Jeudi Journal - late

 It's Thursday again and that means it's time to do a journal page for a little challenge between a friend of mine, Wendy, and myself.  We have to use Dylusion figures and a quote (at the moment a Tim Holtz Snarky Comment) and fit in with the challenge at Art Journal Journey.  This month it is Mathilde who has chosen "Numbers" for her challenge and somewhere we have to incorporate numbers into our page.

On seeing the quote I thought immediately of a rubber stamp I have, it is old and I had a fair idea of where it might be so out it came and it was stamped on my page in quick time.  Then I realised, opticians use letters and not numbers to test your eyes.  Oh dear.  On lifting the stamp imagine the joy I felt when I saw a row of numbers down the side of the letters.

"Cecily had an appointment early that afternoon to see the optician with a view to having some new spectacles, or maybe she could be persuaded to have some contact lenses.  The latter she had been considering for some time but was a bit afraid of wearing them in case they ever slipped down into her lower lid or whatever she had heard could happen to them.

As usual she had a hundred and one things to do, one of which was finish the artwork she was doing for a friend of hers.  Well, if you are a person who is interested in artwork of any kind you will know just how you can get so absorbed in what you are doing that before you know it one or two hours have passed.

Breakfast came and went, she saw the children off to school and returned to do the dishes.  Oh there was a pile of washing to be done, both children needed their sports kit washing again for the next day and she had promised her friend she would have the painting she was doing of her pet dog ready within a day or so.  Which to do first?  Then there was the dreaded decision to make about the contact lenses.  Oh, she did not want to go to the opticians.

She decided the washer must go on and as it was a lovely day the clothes could go out and dry nicely whilst she got on with the pet portrait.  

Before she knew it it was one thirty in the afternoon and the painting was finished.  But ... she had the appointment at the opticians for two.  Her hands were full of paint and the washing was drying merrily outside but needed bringing in and ironing.  Oh blow the lot, she thought, as she hastily washed her hands, grabbed the car keys and set off for her appointment.  "I really don't want to go there.  And I can't make my mind up whether to have glasses again or contacts!"

Of course every set of traffic lights was against her as she drove to town, and the world and his wife seemed to be heading in the same direction.  The road was busy.  Oh no it was two o'clock and she still had to park up and get there.

Puffing and panting she arrived at two fifteen, much to the annoyance of the optician who held her hands out in despair explaining that she had other people to see and this was throwing her way way behind.

Before she knew what she was saying Cecily blurted out "Sorry I am late, but I didn't want to come".

That didn't go down very well with the optician!!  I wonder if she still saw to Cecily?

Jeudi Journal - Yoga

It's nearly Christmas and all the decorations are up - I have gone a bit mad this year and put most of them out.  I am getting rid of some of them to the local charity shop (or preferably a refugee centre if I can find one locally).  I thought I would just see what I have and what I can give away.  You can see them on the previous post here.  We also have our two Christmas Stockings hanging on the cupboard in the bedroom but they are not filled as yet.  Got to get some bits to put in them (no chocolates as we have loads in our stash - might pinch some out of there and transfer to the stockings).  Are you ready for Christmas?

This week we have my idea of a bit of perspective drawing.  Never was that good at perspective when I had to teach it - good job I didn't have to do it with the higher levels at school.  I was the ceramicist in school so mainly concentrated on that and 3D art.  

Valerie has chosen 'When one door closes another one opens' as her theme over at Art Journal Journey so as I fudged it a bit last week I thought I had better do better this time and provide one door open and one closed.  So here we have two young women in the local sports hall.  No colour, just black and white for the background with the girls providing the colour.

"It is Nola's favourite means of exercise.  She absolutely loves her Yoga classes, not only do they help her keep fit but they also are a lovely way to feel relaxed.  Her friend Mandy has not yet been persuaded to join her, despite her having bought a leotard and yoga pants to wear when the girls first thought of joining a class.  Nola was looking trim as she made her way in the Sport and Recreation Centre to the Yoga Classroom when she saw Mandy in the corridor.

"What are you doing here", she asked her friend.  "Are you finally coming to Yoga with me or am I seeing things and it really isn't you?"

Mandy replied "None of my Yoga pants have ever been to Yoga" adding "and I don't think they will be going today or tomorrow or even next week.  It just isn't me."

Poor Nola just stood there looking quite perplexed, "Then what are you doing in this corridor?" she asked.

"I've enrolled for pottery" was the reply.  "Remember when we watched 'Ghost' again the other night, well, I have been wanting to do that for ages and that night just clinched it for me so I thought I might give it a go, especially as it is on the same night as your Yoga class.  That way we can come here together and maybe go for a coffee afterwards."

"Brilliant, see you tomorrow as usual" was Nolas reply and the two girls went their separate ways quite happily.

