Coming back to blogland

I know I have been missing for several months and actually went AWOL almost mid-post. Sadly it was part due to a sudden worrying health scare (OH) which required lots of doctor and hospital appointments for some weeks and also our beloved doggy companion, Alice, had to be put to sleep. I am afraid blogging had to take a back seat. But let's face it I've had more comebacks than a few pop bands I could mention and feel as if I'm making yet another excuse for neglecting this space.  In reality I am not one for bearing my soul to everyone either so I seem to end up with all or nothing and withdraw from everything. 

Then in June our bestest friends Glenda and Adrian, who own Chocolate Baroque, moved to bonny Scotland. Tearful day as we have been friends for a lot of years now and shared so much. However it also heralded a new role for me in as much I am now General Manager at Chocolate Baroque and run the business for them on a day to day basis. Plus we get to have some fantastic weekends north of the border.

So time has continued to tick time by and I think it actually becomes harder to get back to it. It's easier to say to yourself 'I'll blog again next week' than it is to just sit down and do it. Bit like life really. Sometimes we opt for the easy path rather than the one that takes some effort when, in fact, the difficult one would be much more rewarding. We cannot expect to find health, wealth, happiness etc  without turning up and contributing. It's like the joke Adrian has told on several occasions about the guy who prays to God to win the lottery and God replies ' Meet me half way, buy a ticket!"

I think the key is possibly what I call baby steps. Make the effort certainly, but don't throw everything in all at once. By pacing yourself and taking baby steps you will not sicken yourself or tire yourself from the task. Going from zero to hero in one or two moves cannot be sustained, you will either burn out or lose interest. And each comeback becomes longer and harder until you eventually turn your back on it altogether. 

So here is comeback number whatever and I would like to share something with you though, which I created last weekend whilst spending time 'over the border'.  Glenda has been re-running her weekly inspiration email called Monday Mojo and incorporating brand new artwork. Last year she used one of the cards I had taught at a class as her inspiration and conincidentally that particular email was due out again on Bank Holiday Monday.  As We decided to each make a card using the instructions from last year and set to. Despite the fact we were working in the same room we paid no attention to the other's work. So you can imagine how surprised we were when we did show and tell. We had both used very similar colours and the same sentiment stamp. Sisters under the crafting skin!  You can see and read about Glenda's card here.

I used an 8" x 8" card blank, but this would work with a small card, just adjust the sizes of the dies to be used.

1. Using three dies in progressively smaller sizes and cut three masks from Masking Tissue, making sure you leave a broad edge around each die cut.
2. Position the larger mask (the negative from your die cutting) on the card and with some Cut and Dry Foam and Crushed Olive distress ink, colour through onto the card.
3. Now take the actual large die cut and position over the area you have just coloured. Using the next size down mask position to the left of the first block and colour as before, this time with Wild Honey distress ink. Add extra colour to the edge closest to the middle panel to give depth.
4. Remove the mask but leave the large die cut in place and position the smallest mask to the right of the first block and colour again using Dried Marigold distress ink. Again add extra colour to the edge closest to the middle panel.
5. Ink up the key from Key to my Dreams with Versafine Olympia Green and stamp in the centre panel.
6. Ink up a smaller key with Orange Blossom Archival ink and stamp off onto a piece of spare paper (you want to achieve a very litight covering of ink) before stamping into the left hand panel.
7. Finally ink up the Be Happy stamp from the Happy Words and Birds clear stamp set with Orange Blossom and stamp into the right hand panel. To finish off I used a toning coloured pencil to create an edge around the centre panel.

I hope you have managed to stay awake through this extremely long post and I thank you for staying with me. And, whilst I am making no promises about regular posts, I must remember my own words and at least turn up once in a while 'Oh' and maybe buy a ticket.

'A Week of Encouragement - Day 1'

Hello everyone and welcome to a new 'Week of..' series. This week is all about encouragement, of oneself, of other people, from other people. And I hope that by the end of the week we have managed to encourage eachother in some way.

The official dictionary definition is 'words or actions that give someone confidence or hope'. We use words of encouragement all the time, from taking the dog out for a walk in the morning 'Fetch the stick - Good Boy!' (pat on the dog's head) to yelling 'Go on my son' at the TV when 'encouraging' your team to score a goal. I've done that myself, during the 2012 Olympics, like they could hear me screaming 'You can do it' at whichever GB athelete was competing at the time! I was watching the Winter Paralymics earlier today and one of the downhill skiers was shouting at herself as she hurtled down the icy slope. 'Listen to her encouraging herself' remarked the commentator. All good stuff, all positive. But what about negative encouragement?

How many of us have said 'If you don't behave Santa won't come', or 'You can't climb that, you're too small'. I only caught myself saying the Santa type thing to my daughter once and then immediately realised what I had said and tried never make such a remark again. But I have heard this type of thing in the workplace too -  'You are never going to get that report done by 5 o'clock' and 'You're never going to let so and so get that finished before you are you?' Making someone feel guilty to get them to do what you want is off limits as far as I am concerned. But everyday you will hear this type of thing from parents, grandparents, employers - much of it said in jest, much of it causing silent pain. 

However we all need encouragement, its how we gain confidence to carry on but its only good if it is genuine. It doesn't do anyone any favours to tell them their work, project, art etc is wonderful when quite plainly it isn't. That's how we get so many untalented people appearing on talent shows - no-one said they couldn't sing/act/dance.

My artwork today is of two cards I made for a magazine article on resist about 4, maybe even five or more years ago. 

 

Looking at them I wonder how they got publish, but believe it or not at the time they were considered innovative stuff and the feedback I received encouraged me to feel better about both myself and my artwork. Seeing it again now it looks very dated and very basic, but I can still remember the feelings of positivity and self worth. It's a good feeling and that's just how it should be. It is very easy to give negative encouragement almost by accident, but we must think before we speak or act. After all, how do we really want our words to be remembered in the future by the recipient?

Tomorrow I shall be looking at other peoples' artwork that definitely deserves a positive word or two.