Art Journal Journey - It's a Twofer

It's the last day of my theme over at Art Journal Journey and I would like to thank Elizabeth and the other moderators for inviting me to be a guest host.  Also, big thanks to everyone who has entered - without you it would not have been so enjoyable.

I got a little carried away with making my 9" x 6" pages and binding them together with my Rollabind.  Great to be able to add and remove pages as I went along.  So today I have two for you.  I got lost with my scheduling and ended up with one page over so here they are - twofer ...

This was created on a peice of grey card and put through my die cutting machine with 'Rivets' to emboss the background.  I then went lightly over it with Black Soot Distress Oxides to show the embossing.  The bird on the left is by Stampendous and is a clockwork one but does have feathers on its head (and rulers on its tail).

The bird on the right is one of Tracy Evans' creations from Aall & Create, and he is left black and white but his top hat has a touch of green to stand out against the bright sun that I made on a separate piece of card and stuck on.  This was from a class I took with Tracy a long time ago and I loved the effect.  At the top are the words "Fly Free" again by Tracy.

My second one is one I first called "Serengeti" but then I could not find the stamp and so it had to be renamed "Africa".

This was made using Distress Oxides to create a suitable background and then spattered with water for a bit more interest and to break up the solid colour.  I simply stamped the giraffe on the right and put some trees and birds alongside.  Finally the word "Africa".

Giraffes have short dense fur with a unique pattern of dark patches that range from beige to chestnut brown.  Did you know, no two giraffe skin patterns are exactly the same but some regional patterns are so common and distinct that zoologists have identified a number of species based on the patterns.

So this really is my final posting for this theme - Fur and/or Feathers.  There's still time for you to do another one.  I hope you have enjoyed the inspiration I've tried to show you during September - and once again a BIG THANK YOU to all who have entered and made it a super month for me.

I wonder what the next theme will be?  Pop over to Art Journal Journey tomorrow to see.  See you there!

Jeudi Journal - Silence

To begin with I used three colours of Distress Ink on an acrylic block and then spritzed it with water and swiped it over the page.  I repeated this util the page was mostly covered.  I don't mind any uninked bits.  Next, and using Cracked Pistachio again I stamped some of the stars in a semi circle where the main image was going to be.  (These are to depict pain).  

Then I chose my figures.  A head who could be seen to be holding her ears and four little characters from the mini range of Dylusion figures and some tiny birds from Aall & Create Janet Klein's range.  All were coloured in using my Promarkers.  finally I drew a line around the whole page, and thickened it in parts to represent some kind of border - unfortunately the scanner did not pick it all up and one side is hardly showing.

'Alice was feeling very much like her namesake - Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland - as her head was spinning and she was supposed to be studying for her final nurse's examination.  She had been along to the local library and done some studying there.  It was good as they had computers available so she was able to do research as well as use the notes she had taken in class.  However, it was a lovely summer's day and she longed for the outside so had taken her leave of the library and made her way to the far end of the park.  It was lovely to get some fresh air but oh, what a mistake!

On an ordinary summer day it would have been lovely to have the birdsong around her but trying to study she found it most distracting.  The little birds were happily flying here and there and although she loved them dearly, today was not the day for birdsong.  She wondered if it was tension that was making her feel like she was, but now she had the birdsong in her head and she could not shut it out as how she tried.

However, it was much better than the constant chatter of people who were walking past her.  Children ran, laughing and shrieking as they played tag and threw a ball to one another.   And one young woman had had the audacity to sit by her on the bench opposite.  Luckily she was reading too.  Alice breathed a sigh of relief.  All too soon a pretty young woman walked by and sat on the bench opposite with the other young woman.  They appeared to know one another.  Oh no, they obviously did as they began chattering.

It was all yakkity yak around Alice and she decided that enough was enough.  Closing her book she allowed her eyelids to droop and was soon dreaming about the holiday she and some other nursing students were planning to a little island off the mainland of Greece.  The sun was lovely and warm and she felt she had been transported on holiday where she and her friends could practise their sparse knowledge of the language of Greece.  

In her dream she was wearing the new sundress she had bought especially for going out in the evenings and a handsome young man came and touched her on the arm and spoke to her in broken English. Just as she was about to reply she woke up and realised she was at home, in the local park, and there was a lot of noise around her,  "I wish more people were fluent in silence" she said to herself as she got up and set off home.

Because I have included some birds I can enter this into the Art Journal Journey Challenge - Fur and/or Feathers.  See you there - there's just one more day to enter?

Art Journal Journey - Puffin

 The background for this page was made using Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet Distress Oxides smooched on an acrylic block and then with an image from Aall & Create (Numerator) stamped over the top and embossed in white ep.  The fact that the image is not fully stamped is intentional, a partial image often looks much better, especially when used as a background, than a complete one in my opinion.  I assure you it was no mistake.

Next I drew three circles with my White Posca Pen and then went over them with a Blue Gel Pen.  I stamped Reckoner Digits and a script stamp in various places over the background but not too much on the plain uninked part.  This was reserved for the man himself - the Puffin.