Jeudi Journal - Wings

For this month at Art Journal Journey my friend Chris has chosen "All Kinds of Weather" as her topic for the month.  I am going to enjoy this and hope I can marry it to the quotes for the Dyan inspired pages Wendy and I do each Thursday.  Today the quote I am using is "Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you'll fly" and my page is set in a farmyard where two members of the fowl family are having a chatter.  Not sure I am happy with either the page or the story this week - sorry folks.

To begin with I used my Distress Oxides as watercolours, Rusty Hinge and Carved Pumpkin for the ground and Tumbled Glass and Broken China for the sky area.  I then stamped, with Momento's London Fog (grey), a Farmhouse and a couple of trees to represent them being in the distance.  Figures were coloured, as usual, with Promarkers and I did the writing with a Posca Pen.

"It was a lovely day in the farmyard when Dilys found young Sara in tears by the old tree.  Sara was the smallest of the chickens in Mr Swift's farmyard, the youngest too and a rather timid little thing.  She preferred to hang around the chicken coop and sit with the hens. rather than go off with the other chickens having adventures  The older hens loved having her with them for company and they would sit and applaud her as she danced around and did little somersaults in the sand on the floor for them.

She was such a good help too and when the shavings and straw were changed in the coop she would help her mum spread them about just as the others liked them.  Sometimes there would be some bits of hay in with the straw and Sara knew that it was not good for chickens to be lying in it so she would pick it up in her little beak and move it outside where one of the bigger animals would collect it and take it over it to their corner of the yard.

Sara was liked by most of the other chickens but there were one or two of them jealous of her popularity with the older hens and they would pick on her.  Flo and Agnes, a couple of Leghorns, were two much older chickens and they thought they were the best looking of all the fowl there.  This was despite Sophie, a Silkie, being undoubtedly a very attractive chick much admired by all and the pride of Farmer Swift's flock.

Dilys was one of the kindest hens, a Rhode island Red, and she asked Sara what on earth was the matter.  It turned out that Flo and Agnes had been teasing her because she did not wander around the farmyard like some of the others did, she had never been up by the apple trees, or seen the horses galloping in the field and had certainly not ventured anywhere near the cowshed.  They said she was a 'cowardy custard' and they laughed every time she went past them, calling her names.

Dilys sat her down and told her all about the farmyard, what the different areas were like, which were safe and which she should not go anywhere near.  Which, of the other animals she could play with, and which she should avoid, not that they would harm her but because they were so much bigger than she was they might just not see a little chicken as they lumbered across the cobbles.  "Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you'll fly" she said.

"But I don't want to fly", said Sara, "I like it here with mum and the other hens".

"Yes", said Dilys, but there is a big world out there and it is waiting for you to explore it, You know how you watch the other chickens at play, well, don't you want to join in with their games sometimes?"

"Yes", said Sara, her little beak trembling.

"Well then, off you go, spread your wings and before you know it you will be flying high"

I can tell you that Sara did listen to Dilys and take her advice and before long she was laughing and playing with the other chickens, much to the delight of the older hens who certainly missed her but were happy she had at last found her wings and flown."

Jeudi Journal - Dreams

Another 'fingers crossed' that Wendy and I are on the same quote, I think we should be - and today it is "A life without dreams would be just a life".  For this one I started with a plain cream page and then, using my hand carved leaf stamp (which most of you could not see last week) I stamped a border down one side and lightly across the top.  I used second generation stamping throughout and a mixture of Distress Oxides in  Scattered Straw, Carved Pumpkin, Crackling Campfire, Candied Apple, Ripe Persimmon. Fired Brick, Picked Raspberry and Rustic Wilderness.  I also used the first three mentioned to colour in my mushrooms at the base of the page and enjoyed painting them so much I stamped an extra set, cut them out and affixed them with foam stickies.

"The story concerns a young girl, Janice, who is a self confessed daydreamer, has been all her young adult life.  Sometimes it would get her into trouble at school, usually in math lessons when her mind would wander to other things much more interesting than geometry or algebra.  She was a good girl though, and always in the upper half of the class when it came to exam time.

It was a lovely autumn day, the sun was shining, the leaves were turning and falling from the trees and Janice had taken her little dog out for a walk.  She let him off the lead so he could run about, sniffing at all the different things on the woodland floor and she sat herself down on a piece of wood by the side of some toadstools.  It wasn't long before her mind wandered to her upcoming 17th birthday and she wondered what her parents would buy her - and would they let her have a party.  Just a few friends, maybe even better still, a sleepover with Pat and Lynda - now that would be ideal.  Yes, that would be what she would ask mum if she could have, just her two best friends over, something a bit sophisticated for them to eat, but still there would be balloons and presents and oh it would be fun.  

Shouting for Toby her little dog, she got up and began walking quickly back home, she needed to talk to mum and tell her what she really really wanted for her birthday,  No expensive presents, just a sleepover and it really would not cost much, she was sure mum would cook a lovely meal for them.  Maybe they would go Italian and have pizza, or Chinese with some Chow Mein and maybe dad would let them have a bottle of something fizzy, that looks a bit like champagne,

Bursting in the door she ran in to her mother and straight away began telling her what she would really like for her birthday, it was her dream to have a sleepover and a nice grown up meal for her and her friends.

