beautiful times

isn't it just wonderful when Spring makes it's enterance? not that i ever complained about Winter, not like 99% of the people i know lol, i don't mind Winter, i love snow, ok, driving in snow and on icey roads not so much but it's part of it and can't be changed ... so why complain?

anyway, Winter seems to behind us and Spring has made it's enterance, i see purple sticking up out of the soil, the goldfish in the pond are pretty active and before long there will be thousands of tadpoles appearing.

Even my doggy knows it's Spring, he ran away last week, off to find himself a woman jack russell lol! he had no luck!!!! i found him first and my neighbour found the new tiny gap he managed to find to escape the garden ... it's fixed!

My last two orchids are in bloom again, last year i must have brought home an orchid with a desease, (white sticky fluffy bugs!!!) i did all i could to save my 18 orchids but sadly i only managed to save two and yes!!!! they are blooming, i am over the moon! like a proud mommy :)

i've been painting:

this one is on canvas, i hardly ever work on canvas because i need to work gentle and i'm not such a gentle worker :) i love to rub, scratch, scrub,... not so gentle!

This one is called Alice's Angel and was inspired by what other that Alice in Wonderland! i went to see the film in 3D, i hate those stupid little glasses over my own glasses, they just don't fit!!

but the film i liked very much! i loved this version, Tim Burton doesn't usually appeal to me that much but Alice was great!

The saying on it i already used before but i like it and i like opening doors and windows...

now i am working on a really small piece 6X12inch and there are plans to make her big!!! i will show and tell once it is done.

my foot is bad! terrible even, i wish wish wish i could say otherwise! i dream of the day i can tell you all my foot is healed and i can jump and dance like the crazy lunatic i am ...

but due to the beautiful L4 L5 hernia i have the nerves to my left leg and foot are even worse off than they already were, i mean come onnnnnn!!!! f*!!!!

i hope the epidural treatment next week helps some.

my left foot is now starting to turn inwards, the muscles aren't getting the correct information and are giving up on me :(( no matter how hard i try my foot will not stay flat, doc says if it gets any worse i will have to wear a brace to correct my foot position, this really made me want to cry...

but!!!! life is beautiful, there is more to it than my stupid foot!!!

i am enjoying all that can and have loads to be grateful for.

on the bright side: due to the pain i haven't been able to eat well so i am losing weight!

hey!!! losing weight is a good thing :))

see always a silver lining!!! always!!!!!

have a great day! i' m off to paint and sing, i can't dance but i can softly headbang to Metallica wohaha!!! Spring is in the air!!!

all my doors are open!!

xxx

love & peace

Spring is in the Air!!

too often i start with: i have not dropped off the planet...

so today i will start with:

Spring is in the Air!!!

it really is!! the Sun is shining, my little girl is playing outside,

i love it when they get some fresh air.

let's see, what have i been up to since last post?

hernia!! still causing proper pain! doc is sending me to hospital for epidural injections!! i'm like: huhhh really??? that sounds pretty uncomfortable... but it is the next step in trying to prevent surgery on my back. so i have to try!

however i keep moving about, living life as full as i possibly can.

last weekend a friend took me to a collage art showing of a friend of his. it was fun, her work was sassy and true british punk style. i will see if she has a website.

i met quite a few people and contacts, some where instantly in love with the soldered pendant i was wearing and now i guess i better get started on making a few new ones.

last night i went to see Alice in Wonderland, it was great, i loved the film, the 3D gave it such a magical feel, the insects flying around your head lol, i even pulled away a few times.

Tim Burton did good on this one, the darkness was not too much for me.

I especially liked the Caterpillar Absolem, loved that he turned into a beautiful blue butterfly at the end . but Johnny Depp was fab too! i mean he really was the Mad Hatter!

after the film a friend gave me a blue butterfly! a real one, huge, sooooo beautiful... i have given it a safe place where i can look at it. such a sweet gesture...

I've been painting, firstly on the two little paintings that are being sent off to Sandra and Sheri, they are nearly done, i'm on to the little details...

ok! i would like you to meet a friend of mine, Paul Croes, he is a wonderful photographer that i will be working with pretty soon, he is the first photographer that i've known who understands my paintings and how to catch all their details, he appreciates my art and knows how to present it.

you can check out his website he is still working on it so be sure to go back regulary.

