Brave Heart

I got my new Dylusions journal in the post yesterday.

Mmmm....I likey ;)

Love the inner envelope section...and the pages are a great weight too with proper sewn signatures ;)

So I just had to christen it didn't I? I decorated the inside front cover ;)

Red tissue paper and heart from the packaging it came in.

Stamped the tissue with Archival and an Artistic Stamper script and glued to the page (bit like T!ms October tag I've just noticed) except I used multi matte medium for that bit.....some paint dabbers in yellow, green and brown and highlighted some of the creases and edges with gold.

Various T!m die cut letters coated with black paint and glued on.
Think it makes a great cover and inspiration for filling all those lovely pages within :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Turn back time

Had to use that large T!m skull again....this time cut in half on a tag. ;)

I was amazed when I ordered a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque (a broken biscuit promotion) last Friday and it turned up on Saturday morning :) Great service.

Decided to pair the fabby top hat from the broken biscuit with the skull.

It made me happy :)

DI background and the web, script and spider from the mini hallowe'en set.
So....would you turn back time?
Some days I think I'd like to....some days, as odd as it sounds, I'm happy to follow the trail that life is showing me!

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I've just watched John Bishop...not laughed so much in a long while....ah...so reminiscent of Pip and his sort of humour...turn back time........?

SCD is back! :)

Yes, yes, YES!!!

Strictly is back.......I am happy.

Whooo....Colin Salmon although so tall (not always a plus in dancing) might be my favourite! ;)

I have a sneaking suspicion ~Michael Vaughn could be the next cricketer to succeed.

Of the girls Denise was lovely but (and I am not being nasty...really I am not) she has a background of performance unlike all the rest,,,,yes Fern is in T.V. but it's not quite the same, I thought she was lovely too and I'd really like to see some more of Artem mmmmm......sexy or what?

Bring on Saturday.....I'll have to watch the recording as I am at an evening wedding reception.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Happy Bond day!!! 

Tomorrow is a Mystery for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Sex Bomb!

Thought I would combine two extremes of inspiration in one piece.

The new skull stamp by T!m from the mini Hallowe'en set...could not wait to get my hands on that stamp...and of course Mr Grey Suit Guy...
...well, any man in a suit within reason come to that!!! ROFLIA;)

(not to mention Mr Grey himself!!!)

My heart and I will never be able to break free! ;)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Dream Big

There were some very arty entries in the "Splatters and Speckles" challenge last month :)
So..... would you like to play along with this one then?

"Natural World"

That's the challenge for October over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team ;)
Make anything you like as long as it includes the theme of natural world.

I chose to make a journal page in my A5 size book and started by spritzing the page with Distress Inks in aged mahogany and faded jeans over gesso.

I stamped one of the flowers from botanical plate1 all around the edges in Archival coffee and then again randomly over the top with Archival black for a bit more definition.

The large letters were cut with the word play die from cardboard and coloured with black paint dabber and I added the calligraphic mat 13 randomly across the page with Archival aquamarine.

At this point I just knew the flutterbys would not show up if I stamped them direct on the page so chose to stamp them on card, colour and cut out.

I stamped a variety of flutterbys from the Insects and butterflies plate 1 plate in various Archival inks, aquamarine, coffee and black...and simply coloured each one with just one other colour of Distress Ink (wild honey, faded jeans, peeled paint and worn lipstick)...as you can see from the above picture this does give a nice variation in colour quite easily.

I did stamp each flutterby onto the page in Archival black simply to get a little definition and so allow the feelers to display well.......no point in trying to cut those out is there! LOL

I then made a sentiment up with the journaling mini words 1 and glued them to some black card with glossy accents and stuck them and the flutterbys to the page with it too.

You really must take a look at the "Natural World" creations the rest of the team have made and here are the DT member links for you.

Jennie and Louise.

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Natural World"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art, journal page ;)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until October 31st and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Weird Happy Heart? for SS

Oh dear!

I fear that Freud would have a field day with this...but it made me happy!!! LOL

Here is my take on Happy Hearts for Hels Sunday Stamper!

I had a little splurge this week and bought two of the new T!m stamp sets....the skull is the larger one on the Apothacary plate.....I've got an idea for the smaller skull too that is on the mini Hallowe'en...can't wait to get started!!

This is in my A5 journal just so as you get an idea of size.

I have been waiting patiently ever since T!m revealed them....I know...weird!!!.......

but I could be doing much weirder things!!! ROFL ;)

As Hels said, it was sad to hear of Andy Williams passing....and additionally Herbert Lom...heavens I must have been a weird child I thought he was the bees knees...I suspect lots of kids would have been hiding behind the settee on seeing him in some of the movies he made.....I would not quite class him in the sex on legs category but there was definitely something about him!!! ;)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

SNED Mr Grey Suit

Take a little journal.......take man in grey suit as inspiration! Result is this!!!

Can't help thinking I have an unhealthy addiction to man in grey suit LOL!

On the other hand, taking inspiration from a man in a grey suit has to be better than taking inspiration from a skeleton surely? But then again....the spooky season is heading our way and that old skeleton is calling me! ROFL ;)

xoxo Sioux

A Kingswear Moment!

