Roughing it up

G'day all..  had a wee day off today so after a great nights sleep, breakfast in bed and a catch up with friends I set about the house.. cleaned from top to bottom so only thing left to tackle is washing and ironing but that will have to wait till Sunday as got a wee shift in the shop tomorrow.

Anyway I thought I'd do a quick post before retiring to bed so here's a little something I'm working on just now.  It's part of a larger project but that's not finished yet so this will have to do for now I'm afraid.  An MDF letter multi layered with texture paste and paint.  Oh I do love a little distressing and roughing it up.  Good excuse for me to get down and dirty lol.

Well folks it's almost 2.30am and alarm will be sounding in a few hours time so will bid you farewell for now.

Happy crafting
Xxx

He loved his camera

Grandad had as much love for people as he did for buildings so there are quite a few of people he met along the way. 

It's so nice getting insight to my Grandads life.  These are just some of what's held within the album but thought it would let you see a nice piece of history.   Hope you've enjoyed perusing them.

Xxx

Keeping Track

A few of the pictures he took of places he visited.

Man In Uniform

Grandad in India

1942

This is my Gran with my mum aged 9 months

Postcards of India

Just 2 of the postcards that are in the album

Mother & Sons

My Great Grandmother with her 2 boys.

Grandad standing
Great Uncle John sitting

Brothers

Great Uncle John on the left
Grandad on the right
Picture taken in London

My Wee Mummy

What a wee poser lol

His Brother

My Great Uncle John is in these pictures.

Top left he is the one on the left of the picture
Top right he is the one standing
Bottom left.. eh I'm posting from my phone and can't zoom in on pic sorry
Bottom right he in the middle of back row

Both brothers were very close.

Opening Picture

This is the first picture within the album.  A photo of the squadron and Grandad is in the back row, 4th from the left.  He does have a tiny x above his head if you can see it.

The Album!

The Cover is made from a slightly lighter canvas than the storage cover

The Cover to history!

Well folks here it is..  (excuse the cat hair, he's been exploring!)   This is the protection cover for Grandads photo album.   Made of a very heavy canvas which has certainly stood the test of time as it's from the late 30's or early 40's.

Very special picture

Today has been mostly spent with mummy dearest and I couldn't believe it when she came out with old pictures I have never ever seen before.  I was slightly dumbstruck and excited at the same time. 

This one here is of my Great Grandfather Patrick Flaherty.. don't think I'll be waging any bets on somebody guessing his nationality eh lol..   date of which is sadly unknown.  Now this man here was declared 'missing in action' during WW1 and is the reason why I bought a Tower of London  poppy.    This is one of only 2 pictures I have ever seen of him, the other being that on the postcard notification of his death. 

The other treasure mum unearthed was that of a photo album belonging to my Grandad which I never knew existed.   It contains pictures of him and his brother (my Great Uncle John) during their military time based in India.  I will get some proper pictures of the album etc during daylight so I can share with you later.

This sure helped lighten my mood as it's not been the best weekend.   Sadly my step sisters husband passed away on Saturday.  It will only be a year come April since she lost her Dad and now she has this great loss to deal with also as well as helping her son through it.  No time is ever a good time to lose a loved one but to become a widow at 44 is just not right.   Poor girl doesn't know how she's going to cope and get through this but she will..  She's a very strong person inside and will do what needs to be done.   God bless her though.

Well it's time to sign off as I want to throw a few licks of paint on something before bed so Nighty Night all.. 

Xxx

Kitty demanding attention because I've been out most of the day lol

Treated myself

Well folks I popped out for a wee hour on Friday to treat myself.  Hubby had bought me some stuff at Christmas that didn't fit and only had until Saturday before my gift receipt ran out so off I went.  I'm not one who's keen on shopping but knew I wanted to get hold of this styling brush and also decided upon this very luxurious housecoat.  Mega soft and fluffy, loved the colour and rather cute actually with the random hearts on it.   Biggest battle so far is keeping the cat off it as he thinks it would make a perfect bed lol.

Xxx

Just hanging

Evening all.  What a busy week we've had at work with so many deliveries we've had to reshuffle stock to make room and been working flat out to try and keep up.  

Anyway I have had a little play this week and hope to have another at the weekend but one thing at a time.  This project has been made using some of my favourite products..  MDF, Clearly for Art, sticky back canvas, texture paste and brusho.  Nowt I like better than testing how things work together so the brusho had to be tested on the canvas and texture paste as so far I've only ever used them on paper but OMG..  I LOVE the way they take to other products. 

For £1.50 a pot they sure do go a long way so absolutely fantastic value for money.   Nice colour range too!

Well I'm off to catch up on my soaps whilst I snuggle up with kitty.  Auld man is already in his bed so peace & quiet for me lol.

