time to paint...

hi all, as usual life has been busy but we have had quite a bit of sunshine out here in the countryside, over the weekend we had temps up to 32 °C and that my dears is really hot for May!! however yesterday it rained all day and the temps dropped to 10°C and that was a huge difference and i even had to throw some logs onto the fireplace again but no complaints because today the sun is back out to play and the garden was actually pretty grateful for the rain..

but enough about the weather lol!!

i've had time to paint, mostly outside in the sun which proved a little difficult with my acrylic paint drying really quick even when pulled into the shade! but i have now bought a retarder and i'm hoping that will help the open time while i paint. anyway, here is my lastest finished painting
'SOLICE'

the text on her dress is from a my South african friend Marc Volker, he is a bit of a poet most of the time, just never get into football issues with him lol! omg he can rave on about it, i think he drives his wife Nicolette nuts with it.

i really like this text of his so i asked permission to use it and seeing he loves my art he said yes straight away and is pretty proud i used it so we are both happy :)

my insperation for the wings i found in the street artists in Barcelona

i used lots of golden mica flakes, i just love them!

i beeswaxed the whole painting, even her face, i stamped into the beeswax in the bottom right corner and added perfect pearls to it, i mainly used Golden fluid acrylics, Steward Gill Alchemy paint (colour fusion) for the eyes because i simply love the shimmer they give and i used some Steward Gill Colourise paints on the face and Golden fiber paste for her hair...

so there you have some of my mixed media secrets :)

at the moment i am working on a commisioned painting for a beautiful redhead friend, i will show once finished

have a great day and i hope the sun is shining where you are

love & peace

tanya xx

food for thought

i've been inking & painting & embossing metal, sanding and scratching... laying the last hand om my next workshop, i'll post pics when i'm totally done

i have had no time to paint and yet i feel i should have, i need to paint to orden my feelings and impressions... otherwise thet stick with me and start living a life of their own, the only way i can stay strong and not let feelings or pain take over me is by painting them away, maybe not away but giving myself a chance to put them into perspective. most people class me a a strong woman, i have been through a few ordeals in this life and yet appear to be happy and optimistic and i am! i am strong and optimistic on most days, but like all of us i do get down, i do have feelings to cope with, the pain take over on some occasions, now i am in no way complaining here! don't get me wrong! i have a super beautiful life, i am happy...

but to be honest i made it easy on myself in a way, i stayed away from social life, i never tried to make new friends where i live, i have been happy enough to meet people through teaching and it was enough for me. Over the last few months i have been out and about more, i felt it was time to come out of my hiding place, not that i was really hiding, i was just enjoying the peace of my soltitude. I live in a wonderful place, surrounded by the most beautiful nature that makes me intensely happy on any given day, i have a strong connection with nature, maybe more than with people, i don't have many close friends, by choice.

but i have been out and about and am glad i have but at the same time so many new impressions are coming my way and i am getting to know myself all over again, how i react, when i feel comfortable or not, ... new lessons, all over again, challenging and sometimes tiring but i am learning things about myself or recognizing things i already knew. and i get into the funny situation that people i meet ask if i am married or single, have i got kids? uh yes 5! lol then comes the shocked look on their faces most of the time... i get all kinds of responses, some think it is amazing i have five, they think i look too young to have five, three of them being adult! funny is that in a pub sometimes when i tell a man about my five kids i see the scared look on their faces ;) and most of them suddenly need the toilet haha! good way of getting rid of them really... :)

also i still am way more reserved or timid than some other women i see who go straight into action when they see a man they fancy, i see them getting really close, putting on sexy eyes and smiles and giggles and even to the extent of almost throwing themselves at a man the very first night they meet... i'm not judging! in no way am i judging, i'm just stating that i am incapable of acting like that, i have never ever made a first move... i was actually talking about that to someone the other day and that person said it roots from fear of rejection... that made me think... maybe that is true but i have no idea! i think it is just not appropriate (for myself) to act in such a way and i never will... do i let chances slip? i don't think so because really if a man falls for such behavior then fine... but no thanks lol!! i like who i am and if that makes me a little gray sparrow amongst colourful birds then so be it... you might find this a strange conversation lol but it is just a pick of one of the new impressions that have been coming my way, nothing more to it really.

the sun is out today but i have some more work to do before i can actually go out to sit in it, i did have my morning coffee in the garden and again was amazed by the amount of birds that are in my garden (including a whole bunch of beautiful sparrows :)), i saw buds on my lavander, yay i love love love the scent of lavender so i cant wait for the flowers. the tadpoles are becoming very active in the pond!!! soon i'll have hundreds of tiny toads hopping on my terras, i'm not too fond of that to tell the truth, it looks like some plague out of the bible and some of them even commit suicide by hopping into the kitchen and bathroom! ever had tiny toads hopping around you while sitting on the loo??? aaaarrgggg!

anyway, heading off to get some stuff done that is really long over due but life is busy and the days are way too short... i'll get it done and posted today! my mission!!

hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are

love & peace,

and i do lay stress on the peace, inner peace is something i have found to be essential

tanya xx

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mums.

