Can you tell who it is ???

Busy, busy workshop today. It was the frame accordion album. I designed this quite a while ago and it is always a sell out. This time I used Savannah papers from 7gypsies and hardware from Idea-ology.

Gorgeous , if I say so myself, lol.

At the weekend when everyone was bringing in home baking we were a little inundated, and so I have been dishing it all out in the workshops in exchange for a donation to Carers Resource. And one cake stood head and shoulders above the rest. Everyone has been oohing and aahhing over it. It didn't look anything spectacular, just a plain sponge with icing on, but when I started to slice it - ooh I was in sniffing heaven. I don't eat cake but I could easily have munched on that one. So Giddy and Giddier, you were the culprits responsible, for "worlds best ever cake", and the recipe is needed pronto. Thanks babes.

Here's Ann testing it out. It was the only way we could get her to shut up today..!!

Here she is getting told off ( ha ha ) cant remember what for but it certainly seemed to amuse Ingrid.

L - R Mrs T, Marie and Sara.

Me, Pat, Liz ( who I insisted on calling her Val all day!!), Gill, Paula and Sue

Bhauna, Janet, Tara and me.

Bezzy Su was around somewhere as well.

Thought I would take some pics of the kids class as well.

L - R Amelia, Ellie, Hayley and Anne

Georgina, Katie, Claudia, Eden and Pam

Amelia was running the Race for Life tonight with her mum so had come all dressed up for it.

Here's a couple more art journal pages.

and I came across this the other day so thought you would like to see it. Awww don't we look sweet.

Do you think I,ve changed much..??

Enjoy xx

Oh yes, the results..!!

So here we go with all the winners from Saturday's fabulous charity day.

First prize of the signed stamp case from Tim Holtz was won by Pat Osborne.

Large Blonde Moments set - Collected on the day by Ruth

Rusty Pickle Pop Album kit - Michelle Long (inkfairy)

Elsies Scrapbooking challenge book - Pat Fernandez

Smaller Blonde Moments set - collected on the day by Ali

4 Archival ink pads - Fiona Perkins (Macduff)

grunge board set - collected on the day by Pandora

Dyans sample album in tin - Jill

7gypsies set - collected on the day by Lynne Leahy

Full set of Distress stickles - collected on the day by Helen Binks

Thank you to all who bought tickets. Please email me with your address details, Fiona and Michelle. dyan@afth.co.uk.

Chocolate lady's gorgeous box full of cupcakes went in a separate draw and was won by Pandora

Which leaves us with the glamorous shoe award.

We scanned through all the pictures taken on the day and couldn't decide between two pairs, so we dragged Jay in to give her opinion. It was a good job we did because one of the aforementioned pairs were hers, lol. Talk about insider dealing..!! You have to admit they are rather gorgeous aren't they..?? And she only has a problem walking in them when shes sober, apparently..lmao..

So that leaves us with a clear winner. Only problem is we cant remember whose they are, lol. So if you recognise these bobby dazzlers or you are indeed the owner , please contact us, cos you are a winner.

The lovely Raine and her daughter, the gorgeous Ems were gutted that they couldn't make the day. Raines father was taken ill and they had to dash of to his. But they still played along and scoured the house for something to wear. Here's Raine in her mothers vintage shoes.

and here's Em's in her creations...Fabby...

I, as you know, rarely sleep these days but on Sat night I was gone by 9am, switched the alarm off at 7am and only woke when Tom came in at 11 am. 14 hrs...!!!! 14 hrs..??? that's about 4 days worth for me, lol. And I woke up absolutely starving, which never happens. So I hotfooted it down to the kitchen. I decided I couldn't eat until I had spring cleaned in there so set about with gusto. And clean I did, lol. Why is it that some days you just have to bottom everything. Every time you open a drawer you have to sort it. Outside of cooker , inside of cooker, top shelves bottom shelves, inside of washing machine???( yes I know, I,m a weirdo..!!! ), outside the bin, inside the bin, windows, blinds, I even cleaned the cleaning cupboard..!! I have all my brushes in a vintage jug on the window sill and gave it a good scrub. I was just admiring it and pondering how well it had done to last me all these years when , crack the handle came off in one hand, sliced a massive chunk out of the other hand and smashed clean in two on the floor. Unbelievable..!!

But worse than that the blood just gushed out and wouldn't stop. I was running around trying to find "the safe hiding spot" that Maisie had put the plasters in . After 10 mins I located them and attempted to cover the wound. By this time I looked as though I had been massacred with blood all the way up my arm. I went through 10 plasters in quick succession before it started to slow. This pic has got 3 plasters on and has really calmed down.

When it was finally slowing I turned to be met by a scene straight from the film Pyscho...!! There was blood everywhere. Dripping off surfaces, splattered across cupboard doors. On the walls, there was even some on the ceiling (don't ask, cos I don't know,lol)... So I had to start and clean all over again including the windows and blinds. You can imagine how I felt, cant you..??

Luckily I am the queen of having things in reserve, just in case there's a war, and got out these little beauties as replacements.

Aww, that's nice, yeah..?? I even went and cut some peonies from my garden. They look and smell gorgeous.

