Dylan's Blog

Friday, November 6, 2009

Yayyyyy teaching in the South.

Well you,ve nagged, you've begged and pleaded, you've asked nicely and you've threatened me,

and I've finally cracked under the pressure. Sooooooo..... here goes....

I am coming to TEACH IN THE SOUTH.......!!! woop de frikkin woop... Hows about that then...???

See I do listen to you all, eventually...lmao

The lovely Amy from Willow Tree Crafts has asked me to teach at.....

Soooo... What is Scrapfever..?? It is a fabulous weekend retreat at Chesham in Buckinghamshire, and you can find all the details HERE.

You can book your spot and pay in 5 installments if you like. Please don't try and book with me, I have nothing to do with the organisation ( just as well eh..?? lol). I will be doing what I do best, just rocking up and teaching..lmao...

I thought we might make some pretty little layouts etc....Ha ha Will we eckerslike. We will be getting down and dirty with paints and inks and collage and mess and whatever else you all know me for. Expect to be worked hard in my classes, they are not for the faint hearted..!!! You will leave brimming with ideas that can be used in your artwork, your scrapbooks, altered books or your Art Journals. What we will also have is a good laugh, because enjoying yourselves is the most important thing. Techniques, techniques, techniques, is the name of the game... Don't worry if you have never been near inks, or are frightened by paint. I will lead you gently by the hand and then drag you kicking and screaming, through and out the other side. You know you want to..!!! its for your own good, lol. Its all lemon squeazy when you know the hints and tips, from beginners to more advanced adventurous souls.

So dont hang around too long, get this on your Christmas list as it is probably the only time in 2010 that I will be venturing your way. Reserve your place NOW and let the fun begin.

Now you know my addiction to the large glossies. Well I have just discovered a new one to me. Where did I find this little beauty..?? Was I scouring through the lifestyle section in W H Smiths where I occasionally come across the odd gem..?? Did I make a special trip through to Borders where I usually feed my habit...??? No I actually found it in my local little Post Office amongst the boxes of paperclips, the charity Christmas cards and the ubiquitous Airfix kit..!!!! It was sandwiched between a Peoples Friend and a dog eared copy of Yorkshire Life, lmao. I think they had probably been sent it by mistake and where glad to see someone actually buy it. She nearly fainted at the till when she scanned the price in, and did it twice as a precaution..!!

Anyway here's the little beauty I will be devouring when I finish posting this.

If like me you are addicted and are willing to own up to it (Sonia, thats you girlie..!!) then here is the link to the website HERE and the blog HERE

So more Art Journaling...

Enjoy xx

The designs and instructions on this blog are the copyright of Dylan and may not be used or reproduced without specific permission.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Edit

Oops, fell asleep last night with the laptop on my bed, so didn't get round to posting till now. Good job as well as it was full of spelling mistakes..!!!!

This is how tired I was, lol.

So here's yesterdays post....

I am finally starting to come round again now, bout buddy time as well..!!!lol Was still really under the weather till this morn, so hopefully got over the worst. But its only going to be short tonight. The kids class was fabulous, they are really getting the hang 0f it and their sleighs are going to look frikkin awesome...!!! Me and the Goddess (well more her than me, actually a lot more her than me,lol.) started tipping out at home, and at the Studio. She is a little trooper is Our Ems...

Decided to treat her and cook her a meal...Yes I did say meal.It was a little bit of Waggamamma's, but at Mamas house..!!! Ooh gotta love Sushi....

Finished the evening off, snugged on the sofa whilst watching yet another of my fave films.....

Cant believe the lovely Kenny had never seen it. WHAT..?? I know how bad is that, to me, the Queen of prison films..???? lol.

And more journaling..

I,ll try to stay more awake tonight. And I promise to finish putting the links of the blogs right.

Enjoy xx

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Expanding my library, somewhat !!!

Well I,m still not right, spent most of the day in bed, again. Missed a really good friends wedding, but just didn't have the energy to go. I don't know whats the matter with me but I,m real pissed with it now!! I am supposed to bw whizzing through my backlog of work, kits, mag articles etc and so far I,ve achieved Jack shit.!! Ah well, tomorrow is another day as they say.

Managed to drag my sorry butt in for the kids class, where they are cracking on with the sledges.

And also managed to keep it together for the Tues night tag class. This was tonights offering. We used sprays made from Dye inks and Blonde Moments pearl powders. You all know I love these cos the effect is sooooo stunning. Plus a combination of stamps from Tim Holtz and Blonde Moments.