I've just had a couple of fabulous days sharing an apartment in Kingsbridge with my best friend and her husband.

We had a lovely evening at The Old Bakery - a tapas restaurant.....please go if you are ever there - and would you believe I had a similar "man in a grey suit" moment to the one I had in Kingswear the other week....perhaps I'm not past attracting attention from dishy guys after all ROFL!!!

Went to Overbecks a National Trust property near Salcombe....it's a very beautiful garden indeed....full of tender and sub-tropical plants....just the sort of thing I love and we had a cream tea....scrummy ;)

Me and Jacquie......I sometimes wonder if we were separated at birth! LOL

'Tis a pity I had to go back to work today...

...I don't get to spend nearly enough time with my friend....they, luckily, have the rest of the week to enjoy themselves before they have to return home up north :)

xoxo Sioux

Carpe Tag for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a whimsical tag today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Some Enchanted Evening

I'm still wondering about the dishy man in the grey suit from last Saturday

I'm not used to someone saying I'm glamorous and it rather threw me....I used to be pretty good at flirting but heck! I could not say anything more than "thank you" to that compliment...

...and that we lived in Brixham when he asked if we were local, he also said
"I wish I'd met you earlier"!

Yikes! Where did my tongue go, and what did that mean exactly?

Then he took his drink and went outside to watch the fireworks like the rest of us and I never saw him again...

...it was definitely a sliding doors moment......I'd love to know who he was!! LOL :)

God help me........I've been singing "Some Enchanted Evening" to myself all week!!!

There really is no hope for an incurable romantic like me!

Still, if nothing else, it provided the input for this page in my little journal for day 4 with Gez who has suggested trying "Something new every day" in September ;)

Thanks for looking
xoxo Sioux

Free Your Soul Tag

I'm sharing a tag today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

SNED with Gez day 3

Gez has suggested trying "Something new every day" in September.
Here is day 3

I visited the house for the first time....been to the gardens many times but until recently the house has not been open to the public.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Regatta Day

It's been Dartmouth Regatta and I went with two of my friends for the day.

I love the approach from across the river at Kingswear to Dartmouth.

This is Bayards cove where they filmed the Onedin Line.

We always like to go to Bayards Cove Inn for a coffee so that's where we started.

We strolled around to the street market, the main market and the craft tent.

Lots of amusements too, I love a carousel

I went on a flight simulator a tornado jet one.....loved it...wanted to prove to myself I'm still alive...can still enjoy the thrill.....been a bit low recently ;)

We had lunch in The Royal Castle and shared a bottle of wine.

We watched the Black Cats display...it made you gasp!

We decided to get across the river back to Kingswear and spent some time in The Ship Inn sharing the wine, enjoying a laugh, loving that a very gorgeous guy in a dapper grey suit said we looked glamorous (he did not appear to be drunk either! LOL), except my friend seemed to think he was aiming the compliment just at me! I'll never know, but we had some fun expanding on the possibilities!! Then we watched the fireworks, then we went back in the Ship because the cue for the next bus was horrendous and we could see we would never get on it. Shared some more wine, were about to head for the bus when my boss, his partner and his best mate Mitch Tonks came in and insisted we had another drink and share a cab home....well how could we refuse! ROFL.

It's a good job we did go home in the taxi 'cos we all had had far too good a day if you get my drift :)

It was a great day.......we are going to do it all again for the Dartmouth food festival....can't wait.

'Cos friends make life worth living :) My day two playing along with Gez in September.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

SNED day 1

Gez has suggested trying "Something new every day" in September.....how many days in September I manage is a different matter!!

Here is the front of my little moleskin notebook.

I tried using glue and seal from ranger to mask off the words "new very day" on the Kraft cover....did not work as precise as I was thinking but, hey you just have to go with the flow ;)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux
P.S. Whoops....seems like I missed out an H from the word why?
Will have to rectify that stupid mistake....just flippin typical of me at the mo!!!

Dance, dance, dance!

I have a card to share that I am entering in the one layer Stampotique challenge ;)

Stamped, coloured & masked sweetmoves, stamped and masked the T!m wings, stamped the T!m background and stamped my dance word and T!m sentiment.

There is a story behind this.....isn't there always!!! LOL

Last night, after watching Parade's End, I stayed awake because I wanted to see the start at the very least of the marathon club music dance night on channel 4....I was taping it but I wanted a bit of live action ;)

Well......how fab....I just love that sort of music to dance to....(it helps if you have had a few too many cava's as well mind ROFL! ;)

So there I was dancing in the dark (at 3 in the morning...in the end I never made it to bed although I confess I did fall asleep on the sofa for a short while).....on my own some....loving it....but also wishing there was a tall, dark and handsome guy sharing the fun! :)

Where is RA when you need him?

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

Parade's End

My father instilled in me the abhorrence of  conflict and war.

That is what is at he heart of Parade's End.

But forget that...I love the BBC adaption of the novel...I love the cinematography...I love that I get to see Rufus Sewell again...he made me laugh..~OMG he is sexy!!....I love a man who can make me laugh!!!

