I probably spent as much time putting my colouring pencils into order as I did actually using them. I certainly have no excuse now with my Spectrum Noir pens as they are in the order that I want and close to hand.

Ummm, think that bit just needs a touch more TN2............................................................