12 Days of Christmas

 

 

 

 

Here are a few of the gifts I received from girls in the CCSwaps group. I have other photos to upload too but they are on my camera phone and guess what left the charger at home so can't upload.
This was such fun and I enjoyed opening my gifts THANK YOU to Sweet Pea for hosting tis xxx
I organised a swap with some girls in England and will share those photos with you when I can.
I am all stuffed from Christmas. Going down to Bar Sin Problemas this evening for Charades - men v women, should be a laugh and hopefully no blood will be spilled...
I will post pics if I take any xxx

So here it is Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun...

So where have I been, what have I been up to? Let's start at the very beginning a very good place to start :-).
Well had a really pleasant, uneventful journey down to the villa; I must admit to being surprised at this as normally there is either/or fog,rain, snow, strong winds - you name it we have had all types of bad weather, this year we were watched over and as I say had a peaceful trip... Thank you God.
Got the tree up and the place looking festive, this cheered China up no end, especially as she played a large part in decorating the tree (must admit she did a good job too). Went out shopping, and oh my giddy aunt the prices here have just become absurd. Put it this way I picked up a packet of mini do-nuts (you know the ones where there are 12 in the pack) Stuart looked at me as if I was bonkers, so I'm like "what's the matter? it's only do-nuts" Then he pointed out that those 12 little do-nut were 5 euros, that's when it clicked with me that that equated to £5 - never seen a packet of do-nuts fly out of a shopping trolley so quick. A lot of English people who had retired to Spain are having to return home to England as in the current economic climate they cannot afford to live here in Spain.... let's hope this world crisis doesn't last too long!
China normally buys here new clothes here but she was appalled at the prices and decided she would wait till she got home to hit the sales..

Christmas day was a family affair, which is what Charlie really wanted this year. It was great to spend time getting to know George and Julia, little sweethearts and playing games with Jenny, Lawson, Jason, Mary and Peter (Jenny's parents)
I shall be posting pics as soon as I can; my main priority was to make a posting to my blog so that my friends will know that I am alive and kicking....

12 days of Christmas pics to come too... some wonderful gifts from the 2 groups I was in, Thanks girlies xxx
That will be it for now
MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL, THANKS FOR BEING A PART OF MY YEAR
(to be continued)

Rainy days

 

Rain, Rain go away... today it has just not stopped raining. So I thought I would share this water color painting I did a few years ago with you all...
The X Factor final is on and the results are in and I am so happy because Alexandra Burke won - what a star this girl is going to be.... 18 weeks of watching and waiting and hoping that she would win and she did! absolutely a superstar talent has been born.

What else is new? Well I am playing catchup now that I am wearing my revamped original dentures, I was able to go shopping at Bluewater with Stuart and Jazz...what a change to be able to go out with teeth in. The funny thing was I went to the hairdressers on Thursday without teeth! can you imagine.... Richard my super duper hairdresser and Danielle hair washer extrordinaire looked after me and made me feel comfortable, so now I feel human again. I treated myself to some I.D. Bare Mineral make up at Bluewater and a couple of new outfits - feel better already!

The countdown to Friday has begun, before then I have to get packed up, work out which craft supplies to take with me.
Monday I am going to see Dwain - he is so busy this week with parties etc. so it will be lovely to get to see him before we go.
I seem to spend a lot of time on facebook which is cool cos I can see what everyone is getting up to lol...
I really should be getting on as time is going to go by in a flash, doesn't it always go like that; you think you have all the time in the world and then time is eaten up and what you wanted to get done is still waiting to be done - so guess what I am going to finish of this post and get cracking... ciao for now xxxx

Christmas is coming...