Mum looked at her, smiled that knowing smile that mums often have and said "You've been dreaming again haven't you?"  She knew her daughter  was a dreamer but she also knew that a life without dreams would be just a life and where was the fun in that?"

I am entering this page in Tracy's challenge at Art Journal Journey where the challenge is 'my favourite colour is October' - I think my leaves and mushrooms will qualify it for an entry.

Jeudi Journal - Chaos, Panic, Disorder!

Bet that title gave you a start this morning - hopefully not with any of us but rather the quote that Wendy chose for us to work with this week.  "Chaos, panic, ,Disorder ... my work is done" is the complete phrase and I decided to go with a teenaqger theme to illustrate it.

I had a page coloured in Dyan's Pomegranate but for some reason it seemed a lot darker than it was the last time I used it.  Still, I thought it was a good colour for autumn and so I stuck to Autumnal (or October) colours for everything else so that I could enter the page into Art Journal Journey's current theme which is "The Colours of October" as chosen by Tracey.

"Carrie was a bit of a spoiled brat.  A real daddy's girl who could twist him around her little finger and get whatever she wanted.    Her mother, however, was trying her best to bring Carrie up to be a responsible young lady.  But some days she felt she was losing the battle.

Carrie wanted to go out with her friends one evening just after dinner but as she had lounged about all day her mother said she had to tidy her room before she went anywhere.  As usual Carrie had a mad strop and flatly refused to do anything saying that she was going out regardless.  For once dad stepped in and had a quiet word with Carrie asking her to just tidy up her room and he would make things right with her mother and he might even buy her those ear rings she wanted.

Up Carrie went to her room but tidy it she did not.  No, she messed it up even more and as she went down the stairs to meet her friend she said to herself "chaos, panic disorder - my work is done".  She didn't want the ear rings her father had offered her, the truth was she had bought them herself the day before.  And so off she went with her friend Lois to meet up with the others at the yacht club.

I used a new border stamp down one side and across the top because I felt it represented chaos itself, then I added one or two things that I felt Carrie may have moved around, left lying about on purpose, note there are three mugs (those of you with teenagers may be familiar with this).  Finding the background very dark I decided to use diecut letters in various colours for the three words at the beginning of the quote.  Then I finished off with a black pen and realise that I would have been better to do it on a white background - too. late, sorry!  I am beginning to wish I had redone this page.  Doubt I will use Pomegranate again in this way.

Jeudi Journal - Old Enough

 Today the words I had to work with were "I am starting to think I will never be old enough to know better" and so many times they really do apply to me.  But then I tell myself that really I am "young at heart if old in body" and it is only the aches and pains that have come on in later years that have stopped me from doing some of the things I would love to do.

Take for instance the background to this page.  It began life inked up with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, but because of the pain I have in my right thumb I was finding putting it on with a light touch was not going as planned and it looked very patchy.  So on with a stencil and some more ink.  Well, that covered up the blotchiness but it didn't look at all right.  A coat of Pistachio paint was next, not keen on the colour although it looks good where the stencil pattern shows through a little.  Another coat of paint, this time Birch, ugh!  No that was not nice at all - back to the Pistachio.  At first it looked a bit like one of those lovely textured paint jobs that Valerie does so well but then it dried - flat!

By this time I was running out of time and so it had to do, now to the figures.  No, they won't do and the story has to be vintage so I can enter it into Wendy's challenge on Art Journal Journey.  Another think.  Yes, Bill Haley can be classed as Vintage.  If you look him up it says he was active from 1946 - 1980, surely that makes him vintage.  And so an alternative story was formed and the page was constructed.

I remember "Rock Around the Clock" coming to our local cinema and some teenagers were asked to leave the cinema for dancing in the aisles at the music.  Now I am not saying I was one of those teenagers or even a bystander but I do remember it clearly.  And so does Ethel ...

"Ethel was a terrific grandma to young Gemma, or so Gemma thought.  Always lots of fun when her gran was around, and the stories she used to tell were wonderful.  Gran had been telling Gemma about the time Bill Haley and the Comets were all the rage.  In fact he was known for being one of the pioneers of rock and roll music, and credited by many with first popularising this kind of music in the early 50's with his band, The Comets.

Gemma had loved listening to gran and her stories and listening to the music that gran played on her old record player.  Gran had been trying to teach her to jive to some of the music and Rock Around the Clock was a big favourite of the two of them.

Gemma's mum had gone to her local craft group, held in the Community Centre and she came back eager to tell her daughter about a tribute band that was coming to their town and playing at the centre in two week's time.  Gemma could not wait to let her gran know.  Little did she know that her mum had secured two tickets, one for Gemma and one for Gran.  At last she was going to hear the real sounds of Bill Hayley and The Comets.

