Homes Under the Domes 2 ~ THE SEQUEL!

Hello . . .  tis I,  Cobs.  . . .  I have returned,  –  with a complaint  …  IT’S TOO DARN HOT!  People are on the beaches supposedly sunning themselves and getting a tan!  They’re really not.  Not in this heat.  They’re actually frizzling up like crispy-cooked bacon!  I can smell them. sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

Joking aside … I’m not a Summer lover.  I love the flowers that the summer brings; the birds, the butterflies, the bees,  and love the overall happiness which Summer packs in its little suitcase and brings with it,  . . .  but I don’t like how the heat of Summer affects my body.  It’s been making me feel proper poorly. (Hence the reason I haven’t been around). 

My body is a talking package of broken rubbish,  and for some reason warm weather seems to put this package of rubbish under a microscope and blow it up to  M.E.G.A.  proportions.  It’s been the hottest day today, (Sunday evening as I type this), here  in the South of England,  and they are predicting that this weather is going to go on for some weeks to come.  I do hope not.  (crosses fingers)   We need a few days of cooler temperatures and refreshing breezes …. and some rain for the land.

So… if you happen to be reading this God, could you please turn the heating down a few notches, and turn on the rain for a few nights.  You don’t have to make it rain during the day … I don’t want to be a party pooper to holiday makers who are here having grand fun, but I would like to see the wildlife and the ground get a few nights of rain, every now and again.  Thank you, in advance.  😀  ~  me.  xxx

Aanyhooooo.…  let’s talk about crafts and  …

Homes under the Dome – The Sequel!

I’ve been able to craft on the odd day here and there (with two fans going in the craft room, and only before the sun comes round and tries to cook me at Gas mark 8!).  I wanted to make some more Homes under the Dome, and also make a Bottle of Magic.

I was asked about how to make Fairy Domes on my last post, and because I know that the Domes can be a little difficult to get hold of, I suggested that perhaps a glass bottle would be an easy project, and so I thought it would be a good idea to actually make one so that you could see what I meant.

But that will be in a few minutes … first … let’s do some Domes, shall we?

Home Under the Dome Collection numbered

These are the Home under the Dome projects I’ve been able to make.  The numbers in the hearts, with arrows pointing to each dome, are there so that I can show you each dome closer up and you’ll know which dome you’re looking at!  Clever eh?

Home Under the Dome 1

Home Under the Dome 2

You can see a much closer up view like this, and still refer to the original photo to see the dome from (kind of) arms length.

Now I’m going to miss out number 3 just for a moment and go straight on to number 4….

Home Under the Dome 4
This Home under the Dome does have a home,  it’s on the other side, but I wanted to show you the teeny tiny REAL clam shell with the bright shining pearly bead inside it.

Home Under the Dome 5

Ok …  let’s ‘do’  the missing number three Dome, shall we? . . .

Gnome Under the Dome No.3

The reason I left number 3 till now is because it’s not a Home Under the Dome, but instead it’s a Gnome Under the Dome.  Look carefully and you can see his little face – his nose, eyes and a little grin going on there too!

Finally …  I made a Magic Bottle.  Blogger Susie Shy was asking about making the Domes, and since I’d suggested a bottle I thought perhaps I’d better make a bottle so that she could see what I was actually going on about. So here’s a Fairy home in a bottle.  The Fairy Home and all the Mushrooms were freshly gathered from Freckled Mushroom Wood just a few days ago  ….

A Fairy Home inside a Bottle of Magic

As you can see, it’s  100% Pure Magic.   You won’t find purer!  Let me show you the back of this Magic Jar…

Back of Fairy Home inside Bottle of Magic

Both inside the jar, and on the wax seal around the corked top, there is evidence of Fairy Dust.  There is also evidence of Fairy Dust on my desk, on the floor of my craft room and …  even in my bathroom!  Heaven only knows what on earth the Fairies were doing in there, but my goodness, the place twinkles like stardust has been spread around freely!

Well that’s me done and dusted, craft-wise.

I’m sat here in the living room, with my little lap top, tapping away at the keyboard, and I have the ceiling fan on ‘fast and furious’  ….  a tall standard fan on ‘Blow your Brains Out’,  and  a 16″ desk fan on the floor manfully struggling on, trying to blow cold air, but actually blowing warm air around – but its trying and for that I appreciate it’s every effort.

