Row House swap more images

When I was creating these delightful little houses I had in mind a church,post office,seamstress,cottage,beach house, a clock house and a jewellers, hence the end results of my houses

Row House Swap

Well I can tell you I have had the most FUN!!! I have been creating Row Houses for a swap and I have just loved it. I have seen these on others' blogs but never thought I would do them until I signed up for the Paper Whimsy swap and boy have I had the best time!
Will have to do a sceond post for the other images

2nd Spread for Lorraine's book

 

This is the 2nd spread for Lorraine's RR book. The caption reads "Let the wind carry my love to you on the leaves"
So that is this book finished with, it will go in the post tomorrow to Linda East for her to do her magic in it.

Vintage Decos

Here are some Vintage Decos that I have worked on for girls in the Treasure Art Trends yahoo group
The top one is made from a postcard I received from Linda East I have incorporated 2 antique pen nibs and a little bottle with "ink" in it. The background paper is from B-Muse owned by the delightful Vickie Mack at the time of writing this I could not link to her site??!

The second one was created using a Tim Holtz stamp and then adding some small embellishments. Hope the recipients like them

Just thought I would let you know that China went for her audition on the X Factor (for those of you who don't know it is a bit like Pop Idol except that in this competition there are different categories - i.e. Up to 25, Over 25's and Male and female groups)
She waited 9 hours and then got called up. What happened? they asked her a trick question "What is your name?" and she froze. She got the shakes and couldn't sing! Not the end of the world but try telling that to a 15 year old who is angry with herself....! I told her that she can always try next year if she wants to and that she should be proud of the fact that she entered. Time is a healer and I know this won't stop her singing.
Hoops and Yoyo have departed these shores and are heading to their next destination.
God speed

X FACTOR Day

My daughter China left home at 6 a.m. this with her dad to go and audition for the X FACTOR. As I write this it is 2.35 and still she has not had her audition; she said there was about 10,000 people waiting for their chance. I am really proud of her for going for this, it is good that she is doing something that she loves and her attitude is really relaxed so if she doesn't get through she will have learnt by the experience.
So while I have been at home I have been doing a couple of canvases for the online class I am doing, working on some decos too.


Hoops and Yoyo will be leaving tomorrow, they were going to go along for the auditions themselves but slept in and no amount of shaking could wake them!!!
Putting a couple more pics on of them here in England...




Hoops and Yoyo couldn't wait to get into this delightful sweetshop!

Meeting Gale

So today was an exciting day for Lorraine and I, the moment had arrived when we were going to meet Gale, yes Gale "a la Paper Whimsy" - I was so nervous about driving there but Lorraine and I managed to work out how to get there without going on the M25. The day was sunny and bright and we set of like Thelma and Louise with the roof down on my car.
45 minutes later we were pulling up outside the door to Sheila and Peter's house (Just William), set in such a beautiful idyllic location.
Gale came to the door to greet us and she was just sooooooooo warm and friendly, we relaxed in her company straight away. She then introduced us to her MIL and SIL and Draw, it was so cool!
Gale had brought over a PW order that Lorraine and I had placed before she left so we got our delightful goodies all beautifully gift wrapped and an extra little gift too.
Lorraine and I gave her some Belgian Chocolates, Wine and Fairy Cakes (couldn't have given her any other type of cakes now could we!)
The conversation flowed and a great time was had by all, really I cannot believe how relaxed and friendly it was.
Hoops and Yoyo were introduced to Gale and other members of the family and I told them all about their adventures in England, Gale was stoked to hear all about what they got up to.
Took some photos to share with you all....


l to r - Yoyo, Lorraine, Gale, Dawn and Hoops in Sheila's garden.


Draw had to have his photo taken with the delightful duo and their teddy bear.


Hoops and Yoyo couldn't come to England without having a tea party now could they?


Gale presenting Lorraine with her prize for winnng the Fairy Slipper Contest that was held recently. She told Lorraine that she had done a great job and told me that she was so proud of my slippers knowing how I hate sewing, how I conquered my demons!
So there you have it, for those who are going to the PW Sleepover in September, let me tell you all that you will LOVE Gale she is fabulous.
Thanks Gale for a great day and big Thanks to your In Laws for allowing us to impose on their home....

Further adventures of Hoops and Yoyo

 

 

 

 

So what do we have here then? The top picture is Hoops and Yoyo getting all excited as they were being very brave and going out with Jazz in his car on a driving lesson? Don't worry mom they had their seat belts on!
The second picture is of Hoops and Yoyo at Biggin Hill. Biggin Hill is where my kids go to school (about 3 miles from my house) so I thought that they should have their photos taken at this historic site. During the Battle of Britain Biggin Hill was one of the many airbases that the R.A.F. flew out of in the defence of England and I am proud to live near such an historic place, Hoops and Yoyo were really excited about the Spitfires but couldn't get too close so they sat on the roof of my car and posed (very good at posing they were too)
Hoops and Yoyo couldn't get over how small this door was, consider that I am 5' 3" and you can see how small it is, they sat on the jamb above the door squealing with delight!
Now the final picture for today - Hoops and Yoyo are eyeing up a helping of ??????
shall I tell you? One, two, three - JELLIED EELS!!!!! they were sooooooooo not impressed, Hoops went a shade of green darker and I thought Yoyo was going to turn green too lmao. They watched with me in disgust as my husband ate them all YUK!!!! Jellied eels are loved by Londoners and as my husband is a Londoner born and raised he loves them....
So that is it for today, I will share more pics with you tomorrow.
Bye, bye for Hoops, Yoyo and me xxxx

I.C.E RR - Lorraine's book

 

Here is the 1st spread I have done in Lorraine's book "Pre Raphealite Art". The left hand image is on muslin and the mirror image is paper. Crackle bg with some swirls and glitter glue. Embellished with flowers.
Hope she likes this.
Will post later today on the further adventures of Hoops and Yoyo.