She rushed around to Grans as soon as she could and the two of them began planning what they were going to wear and to brush up on their dancing skills.  Poor gran said "I am starting to think I will never be old enough to know better" as she felt the aches and pains coming on from her old bones dancing about in a frenzy. "

So there you are, I've done my best to use the quote which Wendy chose and also include her other challenge, Vintage, into the story.  Figures were Dylusion ones as usual and the posters were from the internet.  I added some words from Rock Around the Clock to the poster on the right to create a border.

Jeudi Journal - Last Minute

I must say that the quote for this week's Jeudi Journal tempted me to do something about my blogging as I am always at the last minute but I turned over a new leaf this week and did this one early.  maybe it was because I love anything to do with "Time".  If there is a challenge for "Time" I am always ready to join in, it really inspires me to do something with clocks, or time pieces.

So it was perfect this week for me to link my journal page challenge with Wendy to Art Journal Journey where Eileen had chosen "Inspired By .." as her topic.  Sadly Eileen is no longer with us so this is another entry in memory of a lovely lady.  I also chose to paint my page Blue which tends to be a 'go to' colour of mine when choosing clothes in particular which is rather surprising as the Grammar School uniform was Navy Blue.  Maybe, because it was so many many years ago I have got over the aversion to my school uniform.  

Anyway, my story this week is about two brothers.  "Joe and Jed were two brothers, often mistaken for twins because they looked so much alike except that Jed was considerably taller than his younger brother Joe.  They owned their own business, a small engineering firm, where Jed was the businessman and Joe was the one with the ideas and the skill and dexterity to get things done.

However, Joe was often late in producing the blueprints for the next piece of machinery they were making.  Production was being held up and Jed was getting a tad annoyed, it was always happening, in fact he had just about had enough and he told Joe so.  He went on to say that he thought they should employ another designer to help keep production up and the men in work the whole time.  

This angered Joe who wanted to be the only one responsible for what they produced, after all the company name was "Grimes and Grimes" and he didn't want some fresh young guy from university with his new fangled ideas coming in and stealing his thunder.  He liked it when he went to the business dinners and he could show off how good his designs were and how the company was thriving, because of his work.

What he didn't realise was that Jed played an equal part in this business by juggling jobs around for the workforce and making sure that the business was always coming out on top.  Without his knowhow the business would fail but then as Joe said "nothing makes me more productive than the last minute" sadly Jed could not argue as that was what always happened."

As I said, I painted the whole page blue, I used a clock stencil down one side of the page (no mean feat when the journal is at the end almost and the pages are buckling with the thickness of what has gone before - you all know what I mean) and a burgundy paint to ensure good coverage.  I also had a large clock face from Tando which I have not used and saw that there were two smaller ones in so I settled on the middle one and used it as a stencil to draw the numbers around the sides of the circle.  That meant I could place the smaller figure with hands outstretched to represent the hands of the clock - it fitted in perfectly.

So here you have it, my entry for Art Journal Journey in my Jeudi Journal.  Hope you enjoyed the story which was a bit different this week.

Jeudi Journal - the Wrong Decision

I always try to link my 'Thursday Journal' to Art Journal Journey and so my spread today is, as always on a Thursday, inspired by the words and art of  Dyan Reaveley.  I am fortunate to live quite close to Dyan and so have taken many workshops, given by her and her team of tutors, in the delightful town of Harrogate.  I have known her for many many years from when we were on the circuit together, when her hair was cropped short and she wore black - and Doc Martin boots - a total contrast to the retro dressing red haired Dyan most of you know.

Dyan has, since those days, become a Designer for Ranger in America and brings her quirky designs to the world of art and crafters everywhere.  She still has her store in Harrogate, still runs the occasional workshop when she is in this country, albeit at the moment via You Tube because of the pandemic, and is a very successful business woman, and, the reason I began art journaling.

As today Art Journal Journey are honouring Eileen, a member of their team who has sadly recently passed, by continuing with the theme that she was going to host which is "Influenced By" I am joining in with my page which is influenced by Dyan Reaveley who taught me some of the different ways to do an art journal.

RIP Eileen

How many times in your life have you felt like "Getting out of bed is always the wrong decision"?  That is the quote from Dyan this week.  Well, not exactly Dyan, it was Wendy's choice from one of Dyan's plates.  So what have we this week?

Once again I used my reverse stencilling for the background.  Actually this was a mop up from last week as I used the left over bits on the stencil to put on this page but to make it a bit more defined I added some darker blue to the squared stencil and used that over the top.  Then i drew in one or two of the squares with a marker pen and a gelly roll one.  Today we have two friends, Sophie and Tina ...

"Tina has arrived at Sophie's house to go out to meet up with some friends for a socially distanced get together.  This is the first time they have been able to meet outside in a small group of six so obviously all the girls have been making a real effort to dress up rather nicely.

