Artful Readers Club
"You're Having a Laugh" CJ
Desert Island Discs CJ
101 goals in 1001 days
Find at least one geocache in all 72 UK counties
Sketchbook Project 2012
Darby's Coif
A-Z Journal
Seeing all 30 NHL teams play
Visiting all 30 NHL arenas
Project Runway CJ
Artistic Licence CJ
Rock Resurrected CJ
Colours CJ
Take Ten CJ
UKStampers CJ #3
Disney CJ
Tattoo CJ
Fabric Round Robin
UKStampers CJ #2
...I wonder if I should take a few art supplies with me???
hmmmmm..... I'll see if there's any room in the case....
In the meantime, here is the last thing I'll make for a while, maybe :)
This is another entry in the UKS (I think, losing track) stampers' CJ.
I know it's Efemera's journal, and I love the gothic arch shaped pages and the funky Zetti stamp she chose:
It's a pity I had to chop off the cool headgear, but I wanted to go for the obvious on this one and go "goth" on the gothic arches, especially as nobody before me had, and I don't know that many goths who wear stripy turbans, do you??
This is one of those pieces that's impossible to photograph. So I'll have to describe it to you.
The background is made from scrunched up black tissue paper stuck over purple card with PVA glue, left to thoroughly dry and then lightly swiped over with interference paints in red and violet.
A B-Line wrought iron railings stamp was used at the top of each arch in silver, to define the shape a bit.
The letters at the bottom were really good fun to do - I cut up an old gothic script plastic stencil, that I had picked up at a boot sale about 3 years ago for 10p and never used, and made the 3D letters using moulding paste.
Once dry, I painted on and around them with crimson paint, and then highlighted them with blue patina perfect pearls.
What else? Oh yes, the goth lady herself (at least I think it's a lady, kinda hard to tell). She was simply stamped with black Stazon onto white copy paper, and cold laminated. Then I stuck her on and painted her hair freehand with black acrylics.
I really enjoyed making these pages, and I bet the book will look fabulous once it has been completed and bound, lucky Ef!
....so much so that I actually called Connor "Connorda" in Tescos yesterday completely accidentally, which had us both in fits of giggles :D
But can I translate this excitement and anticipation into the motivation to get organised and pack my suitcase?? Of course not lol
I set this afternoon aside to do just that, got bored after 5 minutes, and went out geocaching with Cons :)
Good one today, the other cache up at Coate Water that we didn't get last time. Huge great ammo box stuffed full of quality swag (well quality from a kiddy's point of view anyway).
All the Wildcats had to do tonight to ensure our spot in the playoffs, was sit back and let Chelmsford lose (which they did, by the way, 8-2 :))
But sod that, just because we were playing the cup winning Bracknell Bees, and just because we were missing a couple of our best players (Wheats and Matty Davies), doesn't mean we should roll over.
Oh no, we won tonight, and we deserved that win so much, and ENJOYED it so much!!!
We came out of the traps slowly, and were 0-2 down at the start of the first, boooooo. The Bees fans were looking 10 shades of smug.
But from the 2nd period onwards, we were on fire. The lads threw themselves into the game with heart and soul, and it paid off big time.
By the end of regulation we had pulled it back to a 3-3 tie. Into overtime we went. And we didn't let up the pressure once during that 5 minutes. Even had a couple of almost goals (unfortunately disallowed). We so deserved to win. We wanted it so much more than the Bees, there was real passion at work on the ice.
And the shootout was a beauty. First time we have actually won one this season, I think. Well done to Joel, Crazy, and most of all Ciaran Long who deked the Bees goalie gooooooooood before winning us the game with a very pretty goal indeed.
You should have seen the team celebrating the win on the ice, all of them, and Pete Russell too, jumping up and down like excited schoolgirls.
And they weren't the only ones, I was certainly jumping too.
Great game, absolutely great game.
And the icing on the cake? It was Janak's turn to do autographs after the game, along with Jan Vrtik, so I got my jersey signed :)
Tomas was in such a great mood, all laughing and joking about, he kept tickling the kids, and he drew all over Ben's face with his (permanent, oops!) pen :)
He also really took his time with the signature on my jersey, which I really appreciated, he usually just does a little squiggle and the #41
I bet the lads are still celebrating in Blades Bar, and they absolutely deserve it.
Gutted I am going to miss the last game of the regular season :( But I have PLAYOFF games to see when I get home - yeee haawww!!!!
Now all we need to do is get the Canucks to clinch their place!
And this just in....some helpful soul has posted video of the shootout up on Youtube:
If you can't sit through it all, at least fast forward to the last minute or so to see Ciaran's purty goal ("why is he taking the shot???" that's why :D ) and the team group hug - brilliant :)
Both my best mate and my ex's daughter, who I am extremely fond of, are seriously ill in hospital.
