Monday mash-up!

Hi Friends! How are you all??? Great I hope!!! I know I haven't blogged for a while. I have had a busy week and promise to pop by all your awesome blogs soon! But I wanted to share what I've been upto, and some pics. So this is a Monday mash-up post!!!

First up; on the 25th it was my Birthday. I hit 27. But must say I'm feeling younger than that, but I guess everyone feels that way? I had a nice day, nice meal out with family and a nice homemade vanilla cake back home. 

I have to share a lovely Birthday card I received off the talented Brenda of Stamping Floral Fantasies:

and here is the card I got from my Mum and Dad:

On Saturday we had our first Christmas party luncheon for the season! Can you believe there is way less than 4 weeks to go until Christmas Day???  EEP!!!

Here are some pics I took at one of our local malls, that have started decorating for the occassion:

Santa's area was all set up ready and waiting for him to arrive; 

As well as the giant decorated Christmas tree:

 

 Santa even has his own post box:

 I do so love the decorations this time of year, the giant tree, the big presents, the reindeer and the lights and other trees etc!

And, of course, the nativity scene:

 I think I have shared before on my blog, pics of the crane birds/brolgas at the fountain - well they have taken on a very festive appearance:

Last night Mum and me attended a concert show at the local club, of a Roy Orbison tribute band! It was really great!!! The gentleman Athol Matcham had an amazing voice, it was as close to Roy as you would ever get! Here is a pic:

His wife, Edith, also sang some songs both with him and before he came on to warm up the crowd - she had a beautiful voice as well.

The band were very talented too, and also a lot of fun!!! Very comical gents.

It was a great night! We really enjoyed ourselves!!!

So that is about it! I hope you liked seeing my pics, and I will pop by your blogs soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs xoxo.

Face Friday

Hello again Friends. TGIF! Its Friday! (At least for a few more minutes, here.)
Usually I do a Photo Friday post on Fridays, but today I thought I would mix things up a bit, as I have been crafting again in my Art Journal.

I have made my very first attempt at drawing and painting a face! With a little help from the Jane Davenport Girls Stencils.

Check it out:

I know its not perfect, or going to win any artist awards or be raved about, but I am quite pleased with how it came out as a first attempt. I used a Jane Girls stencil, (by Jane Davenport) that I recently got, and just traced it with pencil. They are great basic face stencils that just give you the starting points for basic face drawing and design.

Here is the completed page in my Art Journal:

I first sprayed my page with some Dylusions sprays, I love their rich colour!

Then traced the stencil, and went over it with some skin tone paint.

I then went in with my Faber Castell Big Brush pens to add shading and highlights to the skin areas, and also colour the lips and eyes.

I then sprayed black Dylusions for her hair, I wasn't sure what I was thinking because at that point I was SURE I had ruined the whole thing! 

But as I kept looking I suddenly realize she was very much looking like the late Amy Winehouse! Totally unexpected!

So I went in with my black big brush marker, to detail the hair, and her eyes.

 

I decided to just go with the Amy Winehouse theme, and searched online for a quote that would speak to me, that I might use on the page... I found this one by her which really resonated with me at the time. 

It says: "There's No Point In Saying Anything But The Truth Because At The End Of The Day You Don't Have To Answer To Anyone But Yourself!"

 

Isn't that so true? I used my Dymo embossing labeller to make the quote, I just popped in thin strips of cardstock for it to emboss onto, instead of the tape! Then went over it with Distress ink, and a big brush pen. The final step was to splotch some black dylusions around the page for that grungy effect. 

 

So there you have it, my very first face attempt, in my Art Journal! I've been working on a few others this week, and hope to show you more soon!

I hope you liked seeing this one, Thanks so much for dropping by and all your lovely comments and  friendship - it all truly means a lot to me! 

Love xoxo

Mixed Media Monday - Sea

Hello my friends!

I am feeling better lately, and almost back to myself. I even attempted some crafting as therapy, over the weekend, with a Mixed Media page. So I'd like to share it with you today;

My page is a Sea/Ocean themed  one, check it out:

 I started by just sticking down leftover cardstock letter stickers I had in my stash, all over the page. Then gesso'd over the entire page.  I then sprayed a few colours of Dylusions spray over that, also sprayed over it with some water, and dabbed it off with a baby wipe, to give a muted watercolour effect.

After that I stamped over the entire background with a Bubble Stamp, from the Kaisercraft Rock Pool Stamp set. In different colours of Distress Ink.  

 

I also stamped the coral/seaweed and shell stamp from the same Stamp Set.

The two sea critters, were printed on canvas and coloured in with a mix of Faber Castell Gelatos and Big Brush pens. Cut out and glued down. 

Lastly, I printed out my quote which I felt reflected the piece and my emotions.

Ripped out each piece of the quote from the paper, and sponged with distress ink a big brush marker. 

The last thing I did was go around with my stickles glitter glue, around the quote and some spots for "Bubbles" around the page.