Sophie felt she had made a real effort, especially with her hair which she had streaked herself and she was so pleased with how it looked.  She felt she had a reasonable figure so she had chosen her dress rather carefully so that it accentuated her tiny waist and showed off her legs rather well.  It was a new dress, one she had ordered over the internet because clothes shopping had been out of reach with all the rules for this pandemic that was going on all over.  Her new boots were lovely and shiny and she was really on quite a high.  That was until she saw Tina.

Tina had also streaked her hair, not quite as good as Sophies, or so Sophie thought, but her outfit!  That was another story.  She was wearing the most adorable dress, the one that Sophie had wanted with the beautiful magenta frill running around the hip.  It had been the frill that had sold it on the screen to Sophie but it was no longer available in her size.  Tina must have bought the last one!

Poor Sophie, her face fell, and she looked so sad.  The whole day was turning into a disaster.  "Getting out of bed is always the wrong decision" she thought as she put on a brave face and walked out of the door to meet up with the others."

Here I am with Dyan, being silly at CHA in 2016 (it was her idea to pose like this)

Jeudi Journal - To Don't

And that, to put it simply, is the quote for this week!!!  Just the two words "To Don't".  I have been dreading this one coming up as I had not a clue what to do and then suddenly, last week, a light bulb moment.  The idea was born.  And so today I give you my interpretation of Dyan's quote which is plain and simply "To Don't".

To begin with, as the words were so simple and didn't really look as if they would have had any impact on the page I decided to cut back on the background.  So I decided to leave it naked/manilla/cream whatever colour you want to call it and just do a bit of reverse stencil stamping.  So I used my favourite circle stencil from AALL & Create in green and yellow.  Because of the challenge on Art Journal Journey (Valerie chose Heavy Metal) I decided to make my female a head of metal cogs.  I love this die and cut with a bronze pearlised card it really looks like metal - and heavy at that!  So .....

"Drucie had gone to work and left a list for her husband  - consisting of things that he should NOT do, rather than things he should.  She really did not want the cat letting out today,   Tinkerbell, the cat, was a little minx and once she was out through the door there was little chance of her coming home before the family went out that evening. He knew that but Drucie thought she would emphasise it by writing it down on her list.  

He was also supposed to pick their daughter up from school so that she didn't dawdle on the way home or wander off to a friends for an hour or so.  Afterall it was Parent's Evening and the three of them had various appointments booked to speak to Susie's teachers.  Peter was a good husband, just a bit forgetful, inclined to get his mind set on something and forget what needed doing and all sense of time - a bit like most men.  

Normally if Drucie was working for a full day he would have something on the stove in readiness for tea but she knew what a mess he made of the kitchen and she just could not face it with them having to leave as soon as they had eaten so she decided that tonight she would collect a "take away" for them all to share.  There were other things on the "To Don't" list and when she got home she was most annoyed - the cat was out - Susie was nowhere in sight - there was a list of shopping his mother wanted (obviously he had rung her) - and, to crown it all, the kitchen was like a bomb had exploded with jars and vegetable peelings all over the place.  

Drucie just stood there, list in her hand, wondering why on earth she bothered.  She had managed to get to the hairdressers in her lunch break and was really pleased with her new hairstyle.  She didn't want to blow her top as they had to go to the school shortly so she just walked away, set the table and counted to ten under her breath."

Jeudi Journal - Sweeping Up?

Today we begin with the story:

"This is, in a way, a carry on from last week, with the same wallpaper and floor covering, where I had Fifi working in the lounge but we have moved into the kitchen where her flatmate Imelda is lying on the floor.  She is so untidy!  Her friend, Fran, has just called and is a bit appalled at the state of the kitchen and so she mentioned the "C" word.  Well, that was like a red rag to a bull and sent Imelda off into a frenzy as she shouted 

"Cleaning?????  I just sweep the room with a glance."  

"Boy oh boy", thinks Fran, "you can tell by the state of it."  Imelda is lounging on the floor by a pile of books and there are several glasses littered about on the floor around her.  She really is the most untidy of girls Fran has the misfortune to go out with.  As if that was not enough there was a questionable bucket of something by the fridge and a dirty pan had been left on the stove.  If only she was more like Fifi who was always working at something.  How on earth Fifi could stand to share a place with Imelda Fran did not know."

As I mentioned above this is a carry on from last week - it was a double page with the stitching down the centre and I carried the colour across both pages for the walls and the floor covering.  One half was turned into a lounge and the other into a kitchen.  The kitchen was made with some more AALL & Create stamps, notably the fridge, the cooker, the shelf and the bird cage as well as the incidentals such as the flowers, books, drinks and the pan and bucket.

I enjoyed linking the two posts together in this way and would love to do an entire journal that told a complete story but I think that might require a bit too much imagination on my part, especially if I was to use someone else's quotes.

