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,

Jeudi Journal - Sarcastic

 "It had been a mixed kind of day, Alice had been out with her bestie, Jane, and the rest of the girls - things had not gone very well.  As usual Jane was the peacemaker in the group but everyone found Alice quite overbearing that day.

It had all started when she said to Rebecca "Life's good, it's about time you got one" and all because Rebecca was upset that she and her boyfriend had argued and he had stormed off.  Now Rebecca did not know if the romance was over or not.  It certainly hadn't helped the situation and one or two of the girls were a bit annoyed with Alice.

Alice had been struggling to find the shoes she wanted in the store, granted she had been looking a good five minutes before an assistant came over asking if she needed help but Alice's reply "no thanks, I'm enjoying the challenge" had not gone down too well with any of the girls who were nearby and they all felt a bit uncomfortable when the shop assistant went bright red.  The final straw was when Sue told her she was being rather rude and Alice turned and said "I don't know why you worry about what the others  think.  They don't do it very often."

That made the others annoyed and they, one after the other, had a word with Jane asking her to tell Alice just how sarcastic she could be and she had been especially so today.  Poor Jane had the task as they walked from the bus stop to tell Alice just how sarcastic she could be.  

"What is the matter with you?" she asked, "You must have something on your mind, you can be rather sarcastic you know, bute not as much as today.  Some things you said were hurtful and unnecessary."

Alice walked off in a huff, leaving Jane to go down the next street on her own.  On arriving home she went up into her bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror.  She took a long hard lok but turned around and said to herself "I'm not sarcastic - I'm just mean".  And with that she went downstairs to see if dinner was ready, she was starving!"

I had a mark where last week's arch (for Wendy's theme at Art Journal Journey) had bled through the paper and so I decided to use it somehow.  I went over it with a brown promarker and cut the shape out in silver mirri card to represent a mirror someone might have standing in their bedroom,  Then I put my favourite stencil on with some pink ink left over on the blending tool randomly over the whole page to represent wallpaper.  I chose this figure because of the placement of the arms and hands - typical of someone like Alice I thought.

Jeudi Journal - Shut

 "Esme and Enid were twins, not identical but alike in some of their ways but they did argue a lot.  They had gone down to the bottom of the garden, sitting by the rose arch whilst it was not in bloom.  Dad did not like them down there when he had worked so hard on his garden so this was an ideal time for visiting.

As usual Esme was going on and on about her boyfriend and what they had planned, where they were going to go and all the things they were going to do.  They had just been to a Festival, Glastonbury in fact, and she had not stopped going on about it for days.  

Mum and dad had banned the conversation at meal times as it revolved around Glastonbury full stop and by now Enid had had enough when the two of them went to bed in an evening.  In fact she had asked mum if she could have the spare room which mum used for her crafting just so she could get away from Esme for a while.  She had told her she would sleep anywhere, mum did not need to move her sewing machine or anything, as long as she had a bed that would suffice.  All she wanted was a good night's sleep.  On her own.

Esme was still raving about seeing Diana Ross "I know she is old but oh my goodness, she is a legend" she said, "and she can still belt out the best of Motown." "I bet mum and dad would have loved it, she was a big star in their day."

"Yes", replied Enid, "I bet they would have loved the hard ground and the sleeping bags, the bugs, and the toilets you all had to share too.  You wouldn't get me going to something like that, I like my home comforts."

"Sometimes you can be a real stick in the mud" said Esme.  "You never do anything except read books, sit in front of the television and mess about on the internet.  No wonder you don't have many friends.  You are going to turn into a real old spinster before your time.  I sometimes wonder if we really are twins?"

"Oh just shut up" shouted Enid, "do you know how to shut up?  I do wonder at times.  We are all sick of hearing about you and Glastonbury."

"Yes, I know how to shut up.  I just don't know when" replied Esme, "I only wanted to share all the good times I had.  Sorry, if it annoys you, you should have said earlier."

Enid felt a bit sorry for being harsh to her twin, she had thought with the ban at meal times on talk of the Festival that Esme would have taken the hint.  Perhaps she was being a bit harsh, so she smiled and said "It doesn't matter that much, but can we please limit it and not talk about it when we go to bed, please, pretty please."  And with that she got down and gave her sister a big hug and they laughed and began talking about fairies at the bottom of the garden instead."

I almost forgot the challenge at Art Journal Journey has changed and then I realised it changed a few days ago so I quickly went to look at the new challenge - Arches and/or Windows.  Today my story contains an arch.  Was I a better artist I would haven twisted some roses around it but instead I left it at the bottom of the garden without a single flower.  My background was with a 'new to me' stencil which I used with three different greens from the Distress Ink range.  Then, using a ruler and my Distress Tool,  I continued with a fine green line around the edges of the page.  All figures are byj Dyan at Dylusions as per the challenge I do with Wendy who again chose the quote.

Must admit I did not find this story easy to write, it didn't tumble out like the stories usually do and the first one suffered a "cut".  Just hope I have better luck with next weeks.

Jeudi Journal - Good Morning

 "It was 5 am when the knock came to the kitchen door.  Eric opened it with a grimace on his face.  What unearthly hour did anyone call this?  He had been having the most wonderful dream when the alarm clock had gone off and woken him.  

"It's only 4.30" he said to himself, "it's not that long since I came to bed and now I have this darned thing waking me up."  Slowly he dragged himself to his feet, got dressed in his usual gear and crawled downstairs.  

Mum had left him his breakfast cereal all ready and there were sandwiches packed for him, along with all of his fishing tackle, so all he had to do was eat and be ready for Billy knocking at the door.  He hoped the sandwiches were fish paste.  