The days seem to be galloping ever closer to Christmas and I have so much still to do! The flu set me back and also dentures that don't fit... not a good look to go out with. I said to the dentist the other day, "forget lipstick, I carry Fixodent in my bag now" he laughed, I was serious!
Yesterday I had to go for a fitting for a new denture to get me over the Christmas period. They feel so bulky in my mouth and I must admit to shedding a tear this morning as they feel so cumbersome and then New Year seems so far off, I can't wait to get teeth on to my implants, however, my mouth is not ready for them yet so I can't rush these things... enough of that.
The pictures depicting Christmas are from my mates house. I don't put a tree up here in England, I wait till I get to the villa so it makes me feel happy when I see all the festive decorations going up around me. When I walk Stamford at 4 I love it as it is dark enough for the lights to start going on in the neighbourhood and I love to see what house has decorated from the previous day... fairy lights make the world seem so cheery and I love them for that reason. Winter always seems that much closer once the lights come down in January.
I have been receiving 12 days of Christmas gifts in the post, this is so exciting! I am taking them to Spain with me to open over there... I feel like a big kid!
So we travel to Spain next Friday, hopefully we will have a good drive down, I hate the winter drive as the weather can play a large part in the journey - rain, snow, fog all things that are not welcome but possible at this time of year! First thing I do there before I even unpack is put up the tree...have to get festive don't you know :-) So got to crack on, so much to do, so little time - but hey! Thanks for taking the time to drop by my blog BIG HUGZ XXXX

PW IVORY AND GOLD ORNAMENT COLLECTION

Here it is, the complete set of ornaments for the PW Swap. A wonderful collection for Christmas.. what can I say they are gorgeous and will help to decorate my home beautifully this Christmas (and many more).
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I often stop and think about what I have been up to in my life and think nothing much but the last couple of weekends I did something different.
2 weeks ago at this time I was in Calais with friends, browsing in the shops and having a nice meal. It was freezing cold, the wind was arctic but it did not detract from a great day at.
Then last weekend Stuart, China and I got on a train and went up to London. Started the day of taking a photo of Liberty - I wanted to show it to China

Then on to Carnaby Street


I used to go to Carnaby Street a lot years ago, first time there in about 20 years (that is so scary to write!!!) it was fabulous browsing all the little boutiques and this is where I found my gorgeous boots in Irregular Choice
2nd row, 1st pair of brown boots...
So there you have it, a little of what my past two weekends have involved.
This weekend? a wipeout as I have the flu, don't know the last time I had flu - so glad I don't get it often... Jazz bought me a beautiful bunch of flowers to cheer me up, apparently they smell lovely but I wouldn't know lol

Christmas is coming so fast and I have so much to do before I head to Spain, the clock is ticking omg better get better soon...
That's it for now adios x

PW WOWS

 

Here are my WOWs for PW swap. I cut out images, added ribbon and coated with Sepia accents, thinly. xxx

TIM HOLTZ 12 TAGS OF CHRISTMAS

 

 

Have you heard the news? Have you visited his site? Tim Holtz is repeating his successful 12 Tags of Christmas over on his blog, all new for 2008. These are the tags I created from his Day 1 and Day 2 posts. Join in the fun, if nothing else you will have fun and try new techniques. I actually forgot to speckle this with a toothbrush (the blue one) so I will do that lol... I new there was something missing!!! Couldn't see for looking x

A VERY SPECIAL AWARD

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationship! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prices or self-aggrandicement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prices are cut, even more friendship are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

I am to pass this award on to those that have crossed the boundaries of friendship without regard to economics, distance or language barriers...visit her blog here (there is a language translator to translate her blog although her photos are just beautiful!)

I received this award from my FRIEND Barbara, and to be honest it really touched me. This award is special to me because of the person I received it from... we have become friends, truly.
And as this award is for people who reach out across blog land I would like to nominate the following for all they do in bringing light and laughter, art and love in to the lives of others through their blogs....this is gonna be hard because there are so many wonderful people who could receive this award from me, here goes.....

1.TRISH BEE

2. HEATHER ROBINSON

3.ANNA DENISE

4. SUSIE JEFFERSON

5. HOPE

6. GERMANA

7. LINDA EAST

8. PATTI

Secret Sister Swap

 

So over on Paper Whimsy Forum they had a Secret Sister Swap. Linda K and I both missed the deadline to sign up for it so we became Not So Secret Sisters. The images are the top are the items I sent Linda, housed in the little house container which I covered with Patchwork pieces on the roof - the sides were decorated to represent the seasons.
Linda in turn sent me the beautiful "Joy" hanging piece of art and all the goodies in the Collage. This was a great swap to be a part of as it meant that I got new goodies for my ever growing stash and Linda benefited too...