I have a few plans up my sleeve...

This little Angel is my latset, and she has already found a new home to watch over.

My first BLUE Angel, i've used blue before but not so light, it was challenging but she turned out really nice, the red does go with the light blue, i like the match actually...

so, despite all the pain i am in i manage to keep painting, art does save!!!!

so! i am off to paint... have a great day, enjoy the Sunshine if you get the chance!

Iwasn't sick of the snow and colf like everyone els i know lol but i am happy the temperature is rising and the flowers are shyly popping up in the garden!

oh and my orchids are blooming again, for me that is pure joy!!

love & peace

xxx

random talk

i've been meaning to blog for a few days now but always something gets in the way but here i am for some random chat.

i've been painting! as i promised myself, i would take some time just to paint...

i painted an angel for myself >>>>

then one i made specially for my dear friend who needed a little motivation

( i never took a picture)

and the third i was asked to paint as a present for my friend's mother.

i have learned that i really do paint from my heart and because this one was for a special person's special person i wanted it te be perfect, now there lies a loophole!!! the harder i tried to get het perfect the more i seemed te mess her up, i started somewhat five times i reckon!! i hardly ever do that. i really had to go back to painting and drawing from my heart and not trying to make her like it so much. She has seen my art and likes it! why try so hard sometimes?? lessons learned i tell you lol!!

so i am grateful for doing this painting, i learned alot and i was able to let go in the end

and i showed my friend some pics

and he loves it

and says his mum is going to be over the moon with it.

makes me happy.

and i showed both paintings to Suzi Blu, my mentor, without a doubt

and she loves loves loves them

(big smile)

------------------

but now!!!! i am in agony!! the thing that has been preventing me from sitting up to blog is my

Discus Hernia

yay!!!! on top of the battl against the Sudeck in my foot and leg i now am the proud owner of a hernia L4-L5 and it is a beauty! perfectly in the middle of the disk! :)

my doc says i do things right!

i haven't been able to do anything this last week

but today it seems like the meds the nurse comes and injects everyday are kicking in and doing me some good

not that i will be doing any running around but at least i can sit up long enough to write my blog, a girl's gotta be happy with what she's got i say!!!

all in all it is frustrating as hell but th bright side is....

well i'll find a bright side later, i'm sure ...

-------------------

i've got two little paintings i was working on before the hernia, maybe i'll try and finish them a little later so that i can post them off to their new owners,

one is travelling all the way to Arizona to a happy black cat :)!

ok that is enough blogging for me, gotta go lie down, ouwch meds are crap after all lol!

i'll be back soon

love you all

xxx

oh and of course i did NOT check for typos :)

oweeee!!!

yesterday Lisa sent me a mail letting me know i had won a prize in her wonderful OWOH giveaway, honsetly i had never heard of it and commented on her blog not even thinking of winning anything, i just simply love her stuff! but see, as it happens i am the lucky winner of some of her beautiful doll parts! i am totally over the moon with this and can't wait for them to cross the big pond all the way from New Jersey!!

and... i just saw i have 50 followers!!! how lovely it is that so many of you think my random art and chit chat are worthy of following! thank you all so much, so sweet!

as said in prev post, i am having an easy week, no cooking has been done so far! pizza, Mc Donalds,... hihi! so proud of myself!!!! :))

i actually should finish the two little paintings i promised certain winners lol! i will i will!

and now a bit of advertising!!!!

Saturday 27 February Hobbyfarm will be hosting a super cool Ranger

educator :) with a steaming hot workshop

"Grungepaper-Patch-Art-Work"

literally a patchwork 2OX2Ocm of all kinds of techniques on Grungepaper finished off with selfmade UTEE embellishments, some metal embossed pieces and last but not least some of Tim's metal embellishments, all this framed in a 30X30cm frame. a workshop you don't want to miss if you are on our side of the world! see you there!

contact Hobbyfarm for all details

time to take it easy

hiya friends, i have been so busy these last few weeks,

hardly time to breathe it seems and i do actually feel pretty tired yet happy!!

don't get me wrong, i have been having a blast! always time to have a few laughs!

My friend Sue came to visit, it was a shame is was so busy, i feel like i should have more free time to share but it was a bit hectic making samples with Tim's new stamps for a promotion magazine, getting ready for demos and life in general with the kids.

