ONE WORLD ONE HEART 2011

All good things come to an end and this is the 5th and FINAL YEAR of ONE WORLD ONE HEART. I have enjoyed participating in this and have met some wonderful people by being a part of it.
LISA has done a fabulous job organising this event and I would like to applaud her for her sterling work...take a bow Lisa xxx

So I shall post on the 30th what my "prize" will be.

I love visiting Diane Salter's Blog and had to own a piece of her art work, so I ordered these from her new Etsy Shop

A beautiful shadow box



A Pendant, this is the front

This is the back
It has gorgeous bead, and when I have worn it I have had so many compliments, give yourself a treat and go visit.

Off to take some antibiotics as I have a chest infection - hence the reason I have been feeling so run down.

Take care, Thanks for dropping by

Dawn

Puddles

I didn't get any art done today but I did take my camera out and capture this photo on my dog walk.



I joined BlipFoto to encourage me to take a photo a day, I have some gaps to fill in, took the photos but forgot to upload.
There are some fabulous photographers out there but it is for the total amateur to the professional; the aim is to journal your life through your camera so if you like photography it is for you.

I have been "working out" the fun way with the kinect, it is a laugh but such hard work. Proud of the fact that I did the 100m in 9.89 secs and the 200m hurdles in 17.79 secs, not bad for someone pushing 50!
I would recommend this over the Wii because you seriously move!!!

Going to watch My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, loved the 1st one of specials on this subject and now there is a series... so for now
Bye xxx brief post, but hey I posted YAY!!!

Phew! I got in my art room

It has been so long, I was worried about picking up my paints so I thought I would use my copic pens and some scrapbook papers.
This is what I came up with "A Dreamer".
I suppose that has been me and so I thought it appropriate that my lady should be one too.
I am so happy that instead of just dreaming about creating I finally have done something about it, now I have the itch to dust off the cobwebs and go for it....
The background papers and embellishments are from the BoBunny and Fancy Pants Design ranges

I have put her in my moleskine sketchbook along with my other ladies.

The weather is wet and and awful here so what better excuse than to get into my art room, never mind going out, just stay in the dry and have some fun...

Whatever you are doing, hope you are having fun too...
Till next time,
Take care, Love Dawn

MY EXCITING NEWS

So I mentioned on my last post that I had some exciting news. Well....this year is the big 50 for me and I am getting my wish granted.
My wish was to be able to visit an Art Retreat in the US of A as there aren't that many in Good Old England. I am so HAPPY to announce that my wish is being granted by my darling husband, and in October I am attending the EAST COAST ART RETREAT
I still have to pinch my self, really I am so excited that I am going to have to ease the butterflies between now and October lol. Being 50 has it's benefits :-)
I will be flying in on the 4th October and returning home on the 11th October.
It was so hard to determine which classes I would be taking but I have gone through them all and chosen 5.

on the 6th October I will be taking a class with Stephanie Lee The Book of Selvage

then on the 7th October I have opted for another Stephanie Lee class PAINTING MINDSCAPES
The fact that my 1st too classes are with the same person is actually coincidental, I didn't look at the name of the tutor when choosing classes but rather the subject matter. Another factor was the supplies I would have to bring to the class myself.

On to the 8th October and I will be doing a MAGICAL BOOK OF SHEROES with Lesley Venable. I bought Exploring The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art Book Vol I when it came out and so I am looking forward to meeting Lesley

Moving on, on the 9th October I will be attending a class with Nancy Lefko MIXED MEDIA FARMERS MARKET

And finally a Woodburning class with Kathleen Nesi BURNT OFFERINGS
I was really excited to see that Nancy and Kathleen were sharing a page with their art in this months Somerset Studio...this came after I had booked the class - happy days.

The flight, hotel and workshops all booked now it is just a matter of being patient.

I will be doing a Tim Holtz workshop here in February so that is something to look forward to.

I am going to create something today, I know not what as yet but I really am going to GO FOR IT!!!

