31 Days of Halloween...Day 8

Here I am with day 8,featuring this wonderful image of Edgar Allen Poe from the fabulous Ikes Art. I created a similar canvas a couple of years ago and it has become one of my best selling. There is something about the image and the words that must touch people. Ever since I was a girl at school I've found myself fascinated by Poe. Mind you I was always considered to be a little weird..lol. I always have seemed to walk my own path..I have never really followed fashion.either in clothes or music. I like what I like and have always been the same way. Everyone that visits my parlour can see that..lol. My parlour houses my many collections..skulls, witches and owls. The witches are suspended from my ceiling and fly around the light. I love it when the wind catches them and they all start to move. The skull collection is growing..small, large and many painted ones sit on shelves. I have to admit to also having one in the bathroom. I just cannot resist them.

The skulls pictured above are 2 that I painted last year and they sit on my window sill. In my bedroom I have a box containing 3 more that are waiting for the inspiration to come along. I would like to zentangle one..perhaps that will be my next project.
The sun is shining again here in the mountains and hopefully today my new cooker will be arriving. I'm so ridiculously excited about having a double oven. I used to have one a number of years ago and it was so useful...especially at Christmas. I'm also being given a chest of drawers which I'm hoping to turn into a cat feeding station..lol. They are all wanting to be fed up high for some reason..so I'm hoping that a chest of drawers will be stable enough to do the job.
Well the coffee is calling and then it will be moving time. I hope that you all have a great weekend and that wherever you are  the weather is being kind to you. My thoughts are with my friends in Florida...they have had to leave their homes and I hope that they are all safe and well. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Left of Center.....New Challenge

This creation is a design team make for the wonderful team over at Left of Center Creative Challenges. A new challenge has just begun and will run for the next week. The theme for this challenge is to use the recipe that is printed below or, as always, you have the choice of going LOC. All details of that are on the LOC blog.

The 'recipe' is below and is great fun to try and do.

We are so lucky this week to have been sponsored by the fabulous team over at Ikes Art. This is another of our sponsors who I find it so difficult to decide which image to work with..the choice is huge and every time I'm looking it takes me ages..lol.

I'm just hoping that I've remembered everything that I was supposed to. As I'm sat here with my coffee by my side. All the cats are outside and peace is reigning in the house at the moment. Nothing like yesterday I have to say. It was absolute chaos from morning until the afternoon. My friend the PA had offered me a carpet and her husband and her came and fitted it for me yesterday Bless them..it was a nightmare..the cats wanted to help..after they had all had a nervous breakdown..lol. I've come to the conclusion over the years that cats don't like change..no matter how small and will let you know it at every opportunity. So now I'm blessed with a new carpet and underlay. I feel as if I shouldn't be in the room..it looks so good. I feel like shutting the door and charging for entry..lol. The carpet is a sage green and matches the walls. I have put a couple of rugs down as well. The cats..especially the kittens are lucky that they haven't found themselves under the carpet..lol. Nosey kept hiding underneath and Simon and Gannie couldn't understand where he'd disappeared to. It was so funny last night when everything had been finished..none of the cats wanted to walk on the new carpet..lol..I think that it was because I'd threatened them all with slippers if they made a mess. Jeffrey of course had to come and see if his friend the builder needed his advice. When the builder was laying the carpet on the stairs..Jeffrey helped and again when the builder was doing the kitchen ceiling...Jeffrey turned up. So it was no surprise to anyone that he turned up to the carpet laying..lol
Well the coffee is calling to be refilled. I'm actually going to be quiet now..lol. I'm hoping now to do some crafting this afternoon. I've some pieces of work to mount and finish and I have some colouring to do. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting

A Step in the Dark.......New Challenge

Here I am again with another design team make. This make is for the fabulous team over at A Step in the Dark. This is a facebook challenge and I hope that you will pop over and join in the fun. A new challenge has just begun and will run for the next month..as always it just has to be a dark side make. All details can be found on the facebook page.
For this challenge we are lucky enough to have been sponsored by the fabulous team over at Ikes Art. I just had to work with this image of the saucy fairy...she had on the killer heels that I never get to wear..lol

