Alice's paper bag album

Alice finished her paper bag album tonight and before she took it home for her sister Laura's birthday I took a few photos of it. She has made a really good job of it - Well done Alice I'm proud of you.



I have obliterated Laura's body to protect her modesty













and here's the lovely Alice finding out how to stencil over (and remove!!!) peeloffs in the few minutes before class finished.





The other girls are still working on their albums but I will put them on here as soon as.

so Bye for now
Sue

Joy oh! Joy

After a fabulous day yesterday life returned to normal today - joy oh! joy!!!

Pavement outside still looks like Beirut ......



and to add to all this delirium they have now started working on removing the rendering on the building (9 apartments and about 6 shops). I spoke to the builder and he tells me 2 months...........I suppose that is the same time frame the pavement boss used when he told me it would all be finished in 2 weeks more or less and we are now well into week 4!!!



Still I do have two gorgeous new moleskine 8 x 5 sketchbook journals and Pitt pens Mum bought me.
I painted with Claudine's creamy, translucent paints and stamped with lids and bubble wrap and did a bit of journalling to get the feel of the pages - so strokeable and smooth - mmmm!! the same feelings as chocolate - I will add the journalling to the right hand side later time permitting.



The inside front cover was next and I just drew some lines and added some words....



...and then I cannibalised a couple of loose pages I had made previously by removing the magazine images and adding the new improved version in my journal. I might add some colour to the right hand page - or then again I might leave it just as it is!!!...just because I can!



Ok - now have some lunch, look at the newspaper and back for the kidz club - still not renamed - must get the girls to thinking about that tonight.

so Bye for now
Sue

Fabby finish to the day

Just a few photos from tonight...



Its 00.49 and just got back - had a good meal with great friends all topped off with the firework display that Javea very kindly puts on for me every year!!! - truthfully, its the feast of the Virgin Mary that they celebrate but is it my fault if people believe me!!!

I am so lucky to have good health and such good friends, whether out celebrating with me or not.





John and Colin being grumpy old men!!!



What an anti-climax tomorrow will be.

Well, I had better get some beauty sleep or there won't be much tomorrow!
so night night
Sue

Really good day

Today is my birthday and so far has been a really good day. This morning I had a half hour chat on Facebook with my lovely friend Tanya and then I went off to the shop.

We made Christmas cards - their variations inspired by mine all based on the Artistic Stamper's Bobby the snowman stamp. The Blonde Moment mica pigment powders and Marvy Wet Look Markers were on the table for adding colour to the clothes.



Here they are all hard at work...



...this is Christine with her card...



...and her daughter Katharine....



...and last but by no means least Erica with hers....



...they had all made extra bits to make more cards when they got home.

When I got home Colin and Mum(who has moved to Spain permanently to live with us) were there having flown in from the UK earlier today.

Here are some lovely birthday cards made for me by my ladies...



and a great message from my adorable grandchildren



...and a pressie from Colin



and I have had texts from my children and a long phone call from my good friend Lorraine - I have been so spoilt - and now I have to go and get tarted up for a meal out with Erica and John, Christine and Katharine, Colin and my Mum not forgetting of course my Lhasa Bailey.

so Bye for now
Sue

new journal for quotes.

This morning I decided to put some of the many quotes I have collected into a new small journal that I spent most of the class last night gessoing. I chose my quote, decided how I was going to lay it out on the page and as I was only going to use black and white and a limited amount of coloured pencil I decided that the fact that my Pilot fine liner wasn't waterproof didn't matter!! I was very pleased with the way I wrote Believe and adorned it and then drew the flower and leaves to the left of it, causing the side of my hand to smudge the word. No mistakes in art I thought so on I went. I completed the opposite page and duly smuged the word art and the leaves to balance it all out!!! My next thought was that if it smudged while I was working on it I should spray it with hairspray to set it and prevent further smudging. This I duly did and watched in horror as the black lines all ran!!!!!!!



I stress to the children the importance of not tearing pages out of their journals and looking at them again another day but my mantra has been sorely tested today.

I threw the journal into my bag and came home!!!

Any ideas for tidying this up will be very welcome.

The kerbstones outside the shop are now set in place so the workmen achieved more than I did this morning!!!



Going to have a cheese and cucumber roll and then taking Bailey for a much needed haircut at 3.30 - at least I am not doing the cutting!!!
so Bye for now
Sue

PS Notice the actual wording in the journal!!!!!!!!



Sue

why! oh why!!!

By the time I had driven to the shop (just 7 minutes) my tears had dried and been replaced with anger. Why should someone have to beg..."will work for food"??? and why should a family be devastated by fighting someone else's war????... so many questions... and so many answers out of our hands!!!

I decided to put the red mist onto a couple of pages I gessoed recently and see what transpired. It worked quite well.



The right hand page was too damp to add the wording - I am unsure whether to wait until I am angry again (very rarely) or if my usual calm frame of mind will work as well. We'll just have to wait and see.

Bye for now
Sue

Quick post

You must go to Dylan's blog and scroll down today's post to the youtube video - but be warned it will make you cry - it's very powerful.
Sue