I wait with bated breath for the next instalment ;)

xoxo Sioux
P.S.  I did not die in my sleep and yes I had liver again for supper..yum, yum, yun ;)

Liver & Chianti?

Well....not Chianti.....but I did have liver tonight ;)

When liver is mentioned I'm afraid I can't help but smile 'cos it reminds me of Silence of the Lambs and that reminds me of the awesome impersonation Pip did of Hannibal at one of our garden parties once :) He scared the living daylights out of some of our friends!!! LOL

And what is so special that I feel the need to blog about it you ask?

Wellllllll.....I have not had liver since way before Pip died...it was a no no on his list of foods....already far too much iron in his blood...would have been crazy to eat liver and add to it!! Never thought it was fair to have any when he could not...and believe it or not liver was one of the things he rarely cooked he always said I did it better! Praise indeed :)

So tonight, unusually for me especially during the week, I cooked liver stroganoff and I realise those of you that do not like liver will be going yew! But even though I am blowing my own trumpet here....it was, as a dear friend who is no longer with us once said, ORGASMIC!! LOL

If I die in my sleep tonight I'll have had one of the nicest meals I have had in a long time :)

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I hope I don't die in my sleep tonight 'cos there is loads left and I'd hate to waste it!!! ROFL

Hell is easy!

A friend mentioned something the other day.... and it made me realise how easy it can be to plunge into despair!!!!

Having been re-acquainted with Dante...it sort of struck a chord and I had to combine my hand carved face stamp with one of his quotes..........if not exactly word for word! LOL

And..no I am not in Hell....although it could be easily done....I, like most people have their moments but in the main....I am a glass half full sort of gal!! LOL

xoxo Sioux

Gabriel's Inferno

I've just finished Gabriel's Inferno  ;)

It is most definitely NOT a Fifty Shades of Grey rip off (quite frankly it could not be anyway as it was published before fsog). There is art history and Dante quotes throughout and of course I've just returned from my hols in Florence which adds to the romance between the two main characters. If you did not like the graphic nature of the sex scenes in fsog then this could be the book for you ;) There is a little sex action but you have to wait for it till the very end.....and that is not a bad thing!!! ROFL

What I can't understand is, that when I bought this on the Kindle only about 10 days ago, both this and the sequel Gabriel's Rapture was available....I did not buy the sequel at the time 'cos I wanted to make sure I liked this first! Now there is no sign of either book available on Kindle!!!

Can you understand that? I'm very new to the Kindle so do they take down titles willy nilly? Anyone know?

xoxo Sioux

Dante Alighieri

On another of our wanderings around the wonderful maze of narrow streets in Florence we had a Dante enriched afternoon.

His likeness in stone outside the Uffizi...

...as we walked to the Casa de Dante (museum)...

...there were a number of small piazza to explore...
...so atmospheric...

...gorgeous iron work still hangs on the walls where street lights would have been lit......one can  really imagine being back in 1290 at times in Florence....if you ignore all the people, scooters and cars around you!!

The very small church Santa Margherita de' Cerchi where Beatrice worshipped and is buried (in 1290 no less)

and lovely cafe just round the corner

Speaking of Dante.....I am at the minute reading another fab book, Gabriel's Inferno, that has allusions regarding the relationship between Dante and Beatrice ....if you follow the link I've stood where Dante is standing in the painting....sigh! 

And this is the Ponte Vecchio from that very spot.

(the book sounds a bit high brow I know but believe me it is an easy read)....

...I thought that it was going to be another "Shades of Grey" type book.....which it still might be for all I know....but I am only half way through (it's quite a long book) up to chapter 18 and so far the characters of Gabriel (Dante) and Julia (Beatrice) have shared nothing more than a couple of admittedly very passionate kisses and a couple of chaste nights sharing the same bed......how they have managed that one I really don't know!!!

'Cos I'm pretty much willing them to get on with it!!! But seeing as there is a sequel I might have a long wait!! ROFL

I'm just hoping the writer is going to ignore the fact that in reality Dante and Beatrice never got it on...well, not that anyone can really prove that one!!! ;)

Still......it is much more than a sex romp book and I'm loving it.

This is the link to the paperback edition....although it's only just after I returned from Florence that I bought this on my Kindle I cannot find a link any more! Sorry.

Thanks for looking..........

One more picture :)....we ended the day like every day with a bottle of Prossecco ;)

xoxo Sioux

Dancer Card

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog where we are celebrating the two year anniversary of the creative team blog with a giveaway :)

You can see more details on my piece over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog.

Now I usually ask you not to comment on my blog as well as the creative team....but just for this month it might be worth it to do both....trust me ;)


We were asked to choose a set of stamps to use in our posts this month that Jennie will give away to a lucky comment pooled from both this blog and on the creative team blog....so generous Jennie, aren't you a lucky lot :)


Well I chose the "Tick Tock" plate....

...and additionally.....because I had this scene idea going round in my head for some time and I've been on the team almost two years myself...
...I am giving away my "Dance" plate to a second lucky person who comments :)

Told you it would be worth it!


The giveaway lasts throughout August and at the end of the month I will choose two winners from comments left on my Artistic Stamper posts here and on The AS Creative Team blog. 

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux