Art Journal Journey

 Scraping in on the last day of June (where has it gone?) to join Matilde at Art Journal Journey with her fabulous theme - People.  I jut haven't done enough pages and so rushed in at the end with three in succession.

Today we have two aspiring  (note not inspiring) girls dressed in their frilly tutu's dancing in the local ballet school production of Swan Lake.  Just imagine how proud their parents must have been as they watched the twins on stage.

Little did they know, but Meghan had a strong desire to be the White Swan and so she had made an attachment for her head-dress so that she felt like that is who she was.  Obviously she had little knowledge of the story, maybe if she had she would not have wanted to be the White Swan.

Another page which I found already sprayed up.  All I have done is stamp some swans on it to represent the ballet (looks as if Meghan is riding on the back of one of them), and cut out a white swan which is peeking out                  of the top of her head-dress.  Meghan obviously thinks she looks "the part".

Art Journal Journey

I almost gave this a title as it shows the young boy waiting on the wall for his girlfriend.   What a shame she turned up with her younger sister.  Perhaps her mother had done it on purpose, made her look after her younger sister, or maybe it was just a coincidence.  I wonder what happened next?

I decided to join in with Matilde at Art Journal Journey who has People as her theme this moth,  I meant to post this one yesterday but had a bit of a problem  and so it is getting close to the wire, or should that be July 1st?

Like Friday's post the background was one I found in a drawer on which I stamped some brick walls, added a couple of strips of masking tape, some script and a splat!  I had obviously covered the card with some Gesso to begin with and then I think I had used sprays to give some colour.  They do have a lovely sheen to them.

There is only tomorrow left to join in so I am hoping to do another page but there is no telling what will happen.

Women

 Well, on Thursday we had a blog page headed "Men" and today we have one headed "Women".  I wanted to do another page for Matilde's challenge at Art Journal Journal and so came up with this one featuring women.

I've wanted to do an extra one or two during this month but my health has not allowed me to do as much as I wanted, the perils of aging.  So here I am, at the end of the month, with at least one page but there is another one complete and one in my head.

I was helped by the fact that searching for something I found some journal pages I had done quite some time ago - just background colour, so knowing Matilde's challenge was People I searched in the drawer of Tim Holtz figures and selected these three women.

I had bought an Andy Skinner stamp called Enigma a while ago and not used it so I inked it up and stamped patches of it here and there.  A favourite stamp of mine was done by someone I used to know personally, Penny.  And so I selected two of the complex creations (Mandelbrot set) which I like as patterns in their own right, and a title was born for the page.

So here is another page from me for Mathild'e's challenge at AJJ - hope you like it.  I'm close to the wire but hopefully can get at least another one in.

Jeudi Journal - Men!

 Have you ever wondered, as the two on my journal page today obviously have, about men and science?  The quote I am using today is "If we can put one man on the moon, why can't we put them all there?"  No, well does this quote make you start to think?  Or does your other half/brother/son or whatever male is in your life not annoy you enough to think like that?

"Eden and Lacey were two good friends, both married with one child - Lacey had a little girl, Eden a little boy.  The children had been born just a month apart and so the two girls spent a lot of time together.  This day they had gone a walk together whilst both children were in Nursery.  It was lovely to hae time to themselves without the children, although they loved them dearly.  

They had wandered to the edge of town where the woodland started and they stopped by the old ramshackle house that used to be quite pretty in its day.

"Oh, it's so good to get out in the fresh air" said Lacey, "just what I needed after the morning I had."

"What's the matter?" asked Eden, "Robert annoying you or is it Darcey, she seemed ok this morning when you dropped her off and I never noticed anything between the two of you?"

"Oh it's Robert, as if you wouldn't know.  He is so annoying.  At times I think he wears those darned head phones just to block out my voice.  I have to ask him something at least three times, the third time shouting so he can hear me.  I get quite worn out repeating myself over and over again and finally shouting at the top of my voice.  He really is so annoying.  If we can put one man on the moon, why can't we put them all there?"

"Erm, I can see what you mean and I fully understand why you feel the way you do but all men aren't the same.  Paul is a gem and I have no desire for him to be banished to the moon."

"Not today you can't but just wait until he annoys you and you will see my point.  I'm think of getting a dog and teaching it to chew plastic things like his ear phones."

Eden looked at her friend smiling as she did so and she did understand, it wasn't the first time Lacey had mentioned how Robert was permanently attached to his computer.  She knew she would hate for Paul to be like that.  She also knew Lacey's mood would change in a tick when she saw her beautiful daughter again.  She did look so much like her daddy that she couldn't be mad at him for long.

