Under The Sea - Scrappindipity Swap March 09

I'm so early for a change......
Here's a sneak peek at one of my 6 cards for this months swap.
I have completed my 'under the sea' ATCs for the Scrappindipity monthly atc swap over at flickr.

I decided to go with the vintage girls, because I love them so much. It was a little bit of a challenge for me to get them in the right positioning with the fish.

The background is completed using a faux watercolour technique that Bec developed by messing around and experimenting with inkpads. I love the watercolour blended effect.

The layers have transparancy, collage images and embellishments.

It was a fun swap, and I think I may create a couple more 'sets of six' for this swap - I'm thinking shipwrecks, treasure chests, creatures of the deep, atlantis........ such a variety of things can be done for this months theme.

If you are a member of flickr & would like to join in, please do so - (click the flickr group link above) the more the merrier. Alternatively you can visit our Scrappindipity blog click the 'swaps' link on the left side, and sign up via an email if you prefer :)

Under the Sea - March ATC Swap

This months swap theme being held over at Scrappindipity's flickr group is "Under the Sea"

Think gorgeous mermaids, beautiful blues, plankton, shipwrecks, fish, dolphins or more........ the possibilities are all under there!

Create your cards using whichever techniques you like, and please do your best work.

If you are not a flickr member you can sign up on our store blog too...

Come join the fun, please read the 'instructions' for joining the swaps.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone come's up with for this theme.

(I believe the above image to be royalty free for use)

Certified Unwarped

Today I visited MoodGym

I visited them to see if they had some tips on dealing with anxiety... I spent hours at this website, but to be honest didn't really learn a lot. Some things were informative, and if you really need to understand negative thinking, then it certainly helps you do that. For me, it just made me more aware of something I was already aware of! - Yup, I have been fighting the battle in my own head to counteract negative thinking/fear/worry about my damn body doing stupid things!

There are some 'exercises' ... lots, to complete!! Some were repetitive and a little boring. I did go through it all though - and received a fun certificate...... not that I think I am UNWARPED at all... with all my negative self thinking, catastrophising (sp?) and anxious thoughts about my health dramas - I don't think I am really unwarped at all.... haha got to laugh about it all... sort of.

It didn't change much :(
My body still hurts constantly, my mind is racing and worrying about the hot flushes/night sweats - which rationally I know is menopausal....... grrr I worry about the little 'heart blips' - indigestion, windy type of jolts that i seem to be getting at random times (read today that menopause can cause those too!)

I think i will stick with the cognitive behaviour 'affirmations' that I find do help a little, and the 'tapping' techniques when i am in a bad spot.

Reading and browsing the net can be good for a lot of things, but when looking for helpful advice and researching some things, it can lead to seeing other things that just make me worry more!! sigh...........

For the really bad times, I have xanax!!!!!!

Blogoversary Giveaway

Moni is celebrating her Blogoversary, So rush over to Hands & Heart to see a fabulous giveaway - a beautiful piece of artwork.
I'm sending out the vibes to the universe to win this!

flutter fly discover

flutter fly discover
Originally uploaded by auslorri

The sweet little bird upon being unleashed by the secret touch, was about to go on a fresh journey - she fluttered a little, then found her wings and began to fly - she has been freed to go out and discover.

Vintage Freebie - artwork by AngelandSpot

Angelandspot
Created this lovely artwork using one of my vintage freebies - Thank you for sharing :)

The 'GIRLS' challenge - Sherry Lee

Sherry Has also created a lovely 'girls' card - so soft and pretty, with a great quote too! Pop over to her blog to see her post :) Thanks for playing!

The 'GIRLS' challenge - Bec

Here's another version of the 'girls' - only this time it's A single girl, Bec
has created an A5 card using the challenge image... and titled her card "She wanted to blend in" click HERE to see Bec's amusing instructions for making this card.

There's plenty of time to challenge yourself, you can find the original image HERE

OWOH - Winners

Thank you everyone who entered my OWOH Giveaway. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and share your blog with me. Your kind comments were all heartfelt and inspirational to receive. It was wonderful to get to meet so many new like-minded souls. I now have a hundreds more blogs to visit regularly!! I do feel kind of sad this is all over.

Thanks to My Mum who kindly wrote all the numbers onto little pieces of paper and drew my winners - she really enjoyed helping me with this, and loved reading all your wonderful comments :)

Here's some pictures of my Mum preparing to pick the lucky winners.... She cut up & wrote out all those little bits of papers with the numbers on them!



The winners of the ATC series are...................................

Congratulations to the following ladies who have each won one of my 5 ATC's in the Stampotique series......... I have emailed you where I can, Don't forget to email me your postal addresses!

Comment # 160 SARAH
Comment # 71 CONNIE
Comment # 165 LIV
Comment # 15 SASKIA
Comment # 83 TRACY from SEAHAGSTUDIO - Please email me :)


And the winners of the Collage Sheets are ..................................

Congratulations to the following 10 ladies who have each received this digital collage sheet. You can save it to your PC, print it and use it over & over again :)

Comment #155 VICKY My Paper Palace
Comment #172 BARBARA CAGLE
Comment #17 SANDY
Comment #63 JOANNE
Comment #87 WENDY
Comment #133 NANCY
Comment #100 BLEUBEARD & ELIZABETH
Comment #148 PEA
Comment #5 KAYCEE
Comment #58 KATH K

If you are among the winners list I will email you, please reply as soon as possible to claim your prize... It would be really cool if you posted to your blog about your win too :)

The 'GIRLS' challenge - Robert

Wow check out what ROBERT did with those gorgeous girls - and if you haven't had a play yet, jump right in and challenge yourself........ Here's the original CHALLENGE IMAGE.

