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Sunday 24 February 2013

Just A Little Prick

I couldn't resist,  as this week's challenge at Less Is More is to use Paper Piercing (or Pricking, as I call it)  I inked up SU's Trendy Trees set and this is the result. 


The set lent itself to this challenge as dots were incorporated in the design, I just pierced through them,  et voila!


I am also linking to this week's Addicted To CAS' Masculine challenge.

Over the last couple of days I've discovered some great junk shops over in NM's neck of the woodsOn Friday I visited Stable Antiques, Storrington, which was jam-packed full of Bric-a-Brac, vintage clothes, kitchenalia and house clearance furniture.  This kind of place is my idea of heaven and I could easily have spent hours in there if it were not for the perishing cold.  The building itself is 200 years old, draughty and mainly unheated but despite wearing gloves my fingers were turning blue after an hour in there so I made my purchase and left,
however once the weather warms up I'll definitely be back.


Enamel plate £2

Yesterday we went to a similar but not so junky,  place in Pulborough where I bought these lovelies.


Glass Millefiori Pendant £2


Pewter Pendant featuring medieval image £3 



On the way home, driving down a remote country lane we saw a male pheasant lying in the road.  NM likes a bit of road kill so we stopped and picked it up.  The poor thing had recently been hit by a car (it was still warm) and its neck was broken but there was hardly a mark on it.  It got slung in the back of the car but I thought it deserved some dignity, so much to his amusement it travelled home on my lap. I'd never seen a pheasant in such close proximity before and I was staggered by the stunning colours and iridescence of the feathers. They really are beautiful (if stupid, according to NM!) creatures.

 (ours was a lot more attractive than this one)

A quick update on the crochet which is going well.  Perhaps it was ever so slightly ambitious of me to start with a blanket for my first project,  maybe a cushion cover would have been more manageable.  Only another 150 squares to go then!  These still need blocking (flattening out, to you and me) and then starts the laborious business of crocheting them together, I wonder if I'll last the distance ?



I'm off to visit some friends now,  before a pub lunch with Dad.   Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
xx

Saturday 16 February 2013

Blackbirds

Saturday heralds another challenge from Less Is More and this week their theme is 'UP IN THE AIR'  I deliberated over aircraft and butterflies but settled on birds. Over at CAS-ual Friday their challenge is BLACK AND WHITE PLUS ONE COLOUR.  This card will hopefully fit the bill for both challenges.





I sponged the background using two colours only and stamped the tree by Hobby Art and 'Blackbirds' (OK, so a rogue bird has muscled in...a lesser spotted bustard, do you suppose or maybe an off-course albatross?) by Inkadinkado.  I offset the panel to one side of the card and stamped a sentiment by Penny Black.


My one of my favourite tunes is Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd but it's best enjoyed in a crowded pub on top of a few pints of cider, here's one more appropriate for a quiet Saturday afternoon.

ttfn x





Friday 15 February 2013

Charity Shop Schmutter and other Snaps

A trawl round the chazza's last week was quite fruitful for a change and I came home with the following.


Portmeirion Tray £1  (useful for starting seedlings on the windowsill)




Seasalt top in very good nick, £1.99 (researched the brand online, nothing similar for less than £30!)








'Rock chick' demin waistcoat (a possible mistake, think my bum might look big in this)



Shirt for NM




 Linen mix skirt






Principles Gilet modeled here.



 I've finally learned how to use my self-timer remote gadget and took 63 pictures of myself with it.  I must be the most unphotogenic person in the universe 'cos this picture of me with a face like a smacked arse, was the best! 

Here are some slightly better (I'm not in them!) snaps for February Photo-a-Day.