The idea for this came from something Tracy Evans of Aall & Create had done but as I do not have her puffins (I have no idea why) but I did have a puffin from another company and so I used that one, stamped, coloured in with Polychromos, fussy cut and then adhered to the page.

You will notice there are some small black and white circles at the base of the page - these are from a piece of Aall & Create washi tape which I used to ground the puffin and kind of finish the page off.  I am entering this into Fur and/or Feathers at Art Journal Journey.

WOYWW

Well, Saturday draws near and it's almost that time of the year for a lot of WOYWW members to meet up.  What a lovely way to meet one another it is too.  There will be some old faces and hopefully some new ones too.  Sadly LLJ will not be with us as she is off celebrating her Ruby Wedding Anniversary - have a lovely time J & G.   Luckily we will have our glorious leader, Julia, and the two sisters, Annie & Jo, who are responsible for booking us in at the lovely hall.  Thanks ladies for all the work you do behind the scenes.

Here I am, back home and missing being on the edge of The Lakes.  Had to come home for our Covid jabs, his on Sunday and mine on Monday.  I did say he was a softy for complaining that his arms ached on Sunday, but now I have had mine done I daren't moan and mine both hurt (flu and covid) and he is fine.  Typical!

Last week saw me away and having a sulk at myself for leaving my stencil brushes on the worktop - yes, that's where they were when I got home.  However, I did manage to finish a workshop I started at Victoria Stampers last month.  It was a folio that Carol, our Programme Officer, did for us - such a lot of die cutting for her so big thanks went to her for all the work she had put into the class.

Here are some photos of it, I still need some words to put on some of the pockets and haven't finalised what all the pockets will hold - but saying that I cannot wait to make another one.  Hence my desk - full of cutting out.  Found out that my friend had this die and she has loaned it to me.

and today's desk

At the back my Lavinia stamps and the brushes followed by my folio.  Back to the left we have some white card waiting for colouring and a couple of rulers and some pens.  Behind that the glue and the cut out folio.  In front of that my trusty scalpel and the bits of card off cuts.  The labels on my stamp pad are for my Distress Oxides, just need colouring and sticking on - a job I keep putting off - must get on with it.  Must order another of those stands for the DO's too as all my browns are sat on a shelf and I am bound to buy more.  The usual stuff is at the back, rarely changes.

Better go and get cracking.  See some of you soon.

Art Journal Journey - Fractured Face

The stamp I used is from Aall & Create and is number 7 but does not appear to have a name.  I chose to call it 'fractured face'.  It was designed by Bipasha, one of my favourite artists from A&C and I just love the simplicity of this beautiful girl's face behind the quartered mask and the swirls.  I also chose it because of the numerous feathers on the small plate which I used alongside the face.

There are so many things I liked about this face, the shape of the actual face, the lips, the spectacles she wears and the mosaic effect down the top left hand side.  I like the fact that she is a free spirit too and, of course, she has feathers framing her.  

  

To fit in with her fractured face I chose to simply stamp my favourite crackle stamp in three of the corners and to add the tiny birds close by.  The words of positivity seemed to be perfect in the top left hand corner as do the bulbs below also by Bipasha but from stamp number 23.

Minimal colouring is how I chose to leave this page, which has a lovely cream colour to it naturally, and I hope it has a message for you as it did for me when I chose these stamps.  I would love you to join me at Art Journal Journey with the theme Fur and/or Feathers.

Art Journal Journey - Feathers

The title says it all - this should have been an earlier post for Art Journal Journey and my suggestion of Fur and/or Feathers as the theme.  I think the feather rubber stamp is from Chocolate Baroque and I stamped them both more or less central on my page in my journal.  That was after I had coloured the page with three different acrylic paints - New Grass (Eco Green Crafts) and Pistachio and Sea Breeze from Kaisercolour.

I blocked the feathers off and left a space at the bottom to do some writing and then used a stencil, with my black Posca pen, which did not turn out as expected but instead left me with lots of little irregular triangles dotted all over the page.  I had expected more of a shattered glass look from it.

I got my cake icing book out and tried to copy some of the lettering it showed - I just about managed to fit it on to avoid the punching at the top of the page.  

Finally I used my Polychromos to add one or two additional bits of shading to the feathers, mainly the shapes shown within some of them.

I hope this has shown that you can just take the theme literally and add some feathers.  I would have liked to have drawn a quill pen and ink pot but don't think I have the time now.  Maybe I will carry on within this journal and add it at a later date.

Art Journal Journey - Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

I thought it would be different if I was to introduce a black piece of cardstock into my journal for Fur and Feathers.  

First of all I made a small piece using Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive Distress Inks for my background, and then I used one of my favourite stencils (from the year dot) 'Diamonds in the Rough' on the small piece with some texture paste.  I wanted something a bit Art Deco'ish and so I used one of my long thin strip stamps that rarely see the light of day anymore in Nocturne

I have no idea where the picture came from originally but it was in my Collage Box and would appear that they did not always use young girls to advertise Pears Soap but used beauties of the age too.  As she was wearing the most delightful fur stole (I hope it was fake) she fit the bill perfectly for my theme at Art Journal Journey.

