G+ ?

I see that Google are giving up on the Google + business.

I never did see the point of it myself!!

Must be a pain for those that chose to go with it though.

xoxo Sioux 

Beyond Astonished!

As the title says I am actually beyond astonished....

I gave up long ago trying to use my IPad to post on blogger, it just didn’t work and the word was that Blogger was not even trying to update to work in conjunction with Apple devices!

I discover by accident today that everything seems to be an effortless, seamless working blog!!!

And I have  been able to comment on blogs without continually having to sign in and/or loosing my own page on a tab as the links to a blog now seem to be opening in a new tab as does the comment pages!! Wow!

Not been part of blog land for so long (I simply don’t sit at my main computer screen anymore).

I have been using Facebook but it’s not the same.

I’ll leave you with a collage page  I made not long ago...OMG! I can even access my camera roll to add photos......beyond astonished 😧 

 

Thanks for looking and happy stamping folks...

xoxo Sioux

Family Matters

The past couple of days have been spent making a tag again (amongst other design projects).

One of the reasons it's been a bit time consuming is because I've decided to make my own "Found Relatives/Paper Dolls" (thanks for the inspiration for that Pam)...I want to use some of my old photo's of relatives and start a sort of family tree/memory book with them! Well...that's the loose plan if there is such a thing as a plan! LOL

I started by scanning a photo of two of my cousins (both deceased some time ago), touching up some dust/scratch marks and then printed out on photo paper and cut out....I will go back and digitally cut them out when I'm in the mood! ;)

I replaced the wheel they were perched on with a Tim Holtz image I stamped onto old french book pages and cut out....repeating this in the top corner with one of his smaller images. The ticket was stamped onto a bit of scrap card previously inked at some point and fastened to the tag with a brad bought many moons ago...might as well start using my stash instead of hoarding it for a change! ROFL

The background of the tag was Dylusions sprays in turquise, lemon and pink.

I made my own word fragments and gave them the "epoxy" look with glossy accents.

n.b. I have no idea if they were buddies or simply putting on a brave face for the camera! :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

I'm entering this in the February Craft Stamper Make it Take it Challenge which is Anything Goes!

A new home!

Long time no see in Blogger land!!
We have been busy settling into our new home amongst other things.....that's my excuse ;)

Over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team this month they are asking us to play along with them and use a quote ;)

This is barely in time but I could not post this till the recipient had opened it could I? ;)

So here is my entry....hope you like :)

The middle house of the trio was coloured, cut out and 3d'd.....sentiment layered up too.
Just a few die cut greenery shapes to finish off.
Stamps used "A house is just a house" and "Our house" from The Artistic Stamper.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Embrace serendipity!

If anyone is still popping by to check on me here I salute you!
Frustration abounds when using Blogger on an iPad or iPhone!!
So I haven't been using Blogger and have been using Facebook (which can also be annoying for different reasons) and Instagram in the main.

But they are not quite the same as good old Blogger.

I'm investigating the possibility of starting again.....if Safari allows me!
Please don't say download the Google Chrome app......have you seen the amount of problems that keep cropping up!!!!

Here is a bit of artistic creativity I've managed recently.
But once again good old Blogger is not playing because after adding the photo the page stopped scrolling! Luckily I already knew there was nothing left to edit below this so I'm going to carry on and publish....hang on after 4 minutes it seems to have kicked in and I can scroll again!!!
Heaven help me....oh wait a minute it's not scrolling right to the end!!

Don't know if I can persevere......will try Blogger on main mac computer and see what, if any, difference it makes.

You certainly have to embrace serendipity writing a simple blog post these days! ROFL

Inspired by my huggable Mr B

Follow this link to watch the fabulous Caro Emerald

Caro singing Mad About The Boy

xoxo Sioux

Life Book 2017

Follow my blog with Bloglovin


I've signed up for Life Book 2017!
Tamara Laporte very kindly gave us a free video lesson "The Traveller".
I'm only up to watching part 3 so far in the lesson but am happy with what I've achieved so far :)

Here's hoping I don't make a hash of the rest of it!!!
ROFL!

