Sorry

To all my friends and fellow bloggers. I won't go into details but my life at the moment is pretty scary and pretty full as recent events in my family have happened and i am finding things too hard to cope with in addition to me not being so well myself so i am unable to cope with juggling all the things i do on the internet too including my sites,forum and blogs. This means that for a while ( I don't know how long as i have no way of knowing when things will get better for us all ) I am not going to attempt to keep up and post blogs, freebies and challenges. I am sorry as i do like to try to keep up and have managed ok until now, with the help of Vron and a few other friends here, but this seems like the best thing to do for now as my family needs to come first. I will be back when i feel able to cope. Thanks to all my friends here

June xxx

Lake Maidens

My magical lake maidens were created from a stamp i bought ages ago which i like but is difficult to use as its hard to see what its all about so i decided to enhance the image with paints and pens so its a mixed media effort. Once i get going i just can't stop so i painted in extra's and had a lot of fun then after i finished and it was dry ... I decided it needed a little bling in the background. A fun atc make all in all
hope you like it too

Winged things challenge

I made this one for the Winged Things Challenge at my craft forum creations byjj.com
I had fun making this one

She is dragonfly queen ....... queen of all winged things :) today she is tending the doves hehe

I have stamped (various) added collage images and the colour on the wings is done with sakura pens - Hope you like it

Floral girl and lightohouse

Girl on flowers Papers, text stamp and girl stamp plus pens, paints etc for the swirls edges and background
The lighthouse is stencil and embossing paste, paints added in a dotted pattern plus a little water colour pencil and smudge effect. Background is inks and stamps. Addedwhite cord and coloured brads

Mixed media textured background

art Pieces challenge

This is what i have been working on as i decided to do what i enjoy most which is making backgrounds. I adore texture and colour and this one has my favourite colours in. I will likely cut this up later and use for atc's or other projects but It was made with the feeling of spring and newness in the air and so its a piece based on my feelings at the time of making it.
I would like to submit this one for the 'colourful challenge' on art pieces this week

Three themes

The second lot of fat pages for the 3 way swap i did went to Siobhan. I am sure she will soon be adding her swaps at her page too and you ought not to miss them as i was the lucky recipient of her magical work as well as Rustycage ( debs ) I am so pleased i did the swap it was a lot of fun.
Anyway here are the ones i made for Siobhan

FRANCE THEME

















BIRDS THEME





















MARDI GRAS THEME

Lots to Do challenge & thanks

A huge thanks to a special friend Max who has an amaxing blog so go check her out when you get time. Max thanks for the lovely prize and .. well thanks you are lovely.
My other wonderful friend Hilda does the Lots to Do challenge with the lovely Sam. Do pay them a visit and see the fab challenges they set us each week.

This weeks challenge is black and white - Here is my entry i stitched the butterfly because i wanted it to look a bit different .. thanks Hilda and Sam, I had fun with this one

A MOMENT IN TIME ATC












MORE BEAUTIFUL AWARDS ..
Look at this little beauty from my lovely friend Maxine Thanks so much Maxine i will treasure this one and pass it on later when i get some more me time
The same applies to the wonderful awards that i have been given by Jude - Thanks my friend i love them and will wear em with pride .. that housework one is fabby !! so me lol.

love you both !!!!!

Thanks for these ...

A huge thank you to my lovely friend Spyder for this gorgeous award. Its such a cute and really nice award to win and i am glad you thought of me :) I will pass it on a little later but in the meantime i am soooo chuffed to recieve this one.













Another of my favourite friends and fellow bloggers has been kind enough to think of me too. I am shocked and thrilled that Jenni has chosen me to pass these fab awards on to and i am so proud to add them to my blog. I shall also pass these on a little later but thank you so much Jenni ... you are an inspiration my friend

Owl Inspired

I was inspired by Penny Duncans use of an owl in a recent make. Penny has some gorgeous work and i always fall in love with her creations. So i dug out my old owl stamp and began to work on an idea.
Firstly i wanted a textured beautiful coloured and unusual background. So using a great deal of mixed media i structured the background in stages as some of it needed plenty of drying time.
The flower branches are drawn free hand from somewhere in the jumble i call my imagination and then coloured with sakura pens.

I then wanted a brown and gold owl which was simply stamped owls and top layer being embossed and painted and coloured. The owl shadow was the same stamp but blanked out with deep brown ink.
The moon was a circle i cut out and covered in textured marks using a palette knife with embossing paste. When it was dry i added some mica and coloured ink for definition.

