4 Cats and an awful lot of mess

As I mentioned previously I signed up for the Christy Tomlinson She Art class and have been having a whale of a time doing canvases. I couldn't post any pics earlier as one of my 'masterpieces' was a present for my pal KathB for her birthday. But as she has reached the grand old age of 44 I can now share my creation.

So here is my practice canvas

and here is the canvas I made for Kath

Now I just need to buy more canvases! I have been scouring charity shops looking for pre loved ones to alter but not having much luck so a little trip to the range is in order. My next project is to do a canvas or two for the bedroom MP and I are currently decorating. I've bought the most fabulous PIP bedding so the room is being decorated around that. So watch this space for more she art specials. 

If you haven't thought about doing a Christy Tomlinson class I can heartily recommend it. She breaks everything down into nice bite size pieces and they are so much fun to do and each one is different. Before you commit, why not check out her videos on utube. Search for Scarletlime or Christy Tomlinson, you won't be disappointed.

For our second day out we went to the spectacular Stonyhurst College. Nestled in the Trough of Bowland this private school has quite a history and includes in its former pupils Charles Laughton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and MP's friend Phil. The former Jesuit college now opens for a few days a year to the public where organised tours take you around the college from the original building to the wonderful gardens. As a 'religous' school it has the most fabulous chapels within.




The other bit of non crafting news is ...... I have a nice new car. My lovely Mazda 3 was becoming problematic (not good for a 6 year old car) and despite several trips to the Mazda garage some serious fumes coming from the engine were making my asthma bad, so after much research by MP we bought a lovely Kia Sportage and I am very happy with it.


Back soon with some photos of the She Art girls I have done x

Again, where does the time go? It doesn't seem five minutes since my last blog and now summer is nearly over. The house martins are having a final flurry over the house and it won't be long until they are off for warmer climates and it doesn't really feel as if we have had our summer yet.

MP and I did manage to get a week off together and after doing some jobs at home and some chilling we took ourself off for a nice day out at Chester Zoo. Even getting there just after it opened it was packed, well I guess it was school holidays and one of the few nice days we had. We had a great time and took loads of photographs.



























Can't go to the zoo and not see the elephants.














And how cute is he? Unusual to see one awake.

As usual most of our time is taken up with Sam. When he stays with my Dad he spends all of his day out in the garden, as we don't have a garden we tend to take him out for walks instead. We joined the National Trust last year to go to Formby Point but haven't been there this year so determined not to let the membership go to waste looked for nearer places to go. Turns out we have a fantastic place on our doorstep, Hardcastle Crags.

Someone from work told me about it but advised it isn't good to go there in bad weather as the riverside path gets quite treacherous but after a few dry days we decided to give it a go and what a joy it was. Sam being a water baby loved all the spots along the river where he could go in for a paddle and in some cases a swim and the lovely tree lined sheltered path led up to an old mill and a fantastic coffee shop with home made cakes.













































Gibson Mill (toilets and coffee shop)

So pleased we have found this and we have already been back for another walk there. Only down side is that we like to go walking early and the coffee shop doesn't open until 11am but Hebden Bridge is just below Hardcastle Crags and there are plenty of nice coffee shops there.

I haven't done much scrapping but then I haven't posted the ones I have done previously, as promised. So here is what I have done .........
















Another page from the altered art CJ I have been doing, this one was self portrait

















A Steampunk Alice entry






















My boys (who don't get on at all) having a very rare moment

Well, it's been a horrible couple of months, lots of very wet walks with Sam and some severe flooding up here. We have been lucky, living on the top of a hill has its bonuses, the worst that has happened to us is the road to our house has been badly damaged, nothing a 4x4 won't cure. The houses in the bottom of the valley haven't been so lucky though and we even made the national news oh and had a visit from Prince Charles.




I did stick my head out of the window and take a couple of photos but that was as far as I got.


So what have I been up to? 


I went to see the fabulous Blink 182 at Manchester Evening News Arena a few weeks back and had a great time. I have been a fan for years and they were on my bucket list of bands to see live but I didn't think I was going to as they split up for a few years. Once I heard they were getting back together and doing a tour, I was straight on the hotline for tickets. This concert was originally for July 2011 but they had to cancel so re arranged for this year and it was so worth the wait.