I started the year wondering when I would have the time to make art then life went a little bizarre.....within the space of 3 weeks my husband and I
1. Embraced the prospect of relocating for my husbands job (a lovely mixup of two favourite tv shows location, location, location and escape to the country! LOL).
2. Went on holiday to Majorca for a week where there was every weather possible from sun, sun and cold,windy, snowy, very snowy, rainy and very....VERY rainy.....we stayed in the hotel on the last day it was so bad...added to which I had started with a cold the evening before!

Beautiful day up in the mountains.

The snow starting to fall.....The road to Soller, where we were on the sunny day, was cut off!

Palma on a cold and rainy day but still pretty. ;)

The storm is coming....

3. On returning to work I was told my services were no longer required!!! Just like that.....it shook me up but it was not altogether a surprise as the firm that took over in 2015 have never been known for their empathy! However the following day I was strangely focused, feeling light, not bogged down and....quite frankly happy! :).
Things may not be all rosy on the earning front but we are moving to a house that has room for a studio for me.....so this looks like the year I do get to make art......yeh!

There is always a positive to be had somewhere;)

Thanks for looking and thanks Tam for the lesson :)

xoxo Sioux

Our garden project

We are remodelling our front garden. It's been a long time in the planning and pondering stage but at least we are now on our way to a bit of a garden haven in the front as well as the back garden!

You will all remember the way my back garden came together when I had the major structural bones done by a landscape builder....it was such fun watching it progress.

The front garden is even more fun....albeit much slower....as my honey and I can do this one together :)

For some time it's been mainly lawn with some planting on two sides.

Back in May my honey made a start on getting rid of the lawn and digging it over.

Then holidays, work, weather and life stopped all the action and we ended up with a wild flower meadow effect come the beginning of October...

.....ha ha ha

The weather last month and so far this month has been kind and weekends have been spent sorting this out.....the grand plan under way

    

Happy when the first pergola went up a couple of weeks ago with stones laying out where a path would go.

Even happier when the second pergola erected, pathway partly dug out and bench all painted up to protect it. Some plants we had bought earlier in the year and potted on were scattered around to ponder some more on the layout!

 

Today my honey managed the last bit of the path and yet more digging....you would not believe the size of some of the rocks excavated..... and I got on with planting up the plants that had arrived during the week.

I'll show and tell some more when we have progressed a bit and detail the plants we are putting in.

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux 

A birthday card

A quick post!

Butterfly stamped and masked....various overstamping and die cut numbers to finish inside and out.

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux 

A little Corfu watercolour

I have been doing a little sketching and a bit of watercolour but mainly a lot of day dreaming whilst on holiday in Kalami on Corfu ;)

It's a little bit of paradise.

There is more to do to finish this small watercolour, I'm happy with the distant mountains at the back of Corfu  town and the sky.....the line of trees isn't too bad either.....wanted to stop before I mucked it up completely!

Of all the supplies I packed in the case....remember?

Well...to do the watercolour I only needed these!

A pencil, rubber, watercolour pallete, water brush, collapsible brushes, water pot, paper and hardboard base....oh and some tissues to mop up. I probably will need to use an extra mixing pallete to finish this but I think that would be all!

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

My travel art supplies

I've spent far more time than I ought just lately browsing Pinterest for ideas as to essential transportable watercolour supplies for our holiday to Greece shortly.

I have narrowed it down to this little lot! I'm thinking that listing it here will help both during and after to see what I did and didn't use! ;)

It's all packed into this small bag....a freebie from a long time ago as the logo on the bag proves! Not used more than a couple of times....fizz glass for size comparison....it's not going in the bag! :) LOL

In the tin at the top I'm keeping some gelatos, neo colours and shimmery Luminex paint in the small black topped pots to provide extra colours not in my watercolour pallet and also in case I veer off into art journaling instead.

