Personal Journal

Hi everyone
I have seen 2 blog posts today from different people showing journal pages that they have made and it reminded me that last year I started a personal art journal myself.
My best friend Vikkie suggested doing one but I wasnt really sure how to go about it. I dont know if I have mentioned before but I suffer from MS which leaves me exhausted at times and I also suffer from depression. I kinda think I am on the side of being bi-polar as I can feel great at times then can feel like I am in the depths at others. Anyway Vikkie suggest a journal might be a good way of getting my feelings out as I do tend to bottle things up and put a brave face on things for the sake of my family.
She gave me a book all about journalling and a couple of the pages I did were kinda loosely based on some of the pages folk had done in the book. It was very helpful and it was very interesting to see how some of the people came up with the pages and the stories behind them.
Anyway I decided to use a 12 x 12 scrapbook album to hold my pages and use papers that had been lying in my stash for literally years (but being a tight fisted scot I just didnt want to throw them out lol) so I could paint or whatever I fancied on top of them to cover them up.
These are the pages that I came up with ;-

 

Anyway after seeing the pages today that others have done I am thinking it is maybe time to get a few more pages done in my own journal.

 

Cya all soon x

I {heart} my body art

I got my first tattoo when I was 31 ......... I had always said even from being a teen I wanted to get ink done and for my 30th birthday I decided to get a tattoo but chickened out. One trip through to Aberdeen with my hubby when i was 31 I convinced him to come with me to one of the tattooists in the city. I pondered over the racks and racks of pictures available and decided upon an eye and to get it on my lower back. I remember being really excited but very nervous about getting it and unfortunately I think I worked myself up far too much and the whole experience was a bit of a nightmare - I felt faint and the tattooist found me a very difficult customer lol.  Anyway I survived and decided that that was probably going to be my one and only tattoo as I wouldnt put myself through that again.
Anyway a few years back a friend and I decided to get matching tattoos. We decided on elvish writing which means "friendship". Since that fateful October I have been hooked and at 43 I now have 5 tattoos, 3 of which are a pretty decent size lol. I think some folk think I am having a midlife crisis and my hubby doesnt wholly approve but the way I see it is as a form of art and expression. I put a lot of thought and consideration into the art work I get and I will never regret getting the ink that I have.

I would love to get some more and have a couple of ideas drawn up but it isnt cheap to get a decent tattooist so other things get priority. I once did a journal page which sums up the way I feel about my tattoos the title being LOVE ME ..... LOVE MY INK :)

 

Here is my newest tattoo :)

 

Hiya everyone,

Good grief it is only Tuesday and I am shattered already AND I had a short week last week with there being inservice days at school.

I said in a previous post I am now on the Crafty Emblies Design Team and I am very excited as the first DT item will be going live in a couple of weeks. I am waiting for a package with an order in it to arrive but I am getting impatient lol I just want it to get here so I can get my hands on the things I ordered.

I will put up pics of my latest crafty projects. I am enjoying taking part in the daily challenges being held on the Craftymess group on Facebook and have tried to join in on a daily basis. I actually won a challenge last week and got to choose the next days theme so that was nice. It is a lovely group and everyone is very supportive of everyones work. It is all taken as a bit of fun and a good way to encourage everyone to be crafty on daily basis. I chose Butterflies as my theme as I LOVE butterflies hence I have 5 tattooed on me incorporated into various personal art work I have.

I dont have much else to talk about today so I will leave you with the pictures of my craftyness this week.

Hugs Tracy x

Crafting Crazy :)

Hiya all,

Well I have had a busy month so far. First off my blooming computer crashed on me. Hubby tried to fix it and did to an extent but it still wasnt the best but he took it into his work for the IT guys there to have a play with and low and behold I seem to be back in the land of computerisation again - thank heavens.
My lovely friend Vikkie came over from Norway for a long weekend and we had lots of fun shopping and chatting and just generally having a laugh. It was so nice to have her here and I just wish we lived closer so we could do the "pop round for a coffee" thing, I do miss not having that with her and although we chat most days face to face on skype it still aint quite the same.
I am really enjoying my crafting at the moment, I think being asked to be on the Crafty Emblies design team has definately given me a boost. I have also joined Craftymess on FB and I am having great fun doing the daily challenges on there. It is so nice to have a catalyst to force you into a project instead of humming and heying over what you want to do.
Anyway I am gonna get pictures for this post sorted out later of some of my crafting efforts of late but just now I am going to go out to the garden for a while as it looks really mild this morning.
I need to start with doing an hour every day out there to keep on top of things as it is quite a big space and needs a fair bit of sorting out and I really want to get stuck into my vegetable garden again this year as last year it was a bit of a disaster. I have to be careful about how much I actually so tho as the MS is suffer from doesnt like me doing too much at a time and will make me suffer if I tire myself out too much lol
Anyway I will be back with pics later today - have a lovely weekend all