I also have my water spray bottle from my craft room, over to my right, and every now and again I give my face a little mist from it.  It feels lovely and I highly recommend this idea to all who suffer in the heat.  (I take mine to bed with me, filled with really cold water from the fridge, and use it whenever the need arises.  It helps).

Thank you so much for coming and sharing each Home Under the Dome with me over a cup of coffee.   Hope you like them and that they gave you a smile.

Have a truly lovely Monday.  Make it amazing,  and don’t settle for anything less!

Sending many squidges and much love ~

Sig coffee copy

 

 

 

#InkTober2017 – If the Hat fits, Wear It!

Well since we are in the Bewitching Month of Ghosts, Ghouls, and adorable little ones dressed up in their finery …  I thought I’d better get in the mood, so I ‘inked’ a Witches Hat while the Witch was wearing it …. but she’s only allowing you to see her Ruby Red Lips!  She’s clever like that.  Magic!

I made this inking for #InkTober2017 on a Postcard!

I bagged a bargain of over 90 Kanban Postcards for just £3.99 a few weeks ago in a Create and Craft sale.  The postcards came in a selection of 3 different sizes, with sweet little pictures on the address side,  and a simple, decorative background on the other side.

Kanban Postcard Cutie AssortmentSince I like to use postcards quite often in crafting projects, it was a no brainer.  I jumped at the chance of buying them, as they were such a bargain.

They’re rather good quality and very thick, so I knew that they’d take the ink without it bleeding through to the other side.

The Witches hat was first drawn with an ink pen, then I filled in the colour of the hat using black writing ink as I wanted to ensure that the writing I was planning to team with the hat were the exact same colour of black.  The ribbon band on the hat was made using teal coloured Drawing Ink.  (The buckle was added with a fine paint brush, using copper drawing ink)

#InkTober2017 If the Hat Fits 4
#InkTober2017  – If the Hat Fits ….

The Witches Ruby Red Lips were coloured with an Ink Pen in a deep red colour.

I added highlights where the light would naturally hit the hat, using a silver drawing ink, applying it first with a brush and then moved it around with my finger tip.  I’ve taken the next photo with the flash on, so that it really showed up where I’d added the highlights.

 

#InkTober2017 If the Hat Fits 2
#InkTober2017 – Taken with the flash turned on, so that you could see where I added the highlights.

Once the hat was inked and the lips were in place … I first pencilled out the words (to make sure I got them in the right places), and then inked them.  The highlights on the letters were all done with a Gelly Roll Pen.

Finally …. I dabbled some black ink on my glass mat and added a few drops of water, then picking up a little ink on my brush I spattered some ink over the card.  I then did the same with some copper ink.

Of course … any Witch worth a cauldron, wouldn’t be complete without a Wand!  ….

#InkTober2017 If the Hat Fits 3
#InkTober2017 – The Wand was also made by Cobwebs from The Cobweborium Emporium

The Wand  was one I made a while ago, meaning to put it for sale, but it got packed away when we were moving house and was never sold.  I came across it, along with a couple of others, fairly recently, so thought I’d include it as the Witches Wand to make the whole thing ‘complete’.  All she needed now was her black cat.  Which I have (Alf Capone) … but it’s so difficult to photograph black cats!

Anyhoo …  as I am want to say …  That’s all there was to it!  🙂

Happy Monday!  May your day be blessed with love and may you bless someone else with your own love.

sig-coffee-copy

 

 

 

Snail Mail ~ an ATC/ACEO – painted for World Watercolour Month

Happy Tuesday!  As you can see I’m attempting to continue with the World Watercolour Month Challenge, and todays offering is done with a big nod to the fun aspect of doing this challenge.

Can you work out why I’ve titled this little,  two and a half inches  by  three and a half inches,  ATC/ACEO  ‘Snail Mail‘?

Here …  take another look…

Snail Mail 3
‘Snail Mail’.  An ATC / ACEO Painted for  #WorldWatercolorMonth

…  worked it out yet?  I’m sure you have but just in case there’s someone who’s still half asleep and not got their brain up and running yet …  That thing on the side of the snail … is a Postage Stamp.  It’s even got a teeny tiny painting of the Queens head on it, and she’s wearing a crown!