Next time she comes we will plan it in a more peaceful week lol!

(it took Sue about 3 shots to get this crazy pic of me! geeee thanks Sue! lol)

I got to work side by side with Tim Holtz, need i say that kinda made me happy? owww i admit i was over the moon! i got to chat with him off and on all day, shared my heattool lol, got to get my hands on some of his cool new embellishments and paper and even went home with all his demo products, i'm talking the new Distress Inks, all 12!!! the new colours perfect pearls and all other powders and paints he had his hands on in Germany and The Netherlands lol! i am happy happy, noooo i am not a Tim grouppie, where did you get that idea??

(I love this cool pic of Tim, myself and mario!!)

(mario at my side! kind looks like i have a fan! lol he is so sweet!

oww and notice how Sue managed to get a cool effect on my face? lol) ( me, pouring UTEE like a pro! see the concentration on my face? ahhh!)

some of my sample pieces for the promotion magazine for Tim's newest stamps! i love them!

and the new Distress Inks are all FAB FAB FAB colours!!! believe me when i say you won't be able to choose! you will want them all, they are the best yet, my opinion that is :)

anyyway! this week is more peaceful, the kiddies are at their dad for the week so i will sleep in tomorrow morning! yay!!!! and i'll do some painting this week, i haven't painted in a month or so, except for my livingroom but that is really not the same!!! no no! i want to paint a pretty angel and just chill out with some music and enjoy the free time i am treating myself too.

hope you are all doing well, i have been reading your blogs!

ow and today i noticed i have 48 followers! kinda coooool! lol

take care xxx

busy and un-organized

ok my lovely friends, i am here, i might not be commenting on your blogs ( i am having trouble commenting on some, kate? i can't post) i have just taken the time to catch up on all your blogs, kate, sue, mike, patti,..... i am amazed at what some of you all have been up to since the year started.

i have been a little disorganized, my son Bart had a car accident on January 5 and has been home since, concussion and a bit of a whiplash and at first it seemd to be healing well but he is still having severe headaches and is off work for at least another three weeks, now do i need to tell you what it is with a sick man around the house (he is 20) ????? he is bored, he wants attention, he talks to me alot!!!! lol i love him to bits but i am not used to having someone around full-time! i love my alone-time during the day and then the chaotic evenings filled with family life! beautiful combo for this artsy mammy!

still no running hot water for the bathroom, a big big bummer that is and really getting on my nerves but i will get it sorted.

oh and Kate dear, i am doing the 365 day challenge, i will post when the month is over.

working on a few cool ideas, can't say much just yet but i am really excited and working on them behind the scenes of everyday life.

Sue, see you next week my love!!!! yayyyy! plz send me tthose flight times again cos they got lost in all my mail and i will keep them on my blackberry this time!
yes i entered the Blackberry era!!! and am loving it!!! it is great to have that little handy thing, emails, sms, chat, facebook, all at hand anywhere and everywhere, unless i choose to switch it off lol, and i do sometimes. never thought it would happen but i am a gadget girl!!! good thing my son shows me how to use it though lol!!!

ok off to to a little arts & crafts, i'm way behind on what i want to get done today

love you all xxx

quick post

hiya all, just a really quick post to let you all know i am still around, i've been getting mails asking if i am okay... i am! well, i do have the worst cold ever and a really sore throat so i do feel a little sorry for myself lol!

Paris was great! i loved quartier Latin and especially the cosmopolitans i had in a great little piano bar.
i met up with Heidi Swapp and Wendy from My Tattered Angels, cool cool stuff! new possibilities!!

I am filled to the brim with ideas, i have managed to jot most of them down, some of them will be seeing light in 2010, more when the time is right! some of them are totally new and exciting and ahhhh can't say more!

I am happy to say that i spoke to my daughter Debby today on msn! over the moon on this! happy happy mum! some of you will know how sad i have been.

My good friend Sue will be coming soon! thrilled about her visiting us and our little trip to the Netherlands.

oww that's all folks, i should be in bed and this cold is blocking my head lol

take care all xxxx

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! i'm a few days late but i'm really not into the whole new year thing, but i have used this new decennia and full and blue moon to set some changes into motion.