I went to the dentist yesterday and ended up crying because I am going to have to keep the denture until after Christmas, won't be getting the bridge attached to the implants until the New Year. I was so disappointed as I thought that I would be able to enjoy my Christmas dinner but alas no it is not to be. Today I have got my head around it and accept that what will be will be....

That's it for this post, Thanks for visiting x

PW Victorian Ornament Banner

 

 

Here are my pictures for the PW current swap.
The hardest part was actually cutting out the template... sore fingers!
I am looking forward to getting mine from my swap partners. Then I will have 7 different ornaments hanging on a banner for Christmas...

Nature

 

 

I was so excited last weekend when I went to Pluckley to have another look at the house Stuart loves down there... took the kids to see what they thought and they weren't in love with it so it is not going to be our new home. So why was I excited you might ask, well just take a look at these wonderful toadstools - the stuff of magical fairie rings don't you think. Absolutely glorious and the 1st time in my life I have seen such wonderful examples of toadstools... worth the trip to look at the house just to see these.

 

Then walking the dog with Lorrain and her dog Jake we spotted these 4 pheasants hanging on a gate; obviously someone had been out shooting and dropped these off at the house for the owners. When I showed Stuart this photo (taken on my phone) he was like, "awww, why couldn't you bring one home for me..." he does love pheasant"!
So there we have it a few pictures of all that is beautiful around us, hope you enjoyed looking at my pictures xxx

Great Christmas GiveAway

Join in the festive season and pop over to this site for a chance to win some Festive goodies... Angelina of Angelina's Trinkets is the hostess with the gifts to give away.
Click on the Title to be taken to the Christmas Give Away site and Good Luck!

I should be back on later with another post but I just wanted to share this site with you cos "Sharing is Caring"

Fibre Dreams and more

The top pictures are of a bracelet and a spectacle holder I bought from Jackie at Fibre Dreams, if you click on the title to this post then you can have a look at her site. She makes bags and other jewellery and has fibres for sale too. Jackie is based in England and is just starting out so I thought it would be nice to give her a mention on my blog.
The bottom pictures in this post are of 18th birthday presents I made for Louise, one of China's friends. I had an old photo album and so I decorated the cover; inside I made cards and popped them in some of the photo tabs so that Louise could make this as a journal, she can write memories on the cards, and then she also has room for photos.
The second present was the necklace, used a transparency of the face of a pansy image which matched the one on the reverse.
I have also been working on altered books, will post pictures when complete, Christmas decorations for Paper Whimsy and a Secret Sister swap (although I now who my secret sister is so she is not so secret :-) ) and again will post photos when ready.
My mouth is healing nicely although I hate the denture enormously.... roll on the day that I don't have to wear it again!!! got another couple of weeks or so with it in. As long at is out in time to eat my Christmas dinner I don't mind!

That's all for this post will post again tomorrow ciao! xxx Dawn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 
Today, 5th November, Bonfire Night it is my DH's birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU with all my love.
He is spending the day in bed as he had an hernia op on Saturday so I shall be his "slave" for the day.
Love you xxxx Dawn

Friendships across the sea

 

 

 

Friendships across the sea indeed. I have been fortunate to make many friends in the U.S., Canada, Australia for which I am thankful. One of those friends Barbara sent me these wonderful Betty Boop gifts, I would like to say a resounding Thank you to Barbara, but also take this opportunity to tell her she is a naughty girl, she really didn't have to do this :p. Barbara sometimes you make a connection with a person from the first conversation and that was the case with you so friends are there for each other when needed (you know what I mean) and your words of Thanks were enough.... I LOVE all of these being a Betty gal and will treasure them always.
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Friendships across the sea part two... so the U.S., Britain and the World have a new U.S.President. I can honestly say that I have never been so nervous in the run up to this election and throughout the day...My bed was calling but I could not face sleep knowing that there was a monumental event taking place across the sea. To say that I was ecstactic when Obama won is an understatement. Not because he is the first black President (although I personally see him as the first mixed race President, after all his mother was white...and in my opinion this makes him a President for all people). No I was pleased that he won because this man exudes an air of calm and reason in my opinion, John McCain lost me when I just perceived him as shouting out his opinions, like he was shouting to make himself heard...he fought the fight but his fight is over and for him that is sad but for the U.S.A. a new chapter in history is about to be faced and may it prove to be a successful,memorable chapter.
I would like to say that there will be those of you who read my blog who will have wanted McCain to win and I hope that my opinions do not stop you from calling back again... it would be a boring place if we all agreed on the same thing don't you think?