There was that knock!  A timid knock, for Billy was a thoughtful lad and didn't want to wake Mr and Mrs Wheeler at such an early hour.  The door opened slowly.

"Good morning", said Billy, "Ready for a good day's fishing?" he asked his friend.

"Good morning?  No such thing" replied Eric who was looking slightly bad tempered.

"B b b but" stumbled Billy, "It was your idea we go fishing this morning"

"I know" replied Eric, "but I don't feel like it this morning.  What I felt like last night when talking with the lads is a different thing.  We can't all be chirpy in a morning."  He turned around, went over to the fridge where he had stored the box of maggots, got his sandwiches, gave his favourite picture on the wall a touch with his rod for luck and off he went.

I wonder if they did have a lucky day fishing?"

Well, today's words were "Good morning?  No such thing" as chosen by Wendy.  I felt a bit like Eric this morning when my alarm woke me at 7.30 signalling it was time to get up and do my journal page for today so I could link it to Art Journal Journey first thing.

Yesterday was not a good day, I had an email from a friend's husband telling me she had passed Tuesday evening - that is two friends in exactly one week.  Both had been ill I must add, but it still hit me hard and I lost track of days, seriously.  It wasn't until I was going to bed that I realised it was Wednesday evening and I had not done my journal.  Too tired to do it then I decided if I got up around 7.30 this morning I could do it.  So a quick reverse stencil background last night left to dry was the closest I got to todays posting.  I didn't even bother to look at the quote.

Well I have made it, despite having a consultation with the GP at 9.30 am, and will be linking to AJJ as soon as I have scanned my journal page.  See you over there!  Phew!!

Jeudi Journal - Let's Talk

Polly was a keen underwater swimmer.  Her mother said she had been born with the lungs of a fish as she would slide under the water in the bath as a young baby and could lie there for a considerable time before arching her back to get up.  Maybe her birthday under the star sign of Pisces had something to do with it. She really had been a handful when growing up.  Anyhow, Polly was a keen swimmer and spent most of her time in the water exploring everywhere and anywhere she could.  She was also prone to being a little arrogant at times but her friends all knew her and put up with her ways which showed through now and again.  Most of the time however she was nice and always loyal to her friends.

This particular day Polly had gone diving and swimming around with her friend Prue,   They were on holiday in Egypt and trying out some new waters hoping to spot some different species of fish.    At one time a friendly one eyed octopus had swum by with a tiny brightly coloured crab  on his tail.  there had been some funny looking creatures on the ocean's bed but so far no exotic fish.

Suddenly Polly noticed a fish swimming right at her with his mouth wide open as if he was going to swallow her up.  

"You don't scare me", said Polly, "I've seen bigger fish than you around or do you want to talk?  Tell you what - Let's talk soon because I miss the sound of my own voice."

Prue was well out of sight but later that day Polly was telling her about the pink fish and how he tried to scare her.  She said told Prue how she had told him she would chat with him later. Prue wondered just what had been said and wondered if Polly had told him how she loved the sound of her own voice.  Prue was an expert on knowing that, afterall she was the one who had to put up with Polly and her arrogant ways at times.  

This was done on a pre stencilled page in my journal - being the reverse stencilling of the page I showed you last week (ie last week's was a second generation - this was a first).  I had to do the page in a bit of a hurry on Tuesday because I had just learned that my friend has passed away in the early hours of the morning and I knew there was no time after that day to do anything.  It occupied me and helped with the grieving too.  

I quickly thought up the bare bones of a story, found the last swimming figure I had and put a masked head on her.  Then I went through my  stash of Dylusion figures and found the underwater ones.  A quick session with a couple of Promarkers and I was ready - just a story to make up.  Sorry it is not very imaginative but I am now linking it up with Art Journal Journey and Mia's theme of Fish.  Hope to see some of you there.

Jeudi Journal - Don't be ridiculous

OK, so the quote used today comes from Cher, in Mermaids - "Don't be ridiculous, real women are never too old" and is the one chosen by Wendy for us to illustrate in our journals this week.  Despite it having a fishy story to fit in with Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey it is nothing at all to do with the story of the film.  Instead it centres around two friends, Doris and Elsie, both ladies resident at the Resthaven Nursing Home.

Doris fancied herself as a bit of a sleuth and often would lead Elsie into little scrapes that sometimes involved the law.  One time she accused the lady in charge of the home, Mrs Roosevelt, of "popping off the residents".  Totally got it wrong when it turned out Mrs Roosevelt was actually indulging one or two of the residents by giving them a tot of rum or whisky in their hot milk.  The police were not amused when they were called out by Elsie who had totally believed her friend!

It was a lovely Springtime and promised to be similar for the Summer with warm balmy nights which meant they could all have their windows thrown open; and fresh air was always welcome at Resthaven.  Nothing had been happening and so Doris was getting a little bored.  Chess, draughts, snakes and ladders were all well and good but even the Saturday night sing-a-long had become a bit of a bind and Doris wanted something exciting in her life.

"Tell you what" she said to Elsie one afternoon, "I think it's about time I got my beach body out and took myself off somewhere to swim with the dolphins."

"You can't do that" retorted Elsie, "Mrs Roosevelt would never allow it.  Imagine if you got swallowed by one of them, I've seen them on television and they are awfully big fish."

"You are thinking of sharks" said Doris.  "Sharks and some whales are dangerous but dolphins are lovely, friendly creatures and lots of people swim with them.  What is furthermore I want to do something exciting.  If only to show that Ernie Dodds what a real woman can do."

Ernie was a cantankerous resident octogenarian who grumbled and groused his way through every day.  Doris really did not like the man but Elsie was much more tolerable and was very kind to him, even when he was nasty and waved his stick at her friend Doris.