At the top here are baby wipes, tissues, plastic bottle for water, masque pen, ceramic pallete, masking tape, antique ink bottle that I'm using as a water pot...courtesy of my honey :)

A putty eraser and normal eraser, pencil sharpener, bits of sponge, charcoal pencils in soft, medium and hard, penknife, large lolly stick, four watercolour pencils, hardboard and watercolour papers with a couple of paper clips to hold the paper in place.

I have a smaller tin (not in the main photo) that will hold the smaller items in one place.

This also has a paper stump, some spare paint pans and space for filled pans that I can swap in and out of the watercolour pallete box.

Brushes and pens/pencils are held with elastic bands on a cardboard base.

Brushes include: a kurataki waterbrush, rigger and various other small detail brushes.

Not forgetting my new travel brushes...sigh ;)

Pens/pencils include: waterproof ink pens in grey and black, white unibol pen, two pencils in different hardness.

Everything packed into the bottom half of the bag with the hardboard, watercolour papers, brushes and masque pen in the top draw string section....that section still has room for something else and looking back at this, I have added some larger pieces of watercolour paper, an extra ceramic mixing palette and a plastic cup for clean water too.

This is all still very portable and I'm going for the lightest weight stuff I can find!

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

Happy Birthday Honey

Friday was my scrummy honey's birthday...

...Happy Birthday Mr B!

I nearly scrapped this and started again as I originally thought the peacock feathers Distress on the stamp image was a bit too strong!

My tip for near disasters like this?

Make a coloured mat for your card front using the colour you are unhappy/unsure about...

...it always seems to work for me :)

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

Riding along on my push bike honey!

I've been planning this in my head for soooooo long! What's new I hear you cry!  LOL

I should have taken a before picture but suffice to say believe me when I say it was rusting a bit and silver ;)

I have to thank my lovely SIL for leaving his bike behind at his dad's when he moved to Bristol all those years ago...it came to Brixham when my honey and I married.

It should have been done earlier this year but I just couldn't find the colour of spray paint I wanted....but hurrah some turned up a few weeks ago and all in all (what with the weather and everything) it's taken 3 weeks to finish this.....and three years planning in my head ROFL !!!

A couple of large broken pot pieces helping to wedge it in place...knew there would be a good reason not to throw this on the tip! LOL

I am so thrilled with it, a couple of baskets front and rear added for the plants and a dream make was complete....one that will always remind me of Budapest as it's where I saw a similar idea first. Happy memories.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux 

Art supplies for Greece

A quick entry today.

I'm trying to overcome my frustration at the Blogger app on my phone/iPad!!

I should be doing other things in my lunch hour but new watercolour supplies just arrived...ready to take on holiday. :)

Some new (to me) colours for my travel palette.

Best of all my.....no I haven't taken up cigar smoking! ROFL :) :)

No....best of all my retractable brushes...

...oh my, oh my!

I just sooooo needed those! Thank you to my lovely husband...love ya!

xoxo Sioux 

Polaroid ZIP

I have just received my Polaroid ZIP mini portable printer........it's love at first sight!

Gez asked me my thoughts on it so here they are ;)

I'm going to explain my experience using my iPad/iPhone and don't really know what difference (if any) there would be if you used an Android device as you just download the software.

I went for the sleek black colour but it also comes in white, blue and red...

It works with Android and/or iPhone/iPad.....no need to buy different models to suit your particular phone like another product on the market!

There is no ink! It uses thermal technology to activate the chemicals embedded in the paper which measures 2 inches x 3 inches.

In the box is obviously the printer itself (no bigger than a mobile phone really at.....approximately 4.5 inches x 3 inches x 7/8th of an inch)

There is a lead with a USB connection for charging the printer, if you have an IPhone 3 pin plug adaptor charger already it will work with this, or just charge from your P.C. I tried both and both work fine.

