First attempt at Collage...

I've been facinated with collage for ages. I've bought a few books and magazines but was never sure where to start. Then www.craftsupplies.ie set a collage challenge for the monthly competition so I had a go with this one. It's really good fun adding layers and texture as anything goes really and you can go nuts with embellishments. Will definitely be putting all my new stamps to good use with this technique. It's one of my fav photos of the girls. Audrey gave me this paper to match their dresses - spooky isn't it! Love when you get the exact match paper for clothes. It's usually the other way around - I buy clothes for the kids 'cos I have the exact perfect paper to go with it! The litmus test and definition of a true scrapbooker! Bet I'm not the only one to admit to this!


BTW have a look at this - it's called sand art - really inspiring stuff! Cant wait to go to the beach now!

www.sandfantasy.com

When I dropped the kids to school this morning I was planning on going home to clean my messy house (after being away for the weekend). At the last minute I steered the car past my road and headed into the National Gallery instead to see the Turner exhibition as it is finishing up this week. I saw this exhibition in 1989 when I was a student. The only thing is when I arrived to see it that day - the exhibition had just closed the day before. I must have looked disappointed because the security guard told me to follow him and he took me to the basement of the gallery and showed me into a dark curtained off room where the entire exhibition was hanging on one wall - no security bells, no frames nothing - just the paintings in their glory. I've always been facinated by the colours he used and now I know why - just like me he has a thing for the colour blue - it's in all of his paintings somewhere. Today I discovered that he liked to paint on blue paper to emphasise the 'blueness' . The exhibition is amazing - well worth the trip but it finishes on Wednesday - at least til next January...My favourites are those painted in Venice especially the Doge's palace. Here's a link to the exhibition...

http://website.lineone.net/~carpenter9/artist/turner-ireland.htm

I'm totally shattered today. I went up to Letterkenny on Friday afternoon to do a craft demo in a stationery shop yesterday. It was a great day -busy and a constant stream of people looking on. I didn't stop for 8 hours. Then I took the 6pm bus back home again and went straight to a dinner party afterwards. So it was 3am when I finally crawled into my bed last night. I'm fit for nothing today as a result :-)

Just booked me some classes for www.crafteire.com - really looking forward to this weekend away now. Roll on April - there's a great line up of classes especially the ones that Annamarie and myself are doing HaHa! :-) Better get saving for the shopping 'cos it's going to be fantastic!

Last Friday's Scrapwest was Birthdays and this was my effort. The photo was taken at Eva's 6th Birthday party...

Isn't the weather just manky at the moment. Have been flicking through holiday brochures this weekend just to cheer myself up. Have been watching 'Jade Gate' of Big Brother fame, with great interest this weekend. What a silly girl she is...apparently her perfume has been withdrawn from lots of shop shelves over her comments... There goes her millions from being an absolute nobody. She'll probably write the book and sell the film rights and get it all back again...


Didn't get up to much this weekend apart from mammy taxi (3 ballet classes and 2 girls brigade classes since Friday lunch time - phew! not for me fortunately!). DH was away in Liverpool yesterday to see them play Chelsea so he got up at 4am for a flight on Sat morning and got home at 11pm . Thankfully they won - so I guess it was worth the early start. Today we planned to go to the Phoenix park and by the time everyone found their shoes and coats and brushed their hair etc etc the rain had come down so we abandoned the plan and took some photos instead...

The postman knocked on my door this morning with a prize I won from Scrapbook Inspirations this week - well it was a token for getting published in the feb edition letters page. I got a fiskars paper tearer - something I probably wouldnt buy for myself so that was a nice surprise., This is the LO I got published - Lucy strutting her stuff on her 3rd birthday in her Princess Jasmine outfit. It sums her up to a tee...

Eva had no school - inservice day so we did a little bit of shopping for clothes for her and I treated her to some magazines and stopped for a cuppa and a chat. It's nice to spend time with just one of them for a change - they feel all grown up having your undivided attention. Just back from swimming in the NAC and while Eva was in her class I offloaded 3 black bags, a buggy and car seat to Enable Ireland - Im in that Spring cleaning mode at the moment. I should probably tackle the craft room next....

Best go and feed the kids as they are starving after all the activity....

There was lots of creativity floating around my living room today. Some of the girls from the scrapwest blog and www.scrapbooking.ie and www.craftsupplies.ie called over to kickstart their new year's creativity. We were quite productive despite the constant hum of chat and occassional oooohhhs and aaahhhss over the contents of each other's craft trollies/totes! Audrey has a tote the size of my entire boxroom!





And here's Marian being attacked by Tracy (aka The Bead bandit!). Lock up your stash girls!






Here's us showing some of the work we will be submitting to the various magazines over the next few weeks... The lady in the centre is Maggie May - one of the most creative women in Ireland. She's just amazing - what she can turnout from stuff most of us throw away! Really enjoyed the giggle and Annamarie from www.thescrapbookstore.ie brought along her shop - so much for a lean January! No such thing when you see all the fab stuff in those boxes. I bought me some Daisy D vintage paper, the fab B&W crate paper and some sepia accents (yum!)...