Australia Burns

I received these photos from my Dad, they are from the fire-fighters struggling with the fires that are burning in Victoria Australia........ Although some are very beautiful pictures, the sadness that surrounds these and the death tolls are horrendous. I can't imagine the suffering the families involved have endured - It is our worst ever, and to think the fires could have been started by arsonists is appauling!!!
Several families have lost their homes and everything they own - The Australian RED CROSS has set up an appeal, and COLES are donating sales from Friday's trading and will also accept donations.

Fibro Fog (Fibromyalgia/CFS)

Anne Félicité

Kind of 'art' related.... I discovered this artwork, while browsing some FMS support forums. Lately it's been one of those many frustrating times for me, which has turned into weeks!! If anyone suffers from FMS or similar, feel free to comment or email me and we can bitch about it together!!

If you don't know what it is, here's a little insight. If you aren't interested, no problems I understand totally - just skip this post - I won't be offended at all :)

FMS - I hate it :(

Fibromyalgia Syndrome

When the standard depiction of fibromyalgia was first introduced, we lacked even basic comprehension of the condition, and had only a guide for researchers who were attempting to deepen this knowledge. Due to increasing research, our understanding has grown from counting tender points and focusing on painful muscles to an evolving concept of a heterogeneous set of subgroups who have central nervous system sensitivity and a countless variety of potential dysfunctional biochemical and metabolic interactions. With this new FM concept comes the need for a depiction that acknowledges the complexity of fibromyalgia.

The image - Designed by artist Anne Félicité, wife of the famed French researcher Dr. Jean B. Eisinger. The figure depicts fibromyalgia in a new way, reflecting that those of us with fibromyalgia are not victims of fate (or of three Fates), are more than the sum of our tender points, and are complex individuals who are each unique in metabolic make up and needs.

FMS is a syndrome, but that doesn’t mean it is less serious or potentially disabling than a disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other afflictions are also syndromes. FMS may be present along with other conditions such as those just mentioned. There is no blood test that can accurately identify FMS. FMS patients often look healthy, and others may expect them to act as if they are. FMS may vary in its severity, not only from patient to patient but from hour to hour and day to day. Careful pacing is a skill necessary for optimized function.

The Lemonade Stand

Freshly squeezed lemons, kids on their front verges selling lemonade - this conjurs up memories from my childhood.........

I should be creating, I can't get motivated this week :(

My head is going round and around, my eyes are blurry, my head aches and I sit here on the computer, browsing the internet - oohing and ahhing at all the lovely artistic creations from bloggers everywhere - I say to myself "Oh yes, I am going to do that" and then most often it doesn't come to fruition!!

My list of 'to try, to play with, to experiment, is getting bigger and bigger.......
And, the worst bit of this is that I have so many blank journals (yup i am a collector of blank journals) all sitting there ready for me to get creative - (it's also on the list) AND back to what I was first trying to say - The list isn't even in a Journal !!

I have the time, I think it's the heat - my poor craft room is not air conditioned and at 35-40 degrees celcius it's like a little furness. Put that together with my very 'powerful surges' I have been having lately - and it's not very conducive to creating......

So I blog, I browse, I ooh and I ahh, I comment and my list grows LONGER!

Back to the lemonade stand.......

I received the 'lemonade stand award' and some lovely comments from gaalcreative - Pop by her blog and say hello, and check out her cool 'zen doodles' - I have to admit it, I'm a hopeless doodler.... I find myself getting frustrated when I doodle, and I end up scribbling hard lines all over the place and end up with a big mess!

I'm not sure I fit into the categories the award is given for, but I truly appreciate the kindess though! lol

The usual 'send on the award' is so hard to do, because I know too many 'bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude' So this time, I will pass on the sending (and hope I don't get into trouble lol) and instead say 'thanks' to everyone because you are all inspiring :)

Giveaway - Goodies Picture (Suprise Prize over $100 (au) retail)

The goodies are all packed and on their way to the USA - Here's a peek at what Cassie will be receiving :)

There's a unique Ephemera & Vintage Goodie pack with some lovely vintage images and some bits and bobs - along with some 'aussie' old book pages etc., I hope Cassie has a ball playing with all this stuff......


Proof of purchase/postage :) I'm a bad girl, I bought 'cigs' too LOL

There's some stickers, Rub-ons, an 'aussie' rubber stamp, an embroidered embellishment and a selection of brads, fibres & embellishments.

I also included a handmade ATC by me :)

Congratulations again Cassie - I hope you will continue to visit my blog and share what you create with your parcel.

Challenge

I thought it would be fun for everyone (or some hopefully) to get creative.... especially after the OWOH giveaways - I bet everyone has been so busy reading blogs and entering gorgeous giveaways that they didn't find as much time to actually BE creative.

So, Lets get some 'artivity' going!!

I am introducing a 'challenge'.
I would love to see all the creations too, so I can post them here on my blog and share our interpretations, styles and creations with each other. So please email me your pictures for me to link to your blogs and show off your works.

Please use the image in any creation you like - (but please don't sell it, or reproduce it in collage sheets or on cd's for sale)

$100AU Giveaway

Congratulations - ANGELANDSPOT

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and our store blog and commented. All comments were appreciated and suggestions for our store will be taken into consideration. We hope to bring you more in 2009, so please bookmark our sites and visit us again soon.

Lorri & Bec

Freebie Vintage Image

Here's another one of my vintage images for you to use in your personal artwork. This one is so cute, and I'm sure you will be able to create some wonderful artwork with these darlings. They are from an original postcard from my private collection.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it - it's big! Then you can right click and save it to your computer.

Have fun, and I would LOVE to see what you create with this - please email me a pic or link to your blog posting (showing what you made) and I will add it to my blog.