Things I’ve learned This Week.

Happy Friday!  I don’t know about you, but here in the UK, it’s been a hot week.  It cooled down a little  … but not enough to ditch the shorts and T.shirts.  It feels like Summer!

Well my goodness, what a week this has been.  Mr.Cobs has been working on the garden at the back of our cottage.  It’s taken us a while but we finally found a vision for it.  There are lots of new plants, evergreens, ferns and a selection of flowers.  He’s sown some seeds and they’re growing madly, and things are beginning to look so lush and green.  At last!

When we bought this cottage the majority of the back garden was paved over in decorative paving.  All very smart and very easy to tend to, but there was nothing inspiring.  Nothing that made you want to sit out and just be at one with nature.   That had to change – but we had to live with it for a year before we began to make any rash moves, so that we could see what was growing, and how the sun behaved  in our garden as we are surrounded by protected tallllll pine trees, so they make a high up canopy over the garden which filters some of the sunshine – but we had to work out when, how, where and how much sun each part of the garden got.

Then came the moving of some of the paving, re-laying in some places where it needed to be.  Then we had to do something with the soil.  It had paving on it for who knows how long – so we had to get something into the soil to make it more acceptable to plants.  It’s been what feels like a long journey, but it will all be worth it – we kept telling ourselves.  (Although, there have been times when we’ve said:  “it would have been easier to leave the paving right where it was!”)

And now … just about three weeks after Mr.C began making planting changes this year,  it’s begun to be such an incredible pleasure to sit out there listening to the birds, rather than just walk through it.  It’s all looking so green and lush.  So alive.  Even birds have now started to visit the garden and pop along to watch whats going on!  Sitting on the decking is the most amazing joy now.  Truly a fabulous new blessing.

Anyhoo…   you’re here to find out what I’ve learned this week, not for gardening news!   … so here goes:

I learned this week that … If you were to spell out the numbers in their sequence (1, 2, 3 = one, two, three, etc), you would not find the letter  ‘A’  until you reach One Thousand.

You’re now thinking about this and some of you will even now pick up and pen and see if I’m right.  🙂

I also learned that on Good Friday in 1930, the BBC announced:  “There is no news”.  Yes, honestly.  Here is where I learned about this:  BBC UK, News/No News 1930  –  it will open in a new tab for you.

I learned this week:  That one particular species of jellyfish, Turritopsis nutricula, is considered biologically immortal as it can—and does—revert to its immature state even after reaching sexual maturity.

When it encounters unfavorable environmental conditions, the adult Turritopsis jellyfish normally overflowing with tentacles that evoke the image of the head of Medusa  –  simply sinks to the ocean floor and reverts to its juvenile polyp phase which resembles nothing more than a tiny clump of cells.  Even more fascinating is that the jellyfish can repeat this process of regression and re-growth endlessly.  To date, there have been no reported observations of its death due to aging.

Maybe we should be rubbing ourselves with oils, lotions and potions made from jellyfish,  and eating jellyfish instead of calamari (octopus/squid)?  (umm ….  I don’t think I want to do either of those things to be honest.  ewww).

  • Did you know (and I learned this, this week) 99% of all people get scared when asked this question:  “Can I ask you something?”.  Now, I can actually see how that would work.  Can you?

If you type “Atari Breakout into a Google page search bar and click for Google to do its search, then once the page loads choose to view  “images”  you’ll get a nostalgic blast from the past.  NB… you have to wait a moment for the page to change – just wait  … only a few seconds…  it will change.  Get ready to move your mouse!  🙂  (when you’ve won one game, a new game will load for you).  You’re welcome.  😀

Since I became aware of them, I’ve been very suspicious of these voice activated bits of equipment which you can have in your home as a ‘helper’ … and I learned this week what I suspected …

Whenever you speak into Apple’s voice activated personal digital assistant, it ships it off to Apple’s data farm for analysis. Apple generates a random numbers to represent the user and it associates the voice files with that number. This number — not your Apple user ID or email address — represents you as far as Siri’s back-end voice analysis system is concerned.

