Sorry have not been around much but I am getting to be a woman with lots of hardware.
R and L hip replacement, back surgery and on top of all that I lost my Husband last May.I run out of Ideas of what else to design in Iris Folding since I have over 700 patterns.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.Ans as always thank you for considering my designs.Silvia Griffin
Recently, my daughter Kelly and her family went on holiday, taking their rescue dog, Cookie, along with them. This was Cookies first holiday at a park, where they stayed in a lovely caravan.
Kelly was a bit worried because Cookie can be nervous around new people, but she ended up loving it! Cookie especially enjoyed watching the world go by through the caravan windows. The park is very dog-friendly, so she was taken everywhere and even jumped onto one of the rides with Bob the Builder.
She is so cheeky, and you can see from her happy face that she was having a wonderful time!
Over the last year my husband and I have been slowly turning our little bungalow from very modern to more vintage.
As its a rented property we cant decorate as such, but we can accessorise. Weve thrifted quite a lot of things but also bought new with a vintage feel.
This little utensil holder Ive had for ages but it just didnt go with my rustic farmhouse look, so I gave it a complete makeover.
I used a chalk paint in Savoy Sage then used a crackle glaze and antiquing wax to age it.
I created the motifs using a quick curing resin, in moulds, painted them black then an antique brass to make them look metal and some verdigris antiquing glaze to dry brush on here and there.
Im so pleased with it, I cant wait for my next project.
I love books! Mainly old vintage and antique books. I love the feel of them, the smell of them and the look of them, but, I also want them to be looked at and read and admired, so Im always on the hunt.
Sadly charity shops in the area I live dont really stock them, so I look at online platforms. My recent purchase was a book that is very meaningful to me. I found this treasure online for only £3.00…a bargain! The book is by John Bunyan, he wrote it whilst in prison for his Christian Faith and its called Pilgrims Progress.
Its a classic peace of literature and I was so pleased to find this antique copy which was published in 1904.
The bookplate reveals a further bit of history being presented as a 1st place school prize to a child in 1904.
The bookplate is in really good condition with some beautiful illustrations. Im so happy I found this wonderful piece of history.
The grand daughters gorgeous little kitty, Narla, gets up to all sorts of mischief at night time. We will hear balls being belted around hitting walls, or the bells jingling in balls as she races up and down the halls flicking them around.
But we noticed foot prints on the stove top so suspected she had started getting up on benches and the stove at nights.
She isnt allowed on benches so in order to catch her in the act we took one of the outside security cameras and brought it in and set it up to catch her in the act.
Sure enough, not an hour after we went to bed the camera went off.
A red light comes on when its activated and looking at the footage it is like she knew it was going off.
The camera has voice ability and she couldnt figure it out why she was being roused at. But it worked, she has only been up once since and dont think she likes the red light that talks to her so shes staying well clear of it now.
Todays designs are both pretty swan designs.
The other day, when the family visited, my daughter and I were sitting in the garden chatting. Kellys little rescue dog, Cookie, was thrilled that we were outside. You can see how happy she was in this picture. Since they first rescued her, Cookie has made great progress.
She has filled out, her coat looks healthy, and she is much calmer now. She is even happy when my husband and I look after her!
I have always loved the stories of Alice in Wonderland and have a small area of things Ive collected or made to do with Alice.
My latest project was taking a plain brown paper mache book box and transforming it into a little character orientated diorama.
I painted it in a sage green chalk paint first and made the shelves from cardboard. I used Air dry clay and various moulds to create the dimension on the front and spine, painted them and used a little antiquing wax to finish.
I then used some little card Alice inspired ephemera to decorate inside.
It did take me a few weeks to make but Im happy with it, and it makes a nice addition to my collection.
We are all very proud of our granddaughter Imogen as there was a sports awards at her school, where she received a certificate for dance.
Then a lovely surprise at the end where she was given an award for most improved dancer.
She was presented with this shield, which will have her name engraved on it. What a great achievement.