I started using the name Pretty Things about 8 years ago, my brother was starting up my website and he needed to typ in a name but i had never thought about it and just quickly said Pretty Things, thinking i might change it later. as it happened, Pretty Things turned out to be a cool name that people liked and after a few years i added on the 'life is filled with....', i can't remember why but it just kind of happened one day.

now i am not in the same place as 8 years ago, alot has hapened in my life! i mean ALOT! not all god but not all bad.

my art is changing, i am moving in different directions and sooooo i wanted to change a few things. i want to start and Etsy store, not right now but i have reserved my name:

{Rusty Angel Art}

so i added it on with my blog title. where does this name come from? well, i was born op North of England, Hexham to be more specific, raised in Throckley, Newcastle. we have a huge piece of art up there (in Gateshead) called the Angel of the North aka the rusty angel seeing it actually is all rusty now.

so i wanted to link to my roots and seeing that i love angels, paint angels due to the lovely Suzi Blu (best class ever!!!), know all about rusty things like rusty faith for one lol... don'task, i'm working on it

i like the new name and i think it suits me.

i am going to keep "life is filled with pretty things" on though seeing that i do really think my life is filled with lots of pretty, beautiful, wonderful things.

so 2010 is getting into swing! hope you are all well and keeping to those resolutions you might have made lol! i never make them.

xxx

winner birthday draw

today is my birthday so as promised, i put all the names of my wonderful followers into a pot closed my eyes

pulled out one name

LBSC is short for... little black scrap cat aka Sherri!!!

Sherri i hope you are pleased,

send me your address and you will be recieving a little painting of mine soon, i will make one escpecially for you, i like to feel who i am painting for and with you that won't be a problem.

ok folks that was it.

all have a wonderful Christmas!

xxx

sticky back canvas flower

remember my flower on tag 12?

made with sticky back canvas instead of Grungepaper? well, i showed it to Claudine (Hellmuth) and she loved it, she is so sweet! so i am getting another link in her next linky shout. and some of you have asked for a tutorial!!! i will be doing one soon, very soon, promise! i've got to finish translating tim's tags first, he was so sweet to give me permission to do so for my Belgian readers who would love to understand every singlel detail seeing that google translater does some funny things to the language at times :)

i got all the goodiebags out the door, hope they have arrived, UK ones might take a few days.

my painmeds got upped again, yes, again! my foot is proving to be very stuborn.

got alllll my Xmas shopping done today, yes that hurt my foot loads but hey it had to be done! and it is, i am proud to say that all is wrapped and sitting under the tree,

big sigh of relief going on here!

i am not happy when it comes to showering! i can't! i have no hot water, the boiler has given upon us and it seems it going to be a very difficult call in getting it fixed or replaced, really hard when you have little kids and especially a six year old with waistlong hair!

try washing that in the kitchen sink!

it's a bummer! all i can say!

see these tatoos? i love them! i want them! smaller, lots smaller! closer together and in a hidden place, hip or something. don't know if i am getting them lol! but i want to! :)

what else have i got to tell?

oh my birthday is sooooon so if you are not yet a follower to my blog then maybe you want to become one before Monday! because on my birthday, which is huuuhhh... on Monday lol i will be giving one lucky follower a present.

have a great weekend and if you have kids you will know that Christmas holiday has started, school reports were handed over to mammy today, they were good, proud of my kids, always, no matter what, but yeah they did well, cool!

right, enough chatting!

have a great weekend

xxx

yes! here they are! tag 11 & 12 of Xmas

still feeling a bit under the weather but i managed to get these two finished. working in my living room where it is nice warm and i didn't want to drag all my supplies there so my last two tags have the same colour scheme lol... just so you know why.

tag 11!

of couse i had to improvise on the button but i wanted to make it look a bit like it cos i like the concept of the covered brads!!! so i covered a button with stickyback

canvas, imitating the pattern Tim used, pretty easy to draw really. i painted it with dab of yellow CH studio paint, stamped with archival black and adhered to the flower with matte accents ' yes that glues just as good as the gloss lol)

instead of the cute reindeer that i haven't got! i got some harlequin grungeboard letters, rubbed them in places with distress embossing ink and embossed with fine back embossingpowder, inked with fired brick! i love this combo!!!! going to use it again for sure!! bold! i love it! keeping in the same colour i did my tag with fired brick, black soot and aged mahogany, splashed, dried and stamped snowflakes with fired brick.