WOYWW 838

 Here we are again with another WOYWW - time is on roller skates again for me.  There seems to be a lot of sleeping being done and very little crafting, I really need to pull my finger out and get something done.  This morning I woke to another day of rain, quite heavy which meant it was going to be a craft rather than exploring day for me but I seemed to have lost Mr Mojo again!  

As you can see on my desk there is a bit of work in my Lavinia Journal happening, but a "bit" it is.  I have mushrooms on my mind and fully intended to do some walking and find some real ones, mainly a red capped one with white dots as made in felt the other week.  The walk didn't happen so nothing was found, mainly due to the weather which up north tended to be on the 'wet' side.  In fact Sunday we had a birthday party to go to and driving was a nightmare on the motorway. Driving around Preston was like driving through a car wash and I thought of Helen and the heatwave she had mentioned on her trip to Kew between my prayers for us to get to our destination safely.

Sorry, I digress, here is my desk and as you can see I am making a scene on a piece of card to put in my journal with 'shroom houses.  The stamps on the right hand side show images of some lights which I have had a long time but never used.  I think one will make a nice addition to this page as a light outside the house on the right.  I have a little mouse holding a light bulb which will sit on top of the smaller mushroom and if I colour the background quite dark the light will look quite good with a yellow glow around it.  That's the plan.  But as the weather forecast is better than it has been I might just find myself out scooting about.

Now to visit Sarah in her Craft Shed and see what she and others have been up to.  Hopefully more productive than me.

jeudi Journal- - Cooking with Wine

 This week our quote which we have to marry to Art Journal Journey's challenge is "I love to cook with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food" sometimes if we are doing a special meal and cooking it together we have a glass "for the cook" ie we both have a glass of wine.  Does that ring a bell?

In my story today we have Clarissa who is sat down wearing darkened glasses when her friend calls.  Effie, het friend, wonders what on earth Clarissa is doing sitting on the floor with her back to the chair.

"What is the matter - and why are you sitting on the floor?" she asks.

"Oh, nothing I felt a little woozy and so I sat down, but I missed the chair and ended upon the floor.  It's quite comfortable to be honest and I find it good for my back to have the chair behind me."

"Oh dear" said Effie, "Do you think you need to see a doctor?  I mean having dizzy spells at your age isn't good."

"No, no need to panic" replied Clarissa, "I love to cook with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food.  Maybe I drank a little too much this time."

Effie looked worried, it wasn't like her friend to drink to that extent, maybe she should see a doctor but if she wouldn't go there was not much she could do about it.  "I'll just keep an eye on her over the next few weeks" she said to herself.  "Shall I put the kettle on and we can both have a nice cup of tea?"

This was a page in my square Pink Pig Journal that had Gesso or some kind of modelling paste pushed through a stencil or two in various places on its surface so I just went over with DO's Cracked Pistachio to reveal what was underneath, looked like a bit of a mish mash of stencils so I left it.  I wanted to find a wine bottle or label inn my stash and came across this for Vermouth.  It fit quite nicely in the gap and so that was my journal page finished for this week.  

Think I had had a bit of wine when I put the quote on at the top.  It's a bit skewwy!

WOYWW 837

 These numbers are growing steadily and this is week number 837 another 63 and we will be at 900 and before we know it it will be a thousand.

It's been a funny old week but I have actually done some stamping and my desk is witness to it as I was stamping last night and haven't finished yet.  Mr Mojo has been on holiday and needed a quick swift kick up the back end to get me motivated to make a card.  I had two swaps to do, and whereas I usually do them well before the time I was half way through the month and I have only made one.  Not a clue what to do for the second one and don't want to repeat the first one as I made a mess of it three times before it got done.  It would be torture if I had to do another.

Also had to make a birthday card but cannot show it on here as she does come and have a peek now and again.  I have to finish this off in the morning so it can get in the post quickly.

Maybe this mushroom making had something to do with the card making mojo disappearing.  I mean needle-felting although I have not ventured to make another one as yet,  I have made two more Fly Agarics, both smaller ones just for a bit of fun.  Saying that I found the smallest one the most difficult to do despite the fact it was the third.

I did enjoy displaying them after I found some great Pot Pourri in a pot at home.  It is now saved in a box for that purpose.  I used one of my blog pages as a back cloth so here it is;

Guess it is time to get to bed so I can be up early and finish the birthday card off and join in with WOYWW by visiting Sarahs' Craft Shed and whoever else is out and about early'ish.  That's if I wake early.

Jeudi Journal - Face

"I wouldn't pay for a face like yours, I'd ask for a refund" is the quote to be used today with the challenge with Wendy.  Matilde at Art Journal Journey has chosen 'People' for her challenge so I am marrying the two together.