I then placed the piece on my black cardstock and pondered how to elongate the texture paste onto it.  In the end I just replaced the stencil and drew with a white pen to carry the central focal image to the whole page.  A quick punch along the top and it was inserted into my journal.

I hope you decide to join me and the others with your interpretation of "Fur and/or Feathers"

Jeudi Journal - Beautiful Day

Another snarky comment from the book of Tim Holtz and this time it is "It's a beautiful day to leave me alone" and we have a page with Sophie sitting in the woods surrounded by beautiful flowers, two bluebirds fly overhead and a little chicken has come up to her as she sits there in the grass.  Thank goodness for the two little bluebirds and the chicken now I can enter my page into Art Journal Journey where the theme is "Fur and/or Feathers" and thankfully all these birds have feathers.

I started off with a blue painted page and then I did some reverse stenciling which I learned from Abs at Aall & Create with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink.  Next I stamped some words and letters from Aall & Create and I was ready for the images.  Because it was supposed to be a "beautiful day" I chose to put some flowers around the outside edge as a border.

'Sophie was a lovely girl, very popular with her peers and with her proud parents.  A good all rounder was how the school described her.  She was in the school netball team,  played tennis for the County and had been voted Form Captain two years on the run.  Her teachers knew she was going to make a school prefect and some even thought she would have their vote as Head Girl when the time came.

It was a beautiful summers day and Sophie had a lot to think about, it was decision time about her future and where she was going to go once school ended - university or work?  Her friends had called her on the phone and suggested they all went down town but Sophie had said "It's a beautiful day to leave me alone" and had set off in the direction of her uncle's farm.

Uncle Seb had always been her favourite uncle, her father's big brother, and the one she always turned to if she had a problem.  Dad was a bit too soft with her but uncle Seb was fair and just the right man to go to with a problem.  

After a short chat with him and some of Aunty Dorothy's home made lemonade, she went off into the field and sat amongst the flowers, her jacket slung over her shoulders.  This was the perfect place to sit on a lovely day towards the end of summer.  The birds circled overhead and a little chick came right up to her.  "I wish you could talk to me" she said, "sort me out and give me the right answers to my questions."

She sat and sat and the little chick stayed with her chirping away.  It really was the perfect day to think and it was made all the better because she was alone with her thoughts.  

All too soon it was four o'clock and she realised that it was time to set off back home before her uncle came looking for her.  She had made the decision.  She knew exactly what she wanted to do.  The day had been perfect and the little chick had helped her tremendously, she was going to stay on at school, work hard and eventually go on to university.  She loved animals and although the training was tough and long she was certain she wanted to work with animals and so becoming a vet was definitely her way forward.  It was something she had dreamed of as a child and today she was determined that was her goal in life.

And so Sophie got to the gate, shouted and waved to her uncle and skipped merrily on her way home.  Her parents would be so pleased with her decision.  She was - she was certain she had made the right decision.'

WOYWW 694

What a week this has been.  I spent Monday glued to the television watching the funeral of Our Queen.  Such a sad occasion with many a tear but how wonderful were the Royal Family and our new King  who must have been breaking inside with his grief.  I did hear this morning, Tuesday (yes, I am scheduling this), that the Queen Consort had been managing with a broken toe, we don't always realise just how much they put on a brave face for us their subjects do we?

Anyway, I am away again but this time have had no internet and that is why I am scheduling this down at a local library.  It drives me crazy when I cannot get a signal - I have even tried standing outside but there is nothing.  The other week it was fine out of doors at times so I expected it to be like that again.  At this rate I think I will be going home soon.  Just hope someone can link me, pretty please.

I did bring lots of supplies with me but I think I must have left a box of stuff at home as the things I really wanted are not here and so I am struggling - will have to do a rethink on what I can make.  Maybe I should just have myself a bit of a holiday.

Well, I will leave it there for this week, short for Julia.  Hope all is well with everyone.

I have been able to get on with my folio (far left) that I started with Carol at the Club the other week so that is a good thing.  Now I want to do another one, it is such a great project but I want to do one in a different colour next.

Art Journal Journey - Fur and/or Feathers

Another journal page for my theme at Art Journal Journey and this time it is one featuring a torn piece of paper which I had in my stash of collage materials.  Now to be honest I do not know where this came from, did I do it or someone else?  If really have no idea but it is something I like and so I decided to use it in my journal with my feathers theme as it featured a bird cage and a little bird holding a sign in the bottom right hand corner.

I went over the already cream background with a little Vintage Photo Oxide ink  and then a touch of Peeled paint around the edges.  I then took a piece of card and stamped one or two images with the green and brown and put the first image on the top.  The whole image was then placed on my page which had been inked with \antique linen Oxide and had had Abs circle stencil placed on top.

One thing I always liked when I did a workshop during the lockdown with Tracy Evans from Aall & Create was how she used bits of card in strips to create texture and interest on a card or journal page and so I used some of the many strips I have saved and added them down the side of the image I now had.  Time for a bird.  Or two?