Things that are rocking my world at the moment.....

1. The lovely Kenny....who has bravely wandered into blog territory and left a comment on the previous post. He is talking a complete load of bo***cks mind but needs to be congratulated on his courage.!!

2. Horlicks with unsweetened Soya milk.

3. Fingerless Fagin gloves from Matalan, £3.oo

4. Deep grey nail polish. This one is Berkeley Square from Nails Inc.

5. These gorgeous new stickers from 7gypsies. They are not going to hang around for long are they..??

6. Also from the gypsy wagon are their latest double sided Venice papers. Matching items will be arriving at the end of November. ( got a project in mind already, lol.)

7. New books by my 3 favourite authors. I have every single one of each of their books, mainly in hardback, and I have read them over sooooo many times. How weird they all come out at the same time..??

Marion Keyes writes about tough subjects with such hilarity, that her books are unmissable. I cant remember when she last had a novel out, it must be a least a couple of years, so this has been eagerly awaited.

Another guaranteed corker from Jodi Picoult. The first book of hers that I read just instantly reeled me in, and I have been a massive fan ever since. The only one I have struggled with was the very first one she ever wrote, Song of the Humpback Whale. This book is also a repint from her earlier days so not sure what to expect. She has another novel coming out in 2010.

She takes really tricky moral dilemmas and presents all sides of the situation.She has my mind spinning with whats right and whats wrong. And for someone with a mind that only sees black and white and really struggles with the concept of grey, her storytelling is fabulous and her research impeccable.

And my favourite of favourites, the one and only, Mistress of The Underworld, Martina Cole.

If you want hard hitting, uncompromising, gritty dialogue shocking violence and a gritty dialogue, then shes your girl. If you want romantic, happy ever after, then shes not, lmao.

8. Ken Stott in The Messiah. Our Ben has just taken deliver of 1 - 4 of the series. That should keep me quiet over night.

I will leave you with more journal pages.

Enjoy xx

Monday, November 2, 2009

STEP AWAY FROM THE SIZE 14'S......

Well I finally got some sleep. Woke up 9.30 am Sat morning and didn't get back to sleep till 3.30 am this morn..????Why..?? Dunno, I am a complete enigma. How can you be soooooo tired but feel wired at the same time..??I have now given up worrying or caring. I just go with the flow. Its obviously a bad reaction to all the oversleep on Friday. I did everything I could to relax, even tried Horlix. I also had 3 hot baths..???Anyhow, house spotless and I created art like no tomorrow, so always a silver lining eh..??

Err, did I just say spotless?? Forgot about this after 48 hrs of creating. This is what my bed looked like...

And this was the floor next to it... lmao...oops

Right I know I have been wittering on about my weight gain for a while now, and I am going to again. Three reasons really...

1. Went to buy new harvies and they seem to have made the sizes smaller cos they are still managing to roll under the roll..??(my ass cant have grown that much surely..?)

2. I have never really had a bust, never really wanted a bust, and do not like the way that it seems to have a life of its own. Don,t know how you lot cope all the time, but I bump into things when I go round corners. I also keep losing newly glued items when I am creating, only to find them hours later, stuck under my bust. The novelty has now worn off, lol.

3. Firstly I have to tell all of you who keep telling me I haven't put any on, GET TO SPECSAVERS, NOOOOOOW...!!!! Me and The Goddess finally got round to replacing the battery in the scales, and WTF...???

The last time I got on those scales was my birthday, in March, and I weighed 11st 2lbs. Now I weigh 12st 6lbs. That's a total of 18 lbs weight gain. yes Eighteen frikkin pounds. That is the same as 3 babies, a sack of spuds or Cheryl Cole... I mean sheesh, that is some serious lard we are talking about. I know I can blame some of it on the medication I,m on, I know I can blame some of it on the Menopause. I know I can blame some of it on trying to conquer my eating disorder, and I know I can blame some of it on middle age spread, BUT and its a big BUT, it needs sorting and it needs sorting NOW..!! War is officially declared..!!! Otherwise I will be as big as some of the Walmart people from my last post, and think it perfectly ok to go out and frighten other shoppers. Didn't you just p**s your pants at that website, gross but strangely addictive..!!!

