Blogger service...

...resumed.

Yep, the dashboard seems to be back in working order after the fun & games of disappearing blog snippets so I hope I have been able to catch up with everyone (sorry if I've missed any posts).

Now if I can get my printer sorted out I might be able to get some crafting done..............................

Oh Blogger...

...what are you playing at now!!!

I've been having error messages pop-up for a couple of weeks now because Blogger doesn't 'like' IE11 (Blogger doesn't support past IE10 - which is an improvement because a short while ago they only went up to IE9) but I had learnt to live with them...until yesterday...

My Dashboard is really up the creek.

Although I have my list of blogs that I follow showing nicely down the left-hand side, only one post is showing and even though there is the facility of a 'button' below the post snippet to view more - if you click on it nothing happens grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

You can refresh the dashboard but you only get a snippet of the latest post.

Now with the best will in the world, there is no way I can sit glued to the PC hitting refresh all day so that I don't miss anything. So I tried one of the browsers that Blogger does support - was there any difference? Was there heck!!!

I am set up on Bloglovin but I don't find it particularly user friendly (me being very limited in the techy department) and I also noticed that it doesn't show all the posts of the folk that I follow.

If anyone out there has solved this problem with the restricted posts for viewing on blogger dashboard and can give me a hint as what to do, I will be very grateful.

On a happier note (sort of)...

After the fun of the sky photos on Saturday, I had another 'miss' on Sunday.

Having taken Mum shopping, we were home and I was just unpacking the car when Mum shouted "Oh, look at that". Coming towards the bungalow from the Thames was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - obviously heading towards Barleylands for day 2 of the Armed Forces show.

They flew over so low, you felt you could almost reach up and touch them. Guess what, I didn't have my camera...groan.

For anyone who doesn't know what the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is, here is a photo that I found on the Internet...

...the 'Flight' consists of a Lancaster Heavy Bomber, a Hurricane fighter and a Spitfire. They look amazing as they pass. According to available information, this is one of only two Lancasters that can fly - the other belongs to the Canadian air force. However, in August this year both will be on display here in the UK as the Canadian plane is flying over and is supposed to arrive on 8 August. What a piece of history.

Right, back to Blogger and see if I can suss out what is going on................................................

This weekend is...

...the South Essex Armed Forces show.

The event is being held at the Barleylands Showground (the fields next to the craft village car park)...

...and for once, Mother Nature was playing nice and Saturday was a glorious day - warm and sunny.

Perhaps a little too sunny...

I was sitting enjoying the sunshine in the courtyard just outside Pinnacle Crafts when the air display started (there had been a few jets go over earlier but this was the actual 'dog-fight'). The display started with a number of WW1 planes milling around the skies so I grabbed my camera...

...and missed them (nice shot of the sky though). I tried again but it was so difficult trying to focus the camera on the planes because of the angle of the sun...

...click...and you guessed it - another sky shot.
I tried again and despite the planes being close to where the aerial and the background changes from cloud to blue sky, by the time the shutter clicked...

...this is what I got - two little planes disappearing off the bottom left of the photo. I gave up and just enjoyed the spectacle. When the Spitfire started whizzing round the skies I didn't even bother to reach for the camera.

The event covered a huge area so it wasn't easy to get pictures that reflected this.

The Army had quite a large presence...

 ...camouflaged tents, trucks...

 ...more trucks.
This photo shows how the event stretched off into the distance...

...certainly a great 'Family' day out with things to see and funfair rides.
Oh I did manage to get a better plane shot...

...this one was easier as it was sitting on the ground (still not the best angle for the sun - but hey-ho).

There seemed to be a lot of excited kiddies enjoying the event along with a lot of elderly folk who obvious enjoyed the memories that it evoked. Here's hoping that Mother Nature continues to play nice so that the 2nd day of the event goes off just as well.........................................................

Well...

...so far I've managed to miss all the footie.

Probably a good thing as another broken TV is not what I need on my replacement list at the moment (the main house TV decided to die a few weeks back and I'm making do with the portable as there are other things higher up the list).

Last weekend when Hilary & I met for breakfast there wasn't a hint of football fever in the café at Barleylands. When we popped in for lunch it was a whole different thing...

...a huge great Italian flag by the door and every member of staff had an Italian flag painted on their face. This cheerful chap even had his hair painted. We got the feeling that perhaps they were supporting Italy - not really surprising as the owners are Italian.

A bit more colour was added to the flags & bunting at work...

...as we had a Summer themed lunchtime party to celebrate exceeding our targets last year. Lots of flowery dresses & shirts made an appearance but I went with a flowery necklace & headband - as you do.
I did promise to show you the additional bunting that we hung...

 ...Brazil flags to recognise the fact that the footie is taking place in Brazil and...

 ...flags of all the nations taking part...