I stamped and coloured the bird from Tracy's  using Oxide inks and placed him on top of the strips of card.  There was something else needed ... and so I stamped another bird, this time from Tracy's and placed him at the bottom of the page as if he was standing just going into the main image.

I hope you like this page which I think is quite different from my usual style and join me over at Art Journal Journey with something with fur or feathers.

Art Journal Journey - 1927

 Today's page features yet another of the Roaring Twenties women.  I have so many rubber stamps of this era as it was my favourite period when I first began stamping.  Probably captured by the romance of it all at that time.  Saying that I have always enjoyed the art and dress of the Art Nouveau and Deco periods and today's focal image comes from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate which I bought at the time.

I think the young girl is holding a rather large fur stole but you could be forgiven for thinking she has a huge feathered fan.   Whatever it is it fits in with the Fur and/or Feathers theme at Art Journal Journey.  If we look at the postmarks she is either in Casablanca or hoping to go there, perhaps she has a date with Humphrey Bogart?  Or maybe her young man is over there as she does look rather wistful.

To begin with I took my piece of cardstock and Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold Distress Inks and smooched them about the card with the blending tools to try to get a good blend.  Next I stamped the images on the background, again I think they are from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate apart from the one which looks a bit like sequin waste which is one of my background tinies along with the script.

Finally I mounted the image on a piece of blue crd cut to page size in my journal and used the Feather Leaf stencil from Lavinia Stamps in the opposite corners.

This is another of my pages for Art Journal Journey and the Fur and/or Feathers challenge.

Art Journal Journey - Another Bird

Before I begin can I extend a warm welcome to my newest followers Barb and Sylvia.  Lovely to have you on board.

Another bird for Art Journal Journey and the theme "Fur and/or Feathers" but this time a completely different style of stamp to the last one.  This one is from a north UK company called 'Pretty Gets Gritty" and is more of a stylised bird.

This time I decided to use my Distress Inks for the background as I found some die cuts in my stash which were left over bits from some previous work with my Aall & Create dies.  I love these die cuts designed by Abs and use them a lot on my cards.

I took some of the colours from one of the die cuts to determine my background and used an assortment of colours and then stencilled a large feather across the page diagonally.  You can only see a little of it at the bottom left corner and above the wings of the bird.  Similarly you can only see a little of the transparent stencilled dots underneath the letters and numbers.  I got carried away adding things to my page.

I decided to leave the bird white, adding just a touch of blue along some of the outer edges and then I gave it a green stone for its eye.  I added some left over flowers, again Aall & Create, from yet another project to emphasise the colour in the top left die cut and some circles from something I did simply years ago.  

I think I will spend more time looking through my Collage drawers to see what else I can find to use in my journal pages as I so enjoyed using all of this from my stash.  I really would like my journaling to go down a different path to what I have been used to at times.

Jeudi Journal - Fabulous

The words "I am Fabulous" are the ones that came up today for this journal page and they are from a Tim Holtz Snarky Book.

'Susie had gone into town to meet up with her friend Janet.  It was the usual Thursday meeting that they had each month and today Susie was bursting with news to tell her friend.  They always met in the "Friendly Teapot' a local spot for ladies to meet and sharek a cup of tea, or coffee, indeed it really was the place to be seen.

Susie arrived early, eager to tell her friend what she had just witnessed, it really had been quite bizarre and Janet would either laugh her sides off or be mortified when she heard Susie's story.  Oh it really was naughty of Janet to be late, any other time it would not have mattered but Susie began impatiently tapping her teaspoon on her saucer much to the annoyance of the old man sat at the next table.  Then Janet arrived and the tapping stopped.

"How are you?" asked Janet.

"Never mind me" replied Susie, "Guess who I saw on my way to meet you?"

"No idea" replied Janet, "but by the look on your face you are going to tell me."

"Well", said Susie, lowering her voice as much as she could, "I saw Mildred Arquhart in the park today.  I was on my way to meet you but had an errand or two to do first so went by the way of the parkland and took a shortcut through Mushroom Way.  I could not believe my eyes."

"Why, what happened, was she with someone?"

"No, she was with her dog.  Well, at least I think it was her dog she was with, it had wings on- and a rose on its head, and boots on all of its four feet, and she has had it coloured Pink!"  Susie stopped to see the look on her friend's face before continuing.  "Well, you should have seen her.  She had a fairly short dress on and a rather large hat - not the brimmed variety but sort of leaves or feathers or something piled on top of her head.  It was quite pretty in a way but then she had the most enormous pair of spectacles on too."

"Go on then" said Janet, "what was so peculiar about that?"

"Well, it wasn't so much what she was wearing but the fact that she was dancing around and around in circles singing  'I am fabulous' and the dog, dressed so stupidly was sniffing the mushrooms.  I began to wonder if she and the dog had been on them.  Then I began to wonder if it was me who had been sniffing them as I walked along.  It was all so very peculiar."

"So did you say anything to her" asked Janet.