Till next time, Thanks for dropping by - and hey you never know I might meet you at Art Is..You if you attend

Bye for now
Love, Dawn

A new Year a time to blog again

It has been so long since I have blogged or visited blogs, I was in the doldrums for the latter part of the year. I have rarely been in my art room but I now want to dust of the cobwebs and get going again.

The latter part of the year should really have been an happy time, and in some respects it was.
My world was thrown of kilter when I nearly lost my husband. To elaborate, I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking my husband Stuart on a cruise to Egypt.
We had to go for jabs to cover us and so off we went to the Doctors Surgery. I was feeling immensely nervous, don't ask me why because injections don't normally worry me. Any way we went in to see the nurse and Stuart told the nurse she should do me first as I was feeling funny. To cut a long story short all went without any drama, jabs done and we left the surgery.
We got in to the car to return home, Stuart did a u turn to get on to the main road and said that he was feeling rough, he stopped the car and as I looked at him, he was unconsious BOOM! just like that. I jumped out of the car, screamed to a man to get help from the surgery and tried to revive him, no success. A doctor from the surgery saw me and I screamed to him for help, he came running over and between us we tried for about 3 minutes to resuscitate him, after what seemed a lifetime he came around, he was given oxygen at the roadside and an ambulance was called, off to the hospital we went and after 5 hours there and numerous tests nothing was found wrong with his heart etc. and we went home. It really shook me up, and Stuart, and try as I could I couldn't find it in me to do anything, I kept reliving the moment.

I think the Cruise we went on was absolutely fantastic, there are lots of photos on my Facebook page under Red Sea Magic. I am thankful that I still have Stuart in my life and I am trying to stop dwelling on the what might have beens...

Christmas was then approaching, I was ill with flu for the first time in years, then the snow came so it was hard to get into the Xmas spirit.
Off we went to Spain, Stuart, China and I (with Jazz planning on following a week later)
A traumatic time in a lot of ways as it was the 1st Christmas without Stuart's dad who passed away in May. We got through it, and I have nothing but love and admiration for my mother in law Tricia for the way she has coped and continues to do so. Jazz didn't make it, he couldn't bear the thought of sitting down for dinner without his Grandad.
Happily he was able to spend Christmas with his big brother Dwain, that was a special time for them.

So now I am back, I have some exciting news which I will share tomorrow but I just had to bite the bullet and get back to my beloved blog....if you are reading this, THANK YOU for not giving up on me

Love
Dawn

Guess where you are going

My DH is 50 on the 5th November and it has been his dream to go see the Pyramids... so I secretly booked a Red Sea Cruise for him, he will be in Petra - The Rose City in Jordan on his actual Birthday, how special is that. Then we will be going to the Valley of the Kings and of course visiting the Pyramids too.
It is a week long Cruise and I had to tell him 1. because knowing Stuart I knew that he would be like "Oh my I have to get some new clothes"
2. we have to go for vaccinations on Tuesday so thought it would be as well to let him know why.
As the tickets arrived on Thursday the kids wanted to tell him so that is what we did last night.

He is absolutely made up I have to tell you, might seem low key on the video but as soon as that was done he was googling and checking out the ship and the places we are going. Funny thing though he didn't bring his reading glasses home from work so he couldn't read all the exciting details about the Cruise, he will do that today.

Now I have to prepare a journal so that I can work on it on the Cruise.
I joined a ning group called 21 Secrets, specifically because I knew that we would be doing the Cruise and I wanted to Journal it...It is a wonderful group as there are 21 teachers each giving their secrets on how they Journal, so with that amount of tutors it should be oh so possible to finally get round to Journalling my life, seriously I have so wanted to do this for a while now.
I always kept diaries so this is the next stage for me