added the black flower and leaf and a little word on the button, voila!

tag 12

the grungepaper flower!!!!

well i have done so many of tem that i really felt like trying a new thing here! i had the stickback canvas at hand remember! soooo i hand-cut the flowers from the canvas, painted with dab of yellow and dash of red, both CH studio paints, watered down just a little.

colour looks way stronger cos of the flash on my camera, dark day again... sorry

i think this flower has room for improvement, needs to be done a little differently than with grungepaper but i am going to perfect it cos it looks really neat and so different with the canvas look, pretty pleased with myself :)

done!!! all twelve done! what am i going to blog about now????

it was been fun though, more blogging, more response, sharing, visiting blogs! intense but nice.

now i need to get all the tags on one pic to send to Tim

and give myself the chance to win his big prize :)

but first...i'm going to take a little nap before the kids get home!

thanks all for joining me on my twist on the magnificant 12 tags of Christmas by Tim Holtz!

xxxx

still no tag 11 & 12

i know i promised the last two tags, truth is: i am shattered, i feel every single little muscle in my body, think i am getting ill.

i did work on the tiny art pieces for the 5 goodiebags, no they have not yet left the building but thet will by the end of the week for sure! even tiny tag artwork takes time! here's a sneak peek, not yet finished but you get the idea

my five blue hair angels, backgrounds are bare but as i said, unfinished.

i had already told you all that i had a friend here for the weekend, she wanted to help make some things to remember her father by.

as soon as we were going through the photo's i picked these two out, her father with herself as a baby and with her daughter as a baby, they are almost identical, the way he is looking, holding the baby, it just felt like the right match for this canvas.

her dad didn't like too many frills and things so i kept it simple,

painted the Prima paintable with distress inks.

stamped the letters on grungeboard (tim's stamps) cut out and embossed with distress powder to give them a rough look.

then i did a book, my friend helped with this, keeping in mind she is not a crafter lol! she did well on distressing the edges of the pages and the photo's.

again, i kept it simple, gessoed the cover and painted with cranberry dabber and dry brushed with pearl and gold, on top of eachother they give a more platinum look, i like that.

i glued pages together with CH matte medium because the pages were very thin, i stamped backgrounds with vintage photo and aged maghony, using lots of my Tim's stamps.

we added tags that she will write on at home.

it was an emotinal weekend for both of us, heavy to be honest

but i am glad i could help her and she is happy.

i am a little drained though, suppose it's normal.

on a lighter note (and i am getting tired of sitting up, really feeling ukky!)

here is the finished advents houses i made for Hobbyfarm.

the roofs can be taken of by undoing the ribbon.

i inked and stickled the roofs, they look so adorable in real life.

there you have it!

i'm shattered so end of blog post

i will not promise the tags for tomorrow, no idea how i will be feeling, but you never know, they might be here so come back and look just to make sure you don't miss them

have a good evening, mine will be a short one, off to bed early i think.

xxxx

blog candy over on the artistic stamper

just a quick post to let you know about the wonderful giveaway over on Jennies blog here's the link: http://theartisticstamper.blogspot.com/
i will make and post my 11th & 12 tag here tomorrow.
now go visit Jennie! she too made the twelve tags so it is nice to see her take on them too.
xxx

no Tag 11 yet

hello hello, no! no tag today! owwwwww untthinkable nearly! but you know what? i had a bit of me-time in the city with a friend today, hanging out, drinking coffee, bit of shopping, lunch, you know just ahhhhhhhhh relaxing time. no time to make tags or anything else, didn't even cook!!! got pizza instead. so a lovely lazy day alllll day! so proud of myself.

i did finish an angel painting last night, the light was really bad today but i took a picture anyway, doesn't really show the true colours, the ochre in her face is really very very subtle in real life, strange how it is so hard in this pic, ah well here it is anyway.

she is an adorable red head angel, apparently i do a lot of red heads... now where does my inspiration for that come from i wonder... i had a nice time painting her, lovely new golden fluids mixed with my studio paints by Ranger of course and i have some wonderful Sterward Gill paints on their way from Scotland, can't wait to get them in !! they are sooooo beautiful, can't even describe them, you need to see them for yourself!

ah the flowers on the windowsill inside are dead! i know, i should throw them out huh!