I am linking this once more to Art Journal Journey in the hope that it will work for the new theme that has been chosen by the lovely Tracey - The Meaning Of ... - in the hopes that this can be 'in the meaning of tidiness'.  I know my craftroom, especially at this time of year, is looking like a bomb has hit it but with all the excitement of getting ready for Christmas I am trying to clean and be tidy in other rooms in the house,  Yesterday the tree went up (you can see it here) so the lounge had to be cleaned in readiness and then the vacuum cleaner had to slink its way down to its lowest height so that it could vac up the pine needles that had dropped (yes, it is artificial but it still drops).  So at the moment cleaning the house is uppermost in my mind as we get ready for the 25th even though it will just be the two of us!

I don't think I am alone in being like this although many crafters will say they avoid housework at all costs.

Jeudi Journal - Animal

"Every animal knows more than you do" is the quote for today and as I am using the new Blogger for the first time it is probably quite true as I have not got much idea what I am doing whenever I try to do something new.  I hadn't a clue how to start a new blog for instance, then my OH pointed out the red button with the plus sign - Bingo!  Doesn't look as if I can have it fully justified any more - ah well!  Not to worry.

For my page today we have a scene in the Jungle.  Our two intrepid travellers have ventured into a clearing, both feeling hot and bothered and more than a little annoyed with the heat.  They have come to see what the plant-life is like and hopefully take some specimens back home with them but as per usual William was more bothered about what he looked like than what he was supposed to be taking.  Wearing his fancy jacket and waistcoat he left all the specimen jars back at the tent which was quite a few miles away.  Jack was suitably annoyed and an argument had taken place in which he lost his temper telling William that the animals knew more than he did, and that they would certainly not have left specimen jars and bags back at base.

Thankfully, as you can see, the jungle afforded them some shade in the clearing and the animals looked on peering at these two legged creatures with some amusement.  Thank goodness there were no lions or tigers about.

To begin with I painted my page with a neutral cream all over because there were some marks on it from somewhere.  Then I went over the top with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink followed by Rusty Hinge to give it that hot look and finally Peeled Paint at the base to represent the ground.  I used Mowed Lawn through a stencil to give the canopy for the clearing.

Then I used various Dylusion Figures, leaves and flowers coloured with Promarkers for setting the scene.

I hope this is hot enough for Erika's challenge at Art Journal Journey which is almost at its end so if you want to enter into the challenge with your journal page you have just today and tomorrow to get it in.

WOYWW 581

It's Wednesday and that is another WOYWW Day where I meet up with friends a d share what is on my desk - crafting that is.  Why not pop along and join us, you'll make lots of friends and have something to do every Wednesday, just click here.

I made a tag the other week for Vicky Stampers and forgot to show it on here and I almost forgot to show my latest workshop make - which ended up as a box to keep some Dylusion figures in.   It was a class done by my bff Lorraine which should have been a folio but when I had almost finished it I decided it would make a nice box and so I am now making another one which will be the "real" folio.

here it is - decorated with some of the figures

I did make another thing - a book, but I can't show you that yet as it went into a challenge which is anonymous so until it ends you will have to wait.  Bet I forget all about it! 

I have been keeping up with my iCAD's but some days it has been a bit difficult so I have taken the easy way out and used a diecut, as you can see.  I also had a go with my Gelatos but I can't say I had much success with them.  In fact I almost threw the striped one away - then I thought I would just stick a Dylusion figure on and call it done.  You will have to excuse the dirty craft mat underneath.

As you can see, some days I did not have much time to spend on them but the ones where I coloured figures in were the ones I enjoyed the most, this blooming back has a lot to answer for.

Anyhow, you have come here to see my desk, not the index cards, so showing no evidence of anything here is my desk - nothing to see but my Pan Patel's that were waiting to go back on top of the cupboard.  I have my journal to do for tomorrow, luckily I know what I am doing for it and then I need to do a real good clean up and get ready for a workshop with Tracy Evans at weekend.  She asked us to get everything out and ready so as there are a few things want cutting and stamping in readiness I had better get to it.

Gosh, when I think of the money I spent on buying these and the trays to put them in - along with so much other crafting stuff that lies idle - I could be much richer (or have bought more from AALL & Create's Weekend Birthday Bonanza!).  Would have not had such a crowded craft room either!  Btw the bit about buying more at weekend was said rather tongue in cheek as i did get a bit carried away with the tv.

See you all next week!

Health Update:

The leg has been healing really well and the District Nurses are so pleased with its progress that I am signed off from having to go again.  Well, almost.  I have to go on Friday just to collect my stocking!!  I have reached that old age where I will have to wear an elastic stocking on my leg all the time.  Asked did I want "sand" or "black" I am glad now that I chose "sand".  Thought it was only a temporary thing but the nurse explained that the wound could break down at some time in the future and the wearing of this stocking would help circulation and prevent this.  Great!  Still, better than the alternative.  Must say those girls down at the clinic are doing a marvellous job.  Hats off to them!
Another week and still no call to the hospital.  It's going to be the end of the month before long.  