 ...all 32 of them. If you are wondering what that is hanging down from the ceiling either end of the bunting - it was clusters of England balloons but they seem to have deflated (a bit like the England performance according to the media).

I was asked what they are going to build on the demolition site across the road. We are given to believe it will be another of these...

 ...a 26 storey tower block. If you think that is rain on the window - think again. Although our windows were cleaned just about a month ago, that is all the muck & dirt that has come from the building site.
This shot will give more of an idea of how close these two building sites are to our building...

...it feels like we are slowly being penned in.
When Stratford was getting ready for the Olympics, there were many things that were done to make the area better - but this was not one of them...

...the pole in the centre of the photo is one of the new lamp-posts that were put up. A horrid grey metal pole with a circular down-lighter sticking out from the side. The previous lights were so much nicer - ornate black metal structures with large white glass globes set into them. Oh well, this is what we have now and I can use this photo to tick off number 17 on 'Rinda' Ontiveros' scavenger hunt - see the button over on the right-hand side which links through to her blog.

So it is Friday and the end of another working week. Fingers crossed the weather stays nice for the weekend. Have a good one folks.............................................................

A room...

...with not much of a view.

This is the view from my window at work...

...pretty dismal and not very inspiring. Would you believe just two years ago it looked like this...

 ...Stratford was getting ready for the Olympics and everywhere was being made ready for the event...

...lawns were nicely cut and flower beds planted to make pleasant areas throughout the town. All so very different to what can be seen at the moment...

 ...noise, dirt & rubble...

...and not a flower bed or tree to be seen.

As the outside world was looking so horrid, I put some decorations up in the office to cheer things up a bit...

 ...plenty of George crosses everywhere...

 ...not only in flag form but some inflatable hands too and a flower pot...

...sporting a few more flags.

Yesterday I added some Brazil bunting and a length of multi-flag bunting but I haven't had a chance to take more photos - will try and get some pics tomorrow.

It certainly makes things a bit more cheerful and my team love it. We are the only section that has gone all out to decorate for the World Cup (although there has been a rather large 3 lions flag appear on another section this week).

Folk from elsewhere in the office say how great it looks but nobody else has been bothered to do anything similar. How boring...

It didn't take long to do. It didn't cost much as we already had some of the stuff and most of what has been added has come from £ and 99p Stores. Best of all, it brightens the place up and has created a more cheerful mood amongst my team. Resulting in better motivation and (here comes the buzz words) increased staff engagement.

I'm wondering what I can do when this lot has to come down at the end of the World Cup...what can I decorate our section with...Christmas seems rather a long way off..................................................

Are you watching the World Cup...

...or are you avoiding it?

Despite decorating the office with loads of George Cross bunting & flags, I haven't had a chance to watch any of it. Not that I'm particularly interested in football but I do like to lend a bit of patriotic support to our sporting endeavours.

It is great to see the English flag flying all over the place...on homes, shops, pubs and cars...it brings back memories of the national pride & spirit that existed in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Folk may remember that I work in East London right next to the QEII Park (previously called the Olympic Park) and I got to watch the construction of the various venues located in the park.

Last week there was an article in the Press that stated, if the England team were lucky enough to win the tournament and...

 ...were to bring home the trophy - the owners of the Orbit...

...would have it painted gold. They did say they were not quite sure how they would achieve this (the Orbit was constructed in sections that were already painted red) but they assured the English people that if the trophy comes home to England the Orbit will be turned gold.

I suppose, depending on how you look at the Orbit, you could say both items are similar in shape so we would have a huge representation of the trophy sitting in the QEII park.

I did intend to watch England's first game against Italy - I got myself ready and comfortably settled ready for kick-off...and promptly fell asleep. As we lost 1 - 2 it saved me getting frustrated as the 90 minutes ticked away.

So England didn't get off to the most brilliant of starts - I wonder what the current odds are on the Orbit turning gold...........................................................................

Lots of work...

...but it was certainly worth it.

Saturday was another of Andy Pearson's inky, mucky classes over at Pinnacle Crafts, Barleylands Craft Village.

9.15am saw me sitting in the café with a sausage sandwich and a glass of orange juice waiting for Hilary to arrive - she joined me a few moments later with her toast & coffee.

10.00am and we were in the classroom listening to Andy explaining what we were aiming for and then we watched a short video of another crafter (can't remember the name) making a very detailed mixed media canvas. We were then let loose to attack our 12x12 canvas that had been pre-gesso'd.

There was stacks of stuff to select from - Andy said projects like this are ideal for using up all those odds & ends (especially those flowers from multi-coloured packs that are colours you will never use).

This is how my selection of embellishments looked just layed onto the canvas...

 ...along with some greyboard die-cuts...

...and my Nicecrane Designs image framed by a metal book-plate.
I picked a selection of frames, locks, keys and timepieces...

 ...and when I was happy with the layout - I carefully moved it all onto a sheet of paper so that I could start working on the canvas.
Using two of the Tim Holtz stencils (wood & clocks) I applied textured paste onto the canvas...