My mother's day so far has consisted of sleeping in because the littlies are at their dad, it is his weekend to have them so i will see them later today when i pick them up.

So sleeping in was my luxury though i would have prefered to have kiddies jumping on my bed bringing me burned toast and weak coffee and dandilions from the garden :)

however my 20y old son did make me (half burned) toast and scrambled eggs and brought it out into the garden without even a mumble of happy mother's day haha and then went off inside to watch a recorded film from last night... typical my son lol!

so again peace and quiet...

except for my little buddy blackbird who i have named George :)

my sweet son did give me a gift certificate for new sunglasses so yesterday we had a nice day in the city, choosing some pretty cool sunglasses that i will have by the end of next week, lunch out in the sun, well not so much sun but it was nice enough.

I'm not one for expecting gifts for Mother's day, whenever my kids used to aks what i wanted i always replied that it would be fantastic if they would for one day not fight or make a mess and make me a cup of tea without me asking for it... i always got the tea!

motherhood is quiet a ride, one that i have learned lots from, with five kids there is a lesson every day! my hardest lesson has been to let go... my teenage daughter taught me how to do that, in not such a soft way (some of you will remember she ran away from home in feb 2009 and is now living with her father) it hurt like hell and on some days it still does... but i have learned to let it go as much as i can, she is nearly adult now, 18 in June.

My own mother died last year in September and that too was a hard thing to deal with in different ways than most of you would expect.

She died at the age of 59 after a seven year struggle with Alhzeimers

we never had a connection, i only met her for the first time as a teenager so it was not the average mourning journey i went through...

this morning sitting out in the garden, for the very first time in my life i felt she might just be watching over me after all and it made me cry and then i started to miss my runaway teen and that made me cry and then George started singing and that made me smile and cry... and then the song hallelujah came on my ipod and ok... you get the picture.

****************

i went to a really cool party on Friday night.... oh i got home at 3.30am after playing taxi for a sad soul who's car had broke down ;)

i met so many cool, beautiful, crazy people, we laughed so much and omg you don't want to knows ome of the convo's we had, hilarious believe me!!

so happy Esther invited me :))

and i made her a little present because the very first time we met she fell in love with my framed collage necklace and insantly dived into my cleavage lol... she is like that!

(here is what i made for her, not so good pics but it is hard with the glass that reflects)

she pretty much squeeled with delight and we immediatly fitted the chain to fit and then she had to change her earrings because they didn't match lol ... and every one just had to admire it! she gave them no choice lol!!

ah well i'm going to let you all have a wonderful day and i'm going to continue to relax out in the sun, today the sun seems to have come back to play and i am not complaining!!!

love & peace

tanya xx

what makes you happy...

what truly makes you happy? my list is long!!! of course my children or on the list of what makes me happy, i find that pretty obvious...

i was pleased and suprized of the amount of small things on my list...

the blackbird singing in my garden made me intensly happy this morning! honestly i sat in the garden smoking a sigarette (that is a different story!!) and saw mister blackbird hopping around, he has been my friend for a few weeks now and he is loud i tell you! last year he seemed to get on my nerves a little but this year his song seems so beautiful! i actually go sit out in the garden just to see him. so this morning there he was hopping around from tree to bush to the pond (he is an active little fella) singing his heart out, i imagine him doing that especially for me of course, after all he seems to be my new companion. And then comes mrs blackbird, hopping along... and it made me smile to see my little companion having a girlfriend... yeah, things like this make me happy and not just for a moment... it lingers... i take the feeling back inside with me, it makes my heart sing happy songs and makes my pain lighter and less important and again that is on my list of what makes me happy!

my dog rolling around in the grass like a little lunatic

a fresh hot cup of tea

the sun on my face

sitting outside to paint

sitting inside to paint

biting into a juicy apple

drinking hot chocolate in bed

red paint (well all paint but red is my fav!)

my new oil pastels

buying new shoes for my kids

raspberry sorbet

having coffee with friends

having wine with friends

listening to all the cool music on my pink ipod

watching the kids play out in the garden

drawing in my art journal

my friend Diane in Seattle who says hi every single day

discovering new music

silence... for a long time silence was so loud!!! it brought discomforting thoughts and fears and worries. now silence is simply silent, peaceful and nice.

my list is so much longer... and that too makes me happy.

i hope you all have a wonderful day
love & peace
tanya x

Love Yourself Today

(Saturday morning 7am)

we have been having the most glorious weather out here, the blossom is coming to full force and so are the number of tourists , almost enough for me to escape it all! omg!!! the amount of bikers! yeah bikers Harleys i mean... all tough dudes coming to see the blossom lol how cute!!! bikers, cyclists, cars, bussssssessss even, all through our tiny little village, a bit of a pain when you are out in the garden having what you thought was going to be a quiet sit down lol!!!

yesterday i went to my beautiful friend in Aalst to have a nice quiet sit down and lunch out in the garden : ) a super de luxe salade, wine and the best strawberries evvvva!! fresh from our countryside. i even got a bit of a tan, well don't expect too much of my tans lol, this British skin of mine does not tan all that well... but it was a good good day...

one day that felt like two weeks holiday.