"No" said Susie, "I was a bit embarrassed that if I stopped and spoke to her people would think I was, well, you know, a bit like her."

"Maybe she has had some good news, a windfall on the lottery, a part in a West End production or something like that." suggested Janet.

"Mmm," I think I will go and buy a newspaper, if she has had a big win it might be in there.  Hang on a minute whilst I slip out."  

And with that Susie was out through the door, much to the amusement of the old man who had been sitting listening to the prattle of these two young women.  Of coursed the girls had no idea they had been his afternoon's entertainment.'

Gosh another long story, I just go on and on when I start, maybe I should have a story in mind when I do begin.  Anyway, I stencilled some stars at the top of the page and then painted the whole page with Teal acrylic paint.  The stars did not show very well so I rubbed some Pearl Lustre over the top and wiped most of it off with a baby wipe so that it just stayed on the edges of the stars.  Lastly I drew a fancy border around the edge of the page but the scan has chopped it off.  Sorry.

As there is a dog on the page I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the theme includes "fur and feathers" and even if this pink dog is shaved and does not have any fur I think her wings will have feathers.  

A Little Furry Rabbit for Art Journal Journey

It has been a week since we saw photographs of our Queen, Elizabeth II, appointing our new Prime Minister.  Little did we know when we saw Her Majesty's smile that two days later we would be hearing that she had passed and we would be welcoming a new Sovereign, King Charles III.  It has been a very sad time and her passing has touched the lives of so many as has been shown on television each day.

I was surprised at how touched I became and have had many a tearful moment as I watched things unfurl on our TV.  I marvelled at how her children, grown up they may be, held themselves when inside they must be hurting at the loss of their Mother.  And how wonderful was the new King as he got out of his car and walked over to the waiting crowds to shake hands with some of them.  Of course I enjoyed seeing William and Kate on their walk about, what a wonderful Princess she has made, such a beautiful looking couple. 

On Sunday last I went to a Craft Show in Harrogate, West Yorkshire and there I saw one of my favourite guys, Abs from Aall & Create.   I hadn't seen him since before the pandemic so it was lovely to go and meet up.  Luckily for me the show wasn't busy first thing in the morning so I got to spend lots of time talking to him and enjoying his company so much.  (And had a long chat with Debbie too who I have not seen for ages). So today I must feature stamps from Aall & Create including the light bulbs (387 Steampunk Alchemist) which he uses quite often in his own work (and which I so admire).  Abs,  I have done my best with the light bulbs, honestly.

As I am linking to my theme at Art Journal Journey I had to feature 'fur' and what could be furrier than a lovely rabbit?  I love this image by Bipasha. (529 In The Wild).  The flowers are from 'Lotus Cluster' (stamp 441).

I began by sticking some bits of text on the page, you need to look closely, and then I went over with a turquoise acrylic paint and stencilled one or two ferns in a deeper blue before adding my favourite tiny crackle stamp in Versafine Nocturne.

I hope you like this page and look forward to seeing something you do at Art Journal Journey.

WOYWW 693

Almost forgot to post.  Have been glued to the television watching all the happenings in London.  So sad to see the Queen coming home to the Palace.  It's been a teary time since last Thursday when the news arrived of the passing of Her Majesty.  Almost unbelievable that we saw her with her new PM on Tuesday and then heard of her passing two days later.  I feel so for her family having to put on such a brave face when all they probably want to be doing is hide away and let their grief pour out.  What an example of courage they all are.

Anyway, I am going to have to be quick with this post for WOYWW,  I need to get to bed as I am up and out early in the morning (chiropractor - needed so much). Unfortunately my desk does not contain much activity as far as "making" is concerned.  I have spent the last two days, and more, re-cataloguing my Lavinia stamps.  Not all Lavinia but some that are similar and can be used alongside them.  I have not been concentrating that well and discovered some have been done twice, maybe what has been going on has had something to do with it.  Anyway, here is my desk - or at least the little table I have taken to working on.

At the back are the stamped sheets inside the laminating sleeves waiting to go through the machine.  In front of them are the actual stamps piled up on their acetate sheets.  That is my Versafine Claire Nocturne pad and the dirty thing in front is my babywipe - yes I get as much out of one as I can.  The red bit is my foam mat I use to stamp on.

On Sunday we had a day out in Harrogate.  Haven't been there in ages and certainly not since before the pandemic.  It was lovely to go and visit the town but to begin with I went to the Craft Show for two hours on my own solely to meet up with a couple of friends I have not seen in ages.

First stop was AAll & Create where I could not wait to see my friend Abs.  He is a lovely guy and it was as if we had only met the day before.  I was lucky in that it was early morning and the crowds had not descended so I got at least an hour to chat with him and look what he made for me (below).  He was demonstrating Oxide Blending and his stamps, of course, on circles of card he had pre-cut.  Just for me he used the only big circle he had so this is my special - but it is what he wrote on the back that means most to me.