"Lori has been to her favourite boutique in town, La Mode, which stocks clothes with a slight French air about them, at least she thinks they are chic and suit her.  As she walks out who does she bump into but Janine, her near neighbour who she often sees at the local tennis club.  Lori does not care for Janine and Janine does not care for Lori so the atmosphere is often quite cool when they do meet.

"Did I just see you coming out of La Mode?" asked Janine.

"Yes, I've just been ordering something for the Awards Evening at the Tennis Club" she replied.  "I thought at first I wanted something black but Madam showed me this gorgeous gold number and I just fell in love when I tried it on.  Can't tell you any more than that, probably shouldn't have even mentioned the colour, you'll just have to wait until the Awards to see it.  Have you got your dress yet, I presume you are going."

"Of course, and I had my dress sent over from Milan.  Saw it in a magazine and just could not resist it.  The only way I could get it was by ordering it from there direct.  I've just come from the Beauty Box, trying different make ups.  I like this blue eye make up she has tried on me today.  It was supposed to be taken off but I couldn't resist just leaving it on.  Have you thought of doing something like having professional make up done for the evening?

"No" replied Lori, "I have a cousin who works at the television studios and she is so good at make up, I am going to get her to do mine for me.  Won't cost me anything either.  How much will yours cost?"

Oh, it's quite expensive but then it is the best in town, I mean you just have to look at my eyes now."

Lori looked and smiled a little, not that Janine would notice, she was too busy admiring her reflection in a shop window.  Lori could not help herself "I wouldn't pay for a face like yours, I'd ask for a refund" she said as she turned and walked the other way.

It hadn't registered with Janine, she was far too busy admiring herself in the shop window.

The background is an old one in my square Pink Pig Journal which was made with Distress Oxides in greens and blues (probably Pistachio and Broken China) with various background stamps scattered over.  It had two winged figures on which I tried to cover with the figures and the shops.  It was about time it got used.

WOYWW 836

Morning everyone, is the weather taking up or not where you are.  Yesterday was lovely, especially in the afternoon but I was stuck doing medical things in the morning.  Had an echo in the morning, with a man!  Never had a male do it before.  He was lovely, obviously foreign and he introduced himself as Pedro.  I asked where he came from and he said Portugal so I had a smile inside for Pedro from Portugal.  Dashed home and off to podiatry but then was not in a good way with hip pain so didn't feel like going out, hopefully this afternoon as I have yet to christen my scooter.

Hubby was going to pay for me to go private for the new hip operation so now he has no need to.  The hip was going to make a big difference to his life as much as mine,  We don't walk as much as we used to as I cannot manage the same so he decided he would buy me a scooter.  Woop Woop!!  Spend some money that way instead of the op and cheer me up too.  [The hat last week was in readiness for my scooting down the Prom.  The ear rings (?) so I look "the part".]  My scooter is just a little one that goes at 4 mph so he can walk alongside and we can resume our walks.  That's the reason for being in Warrington last week.

I tried a few scooters, it was obvious straight away to me which I liked and didn't like.  Being so tall was a factor I had examined in my research over the last week or so on the internet.  He wanted good suspension so my body would not be jolted about and eventually we decided on one.  Oh, and it has blue trims - sorry Helen, for Everton (my son's and friend Ann's team) not Liverpool or United.  Any ideas for a name for it?  Here it is - charging in the kitchen:

Not done much crafting but I do like the needle-felting (should I call it dumfing Jo/Annie?) and I bought two books on mushrooms, both second hand, one in immaculate condition and the other just a bit stained on the edge of the cover.

The Thomas Laessore one cost me £3.34 and the Roger Phillips one £3.44 (both used but in good condition)- my felt pad (inc surprise of three needles and wooden holder) £4.21 - a bit cheaper than paper crafting tools and books.  I've been practising my Fly Agaric's as you can see at the side of my new pad.

My little table looks like this

I'm making a card  and so once again turned to my Lavinia stamps

Here it is, not quite finished as yet

I had to put 'Happy Birthday' on and one or two more bits but I forgot to take a photo when it was finished, as per usual.  Then it had to be mounted and put on a card base - then it went in an envelope and was sent off.  Another birthday card I made got sent off without even being photographed in its almost finished stage - I really am hopeless at remembering.   Ah well, maybe better next week, in the meantime I'll just pop over to see what is happening at Sarah's Craft Shed and its links..

Jeudi Journal - Mistake

This week the quote Wendy and I  have to work with is "The man who never made a mistake never made anything". I made a background from Distress Oxides 'Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Broken China.  Then I stamped some of my background stamps with Versafine Clair 'Bali Blue'.  Figures are, as required for the challenge with Wendy and myself, from Dylusions, and allowed me to enter this journal page into Art Journal Journey's challenge set by the lovely Matilde - People.  Why not pop along and join in, it's fun.  Read the Rules first though!!