Apple say  . . . Once the voice recording is six months old, Apple “disassociates” your user number from the clip, deleting the number from the voice file.  But it keeps these disassociated files for up to 18 more months for testing and product improvement purposes.  (allegedly).

And finally …  if you take your age, multiply it by 7, then multiply it by 1443,  the answer you get will be your age, repeated 3 times.  Go on … try it.  It’s true.

But … we all know why you’re really here.  You’re wanting a little Friday Fix of Fun.  Ok… here are ….

The Jokes!

Doctor:“I’m not 100% certain of the cause. It could be related to alcohol.”  —  Patient:“It’s cool. I’ll come back later when you’re sober.”

~~~

Q:  What is Heck?  —  A:  It’s where you go when you don’t believe in Gosh.

~~~

Q: What did the Teddy Bear say when he was offered dessert?  —  A:  No thanks, I’m stuffed.

~~~

A Penguin was arrested when at check-in at the Airport yesterday.  After two hours they released him saying “He’s not a flight risk.”  (penguin?)

~~~

I bought the world’s worst thesaurus yesterday.  Not only is it terrible,  it’s terrible.

~~~

My friend asked me to help him round up his 37 sheep.  I said “40”

~~~

What’s the difference between a good joke and a bad joke timing.

~~~

and finally . . .

My friend says to me: “what rhymes with orange”  …  I said: “no it doesn’t”

And those are the jokes folks!

Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee moment with me.  I love seeing you, it makes the place such a fabulously friendly place to be.

I’m sorry that my blog has been rather quiet this week.  Heat, Summer sunshine, high temperatures have a rather upsetting affect upon me and make some medical problems flair up all at once, leaving me feeling less than amazing.  So my apologies for being a little Missing In Action.  But I bring a note from my mother  husband. [hands note over]

May I say a warm welcome to some new followers.  I won’t name names, but wanted to say hello and to say not to be shy about making a comment.  You’ll soon become part of the great gang we have here and people will begin to recognise your name and even come and visit your own blog (if you have one).

Thank you all (again) so much for coming, it very much means the world to see you here and to chat.

Wishing you all a really fabulous Friday, and an even better weekend.  Don’t put unwrapped boiled sweeties in your pockets.  Don’t cheek your mothers.  Don’t run with scissors.  And … DON’T put peas up your nose!!

May today be fun for you, and … whatever you’re doing, or wherever you’re going,  may your God go with you.

With love ~

 

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Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter, Under The Sea!

Some of you will remember this happy jellyfish which I made when ‘Playing with Polyfilla‘  at the beginning of June.  I decided that I couldn’t just sit with this making my desk look pretty  (held by one of those  GREAT BIG PEGS), so after some thought,  I decided today to make a card with it.

Under the Sea 2
Under the Sea – (photograph taken using just the sunlight from the window)

I made another ‘clam shell’  from a die cut,  (a little like the one on the I’d Swim Oceans for You‘ tag I made a couple of weeks ago), only this time I made the colours inside more muted mother of pearl with softer colours, and edged the ‘shell’ in gold, so that it ‘spoke’ to the card which the Jellyfish was on.

Under the Sea 6 making of the clam shell
The clam shell was made from a die cut (the darker pink) which I backed with some pale pink card which I drew around the die to get the shape, then once cut out I fixed it to the back of the die cut shell.
Under the Sea 7 making of the clam shell
It was my original intention to take photographs after the addition of each colour, but … my brain let me down and I forgot.  This is the only photo I remembered to take – at the half way stage.
Under the Sea 8 making of the clam shell
Six colours of powders, one Gold embossing pad, and a Zig embossing pen, were used to make the clam shell.

 

Under the Sea 3 Clam Shell copy
This  ‘clam shell’  originally started out as a die cut

All the shells I’ve used on this card (see one of the bigger photos to spot them all) are all real shells (not plastic or resin), but some of them I hand decorated to add a little colour and interest to them …

Under the Sea 4 Painted Shells