Toodles for now
Xxx

It's all too much

Well oh well oh well..  The temptation was just too much today and I've had to bring one of these beauties home with me. 

My mind is spinning with ideas already but my first one will most likely be for Valentine's Day and I'm seeing hearts and keys along with probably a little bit of grunge paste and whatever else happens to take my fancy lol.

Xxx

Bargain find

Had to visit Homebase yesterday for a few bits and bobs and whilst doing a nosey I spotted these beauties.   A ring of 4 gardeners keys for a bargain price of £1.25!!!

What a fab find and they will look fantastic on canvas. 

Don't you just love a bargain lol.

Xxx

Play time

Bbrrrr it's been a cold old day today.  Heating has been on, was wearing a jumper and yet I still felt cold at times.  You'd think we would be accustomed to this kind of weather but year in and year out I still get the shivers lol.

Anyway today I've stayed tucked up indoors and tackled the housework and washing..  my excuse really to avoid the outside temps lol.  Tonight I've felt a little restless because sadly in the early hours of Thursday morning one of my darling little bunnies called Buddy passed away.   I love all my animals dearly but this little fella had a special place in my heart due to events upon his arrival over 6 years ago.  You see.. 6 years past in October I had a massive health scare when I was diagnosed with an ovarian tumour and had surgery to remove it.  Well a matter of days after my release from hospital we were asked to home this wee man who had been rescued from a garden shed, earing his own faeces to survive.   I had staples holding me together and faced a lengthy wait for my pathology result but there was no way I wasn't going to rescue this wee baby.   A cage was set up on my dining room table so I could tend him and monitor him over the coming weeks and for the first 3 of those he would eat, sleep and poop.  Eventually he gained weight and was able to stay awake more and his character started to shine through.  Finally my results came through the following January and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief both for myself and my Buddy Rabbit.   Well we've had a strong bond ever since and I put it down to the fact we both fought to live at the same time and saw each other through the days.  He was an adorable wee boy who loved his cuddles and daily nose rubs.  Sadly he cried out in pain at 5.45am Thurs morning so I quickly ran downstairs and just made it in time to place my hand on him as he took his final breath.  My baby was gone.  Needless to say there have been a lot of tears shed over the last few days and hubby laid him to rest yesterday.  So now you know why I'm sitting here posting on my blog at just after 4am in the morning!   Hubby has long since gone off to bed and I have been occupying myself with some yummy craft products.  It's not finished yet so can't share in its entirety but this is a little preview for you.  

Well I'm off to finish watching a program and do a little sudoku then hopefully I'll be able to drift off to sleep. 

Happy crafting
Xxx

Oh my!

Well folks I had a slight change of shifts this week and was working Wed, Thurs, Fri.

Wed wasn't too bad really, Thurs saw us encounter gale force winds combined with torrential rain and then on Friday this is what I had to tackle to get home.   I took this pic just before I left the shop so hubby could see that I was going to take a little longer to get home.. well this was just the start as once I got on the motorway I was shocked at the fact they had not been gritted and were covered in snow to the extent that everyone ended up driving in what we estimated was the centre lane as most of the time you couldn't even see the lane markings on the road.   Thankfully everyone kept a safe distance and we managed to maintain a speed of 30mph most of the way as the road was pretty empty.  I can only assume that most commuters had made the decision to head home early as normally I would have been tackling bumper to bumper rush hour traffic but no.. They had already gone. 

Anyway, once home I was quickly changed in to my relaxing jogging bottoms with a nice hot cuppa in hand.

Xxx

Design Team shout out

Right folks here's a DT shout out for anyone interested.

Jones Crafts kick started their DT in 2013 and we have all been in place since but it's now time for change and the start of 2015 seemed the best time to do it. 

Full details and requirements along with application details can be found on Jones Crafts Facebook page.  Sorry I can't put a direct link but I'm posting via my phone.   It's easy though.   Just log in to Facebook and search Jones Crafts.

Good luck to anyone who applies.

Xxx

Good morning

Well this was the sight I awoke to this morning..  Glad to report that it's disappeared throughout the course of today and night as snow has been replaced with sleet and now rain.  The howling wind however has sadly started to pick up again. 

Xxx

Eh..

Yesterday I was kept entertained by 2 guys and their 5 ladders apparently fixing a few slates but I've never known a 'roofer' to take 4 hours to do it.  Our wee neighbour who's a roofer fixed most of the roofs round here the other day in an hour.  Then again he actually is a roofer.  Laurel & Hardy were rather entertaining though lol.

Xxx

Don't move!

Now this is a kitty who's quiet comfortable but giving out the 'don't dare move' stare. 