So 2 hrs after first entering the kitchen I was finally cooking something to eat. (Yes I do cook, even though I always joke that I only have a kitchen because it came free with the house..!!, I just cant be arsed most of the time,lol ) I decided to take it outside to eat, in the sun.. I sat amongst all my gorgeous pots and it was a little bit of heaven. Look how these have bloomed. You see, I,m not just a pretty face, pmsl..!!!

So there I am sitting all peacefully, lazily contemplating when my peace was noisily shattered by this apparition.

Out of nowhere came Spider man.

Oh yes..all the other little girls at the fete had their faces painted to look like butterflies or fairies. But not my Maisie. Oh no, nothing but Spider man for her. lol... I just cant think were she gets it from..!! Anyway she proved really useful in ridding my garden of all the baddies who I hadn't even realised were living there.

Performed a ritual banishing act on those remaining.

What do you mean, I have to wash it off eventually..??

This is what happened when I asked her for her prettiest little girl smile..!!

After she had departed I set to on the rest of the house. I was like a bat out of hell, lol. I love it when the whole place is sparkling , it really energises me..

This morning started with my fave, a big mug of creamy tea curled up in an armchair , in Starbucks. Not sure what it is about that place that I like really. Got to work raring to go and have ended up fannying around all day. Reps in and out, ( mind you , one of them is real top totty, so its always a pleasure, yayys), builders causing commotions, every Tom, Dick and Harry trying to sell me crap on the phone. So I am not actually quite sure what I have done today, apart from go a day backwards in an already pushed week. I have 2 large classes this week as well as the regular ones and I also have a fabby dabby weekend that needs prepping for. Oh and 2 deadlines for Christmas magazine articles. Hmm looks like its back to no sleeping..!!

Found time for a bit of a cry though. Well my days just wouldn't be the same at the moment without that, would it..?? This is what set me off this time, a delivery from Inter flora.

It was from the gorgeous Nickie and her beautiful family, Willie, Maria, Johanna, Grace and Ethan, all the way from New Zealand. For those who don't know Nickie used to work for me until she was so homesick that she hotfooted it back to her hometown. I miss her so much and I find it hard to keep in touch cos I always get so upset, lol. I think of her often and funnily enough was thinking at the demo day how much she would have enjoyed herself if she had been here. And then out of the blue comes this gorgeous arrangement and the floodgates opened again. I really don't know why I bother putting any makeup on at all these days..!!

At he time it was delivered I was actually messaging her on Face book which was a bit spooky. When Nickie left she bought me a set of 4 mugs that I use constantly. I have 2 here and 2 at home, and no one else is allowed to touch them. Here's a photo of one of them and when I look close you can see the face book message on the screen..!!

So there we go , I feel sure that you will all manage to get through this post without crying..!! Big apologies to all those who I had in tears, it is never intentional, honest. To tell you the truth when I write my blog I frequently forget that others are going to read it. How silly is that..?? I just open my mouth, out it comes and in it goes, with no real thought to the consequences.. Never did manage to master that " think before you open your gob" lark.. Ah well, it keeps Kleenex workers in a job..pmsl..

Enjoy xx

What a tribute..!!! You all done good..!!!

ell, what a fantastic day we had. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole day, because I knew how emotional it was going to be for me and the kids. I wanted to have the event , but I didn't want anyone to come, if you know what i mean. I know that sounds stupid. Whenever I have done anything like this in the past, Mum has always been part of it, baking , serving teas, chatting with the ladies and giggling with the girls. Every time I wandered past the kitchen I expected to see her in there bleaching the teaspoons or reorganising my cupboards. I had only had 2 hrs sleep for the past 2 nights, and then slept through the alarm, so it was a mad dash up to the studio. As you can see I look terrible. I am hoping this was taken before I put my make up on and not after, lmao. Cant stand all this time it takes to straighten my hair so I,m afraid its all got to come off again. yayy!!

The gorgeous Susie was one of my helpers today, and would you believe it was her birthday. Yes she chose to spend it here with us , how sweet is she..??

Bezzie Su is thinking of a breast implant and was just trying these for size..!!!

I had them all come in early and we made all the make and takes. In reality it was to steady every ones nerves. Most of them had never had to do anything like this before. The lovely Katie was terrified and I think she only turned up cos she daren't not, lol.

L - R Katie, Kate and Susie.

and sitting down, Jeanne (chocolate lady), Pam (kitchen fairy) and Bezzie Su.

Standing up are the 2 fabulous sisters Sue and Denny ( giddy and giddier ) who were in charge of teas, cakes, raffle, and looking after me. They did a fantastic job.

Talking of cakes look at all these beauties. This is Emmis ingenious cake stand made from boards and champagne glasses. Cool eh..??

Look at these beauties. Our Ben came in early to decorate them. I think he has missed his calling..!!

Ben and the lovely Katie decorated these the night before.

and these.

Hope this pic gives you an idea of the size of them. It would feed a family of four..!!!

