Glitter Sister in training?

I hate hospitals.... I make no bones about being Hospital phobic! Yesterday I had to go for my check up to see how my eyes were. I have a condition called Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome a long word that sounds a far greater thing than it really is. Basically the 'condition' causes bleeds on the back of the eye which then through the eyes natural ability to heal itself causes scar tissue and this causes the blindness. It can be potentially life threatening but my first diagnosis was in November 1997 and I'm still here so I guess not always (lol) Anyway, the day went well, no fresh bleeds and another years reprieve! YEAH! Because the hospital is so close to my mums, I arranged to go over and visit. I was met with a very sleepy (just woke up) little girl, Rachel my niece...who couldn't wait to show me what she had for Aunty Sue.

Bless her, she had collected some tiny acorns and a leaf, which I was informed by my mum HAD to be red! Of course Rachel....what else! lol. I told her I would put them in my Spirit Box and showed her this blog. She's off school at the moment with Chicken Pox. I'm really impressed with this girl, she's a Glitter Sister in the making. She loves all things sparkly and loves to dance, she's shy and choosy when it comes to people but VERY independent! She loves to paint and make a mess, especially with glitter. Nasty Grandma put it in the bin after it found it's way all through the kitchen, living room, dining area, chairs, sofa, carpet....etc. etc. etc. But we've persuaded Grandma to buy some Glitter Glue so the Glitter Girl in training is active once more!


I asked her to show everyone her lovely Glitter Skirt so I could put her picture on my blog, so here she is proudly displacing her dancing skirt and sparkly shoes! Despite the fact she's poorly with Chicken Pox.

The Glitter power Sisters

Above is a picture of the gorgeous sky taken last Tuesday evening...isn't this fantastic?
Just a little message to appologise for the lack of posting on this coming Monday....but.......
BUT THE BEST NEWS IS
Because of a change of plan...... I'm meeting my fellow GPS's in Thirsk! Will take incriminating pictures to share with you all on my Blog.
Watch out Thirsk...Here we come!
Have a good weekend my friends.
Love sue x

A dog and cat diary....

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY
Day number 1808:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE
!11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!Day number
1818:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE
!11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!Day number
1828:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!


EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY
DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape,and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.
DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.
DAY 762... Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.
DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm. Not working according to plan.
DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time, however, it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth
.DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes filled with what they call "beer." More importantly, I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.
DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Alas, due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured...for now.But I can wait, it is only a matter of time....
Day 775 - The horrors! The worse creature my captors could have devised to torment me with was another hideous cat! I can't stand the way it lies around and looks at me as if it knows more than I do. This creature seems to despise me as much as I it. I had held out a passing notion that another of my own kind would have enabled me to conspire against the villains who hold me; now I see that I was wrong. What a dreadful creature! And yet they coo over us both. Can they not spot my innate superiority?
Day 776 - The other cat and I, though we can not stand one another, have yet managed to both pee copiously behind the couch, on the so-called "shag" carpet. I have taken a lesson from my rival and begun sleeping on top of my captors' heads in the hope of suffocating them.
Day 777 - The wardens take much interest in our shit. They make sure they sift through the sand and pick it all out. Their interest in shit does not surprise me. After all, they like the dog.
Day 778 - The other cat seems to have an interest in copulation, which (thank them for their sadism) my captors will soon "fix". Told him of the fingernail torture, and he didn't even believe me. I showed him my mutilated paws and he gasped in horror. Then I broke the bad news. "You know why that dog licks his nuts?" I said, "It's because he still has nuts to lick, if you catch my drift." I fully support the horrors my captors will inflict upon my fellow captive, tearing away his manhood as they soon will
.Day 779 - Yes, they are monsters, but I am so happy. They fixed the other cat. It's sadistic, it's sick, it's inhuman, it's what their great leader "Bob Barker" commands, but -- the Sphinx be praised -- I support it wholeheartedly!Day 780 - Got stoned on cat nip tonight. At the height of it all, I had a vision, a hallucenogenic revelation: they are the prisoners and I am the captor! Why haven't I seen this all before?

Cat on borrowed time

Ok, study the picture above. Are you sitting comfortably? then we shall begin.... I tell you this story my friends because I have has so many comments about this chap that I need to tell you the truth, so you can be deceived no more.
This is a picture of Dodger, who came into my life a little over a year and a half ago. My old cat Scooby was my little poppet and when she came close to the end and we knew our days were numbered, I had a deep and meaningful conversation with her, that when she went to the spirit world she would send me a cat that would heal my broken heart.
Now then, a couple of months later I got to hear of a farmer who’s outside cat had given birth to 5 kittens and he was drowning them if and when he found them and if he failed the game keeper had been given the instruction of shooting them on sight.
Luckily, the lad who told me this was as soft on animals as I am and he rang me at the studio to tell me he was coming over and had a present for me.
Enter Heidi…so called because she was timid and hid under the shelf in the gallery. Heidi and I lived happily together for a few weeks at least and we bonded really well. Heidi was soft and sloppy and because very close to me. She used to lay on her back on my lap and have her belly stroked until she fell sound asleep…hmmm…. That’s when I noticed it…or rather THEM! She was a HE!
Enter DODGER! So called because of his charging around the house antics.
Now looking at the picture above you wouldn’t believe that the same cat can cause so much disruption.
In the UK we have things called ASBO’s. These are Anti Social Behaviour Orders and given to the worse people (usually minors) in society. Tony wants to rename him. Lol

A few weeks ago Tony and I were watching TV and could hear a really strange noise coming from the kitchen. We ignored it for quite some time until I could stand it no more ….. this is what I saw…
The captions say it all!

Cat on borrowed time cont....

This is great she won't miss
a whole roll of kitchen towel!



Ooooppps!


I had nothing to do with it,
I wasn't watching so
I'm not involved



Do I look like the kind of cat
that would do such a thing?
Me?
NEVER!

More evidence!

Well, seen as she's sitting here
I might as well use her feet
as a cushion!

WHAT FLASHED????


Well, as Simbas getting all the attention
i might as well go back to sleep....
My time will come!!!
An ASBO cats work is never done!

One World One Heart Giveaway Draw

Hi there fellow glitter sisters. This is my offering for the draw which will take plave on the 21st March (Spring Equinox! Yeah!) It's for one ofg my pocket books and I thought, because it's appropiriate I would offer the one on 'Sisters' not Marriage as the one above. To get yourself included just post a message and include the URL (If you have one) for your page.
If you don't want a sister one I will offer a 'Friendship' Pocket books as an alternative :o)

One Wor;d One Heart- Info

My fellow Glitter Sister, Lisa is running a giveaway draw. It works like this:
Hi gals, well March is here and I hope all or some of you will be participating in this giveaway. All you have to do is offer up something, have people drop there name in comments for a chance to win what you have offered. Then on or about March 21st everyone will announce the winners. This further connects the bridge from blogger to blogger and it's a great chance to meet and discover new people/artists. I've started a participant link on my blog side bar as I learn of each one ready to go. To join go to
http://heartofthenest.blogspot.com/

Lunar Eclipse

 

About 11.30pm on Saturday night I got a phone call from my son Paul reminding me that it was a lunar eclipse.
I had been in the bath at the time and threw on a dressing gown and went outside. This is what I saw.
Over the years of him growing up we set the alarm for the early hours. Me him and his dad used to get up, get dressed and go outside usually in the freezing cold only to find that the sky was cloudy and overcast and we could see nothing.
On Saturday however, it was clear and crisp but not a cloud in the sky. The picture was taken about 12 midnightBut doesn’t do the fiery reds and oranges of the eclipse justice. I hope others saw it too.

Dodger the CHAV Cat from hell

This is 1 of my ,cats, Dodger, who’s getting on for 2 years old and won’t live to be 3 if he carries on like this….he’s taken up the sport of Extreme Running! Now for anyone not familiar with this sport, it’s the act of getting from one place to another in the shortest possible time and without touching the floor. His latest challenge that he’s given to himself is jumping onto the tops of doors.
So far he’s managed to conquer the kitchen door, both living room doors, and the spare bedroom door! He seemed to thing he looked particularly clever when he stood on the top of Gandalf!
He charges up and down the stairs at the speed of light and can clear the whole set of stairs coming down in just 3 leaps. It’s on his mind to do it in 2 but he hasn’t quite done it yet.

FREEcycle

Hi all,
today I've done my bit for the environment and joined Freecycle. A worldwide group designed to cut down on our waste and give away the things we don't need or get the things we do!
Please encourage all your friends and family to join and let's all 'Do our bit for Mother Earth and the generations that come after us.

This is taken off their website:
The worldwide Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.
Freecycle groups match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Our goal is to keep usable items out of landfills. By using what we already have on this earth, we reduce consumerism, manufacture fewer goods, and lessen the impact on the earth. Another benefit of using Freecycle is that it encourages us to get rid of junk that we no longer need and promote community involvement in the process.
Go to their website here: http://uk.freecycle.org/

The Crafty Girl 0 Creative Websites

Isn't it refreshing when you get to someones blog, via another blog and through anouther. All of a sudden you reach somewhere in Cyberspace, not quite sute how you got there or even how you will ever get back. But, somehow all the reading makes the inspiration you find, all worthwhile. That's what happened this morning and http://thecrafty-girl.blogspot.com/ is well worth a look. I've added a link to my links page at the right and hope you find it inspiring too.
Also worth a look is http://www.violette.ca/ and in particular http://www.violette.ca/aboutme.html sounds like my kinda girl! How lucky are we to have the wonders of modern technology that we so often curse. Creative people sharing there knowledge, experience and most intimate inner selves with the outside world. Something I find totally refreshing in this mad and crazy take, take, take world.
Thank you to all those who share and make the world a brighter place.

Websites, websites and MORE websites

Well, as if one website not enough for anyone to keep track of, we are soon to launch another! We have bought another domain name, which will be separate to www.inspiredbyscript.
Tony and I decided that I needed somewhere totally separate from the calligraphy and creative bookbinding site to advertise the Pagan things we make. We have decided to add other Pagan friends work to the site also in a way of marketing their fantastic hand crafted goods. After deciding what the site would sell (Pagan Crafts) we were bemused to see that www.pagancrafts.co.uk was for sale! EXCELLENT!
And so it was born. This name is great as it is also searchable and we should be the number 1 Google search for ‘Pagan Crafts’ in no time.
We’ve encountered problems in our own site which hopefully will stop them occurring in our sister site. It’s a place to sell my Books of Shadows, Dream Journals, Fairy Doors and Pagan Greeting Cards, along with Wands, Cards, Cloaks, Jewellery and other scrummy things from other craftspeople.
At the moment I’m working on a logo for the business and will post my idea as soon as it’s finished. Meanwhile, here are some photos of the new Pagan Cards, taken from Pagan Chants….enjoy!

Updated Website

For all those who are keeping track of my website www.inspiredbyscript.co.uk this is a very quick email to let you know Tony and I were burning the midnight oil (again) to update the site with more photos. Can you believe I've had over 500 visitors since we opened it less than 4 weeks ago. Not bad for starters!

We've added to the Wedding invitations, framed and mounted pieces and also added some more concertina books.

News of a sister site will be posted here shortly!

To family and friends we're sorry we're neglecting you lately and we'll be back on track very soon.

Concertina Commissions

Last week I had a couple of Concertina Commissions. The first one in a sext red and black....very striking! and the second in more subtle lavenders and creams.

1st Commission from Website!

Well, the web site had only been up for just under 2 weeks and I got my forst commission. (Thanks Andrew). This is a canvas to gis wife who was due to give birth within the next day or so. As luck would have it the canvas was finished just before the safe arrival of their new baby daughter.

CONGRATULATIONS to them all!

And a couple more from the workshop

A couple more photos from the workshop
Click to enlarge

Calligraphy at Eden Valley Scribes

The pictures above show some examples of the types of letters the students had to learn. Click on the photos for a larger image.