Can you believe I awake to this rude stare every morning!  Lol

Xxx

Sun or Rain

Now this is hubby's home town of Huntington Beach..  far too warm for me during the summer but have to say with all the rain and winds we've had lately these pictures do make me slightly envious lol.

Xxx

Storm Damage

Well there's been some mighty strong winds here over the last few days and we haven't been quite as lucky as before..  We got hit this time!

Sitting watching tv the other night when I heard the falling rumble from the rooftop.  Initial reaction was to go move the cars as I wasn't sure where the damage was so after that was done I made a quick retreat back indoors before being blown away.  Anyway this is the damage present the next morning.  Not sure if the bottom 2 ridge tiles are still attached but everything above has definitely moved and is balancing at the moment.   We managed to survive last night but I could hear them shaking so not sure how long they will stay there before taking a tumble downwards.   Let's hope the insurance company don't take too long to authorise the work eh.

Xxx

Yummy

We have the best customers who handed in lots of sweets and biscuits to the shop and even had one who handed in individual gifts for each of us..  think I'll be enjoying these lol.

For those customers who are reading this, thank you all so very much you're truly the best

Xxx

New Arrivals

Woohoo...  We had some fab new arrivals in the shop just before Christmas. 

Ken Oliver's absolutely fabulously Hometown  paper range and also Graphic 45. 

What more could a girl ask for!

Spring cleaning

Finally over the last few days we've been making use of our time off work and we've cleared every wardrobe and cupboard in the house.  

The first batch that left the house on Saturday entailed 9 bags being delivered to the local PDSA shop and by the end of today we now have an additional 6 bags to go to the PDSA tomorrow and hubby has been to the recycle plant with 7 bags.

Think we need to hang our heads in shame that we've stored this much!

Oh yeah and the crimbo tree and decs have been dismantled and are now back in storage too.

Lots to do tomorrow including a mahoosive pile of ironing so now I've done my bit on here to update ya all I think I'll pour myself a wee Southern Comfort and chill for a while.

Hope you've all had a lovely time over the festive season and here's looking forward to what 2015 holds in store for us.

Love 'n' hugs
Lorraine xxx

Hysterical finding

OMG..  During a visit to mums we were going through some old pictures and we found this one of my first wedding away back in 1993.  Hope my ex hubby wouldn't mind me posting it as we don't have any gripe with each other.

Anyway this is a very special picture as it has 4 people I loved dearly in it, none of whom are with me now. 

Bottom left wearing glasses is my godfather and behind him is my great uncle.  Also my Dad and brother.  God bless them all and I hope they know how much I miss them.  Also in the picture is my wee mummy, my sister in law Sue, niece Hannah and nephew William. 

Bbrrrr

We may have avoided the snow so far but the frost has been that hard it's looked white outside anyway lol.

Yum

Chocolates were obviously order of the day.  This massive box was courtesy of my very dear friend Sharon.

Oh the fog!

Took this photo on a trip to the cemetery but didn't want to post any with gravestones so this will have to suffice.   It was quite literally chasing me as I was doing my rounds paying respect and by the time I was leaving these trees were literally hidden by it. 

Yay

The tree was up and the presents started to gather under it.. Woohoo..  loved what Santa left for me too.

New

Yep the new Lavinia dies arrived in the shop too!

Oh no I cried

That was the cry that exited my mouth when I entered the shop to be faced with 140 of the new Grand Calibur knowing roughly how many of them were on pre order and had to be packed and shipped off to customers lol

Workshop time

Here are just a few of the ladies who attended the wreath making workshop.  What a hoot of a day that was and I had to rely on the boss to make up additional kits for customers to take away and make at home too!

Happy Couple

Her dream did in fact come true and on Christmas Day the boss got engaged..  not before time either lol

Christmas visitor

Santa visited the shop early and boss lady decided to sit on his lap in hopes her christmas wish came true.

Eh..

The advent calender still isn't finished as I simply didn't have enough time but I do plan to complete it over the coming weeks before I pack it away safely ready for next year. 

Cake Time

Well December saw the return of the cake baking sessions.  This year we had walnut, apple & raisin then another batch of banana and chocolate chip. 

First time I've tried the banana recipe and have to say it was rather yummy so it will be a firm favourite in the future. 

Where there's dark there's light

Well folks it's been a while but there's been so much going on  I simply ran out of time or was just too tired to post. 

December was quite a hard month as I had three friends lost loved ones but also had happiness too in the run up to and surrounding Christmas so I will try and update you briefly through this and a few other posts. 

That is if my daft cat who's sat right next to me stop demanding attention lol.

Picture is just a daft one I took of part of the garden at night cause I like the way the light also creates such dark shadows.