Jeudi Journal - Believe

This morning we are looking at a lovely quote "I Believe in Unicorns".  Thankfully I happened to have a Unicorn by Dylusions that I could use and then just create something to illustrate it.  As Erika had chosen "summer heat" as the theme for the challenge on Art Journal Journey I painted my page in a hot pink and then began choosing characters to use.  

Mum has taken the kids out for a walk around the park and the little girl is being picked on by her older brother.  You know how siblings are, arguing all the time, especially older brothers who like to pick on their younger sisters - and to make matters worse it is hot hot hot and so sunny.  And all the little girl had said was that there was a unicorn hiding behind a bush.  Big brother said there were no such things and the little girl in a very teary voice said "I believe in unicorns".  Poor mum is frazzled, her hair is not quite as bouffant as she would like, her umbrella is a bit too small to shade her completely from the sun and her sunglasses are a bit too dark, she cant see what the kids are up to.  But she can see a lilac unicorn peeping from the bushes! 

So there you have it, my journal page for today and my entry for Erika's challenge on Art Journal Journey.

Jeudi Journal - Birds

This week I chose a kind of outdoor scene for my journal page.  Mainly because I painted the page blue and then put some fluffy clouds on it (you can barely see them) because I knew it was going to be something to do with birds.  Because I like to enter my pages in Art Journal Journey I put some simple stitching around the edges like I had done last week, it makes for a nice border anyway.  There is also some stitching around the edge of the table cloth so that it complies with Halle's challenge of "A Stitch in Time".

I then had to think up a story in order to decide which Dylusion figures to put on my page and decided that the quote "When in doubt put a bird on it" could apply to a birthday cake where they hadn't known what to put on it so they put a bird (decoration of course) on it.

So my page is telling the story of the mother of twin girls hosting an outdoor birthday party for them and not knowing what to put on the cake, for a change, has decided to put a bird on it.    The twins are standing there in their new party dresses and they have all, had you noticed, got matching footwear, including mum.  Then, of course, you get the cheeky little boy who has his eye on the cake, peering over the edge of the table.  Just hope he doesn't stick his finger in it before it is cut.

As we have just heard this past weekend The Forces Sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynne, has passed at the marvellous age of 103 so what could be more appropriate than to use a bluebird in honour of her.  RIP Dame Vera Lynne,

Jeudi Journal - Two?

The old saying "Two heads are better than one" is the quote for today's journal.  Simple?  Well, that is what I thought until late last night when I realised I had not done it - again ...  A quick coat of yellow ochre paint on my journal page, with a touch of white brushed on randomly at the top and off to bed, back aching a bit.  Better not to push it.

Up this morning and a new day!  Looking at all my figures already cut out I decided on the girl with the big head and two smaller figures.  Putting the single figure at one side and the two together at the other I began with my lettering.  This time I was in a hurry so didn't even look at the printed quote - just tried to do lettering similar to that of the past two weeks.  Just need to do a few more and maybe practice when I am watching tv or something.  I found a graph paper tiny book - ideal for doing just that in.  

So that was my "two heads are better than one" quote - but something was missing.  There was a gap between the two figures on the left and the one on the right and it needed something.  I should have arranged my lettering better, done it bigger.  So what can I do?  A dog!  A dog will fit in that space and it will make the page more cohesive.  Then looking through my dogs I thought "why did I not think of this earlier - a dog with two heads, instead of a tail he could have another head."  And so my page now has a dog with two heads as well.

So we could weave a story around the three girls out walking and the dog but instead of me doing it I will leave it to you my friends.

Oh, and I put some stitching around the page and the cross stitch stamp  in orange randomly stamped here and there to let me include my journal page in Art Journal Journey where you could do something similar if you followed the link.  Go on, you know you want to.  

Jeudi Journal - The Cat and I

Wendy has chosen "Sorry but the cat and I have plans for the evening" as the quote for today.  I don't know if this is a Dyan quote or not as the lettering is different so I wrote mine out, trying once more to do some journal writing ... and not doing very well but better than last week.  Or at least I think so.

For this one I chose a pale blue Pan Pastel for the background at the top and about three quarters down the page leaving just a band at the bottom which I ended up doing yellow.  I then put a stencil on the top half and went through it with a lilac Pan Pastel - I wanted it to represent someone's hallway with a patterned wallpaper, but not too clear, just a hint of pattern.  

The story here is that the lady on the left has just had a caller asking her out for the evening but she is not feeling at all like going out preferring a night in with her cat which is making its way over to her having just left its basket when the caller came in.  As you can see by the grandfather clock in the corner it is only morning and she has some sewing she wants to get on with, hence the dressmaker's dummy standing  there.

Because there is sewing (see the cross stitch picture behind the clock) and time involved in my journal page I am entering this into Halle's Art Journal Journey challenge this month where the theme is "a stitch in time" - you can include both or one of them, and I decided to choose both.

Despite talking to myself very strongly I left this until the last minute again - next week I WILL start earlier.  Thank goodness this was so much easier to do than the last few have been.