Real Shells – coloured up.

This is really easy to do, simply using the  veryfinenib. Sharpies.  Because these particular shells are so teeny tiny I had to use the magnifying glass which is on an arm of my craft desk lamp, as I found it really difficult to see the places where my pen had to go next – I was staring so hard I was going ‘boss eyed’, so the magnifying  glass was very much appreciated!

I won’t bore you to tears telling you all the elements of this card because you can see them yourself without me yammering on.  But … if there’s anything you want to know about, or ask where I got something from, or who’s make of something or other I used … anything.  Any thing at all…  you just ask away.  I’m more than happy to share information.

Under the Sea 5
Under the Sea ~ photograph taken using a photographers little spotlight.

Before signing off,  I just want to say hello to a couple of new followers who have joined our crew here at The Cobweborium Emporium this past week.  I won’t name you, but you are very much welcome here.  Please feel free to wander around and leave comments where-ever you wish to. I know how it can be a bit daunting to make that first post, but even if you just want to say hello, I promise I’ll chat back to you.

Well, that’s me cooked to a turn!   So …What have you been up to this past week? Have you made anything that I’ve missed .. if so please do give me a poke in a comment I’ve noticed that the Reader can sometimes miss things so I try to regularly visit blogs I follow just in case I’ve missed a post.  Been somewhere fabulous?  Bought something naughty which will make us all drool?  Or just stayed happily where you are and enjoyed the sunshine/breeze/winter/summer/park/dog/ … or anything else?  I’m all ears … so do share!  🙂

It’s Wednesday today, and I call that  ‘Tipping Day’  –  because it tips the beginning of the week towards the end.  May the rest of your week be truly lovely.  May you be given something to smile about, something which makes you happy and .. may you make at least one wonderful memory every day for the rest of the week.

Take care out there … and …  have a blessed rest of your day my friends.

Sending love,  from me here to you there,  ~

Sig coffee copy

Playing with Polyfilla!

1 Double Picture of Jellyfish and Seedhead Fairy Homes

I know that you can get very good texture pastes for crafting, but they come at a price.  I’ve never before bothered about crafting with these texture pastes as it just didn’t feel like my cup of tea (so to speak), but recently I’ve had the urge to have a go.  And so I did.  Only .. not with crafters texture paste.  A few days ago Mr. Cobs had to visit B&Q (other DIY outlets are available), and I asked him if he would get me some Polyfilla.  After looking at me with a very suspicious head to the side and squinting his eyes look, I explained that I wanted to use it in crafting, on some cardstock, using some stencils, so I needed “the fine, ready mixed stuff please”.

Bless his heart, he didn’t just bring me back the required tube of Polyfilla, but also a special scrapery type tool to help me get a smooth ‘pass’ with the creamy Polyfilla.

I chose a stencil – a metal Jellyfish stencil by Dreamweaver – for my first ‘have a go’.

1 Jellyfish Stencil

I have to admit that I did question as to whether I was being a bit over-ambitious, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and ploughed on with hope ever-present in my brave heart.

It was a little bit fiddly when I dragged the Polyfilla over the stencil as there were a few parts which just hadn’t ‘taken up’ the gungy stuff, so I got down and dirty and scooped some excess ‘filla off the scraper then promptly blobbed it back onto the scraper again in just the right place and dragged it carefully over the spots that had ‘missed’ first time round, and VOILA … the gaps were filled.

1 Jellyfish number 1
Jellyfish

I wish that I hadn’t been quite so excited when I removed the stencil, for I would have taken a photograph of the piece at that point.  Sadly my excitement dragged me on and I got busy with my mica powders.  I used three different colours of Mica.

I’m kind of glad that I worked so quickly because the Polyfilla was REALLY quick to dry.  It says on the tube that it will dry in around 60 minutes.  But … this is a really thin coat which I applied to the card,  and add to that: the card is porous,  so it takes up the moisture in the ‘filla very quickly and so it dries faster.