I enjoyed the time and the playfulness of making this piece :)

Altered Organiser

Today was lovely I met Jude for the first time after chatting on Trimcraft and on Blogs. Jude is such a lovely lady and she brought her gorgeous girls and her hubby with her it was lovely to meet them all. Jude used to live here in town and was visiting her family so we got chance to have a cuppa and a good old chat and look what she brought me ... Thanks Jude xxxxxxxx


















I just couldn't resist this little organiser in the charity shop. It was begging to be collaged so i bought it and have had a play. The theme is a celebration of we females - 'SHE' Girlhood to womanhood. I haven't finished quite as i would like to seal it all and also to decorate the inside covers on the little books. I think it will make a great gift so I shall do that when it is finished.
Here it is so far .. might need the sunglasses again hehe

Some themed swaps I did recently

These are fat pages that i made for a swap with Rustycage. There are some more to come because it was a 3 way jam swap and my other partner was Siobhan but she hasnt yet recieved hers so will post when she has. The pictures below are both front and backs one for each theme.
We each chose a theme and the three themes were : Birds, Mardi Gras and France
CLICK on the pic to view larger

Where did the sun go ? and new make

Well its been a beautiful day but all of a sudden the sun went for a wander beyond the clouds somewhere and its currently dark. Have been drying my acrylic work outside but have hauled it all back now as it may rain soon. I just adore spring dont you ?

I alrered this tiny little slide mount today(kindly sent to me by my lovely friend Lottie )
I painted it in 2 coats of acrylic and then i added my own doodled white decor and added jewels and butterfly ( all recycled from old jewellery ) then clear varnish and framed the lovely image that lottie also sent me. I really like the result its such a cute size and i enjoyed working with tiny details and .... my goodness PINK !!! I haven't used pink in such a long long time lol.

Busy day and bargains

Such a busy day today and not had much time to play but managed to finish an atc i had started.
I picked up some bargains at the car boot sale today too including these wonderful acrylics in a box for just £1 and the box is untouched ... yay for bargains lol !!
thanks to everyone for your lovely comments this weekend. I am gonna try and catch up more tomorrow as fast running short of time again
Hugggggs

I can do pretty too lol

Ok well its rare hehe but i thought i would make a girly card and chose lime and green colours and flowers and bows ... the whole lot ...except i needed to do a little ( just a tad ) of ink round the edges
its ages since i did a card like this one but had fun and was a nice change



















Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Meant to say ... If you fancy a CHALLENGE WITH A DIFFERENCE ... check out what i have asked for at SOARTFUL W ould love to see what lots of you can do with that one :)

Have you noticed .. (rant .. dont look if ya dont want to hear me sound off )

Ok gonna have a bit of a moan now. (takes deep breath ) Have you noticed that it doesn't matter how hard you work at blogging and when i say blogging i dont mean adding your own text, views and work etc, I mean real blogging where you go to be inspired by other bloggers - where you go to give others some support, interest and love, where you exchange views, share ideas and give of yourself a little time in exchange for knowledge and inspiration and friendship.
So have you noticed that no matter how much of your precious time and thought and care you take to visit and comment on other blogs ..... the lack of reciprical response you get ?

I am proud to say i really 'care' about blogging, about other bloggers, their work and their efforts to share with the rest of us and i do my best on an almost daily basis to visit,read, admire and comment on as many blogs as i can. I belive that the work, the art the thoughts and feelings of my fellow bloggers matters and I will keep on doing this as long and as often as i can.
That being said, not everyone has a lot of time on their hands and i certainly don't expect a response from every comment i make as i DO have the time so i can do that and not everyone can. BUT .... what i find upsetting is that i see some of the blogs with many, many comments from the same people who ignore my own comments. I begin to think maybe my blog is rubbish, maybe my art is rubbish and i get stupidly paranoid .... Yeah i know ... stupid ... and it is but it still happens and it still hurts.
Sooo if you are out there and you find someone has taken time to comment and care about you and your art ( i don't mean me, but anyone who takes precious time out for you ) then when you do get time ... instead of just blogging along with the popular blogs ... pay that person a visit and say hello ? .... go on it will make someone smile and lets face it ... we all need that.

Ok Rant over !!! You can look now hehehe !!!
IN HONOUR OF ALL ACTIVE AND CARING BLOGGERS ....

This new one of mine is dedicated to you

Sunglasses at the ready

This one is sizzling orange and black just to wake you all up hehe
A card i made just for a change. I was in the mood to ink up and layer and tear ... nothing more strenuous than cutting and stamping for me today. I know you all need sunglasses now !!!

Sowwy hehe !!!

If you Love vintage and would like a chance to own something beautiful .. pop over to Cindy's blog and see her wonderful giveaway

Altered Frame

This is my altered frame which i finished yesterday. It includes acrylic and crackled painted surface and has all kinds of embellishments all recycled including old jewellery and watch part, Some gorgeous glass flat mottled stones and handmade paper beads from some scraps of paper I had lying around.

