Happy New Year to you all xxxx

Thought I had better post this now as I have just started drinking, my first being a Whisky and Dry which I haven't had for an age , it was my mums tipple really but as a young lady, I was one once honest, not sure of what to drink I used to ask for Whisy and dry....this progressed to Rum and black which at the tender age of 18 made me vomit on the upper deck of a bus and was never to be drank again...

My friends and I on half price Tuesdays would then drink Barley wines which were apparently the equivalent to a dble Whisky but quarter of the price.

I have since had various tipples Gin and tonic, Vodka and britvic O, Martini and lemonade and the the assortments of house wines thank goodness there were none of these shots that they drink now lol

On a serious note I often wondered what made an alcoholic as when I was younger, approx 16 to about 25ish I drank alot, infact that was our aim on a night out to get drunk...not fall down drunk, though I have been there but what I would call a stage further than tipsy.  Now I would say I drank almost everynight whether at parties or clubs sometimes as much as 20 shorts but never of a morning .....and I did it consistently through my late teens early twenties...now why didn't I become an alcoholic ....

I basically think alot of us just grow out of it and move onto lifes next stage but why??????

Anyway OH has just topped up my glass so cheers to you all and I hope you all have a fantabulous year ahead wherever and whoever you are mwah xxxxx

EDIT....Just to add I had 2 whiskeys then I went on to coffees...just can't hack it anymore, but I'm honestly not complaining :)

My latest commision & I treat myself :)

Last night I finished this commision of a lovely dog called Molly, it is a Christmas present from a friend to a friend.  She really loved it, thank goodness and has commisioned another 2 dogs in the NY.

This is the first portrait I have done since the ones I showed you of my son, which I did about 14 years ago, sheeeesh I didn't realise it was that long ago, no it can't be...think I must have just made that up lol.

I very rarely buy items from blogging friends, in fact I have only ever done it once before and that was these lovely items from Lalabibaby

Gorgeous hanging heart which is now in my bathroom and....

These adorable cats which are looking down on me as I type as they are hanging from my shelf unit in the kitchen ...I just adore them, fell in love at first sight lol...

Anyway this morning 2 packages arrived from Bloomin Myrtle and the contents were just precious and I fell in love all over again with my 2 new friends

My Sleepy Snowman and...

The gorgeous Snow Angel...they are exquisitely made and are just scrumptious

and thats not all I also got this lovely Bedpost bag that was supposed to be for a work colleagues 8 yr old daughter but..... sorry sunshine no way no day I'll get her something else :) evils my middle name lol

Elaine attaches the prettiest of tags on her items

so am now off to pick her brains and ask her how :)

Well I think thats all folks signing off now

Stay safe xxx

Facebook Shop

I have made a facebook page of my work ...not quite sure what you do with it but  I  think its a case of showing your wares and people ordering if they like it ...well thats how Im treating it....

Pop over and have a browse in the albums and if you like what you see you can become a fan ha! ...

bit like bloggers and followers I suppose,

I thought I would give it a go and see what becomes of it.

Stay safe all x

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lajonis-Place/179889537982#

xxx

Winnie and Thomas.....

Well I've put my paintbrushes down for a while and will be picking up my pencils instead as I have a few portraits to do before Christmas, one being a dog, so that should be interesting.

I've done a couple of Winnie the Pooh hearts ...oh I adore him he is my all time fave I think I especially love the origainal sketches but I can understand children loving the more modern Pooh

 

Thomas is in there as well and I will always have fond memories of him as he was both my boys favourite and at one time I knew all of his friends names ....now I can remember James and Harold and thats it!! oh the shame :(

A few more commisions

At the moment I am watching a ''Paint Sprayer'' on Ebay which finishes today, so fingers crossed, as that will allow me to get back into painting the furniture pieces I find on Ebay, as painting them by hand was just too time consuming, but I love doing the decorative arty farty bits.

If all goes well the next post should be showing a dog portrait and if it doesn't...well it could be anything, wish me luck :)

Edit: I won the 'Paint Sprayer' can't wait to have a go :)

HELP Decision needed within 6 hrs ''To Bid or not to Bid''

Hi ladies

I'm afraid I haven't blogged for a while as I have been busy with commisions which has been just lovely But that does not stop me from having Ebay on in the background, which leads nicely to my dilema.

I have seen an over mantle mirror which I adore, not kept gilt but painted cream.

I did this with an oval ornate mirror which I bought from a CS for £3

I  don't usually like ornate items but love theses mirrors as my rooms are of average size and decorated in neutral creams etc and I think evey room should have a WOW piece which this room hasn't, well to be truthful I'm not sure any of them have but I am trying to plead my case :)

I wouldn't keep it gilt as it would over power but as before would paint it cream rubbed back with

touches of gilt showing through.

Now I know it won't be to everyones taste so don't worry I won't be offended if you secretly vomit, biut I love it.

Its on Ebay atm for £50 ...having been bought originally 2 yrs ago for over £400 and its just up the road...have deffo got o mull over tis one ...opinions appreciated please gals xxxx

Well ladies I won it and am really pleased xx

A few finished commisions...

These are a few commisions I have had, finished and posted.  The heart shaped one has been received and thankfully Claire says she loves it, I didn't like to leave it plain on the reverse so just added a few words to inspire :) which I'm pleased she liked too ..good job really as I added them without asking .

The next items commisioned were for Heather  and all she said was that she wanted 3 chickens as long as there was 1 Blue Cock amongst them. Well as you can imagine we had fun with that request on the SCC forum as she recently acquired a Blue Cock for real....oh dear I'm giggling again.