A FABULOUS ARTIST

I just need to share with you the work of a friend of mine Marcel Fielden. Marcel is an artist who lives in Spain, he is English and moved over there with his wife and son for the good life and to pursue his creativity.
To see Marcel's work in real life is to experience wonder that a person can capture light and dark so wonderfully in his art. Totally amazing, jaw dropping to be precise.
Anyway I want to share with you the fact that Marcel knew my father in law Charlie and he was just finishing a piece when he heard that Charlie had passed away. Without hesitation he called the piece "Charlie's table" (or something close to that). My mother in law Tricia received a sympathy card from Marcel and Pam with the painting printed on the cover; I had to see this painting so I called around for my own private viewing.
I was so impressed with it and knew that it was going into the Exhibition that Marcel was having of his works in El Campello. The Exhibition started on the 4th of September... The 4th September is Tricia's birthday and I thought what a gift it would make for her. So I purchased it off Marcel, and he and Pam then said that they would put a sold sticker on it and present it to mum at the Exhibition.

I hoped that she would love it and she did, she rang me from the Exhibition hardly able to speak and now she is counting down the days to the hanging in her home, this will be after the Exhibition, so after 25th September....


This photo shows Marcel and Pam explaining to Tricia that the painting is sold and it is for her, her birthday present, as I said she could hardly talk for crying when she spoke to me to say Thank you.


Recording the moment, another photo.

Explaining how the painting is a reminder of Charlie (Dad) to Kelly - Dad loved food and dining so this picture is a perfect memorial to him.
Now if you want to see this picture close up and some more of the fabulous work have a look at Marcel's fledgling blog, I promise the click you make to take you their will be so worth it, have a coffee and take time to feast your eyes....
or check out his slide show

With the Exhibition coming to an end next week Marcel is going to do more with his blog and explain about some of the paintings he has created. If you want to not view as a slide show, click under where it says view all images and you can look at them all slowly - and spend more time looking at the paintings.
CONGRATULATIONS MARCEL, A SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITION FOR SURE!

Thanks for dropping by, Love Dawn

HAPPY DAY!!!

for me today, got e mail confirmation that I SHALL be attending a class organised by Leandra and Lin with the wonderful TIM HOLTZ in February... HAPPY DAYS!!! I know that a lot of people thought it was expensive (via posts on FB) BUT I have dreamed about doing a class with Tim for so long and here it is a chance to do it here in the U.K. - Priceless in my opinion!

To CELEBRATE and to reflect my sunny mood I thought I would share these photos taken in France as we drove down to Spain this summer. Feel free to use them in your art if you wish, and if you do I would love to see what you create with them.






I have been feeling flat after coming home from Spain and have things I would love to share so I will take time out this week to do just that... watch this space.

Dawn xxxx

Up to the mountains

Today Stuart and I went out on a magical mystery tour - we headed up into the mountains to see where we would end up



We then passed this wonderful old house - this one looks like it has been recently abandoned; there are lots of abandoned fincas - some with collapsed roofs etc. The reason these beautiful old houses are abandoned is because the water supplying the homes has run out - imagine that you have a natural well where you water comes from, once this has gone it is impossible to continue to run it as a home.

I took lots of video footage and then we headed back to the coast to a pretty fishing village called Villajoyosa (pronounced Villahoyosa)
I love Villajoyosa, it is more built up now but there are still many quaint fishing homes still there to see - I believe it is a Spanish heritage sight.
Let me tell you about the fishermen's homes; as you can see they are all different colors. Why? well basically when the fishermen returned from a stint at sea and stopped of at a bar before heading home they could identify their homes by the colors - oh and when they were at sea they could identify their homes in this way too.





Can you see this quaint little door, see how tiny it is - the Spanish people for a long time were a tiny race - better diet has made that this generation is taller than their great grandparents and grandparents


The Spanish are very religious - especially in the small communities and a lot of the houses have religious images on like this one...


so there you have it - some photos from our lovely day, before I go let me tell you that we stopped at a lovely little Spanish restaurant - a very popular one judging by the number of clientele frequenting it... I really liked every about it, the food, the ambience... but I didn't like this..

this is a sparkling water that Stuart had with his lunch - I had a still water. However, I drank my bottle and as we were leaving I thought I would have a mouthful of Stuart's - believe me he nearly wore it, it took all of my will power not to spit it out - it was gross, like drinking alka seltzer or aspirin YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!