I have been tagged 3 times

Oh my I have been tagged 3 times by 3 lovely ladies Jeanie, Christy and Val
Why oh why they would think that there could possibly be anything interesting to say about me... who knows!!! lol
So I have to write 7 things about me and then nominate 7 others to be tagged and that way we all learn more about our blog friends... [I am now sitting here with my thinking cap on so come back later and I will hopefully have 7 things to write about]

1. 9 years ago I had a boob job; I always felt like a boy as I was REALLY flat chested so having the boob job was one of the best things I ever done for ME!

2. My early years I lived in lots of different places as my dad was in the Army, I was born in Aden as he was stationed there at the time. I loved living in Germany.

3. The best job I ever had in my life was nursing; sadly gave it up when my eldest was born but would have loved to have continued with it.

4. I believe in U.F.O.'s, my mum used to worry as I wanted to be one of those people who was "abducted" lol, of course I wanted them to bring me back but I was so fascinated by the whole subject.

5. I love to read, I have to have a new book in the house to start when I finish whatever I might be reading at the moment. I have just started the Secret Life of Bees as recommended by Sam. I love James Patterson and watch for his new books all the time.

6. I love music and couldn't live without it; 2 highlights for me were seeing the Bay City Rollers live in Newcastle and getting waved at by Woody (the one I had a crush on) and seeing Diana Ross live at Wembley... I was one happy girl on both occasions

7. and finally.... I have happy memories of my time at boarding school and I am so glad that I have reconnected with my friend back then (I was 11) on Facebook, so welcome back into my life Rachel.

That's it, as you can see nothing super duper about me just an average person but hey you might have learnt something new about me.

Who to tag?
1. Charline - an American girl living in England, drop by and visit her blog. She is such a warm person and it would be so lovely if she had more visitors to her blog to make her realise that she is a special person x

2.Kelly Kilmer I have recently found Kelly's blog and it has wonderful content, drop by and be inspired.

3. Stephanie Loomis A delightful mix of life and art, I admit to lurking here, must leave more comments x

4.Wendy Vecchi a great blog, you may or may not have visited, give it a go you will enjoy it x

5. Angie Hall Haviland drop by and see what the delightful Angie has been creating, she makes the reader feel so welcome.

6. Linda Cain Pop by and see what Linda has been creating, she always has fabulous eye candy on her blog...

7. Susie Jefferson I enjoy grabbing a coffee and having a read, another great mix of art and life.

So there you have it, 7 nominees. There are so many people in blogland that I like to visit and I can't include them all, doesn't mean I value their blogs any less just think that it is nice to introduce new people to the blog friends who drop by my blog.
Take care all of you xxx hugs from me

Celebrations....

I should have posted this yesterday but the time got away from me. Yesterday Jazz was 18. Can't believe how he has grown up and that he is now an "adult". He didn't go out as a lot of his friends have not yet reached 18 so he couln't go to the pub with them... he is going out on 1st November to have a proper boys night out.
So 18 years with Jazz... he entered the world after an 21 hour labour which was awful, and ended with an emergency ceasarian. He had such a long cord, it was wrapped around his neck and body 3 times and so he was cutting of his blood supply everytime I had a contraction. Suffice to say he was okay when he came out :-)
He has been a football lover/player for as long as I can remember and is busy doing his scholarship at the moment... not many people get to study and play football everyday, his passion.
He received some wonderful presents and loved his cake and cards. We celebrated at home with an Indian takeaway (his choice) as I couldn't go out because of the dental situation! lol. His team Chelsea won in the Champions League so that rounded his day of nicely.

 

Gabby made the cake

 

I made the card, he actually loved it :-)

 

Post Surgery

 

These 2 delightful brooches are from Linda East at her Etsy store

 

And this is of the delightful Charline as a Thank you to me for a present I sent her, she made this delightful scissor holder THANK YOU!