"Patricia had gone to see her elderly mother and teenage brother.  They lived the other side of the park, it was a pleasant walk with her little dog, exercise for him and it gave her a chance to see all the beautiful flowers and listen to the birds singing in the trees surrounding the parkland.  Something she did almost each day so she could keep an eye on them.

When she arrived Peter was in a right state

"Thank goodness you are here" he said.    "You won't believe what has happened, I am such a fool and I don't know what to do."

"Oh Peter, what on earth have you done now?" asked Patricia.

"Well, you see, I fell behind with my coursework and the teacher was getting annoyed with me, threatening to write to mother.  So Nigel, you know, my friend from down the road, said I could borrow his essay and submit it as my own with one or two tweaks.  Well, I did, but guess I didn't tweak it enough and now Mr Gambles has found out.  It's far worse than him just telling mother, he is now threatening to get me thrown off the course."

"You stupid, stupid boy" yelled Patricia, "what on earth did you think would happen, old Gambles was bound to find out, he's not stupid.  He's a damned good teacher, has been doing the job for years and seen boys do all kinds of things - including copying.

You have to apologise, go to him and tell him you are sorry and it won't happen again.  Don't beat yourself up, just learn from it.  You know there is a saying "the man who never made a mistake never made anything' so don't let this put you off. Learn from it and don't ever do it again.  I'll go with you if you like but we need to do something before mother finds out.  She would be so upset and disappointed in you.  You get smartened up, I'll take Fido back and I'll meet you in twenty minutes outside the college.  Now go on, get upstairs and washed and we can practise what you will say as we wait for Mr Gambles."

With that the two of them went their separate ways, both thinking about what was going to be said in a short while."

At first I thought this was an easy quote to deal with but then when  sat down to write a story I found I was struggling.  A chemical experiment, a wash where the white sheets went pink all went through my mind but somehow would not work.  I hope this one fits the bill, with the quote and your thinking.

WOYWW 835

Received two more ATC's this last week - one from Julia and one from my buddy Cindy.  Thank you ladies, they were such a surprise and cheered me up no end.

Been a funny old week and made a complete mess of the picture in Felted Fungi - thank goodness it looks a bit better in the photo than it does in real life.  We all had to put a photo of our work up and I mentioned mine was 'not quite right' but got some lovely compliments (remember they could not see it for real) but it just shows what a lovely group they are.  Anyway I joined the group for a month.  No point in joining for a year when I don't know if I am going to take to it or not so this month I am going to be trying to make some more sculptures or 3D mushroom as I call them, then deciding is this for me and can I get my monies worth from it each month.  Remember papercraft is my first love and always will be.

I was calling them 'shrooms' which is what I always have referred to them in my journal pages but a friend pointed out that that is what they term 'magic mushrooms' - bet I still call them that though and just hope people know I am not on the 'trip taking mood'.  At my age I think people who know me will understand.

So my desk today shows my yukky picture and my sculpture which I do love.  In fact in the box of supplies you might spy two more I started but these are going to be tiny.  They are on top of the white wool.  The book has notes as I watched the video again so I will remember the stages (I had forgotten the initial shape for the cap already) because at the end of June I won't have access to the videos unless I join again.  That's L"Occitane hand cream in the box as I find it easier to roll when I have creamed my fingers and 8" of an Ikea tape measure I helped myself to on Monday.  That was the kit I sent for with all the colours needed for the Fly Agaric, no I have to buy others for whatever I am trying next.  Maybe the one for this week which is 'Old Man of the Woods' and which I noticed Angela was taking part in making.

You needle-felters out there - I have some rovings but she uses battings.  Do you think I can try using my rovings in a piece of sculpture or a picture of a mushroom?  I don't want to have to start carding but it would be a shame not to use it and some are beautiful colours.

Well, Monday saw me in Warrington but I'll leave the main reason for next week.  I told you, last week, that I could not have a new hip as I was "too high risk".  Turns out my heart failure and copd ruled me out and he said even if I came through the operation the risks afterwards were too great with me (heart attack, stroke, blood clots, infection, rejection of the metal in my body and so on). (I also have 'spondy something' in my spine and that bothers me a lot, nothing they can do for that either.  It is so painful too and I fear I will end up stooped.)  The "if" put me off and I took the news rather badly but after a few days I came to terms with things and now I am ok about it.  The Muskoloskeletal (sp?) guy at the doctors was surprised they would not do it as well. So not just me having a flip,

Will leave it there, cheered myself up with a new sunhat (like a bucket) and some big gold ear rings from M&S whilst in Warrington for something I hope to show you next week.  Adore my big ear rings and I love the smell of the hat.  Now It is off to see Sarah's Craft Shed and meet up with the whole gang.  See you later.  PS my ear rings are really golden and shiny (not real gold).