Another one of my close pals has to go into hospital for an op soon too.
And with all this going on, to be honest, it's barely relevant that Kes has gone and got himself injured just before I head out to see him play - because at least we know he'll be better soon enough, and to be fair it's an occupational hazard.
But I am doing my level best to send healing vibes to all 4 of them (and most of the Canucks D)
Ladies and gentlemen, probably mainly ladies, may I present:
A wibble-inducing anthem pic (that I had to edit the giant NHL watermark off of, yawn, so don't look too closely as I did a bit of a botch Photoshop job)
FINALLY a full size version of his current roster pic (HOW long have I been looking for this???!!!)
A couple of really nice ones from the Canucks Place open day
And some in game pics
Oh - and a couple of vids, a relatively new, nicely made fan tribute. And a re-upload of the CDC highlight reel from last year that I originally uploaded to Youtube but which disappeared when my YT account inexplicably died a death.
If anyone has any of those last little pics full size without the watermark (no way could I Photoshop these out), or has a Getty account and could get them for me, I would be forever in their debt.......
Especially the one where you can clearly see BULL 17 on the stick, that one I would pay good money for...Year of the Bull, and all that jazz.....
I'm up to date with the A to Z journal for the first (and probably last) time - yay!!
My D page is for DNA - and very appropriate for Mother's Day - as it's about my three boys, and how they will, hopefully, carry my genes forward to the next generation.
Background is gesso and paints over stamped cardstock. The handpainted squiggle is supposed to be a DNA double helix (I know it looks nothing like one, but hey, art doesn't have to be perfect lol).
The boys are printed onto transparency and stuck on via the magic of Xyron.
Seems like an odd thing to say, but it really hit me when all the Mother's Day blurb started going up in the shops, that I don't have a Mum any more. The first year ever that I haven't bought or made a card. Its weird. You expect them to always be there, somehow. Miss you, Mum, hope you are happy. Have a good Mother's Day, wherever you are.
On the other hand, Mother's Day reminds me that I am blessed with three wonderful boys, who I love very much, and who love me too.
Connor went into the shop all by himself, chose this bear for me, and took it to the checkout. Such a grown up little fella. And I love the card he made on the computer, digi art is maybe his future :)
The big boys will no doubt lavish me with gifts when they finally get out of bed (yeah yeah, course they will :D)
If anyone is visiting the Swindon area on a nice day, especially with kids, I can thoroughly recommend this cache.
It's a really good fun puzzle cache, just like a traditional treasure hunt, roaming around the Lawns (a gorgeous park/woodlands) looking for clues. All the co-ords are spot on, you get a good long walk (but never realise you are exercising because you are having too much fun), the clues are nice and easy so the kids really get to join in, and the cache hiding place is a good one.
Nice article about Kes and Burr from CDC: It Takes Two Different paths, same goal - Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows team up. Jen Herrington Mar 1, 2008, 12:24 PM EST
They’re the Sonny and Chers, Batman and Robins, and Simon and Garfunkels of the world. They can stand alone, but as the song goes, it’s always better when they’re together.
Music’s got its fair share, there’s no short supply in movies, and of course, in sports there’s a full arsenal of dynamic duos and perfect pairs.
While the Sedin twins have earned quite the reputation as a talented and terribly effective twosome in Vancouver, there’s a new duo moving on up.
“Oh, Frick and Frack,” said Canucks defenseman, Willie Mitchell. That’s Canucks slang for the team’s leading shut-down pair, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler.
This past season, both Kesler and Burrows have stepped up as the go-to-guys for shutting down opposing, offensive juggernauts.
Last December, Sidney Crosby made his first visit to Vancouver since being drafted in 2005. He came to Van city with a boatload of hype and fanfare, and left minus-1 and without a point.
Checking tandem, Kesler and Burrows had a lot to do with Crosby’s lack of scoring.
“Pittsburgh was a great game,” said Canucks centre, Ryan Kesler. “We shut down Crosby...When you shut down a guy like that of that caliber, that’s a pretty good achievement by both of us.”
More impressively, Kesler and Burrows both left that game with a point in hand and a plus-1.
SCORING BIG
While emerging as checking specialists, the pair are both on pace to post career numbers in goals and assists.
Kesler eclipsed his previous career with a game-winner against the New York Rangers Jan. 3.08, and he’s three off his career-high in assists with 20 games left to play.
Burrows topped his career-high in goals, Feb. 16, and has more than doubled his previous output in assists already.
Frick and Frack had their own explanations for the seemingly newfound scoring touches.“Well…first of all our main role is to shut down the other team’s top line as a checking line. That’s what we want to do every night—make sure they don’t get on the score sheet so we have a good chance to win the game. But obviously those guys, they like to cheat offensively and if we play well defensively we’ll get our chances offensively,” said Alex Burrows.