Just checked out the Scrapbook Inspirations blog and saw a lovely write up on scrapwest! Thanks Rosie! :-) www.scrapbookinspirationsmagazine.co.uk. This is my entry from last night's theme which was called Someone Special. After looking through the pictures of Disney last year to do this LO I have persuaded dh to book again this Spring (yippee!!!!).



If you'd like to see more check out www.scrapwest.blogspot.com - it happens every Friday night at 9pm....

I had a really great week this week. The concert in the NCH on Wednesday went brilliantly. Thankfully our little solo went off without a hitch - despite the wobbly start on Monday night at rehearsals. The Irish Times gave the concert a glowing review the next day, particularly for the choirs perfect diction so our stepford wives impersonation was as Simon Cowell would say 'on the money!; LOL ! Great news too for the conductor - he's just been appointed (Tuesday night) the newest principal conductor for the RTE CO - a huge achievement for a 34 year old. He was the quiet pianist in the corner when I was singing in the Trinity Choral society ten years ago. Good on him!

Other good things that happened this week - the postman delivered me my third installment of my free goodies from Docrafts, the UK craft company I freelance for... I think I counted 2500 brads (not individually you understand!). Have to put them all to good use now as I have a gig in Letterkenny in two weeks time!

I got an email from Scrapbook Inspirations magazine (UK publication) this week to say one of my LO's has made the letters page of February edition and also they are going to put a link up to our creative blog which we do every Friday night www.scrapwest.blogspot.com/
so we are delighted to get some publicity after 12 weeks work... So watch out for their blog (www.scrapbookinspirationsmagazine.co.uk

Tomorrow I am holding a crop in my house for the usual crew - there's around 8-10 crafty girlies coming over for the day to work on some LO's and cards with a view to getting published, I called it our 'submission crop' LOL! Funny thing is I emailed Cheryl in Scrapbook Inspirations looking for her next themes for submission and she thought it was a great idea for a crop and has asked me to take pictures and write a small piece for the mag and she will try to put it into the next edition so watch this space....

Oh and another thing - DH handed in his resignation today (Yey!) . He's off to pastures new in April :-)

Off to watch Pat on the Late Late Show now...and maybe a glass of vino:-)

Busy week this week. I'm involved in a choir and we are singing in the National Concert hall tomorrow night (Gilbert & Sullivan highlights). We had rehearsals last night in RTE so it is beginning to come together. I have a small (teeny) solo line - so I'm now permanently attached to my ipod learning my little piece. Should be good fun - the orchestra sounds fantastic and the conductor a young guy, David Brophy is hilarious. Last night he asked us to sing a piece from the Pirates of Penzance as if we are the Stepford wives :-). When he puts it like that it all makes sense...More reahearsals tonight and then it's showtime tomorrow.. Not getting much crafting done this week:-(

Caroline & Kevin's wedding in Lusty Beg Island ...

Just got back from one of the best weddings I've ever been to. My friend Caroline got married this weekend to Kevin in Lusty Beg island near Enniskillin. It was the most amazing location, set on a lake (crossed by car ferry!) and surrounded in beautiful woods. I was asked to be the official photographer and although I was scared witless of the responsibility I accepted the challenge. I'm just looking though the photos now and I'm pleased with them (phew!) so hopefully Caroline will be too. She looked absolutely stunning in a celtic design crocheted cream dress with lovely jubilee sleeve detail. She made her own tiara and cake decoration and wedding stationery which were all just amazing. We partied 'til 4am last night with two (no less!) fantastic bands which ended up in a brilliant trad session. The whole day was just brilliant from beginning to end and they are still partying there tonight with another band!

There will be more photos to follow soon but here's just a few of the thousand plus photos I took!













If you would like to see some more, pull up a chair and grab some popcorn...:-)

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=1e522f9a603d43135be45f&skin_id=7&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

All over for another year...

We had such a great Christmas this year. Lots of family and friends came to visit which is always what makes it for me. There was definitely that Christmas buzz in the air. On Christmas morning the kids were so excited and I was nearly as bad myself waiting on their reaction which was just perfect. We spent half the day playing twister and guess who and it really reminded me of my own Christmases growing up:-)









Santa was good to me too. Amongst other things I got and ipod and a tripod :-) (very poetic!) so that kept me happy.

We went visiting on Christmas morning after Eva was starring as an angel at the Church nativity play. After an hour or so at the folks house we went home and had our first Christmas dinner in our own house which to my surprise was a great success. I had fears of poisoning them all but we survived the experience and even agreed to do the same again next year. I love that snoozy stage around 5pm when everything is eaten and the kids have opened their toys and the soaps or Christmas specials haven't started yet.

Over the next few days we had more family over for dinner and a bunch of college pals over on the 27th - which was great to catch up. Then on the 28th we set off to Galway without the kids (thanks mum!) and went on the town like the good old days. We ended up in the quays for some great live music. Then the next day it was off to Tuam and Westport for a wedding of some pals of ours -Gareth and Lavinia. It was a fabulous wedding - superb venue Knockranny spa hotel overlooking westport and they even upgraded us to a deluxe room which was a total bonus. We were back in time for New years where the fireworks were going off for ages and we had a quiet night in to ring in the new year. Overall I couldnt have planned it any better - one of our better ones.


So happy new year to everyone..hope all your dreams come true in 2007!