Hoops and Yoyo

 

 

 

So time to update you on what HOOPS and YOYO have been up to. Yesterday they got into the excitement of the F.A. Cup Final which this year was between Portsmouth and Cardiff; Portsmouth won 1-0. Hoops and Yoyo got into it all and were both glad that they had sided with the winning team....they were awed by the singing from the fans and the general good nature of the day.
Earlier in the day they were introduced to Betty Boop, I think they both developed a crush for this beauty and were fighting to be the closest to her as they had their picture taken!
They also had a ride on Betty's dog, they thought this was such a hoot!
To calm them down I showed them the shrine that I had received from Mary and the Fairy in a dell from Theresa, they were excited to meet the Watering Can Fairy that their mum had sent over from the States as part of the Paper Whimsy Anniversary swap.

Hoops and Yoyo

 

I would like to introduce you to Hoops and YoYo. They have arrived here for a holiday in England. They have been jet lagged so I gave them a day to get over their travels before introducing them to you. So where have they come from you might ask. They are here from Alama, CA, U.S.A.
They are going on an extended holiday/vacation and you can read all about them at the blog of their mom Peggy Gatto
They haven't ventured out yet, been busy checking out my home, boy they are soooo nosy, into everything - very intelligent, inquisitive minds...
The photo above shows them having a go on Enzo's swing, as you can see Enzo is my parrot (blue and gold macaw) - she was not too impressed with these strangers on her swing and started shouting out "Mum" repeatedly...
When Enzo starts chatting, going through all of her vocabulary Hoops and YoYo look on in amazement. Where do these sayings come from I can see them thinking, "Am I bothered" "Who are ya" "Whatever" all alien to these 2 lol!

As I write this Enzo is happily swinging on her swing having reclaimed it.
Anyway they are staying with me till next Friday when they shall be of to their next destination, secret right now, so after they have gone and even whilst they are here you can check out about all their other adventures at Peggy's blog and of course I hope you call back to see what they are up to in England xxxx Love Hoops, YoYo and me

Another project

 

Here is a look at the latest project I have been working on. This was fun, it is an 8 x 10 size and at some points I thought I was going mad and others I just went with the flow, hope you like xxx

Mermaid swap

Here are some photos for a Mermaid swap on Paper Whimsy. I used a chipboard book as my shadow box. The cover has been gessoed and then mahogany crackle paint over the top. Then I cut out a mermaid and added some scroll stamping.
Inside I painted and decorated with shells, beads, grungeboard and some lace (for coral). I added some bling for her decorative bra and as a mirror.
The glass vial has the words to a ditty written on it. The same words are on the score sheet on the inside cover.
Here are the words that tell the story of the mermaid...
"One Friday morn as we set sail
and our ship not far from land
we there did espy a fair pretty maid
with a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand
with a comb and a glass in her hand.
[chorus]
While the raging seas did roar
and the stormy winds did blow
and we jolly sailor boys were up, up aloft
and the landlubbers lying down below, below below

Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship
who at once did our peril see
"I have married a wife in fair London town
and this night she a widow will be, will be, will be
and this night she a widow will be.

[chorus]
And then up spoke the little cabin boy
and a fair hair'd boy was he
"I've a father and mother in fair Portsmouth town
and this night they will weep for me, for me, for me
and this night they will weep for me
[chorus]

Then three times round went our gallant ship
and three times round went she
for the want of a lifeboat they both went down
as she sunk to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea
as she sunk to the bottom of the sea.
[chorus]

When I signed up to do this swap the 1st verse and chorus to this ditty popped into my head; I sang it at school with my class mates in an assembly when I was 9, we acted it out too, I really loved it and I suppose that is why I remembered it all these years later.
I put in the first verse into google and it found it for me much to my surprise and delight.
Thanks for looking x

Fabric Gothic Arches for a swap on Paper Whimsy, hope the pictures are visible serious problems with uploading images, gonna upload this post to see if it is okay

Cakes for Dorothea

A couple of weeks ago I made my 1st cakes for a very long time, I blogged about it and tried to upload a picture but it just wouldn't happen so I deleted the blog. Anyway today I made some more as I was so happy about my fairy slippers arrival from the States. Here is a picture of the cakes with the slippers and both went down a treat in my family. So now I can look my friends Lorraine, Sam and Gabby in the eye and say I have joined the club as far as cake making goes lol, they are all wonderful cake makers.
Anyway Thanks for indulging me with my crazy blogging, hugs Dawn

Fairy Slippers - from Linda

Imagine my delight when I opened the door to the postman today and he had me a package. Even before I opened it I could feel the magic within....as I carefully opened the box I found a little card from Linda Kunsmann describing her work in creating these gorgeous slippers and I quote "Dear Dawn, I do hope you like my fairy slipper project. I am by no means a great "seamstress" but this wonderful project took me out of my comfort zone and was a pleasure to create! The little book is attached with velcro as are the slippers so they can be removed & the book can be opened. Enjoy, Linda"
I hope you can read the inside of the little book it has beautiful words, the box is wonderful and I am doing a HAPPY HAPPY Dance after receiving these slippers.....