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,