"Well, I am going to do it.  I will go to my room right away and find my swim costume, I know I have a bikini somewhere but not sure if it fits me these days.  Then I will be on the telephone and arrange it all. "

"You can't", said Elsie, "they won't let you, besides which you are much too old to do things like that.  Mrs Roosevelt would have a fit, and imagine what Ernie would have to say.  The whole sitting room would laugh at you."

"Don't be ridiculous."  said Doris, "real women are never too old" and with that she took off for the lift to the first floor determined to find her swimwear, even if it was a bikini!"

Well, for some reason I got the words a little wrong on the journal page but hey ho, it doesn't really matter.  I just hope you enjoyed my story and journal page explaining it this week.

To begin with I did a second generation reverse stencil background in shades of blue and green Distress Ink.  Then I used Miss Dee from Janet Klein (Aall & Create) in the thought bubble and surrounded her with two dolphins.  The furniture at the base of the page is all from Janet Klein's stamps.  Main figures, of course, are Dylusions.

Jeudi Journal - Disagree?

It's Thursday again and time for another journal page for Art Journal Journey where the lovely Mia has chosen "Fish" as the topic for the challenge this month.  Why not pop along to Art Journal Journey here and see some of the lovely entries that followed the great inspirational piece by Mia.  You would be most welcome - but read the rules please to make sure your journal page is the correct size and not too small.

Elizabeth, I hope the storms have abated for you and the weather is not affecting you too much now.  Thinking of you.

What a pickle I got in with the page for this week.  All was planned, I was to take my journal away with me for the weekend and just do the background and stick in a couple of fish I had stamped and a tag I had been given back in 2015.  I just love the little octopus (octopi or octopuses?) on the tag.   The tag was made by a very good friend of mine who is now terminally ill and I thought it was a lovely way I could keep it safe in my journal by using it as part of a layout.  That way I would always know where it was when I wanted to look at something she had made and remember her.

Well, I forgot the glue!  Did take the stamp for the bubbles but then only had a black Memento pad and my head was elsewhere as I intended to stamp it second generation but just did it directly on the page.  I wasn't even sure which way up it should be so am hoping that you think, like I did, that the shadows fall below.  I decided to do my writing between curved lines to represent the waves of the ocean and the background was done in two shades of Distress Ink which I left looking rather blotchy to echo the movement of the water.

Just a tiny story today because I want to include some photos from the weekend:

"Mabel and Ethel, two sister fish, were swimming around when they came across a school of octopus.  Ethel flipped over so she was facing Mabel and said "look at all those octopuses, they are so young and oh so pretty."

"Don't you mean octopi" replied Mabel, always ready to contradict her sister.  

"No, I mean octopuses", replied Ethel, flipping back and turning her back to her sister.  "Octopuses is the preferred plural as it gives the word an English ending to match its adoption as an English word.

"Ah, but ... " said Mabel, "in the early days it was known as octopi because in Latin the words ending in 'us' get pluralised by replacing with "i", surely you know that."

And so the two of them went on and on arguing as to what the plural of octopus was.

Mabel suggested they agree to disagree which is something she always did when the two sisters argued,  or even fell out for a couple of fishy days.

"Oh, for goodness sake" shouted Ethel, who was tired of her sister's nit picking, "rather than agreeing to disagree, why don't you just be quiet," and off she swam heading for the school of octopuses (or octopi?)"  She had had enough of her bossy sister for one day.

What do you say?

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and those in the UK enjoyed the long Bank Holiday weekend in honour of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.  Street parties were held in lots of places and Morecambe, where we were on the Sunday, attempted to have the longest street party by having tables all down the Promenade.

Apparently on each of the tables, which stretched to 2.5 km, sat a Union Jack Flag made by volunteers and organised by the Morecambe Council in an attempt to break the record for the biggest street party.  Money raised at the event was to be divided between Morecambe's Cancer Care Charity and the Ukrainian Refugees.

As Morecambe Bay is the geographical heart of the UK surely there isn't a more fitting place to commemorate HM the Queen with the biggest street party  It was such a shame, the sun shone Friday and Saturday, but it was dull and cool on Sunday when the street party was held, and then it was a lovely day again on the Monday.  Despite that it didn't deter people from having a wonderful time. (Photos courtesy of the Mail online and Lancs Live)

On the Friday we went to a friend's street party in a cul de sac.  Lots of games (egg and spoon, wrapping up in loo roll (Mummies), three legged and a couple of quizzes (we won the general knowledge one).  This is my friend's son in the egg and spoon race

and Jayne wrapping Jimmy up as a Mummy

We ended the long weekend with a visit to one of our favourite gardens, Sizergh, on the edge of the Lake District.  Plants had certainly grown since our last visit and everywhere looked so different.  I couldn't walk down the rock garden as easily as I had done before.  The head gardener certainly knows her stuff as everywhere looked so beautiful.

This is a dwarf horse chestnut.  The candles on it are a lovely apricot/salmon pink in colour and is one of the head gardener's favourite trees in the whole grounds.

I just love doors and archways

The green of the tree on the left stood out against the other shades, sadly the photo did not capture it in all its beauty.

I'll leave it there, some more photos were on yesterday's blog post if you wish to see.  Now it's time to see what kind of day it is going to be - not 'flaming June' as yet for us.

Jeudi Journal - Scream

 "Lottie was your typical English teenager.  She lived at home, just her and her mum, and was studying for her final GCSE's at school.  Mum had been on at her to get a Saturday job as money was a bit scarce with just the two of them and the prospect of university fees looming ahead in two years time.

She had taken herself down to the local market after school one evening and asked at several stalls whether there was any chance of a Saturday job or not.  Sadly most of the stalls already had youngsters working for them on a Saturday ..... but there was the fish market.  