Soit’s a snail, which looks like it’s going to be posted somewhere because of the postage stamp …  so it’s  +Snail  +  Mail  Snail Mail!   😀

You’ll never guess what I did though.  Do you remember that I painted a Rooster (Rodney) a few days ago … but painted him just a little too big for the mounts I like to use around ATC’s/ACEO’s?   Well … I did it again …  take a look…

Snail Mail 1
#WorldWatercolorMonth

See …  didn’t I tell you I’d do it again!   I’ve cut his BTM off!  How on earth is he going to leave that magical fairy trail behind him now?!  Did you know that a snail leaves that Shimmering Fairy Trail so that he can find his way home again?  It’s his personal SatNav.  Snails had SatNavs loooong before they were thought of for us!

Nooooo  don’t be so gullible  ….  that’s a pile of pooh.  I made that up so don’t go round repeating that as a ‘fact’ – because the whole world will believe it!  (Actually … that could be really funny.  The whole world believing that a snail has its own SatNav!  LOL  The more I think about that the funnier it gets! LOL …  I’m actually sat here typing this and giggling my head off!  Ahhh I do love funny!).

I get so ‘into’ what I’m doing when I’m painting, – especially so when I’ve only got a little bit of time to do something in, –  and all the plans and pencil guidelines all disappear into thin air and I go crazy with the paint!  tsk tsk.  Maybe it’s the paint fumes?  Those watercolours ….  they must give off paint fumes.  That’s what it is.  It’s not me being a dope.  I’m obviously high on watercolour paint fumes!

(and if you believe that,  you’ll believe that I can knit jelly! –   ‘Jello’ for our USA friends).

Anyhoo…  I painted a snail.   Watercolour paper + paint + brushes + water!    And that,  as they say,  is all there was to it!

Wishing you a Tip Top Tuesday!  May you have a truly happy day, and may you share your smile with others.  How about paying someone a compliment today?  It can be a ‘You always look so great!’.  Or …  ‘Your hair looks lovely.’  Or …  ‘I really like your car.  It suits you.  Great choice!’  Or …  anything.  Like someone’s shoes.  Tell someone how much you admire their dedication.  Tell someone they look brilliant in *that* colour!  Like someones perfume.

Anything …  You know what you feel comfortable with.  If you just aren’t into giving compliments, then make someone a surprise cup of coffee or tea.  Or buy the section you work on at work a pack of biscuits for afternoon tea.   Just make someone smile! 

From me …. to you …  I think you’re amazing.  You come and visit me nearly every time I post something and I adore seeing you.  So from me, to you,  a BIG

… THANK YOU!

I really appreciate you coming and relish having you as a blogging friend.  Sending much love and squidges,  from me in my corner, to you in yours.  Have a truly blessed day.

sig-coffee-copy

Things I’ve Learned This Week

Happy Friday!  These Fridays are still coming round far too fast for my liking.  I swear that Fridays always seemed waaaay  further apart when I was younger.  What’s happened to make this change?  No .. seriously … why are Fridays so close together now?  I really don’t understand why.

I’ve learned some strange things this week and I’d like to share them with you so that your wisdom is improved in the same way mine has been!  (improved?  really??) [cough]  Ready?  Hold hands, and on the count of three we’ll all jump together. . . . .   ONE …..  TWO ….  THREE!

I learned this week:  That one in 20 couples argue so much on their wedding night they fail to consummate their marriage.  Aw this made me so sad.  I don’t mind much about the ‘consummate’ bit – but it’s the falling out with each other which saddens me.  Such a wondrous day and they end it with a row!  What a rotten way to spoil the memories. 😦

I learned . . .  That there are enough diamonds in existence to give everyone on the planet a cupful.  Kindly form an orderly queue behind me, and hold onto your cup tightly.  No mugs are allowed.  Cups only.

I also learned. . .

. . . that thirty-seven people were injured so seriously by tea cosies in 1999 that they were admitted to hospital.

Can you believe it?  Nope, me neither!  Dog only knows what on earth they were doing with a tea-cosy which they injured themselves on!

67,000 people are injured each year trying to peel the cellophane off a packet of sandwiches, open a ready meal or open a ring-pull can.
. . .

More than 150 people a day – have accidentally stabbed themselves when trying to prise the top off a jar or opening a ready meal with a knife.

The number of injuries perpetrated by trousers on their wearers in 2002 – (the last year for which such figures were collated by the Home Accident Surveillance System) – stood at 5310, while putting on socks, tights or stockings saw 11,788 people taken to hospital.  Falls caused by getting stuck during an over-hasty attempt to get dressed were mainly responsible, with trips in messy bedrooms close behind.
. . .