The next stand just happened to be Stampers Grove and the lovelyn Jo Rice was demonstrating.  It was lovely to see her as she had been to our club the month before doing a class for us.  I had a good old chin wag with her too, and found out that Lisa, who works on the stand with her remembered me from way way back when I did a workshop one Sunday for Happy Stampers.  She said she still has the little book I made with them.  That was in my early days of workshops so I hope I was ok at that time.

Then it was time to see Amanda from Honey Doo Crafts.  I was hoping to see her mum, Kay, as well but she had not travelled up to the show this time.  However I will see her soon at another show they are going to be at.  We had a good old catch up and put the world to rights between us until my cell phone buzzed.

All too soon it was time to go and meet up with my other half and spend the rest of the day with him in and around Harrogate.  The sun was shining, it was a lovely day and we stopped for lunch and then had a trip to Betty's Tea Rooms before setting off home.  I just hope we managed to walk off those calories before they settled too comfortably on my hips.  For some reason they never stay with him!  Not fair.

BTW I have another post scheduled for 7am - it was created a few weeks ago but for reasons was posted today.  I'm not going mad posting twice on one day - there are reasons.

Art Journal Journey - Erté

Erté, or Romain de Tirtoff was a Russian born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté from the French pronunciation of his initials.  He was most famous for his fashion designs and was often called the "Father of Art Deco".  He was also a costume and set designer, and some of the most notable silent films he worked on included "Paris", "Ben Hur" and "Dance Madness". (Wikipedia)

When he was 15 he went to Paris for a year and whilst there he designed "Demoiselle à la balancelle" an Art Nouveau piece which he did not include in his biography as he thought it uninteresting.  I beg to differ as I love the piece and am sure many people do.

His decision to move to Paris, in 1910, was made despite objections from his father who wanted him to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer.  He assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family.

In 1915 he secured a contract with 'Harper's Bazaar' magazine and launched his career designing costumes and stage sets.  Between then and 1937 he had designed over 200 covers for 'Harper"s Bazaar' as well as other magazines.  He is, though, perhaps most famous for his fashion designs which captured the 'Art Deco period in which he worked.  On Broadway the celebrated French chanteuse, Iréne Bordoni wore his designs.

This is one of my much loved Erté stamps which depicts "Fur" in two ways, firstly there is the dog,  and then the lady is sporting a rather elegant fur collar on her outfit.

Crushed Olive and Scattered Straw Oxides were used for the main background, again with several of my small background stamps.  the teal background page has a Lavinia stencil in Vintage Photo across the base and up the left side.

I  hope you like the elegant figure of Erté and it gives you an idea for a journal page of your own for Art Journal Journey.  Hope to see you there with Fur and/or Feathers.

It's a Bird at last

I am sure you were beginning to think I was never going to post a page showing a bird and with a theme like 'feathers' it seems an obvious choice.  So here is one of my bird pages using Aall & Create stamps by Tracy Evans and a design similar to one that Tracy has used as a card.

My journal pages are off white, almost cream and the background for this was done using Broken Circle, a stencil by my lovely friend Abs, with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide brushed through.  Love his stencils.

I then stamped some circles from Foliage, in Nocturne down the left hand side of the page, followed by some of my favourite numbers (Splattered Numbers),  as first and second generation in Gathered Twigs DO.  

Finally I stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn the bird from Birdsong and some flowers, from Flower Moments, which I coloured accordingly and fussy cut out.  Words also by, you guessed it,  Tracy.  

So this is my next sample page for Art Journal Journey where I am guest host and have chosen 'Fur and/or Feathers" as the theme.  I look forward to seeing something you do, it is lovely to see your work.  Remember to check the rules.

Jeudi Journal - Drink!

This is the last quote from the list supplied by Wendy and next week we start on a new set taken from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments.   Today we have the quote "I used to drink but that was hours ago".  

"Betty and Bettina were two sisters.  Why on earth their mother had decided on two names so similar the girls never understood.  Bettina often found her friends shortening her name to 'Betti' but then it sounded just like her younger sisters name and if they were together with their friends it could become a bit confusing.  

They both liked to go for walks with their dogs and meet up.  You see, Bettina had moved into a flat with her boyfriend so the girls did not see as much of one another as they used to.  Betty had been going out a lot with her friends, to cinemas and discos - mainly discos, and it was there she had met this young guy, Marcus.  Bettina was eager to hear all about him and hoped that she might get to meet him soon.  In fact she had asked her boyfriend if he would mind if they held a little dinner for her sister and the 'new guy'.

"I was wondering, well, we were wondering, if you and Marcus would like to come around one evening for a curry or something.  You know how much I want to meet this new guy of yours." said Bettina.

"Sorry" replied Betty, "but it just isn't going to happen.  I've given him the big heave ho."

"No," said Bettina, "You've only been seeing him a few weeks, what on earth went wrong, and why didn't you tell me?"

"Well," said Betty.  "It happened a couple of times.  The first time was the week before last and then twice this last week I smelled alcohol, rather strongly, on his breath.  No girl wants to kiss a man who smells of alcohol like that and so I was a bit put off the first time.  When it happened again I hesitated from saying anything but the third time I also noticed he was a bit off balance.  He kept talking a lot and I noticed a slight wobble in his voice."