 

And the last is the Collage for a Cure which I bid for and won from Christy

Christy has also tagged me so I will get my thinking cap on and then write 7 things you never knew about me... are there 7 "interesting" things about me? who knows!!!
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Just thought I would let you all know that my dental surgery went okay. I sure look a picture at the moment, no top teeth and a mouthful of stitches - but hey the worst is over! Hopefully I will be able to wear the temporary denture by the end of the week and then once the implants have had a chance to settle I will have lovely teeth... I am not a vain person but I never realised how much not having teeth affects your face! Needless to say I have been a recluse this week. I did venture out on a dog walk yesterday with Lorraine but made sure I had a scarf to cover my mouth. Halloween is fast approaching and I would make an excellent witch Trick or Treating lol. I have taken a couple of photos and once the treatment is complete I am going to do what they do on all good make over programmes and show before and after shots (feeling brave or stupid not sure which!)
Anyway enough of my mouth. The pictures here today are what I have received in the post, it is always great to open mail when it is not bills, reminders and junk mail :-)
I have 2 new books to read, Cate Coulacos Prato (Author) "Mixed Media Self-portraits:
Inspiration and Techniques"
Kelly Rae Roberts (Author) "Taking Flight Taking Flight:
Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit
Winginspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings - A girl can never have too many books
Talking of books I finished "THE BOOK THIEF" mentioned in an earlier post and I can only say that it really touched me. I had to compose myself numerous times during the last 20 or so pages and then in the morning I woke up, thought about the book and cried again.... I highly recommend this book :-)

Thought I would blog without pictures

My blog has been neglected as I have not been creating much lately. So I thought I would share with you a little of what has been going on in my life.
People I bump in to often say "Hi Dawn, what you been up to?" to which I normally reply not a lot really same old same old. I don't like to say when I have been creating, not sure that people would be interested so I don't tell them about that aspect to me and a lot of them have no idea that I occaionally produce stuff. I like to blog about it cos I know my friends that I have made in blogland get me, know what I mean. So I share here and with Lorraine, Gabby and Sam.
I have been trying to keep my mind of the impending dental implants that I am having done on Friday; if I don't think about it I won't worry. My main worry to be honest is the anaesthetic...fingers crossed it all goes well and I wake up, and that I don't feel anything during!!!
To keep my mind of the surgery I have been reading a wonderful book "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I am totally enthralled by this book, it had me hooked from the first page, I was fascinated to read it and see that it was narrated by death,a really unusual way of looking at the characters in the book mainly a young girl, her foster family and a Jew. Set in Nazi Germany in 1939 it is amazing. Click on the book title to learn more about the book.
Started watching one of my all time favourite films last night "Once Upon a Time in America" [Rober De Niro, James Wood] boy I love this film, childhood friendships, betrayal it is all here - a long film but worth watching, and as for the score oh my what can I say the music is so poignant, it went on too late so I Sky+ it and will watch it at my leisure.
I have been watching X Factor which I love (like American Idol but with different groups boys, girls, over 25's and groups) and unusually for me I have been watching the Big Cat on BBC1 following Lions, Cheetahs and Leopards in Kenya. I don't actually like watching animal programmes as I get upset when the animals get killed, but this is fascinating and heart in mouth stuff at times....
Still looking at houses, the one in Pluckley would be my dream home if not for the distance to where I am now and the ghosts... China would so not live any where she thought there might be ghosts, googling Pluckley Ghosts will tell you all about the village.
Seen all sorts of houses but not in a rush till I find "The One".
That is about it for this post, a little of what I have been doing just to let you know that I am still out here lol, take care everyone, love from me to you xxx

A Wedding Gift

 

The family are going to a wedding on Saturday, chance to don some glad rags :-). As might be obvious from the picture the happy couple are Martin and Karen. They have been together for a while now and have two children. Anyway I thought I would make them a canvas which could be used to incorporate a wedding photo. This is a lovely deep canvas and I distressed it with paints and moulding past. Added some metallic letters and some rusted vines from Paper Whimsy and finished it of with a rusty heart tied with co-ordinating ribbon. I have put a temporary picture in it and covered the back with old pages distressed. I have not put anything to hang it as I thought it would work well sitting on a shelf or mantle piece. Hope they like it...what do you think? :-) Dawn x