379,000 injuries are caused by trainers, high heels, sandals, platforms and countless other types of footwear.

An Exeter (in the UK)  College student was making Italian bread in a bread maker, but when it clogged the machine he proceeded to pull out the dough with his hands, to free the mixing arm.  However, he didn’t switch it off, and once the clog was unblocked the mixer arm swung into action – and broke his arm in four places.  Nine weeks later, the student was asked how he had managed to break his arm while making bread.  He felt obliged to demonstrate, so plunged his hand in – and  snap  went his arm, again!
 . . .
And…  do you know what’s really embarrassing?  ….  All the above examples of injuries in the home were all ….  in the UK!!!  What the heck?  Are we really all  ‘eff-wits’  here?  This must be going on world wide … and if so … shouldn’t there be more padded rooms where these daft people are put for their own safety?
 . . .
I also learned this week that, in the world, – only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful.  When I gave this some thought, it didn’t surprise me in the way it did before I gave it some serious thinking.  We girls always ‘see’ where we believe we could be improved.  Iron out a few wrinkles.  Lose the baby tummy.  Be taller.  Nose a little more turned up and cute.  etc etc.  But if you asked other women what could be improved about their friends or a random woman they were being shown a photo of,  they’d more often than not say “Nothing!“.  We girls really do need to be very much kinder to ourselves.
 . . .
photo found on Google ~ if you know who to credit please let me know and I’ll add it.  thanks!

I learned from something I read that Reindeer are particularly partial to magic mushrooms.  I thought about this one for a minute or two and it suddenly made total sense.  This would explain how we humans had seen Santa on his sleigh, pulled by 8 dashing reindeer!  The reindeer had eaten magic mushrooms!  ha!

And finally, in my mode of edumacation this week,  ….

I learned that when a shop or store says its got an item you want to buy “in stock” on its website, it actually isn’t what it probably has in stock.  And even when the computers in the store say that there are 11 (ELEVEN) of the items you wish to buy …  the staff say they’ve seen those items …and come with you to search the shelves that you’ve already searched 14 times ….  those items are NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!

HOMEBASE in Dorset UK,  HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME!!!   Perhaps if you

Tidied the store now and again

Made it look less like a warehouse for empty boxes – and a dumping ground for products no member of staff knows what to do with so they leave boxes of stuff in the aisles for customers, to navigate and fall over.

Had more staff to deal with customers (there were 9 in a queue waiting to pay and only one member of staff on your tills)

And perhaps if you had a better system to your stocking of plants in your outdoor gardening centre …

Maybe the store would be a more pleasant and easier place to shop in.  Just saying.

I think Homebase might  like to  hear from me via an email to their Customer Services (although I do wonder if that’s a non entity too, like their 11 items in stock).  Hmpfffft!  ☹️

Soo ….  I have shared with you all my newly learned edumacation which was lovingly (?) delivered to me this week.  I’m unsure if I’m any wiser, but I do feel my brain complaining.  What of I don’t know … but it will soon be fine again … once it’s dumped some old information out of my right ear while I’m sleeping tonight.  (I hope it hangs onto my:  name, address, telephone number and passwords.  The rest of the stuff I’m sure I can muddle through. lol).

Now we come to the most important bit of the Friday ‘What I learned’  posts …. 

 

❤   THE JOKES   ❤

The Energizer bunny was arrested on a charge of battery
 . . .
  . . . 
Q: What’s the best thing about Switzerland?
A:I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.
 . . .  
  . . . 
Why did the chicken cross the playground?
To get to the other slide!
  . . . 
  . . . 
Q: Have you heard about the new restaurant called Karma?
A: There’s no menu; you get what you deserve.
  . . . 
  . . . 
Son: “Dad, when will I be old enough so I don’t have to ask mom for her permission to go out?”
Dad: “Son, even I haven’t grown old enough to go out without her permission!”
  . . . 
. . .
and finally . . .
  . . . 
 . . .  
Conjunctivitis.com   . . .   It’s a site for sore eyes.
 . . .  
 . . .
Well, that’s me done and dusted.  I hope you’ve learned and little and gained a few smiles that you’ll be able to share with someone else today.
 . . .
I wish you a most excellent Friday, and a totally wonderful weekend.  May the weather be good,  may your days feel restful,  and may you feel a sense of happiness and protection settle upon your world, like a covering of a gentle blanket of love.
  . . . 

Until we meet again, be good to each other and …  may your God go with you.

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