Decoupage Days

I have woken up for the past two mornings and a beautiful feeling has enveloped me - the wonderful realisation that I don't have to get up and muck out. The annoying thing is that so far I've still woken up around ten to seven, which isn't ideal, but I'm sure I can stretch that out with a bit of practise!

The second thing I noticed yesterday was that I didn't particularly ache, which is fantastic. I am gradually recovering from some physical effects of selling Max, namely stomach aches and an ear ache, but I can feel myself getting better.
I got dressed and after I'd done a few chores I decided it was time to walk down to the village to post some letters and buy some stamps. Tessa said she'd like to come too, so we set off. The good thing about walking to the village is that it's all downhill. The problem comes when it's time to go home, and it's all, very strenuously, uphill. I thought I might use Tessa as a sort of sled dog, to pull me up, but in fact she stuck to my ankles and nearly tripped me up and was no use at all. In the end I gave up and decided it was safe enough to let her off the lead, where she trotted on enthusiastically, always about four feet in front of me, all the way up the hill. Hmmm. If there was somewhere to tie a horse up outside the post office I'd ride Barnaby down every time. You don't buy a dog and bark yourself, do you?
To be honest, that was the sum total of my energy expended for the day and I just wanted to collapse when I got home. Instead I had to clean up and put loads of washing on. Hopefully, over the summer there won't be piles of laundry to wade through. Surely with all this extra time on my hands I'll be able to get it all done? I did last year. My hopes are high.
Do you have separate summer and winter clothes? I do, but Mr O thinks I'm mad. All my summer clothes are stored in a huge suitcase, but I think the time has come to get them out and put my winter clothes away. This is normally a mammoth task as I wash all my winter clothes, iron them and store them away, but it's too warm now to be in polo necks and sweatshirts. Time to bring out the T shirts and cool tops. Summer is here.
I wanted to sit and do some crafting, but decided I need a clean and tidy environment to do it in, so had a good clean up. I don't think it's fair for Mr O to work so hard every day and come home to a complete shambles, so I blitzed the kitchen and it is quite transformed. The other biggie was my desk as I did lots of card making over the weekend and didn't really tidy up. I do like my desk to be organised, so I can just lay my hands on things as I need them, so now everything is back in its place.
I had Seven and Ten after school until Pongo got home yesterday. Ten has no spellings, no homework sheet and no reading book. I got him a book of my own down from the bookcase and asked him to read that instead, which he did.
Each day ends with a look at the manege, which is coming along nicely, but I'll save the photos until it's finished, which should be Wednesday or Thursday this week.


I made some cards at the weekend, which I'm very pleased with, so here they are:

This was my first ever attempt with decoupage, which I did ages ago. I literally went into the craft shop and said, "Give me some decoupage!" as I didn't really have a clue how to do it. For some reason I made the labrador up and just stuck it straight onto a card, for the life of me I can't think why. So this weekend I added a few bits to it to try to make it usable, and I think it just about passes muster.





I had more of an idea of what I was doing by the time I got to this one and used some glossy paper left over from when I made Mr O's anniversary card. I have been wanting to make a card on an angle for ages, so this is how it came out. I think the photo is clear enough to see that the dog is decoupaged. Originally I was going to make this for Pongo, as it looks like Piper, but it's still in my possession for the time being.

And this one, I have to say, is my favourite card that I've made so far. I love the subject (we used to puppy walk for the Readyfield Bloodhounds!) and the backing paper was beautiful. The butterfly is on it because I splodged ink on the card when I stamped the sentiment, and needed to cover it up. The butterfly worked perfectly.
On Friday I ordered a CD Rom for card making from a woman/company called Joanna Sheen. I think anyone who makes cards in England will have heard of her as she is 'big' in crafting, is in all the card making magazines, and is regularly on Create and Craft TV. I was watching a couple of weeks ago, and she was demonstrating her new CD with designs by a woman called Jayne Netley Mayhew. The cards she made were stunning, with beautiful wildlife drawings by Jayne NM, things like leopards, lions and rhinos. I was so inspired I decided then and there that I was going to buy this CD. The next thing I knew, it was advertised in one of my magazines. I knew it was a sign! I ordered it on Friday and to my delight it was in my postbox by Saturday. I couldn't wait to sit down and see what was on it. There are so many pictures to use as toppers and hundreds of backing papers. I will be able to make a lot of cards for men with this, and the quality is outstanding. It also shows you how to make bookmarks and stationery, so I am going to be busy. I can't wait to get started. Obviously I'll show you the results as soon as I can.

I have noticed that on a few occasions when I've made cards in the evenings, I can't get to sleep at night. It's as though a creative part of my brain has been stimulated and goes into overdrive. I lay in bed at night full of ideas and could quite easily get up and make some more things. Over the summer I'd better stick to doing it in the afternoons, so I can get it out of my system. I am quite surprised by this, as you can imagine. Does it have this effect on anyone else?

Happy Tuesday everyone, wherever you are, and whatever you're doing today.