Sue Thomas

A follow up to the Wild page I did the other day. Resident Red foxes and coyotes

I too love old barns, the stories they could tell. I like to photograph them when there is a blanket of snow down.

Don't I know it!

Tom Jones yes! Shirley Bassey, nope, until I mention her songs in the Bond movies, Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever,and Moonraker. Even then they refer to them as British, and not Welsh. Shirley was born and raised in Splott, in Cardiff. Cardiff being the Capital of Wales. Tom was born in Treforest, Pontypridd. Both were born not to far from where I was born.

I had the same when I moved to Canada. Having a strong Welsh accent, I was frequently asked and still asked to this day by strangers, are you English, Australian, even South African. You'd be surprised how many North Americans there are that have never heard of Wales, yet alone know that it is a country, which is part of the UK.

Although learned and learnt are correct and mean the same, learned is American English, whereas learnt which is what I use, is British English. Just saying. Lol

Finally getting a chance to scroll through all the wonderful pages which have been submitted. Everyone has been ever so busy, being creative.

Playing catch up. The majority of you will know that I am not a fan of plaids. I tend to go for more subtle plain papers, anyway I decided to create the latest plaid tutorial in the blog. I also often go back to basic tutorials, which I find most appealing. I used the stencil tutorial, which is an old one in the creative scrap.

You can always guarantee that Ann will spot typing errors in layouts. Almost as if she is seeking them out. I'm certain that isn't the case though. Lol. It is nice to have a resident proof reader. When it comes to using American English or British English, confusion on which to use can cause an issue for some, like myself. I always use British English, correcting what digital devices' spell checkers recommend. As they tend to favour American English. Take my tut/tech comment. I used the word practise, as that is the correct way to spell it when used as a verb, and practice when used as a noun. Yet in American English, it's always spelt practice. I use mitre, which is the preffered spelling in British English, and miter in American English. I notice that many people will use both American and British spelling in their text. It's only what I observe, and there isn't any right or wrong in it. The way I was taught English has stuck with me. I am not being in the least bit critical, merely pointing out the differences.

Whether it's Cornwall or West Wales, it has been very mild, with constant cloud cover. Very similar to your weather. As far as star gazing or shooting the moon, it has been totally out of the question. Never mind, being around my family has more than made up for the inclement weather.

It's been between plus 10 and plus 13c here in the UK, mind you the sun doesn't make much of an appearance like on the prairies. Which makes all the difference, even when it's 30c below, with a blanket of snow down insulating next year's plants.

Absolutely! Even though I love being around my little girls and other members of the family, I miss my bed, but more importantly I miss the solitude and quiet time with nature.

I'm at home in Wales, UK with family. Heading back to Saskatchewan on the 29th January.

I've been home since 7th December. I have one week left before leaving for much colder, whiter climes.

I used a brush to created the feathery lace like frame. I could have used the mitred corner script, instead I did it myself for practise. The label and tag are my own, all I had to do was to add text, resize and colourize to match the layout. I embrace every season in Saskatchewan, but even more so winter.

I agree, it is Milkweed, gone to seed.

You know, there was a time when I would write the steps down, them cross them off if it wasn't what I was looking for, before undoing. The steps would end up being quite lengthy. I soon learnt that it was a laborious thing to do. Now it's a case of trial and error, until I am happy with it. Mind you I rarely use the same background paper twice. As I prefer to create unique ones for each project. Saying that, there are the rare occasion when I wish I could replicate a background. Then I would go scrolling through the history to trigger my memory.

I arrived on the 15th Dec. I am elated to be home. The little girls are such a joy. Never a dull moment. As for the weather, it has been dismal. Grey, overcast, wet and windy. Yesterday morning, was the only break in the weather, which lasted all of 3 hrs, before the clouds rolled in. I can say in all honesty that I don't miss the British weather. The Prairie winter weather may be brutal, but the sun almost always shines.

I'm currently in Cornwall with family. Enjoying the much milder climate, where palm trees grow. I used colours from this photo to create the New Year wordart. The Atlantic Ocean. St Michael's Mount, Mounts Bay, Penzance, Cornwall. Photo taken at 7.55am on the 31 December 2024. Watching the sunrise rise for the last time in 2024, absolutely made my day. And what a sunrise it was too!

It was my pleasure to create a page for the family in the campus. I couldn't tell you how I finally created the background, it was all trial and error. Colourized the main photo of the trees several times, taken at Danielson park. Blend modes, changed the colour of the solid page several times until I got the colours I was looking for, which I took from a sunrise photo. As I wanted the trees to be obvious, yet subtle. I use only my own photos for most of my creative needs. Creating the background paper seemed to take more time and thought, than the wordart itself, once I had decided on the words I wanted to use, which I considered to be relevant to the campus.

If am not mistaken, New Zealand is the first major country to enter 2025.

Scrolling through everyones unique New Year Greetings. Such diverse imaginations, each one inspiring. It makes me stop and appreciate why I am a memener of this awesome family. I consider myself very lucky indeed. Looking forwrd to what creative work we will all come up with in 2025. I decided to create a wordart for you all.

JACQUES. Please stop sending like notifications, already, today you have sent 138 notifications. Dating back to 2017. Please, please STOP.

Beautifully done! I also recognize the label.

"Slip it in" is another of the first things I learnt when I joined the Campus. The tutorial is an older one, but can be found in the creative scrap. I use this technique often.