One thing about Military schools is kids get to experience things that other schools dont. Like once a year they have a Camo Day where the children get to dress up in camo clothes and military personal set up stalls with various exhibits.
Also as the Chinook Helicopters reside at RAF Benson, one always flies in and lands on the school field ad the children get to have a look around.
Another event held this week was a special exhibition for the 90th Anniversary of the Spitfire, a significant aircraft in the Battle of Britain.
The children got to know all about the history etc., and the asked to create some artwork.
My youngest grandson created the piece shown which I love.
My daughter Kayleigh has always loved all kinds of music from Swing and Country to Pop and Musicals. She also has her favourite singers/musicians.
She loves the band Cold Play, Lewis Cappaldi, even Sam Ryder who is currently in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar who she is booked to see next year as a 40th Birthday Present from her husband, but she adores someone else and that is…Harry Styles.
She had no plans to go and see him at Wembley at all. She mentioned she was jealous of one of the kids she child minds was going to see him on Wednesday gone.
When she phoned me on Wednesday she was babbling with excitement because two tickets had become available for that day to go and see Harry Styles that evening with Shania Twain being the warm up.
The even best part was the tickets were free and they were very decent seats, so all her and her friend had to do was get on the train and go.
She couldnt believe it, and was so excited.
She was sending me pictures and videos throughout and the smiles on their faces afterwards said it all.
It is our youngest Golden Retriever, Sams 5th Birthday. I cant believe he is 5 already. He is still a puppy in his thinking, but he makes us laugh with his silliness.
He has the most amazing floof on his chest, but he is a dribbler, so he often looks like he is having a bad hair day.
I brush both the dogs most days, but Sam doesnt stay looking tidy for long. So on his birthday, I gave him a good brush and quickly took this picture of him, while his mane of floofs still looked magnificent in the sunshine.
Happy 5th Birthday to our Nutty Floof Monster!
Ive been house sitting my daughters place for a few days while her and the family are away camping for the school holidays.
My charges are two dogs, two fish and the cat.
I love coming and looking after them because it means the dogs and the cat get lots of granny cuddles.
Cant cuddle the fish but they do like me to come and put my finger on the glass and they follow it around.
The cat is 21 years old and has a touch of dementia and can be very loud especially during the night but they have recently got medication for her because she gets very stressed when not being the centre of attention.
So this time she is rather subdued for the night. But she still loves coming and getting up on your lap whenever she can……ie watching tv. Then the two dogs get very jealous so its one hand on each of them patting them. They follow me round everywhere.
Sleeping at my feet as I type this while on the computer. I bring my computer over when I come as its got my games and art stuff on it. So tomorrow they come home and I will go home, probably to the disgust of my cat because when Im away she has my half the bed to herself!
This weeks designs are the last of my recent floral verse designs and a set of 10 Cat Notelets.
Last time I showed you a picture of one of my people drawings, but I also mentioned that I like to Anthropomorphic Animals, that is animals having human characteristics.
This can be lots of fun to do and I especially like mixing graphite drawing with watercolour highlights.
Today I am going to show you my drawing/painting of an Old Sea Frog, - I hope he finds what he is looking for. ^_^
Last weekend Wallingford in Oxfordshire had their annual Carnival and Parade. The small town itself is not too far from TAF Benson where my daughter lives.
On this occasion she was helping on of her friends out who runs the Guides at RAF Benson they were taking part in the parade which is also a competition for the best themed.
The theme was Rock n Roll so they were all dressed in clouding the adults in rock type clothing, fake tattoos, and inflatable guitars.
To their surprise they actually won to the delight of everyone.
Well, couldnt let this one pass without sharing it! The latest post box topper that, we see on our dog walk, celebrates the 2026 World Cup. My husband is currently glued to the TV, so it was a real treat to see this fantastic topper.
It features the three lions, the England flag, the words Come on England, and, optimistically, a nod to the World Cup!Also, my end-of-month SALE starts tomorrow, June 27, with 20% off all my designs!