but see how my geraniums are still flowering strong outside!!! December i might add! see this is where the ochre in her face is harsh but not in real life i promise you :)

the wings are very textured so i didn't beeswax them,

all the rest of this 60X30cm painting was waxed

bit too dark picture to see the lettering at the bottom! it says EMBRACE in nice bright red really ( i might have to take a better pic tomorrow of the weather decides i can)

she is telling me to embrace love,she is holding my heart, she is reminding me to embrace all the love around me, the love in my heart even if i don't realize it at times, there are so many things to love, it is not always about romance now is it? lol i am in love with my paints for example, i enjoy painting so much, it just feels right and makes me happy and carefree., i love my children of course, goes without saying that! i love my doggy, did you notice him in the background, too lazy to be bothered about me painting pretty angels.

ok tags, cos there is a fat chance you came to see my take on Tim's 11th Xmas tag!

Monday! i will post the last two tags on Monday, i am having a friend over this weekend and we will be working on a personal item for her to remember her father by, so no time for tags.

you understand.

hope you all have a great weekend, see you on Monday! xxx

still time to start following my blog!

Tag 10 quick quick

first of all, i love Ti'ms colourful tag!!!i only have one fillable pen with cranberry in it so i went for the one colour on my tag which makes it totally diffferent than with the colour blocks. i did go back in the end with some wild plum on a felt but it isn't so easy cos of he thickness of the grungeboard letters so i got a real random look which is actually pretty but does not show on pic at all. i went with an espresso dabber instead of the black, just felt a little too harsh with my one colour. i wanted to add some stickles somewhere... hummm might still rub some on.

i have been playing with Ten Second Studio metals for a while now but i didn't have the metal foil so i had to use cheapy narrow metal and put down strokes of it! and it was way too thin and ripped so i needed to put down a second layer, you see, a tag with issues lol but still fun even with my limitations of materials. we did something like this at Ranger U and i loved it then too! In 2010 it will be turning up on some of the classes so watch out. there is something relaxing about embossing metal... aaaahhh

well, anyway, my tag much prettier in real, pic is not doing it any justice at all but i am not going to take a new pic lol i am in painting mode!!! painting ANGELS!!! maybe that is why the tag is a quick quick version. i want to paint!!!! what can i say? i'm having fun with the big wings and the soft faces and the light coming from all around... ok you get the picture, you know what kind of mood i'm in lol

oh and angel in the ba&ck is nowhere near finished so don't judge her apperiances just yet :)

off to my physical therapist for some pain and suffering no doubt! thne back to painting

hope your day is a supercool one! xxx

Tag 9 poor darling xxx

oh i like today's tag alot! the poor screaming kid!!

as usual, my version of tim's wonderful tag.

what did i not have at hand?

the filmstrip ribbon - type charms - photo corners.

i did have he mini filmstrip stamp so i stamped it onto light transparent sheet and dried carefully with the heattool, i stamped with Jet Black Archival from Ranger, it dried fine!wfeeew!

okay i knowi didn't stamp straight,

but it does fit in with the vintage look is what i am saying if anyone asks :p

then i cut out all the clear parts, don't think i really had to do that but i did it anyway.

cut the pics to size! fiddley job glueing them in with the glossy accents;

i covered the larger photo with the same transparent sheet because i had printed on plain paper. i made the photo corners by folding plain paper then inked with walnut stain.

i found some round tags and type like sticky letters i must of bought like a century ago!

haha but seeeee! they came in handy,

never throw things out! no matter how old and dated they might seem to you!

i covered them with glossy accents (still al little dull cos it wasn't yet dry when i took the pic)

i didn't want to add the 25 cos i had done that on yesterday's tag so i put on this little snowflake charm that i got on a new cardigan i bought, cool huh!

to add a good dash of Christmas colour i dymo-ed in red. a flashy detail along with the ribbon and the beautiful poinsettia.

i stamped "fears" at the side and added a bit of page from an old french book to the left side simply cos it felt a little empty, probably cos i placed the filmstrip a bit too far to the middle, same reason why i added the vintage lace to thebottom (why am i so honest??? i could simply say it was my design!!! lol)

well anyway i like my tag, i love the bold red details! anyone who knows me also knows i sometimes like to jump out of my own comfortzone! this red on the vintage is me jumping!!

my little boy ended up having laryngitis, not the flu!