Hope you enjoy the photos and if you want to use any then feel free to do so
Thanks and hugs till next time
Dawn

SASSY and ANGEL

So this is my creation today - using Caran D'ache crayons and prisma pencils - funny when you have to work with what you have to hand - no acrylic painting to speak of this holiday - one thing it is just easier to sit on the patio instead of going into my space to create...
I have a thing about Sassy and Angels going together - it works for me, what do you think?


another thing I LOVE is seeing Beach umbrellas... they always make me smile, the bright vivid colors with the blue sky as a backdrop - just an image I love, think I might have to do a painting one of these days...



and hey I thought I would share a painting I did about 1995 of my mother and father in laws villa - they love it and it hangs in their villa.. I took this photo as it was hanging on the wall.
Back in 1995 I went along to some water color classes with my friend Gabby and had fun doing it - but never believed that I produced anything noteworthy.... but this, I was pleased to give it as a pressie...



I can't believe that I have been here 4 weeks now... :-( one to go before I head home, looking forward to it cos the family are there but I would truly love to stay and live here FOREVER!!!!

Thanks for dropping by...

Hugs, Dawn

I did get something done

I have been so chilled on this holiday. The kids came out for a week so didn't get any blogging done, need to sort out pics to share.
I did decide to create today and thought i would show you my two new ladies in my journals - no words added yet, that will come...

This is the larger of the two - copics and acrylics used to create this girl with no name.

and this is in my bag size moleskine - prisma pencils and scrapbook papers used to create her.

I have some videos to share- not sure if I can do it on here so will investigate.

I have to tell you it is so hot here but i am so GLAD I am not in cold England!

Will blog again tomorrow xxxx

LUCKY ANNIVERSARY

Today I have been married to my DH Stuart for 19 years... I love him dearly and guess what he is in England so this is the 1st Anniversary we have spent apart. He will be back with me tomorrow.
Went to a Quiz night with my mum in law and the parents of my sister in law. We got there and I said we have to sit at table 3 cos it is my anniversary. Proved to be a lucky table - we won 8 prizes on the raffle, a prize on the Bingo/Lotto and then we got a prize for coming 3rd - woop woop. Could have come joint 2nd actually because one of the questions was on the Wizard of Oz - What did the wicked witch of the West write in the sky with her broomstick (answer at the end of this post) my Stuart LOVES this film - I hate it, and he watches it whenever it is on, which is too often for my liking!

it did get embarrassing when our winning raffle tickets kept coming out - but hey we put in our 4 euros to support the dog charity and you have to be in it to win it!

I have been busy with my copic markers, practicing - trying to work out the best skin tones so the only way to do it is trial and error...

This was my 1st creation - done in the copic pad as the paper is bleed proof - I liked the tones on this but still need to practice with the layering and blending - to stop the harsh lines.


This one I drew in the pad and then cut around the girl and pasted it to scrapbook paper and added the text - in a moleskine journal.
The colors on this photo are not true - it is not as dark but looking at it I should have stuck with the colors I used for the 1st attempt - but like I said trial and error.

That's all for this post folks
Love and hugs DAWN XXX
OH yes and the answer was "surrender Dorothy"

HAPPY 18th CHINA

My beautiful daughter China is 18 today and I am so proud of her. She is such an independent person, doesn't suffer fools gladly and is most definitely not a follower.
She does her own thing, her fashion style is hers - she doesn't conform to the norm, she wears what she likes and that is that! In her year book when she left school she had 2 awards - the 1st "THE MOST UNIQUE PERSON IN THE YEAR" and the 2nd "MOST LIKELY TO BE A MILLIONAIRE" so not bad really.