Soft



Your Name




Entrance


I'm off down the pub now for a swift pint, have a great weekend all.
x

Monday 11 February 2013

Cold Cuckfield and a Card

Not had a chance to blog lately but I'm back this morning with a very quick card for this weeks LIM theme, MUSIC (one layer).  This was somewhat of a challenge as I only have one small music stamp and mojo seems to have deserted me, however this is what I came up with. I'm also linking to Simplicity's OLW where the theme is One Neglected Colour, I very rarely use orange.



As you can see, this is not one of my better cards but hey you can't be fabulous all the time and I'm short of time today. (The photo is sub-standard also, it's snowing currently and very grey outside.)  I  punched a flower from a Post-it and sponged through the aperture with Dried Marigold DI and then overstamped with my ancient one and only music stamp.  I added the SU ivy by placing  the punched out flower post-it and using it as a mask.  The badly stamped sentiment is by Penny Black, oh well I'll just have to send this one to someone whose eyesight is not too good!

The weather has been crappy lately so I've hardly taken any photo's this year but last week we did have one lovely day where the sun actually made an appearance so I grabbed the opportunity and got out there.  We just went to the nearby pretty village of Cuckfield where I captured these shots.



We took a walk through the churchyard of Holy Trinity, the parish church where I once endured the most interminable christening.



It was this time of year and one of those affairs where there are several babies to be baptised in one service which went on forever.  After the christenings the vicar then launched into Holy Communion and droned on for an hour praying for just about everyone in West Sussex individually, it seemed. He then suggested the 'happy clappy' nonsense that we should hug the person next to us...yuk, no thanks mate. The Church was baltic and my arse was frozen to the hard, icy pew by this time.  So after hearing more prayers for the Bishop of Chichester who was about to retire and poor Gladys from the village who had gone to meet her maker the previous week I decided to make a hasty exit before I was next to die, from hypothermia !!





I hope my friend forgave me for giving the 'do' afterwards to celebrate her little boy's baptism, a miss. I was just so perishing cold I had to go home and thaw out.



Poor Sarah, it sounds like she had a hard life but at least she was appreciated.




Wasn't permitted to lunch here as it doesn't serve the right beer!  Instead we went to another freezing cold establishment where the punters had coats over their laps to keep warm.  What is it about Cuckfield ?

On the night shift tonight but I'll be back soon to show you last week's chazza finds.

xx





     

Sunday 3 February 2013

Another Suitcase in Another Hall

Thanks so much for all the kind comments on my last post and your affirmations that my blog was not boring.  I'm hoping that a 'new look' and a more newsy post will have you all riveted.

After a glum start the week picked up when on Tuesday night I went to a gig with my mate Sue.  Here's me arsing about before I went, trying to get my self-timer gizmo to work. (I sadly failed)


The pub was heaving when we arrived and it wasn't long before I was asked to dance by an octogenarian who told me that I was 'a right old rocker'  Hmmm, less of the 'old' thank you. 

Later in the week I attended a nearby Knit & Natter session to fine tune my crochet technique which was, shall we just say... improvisedThe regular ladies were very welcoming and soon my crochet crimes were a thing of the past.  I was amazed by the work of these very accomplished ladies and although I cannot ever hope to achieve their standard I am enjoying making my granny squares which I hope will be a bedcover eventually.



I had a chazzin success yesterday, whilst over in Petworth with NM we went to Sue Ryder and found this fab old suitcase for the princely sum of £2.95!  Not for the hall but perfect for housing all my crap, under the bed.








On the way home we made a quick stop at another village chazza and I came away this unused linen tea towel, which I think is a modern one with a retro design.



Also this weekend I managed to squeeze in some crafting and last night came up with a card to enter in 

Less Is More's 2nd Birthday Challenge !

the theme is Kraft & Kreme, I'm also linking to CAS-ual Friday's  'Love LETTERS' challenge.



Unusually for me there's no stamping on this one.  the kraft panel was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder (which for the first time ever was achieved without getting a line where the join is, more by luck than good judgement I have to say)  The flower and leaves are die-cut.

That's all from me, enjoy what's left of the weekend.