so! one little kid home ill, mind you! his throat isn't stopping him from talking non-stop! i mean NON-STOP!!!! helppppp

have a great day

* don't forget that on my birthday i am picking one lucky follower to recieve a gift*

tag 8 four more to go

voila! tag 8, my version of it that is!

i don't have the holly stamp, nor the bells, so i improvised a bit.

i drew the holly leaves onto grungeboard freehand,

painted them green and dabbered the edges gold.

i dabbered the 25 in gold too and toned down with a bit of black distress ink.

the music stamp i don't have either so i used a diff one on the vellum.

i actually stuck the vellum on with gold paintdabber, i had it at hand and it works perfect as adhesive!! (did you not know that??? haha then you didn't do my Ragerized I workshop :))

i rubbed a bit of mustard seed distress ink where the light shud be, just to give it a glow :)

the berries at the bottom are little blobs of cranberry dimensional pearls, Ranger of course!

well, i like tim's tag and i like mine too.

short post because i'm now off to the doc with my little boy, he has flu i am guessing.

hope you are all still having fun with the tags!

i got Tim's permission to translate for my Belgian/Dutch readers!!!

so if you want a flemish/dutch version of tim's tags let me know and i will get it to you by mail asap

bye for now! have a good one xxx

(don't forget to become a follower, my birthday is coming up soon and i am giving one of my followers a presssie!!!)

Tag 5 and 6 and 7!!!

look who has been busy;;;

tag 5

i used a 7Gypsies metal border, really easy, it's adhesive and cutable with tim's scissors!

i didn't have the charm fragments so i used the normal oval ones, that proved a bit of a challenge, i had to make up some kind of charm like thing so i wrapped a bit of the wire around first and then covered with foil, not quite the same but it still looks cool.

the white rub-on was replaced by some white embossing and the distress embossing powder by verdigris from the antiquities range from Ranger it works well!

tag 6

again some improvisation going on! i had no black embossing powder at hand while i was working on this yesterday so i stamped with pitch black pigment and embossed with clear, well actually, a little story... during a workshop ome time ago, i had both clear and frosted crystal open and while explaining something i picked up the wrong jar, you guessed it! i poured frosted into clear!! and yes that is what i had in my hands yesterday so my embossing as a cool mixture! and i mean cool! it is pretty neat. the fluffy white stuff that tim used as snow looks so cool but again no where to be found here in belgium so i used Aleene's glitter snow and it is nice, i had never used this before but it does the trick. i love the idea of the tree on the car! so tim! don't you think??

tag 7

the mask sheets were not available to me for this one so i made my own but i do really love tim for making these sheets! i am getting a load once they are here!

i like this tag, the white paint coming through is so vintage, along with the distress stickles and the vintage Santa really gets me into a Christmas mood.

oh because of the colours i had chosen to ink my tag (fired brick, broken china) the Merry Christmas stamp didn't show up too well so i embossed it with clear and now it really pops, it's all about making quick decisions and trusting your crazy ideas as Tim once put on a stamp!

tag 8 tomorrow!

mine will be late in the day as i am away most of the day

so many people are enjoying the tags, it is a wonderful thing that we are all sharing, it is the spirit of Xmas really!

now i am off to draw angels, i can't wait to start painting on one, i bouht the most beautiful paints today at the art store, a small fortune, oh my god they are expensive but lush lush lush!

now let me go play! i'll be back tomorrow!

and am i a good blogger or what?? two post in one day i might add!!!

and winners!!! don't forget to send me your address via mail, onlt that way can i get your goodiebag out the door, this will be Wednesday if i have all the addresses!!!

love and peace! xxx t

the winners are...

so happy people, the winners of the five goodiebags are...

i put all 17 names in my trust hat

i had no other innocent hand around but my own,

but you all know i am honest and would not peek while grabbing!!

so here goes:

all in the hat

Shana and Brenda

yay for them! Shana came to see me yestersday even though she is in the middle of her exams so mum let her on to the computer for five minutes just so she could comment on my blog to have a chance at winning and she even phoned me cos she couldn't find how to do it lol! all that trouble has payed off!!! see i told you to take a chance!!!

the Kathrynwheel!

a northern lass like me!!! ohhh glad you won to cos you had just missed out on the 100th blog draw just because you thought shopping was more fun lol!

happy for you too!!

the Scrapbookdoll
way to go M.A. ( my nickname for Marie Ann)
happy you won!! you struggled so much with the Grungepaper flower and still had the spirit to fix it when you got home! your goodiebag is on it's way haha!