She is a loyal friend, she has had tough times where she has been bullied (mainly due to her hair color in the past) and gets hurt very easily. She hates a liar, she would rather you told her the truth - and if you do she doesn't judge you; so always be honest with China.
She is a generous soul too.
She can be moody at times, and won't EVER back down if she is right.... she will have the last word if she thinks she is right. If she is wrong she is quick to acknowledge and apologise.
Her bedroom, well that is a different story - China could be a nomad - she could live out of a suitcase - oh wait she does when she comes off holiday, I have known her to take 3 months to empty a suitcase.
She is a talented singer, she used to love art till her art teacher drained her so much that now she doesn't bother - she loves photography.
She is loved by her 2 big brothers Dwain and Jazz, woe betide any boy who hurts her!
Daddy's girl too - wraps him round her little finger - BUT they have moments when they clash big time and I have to step in to be referee....

So for the 18 years of happiness my daughter has given me, I salute her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHINA - LOVE YOU MILLIONS XXXX

DO YOU DARE TO DREAM

Life is about dreams and making them come true if you can don't you think. If it is not within your power to make a dream come true for yourself then maybe someone somewhere will make your dreams happen.
I have had a dream for a while now that for my 50th I would visit the U.S.A. and attend one of the many art retreats that I read about on other people's blogs. I sit and day dream about doing it, not really believing that it could happen - but the dreaming, well that is a part of me.
I was chatting to my DH the other day and he knows that he is having a MAJOR surprise for his 50th this year, kids harp on about how he will love it etc. etc. but he hasn't got a clue what his surprise is... but it is HIS DREAM that I am making a reality.

Imagine my surprise when I told him about my dream and his response was "well you better look into it then!" I was totally gobsmacked, my DH God love him, loves me around, hates to be apart so I never for a million years BELIEVED that he would say it would be okay to live my DREAM.
I AM SO EXCITED.... Okay my 50th isn't till next July but hey if I find the perfect Art Fest to go to whether it is before or after then I shall have the chance to go.... so I need your help here folks, if you could recommend anywhere then let me know asI don't know where to start!
I am so hoping that I will have the chance to attend with some of YOU my online friends.

I created this journal page




and guess what folks I transferred it from my camera to my mac and then uploaded it here to blogger so I am mighty proud of that achievement!!!! maybe I can get to like this computer after all!
Now all I need to do is work out how to sharpen it.... I have photoshop so maybe I should have a play.
Anyway I hope to get some feedback from you all

Hugs till next time....Dawn

Time flies

Oh my how naughty I have been, nothing on my blog for so long, sorry about that.
I loved to come to my blog and share what I had been up to and then it became a chore... wondering why? Let me tell you.
I had the most amazing Birthday this year, totally spoiled by my family and friends and I was oh so happy.
One of my gifts is the reason for my angst.
You know how it is you have something that you have used for years, you know all it's foibles and how to put it right if it goes wrong. That was me with my little computer with its Windows OS. Then, bless him, my DH thought that it would be wonderful to get me a Mac for my birthday and that is when my trouble started.
I just didn't get it - it didn't work for me, I had to think when I wanted to do something and so the fun of the doing was lost....
I am in Spain now - brought my Mac with me determined to become friends with it.... and so here I am writing my first post using it.
I won't be adding pictures as I have to learn how to do that, i.e. where they are on my computer and then uploading them but hey I am taking the first baby steps to bonding with it.
Everyone says that I will come to love it so I shall give it a go... sure I will get there in the end.

Anyway I can say that I am back now, hoping that I haven't lost too may friends due to my absence and now that DH has gone back to England till Wednesday I am going to sit down and catch up with all my fave blogs..... even the thought of going on the net filled me with dread.
I have stopped using the trackpad and bought a wireless mouse as I get on better with that.. so bear with me and watch this space as I post about my holiday...
Peace to all

Love Dawn

Yikes....

can't believe that I have blogged in AGES got to hold my hands up and confess that the World Cup is the reason. I have an obsession with football, seriously I do, to the extent that my 2 boys were both born as a result of my over exuberance during football tournaments when England were playing. China, well she came along early as a result of my excitement when Linford Christy winning gold at Barcelona Olympics.... so there you have it.
Even though England crashed out deplorably I still will watch it to the end just because it is football. Hoping now that Spain can do it, watch most of those players every week on La Liga so makes sense and hey my second home is in Spain too.