The formula sounds simple enough, but in most cases it’s easier said than done.“It’s a fine line. Some nights you’re not going to get anything offensively because that’s just the night it is and you’ve got to worry about your own end. Other nights you’re going to get a lot of chances. And I think the nights we get a lot of chances are when they’re cheating offensively and we’re frustrating them and it gives us a little better jump on them,” said Kesler.
Lately the other teams have cheated their way out of a handful of games. Kesler has seven goals since the New Year, including a two-goal effort against the league-leading Detroit Red Wings. Burrows has five to his credit in that span to go with his six assists.
While they were able to fly under the radar in seasons past, the increase in scoring has resulted in more media coverage than ever.
“It’s funny how scoring goals is the thing always at the end of the day that players get recognition from,” said Mitchell. “There are a lot of things [Burr] does without the puck that are extremely important for our team. Kes is much the same.”
One of those things has caught the eye of fans lately. Both Burrows and Kesler have shown a willingness to man up and drop the gloves when the bell rings.
For Burrows, squaring off hasn’t been so much about his own frustration, but loyalty.“It’s just a matter of sticking up for my teammates. In training camp I did the same. I’m just trying to help the guys. If something happens I’ll be the first one to jump in there to help my teammates,” said Burrows.
Like when Minnesota Wild forward, Brian Rolston took a run at Willie Mitchell, Burrows stepped in.
But sometimes it’s just a result of the gritty, in-your-face style of play that characterizes Burrows and Kesler."When [Burr] does [fight], he usually sticks up for someone or he ticks a guy off so much on the other team that they just start fighting with him. Just like in Tampa Bay when Lecavalier fought him, and when Ribeiro fought him two nights later. I think that’s something that’s a good trade off for us when we have Lecavalier going off with Burr. Not to take anything away from Alex, but Vinny’s a great player and when you get him off the ice for five minutes, that’s key,” said Kesler.
PEST CONTROL
Despite the scoring and willingness to drop the gloves, many across the league still label the pair as pests. A label that’s not lost on the gritty forwards, but not costing them any sleep at night either.
“I think being a pest is a compliment. For me at least,” said Kesler. “I don’t think a lot of guys in this league like being played hard and the kind of in-your-face style that me and Burr play. It frustrates guys and that’s when you get high-end [players] like Lecavalier, and I guess Jokinen and Ribeiro fighting—something they normally don’t do.
I think that’s when we’re at our best and when we tend to get those guys off their game.”
Kesler played a role at keeping Jokinen off his game in the Feb. 1 contest. The two exchanged blows and Jokinen, the leading scorer for the Panthers, left the game with just one powerplay assist. It’s that ability to get under opponents’ skin that makes the pair so effective, but hasn’t earned them any friends.
“If people want to call me [a pest], that’s alright,” said Burrows. “If they say they don’t want to be my friends, they don’t like me or something, I’ve got enough friends back home or in this locker room, so it doesn’t bother me.”
One of those friends is none other than his checking counterpart, Kesler. The two roomed together on the road last year and have skated alongside one another almost since day one.
Though both skaters took remarkably different paths to the NHL (Kesler was drafted in the first round and Burrows got his start in the ECHL), the duo seems to have hit stride at the same time. And that’s made all the difference.
Yes...yes....I know I haven't done D yet :) Watch this space, I'm hoping to get it done today.
The reason I'm all out of order is that I was asked to be the "guest" over on the IACW pages for the letter E, which is very flattering indeed, thanks girlies for choosing me :)
This page is a bit of a mess really, but that was kind of the the point. It's supposed to represent how my brain never lets up, flitting from one idea to the next, buzzing with ideas (99% of which I never have time to realise), buzzing with worries, buzzing with questions....
Sometimes I wish it would give me a rest :D
The page was somewhat inspired by this exchange over on the UKS forums in a discussion about Geocaching....I was trying to think of a good name for my team...
I needed a pic of me looking particularly manic. Not a problem, as I look like an escapee from Claybury in pretty much every photo, but I settled on this one that I took on my mobile phone to show my other half my recent rather drastic fringe reduction:
The pic cuts the top of my head off though, hence my restyle courtesy of Ranger adirondack dimensional acrylic paint in raisin, I quite like it, maybe I will go that colour next time I go to the hairdressers :)
The background is made from various Christina Cole papers cut up like sun rays and gesso'd over lightly. I have then overstamped with various squiggly arrows in yellow, orange and red Stazon (sunset colours, my favourites, I always come back to them)
My photo was printed on a Selphy and finger painted all over (except the eyes) with irridescent medium, to give it a shimmer, and also bring the eyes forward to add to general air of mania :D
And then the title was stamped as with the rest of these pages using Creative Imaginations stencil style stamps, and the journalling (which, if you want to, you should be able to read if you click on the pic to zoom in) was scribbled on with a fine black permanent pen.