The image was only just damp by the time I’d got the tops off my Micas and began to sprinkle and drop colours where I wanted them to be.  I left this project alone then for half an hour – just to make sure, then took it outside and huffed and puffed the Mica off the card and onto the garden. (It now looks like a fairy has flown by out there. lol)   I stood there in the garden with eyes as wide as saucers saying (quietly and gently) a long drawn out “Oooooooooooohhhhh!“.

Back to the craft room  I had an idea and wished that I’d have thought of it before I began: …

I’ve recently invested in some Lindy’s Stamp Gang products and wanted to spray the background with one of the Starburst sprays (in a blue colour called Azure Sea Asters).  These are the most magical, incredible shimmery sprays, and each of them has a two toned colour to it.  (I’ve only had these products for a short time but I’m so impressed with them.  I also have some of their embossing powders and the colours are amazing!)

I’ve tried to capture the colours by changing camera angles but haven’t managed terribly well.  This is another shot of the Jellyfish, with the flash on.

1 Jellyfish number 2
I’ve found that if you tilt your computer screen back and forth slightly, you may be able to see some of the colours in a darker or lighter shade.

The products I used for creating the Jellyfish are shown below:

1 Jelly Fish Products used

Filled with creative excitement I had to make something else with the Polyfilla  ….

1 Seedhead Fairy Homes
Fairy Seedhead Homes

This time I planned it a little more carefully and used my Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays on my cardstock first.  They don’t take long at all to dry and are delicate colours when dried.

1 Seedhead Fairy Homes Stencil

Using a Sweet Poppy stencil, I got to work on my second ‘go’ with Polyfilla.  This one was a little more tricky.  There are some tight corners and slight space/gaps in the stencil which meant that the ‘filla had a job fitting through adequately to actually stick to the page.  I did my best at filling the holes and gaps, but when I removed the stencil some of the Polyfilla came away with it.  The spaces were so tight.

Undeterred I continued with my Mica Powders.

Once the Polyfilla was dry I used a grey and a dark brown very fine liner pens and carefully ‘drew’ in the shadows of this stencilled picture so that I could ‘add’ the details which were missing.  Once this was done you didn’t notice that the filla wasn’t actually there.

The products used for this project are pictured below (minus the Mica Powders, which I forgot to include)

1 Seedhead Fairy Homes items used
Products used for the Fairy Seedhead Home project (minus the Mica Powders which I forgot to photograph!)

I’m not sure at the moment what I’m going to use these two projects for, maybe a card, maybe part of a scrapbook page…  but when I’ve made what-ever it is, I’ll be sure to share it/them with you.

Oh … I forgot to say …  I finished them both off with a little bit of Rub ‘n Buff in Gold.  Just to bring a little zing to them and highlight them a little, and also to add a little bit of a ‘puff of magic’ to the tops of the seed heads.

Well that’s me done and dusted.  If there’s anything I’ve forgotten to say or anything you need to know more about please just ask.  I really don’t mind sharing information about anything crafty I’ve done.

1 Jellyfish number 1

I’ll leave you with the Jellyfish so that you can think of cool sea waters, lapping around you as you stand up to your shoulders in the most incredible blue sea water, with the heat of the sun playing around your shoulders.  You turn to see a waiter standing on the water’s edge with a long cool drink on a tray, and you hear the tinkling of the ice on the glass.  Oh, I forgot to say that you’re a beautiful size 6 or 8 (British size) and as you walk out of the sea, you’re dressed in that same bikini which Ursula Andress wore in the James Bond movie Dr. No – only you look even better because …. well .. because you do!

And now you’re in that wonderful state of relaxation and fantasy, I shall leave you with these words….

Have a wonderful and truly blessed rest of your day my friends.  Sending love and creative hugs from me here in my corner of the world to you there in yours. 

Sig coffee copy

 

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