Sadly Lottie dragged her feet into the covered market stalls, it was cold in there, and a little smelly.  Still, she loved her mum so much and realised that she needed to help out at home with a bit of spare cash if she was to achieve her goal of becoming a doctor.

"Erm, are there any Saturday jobs?" she asked, smiling, of one of the men as he finished serving someone.

"You're just in luck" replied the Sam the owner of the stall, "my last lad has just left as he got a full time job.  It's yours if you want it. You look a bright kind of girl."

Sam explained the hours on a Saturday, what was expected of her and arranged for her to go into work the very next Saturday at 6 am.  He said he would show her how to gut the fish and do everything that was expected of her, but explained that she was only on trial for a month.

Lottie went home, not really knowing how she felt but determined to give it a go.  And give it a go she did ..... for the next twelve months.

Yes, there were teething problems, it was cold, and messy and she smelled terrible when she got home on a Saturday evening, too tired to go out with her friends and only fit for a long soak in the bath and to curl up with mum watching TV.  But she kept on telling herself it was money in the bank for her future, and it was kind of training for being a doctor, after all she was gutting fish!  And all the blood didn't bother her anymore.

She remembered how she had taken the head off fish when customers had asked for them to be left on, and left them on when customers had asked specifically for them to be removed.  The dreams she had had of living in a fish tank, or of having her hair turn green and a fish living in her hair had bothered her at times but she had weathered the storms telling herself it was only 'another day of outward smiles and inward screams' for her.  All would be well worth it when she could realise her dreams and become a member of the medical profession."

To begin with I drew inside the Lotza Squares stencil from A&C with an Inktense pencil, just as I had seen Abs do on TV.  Think I got a bit carried away though and drew far too many.  Then I went around each one with a waterbrush and spread the paint (watercolour pencils) across most of the page.  I chose a couple of figures to use and mulled over a story.  Then I remembered the theme was to change the next day!

Getting up yesterday I was eager to see what the new theme was and I found it was 'fish'.  How strange, I had found a stamp I had forgotten about a few days earlier and it was a figure with a fish on her head and an owl by her knee.  I coloured it in, thinking it would do for Art Journal Journey and the bird theme if I chopped the fish off and put a bird there instead.  So yesterday I had a figure all ready apart from a new head being required.  The figure was ready but the page was squares and circles would have been better.  Then I thought 'tanks' - I can have them as fish tanks, so I drew little fish in most of them.  And so, I now have my page ready a day early.  Wonder what Wendy chose for the quote for next week?

Jeudi Journal - Adult

"Momma Cat was at the end of her tether.  Tom, her husband, had been away on business these past three days and that meant she was left all on her own to look after the children.  All eight of them!  Granted the older three were not that much bother, well when Dad was around, but the young ones wanted entertaining the whole time. The Twins were not as bad as the Trips (triplets) but they were bad enough when there was nothing put in front of them to do - and their attention span was the size of a gnat's brain.

Moma Cat had been busy that day cooking and cleaning in time for Aunt Tabbies visit at the weekend.  Aunt Tabby was Grandma's younger sister and a bit of a tartar for everything being clean and tidy.   Even with eight youngsters running around there was no excuse in her eyes for a "sloppy house".

Tom (Poppa Cat) wasn't due home until late on Friday evening and so there was no time for him to give a helping hand, besides which he would be tired from all the travelling he had had to do.  Being in charge of the Health Department for the city meant he had to devise lots of different ways to clean up the streets so that there were no mice or rats for people to complain about.  He had had to do lots of walking about the city, pounding the streets at different parts of the day and sometimes, the night.  Momma Cat was very proud of her husband and his work and so she set store by having a lovely home for him and his children.  

Too bad the Trips decided that today was the day they would chase the family's love birds around the living room.  The two birds were fluttering about not knowing what to do, feathers floating here and there, usually the children left them in peace when they were out of their cage but today first one and then another of the Trips set off in fits of giggles after one or the other bird.

Having had enough Momma Cat lined the whole family up.  Standing, hands on hips she told them off one by one and promised them that that night they would all go to bed without their milk and there would be no treats when Aunt Tabby came.  The Trips looked a bit crestfallen but at least they stopped in their tracks and promised not to chase the love birds any more, and to be good - at least until Poppa came back from his business trip.  Momma Cat looked at them lovingly and said  "Felix, you are the eldest of all the kitties and therefore you are going to have to step into Poppa's shoes when he is not here.  I just have to have help with the family, especially when we are to have visitors."

Felix stood, head on one side and asked "Who made me an adult" but secretly he was quite pleased to have such a responsibility over his brothers and sisters, especially the two older sisters who liked to boss him about."

I am not sure who knows why there is a story accompanying a journal page or even how it all started.  A while ago Wendy and I decided we had to do something with all of our Dylusion stamps and so the Dylusion journal was started.  Then we began joining in with the theme at Art Journal Journey and it made sense to tell the reader (our audience had widened) a bit about the characters and to link in with the theme they had set for the month.  And so a story was born.

I do not have any idea in mind when I begin, it just starts when I look at the page and I begin writing.  Sometimes I go off at a tangent and have to use the erase key because that bit won't work and something else has to be said, but to be honest it is all done rather quickly.  The words just tumble out.  Perhaps I was a story teller in a previous life?  Or is it the 'teacher' in me who thinks on the hoof like they all have to do at times?  I leave it to you dear reader, you make your own mind up.  See you next week.

Jeudi Journal - Decisions

Gosh, been so busy and got such a lot of pain in my right hand that I was all at the last minute with this page.  Faced with the quote from Wendy, the Dylusion figures I have, and wanting to join in with some birds on Art Journal Journey I decided that an Aal & Create stencil might take the fear of the white page away from me.  So 'Lotsa Diamondz' came into play with some 'Wilted Violet District Oxide' inks.