And on that note, this is today's wardrobe remix. And no that is not my real body shape, despite the above evidence, it is in fact my Parka blowing up with the wind...And Noooooo, not my wind..How Ruuuude..???? lol

Yes you,ve guessed it, we went to the seaside. Me and the lovely Kenny went to the quaint little town of Whitby. I am ashamed to say that I don't think I have been there before.So it was a lovely surprise and just what I needed to blow my cobwebs away. We parked the car in Sandsend, and walked the 3 miles across the beach and it was just fabaroonydooby.

We collected stones and wrote in the sand. This is my word of the moment.

As you all know, I collect hearts and love it when I find heart stones.

Just look at the size of this beauty...It was about 6 in square.

And when have you ever seen a waterfall on a beach..??? Yup there sure is one in Whitby...

Kenny was collecting stones 0f a different ilk. The weirder the better, and then we were deciding which animal they reminded us of. Can you see what we saw..??

Fish, cant remember, Porpoise head, Camels head, Puffin, Whale, head of Vulture and Biffo the Dancing Bear. What do you mean , No..?? Oh maybe it was just us, lol. Dont tell Kenny, cos he is really proud of his collection and would be devastated to find out they were just stones...!!!

Not sure if that's his confused or intelligent face, lmao...

Oh and by the way for the many of you who ask me if the lovely Kenny is my gay friend, the answer is no. I don't know why so many of you are coming up with the same question , but it doesn't half make me laugh..!!!

Now what do you think hes standing under here..?? Its a pair of Whale bones...?? Yup you heard me correctly, whale bones. I tell you, you aint seen nothing till you see Whitby..!

The funniest bit was when we decided to stop for a cup of tea. As we walked into a large hotel Kenny commented on the fact that it was nice and quiet. I nipped to the loo, which was miles away, down a long corridor. Massive toilets with about 8 cubicles, with no one in. Apart from me and the person who followed me in with a mop and bucket, stood outside my cubicle till I finished, and then proceeded to mop out the cubicle when I came out..!!!

We had just sat back down with our tea when 3 coachloads of pensioners arrived and swarmed in like locusts. Suddenly the lovely peaceful moment was lost, as we were enveloped in a mist of lavendar perfume, mint imperials and Vic..!!!They were everywhere, including right next to us. So close you could hear parts of the conversation. Not all of it, just bits, wierd bits. The main ones that stick out were,

" Oh how lovely, nothings changed.." ( I dont think anything had actually changed since the War!!)

*Yes 53 years now we,ve been married" What the hell did the poor woman do to deserve that punishment..??

And, my fave..

" Oh yes , I have a large box of knickers" What..??

Now just imagine all that filtering in to your normal conversation and you will understand why we were in hysterics and had to quickly vacate the premises. He's not doing so hot, with his hip places to go, is he..?? lmao..

We then wandered down into the town, where everything went black. We were in the middle of a Goth Convention. Yup head to toe black. Everything long, even for the fellas. Some of the outfits were bordering on Victorian ( I think). Some of them were just fabulous, but it was completely surreal walking down the street and being outnumbered by them. The most gorgeous being a stunning, cherubic, little boy, bout 1yr, in the fish restaurant. He was dressed head to toe the same and was soooooooo well behaved, he was an absolute credit to his Mam and Dad, and I could cheerfully have scooped him up and taken him home, but my Parka pockets were full of stones.!!

By the time we set off to walk back across the beach, it was dropping dark and the tide was coming in fast. I just happened to turn around and caught this. It looked stunning in real life..

By the time we got back to the car, it was pitch black. I had a lovely day, Whitby was like a town from The League of Gentlemen, stuck in the past. But it was also extremely quaint and hypnotic. Its deffo somewhere I cant wait to go back to. Our Tom was there last week, with his mates and their partners and he said it was lovely too. Not sure what it is about Whitby, but it soon draws you into its spell..

So here's 2 of the pages , from my A4 journal, I produced over the weekend.

Main image is from Crowabout, stamps are Tim Holtz.

This photo is actually one of my Dad. Wasn't he a sweetie..??

I,m worn out now, all that Sea air. Here's hoping for sweet dreams tonight.

Forgot to say that I am updating all the links in the side bar, but I am only half way through. Will try to finish them tonight, but at the moment only Places to go and Spceally for Dy are fully linked. If I have missed anyone please let me know, sorry I know there will be lots. Also if you want to be included on my blog hop lists, again let me know. My personal e mail is dyan.reaveley@yahoo.com.

Enjoy xx