Hi Friends!
Happy T Day! All the cold weather has gone for now, replaced by warmer temps and rain (of course!) Unfortunately last weekend, we had a pipe problem in an unheated part of the house and we had to do some emergency plumbing, or rather, my BIL did most of it, I was just the able assistant. It’s all fixed now but there is an old outbuilding that is attached to the main house but isn’t considered part of the house. All the wood was stored in there, and it is also Miss P’s ensuite toilet and general storage, washing machine etc. It all got wet but luckily it’s a concrete floor so apart from fixing the pipe, mopping the floor, removing plasterboard and insulation, and moving all the stuff out of the way and back in, it wasn’t so bad.
I am – you guessed it – still on crutches but my appointment is this week so fingers crossed, not for much longer!
Today’s art . . .
Here is the cover for my Dephemerember journal. The background is some old Christmas gift wrap, then there are an assortment of bits and pieces layered on top, including fabric, napkin butterflies, diecuts, book paper, TH backdrop paper and free digital papers. Dephemerember is a December challenge I like to join, the word is a combination of December and Ephemera, as it is an ephemera-making challenge that happens in December. I am not nearly finished the journal, the challenge nor the ephemera, but I am just taking my time and doing it when I can. I did manage to keep up with the videos created by both hosts – Luise Heinzl (Germany) and Barbara from 49Dragonflies (Austria). Luise does two videos for each prompt, one in English and one in German, I also watched some of the German ones as she does different things for each. So I may not have achieved much in my own journal but at least I enjoyed watching other people make things for theirs!
I took these photos this morning and if I zoom out a little you will get a better idea of what is happening on my table…
Yes Miss Lily is in her usual position on my messy table, and to zoom out even further, you can see just how messy that is!
Kitty update . . .
I already shared Miss Lily in her favourite spot in the above photos taken this morning, so here’s a look at her brother Mr G, last night in his favourite spot…
It looks a bit of a mess but he loves this bathmat so I let him have it to roll around on in front of the wood stove, and there are flattened cardboard boxes on either side, not because I’m bad at tidying up, but because he also loves to cool down a little by lying off to the side on a flattened cardboard box lol. Cats eh, totally bonkers!
And finally here is Miss P on the dining table and yes there are also more cardboard boxes there, mostly for the same reasons as before. She has not gone back outside since her attack/cat bite/abscess which was over a month ago now. If she seemed really desperate to go out then I would open the door but she’s not, so I am playing it by ear for now, but the downstairs is split in two with her in one half and the other two in the other – it’s not ideal. Tomorrow is vaccination day and she will get all her usual boosters for outdoor cats.
T stands for outgoing happy mail . . .
The white arrow points to my first ticket to tea this week – can you see the white packet of Jackson’s tea? This one says Pure Chinese White Silvertip Tea and it wasn’t until I saw this photo that I realised that I’d forgotten to put it in the envelope!
Last week I sent some happy mail to a couple of my friends overseas. I spent quite a bit of time decorating the envelopes with lots of stamping. Above are the fronts, which have a space in the middle for the address label, and please note the large empty space down the right hand side where the post office could add the stamp label and the customs label… and here is the back of the envelopes which I fully decorated knowing that nothing needed to go on there…
Just guess where the post office person stuck the giant customs label! Yes, right across the middle of the back of both of them!!! So now my packages look ridiculous with a big undecorated gap on the front, and the nice stamps on the back covered with a huge label that is about six inches long and about three inches wide!!!!!! Aaagh! I’m sure when they are received they will wonder what is missing from the fronts. LOL
My second ticket for tea (if this counts?) is just showing in the background of this photo of some Christmas chocolates I received from a friend in the Netherlands. There are two sets of drink coasters behind the chocolates – a set of wooden cat face coasters, and a set of grey felt coasters.