 ...and cut up and frayed some burlap fabric which was then applied randomly to the canvas.
You can see the wood grain texture more clearly in this photo...

 ...and the threads are the strands of burlap that were removed from the cut pieces.
This photo shows the clock faces that were roughly stencilled on the top corner...

 ...there was no need to be too fussy as a lot of the texture design would be covered by the time the piece was finished.
The embellishments were gradually glued in place...

...you may notice a few changes to the original layout.

Mod-podge was applied all over the canvas to help seal everything and to provide a 'key' on the non-porous items. Then the colour was applied. This took a lot of time due to the need to dry the piece at each stage so I didn't take any photos of this process.

I started with a coat of Antique cream acrylic paint and then applied several colours of Artiste Mica spray - Electric blue, Ocean, Hematite, Black Night and White. To stop the spray from damaging the image I used good old Post-it notes to mask the image and took care not to allow the spray to pool and seep under the Post-it. Once this was dry I used brown acrylic paint to dry-brush certain high points and then used sand coloured acrylic paint to dry-brush other areas.

 This was the piece almost finished...

 ...I removed the Post-it notes and fixed the frame in place...

 ...and continued to highlight certain areas of the piece.

The class was fairly small so that we would all have plenty of space to work in and not have to wait to use pieces of equipment such as die-cutting machines.

This was Linda's finished piece...

...she went for mainly peachy tints with a touch of brown & gold.
Hilary decided to go for a soft pastel look...

 ...sticking to soft greens and pearl.
This was the demo piece that Andy did during the class...

 ...it wasn't finished but it is mainly metallic shades.
Sue attacked her canvas with lavenders...

 ...and a touch of blue.
This was the beautiful finished sample that Andy had prepared for the class...

 ...it is difficult to see all the shades that were used on this but it is truly beautiful.
Finally, this was my finished piece...

...I love the texture that the burlap has given to the background and I'm really pleased how the colours worked.

A fabulous class Andy - thank you so much for the idea and the inspiration you provided so that each of us came away with a lovely completed project...................................................................

Ignacio of Nicecrane Designs...

...sent some super new digi images.

Here are two of the new Nicecrane Design digi-stamp sets...

..."A Child Garden of Verses Bookmarks" and...

..."Vintage Ladies & Pets". Aren't they super.
I've made a start colouring one of the bookmarks...

 ...and as you can see, the image is beautifully detailed. I'm still trying to decide whether to colour the whole thing in detail or just the foreground - keeping the background more of a wash of colour. I'll see how it goes.
Today was one of Andy Pearson's classes at Pinnacle Crafts. It was a canvas/mixed media class and this is what I created...

...and it is all finished and hanging on the wall.
I had taken one of Ignacio's images with me as it was the colour scheme that I wanted to use...

 ...but having seen Andy's sample, I decided I would use the image on the piece and I'm really pleased with the finished look.
There is lots of texture and detail on this piece...

...and as you can see, I've taken the colour, texture and detailing over the edge so that the piece has a 'finished' look to it.
The image used was from this set...

..."About Fairies & Angels" - this is a pre-coloured set and it can be found here.

Ignacio has lots of new images for release in June and there are some fabulous creations over on the Nicecrane blog from the DT members - please hop over there to take a look.

I'll be back tomorrow with more detail about how the canvas was created and I'll also show you what the other ladies in the class made...........................................................

The Photo Scavenger Hunt...

...continues.

I have another few photos to share which means I can tick some more items off the list for the 2014 Scavenger Hunt. Appearing in no particular order...

8) A Tattoo on a person...

...well there is no way that there would ever be a photo of me to fulfil this item as when it comes to needles, I'm the World's biggest chicken. However, I do have a colleague who has a lovely rose on her shoulder with the words "Mum & Dad" - I asked her if she would mind me taking a photo but instead of showing me the rose, she showed me this. On her back she has a tattoo of each of her grandchildren - names and all.

2) A Garden Gnome...

...my two gonelfs (I've never been quite sure if the were gnomes or elderly elves) were hiding out in the bramble patch...

...Barty is still trying to get to the end of his book...

...and Alfred seems to have become rather camera shy LOL

21) A photo of you with something representing the season. Well here in the Northern Hemisphere it is Summer and that usually heralds sporting events, BBQs and drinks out on the patio...

...the local Off-licence had this sporty display in the window - where am I, I hear you questioning...

...look a bit closer. That's me reflected in the window taking the photo.

Okay...I know it's a bit cheeky and I promise to come up with something better but I just had to show you this window display.

If you are wondering why I'm posting some rather ad hoc photos then you need to hop over to Maria "Rinda" Ontiveros' blog to take a look at the details of the Summer 2014 Photo Scavenger Hunt. Better still, make a note of the list and join in the fun yourselves.................................................