I'm quite amazed that I have managed to get this blog post up..with all the trouble that BT are giving us here in the village. All over Christmas we have had hardly any decent internet. If it went any slower it would be on stop..oh hold on a minute..it does that as well. I'm building up to yet another complaint. All I have seen over the Christmas break is adverts for BT and how good their service is...what a joke. Perhaps if you live in London or some of the other larger cities..but here in the country..they don't seem to bother. The other thing that gets me is that we have to pay the same amount for the slowest speed in the country.
Well the coffee is calling again and then it will be time to go downstairs and cook the dinner. It's roast lamb tonight and all the trimmings. I can smell it cooking and it's driving me mad..lol.So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Left of Center.......New Challenge

Today's card is a design team make for the wonderful team over at Left of Center Creative Challenges.

We are lucky enough to have been sponsored for this challenge by the wonderful company of Ikes Art. I love the range that is available from them and always find it hard to choose which image to work with. As always the challenge will run for a week and the theme for this week is Anything New,

First before a catch up, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope that 2016 will bring you all much happiness and many good times. I hope that you will all continue to follow my crazy journey..you never know what is going to happen along the way...lol.
All the animals are well and the kittens ensured that I had an eventful Christmas. They have all grown, not only in size but also in attitude..lol. Nosey continues to be the first in any trouble. Simon has took to following Jeffrey around and now sleeps every night on the bed. Fiesty and Gannet are the two at the center of any chaos..their best play moments are involving a card board box..it has now been here since before Christmas and has provided many hours of entertainment. Gannet likes to hide underneath and move the box around..a bit like a turtle. He runs up onto the other kittens and stalks them and uses the box to pounce on them..it's so funny. All the kittens adore Reg and can be found asleep on top of him at various times of the day. They all fuss him and he loves them. They have definitely helped to keep me a little sane at a difficult time. It was hard at Christmas, missing Henry and remembering the times that we had shared, but at least I had my memories which are a blessing. And with the New Year I'm going to try and make him proud..get my head down and try to make a plan. Maybe next Christmas I will try and have a tree and celebrate the season as we used to do.
Well the coffee is calling and then after a little caffeine, I will be back with another design team make. It would be nice to be able to type without kitten help but I'm at least getting there. So until later..take care and happy crafting.

A Step in the Dark......New Challenge

Todays makes are design team makes for the fabulous team over at A Step in the Dark. A new challenge has just begun and will run for the next month. The theme is Anything Goes as long as it is a dark side project. For more information just pop over to the facebook page. The image I chose to work with is called kitty cool cat and is from the very talented team over at SLS Lines. This is another cat design which will work with all my other cat designs from their range. I just love the fact that they have so much attitude.

We are lucky enough to have 2 sponsors this month..one being SLS Lines and the other is Ikes Art. For my Ikes Art design, I chose to work with this fabulous image called The Wind Fairy. For this design, I coloured the fairy with my promarkers and painted the background canvas with my acrylic paints.

I also added glitter to the piece of her dress that is blowing in the wind. I love the way that it looks as if the wind is blowing and has caught her dress. She is lucky that she is not here in the mountains today..the chances are that there wouldn't be a lot of her dress left with the way the winds are raging here..lol. I love design that can make you feel what is going on.

I do hope that you will pop over to the facebook page and take a look. We have had some amazing creations over there, that show the wonderful talents of fellow crafters.Some of the makes have just taken my breath away.
Well I'm off to drink some more of my coffee. I've just fed the kittens again and now hopefully they will be asleep for an hour. I can live in hope..lol. At the moment they are all on the blanket that is covering my legs. There still seems to be a bit of rough and tumble going on...but it does seem to be slowing down. I will be back again in a minute with my final design team make of the day..so see you soon.

Left of Center....An Angel Weeps

Todays canvas is a design team make for the wonderful team over at Left of Center Creative Challenges. A new challenge has just begun and has the theme of Monsters. After all we are heading towards Halloween  and I love it.

