Robbyn

Here's my youngest, Robbyn. She started FS2 today, which means she gets to wear uniform for the first time and go to school till 3pm. Well she won't for the first three weeks she will come home at 1pm and then stay till 3pm. Her brother Tyrrell started Y1 today.
So that's all four of my kids at full time school now!! Blimey how time flies!!

Time for a break

Nothing new to show for a bit as I've decided to take a break. Thank you for all your comments they were all appreciated.

Good News......

for once....

Sigourney had her exam results and did really well. She got...

1C, 4B's, 3A's and 1 A*.

She is starting 6th form in a couple of weeks time for two years until we get out of the army. She then wants to go to Uni and study.... politics (!) and media.

I haven't a clue where she gets her intelligence from!!

What is it with the weather?

We had to come home early from our holiday. The weather was terrible , torrential rain. What a bummer!!

Holiday

Well we are off on our holidays later on tonight to Brittany , so see you all soon. :-)

Altered kiddies domino

Mandy gave me some kids giant dominoes and I had a go at altering one. So here's the result.

I modge podged tissue paper onto it to give me a base. I then painted over it all with lumiere paint. Using H20s I painted the sides and then when that was dry I glued on the angel and birds and gessoed the edges of them. Then with a crackle stamp and black stazon I stamped along the edges and stamped the text. And to finish off I added the decorative corner and also used a corner as a hanger.

Brats

I made these three ATCs as extras so I can take them to swap at the Stempel Mekka.

The images are from a collage sheet at

www.Cassiscreations.etsy.com

I love them as the girls faces are so petulant. :-), mm reminds me of a little girl I know.

Am Meer (By The Sea)

These are for another 3/3 + 1 for hosting swap on the German Yahoo group. The first one is using an encaustic art background, the second one is using an embossing template to create a wavy effect. And I think the other two you can see are just inked and stamped.

Zeit (Time) Swap

I haven't had a lot of time to do any ATCs lately with the kids being on the Summer holidays, but I managed to squeeze these in. They are for a 3/3 +1 swap for a German yahoo group.

So Proud

I am soooo very proud of my 16 year old daughter, Sigourney. On Sunday she is flying off to the UK for a week to attend a Summer School in Cambridge University!! She was invited by the Uni and she will be the very first child to attend from a Services School. She has worked so hard this year for her exams and is expected to get A's and B's. No one from either of our families has ever attended Uni before so she will be the first one. Sigourney is hoping to go to Uni in two years time when she has left the Sixth Form. Lol god knows where she gets her intelligence from! It will be an emotional time for me as I will miss her so much and like a mum I will be worrying about her as it will be the first time she has flown and also on her own!! They sent her a timetable and blimey she will be having lessons on astro physics and linguistics among others. There will also be some downtime for her too in the evenings. They have arranged for her to go to an outdoor play at Trinity College , a ghost tour and punting. What an experience for her.

Unfortunately we will be on holiday when her exam results come through so she will have to wait a couple of days to get them , but I know she will have done well.

I am sooo proud of you Sigourneyxx.

Sewing ATCs

These three are for a 2/2 + 1 for hosting Sewing Swap on Louise's forum.

Vintage Paris

I know I said no more Paris but Mandy twisted my arm as she is hosting a 3/3 swap on www.atcards.com, also done an extra one for her for hosting.

TMTA

The theme for Think Monday Think ATC this week is "Holidays".

Two Front Teeth

Tyrrell went to a party yesterday afternoon with all his teeth intact. This is how he returned!!!! :-)

One of his front teeth were slightly loose but according to a mum he went on the bouncy castle with both of them and came off with none!! She managed to retrieve them so he could put them under his pillow for the tooth fairy though.

Nominated

Sharon nominated me for the Rockin' Girl Blogger award. Thanks Sharon :-). So I now have to put the badge up on my blog and nominate 5 other girls whos blogs I think are great. So here are my 5:

Mandy

Cassie

Lottie

Kirsi

Dani

Thanks girls your blogs are always so inspirational.

Summer Fun

Because it's been so hot here lately the kids have spent a lot of the time in the garden with their "crazy daisy". Tyrrell loves it and has no fear of getting soaked but Robbyn is a bit more cautious. Instead of walking straight up to the daisy like her brother she slowly backs into it saying "I am there yet?" :-)

TMTA

This week's theme is "Asia". I wasn't going to do it this week as I don't have many things Asian. But had a spare hour so decided to have a go.

A Big Thank You

I would just like to say a big "thank you" to everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment on my blog. It is much appreciated. I love to read them and enjoy looking at all your blogs, I try to go on everyone's at least once a week.
Thank you.

Party Hats Swap

These are for a 3/3 swap + 1 for the hostess. Mandy is organising this swap on www.atcards.com. The party hats are from artchix and all the backgrounds are done in inks with a stencil over the top.

Bad Hair Day!!

I made this quickly this evening because I saw the image and thought yep that's me every day!!