Hilda!!

Hilda is one of my trusty scrap class chicks!!! she had NOOOOOO idea how to comment on my blog, she complains to me about it every time she sees me lol! i told her to get help! and she did! and her very first comment... she wins a prize! gosh some people have all the luck!!!

happy for you Hildake!

and last but nott least!!

Jennie!!

i only got to know Jennie after starting up the Ranger U grad group on facebook, Jennie joined and we became FB friends and started reading eachothers blogs due to the tags i think lol!

so Jennie! from one Ranger Educator to an other: Happy you won too!

and oowwwww to the people who didn't win anything, better luck next time!

thank you for all the wonderful comments

i am so grateful for you all taking the time!

the &é tags are not finished, i am behind on the weekend ones because i was busy but today they will be posted along with today's tag

i got so much feedback on my version of the tags, it is amazing really! thank you!

i have promised some of my Belgians that is will make a translation of Tim's tags for them just so they can fully understand what the guy is saying lol! it is in nooooo way to be used other than personal use and never ever to be published or passed on, please please take this into account

now in flemish so they really do get it lol:

ik zal de tim's tags vertalen in het vlaams, nederlands voor wie ze wil maar aub!!! ik druk er heel sterk op dat het echt enkel voor persoonlijk gebruik is en nooit ergens gepubliceerd kan of mag worden en ook niet doorgegeven worden aan anderen, okido, mercikes!

wie ze wil moet me maar een mailtje sturen

I am actually going to ask Tim for permission

first just so I am sure it is okay for him.

okay, so now i have done this draw, i will make the goodiebags today, make some tiny artworks to go with them

you need to mail me your addresses privatly to

wattstanya@skynet.be

also SANDRA!!! i need your address because you won the 100th blog post prize!

i am now off o the art store to go but paint!! i need some more colours to paint my angels in suzi's class, ahhhhh relaxation for me!

then i need to order some Steward Gill's paints, all the way up in Scotland! brillll paint, can't wait to get them!

so my relaxing day will be a busy one i think!

hope you all have a wonderful happy day!

love!!

oh and one more thing!!!

it's my birthday soon... no i'm not saying that to get cards or pressies! duh!!!! lol

i am going send a pressie to one of my followers! i will choose a winner, randomly of course!)

on my birthday!!!

so if you are not yet a follower, well you might want to become one before the 21st

bye my shiny happy people. xx

Tag 4 and the winner is...

ok here goes, i have only 5 minutes to blog! i need to be out the door, off to the kid's Sinterklaas party at school ( sinterklaas is like Santa Claus, dont ask, i think he is weird and i don't like hime at all and i think he messes up Xmas and all that but hey, i live in Belgium so i have to adjust, or at least act like it! so i'm off to the party in four minutes!

winner of my 100th post gift is Sandra!!! congrats Sandra!!! mail me your address and i will get it to you sooooon!

tag 4 on Tim's blog was a bit of a challenge! i don't have the cut and dry felt ( didn't really like the stuff to be honest, but again, i am cinverted, i will go buy it now!!) i don't have the bubbles, not available in Belgium yet it think but i will look for them tomorrow oh and no shattered vintage glass... so i was thinking, hummm... miss this tag today but i wouldn't be me if i hadn't found a way around it all so here is my tag

i used a 1x3inch frame and the plastic bubbles is in fact cut from this:

pretty cool alternative i think! i stamped the tag and inked it spice marmalade, weathered wood and a bit of fired brick, edges with black distress then some gold paintdapper and i stamped the speckles on with he gold too. i rubbed some crystal stickles on the roof and frame, put a brad and washer on just under the roof cause i had a little bit of space from putting the roof on over the chain, lol i did do a lot my way today i guess. little girl image is from Lisa's art, i will put the link in later! i really am short for time now!!!

don't forget to leave a comment, i have loads of readers ( i can see on my counter) but not many leave a comment, please do and have a go at winning one of the five goodiebags!!! the draw is on Monday morning (CET).

ok i did NOT check for typos lol!!! i'm dashing out the door as this loads.... bye xxx