And for this weeks challenge, we are so lucky to have been sponsored by the fabulous Ikes Art.

For this canvas, I painted the background with my acrylics and pearlescent paints. I coloured the angel using my copics and promarkers. I found the quote and added that on some black card.I love the way that the angel is poised on the rock, contemplating I think on the monsters that can be human. Strange I know..but some of the greatest fear, the greatest horror and the greatest anguish that I have known, as come at the hands of man. And that's why I count my blessings every day. My friends, my animals and where I live always give me hope. I found a quote which I loved concerning hope. It said that it means..hang on,pain ends. I will have to find a way to use it.
Well Virgo man has just arrived..the perfect timing for another coffee..lol. As a car needs fuel..I need my caffeine..lol. I will be back later with another design team make. I hope that you are all having a good day. I hope my friend Sunshine is having a great holiday...in the sun hopefully. So until later..take care and happy crafting.

Left of Center..The Purple Witch

Todays piece of work that I made for the wonderful design team over at the Left of Center.

We are lucky enough to have the fabulous Ikes Art sponsor us for this challenge. I just loved working with this piece of art. She has the name of Witch 2, if you wanted to pop over to the shop to see where I began.

Shop...http://www.ikesart.com/
I began this piece by painting the canvas in black acrylic and then, as the new challenge is called..'A Splash of Paint' I decided to splash bright coloured acrylics over the black.The image..witch 2...I decided I wanted to colour her outfit purple because of that saying..when I get older I will wear purple..and of course I do have a passion for blue hair...even though mine is green at the moment..lol. As most of you know, I collect sayings and have had this one for a while and thought it was fitting for the witch to be sharing the wisdom. After all most of us have the face that we show the world and let only a few we know see the person that we really are. Since losing Henry, I think that I have built a wall but at the same time feel as if people can like me or lump me..lol. I used to tell Henry..don't bother hating anyone..they either won't know or don't care. Either way it's only yourself that is hurting...and that ends up being another way for them to win. So hold your head up and carry on your way.
Well the coffee is calling and the sun is shining. All the cats have left the cottage and as far as I can see, they are all sunning themselves...lol.My social worker came yesterday and she must be being accepted by the cats..Nicademus took to her lap and I don't think he wanted her to leave...he really is a ladies man..lol As for Reginald..I think the heat had affected him..when the social worker arrived he stood at the top of the stairs and barked. Now if you knew Reg..guard dog he isn't...I said to her she will have to be firmer to him...or words to that effect..lol.After all. usually Reg is more feminine than most ladies I know. After his show of manliness yesterday afternoon..he had to have a long lie down to recover..lol. So I'm off to do some crafting..I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend..so until tomorrow...take care and happy crafting.

A Step in the Dark...Poe Canvas

Today's canvas is my first project for my new design team..A Step in the Dark.I have been looking for some where I can try new things and am so happy to be allowed to become part of this wonderful team. Why not pop over to the facebook page and take a look at the other wonderful creations that the design team have made and perhaps think about joining in the fun https://www.facebook.com/groups/629105100496386/?fref=nf The fabulous sponsor for this month is Ikes Art http://www.ikesart.com/#!__digital-art-stamps  .. they have a fabulous array of digital art work to choose from. The wonderful prize for this months challenge is 5 digital images. I wish I could enter myself..lol. 

I loved this image of Edgar Allen Poe holding the candlestick and decided to make a canvas with the image. The image of Poe, I coloured with my promarkers and a normal pencil. I used the pencil to add the shading on his face.For the background, I coloured my canvas with my H2os and added the outside trees with a black promarker.  The saying is one that I love..because I have always considered myself to be a little weird..but I am happy in that space. Well the coffee is calling and I will be back again later with another piece of work. If you need to know anything else about this new challenge,just leave your question and I'll get back to you. All the rules for the current challenge are on the facebook page. I hope that you will join in. The challenge at A Step in the Dark runs all month, So until later...BT willing of course..take care and happy crafting