"It was the school holidays and the 'gang' had met up at Paula's house.  They were deciding what to do because they were 'bored'.  Sally suggested they went roller skating in the local park but Paula said that it was usually frowned upon as you could knock other people down if you went speeding along the pathways.  She thought they should go to the cinema, but, as the others pointed out, it cost money and as it was such a nice day they did not want to be sat inside a cinema.

"But it's only the first day, and already we are bored" sighed Paula.  "What can we do that is exciting?"

Her brother, Billy, and his sidekick, Sid, thought that a game of football on the local playing fields was more in order but the girls were not dressed for football and Sally said that they could all go to the local shopping centre and look at clothes.  The boys sniggered at this but as Sally said, it was no worse than their suggestion of football.

Then Billy had an idea.  Whilst the girls were not looking he sneaked over to the bird cage and let the two birds out.  Straight away they began flying all over causing the four of them to duck and dive as they headed for them.  Billy thought it was great fun but the girls hated every minute of it and Paula tried to get out of the room without the birds escaping throughout the house.

"You silly boy" she said, "Wait until mum gets home, she will go absolutely mad at you.  You know the birds are not allowed out unless dad is here.  You always have to do something stupid, especially when you are with Sid."

Billy just grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said "My decisions are not always right, but they are always interesting" and he and Sid hurst into fits of uncontrollable laughter."

So there you have my page for this week.  A couple of other images from Janet Klein's collection at A&C and a bit of pen and ink forming a border.  See you over at Art Journal Journey in a minute or two - maybe you will join in with Matilde's theme of "Birds".

Jeudi Journal - Idiot

Rosie was a sweet and somewhat pretty young girl but she had an unnatural desire to always wear huge roses, as befits her name, in her hair.  You, the dear reader of this journal page would be forgiven if you thought the words "I'm sorry I called you an idiot.  I thought you knew" referred to Rosie in some way when in fact they refer to the two little birds who had nested amongst crown of roses she was wearing today.

"Caro, 'the canarblary bird' was a very unusual bird indeed.  She loved to flit about and find the most unusual places to rest, or even, sometimes, to nest.  In fact she had just flown all the way across the water from Germany, resting on a ferry boat whenever she could, where she had been spending the day in Balconia by the Rhine visiting her favourite hooman friend and chatting about different coffees of`all things.  She had rested once she returned to England, having a few days in the sunny south before heading up north to meet up with her family and friends.

It was whilst she was flitting about that she saw this young girl sporting a crown of roses in her hair.  Caro thought that would be the ideal place to settle for a while and so she perched high on the young girl's head, being ever so careful not to disturb the petals of the beautiful flowers.  Caro was extremely light and so the young girl, who we know to be Rosie, was not aware of the fact that a bird had nestled on her head.

Caro was extremely happy sitting there, the scent of the roses and the delightful shampoo Rosie used wafted up to her nostrils and sent her into a kind of dreamy haze.  Imagine what a shock she got when the 'nest' she had made for herself began to rock slightly.  Opening her eyes Caro saw her cousin, Sully 'the spotoobler bird', perching on one of the roses looking at her.  

"I thought it was you, only an idiot like you would perch on someone's head" said Sully as he fluffed up his feathers and twitched his tail.  "Didn't know you were back in the country" he continued.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" asked Caro, "It takes one to know one.  Besides which I was always way above you in all the classes we took at school.  I seem to remember I was the brainy one and you were the one always in trouble.  I got my wings long before you did."

A heated clucking ensued and the two of them got so twitchy that Rosie shook her head from side to side and up and down and the two of them had to fly away.  As they did so Sully shouted "I'm sorry I called you an idiot.  I thought you knew."

Caro decided not to reply, she knew what an idiot he had been at school, seemed as if he had never changed.

I pondered, after writing this, whether to turn it into a dream but thought a bit of nonsense might appeal to one or two readers and so I left my journal story as it is.  Hope it makes you smile.

To begin with I did a bit of reverse stencilling with Twisted Citron Distress Ink and my Aall & Create Stencil.  Whilst it was drying I coloured my images with my Promarkers and then decided to make a brick wall for Rosie to stand on.  

Out came the Heavy Gesso and another Aall & Create stencil, which, when dry, was brushed over with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

So that is me for this week, joining in with Matilde at Art Journal Journey and her challenge which is 'Birds'.

Jeudi Journal - A Challenge

 "Percy had been to the zoo with his class from school.  It was the usual end of year trip and the teachers had decided that it would be both fun and educational.  The children could learn all about the animals whilst enjoying the open air and they could do some projects on the animals they had seen when they returned to school after the summer recess.

Percy was a lovely young lad, easily led by his peers but lots of fun and a very likeable child in many ways.  His mother was very understanding of his mischievous streak but she did her best whilst her husband was away serving his country.  Percey was proud of his dad and wanted to be just like him when he grew up.

There had been a lot of giggling on the coach back home but the teachers had not seen anything to worry about and they knew that the boys were all good pals and did behave silly when together - perhaps they were laughing about the antics of some of the animals they had seen.  

The coach pulled up outside school right on time and there were several mothers waiting for their offspring, including Mrs Bunt, Percy's mother.  Mrs Bunt was glad to have her son back in one piece as she had been worried he might fall into some pit with an animal or something and so she hurried him along to the waiting car.  

It wasn't until they got home that she noticed the knapsack he had taken was moving on its own!    What have you got in there, she asked.

"It's a present for you mum" replied young Percy.  "All the other kids were buying presents for their mums to take home but I thought you would like one of the exotic birds" he said as he pulled a rather bewildered looking bird from his knapsack.