Hugs Tracy x

So excited .... and honoured

Hi everyone

 I have exciting news ....... I have been asked by the lovely ladies at Crafty Emblies http://www.crafty-emblies.org/ to be on their paper crafting design team - wooohooo. This is new team and will cover ATC's, Scrapbooking (which is great as I need the push to get back into this) and cardmaking (which I must admit will be a bit of a challenge for me as this aint a big thing of mine .... but who doesnt enjoy a challenge???) I am so honoured to have been offered this chance and cant wait to get started.  The other challenge I will have to overcome is my terrible technophobia :S which might be harder to do lol. I might be able to suss out the problem with putting photos on my blog posts eventually but in the meantime I have put some pics in the tab under home on the left of my page which says Crafty Photos so please have a browse at some of my latest creations :)

Anyway that was just a quick post today

cya all soon x

Brrrrr - its freezing :S

Hiya folks, Lordy where has the week gone, Tuesday again lol.

I have been crafting mad this week, made a couple of altered canvases, altered a couple of mini chest of drawers and I have even found a jar big enough for a fairy scene I made a couple of years ago lol
I made it for my friend Vikkie but made the mistake of making it before having a jar to actually putting it in lol. She might be across next month (all being well) so she might have to fit it in her suitcase, lol I think she might faint tho as it is a standing joke that she aint got her captured fairy yet :S

I was away at the weekend with hubby and the neighbours and had a really nice time. The hotel was gorgeous, very oldie worldy and the food was top notch, really enjoyable. Just a pity it was only for one night as the neghbours couldnt get a baby sitter for 2 nights. Now that is one really great thing about having teenagers now, you dont have to worry about babysitters :D

The weather here is "baltic" - so cold. We have been lucky I guess in that we havent had much snow compared to parts of the UK. I quite enjoy the snow tho,I love how it makes everything so picture perfect and when it is a nice sunny day I love going walking in it. The north east of scotland seems to avoid heavy snow fall tho which is a shame even tho it is cold enough for it.

I am still trying to work out the situation with uploading pics on here and might master it yet lol. I really need to remember to ask Vikkie the next time I am talking to her on skype as she is my computer ghuru.

Anyway hopefully there will be crafty pic soon. I am off to the supermarket for a couple of things before I sit down to craft this afternoon.

Bye for now
Tracy x

43 ugh!!!

Howdy ho,

Well the crafting has been going resonably well over the past few days. I am having a bit of a problem with putting photos on here, ie I cant seem to find an easy way to do it (told you I am a total technophobe) I am sure you didnt have to put a photograph up using an url when I first started blogging :S  ANY HELP WITH THIS WOULD BE APPRECIATED XX  I will try again after I have finished typing to see if I can work it out for myself but I aint holding out much hope :P
I made a couple of 12 x 12 layouts and altered a wooden birdhouse, which I hope to show you.

As you can see from the title of my post I have had a birthday. I got a lovely surprise phone call from my bestie in Norway wishing me a happy birthday first thing in the morning which cheered me up no end. I didnt do anything, I aint really that big on birthdays to be honest it is another year older which depending on how I am feeling mentally or health wise will depend on how I take it lol
I aint growing old very gracefully (which I kinda thought I would be able to do) I keep getting tattoos (more about them later) cut my hair pretty short and have dyed it red. This has been a gradual process like, I didnt do all this on Monday for my birthday lol. I am pretty sure most people think I am having a mid life crisis (some have actually voiced that opinion)

I havent been looking after myself particularly well since Christmas. I suffer from depression. I have done for A LONG time but I have only been taking medication to help for a couple of years, when eventually I got to the point I couldnt pull myself up. I have had spates of "the blues" since my eldest was born (19 years ago this year) but I never liked to admit how down I often felt. I felt I couldnt confide in anyone as I have always tried to act like I am a super being that can manage it all (which I still do :S just me I guess) My mum (unknowing how I felt) used to always tut tut about people with "depression" saying that they just needed to get a grip, so of course because of this I was reluctant to admit I was feeling as bad as I was. For the most point over the years I had always been able to pick myself up relatively easily, but a couple of years back I just got to the point I couldnt do it and with encouragement of my best friend I went to see the doctor. I think if I didnt have other health problems which make me feel tired and unwell I would be pretty good but as I have MS too, sometimes the fatique I feel makes the depression feel worse, a vicious circle really.

Anyway on a cheerier note, I am going out with hubby and our neighbours at the weekend for a meal (neighbours birthday is tomorrow so him and Mal cooked up a plan to have a joint celebration at the weekend.

Right I will go try to upload some pics, if that fails I will just put in link to my YouTube where you can watch the videos I did of my crafting efforts over the weekend.

Thank you for stopping by and feel free to comment at anytime, I would love to hear from you all

x

PHOTO FAIL lol - here is the link to my Youtube instead http://www.youtube.com/user/faeriecrafts/videos?view=0