She is another who hasn't seen the finished items so keep them fingers crossed abit longer :)

Well thats all folks ...will be doing some more this weekend

Take care and stay safe

xxxxxx

Lovely Gifts and Arty Farty

 I got home from work today to find I had received the most gorgeous heart from my SCC friend Beki

I saw one similar it in her shop and on FB and loved the material but it was not suprisingly sold ....very folk arty which I love so I was thrilled to find she had sent me one as a thank you for a tiny bit of help I gave her

Beki hunny thank you so very much it means alot to me :)

And if that wasn't enough she also included some really pretty CK tissues which I am actually going to try some decoupage with...wish me luck

On Sunday my DD dragged me screaming to Fosse Park shopping centre ...she does this occasionally as I'm the only one who will give her my honest opinion on whatever she trys on and I tend to get her to try things on she wouldn't normally and she usually ends up buying them so anyway she bought me this lurvely purse/wallet  20x11cms and I love it....don't really like UJ stuff but I think its the subdued colours I love on this ...so I have really been spoilt ...thank you girls xxxxx

Now who do you think would buy this coaster with a daisy on....hmmmm sorry but no prizes for a
 correct answer.  I added the name and a pretty pink hanging ribbon with bow.

Well I think this has become a very strange post ...nothing is where I wanted it and the text is all over the place, I think it will take me a while to get my head round this new format.

I am really enjoying my painting and drawing at the moment and have so many ideas I want to try but sometimes not the energy to attempt them.

I really have to leave the arty farty stuff until the weekends as after work am just too knackered after making teas and pack-ups ......... the mojo just aint havin' none of it!

My life is full of stuff..stuff..stuff

I must make a dozen lists a week about various subjects

Lists of stuff to do next day at work, stuff to do when I get home from work, stuff to start on that I've sold, stuff to buy from next door for tea,  general stuff that needs doing in the house, stuff that needs doing in the garden

So much stuff to do....

My best friend and I often think we'd be happy in a convent ...I room, 1 bed, 1 chair, 1 table, 1 sink, 1 toilet, 2 changes of clothes....what more do you need....nothing to remember but then again nothing to forget...

no worries...no stress...no pressures

life of bliss or life of boredom?

I just wish you could buy bits of memory in tablet form so that I would never have to write another list that I more often than not forget where I've put anyway.

Oh to be a teenager that knows it all and can't be told anything and probably has never had to compile a list !!!

Starting to top up my shop

Over on the SCC forum we are having an auction for Angels charity KIN (Kids in need) ...we donate something to be auctioned and the buyer sends the payment to Angel, anyway Maypole won a gilt/Limoges trinket box that I donated and can I find the chuffin thing nooooooooooooooooooo!!

I really don't know where else to look. I've looked in all the normal places a menopausal woman would put something safe,,freezer..cooker...tumbledryer but its nowhere to be found, so I think its sniffer dog time!

 ************************

Today I thought I had better start topping up my shop, so I painted some circular coasters, not to be used as coasters but I may hang 3 of them on one wide length of ribbon and sell as a set, and the other 3 will, I think, be sold singulally .

I hope a little girl would like these hanging in her room, my daughter loved them and shes 25 :)

These flowers will probably have a ribbon loop added for hanging, so could be hung as a set or separately

Having seen these my daughter wants me to paint her some coasters for her work colleagues for Xmas, along with a pretty china mug each with a selectinof Thorntons delux chocs in cellophane.....shes sorted lol.  I thought it was a lovely idea, just got to see how she wants each one personalised :)

I will be painting more tomorrow and Sunday ...can't wait as it feels like I haven't painted in such a very long time xx

And the winner.....

.............of my Pencil Portrait giveaway is I'm delighted to say the gorgeous  Melmel

This will be a very special portrait and I only hope I can do her brother justice.

So Mel if you could email me some photos I promise I will do my very best for you hun xxxx

My Giveaway!!!!!

Following on from my previous post where I found the posters for my Pencil Portraits after cleaning out our sheds on Saturday....

I thought maybe that would be good giveaway, no not the drawings of my son but a portrait of your choice......I think its a good idea ..I've not really thought it through but as long as you have a good clear photo to email to me I can't see a problem ...and the only proviso would be

to allow me to use it for promotion.

The size of the finished drawing would be A4 or smaller if preferred so if you can just leave your comments of why you'd like to win a portrait ......I'll leave it open untill...hmmm not sure really probably a couple of weeks ....if you could spread the word of the giveaway it would be much appreciated.

Hope you like the Giveaway

Thanks so much xxxx

Just found these in our shed

Over the weekend DH and I have been clearing out our 2 sheds, 1 brick and 1 wooden. We literally emptied EVERYTHING onto the lawn and found stuff we had forgotten about and stuff we wish we could forget about , but alot of it was great to find.I did these pencil portraits about 14/15 yrs ago, they are of my youngest DS who is now 19 and would probably be totally embarrassed by them now , but I used to put them in the windows of local shops and that was how I earned my pennies in those days before FT work.

These 2 photos of DS2 always make me smile I love them and him so much esp the top one with the missing tooth. I used to do fairly well charging £15 for an A4 size drawing. I occasionally do them now but usually only for family and friends.  ….this morning he woke with a hangover.... awww how time flies lol

I am also trying this Window live writer for the first time for blogging and it is soooo much easier to use and great for adding photos…I didn’t realise it was on my PC and will definitely be using it from now on.

EDIT !! When I previewed this post it had overwritten my last post about the corner cabinet but left the comments as if they were for this post and took away some photos I had just put in the side bar ...grrr not such a sinch as I thought :)