Embellishments

 I love to collect embellishments.  Fabric flowers.........

 .....natural shell buttons.........

 .....wool felt shapes............

 .....shiny, sparkly things.....

.......feathers, fancy buttons and pom poms!  I am happy to get them out of their containers, look at them, and put them away again!  I really need to start putting them to good use in my crafting!

As I mentioned in my last post, I would like to do a giveaway very soon as a way of thanking my regular commenter's and supporters.  I still haven't decided what the giveaway will be other than something in the way of cards or gift tags so it will have to be a surprise!

If you would like to be entered into the giveaway, then please leave a comment here and a little bit about what sorts of things you like e.g, floral things, cats, dogs, wild animals, birds, traditional or contemporary designs, nature, seasonal, soft colours, bright colours etc.

I am looking forward to finding out what kinds of things you like and will announce the winner's name on my next post!  Good luck! x

The giveaway is now closed.

Thank YOU

I would like to say a big thank you to everybody who took the time to respond to yesterdays post. I took on board the advice you gave and went for a brisk walk, bought a bar of chocolate and a couple of packets of biscuits, settled down with a magazine and rounded off the evening with a nice glass of red wine!

I did something else too. I did something on impulse. Now this will make you laugh! I started thinking about people who have an upbeat and positive attitude and the first person to come to mind was Uri Geller! Without further thought I sent him an email (never sent him an email before or visited his website) asking him how I could increase happiness in my life as I was feeling so down. Well, within 10 minutes he had responded to my email! He said I should think positive and inspire myself to help others. He also said to put myself into an 'attitude of gratitude' and recommended that I read the free book 'little book of mind power' on his website.

I was encouraged by his email and did indeed look at his book recommendation and found some good advice listed there. I recommend that you go and pay the website a visit if you are looking for guidance as I was.

Regarding the 'attitude of gratitude', I do believe that I am grateful on a daily basis. I know how lucky I am but sometimes need a gentle reminder. Sometimes my feelings of inadequacy are overwhelming and I don't trust my own judgement. Anyway, enough about me! In order to show my gratitude to all of you that regularly leave me supportive comments, I will be doing a giveaway very shortly. I don't know what it will be yet but probably something along the lines of what I have shown here. It may be some doggy or kitty cat tags, or some note cards, or some house gift tags or something I have cross-stitched, or something entirely different.

Thanks again for all your support. I truly am grateful. X

Happiness

I am struggling today. Even though the sky has brightened up the January blues seem to have set in. Anyway, I am determined to keep my positive attitude up. The first snowdrops have started to show and I can see new life emerging from the fallen leaves around the garden.

Yesterday the postman brought me this lovely bag that I won at Vivienne's giveaway. It is so beautifully made and I can imagine the hours of work that she put into it. She even added little beads to the hang tag. Her thoughtfulness made me feel very happy.

This has set me thinking about the things that make me happy or at least quietly contented!

• attention to detail
• Gizmo purring loudly
• a spark of inspiration
• an engaging book

OK, the list isn't very long but like I said I am struggling at the moment to find the positive! What makes you happy? Maybe your suggestions will make me happy too?

Stamping Sepia Scenes

I am still having fun using my scene stamps. I thought I would try out another idea with them. This time I stamped the images with a brown ink pad and then used water and a brush to blend the images. I think this technique works rather well using minimum equipment too!

The same stamps were used in the above scenes but the images look different due to the positioning of the cottages.

A wild animal completes the scene.

Stamping Scenes

One of my favourite crafts is rubber stamping scenes.

There are a wide range of scene stamps available from shrubs and hills, churches and cottages, livestock and wildlife. The challenge in using these stamps is that you have to make up the scenes yourself.

With a bit of practice I managed to put some convincing scenes together.

The next tricky bit is colouring the image. I used Aquamarker pens which are water based and used a paintbrush and water to blend. I still need to practise this technique but I am having fun whilst trying!

A Good Day

Today is a good one. See that shaft of sunlight across Popcorn's leg? Well, that is because the sun has come out!!! I haven't seen a glimpse of the sun for weeks!!!

I let the hens have a while to free range but they preferred to play games and follow each other in a circle. Daft birds!

A sunny but frosty day.

The cornflower blue sky fills me with so much hope.

I even managed to hang some washing outside to dry. So what if it is as stiff as cardboard when I bring it back inside later. At least I had the pleasure of hanging it out, listen to the birds sing and feel uplifted in a way that I haven't felt in ages.

I am humming the theme tune to Little House on the Prairie, imagining I am in a long cotton dress and sunbonnet and running up a hill! 'Da da dada, da da da, da da dada.............!

Muscari, Laughter and Quote

The potted muscari are just coming into bud. It really is a hopeful sign when new shoots start springing up. Roll on spring!

I have been pondering recently for the reasons as to why I have been so down. I think it has a lot to do with reading and hearing about bad news stories and the medias unrelenting tales of woe and despair. I know that horrible things happen in this World but I don't need a constant drip, drip of gloom and doom everyday. I also know that lots of good things happen in the World and I am going to start to focus on happy things.

Whilst I was pondering (shouldn't do too much introspective thinking when feeling like this!) I started to think of how others may view my blog. Is it a true representation of who I am? Well, I am introspective and quite a private person but there is nothing really to show that I actually have a sense of humour although you wouldn't think it reading my posts some days! I am going to try and inject a bit more humour into my posts in the future.

As an antidote to the misery of the news and the gloomy weather and despairing story lines in Soaps etc, I am going to actively seek out laughter. I love to watch a good comedian or comedy show (I love the Big Bang Theory) and I am going to belly laugh until tears of laughter spurt from my eyes!!! Now there's an image!

'Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face' - Victor Hugo

Staying Positive

My new 'positive' outlook on life is proving to be more challenging than I previously thought. I very nearly put up a picture of a bleak January afternoon in the garden on this post but decided on the cheery Gerbera instead. I almost feel more positive just absorbing the orange glow of the flower.

I have been looking at quotes on positivity and would like to share this one with you.

'Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.' (Emory Austin)

Crafting is my Passion!

I am happiest when I am making things. Crafting is my hobby, my passion. I enjoy creating things from all sorts of mixed media and my enthusiasm for it never wanes.

I like putting things together so they are pleasing to the eye.

I like working with colour and different layouts.

I especially like adding cats to my crafts!

I am going to spend a lot of 2011 pursuing the things I love to do. Crafting is at the top of the list. What's your passion?

Happy New Year!