"No" said Bettina.  "What happened then?  Was he drunk?"

"No, nothing like that, he wasn't falling about or anything but I asked him outright 'have you been drinking, are you what my dad would call a 'boozer'?  And guess what he said?  He turned and said "I used to drink but that was hours ago.  Well that was it.  I didn't want any more to do with him.  I don't mind a drink or two myself but he obviously drinks a lot and to think he had been having a pint or whatever just before he came out with me.  Ooo, I was so cross."

"What happened next?" enquired Bettina.

"Oh, I just left him standing there and went and caught up to my friends and we all went to the disco.  We are planning on going to a music festival next weekend, taking tents and all that kind of thing.  I might meet a nice guy there, who knows."

The theme at Art Journal Journey this month is 'Fur and/or Feathers' and this page and story has a couple of dogs on it so I am entering this into AJJ today.  I made a background with Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold.  Then I attached my figures and drew a wiggly line around the edge to create a border.  Hope to see you over at AJJ later with your journal page.

WOYWW 692

Don't know what your weather has been like but it has been a little mixed up north with some lovely warm sunny days followed by wet ones and then sunshine again.  It's a bit hit and miss at deciding what to wear so I am getting as much wear as I can from my summer wardrobe at the moment before it gets packed away again  There's a definite autumnal feel about the early mornings though.  Thankfully the leaves are not dropping around us but it won't be long now before they are.

My desk, again, is a packed up one and went from this

To this in no time at all when I wanted to serve dinner.

I've been playing with my Lavinia stamps.  Being new to them I need lot of playtime in order to get some kind of pictures like those who use them regularly can do.  I think it is going to take a while.  I did, however make this little Thinchie book with Jo  Rice recently.

The two images not stuck down are for the front and back.  The one on the left was using Brusho's and the one on the right was watercolouring.  Both were still drying out when I took the photo.

On Monday we had a little trip out.  Unfortunately my Rollator got damaged because someone who shall be nameless took it down some steps for me, came back to help me down (the handrail was very rickety) but did not put the brake on my Rollator.  Suddenly it started moving towards the edge of the prom and fell down about 8' onto a stony beach (stones not pebbles).  It still works but no longer will it fold down nicely to fit in the car.  When we got back he checked to see how much it would cost to replace - £497 - OUCH!  I think I will try to get it fixed.

Anyway, we visited the little church on the headland, so beautiful and with a lovely man looking after it and then walked back through the village to the car.  On the way back I saw these little pigs (they are sitting on the wall)

and this huge plaque in the heart of the village

This is a beachside cafe - unfortunately it was not open but Alice fans might like to see it exists

and one of the many carefully tended gardens by the roadside which had this birdbox and plaques

I now wish I had taken some photos of the beautiful cottage gardens.  As it was such a lovely day most of them had their doors open and to do so would have felt like I was intruding so I didn't but they were so picturesque I guess they are used to being photographed.  Maybe next time ... with a new Rollator (only kidding).

So has anyone any idea of where I was?  The large plaque is entitled "The Spirit of XXX" so someone might know.

Will leave it there for this week and I just hope I can link to Julia and WOYWW as the internet is not good where I am.  I have been having to comment on Art Journal Journey where I am guest host for the month each day and so I have been up at 6 in a morning in order to get a signal.  Maybe I will be lucky this morning and able to link in to you all.  Should I not get to visit you for a day or so don't worry, I will be there as I should be home shortly.

Toodle Pip!

For those who knew Jo (Pritchard) her youngest daughter Claire, has been in touch and we have renewed our friendship and I think we'll be keeping in touch in the future again.  Jo was cremated on Monday. RIP 

Art Journal Journey - Foxy

 

Definitely fur today.  A fox who has the accompanying words "Walk on the Wild Side".  This is an image from Aall & Create drawn by the lovely Bipasha.  If you look carefully you will see that the fox has a pair of spectacles on but for some reason I cannot get a very good image.

To begin with I put some torn pieces of paper on the page and then gave it a wash of blue and white paint, resulting in a mottled effect with the blue going lighter in the main and some areas of white showing.  Again I used my small background stamps randomly over the page, some stamped as second generation to give a lighter effect giving the appearance of  depth to the page.  

The flowers were coloured with Inktense pencils used as watercolour.

Again I hope this page provides some inspiration for you to work with and look forward to seeing you at Art Journal Journey soon.

Art Journal Journey - The Twenties?

Before I begin I would like to extend a welcome to my latest follower Bonnie.  I hope you will enjoy myk blog today and in the future.  As soon as I reach civilisation I will try to find your blog and pay you a visit.   Thank you for being my newest follower.

I decided to stick with the one figure on a page again today and show you "Fur" and "Feathers" both worn at the same time with this Roaring Twenties lady which is what I am featuring today on Art Journal Journey.  She has a lovely feather in her hair and a fur stole around her shoulders.

I love the fashion of this era and have quite a collection of stamps depicting ladies wearing outfits such as this, in fact I have a large collection of Erté images because I admired him a great deal.  But as this is not an Erté design I will leave that for another date.