Oh and finally I thought I’d just mention this news, Tim Holtz is no longer creating new products for the six brands he works with – he’s not retiring – but he’s no longer creating regular releases. He explains in detail in the video below, if you haven’t already heard. It will be interesting to see what happens to all the existing products without him and his (no longer) team of makers promoting them regularly. They will still be produced as long as people buy them but I wonder if people will continue to buy them without that push? Anyway, after celebrating 20 years of Distress products and 500 stamp sets with Stampers Anonymous, maybe it is about time to stop or slow down. Who needs 500 stamp sets anyway? Having said that, I do have rather a lot of them but nowhere near 500 lol. I have plenty and don’t really NEED any more anyway.
I think that’s about it for today. Let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading and Happy T Day!
Ingredients
as above
Challenges
T Stands for – Tuesday
Oh that fire looks so nice and warm.
Yes, cats love cardboard boxes, don’t they. I must say, I love your log fire.
I didn’t know Tim Holz is ‘slowing down’. He’s probably made enough money to retire. I have quite a lot of his stuff, but I can’t help but feeling he has gone out of fashion a bit.
A belated happy T-Day,
Lisca
Such a fun photo of Mr. G and Miss P. I had heard about TH, and that he wasn’t retiring, just going to have more fun creating. Happy T Day.
Sorry about the burst pipe, but glad you were able to get it fixed quickly. Grrr about the post office clerks ruining your envelopes. All the kitties look happy and content. Headbutts to all. Happy T Day
Happy T-day, Elle. Plumbing issues are always no fun. So glad your BIL could help you!
Your kitties are adorable! Your mail to your friends looks fun, and I like your journal page.
I heard something about TH no longer coming out with new stuff, but didn’t know the details. It will be interesting to see what happens with all the stuff.
Thanks for sharing all this. Have a great week. Hugz
I’ve been lucky to not have any freezing pipes this year. I feel for you because I’ve been there. Hope the crutches go away soon.
I love your art today. I especially like the butterflies and the frames.
So glad the fur babies are doing well. I think it’s god Miss P wants to stay in, even if she is isolated.
I love those envelopes you created, but don’t understand some postal clerks.
Thanks for letting us k.now about TH.. Thanks a;also for sharing your art and tea bags for T this Tu0esday, dear Elle.
Good luck at the doctor’s appointment – I hope it will turn out to your liking!
Your journal cover is beautiful, I really like it. Your kitties are always wonderful to look at. Yes, they are bonkers sometimes, I agree. “Our” Kibeau who chose to live in our backyard, is like that. I bought him a cat house for the colder and rainy days. Guess when he’s taking a nap in the house? When the sun is shining! If it’s raining, he sits on the heating pad I got from friends. If it’s cold, I cover him with a soft blanket which he likes. But yeah – he certainly has his very own mind about how things shall be.
Happy T day, Elle. Big hugs – Carola
Oh, no, pipe-problems…
Fingers and toes crossed the crutches stay at the doctor´s (at least off your hands).
“Promt List” sure fits, oh, and the vintagephotos, great cover.
Miss Lily always makes me smile. As Mr, G, certainly! Miss P has a fun look on?
Beautiful envelopes – sad the postie destroyed!
Nice to have a face behind the stamps, sad he gives up.
Anyways: A happy T-Day to you
I LOVE your journal!! I’m into junk journals too. Your kitties are sweet. I totally understand the random “stuff” that we leave out for the cats. We have a reusable bag that lives on the living room floor. It’s Marvins security bag. If he gets stressed, he goes and lays on it. 🙂
Sorry to read about the leaky pipe, but I hope the doctor’s appointment goes great. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. And nice kitty photos. Ha ha to Mr. G. I think he has the best seat in the house. I have a rocking chair I put near my woodstove to sit and soak up the heat, which I am doing right now as it is sooooo cold. It’s gone up but it was -10 degrees F/-23 degrees C this morning. And thanks for linking up the TH video. I hadn’t seen it. I get where he’s coming from, and it does make space for new designers if they don’t have to compete so much with him, but you are right. I think some of his products may not be so popular. It is big news though. I hope you have a great T day and week ahead-and drs. appointment too. hugs-Erika