(sorry its a bit skewift)

"Oh Percy", said Mrs Bunt, what am I going to do with you, you are going to be in big trouble, in fact sometimes I despair, you can be trouble with a capital T at times."

Percy looked at her with his big eyes and said "I'm not trouble just a challenge".

This is based on a story I was told when I went as a representative of the Girl Guides (Girl Scouts in America) in the UK, to an International camp in Denmark, many many moons ago.  Now how true it was I have no idea but the (mature) lady who told it was a teacher from the north east and I had no reason to disbelieve her.  I have heard it as a funny story since so who knows?

I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the challenge this month is "Birds" as set for us by Matilde who hails from Poland.  You can see her work here and I am sure you will love her inspiration page as much as I do.

Jeudi Journal - Time

 Well, linking to Art Journal Journey proved very difficult with the quote set by Wendy for this week.  The quote was "There's not enough hours in the day for all the stuff I'm not going to do" and the closest song I could come up with was by Chicago - "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?".   A tenuous link but the best I could come up with for Alison's challenge which I really wanted to link with.

I did try several songs about laziness, idly lying about but when you examined the lyrics they were not at all suitable being drug related or even worse.  So I settled on the song by Chicago, at least I could write a story.

"Patsy was a crafter.  She was always busy making things, buying new products - you name it, her whole life was about crafting.  She had a lovely dedicated large craftroom, filled with shelving and a huge table in the centre of the room.  Dotted around the perimeter were also a couple of smaller tables where she could work on the different disciplines, such as her die cutting station, her 'dirty' area which was where the large old Butler's sink was for the messy projects she loved to do, and the clean area which housed her sewing machine and bales of fabric which she could not resist buying.

She had a TV mounted on the wall just beyond the doorway and that was linked to her computer so that she could watch You Tube demonstrations whilst she got on with her current project, whatever that may be.  In short Patty was missing nothing in her life.  Her husband was a quiet mannered soul who was quite happy to let her get on with all the things she enjoyed and he was quite happy to help with the housework as and when necessary.  If truth be known he did most of the cooking these days and was becoming quite the accomplished chef.

It was a lovely sunny morning when the two of them were sat having breakfast together on the patio.  Breakfast had always been Patty's thing and she had made two perfectly poached eggs that day which, along with some crisp toast, had been a lovely start to the day.

"What are you doing today my dear?" asked Henry.

"Oh I don't know" replied Patsy.

"Surely in that wealth of You Tube videos you have saved you must be able to find something" he answered.

"There's not enough hours in the day for all the stuff I'm not going to do" she replied, with a smile on her face..

Henry sighed, sometimes he wondered what on earth went on in Patsy's world.  But he didn't say anything, he loved her so much he just wanted her world to be perfect."

Jeudi Journal - Error

In linking the quote for this week with Art Journal Journey my mind went to that British film "Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War" when I saw the quote I had to use for the journal page today.  It's about Thelma (Pauline Collins) who is sent to a run down nursing home by her son and daughter in law.  

 It's a good fun film, in which amongst other things they refuse to eat the endless tasteless cabbage meals they were given and go out for some fun on the bowling green.  

"Agnes was feeling particularly down.  She had just been to watch a wedding at the local church with her grandson Benji.  Benji had been asking lots of questions about when his Gran got married and wanted to know all about her and Grandpa's lives when they were younger.

Lots of images of friends now gone passed before her eyes and did nothing to lighten the mood she was in.  She had lost touch with so many of her old pals as each had taken different directions in their lives.  Her husband, George, was almost 80 and no longer were they the Agnes and George of old.  Oh what fun they had had when growing up.  What scrapes they had been in.  She dare not tell Benji of some of the things they had done.  Harmless things, like playing 'knock a door, run' and raiding neighbour's bonfire piles before the big day when they were to be lit.  Were they really errors of her life or just part of growing up?

She shook herself and put on a smile telling Benji about the time George took her out to tea and they ate all the cakes on the cake stand not realising that each one had to be paid for.  Poor George had not had enough money on him and she had had to empty her purse and help him pay for the cakes.  The dress she had been saving for for the Queen's Coronation just blew away in the wind that day as her savings dwindled and the pair of them felt quite sick afterwards.  But she did not tell Benji that last bit.

Agnes  remembered her school days when she had been sent off to a boarding school and how she disliked the place. She remembered the real scrapes she and her friends got into and the time she led a revolt over them having to wear straw boaters in the summer when they walked past the boy's school and how the boy's would jeer at them.  Worse still it had almost ended up with her being expelled the time she climbed the flagpole and tied a pair of the house mistresses undies to the pole.   

Agnes had had some upsetting news that morning and she had thought that going by the church and seeing a neighbour's daughter's wedding would take her mind off things and she would shake out of the doldrums - but no, it made her feel even sadder.  She said to herself "the older I get the more I see the error of my ways, but the less I care".  She knew that wasn't strictly true, yes, she had regrets about some things that had gone on in her life but they were not for sharing, and certainly not with her lovely grandson Benji.  "If we didn't have regrets, didn't have those moments in our past to see what errors we had made we wouldn't grow up to be good Grandparents to our little ones.  So I don't care." she muttered to herself.  And with that she called out to Benji to set off to see what Grandpa was up to."

Jeudi Journal - I'm Not Doing It

That's how I felt when faced with tying the journal page,Wendy had set, to link with the challenge from Alison at Art Journal Journey.  "I'm just not doing it" - but then I remembered a song about 'sleepy heads' and so I looked it up and lo and behold there it was "Jaye P Morgan - Get Up! Get Up! (You sleepy head)" so that is my link today to AJJ.  

"A little birdy with a yellow bill

Hopped upon my window sill

He said Get up! Get Up!