We were overwhelmed with how many of the ladies brought in cup cakes and cakes. Thank you to all those I can remember.....Heidi, Theresa, Bezzie Su, Sue, Denny, Susie, Kate, Helen, Jeanne, ....Oh no my mind has no9w gone blank, I am so sorry if I have forgotten you, please forgive me and I thank you all for your generosity.

These were made by Heidi and her daughter Katie. The theme is Pirates and Princesses. Look at the gorgeous pink cupcakes on the gory skeleton plate. Flipping fantastic...!!

These were made by Jeanne, who also made and decorated the box. Oh yes..!! We decided to raffle these off as a whole, because everyone was fighting over the box, lol..

These were Susie's gorgeous muffins. Not sure if she decorated them, I suspect it was our Ben.

The girlies made enough sandwiches to feed a small army and raced around the studio doing whatever whenever. Here they are in charge of the Pinata. Well Jay was in charge of not letting Emmi loose on it...!!! We decided that we wouldn't smash the Pinata till next Sunday, so there is still time for you all to make a guess at the no of mini love heart packs are residing inside. The winner gets a workshop voucher.

Bezzie Su drew the short straw and was placed in charge of refilling all the pearly re-inkers, which is a night mare of a job.

But she used the task as an opportunity to make some background papers.

And also felt the urge for a bit of graffiti on the floor..!!

Here's some of the makes and takes in action.

All of the girls were fab tutors. Even, much to her surprise (but not mine), the lovely Katie. Here she is with one of her friends from the school she works at, who I think has suddenly become addicted to it.

And still the donations of cupcakes came pouring in. These are from Theresa who, bless her, made them specially, dashed up with and dashed off again. She didn't have time to stop because she was busy at the church. How lovely to even be bothered to think about us when she is so busy. These had a cream cheese topping and I,m told they were delicious. And just check out that stand. Oh yes I,ll be purchasing at least one of them tomorrow. Might stretch to two, cos I think it would look fabby with my Claudine Hellmuth paints on it, dont you..??

Ooh I was in cupcake sniffing heaven. We were kept busy from the word go right until the very last moment and everything seemed to run like clockwork.

It was a very emotional day for me and the kids due to my bad timing of the event. I put it slap bang in the middle of Mum and Dads wedding anniversary and Fathers Day..!! I really couldn't have chosen a worse time, but, all in all it was a fantastic success and now its over I am so glad that we did it. We are going to hold another one in October and I will let you know the dates as soon as I decide. Ha ha that means don't hold your breath..!!!!! lmao.

A big big thank you to Bezzie Su who has had to deal with my OCD, my anxieties, my panic attacks and anything else I could think of relating to the day...!!! As soon as I have finished with my nervous breakdown it can be your turn to have one, but if you can hang on till then it would really help..!! lol.

A big, big thank you to all my helpers on the day.

A big, big thank you to all you gorgeous people who live too far away , who sent donations, bought raffle tickets or just sent their best wishes. You are the best.

A big, big thank you to all you fabulous people who took the time to bake your gorgeous creations.

A big, big, big, thank you to all you wonderful people who turned up in person, many of you with fabulous shoes especially for the occasion, to support us throughout the day.

And a massive , massive thank you to Ben , Jay and Emmi, who coped magnificently on such a hard, emotional day. Grandma would have been so proud of you all, as I am. Without your help and support I don't know where I would be. I love you all so much.

And a big thank you to my Mum for leading by example in her determination to raise funds for such a worthwhile cause. She would have been in her element in the studio, telling me off for working too much, mingling amongst you all, telling me off for working too much, bleaching the teaspoons, telling me off for working too much, making the butties, telling me off for working too much, generally making everyone feel welcome and of course telling me off for working too much, lol. But most of all she would have been so proud to know that we raised over £400 . Yes £400 How fantastic is that..??

I will announce all the winners of everything tomorrow, because I,ve left the list at the studio. Plus it increases the excitement doesn't it..???

Today is Fathers Day, my 8th without my Dad here. I miss him so much still, he was and still is, my babe. It was me and him against the world. I only wish he could have seen all that we have achieved. He has never been inside an Art from the Heart studio and he would be amazed and, I know, so very proud. I know exactly what he would say to me "By eck,girl, you haven't half done good".

I,m leaving you with a song that always makes me think of the pair of them. They had a challenging relationship at times and things weren't easy, but they stuck together through thick and thin. I can always remember my Dad singing this to my Mum, usually when he was in the bad books, which was a regular occurrence. The only times that I wasn,t sat on the naughty step was when he got sent there first, lmao.. but the night before he died, Mum and I stayed awake all night by his bedside. That was the first night that I think we started to get to know and understand each other, and she told me tales I never knew. Dad hadnt been aware of anything for 2 days and we knew we didnt have long with him. Jim Reeves was always on in his hospital room and when this song came on she started to sing it to him. I felt humbled to see her sing this with such meaning to the man that she obviously loved so deeply. And wasn,t at all amazed when he opened his eyes and smiled at her, just for a moment. I have a feeling that it was the last thing he was ever aware of and he died the next day. I know they are together now and at peace. So night Mum, night Dad, God Bless, and I miss you so much. xxx