Plus i added some images i had printed using transfer technique of angels and a mermaid creature. The swirls and colours are just hand painted free style as suited my mood.
I had a lot of fun making this one

Anything goes

I made this atc to swap with a friend and i want to say thank you to my lovely friend Cassie as the background on my atc has part of a scanned pic from the lovely Postcard art the Cassie sent me.
Cassie thank you.
This is the atc which also has inks, stamps etc added and layered.
This is for the Daily art stop challenge - anything goes .. hope pink and chocolate does hehe!


















To Celebrate spring i also thought i would share one of my poems with you all. I hope you like it.
I Dream of May
(c)J. Macfarlane 2007

In the gloom of winter, I dream of May,
awaiting her touch as she passes this way.
A whisper of warm breath in my hair,
as the May breeze, caresses me there.

Blooming May, like an expectant mother
brimming with beauty, unlike any other.
Softly and suggestively she delivers hope,
of fresh beginnings and new ways to cope.

Earth in May, sports a velvet green gown,
shimmering with dew under a misty down.
Trees are bursting , proud fat and healthy.
Magnificent Oak’s are once again wealthy.

A square field of corn, like buttermilk on gold,
guarded by wild hedges, soldiers, bold.
Hide and seek rabbits playing at dawn,
darting and weaving at the edge of the corn.

May blesses with a kiss, the mysterious wood,
carpeting where once, winter shadows stood.
She sprinkles her magic in most vibrant blues,
with delicate little bluebells in lilac tone hues.

Oh how I dream of May’s maternal embrace.
To bathe in the warmth of early sun on my face.
To walk barefoot and feel the grass on my skin,
inhaling moist woody aroma, deeply within

Bird in the mirror

Just needed to play with my newest stamp and made the bird in a mirror with acrylic square

Make it Monday Silver

I thought i would have a go at a challenge while in the mode for art and having an hour to spare so here is my entry for make it monday - Silver silver trimmings plus i used acrylic white and also recycled hubbies old fish tank thermometer strip lol
Image courtesy of Sum of all crafts

experimenting as usual

This one doesn't photograph well as it has a high gloss finish but this is highly textured then finished in gloss with mica pigments in it to give an unusual distressed rust underneath the gloss.
The celtic stamp was done in stazon (black cherry ) on background. BUT also i used the stamp over melted red wax ( careful if you try it as it clogs the stamp so dont use a good one and be sure to clean immediately ) This gave a wax seal effect. I also scored and scratched the wax to get more movement.
Another of my crazy experiments but it was fun. I was quite pleased with the result but maybe will choose a more neutral colour base next time

Something a little different

Art is my usual contribution to this blog but I also write a little, although it has been a long while since I did any writing at all. I have a few poems that were published around 5 years ago and keep being drawn to the art of writing more and more yet my muse is not strong enough yet to put pen to paper. Anyway I just thought it would make a change to share a poem or two in between my art work here at my Arty retreat. I very much hope you all won't mind me sharing them.

Beckoning Memories
(c) J. Macfarlane 2007

Yesterday called tonight, a voice born on the breeze,
as it swept across the prairie under the cherry wine sky.
Oh how it hurt her heart with its beckoning call,
conjuring up thoughts that were buried in the day.

Standing at the fence watching a pink sun sink low,
her bare feet itched to pursue it beyond the horizon.
Liberty bound with the wind aiding her escape,
towards yesterday,tomorrow fading with each step.

A sound awakened her, the sharp needful call of her present,
dispersing the magic and returning to her, a weary spirit.
She turned slowly,relinquishing dreams that did not belong,
and yesterdays that were long gone.

As the sun bid farewell, Yesterday said goodbye

Lots to Do challenge & thanks

Had time to play today for the first time in a week and enjoyed myself doing a couple of projects. One is a swap i am doing which still needs a little more done but i did manage to start and finish this fat page for the theme of 'ART' in the challenge over at Lots to do

This one includes : background distressed wallpaper plus stamps and embossing and then added a mounted square of embossing pasted background that i made then painted in gold and then added collage images i have which were then painted lightly with h20 pigmented paints
















For everyone who has prayed and helped me to get through the last couple of months ....
Adam is doing ok and things are picking up a little. I thought you might like to see a pic so here he is with his two little ones at my home recently. Thank you all for your continued support, advice and friendship, its been so much help i would find it impossible to put into words how much it has meant to me.

Incredibly busy

I have five mins on the net this morning and no time at all this week but hopefully tomorrow i can spend a little time
In the meantime i made this last weekend ( seems like ages ago now lol )
Hugs to all my blogging friends