You sleepy head"

Now I have you all confused so read on please:

"Do you ever have a late night and then next morning feel like saying you are not going to get out of bed?  Well, our young lady felt like that the other day when she had been on her computer until the wee small hours.  Next morning she just did not want to get out of bed, she felt tired in her eyes and her whole body was craving lying there in the luxury of the duvet and soft pillows that surrounded her.  Sounds familiar?

It was Friday morning and Jenna had been playing games on her computer, spending time chatting to friends and searching Facebook until her eyelids drooped and she realised she had to go to bed.  Oh how she regretted having such a late night, and it was a busy day, Friday, at the office.  She looked at Minnie, her cat and said "If it requires getting out of bed, I'm not doing it" knowing full well that she would.

She had to get up and get ready for work, she had to feed Minnie and let her outside for her morning  constitutional and make sure everything was ok for Minnie to be left until lunchtime when she would return and start all over again, feeding Minnie and herself and getting back to the office.  It was a good job it was only around the corner from where she lived.

"Just ten more minutes", she said to Minnie, and then I will be up and ready.  Something Minnie heard many a morning after one of Jenna's  late nights.  The ten minutes so often lapsed into twenty and would have gone on to thirty had Minnie not intervened.  And so, Minnie took things into her own hands (or paws) and gently tapped Jenna on the cheek to awaken her.  

"Go away" said Jenna gently waving her one free arm, I said "ten minutes."

Not to be put off, Minnie waved her tail in the air in a circular motion, walked about three feet down the bed and returned to tap Jenna again on her face.

"OK, OK" said Jenna, "I am getting up.  Despite what I said earlier I do know I have to" and with that Jenna got up and sat on the edge of the bed ready to take a quick shower and feel human again.  

Minnie sat there, so pleased, she was going to get fed and maybe even a cuddle before Jenna set off for work, Jenna couldn't resist a cuddle with Minnie each day."

Oxides for background, Lavinia stencil over the top, accessories/diecuts Janet Klein, head Dylusions.

Jeudi Journal - Boxes of Mints

 No, I am not giving away any boxes of mints, the title of this blog post refers to the quote for this week and I am linking it also to Art Journal Journey  where Valerie has the theme "Spring Goddess".

"It was a lovely Spring day and the two friends had met up for a drink at a little coffee shop just by the Park off the High Street.

"What on earth are you wearing those sunglasses for?" asked Belinda of Samantha.

"They are new", said Sam, "I treated myself to some rose coloured glasses in the hope that the world would look a lot better place."

"What on earth is the matter?" said Belinda, sounding quite concerned that something drastic had happened in the life of her friend Sam.  "Surely things cannot be that bad."

"Well, you know what they say, life is so much better if looked at through rose coloured spectacles, and so I thought maybe I too would look better if I wore them.  The only trouble is, when I put them on and saw my reflection in a shop window I did not look any better and I am so upset, so very upset."

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Belida, "there is nothing wrong with the way you look, you look just the same as you did last week."

"That's the trouble" replied Sam, "I just ate four boxes of thin mints. ... not feeling thin though"

"You did what?" asked Belinda, "You ate four boxes of thin mints and expect to lose weight?  You silly old sausage, they will either make you put more weight on, or if they were covered in chocolate will give you spots.  If you are serious about losing weight why not join the local Slimming Club, look if you want I will come along with you."

"Really?" asked Sam, "You would do that for me?"

"Yes" said Belinda, "You are my best friend and that's what best friends do for one another."

And with that the two girls walked off arm in arm and continued with their shopping.  (Sam left her biscuit and milky coffee on the table.)

Jeudi Journal - Memory

I used my Distress Inks on this background and my Distress Oxides for stamping the Aall & Create images all over the background.  

"It was a lovely Spring day and Gemma was feeling a little bit down.  She had forgotten her appointment at the nail salon, had forgotten to send her sister a birthday card and just realised that it was Mothering Sunday the next day and had not got anything for her beloved mama.

"What on earth am I going to do?" she asked Brutus, her big grey dog.  "I have the worst memory in the whole wide world and I just do not know what to do about it."

Obviously she got no answer from Brutus, who just sat there outside his kennel and gave her a lop-sided smile.  Well, we all know dog's do not smile really but at times that is just how Brutus looked.  He was Gemma's best friend.  Not that she did not have a wide circle of friends, she did, but Brutus was her best friend because as what she said to him he never answered her back or argued with her.

"Dogs are just the best" she had said, only the other day, to her friend Patsy.  "As how I feel I can always guarantee Brutus will come and cheer me up.  If I am not well or feeling down in the dumps he just comes and puts his head on my lap and looks at me with those big brown eyes of his and I know the world will be right for me.  Who needs a boyfriend when they have a dog."

"Oh Brutus",  she said, "I swear if my memory was any worse I could plan my own surprise party."

Brutus, sensing things were not well with Gemma came trotting over to where she sat in the garden and laid his head on her knee.  They say a man's best friend is his dog - it works for women and girls too."

This is my entry this week for Valerie's theme of Spring over at Art Journal Journey.  I hope that this background looks as if it is a Spring day for Gemma and her dog.

Jeudi Journal - Laundry?

 I saw a Journal page that someone had done that really inspired me.  Only trouble was I had to use a brayer, I don't get on with brayers! The page I saw began with yellow - fair do's, it was ok when I did it but then ...  The page I liked used Ochre rather than the blue as first intended.  Me?  I chose blue thinking of the Ukraine Flag and the two colours together making green which would work well with Valerie's theme "Spring" over at Art Journal Journey.