Saturday i had the honour to "Rangerize" a bunch of nice ladies, they were rockstars, they inked and stamped and combined techniques like pros! so so proud of them! i never took pics but i'm sure i will get my hands on some to share later!

days like these make me happy, make the never ending pain bearable... eventhough i have to pay for it 10 times over today i don't care!

Love Yourself Today, this is the name of my lastest Mixed Media Painting

she proved to be a bit of a pain in the butt lol! oh so many things went wrong on this one, i have no idea why! i think she was meant to be and exercise in patience and i had to learn to love her the way she turned out and i do! she maybe a bit of a dark spirited lady but she has the right message and her energy feels more than okay.
she is a 15X30cm painting on wood

i used lots ofGolden Fluid Acrylics, glass bead paste, modeling paste, gold mica flakes, Steward Gill paints, Tim Holtz stamps, Ranger inks, Distress powder.

This week... i plan on finishing off a few class samples, i have a scrap class and i'm due in hospital again for my last nasty, hateful stupid,

paintful, not-doing- much-for-me injection!!!

soooo not looking forward to that!

anyway beautiful people!! i wish you all a great week filled with all nice things

love & peace!!!!

tanya x

how are you all doing?

life has been moving on, i really should try and blog more often but the days just seem so short :)

i'm not going to talk much about the pain i'm in, it is just ongoing and therefore boring the life out of you all!

so what have i been up to? well i went along to a photo shoot with my friends Daisy ( model) and Paul (photographer) see some pics of Daisy here. it was fun especially because i will be helping to make some cool props for future shoots and some jewellery and beaded clothing ( when am i going to do all that?)

here is a pic i took of the glam life of models in the middle of a field, waiting for the set to be finished... i was sitting under an apple tree drawing in my journal, taking it all in, it was diff to my usually activities but fun! i must admit that a certain person was right to drag me along eventhough i had just come out of hospital!!!

the first ice creams have been approved by my little ones! it was such nice weather last weekend that i took them to the playground...

they appear to be wearing matching clothes lol! that was not on purpose

further more i have been busy with upcoming workshops, i went to a Donna Downey workshop in Belgium, it was really nice meeting her and her wonderful husband, it was worth the drive and the long day... and fof any of you who might be wondering... i do take that hat off sometimes :)

i am working on a few paintings at the same time but non of them are finished so not much art top show other than this quick little mixed media canvas i made for norah, my friend's 5 year old daughter! it is a quick job, done while she was waiting and acoording to her orders... huh wishes!!! my my !! she knows what she wants and she loves pink!!!

last but not least i wouls like you to go check out my blog friend Al Hernandez, he has been a fan of my blog for some time now and i have always enjoyed his reply.

i have added him to my blogroll so you can go visit his blog whenever you like;

have a nice day or evening depending where you are in the world... i'm off to start dinner

take care! love & peace

oh and if you are a facebooker then you might enjoy adding my fanpage to your list! just search for rusty angel Art and you will find me there, thanks xx

where does time go??

it might be just me but i feel like this year is moving on at high speed, some how it is almost half of April without me realizing...

due to the hernia, which is causing me more pain and grief than i care to talk about, i haven't been up to much, i did work on this painting though, a work that took about two weeks for me to finish, i had to learn to paint at my easle sitting down, not the easiest thing with this 54X107 cm painting!!

Absolem Butterfly Girl paintingthis beautiful butterfly that a friend gave me after the Alice in Wonderland film, was my inspiration

it was quite a journey, a new adventure actually! first i painted my girl on wood as i usually do, this time i painted a bit smaller than i am used too and that proved a bit tricky for me to do details but it didn't matter reaaly, i painted on 15X30 and then i had it scanned at the photographer, Paul Croes in Hasselt, he printed it on to canvas with the Epson fine art printer. a really nice starting point for me to finish off my art on this huge size!

the nice thing is that i had the finished piece photographed in the studio so now i can sell prints on canvas that i can further embellish if i please, this way i can make more people happy withmy painting at a lower cost. the original is no longer available.

i have already had the draft version printed again, flipped horizontally so she is now facing the opposite direction, this one i will be painting in very different colours, a totally different butterfly girl! i wil show once finished.

ok that is enoigh blogging for me, my back is aching like razy so i better take the lie-down

hope you are all enjoying Spring! here in the countryside the first blossoms are starting to show, hopefully the weather will stay nice and then we will have the full white burst of the apple, pear and cherry trees! it is a wonderful sight!! tourist come from all over to visit our area then.

talk to you again soon!

love & peace
tanya

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