For the background of the main image I used Squeezed Lemonade and Peeled Paint Distress Ink and some of my small background stamps and a bottle cap.  I placed a potted fern (Non Sequitur) behind my lady who is an "Urban" image.

I then mounted her on a lilac page on which I stencilled some Fern-like shapes using a Lavinia stencil and Tumbled Glass Oxide ink.

I hope this inspires you to look in your stash and maybe bring the Roaring Twenties back to life if you like that era as I do.

Art Journal Journey - Angel

Today I thought I would concentrate on "Feathers" for my post on Art Journal Journey, and rather than doing a bird I have given you an Angel.  Once again this is a full page in my journal made especially for this theme of "Fur and/or Feathers".  I remember seeing and falling in love with this stamp and I have used it in several ways since I bought it.

I had a large letter "A" in my stash and decided that it had lain there long enough and it was about time it was used, similarly the wings that are diecuts obtained from a workshop somewhere.  I remember there being two different shapes of wings both of which embossed beautifully.  Because the letter was in green I went along with my favourite colour scheme of blues and greens - ie turquoise/teal shades.  The background is Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers and the stencil used on the background is from Aall & Create - Enchanted Garden.

The Angel's dress and wings are coloured in with blue and turquoise Promarkers and the frame around is simply hand drawn with a Posca pen. Sorry, I cannot remember who the verse is by.

I hope this has given you another idea of how feathers can be used other than with a bird.

Fur and/or Feathers

Another month, where is time going?  It seems to be passing so quickly and this month I am hosting at Art Journal Journey and have chosen "Fur and/or Feathers" as my theme.  I was so pleased when they asked me to host again and looking at my stamps I found I had lots of animals and birds that I rarely used so I decided to bring them out and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

Saying that my first page is actually the cover of my journal and features both "Fur" and "Feathers" both of which were small copies of posters I had in my stash.  I had to check whether dogs had fur or hair and read that most of them have a fine layer of fur at the base of their coats which protects them from the cold.  There are lots of interesting facts out there about 'fur' if you want to pursue it.

I couldn't find anything out about my second picture which features a bird, looks like a robin to me, but maybe it was an American advertisement and someone will know a bit more about it.

My background was done with Oxides blended together and then an assortment of my tiny background stamps randomly placed over using Memento London Fog which is a nice grey ink, not quite as harsh as black.  I also used a transparent Gesso through a stencil in parts which actually catch the light in real life and also provide a bit of texture to the page.

This will be the cover of my journal, as mentioned above, as I created a series of pages and then used my Rollabind to hold them together.  I chose this method rather than a ring binder so that pages could be added to as and when I felt like it.  

You can see the punchings here

I do hope I see you over at Art Journal Journey during September with your pictures of "Fur and/or Feathers" - see you later - but in the meantime it is Jeudi Journal time too and Wendy has a quote which I need to use.

As you can see, the quote is "I thought I couldn't love you less - you proved me wrong".  The background was done with Pistachio and Birch acrylic paint, some tiny pieces of book page were stuck on and then 'Diamonds in the Rough' was the Dylusions stencil used with white Gesso.

Mr and Mrs Cadog (cat and dog together) had been having a bit of an acrimonious time of it lately.  One thing lead to another and the situation between them was tense most days.  Tabby was one of those people who liked a quiet life.  She always tried to give of her best to the whole family even though it sometimes led her into hot water.  The kids all had little household jobs to do and she was a stickler for trying to make sure they stuck to their chores.  And that included Jem, her husband.  He had his chores too.

The two of them were just about speaking when Tabby saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for something she thought Jem would love. He was a bit of a collector and had an impressive display of binoculars/monoculars in the spare room.  There staring her straight in the face was the most beautiful pair of antique binoculars Tabby had ever seen.  Straight away she thought Jem would love them, they were quite pricey but he didn't mind paying over the odds for something that he loved and there was no way she could afford to buy them for him so she took a photograph with her cell phone and sent it to him at work,

She didn't quite expect the reply she got, "I'm busy at the moment, got my hands full as Rex is off ill this week.  Stop messaging me."

"A simple 'thanks' would have been sufficient" she said out loud to herself and then sent him a text telling him just that.  She wasn't expecting a reply but Jem certainly did feel like replying,

"I was only being polite and letting you know I was busy at the time.  A simple "how is Rex, nothing serious I hope", would have been fine.  I find you rude and selfish.  Now don't message me again when I am at work."

That was a red rag to a bull for Tabby and she made her mind up that tonight's dinner would be done in batches, one for Jem and one for the rest of the family.  It was to be curry tonight and Jem would need lots of water with his.  His would be hot, mega hot, and if he said anything she would tell him straight - 'I thought I couldn't love you less - you proved me wrong'.  And I hope you will think about this next time you reply to one of my messages."  

And with that she gave his curry just one more shake of chilli powder, she'd show hm he was wrong to upset her."

Don't know about you, but I would not cross a cat, black or tabby, or any other kind,