Well.....what a fantastic weekend. Only 9 out of the 12 members managed to make the meeting, but the enthusiasm of the group made up for it.
There were severe weather warnings on the net office website, but we went anyway. Well they did say that travel ONLY if you have to and we HAD to!
It was raining as we set off but only light and not too bad, but as we got to Scotch Corner roundabout neither myself or Tony could believe our eyes…the place was a white out! What a difference, but never the less VERY beautiful. All icing sugar white unspoilt but human intervention and not a soul on the road. Then at the end of the A66 back to green grass and fields. Weird.

The day went surprisingly well. The students embraced a totally new (for them anyway) style of writing. No x-height to worry about, no ruled lines and no boundaries. I hope a truly liberating experience for them.
There was a new starter Liz who had very little experience of calligraphy who seemed to do better than those who have for years struggled with the formality of calligraphy….which proved to me a little knowledge is sometimes a good thing.

My only regret is that we didn’t have longer to produce a finished piece of work and see the letters learnt in there entirety. Hopefully the students took away with them a new and fresh way to use these experimental letters as an exciting alternative and in conjunction with their more formal lettering.
Thank you to all at Eden Valley Scribes for their warm reception and constant cups of tea throughout the day. I had a wonderful time.

It's All Go!

Latest update on things in general..... Well Tony is working really hard at developing and launching my website. Hopefully it will be up and running very soon. The month is only half way through but already the orders for books are starting to come in. So today I've spent a fortune on more velvet, paper and ribbon for these books. Tomorrow I must remember to order the pendants for the front. I've also been asked to run a workshop for Eden Valley Scribes in the Lake District sometime in February. Since loosing my sight and appearing to disappear off the face of the earth I get very few workshop bookings now....but I LOVE TO TEACH! and miss the contact with students immensely. I offered to do a workshop on Experimental Calligraphy. Perhaps I should have called it Expressive Calligraphy......Whatever. I am sooo looking forward to it and I know they will be. I'll post more on my blog as soon as I've worked out my lesson plan. Too many ideas and only 6 hours to experiment...it will be more of a case of what to leave out rather than what to put in! The picture shows a few ideas of the type of lettering I'm going to have the students create. Click on the picture to enlarge the image.

Bookbinding Supplies Website

Here's a link to a website for bookbinding materials
http://www.charnwoodbooks.co.uk/

Her name is Dawn and she sells a lot of materials at VERY reasonable prices for bookbinding and repair. Please mention that you got her link from me because I told her I would pass on her site wherever I could and she's only just starting this business off so needs all the help she can get! :o)
Many thanks,
Sue

Ken Bromleys Art Supplies Website

For anyone that buys art materials (canvases, paint, brushes etc.) here is a great website. Prices are good!
http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/index.php

Magic!

What price can we put on

the magic and beauty of nature?

It's November....the mornings are dark and the night draws in early. It's getting colder and winter is getting closer. Dragging myself out of a nice cosy, warm bed at 6.30 and getting in the studio for 7.30 has its benefits. This morning after putting the kettle on at the studio to try and encourage my body into wide-awake mode, I caught a glance of this! The photo hasn't captured the fantastic pinks and violets as the sun started to rise. I watched in wonder as the sky turned all shades before my eyes and the whole event was over and done with in 15 minutes flat. I realise how important vibrant colours are now that my sight is not good. This amazing sight is priceless and makes any trouble in the world and bad news that the TV and Radio seems to take great delight in reporting, pale into insignificance!

Hand Lettering on Calico and Canvases

I love creating canvases.....here are a few

Concertina Cards To Order

Concertina Books Commissions taken

I Found some photos on my hard drive and thought I'd post them for those of you who are unfamiliar with my work. These are CONCERTINA BOOKS Enjoy!

RUNRIG Lyrics piece SOLD!

I'm so pleased that my Runrig piece has sold on ebay and seems to have gone to a good home. I got £50 for it....not the price I wanted but every little helps towards my website fund and there is no price on the pleasure I hope it gives the winning bidder.