I hope you like my piece, its far from perfect but I figure as long as its good therapy and getting me making things, trying new things, etc. Its a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by.

Photo Friday - Bird Watching and More

Hello Friends, Thank You for the warm helpful comments on my previous post. It has truly helped and I appreciate it greatly! I'm just plogging along here, busying myself each day. This weekend is still going to be a tough one, but I will get through it.

I have still been taking some pics, so I figured I would share some here for a post...

With it being summer here, there have already been many bushfires burning across the country, and some still do! There is one burning about an hour away from us, out of town. Which Yesterday made for a very smokey smoggy haze over our town! It was pretty bad, and I had a sore throat from it, and was coughing. As were my parents. Can you imagine how bad it would be closer to the fires? When we are an hour away and we got just whatever the wind blew through? Just awful! 

Here is a photo of just up the road from our house, we live in a mountainous area, with lots of hills and valleys, here is a view down the valley looking across to some hills and mountains, where there is a small farm and house... it is usually beautiful and clear to look out at! But all you could see was the smoke;

 

Thankfully the smoke cleared yesterday afternoon.

With the season warming up, we're noticing lots of creepy crawleys about! Some not so nice (like spiders!) but some that are nice to see. We have noticed many Lady Bugs or Lady Beetles about the place lately...  When I picked some Frangipani (Plumeria) flowers, and some Gardenia's from our garden, there was a Lady Beetle on them, which made for some pretty photos:

 I just love ladybugs so much! When I was a little girl I remember often looking for them in our hedge that surrounded the childhood home, and often collecting them in a jar to watch for a little while, which I always released them back within an hour.. But I will never forget once I had a few collected in my bug jar, and came inside to show Mum, and fell over on the hard laundry tile... and yep, you guessed it! The jar broke and we had a dozen or more ladybugs loose, and we even had a few about the house for a few days after that, as well! LOL!!! 

Also through the week me and mum did a bit of shopping in the big Plaza Mall we have here, and also had a snack in the food court... What I really love about the food court is the fountain in the middle of it, with some wonderful statues of Brolga's an Australian Crane bird:

 

 

Speaking of birds, we have had more feathered visitors in our yard - 

This time some gorgeous Indian Myna Birds:

 

They were very inquisitive, even sitting on the window ledge where I was taking photos of them out of my window (that's why there's a bit of blur/ripple effect in these pics)

I just loved their beautiful yellow eye mask!

 and here is another beautiful specimen which is called a speckled drongo...

 

His wings really were a really shimmery green/blue, and his eyes were a piercing dark red, very stunning to see as he groomed himself on our fence!

I'm really loving that we are getting so much bird life about this year! We added in some native trees and a bird bath, plus not having the dog anymore (RIP) has probably also helped that.

Here is a type of bird that we see every day, just a common spotted dove, or sometimes called a pigeon... They are quite kind of coy, but make the cutest coo-coo sound, and bob their heads when they are trying to woo a lady friend ;-) 

Here is a pic of a Willy-Wag-Tail on our clothesline, too;

I hope you didn't mind seeing my bird pics, I do so love birds and especially love seeing the native wild ones popping in our yard!

I'll leave you with two arty pics I took, and wish you a grand weekend, and many thanks for stopping by and all your lovely comments and friendship!

 

 

Currently...

This is a list of things I'm currently doing, the original idea came from RuKristin Papercrafts journaling prompts...

 

Watching:

A few animated movies, which are always fun to view. I am also very into The Walking Dead series right now, and anticipate each new episode coming each week!  Those are two very different genres for sure!

Reading:

The second in the Ultraviolet series by R.J. Anderson called Quicksilver. 

 

Listening:

Fleetwood Mac- 25 years compilation albums of all their greatest hits over the years, its called "The Chain".

 

Making:

I have to admit, I haven't been making anything lately... I finished my Christmas cards and have written them out, enveloped and addressed them, all ready to send at the end of the month... But I have had no inspiration or inclination to make anything, or be creative. 

 

Feeling:

I've been struggling lately. Depression has been crashing over me consistently for a few weeks now, and although I've been fighting hard against its currents, I'm not fairing well. The joy I seemed to have had for crafting has dwindled, and I find myself uninterested, agitated and overwhelmed by it; and many other things. I have always been able to work my way through these emotions, and be naively positive. But a lot has happened for me in the last few months, and I have changed as a person. A lot of my naivety and positivity has been crushed. I am very much feeling like I am only a resemblance of my former self... and that those parts are gone for good... What that means for me, who I am, what I want, and where I go next - I really don't know...

 

Planning:

To just keep swimming... I won't be giving up... I just have to figure out how to get through this, and how to find joy again. It's just going to take time, I guess.

 

Loving:

My Pets! They keep me smiling and going each day. Their unconditional, non-judgemental love and funny antics really help light my day.

I hope this hasn't been too depressing for you, but I felt the need to get some things off my chest, and be honest... Maybe writing could help me work through these things, and perhaps get some advice, if you have any? I would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks for reading and commenting.