Mine came with a packet of 10 ZINK (stands for zero ink) papers, and a brief (very brief) instruction sheet.....this could be improved on for technophobes but it gets you started!

Once it's charged it does not have to be connected to a P.C. or other device to work as it is fully Bluetooth and speaks to your phone/IPad wirelessly. (make sure your phone/IPad is switched to Bluetooth as I don't usually have mine on that setting!)

Now you have to download the software to your iPad (I chose to download it to this first as I have other photo editing apps already that I thought would be useful in conjunction with the printer...but as usual with most Apple apps it does appear later over on your other devices like your phone)

I went straight to the App Store to find the software and could not see it anywhere...

...having gone back to the instruction sheet there was a Qcode to scan....as I did not have a Qcode scanner app on my iPad I had to get one of those first....but it was free!

Using the Qcode app was easy and it recognised the code immediately and took me to the Polaroid web site with a link that takes you to the App Store and the Polaroid ZIP app (why the instructions couldn't just give you the web site address, or why you can't see the app without doing this is beyond me!) However it works and the app appears on your device.

The printed instructions tell you to then switch on the printer and it should appear in your Bluetooth settings....just click on the printer when it appears to confirm.

If you now open up the app it appears not to be doing quite what you thought it would...

...i.e. I thought it was not working....trying to stay calm I just kept hitting the various buttons ('cos it doesn't mention any of the following in the written instructions!) until I chanced upon MyZip and then device manager....where it said no device found grrrr!

By now the printer had switched itself off so that's why it said that (you can alter the length of time before it switches itself off in device manager)....so I had to switch it back on and it showed up then in device manager and it said something like download up to date firmware....so with fingers crossed I did....the printer on light flashes as they are obviously speaking to each other by now! After that finished, it decided I had to update something else too (sorry but I can't remember what it was called) so I did that too. Hey presto now you can use all the various menu buttons to get around the app....this whole set up process only took perhaps 20 mins and most of that was wasted time trying to find the Polaroid app and the Qcode reader in the first place....you know how it is! ;)

For quite some time on my IPad I couldn't actually see any images of my photos in the gallery but if I tapped on one of the greyed out spaces it would load it...it was visible and I was able to edit and print.....which I did....but not an ideal situation you will agree.

However.....a whole day later with some fiddling around at stupid o'clock in the morning, while I was unable to sleep due to the weirdest dream I've had in quite some, I went into my IPad photo settings and hit the button for automatically upload to iCloud and the photos are now visible in the ZIP app! I can't tell you why but all the photo's show now!!

For the actual printing.....you need to load the papers into the printer...the top just slides off a bit like the back of a mobile phone....and there is an oblong well to stack the papers in.

WARNING....in the paper pack is a blue card and this MUST be placed on the bottom first before stacking the paper on top....the printer reads the blue card and does some sort of calibration so that the colours on your photo should not come out weird! I read that on one of the reviews before I bought it so I was aware of it....please note that the written instructions, whilst mentioning you should do this, does not mention that it is important to do so and I believe on every new switch on and print session it might be good practise to get into the habit of doing this for optimum results.....it's no big deal!

I edited the size of my photo in the app before I printed it to leave some space for writing on, making it look more like a Polaroid photo of old (cool)...and the other cool part is the photos can become a sticker as they have a peel off backing. (You can have your photo fill the whole space if you prefer or make a collage of more than one image too)

You can add all sorts of images and cool stuff in app before printing....I'm still playing around with that :)

Hey presto.....you get a print out...

Even though there was a certain quirkiness to the set up it all turned out fine in the end and I really, really like this. I can see all sorts of possibilities and fun times ahead with it....perfect for memory books, scrap booking, planner addicts et al!

P.S. I was not paid for this nor was I given anything by Polaroid (that sort of thing never happens to me! ROFL)....I just wanted to pass on my experience of starting out....some reviews on Amazon do make me wonder sometimes!

Thanks for looking....let me know if you found this useful?

xoxo Sioux