So apart from football what else have I been up to, in truth, not much.
I did go to the Craft Barn extravaganza and thought it was really good. Met the delightful Suzie Weinberg, watched Linda from Paper Artsy and Lin Brown from LB Crafts. Also Isabella Norris flew in from Canada - that is dedication for you!




The Craft Barn, Lingfield, Surrey


Leandra Franiche, Paper Artsy




Isabella Norris




Lin Brown of LB Crafts
and last but not least


Suzie Weinberg

and finally for this post, I did manage to create one piece in between the football....

The poem reads
Her eyes are like the evening air,
Her voice is like a rose,
Her lips are like a lovely song,
that ripples as it flows.
And she herself is sweeter than
the sweetest thing she knows.
A slender haunting, twilight form
of wonder and surprise,
She seemed a fairy or a child,
Till, deep within her eyes,
I saw the homeward-leading star
of womanhood arise.
Henry Van Dyke 1852-1933
Lost in the photo is the silver shimmer of her dress and wings, I enjoyed creating this fairy.

So once again, Thank you for dropping by, won't leave it so long now, PROMISE

NEEDLECRAFT WALL HANGING

Funny thing about me, if you visit my blog you will know from past posts that I have a phobia about sewing... I do, but that doesn't mean that I don't love to see what people create with their needles and thread. But needlecraft incorporates so much more than sewing, there is knitting, crochet, lace making to name a few other things.
I have a collection of sewing ephemera that I have collected and wanted to display it.
I bought a printers type block drawer and had it painted in an antique white, then the fun began....

This is the wall hanging filled with all the bits and bobs.


This collage shows a close up of some of the items, see that little red tube it is a vintage needle holder, you turn the brass top and the needles come out, there are compartments inside for different sizes.
And can you see the little bobbin spools to the right, so cute!

In the centre of this mini collage there is the reel of thread on the pins with a bit of work done on it,not by me so I was thrilled to find it like this...

In the top frame of this mini collage there is the little red tube with a thimble on the top. If you take of the thimble there is a little spool inside with two miniature reels of black and white thread and the tube down the middle of the spools is metal with a lid, when you remove the lid there are needles inside - this is a Victorian travelling sewing kit, how neat is that?
The two bone handle pieces are for lacing boots or something like that, I just had to include them.
I feel that this wall hanging would look amazing on the wall of someone who really loves needlecraft, so I am going to be offering it for sale, probably on e bay or maybe artfire... got to work out a price for it, but I think it will be perfect for the right person.
Thanks for dropping by to my blog, hope you liked this post

HEARTS & LOVE

So a few posts ago now I mentioned that I had met up with one of the girls from the U.S. as she was over for a cruise and stopped over in London.
I can now tell you that I met up with Caryl.

Here we are at the hotel she was staying at in London, her husband Craig took the photo (Thanks Craig).
We got on really well, not hard really as Caryl is such a lovely person. The time we spent together flew by and maybe one day we will meet again....
Caryl was fortunate enough to see the Queen when she was over, she was near the Palace and saw a helicopter arriving and lo and behold the Queen was arriving, she got video footage and I am sure she will blog about it.

If you don't know Caryl you should click HERE and go visit her blog, she creates the most beautiful paintings on board, as well as numerous types of gorgeous art.
Do you doubt what I say, check out this gift that she gave me when we met up....


isn't she beautiful! Caryl also gave me a bag of collage pieces which I look forward to creating with. As a matter of fact I have used one of the images in this heart I made for a swap on the Yahoo group Art Ventures that I am a part of.


The heart is 11 x 6 inches(at the widest point) and I wait to see who my swap partner will be.
Well that is it for today as we have just has a Bank Holiday weekend so I have housework to catch up on and should really get a move on...
Thanks for visiting