Art Journey Kids & Smiles

These are the three ATCs I made for mine and Mandy's monthly challenge. (not so much a monthly challenge now , the turnaround seems to be quicker :-) ). It was my turn to send the images and I chose these Art Journey plates. Love these stamps. www.artjourney.nl. I'll be sending the Willy Helene and Men plates next time so keep watching. :-)

Two more Paris

I keep getting asked to do Paris swaps. But here is my last two. No more now!! :-)

Think Monday - Think ATC

This week's theme is "Faces". So here is mine. I used an encaustic art background.

"The Sea" ATCs

I made these this morning. Not for any swap but just because I felt like it. I've used collage sheets, distress inks and gesso.

Inchies

This month's theme for the inchie swap on Louise's forum is blue & white/blue & cream. And here are mine.

Busy Thursday morning.

The first lot of three are for a private swap with a girl I know from an ATC forum . She chose the theme of Paris. I decided to do two more so I could take them with me to swap at the Stempel Mekka in September.

Party Hats!!

Mmm something a bit different from me here. Not sure if I like them or not.

Anyway this is for a 3/3 swap + 1 for the hostess (of course

;-) ). I have two sets of party hats to do for two seperate forums, so I thought I'd do them both in different styles. Lol watch out for the next lot!!

Mandy's Tags

Mandy sent everyone a tag on Louise's forum to alter in a TH distress style.

Here's my effort , I hope you like it Mandy!!

Think Monday - Think ATC "Children"

Here is my contribution for Think Monday - Think ATC. The theme this week is children

Altered Dominoes

This is the first time I've tried altering a domino. (as you can see lol). These are for a swap on Louise's forum. The first one is for a mobile phone and the second is a fridge magnet.

TH monthly challenge

Mandy sent the images this month for our challenge. Here are my three. The second and third ones are using the Brasso technique. I try to use new techniques but to me my ATCs all have a "sameness" about them, maybe I concentrate too much on trying new things?

A Tim Holtz image swap

Mandy sent us all some TH images to use as a 3/3 swap. Here is what I created with mine. The first is using adirondak ink in a spritzer for a background with a bottle top for the face image , the second is the wax paper technique, the third is resist embossing and the fourth is using sequin waste as a stencil.

Wax Paper Technique

These are two backgrounds I made this morning using the wax paper technique. I think they look quite effective.

I found the paper at http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/

Crowns and Wings

Another swap organised by Mandy on Louise's forum. A 3/3 +1 for hosting. Think I've got a thing for kids at the moment!!

Nostalgic Couples

These are for a 2/2 swap + 1 for Mandy for hosting on Louise's forum.

4x4 Swap

These are for a 4x4 challenge that I am taking part in on Louise's forum. It's the first time I've done this sort of challenge so I hope I've done it right.

I only received the "men" and "Willy Helene" plates from Art Journey today, but really love them so had to use them.

Paperartsy Challenge

Here are my paperartsy challenge for Mandy. We do an image challenge each month. The third one I tried a new technique with Brasso of all things. I was quite pleased with how it came out.

Monday Afternoon

Yay , the kids were invited round next doors for tea so I could get to play!! Here are two ATCs I just made with my Art Journey stamps. I used some backgrounds that I made a while ago with the splat and spin machine with alcohol inks.

Monday

Two ATCs for a lady that contacted me on ATCards for a blind swap.

Happy today as my Art Journey order has just arrived. The papers are even better in real life. I don't think I'll be using them just yet, they are for looking at not cutting up !! The stamps are so lovely too. And I even got a freebie, a lovely ATC made by Louise. :-)

Too hot

It is sooo hot here. Very sticky and muggy, could possibly be in the high 80's. I haven't been into my craft room as the sun shines directly into it and I think I'd fry if I went in there.
{big sigh} still no stamps or papers from Art Journey but that could be due to the fact that yesterday was a bank holiday here. I like getting my post on a weekday it means I can play in the mornings, but knowing my luck it will come tomorrow (Saturday) when all the kids are at home :-(.
Have a great weekend everyone.

NevR Dull Technique

This evening I tried a technique from the Berni Berlin ATC book. It's on page 32 and is called the NevR Dull technique. After reading all about it I realised it was probably the same thing as our Brasso. I made three but I'm only showing two as the other one is for mine and Mandy's challenge and I don't want to spoil it for her. I think it's quite effective.

I love the Art Journey stamps so much so that I ordered two yesterday. The "kids" and the "smile" plates. Oh and also ordered some gorgeous 12x12 paper pads, "creamotion charleston", one in hip and the other in classy. (see pics). I don't know if the papers are available in the UK as I bought them off a Dutch site. The online shop was really helpful. Here is the link www.artjourney.nl , it's all in Dutch but if you email the owner she will sort out your order for you.

June's colour swap.

These are my ATC's for the monthly colour swap on Louise's forum. 2 for the swap and 1 for the hostess. The first one doesn't show too good but it's better in real life.

But Why?

You know how your kids say "but why can't I.... blah blah blah" well I think this little 'un is saying "but why can't I fly?" She has that look on her face.

For the background I used a background stamp that I had completely forgotten about, I've had it nearly a year from the Stempel Mekka (blush) and then used torn paper for more texture. I painted the little girl with H20's and then used computer generated text.

A Beach Triptych

I was thinking of joining a triptych swap, but after the amount of time I spent on this one I think I'll give it a miss!!! I did enjoy doing it though. :-)