Jeudi Journal - Broken

"We are all a little broken, but broken crayons still colour" is the quote for today.

My initial idea was to draw a lot of crayons at the top of the page and colour them in letting the paint drip down the page but then I couldn't think how to incorporate Dylusion figures.  So it was a rethink.  Next was a sad looking person with a broken heart and a few heart shaped flowers decorating the page.  Maybe one or two or even three of them.  

Finally I decided to go with the word "broken" and use a dis-jointed person with a paint brush in her hand painting the flowers in her garden.

I used a large Dylusion figure that was able to 'bend' when she had her body cut up and disjointed but I used some Paperartsy flowers rather than the Dylusion ones I have as they seemed to work better.

Once again I used a Pan Pastel background, I am getting to like these for a quick coverage with no effort to set off my aches and pains, and, because I stamped the flowers directly onto the page I chose to colour the flower heads with pencils so that the colour would not go through the page.

As you can see I had to make another arm for her so apologies for the drawing, it is the best I could do at the time.

I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the challenge is to use flowers, as set by the lovely Mia.

Jeudi Journal - Meditate

The quote for today is "Oh you said meditate!  I thought you said medicate!" and again I did a Pan Pastel background in pale green and a blue band at the top as I wanted an outdoor scene.  

I never use half the stamps I have, bet you are all saying "Tell me about it" - so having found the green rubber stamp used last week I decided to use it again to form the basic background and then stamp some flowers using some PaperArtsy stamps.  Because these were stamped direct onto the page I used my Polychromo pencils to colour the flowers in.

I chose a sitting figure and a kneeling one, wanted them to be down amongst the flowers (because of the size of my page).  The one on the right has a bottle of tablets on her lap and she is obviously the one who thought her friend had told her to medicate.  She looks rather chastened.  The other one is in a bit of a trance having been meditating and looking much calmer as a result.

Because of the flowers I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where Mia has chosen "Flowers" for this month's challenge.

Jeudi Journal - I Just Said

Wendy has chosen most of the words for our posts over the past few weeks as she has lots of the plates with them on.  I just go along with her choices and today it was "Every one was thinking it, I just said it".  Mentioned it to Cath when I was talking to her this afternoon and hadn't a clue what I was going to do.  I was sat outside hoping to get a few pages covered in Pan Pastels in the sunshine but bending over the table and using a dusting motion with the sponge I set my back off again.  Some days I can do nothing!

Anyway, I just left my page with a pale blue top and a green base to represent out of doors and did it in Portrait style so had to use the larger figures.  Later, sat in my chair I stamped some greenery across the bottom of the page and was pleasantly surprised at the result of this particularly large stamp which I have never used before despite having had it for years (probably over ten).  I am sure it will be coming out a bit more often now.  Then I wanted some small flower and so I used two Tracey Easson stamps, well I was wearing my yellow t-shirt with those delightful mice on from Scotland.  (One I once stamped on and painted).  I should have been doing a weekend with her later this month had this dreadful virus not been keeping us all locked up/down so I wore the t-shirt in honour of her.

Then I found three fairly slim figures, I like working in threes whenever possible, to use to illustrate the words.  The story behind it is that the middle girl with her hands on her hips is uttering the words whilst sporting a black eye (can you see the bruising made with green, yellow and purple chalks?) to the other two.  I chose that head because I think she looks as if she has a really bad attitude with the expression on her face.  The girl on the left is looking as if she does not approve and the one far right looks as if she is taking off if those legs are anything to go by.

Also the little caterpillar is a bit amused, he is so cute isn't he? Hope she doesn't take her mood out on him later.  

So that is my page.  Pan Pastels for the background, Promarkers for colouring on the figures and pencils for the flowers at the base.  Now to link it to Art Journey Journal where flowers are the theme chosen this month by Mia.  I know there are not many on my page but I hope we can count the greenery in too.  It would be nice to see you over there joining in with their challenge, they are such a lovely group of people.

Jeudi Journal - I Always Behave

"I always behave - just not necessarily well" is the quote for today.  I decided to go with a young mother and her toddler so I made a little boy up with a screaming face on him and mum is standing there at the side of him holding her hands in the air as if to say "for goodness sake, stop this weeping".  Even the little dog looks a bit worried at all this noise.

To begin with I coloured the page green and lilac with my Pan Pastels.  You would not believe it would you, it looks more like a greeny grey than lilac.  I then decided to use a border of rectangles/squares so that I could enter my page into the Art Journal Journey on the last day of Valerie's challenge which is Geometric Shapes.  I can count the circles on mummy's sleeves and side panels as geometric shapes too.

The figures are all Dylusions, except for the dog which is a Katzelkraft image, and I coloured them with my Promarkers.

Well, today is Captain Tom's 100th Birthday so I will be joining in with the rest of the nation to wish him a very happy birthday.  What a grand old man he is and what a heck of a lot of money he has raised for the NHS.  

Happy Birthday Captain Tom, and here's to the 101st! xx