For my stencil I chose circles again.  It really is my favourite stencil and so I popped it on top and took some of the blue paint off with a baby wipe.  Next task was to choose my figures.  I thought I would use the smallest ones but to be honest they looked lost in this journal so I went up a step and used the middle sized ones.  They still look small to me.  Along with some flowers from Aall & Create I had my page catered for.  Now to the story with the quote "Don't you just love the 12 seconds when the laundry is done."

"Adele, Belle and Carmell had been friends since they were at school.  They had all grown up in the same area, played in the same parks, gone to the same schools, got married within two years of one another, had their children pretty close to one another and remained friends with rarely a cross word passing their lips.  They always say "two's company, three's a crowd" but these three friends were determined that would never be the case with them.

At school they were known as 'the Alphabet Kids' on account of their initials A, B and C.  The fact that their names actually rhymed remained a secret as to whether their parents, who were also close friends, had done that on purpose.

As usual on a Monday afternoon the three of them met up in the local Park to see how the weekend had gone for one another.  Adele and her family had been to her parents house over the weekend as her father was celebrating a big birthday.  Belle had taken her twins to watch their father playing football and then all had gone to Mcdonalds for a burger celebration as his team had won, whilst Carmell and her family had spent the weekend at their caravan on the coast.

They all had lots to talk about and they walked and talked, and sat and talked, and carried on talking whilst they all enjoyed an ice cream at the local vendors.  They had a good life, a nice happy family, children who were doing well at school and husband's who adored them.  Then the talk got to the more mundane things in life that were waiting for them when they got home.  Housework!

"Don't you just love the twelve seconds when the laundry is done" said Belle.

"Ooh, yes, but then I have to remember the ironing is just around the corner and I do not like ironing" replied Adele, "in fact I think I prefer the laundry to the ironing"

"Yes, " said Carmell, "you are right, it is about twelve seconds that I give a sigh of relief when it is all on the line outside before I remember the ironing will be waiting as soon as everything is dry."

The three friends started to laugh.  Life was good, but, as how good it got, ironing always got in the way.  thank goodness for that twelve seconds of relief!"

Jeudi Journal - Wrinkles

Another page for my journal challenge with Wendy and also another entry for the Art Journal Journey challenge which this month is having a Springlike theme chosen by the lovely Valerie of Bastelmania fame.  Today the quote is "Does going bra-less help pull the wrinkles out of your face?"

My page started off, in my head, as being a lovely lime green colour.  As it turned out it was a kind of mid to dark green so that meant adding some more yellow - no better.  Then it was white paint, Gesso and more and more white paint until I got to that kind of pale green colour - not lime!!  I still had quite a bit of the darker green so I lightened it a little and tried to use it up on another page which in the end had so much paint on it, it felt like linoleum.  Still some left so I put it through a stencil on three corners of my page.  then I chose my figures and began my story:

"Billy and Tish had been friends for years.  Way back to High School and then on to Uni and beyond.  They had married within months of one another, their first babies were almost the same age and their friendship was unbreakable.

They knew almost everything there was to know about one another and now they were both reaching retirement age they were planning what they would do with their time once work was behind them.  

It was a Saturday afternoon and the two of them had met up for a coffee and a chat.  It was not long since the pandemic had changed the lives of so many and now, at long last, they were told the various bans were to be lifted but they should still exercise control.  Tish had turned up still wearing a mask and when asked why she said it was not for medical reasons but it actually made her feel and look better.

"it covers the wrinkles around my mouth", she continued, "that and not wearing spectacles are the only things that make me look younger."

"Not wearing your glasses?" asked Billy, "how do you make that one out?"

"Well", replied Tish, "when I take my glasses off I can't see the wrinkles that are there when I wear them."  "It's pure magic."

Billie started laughing, "they are not wrinkles, they are your laughter lines and they come with age, nothing you can do about them, they are part of you."

"I was wondering", said Tish, "does going bra-less help pull the wrinkles out of your face?"

"What on earth are you like" asked Billie, "if that was the answer there'd be no Botox and a lot of people would be looking much younger than they are."

And the two of them laughed as they finished their coffees, got up and set off for a bit of good old retail therapy.

Jeudi Journal - Chapstick

 A new challenge over at Art Journal Journey with Valerie choosing "Spring" as the theme this month.  Perfect for March as its the time we see the little flowers bursting open and new shoots appearing, chicks on the farm and lambs in the fields - who does not like Spring?  It's a time for rejoicing and looking forward to better weather - and, dare I say it, wearing those summer clothes (for the Brits definitely).

"Laurie and Sue were going to the local craft club that afternoon for a lovely lesson on making little felt animals.  The group had just reopened having been closed for the past two years due to the Pandemic and so the girls were excited to be meeting their old friends, some of whom they had only seen on zoom when they had had a meeting.  A new Chairperson had been elected as the old one decided to step down and Laurie was a bit worried about just how much the new Chair would  interfere with the other jobs that people had.

"Some people should use a glue stick instead of a Chapstick" she said to Sue.  "I just hope she can keep her mouth firmly closed for the afternoon and just get on with her crafting instead of interfering and laying down the law, saying what she wants everyone to do."

"She's only trying to make the group run smoothly" said Sue, in defence of the new Chair.  "Perhaps we can cut her a bit of slack for this first meeting until everyone finds their feet" she said.

"Yes, maybe", said Laurie,"I'll go along with you and your thoughts for the first hour but if she starts I'm walking.  I did my job perfectly fine before she came along and am sure I can carry on with it working out just wonderfully now we are back meeting again."

And with that the two girls stepped through the door of the meeting room for a (hopefully) fun afternoon."

I began with a yellow page which I had stencilled over but it was too bright and so it needed toning down somewhat.  I tried putting a thin coat of white paint over it but it still did not lok right and so I went in with Jade Green from the Dylusion Range on a baby wipe.  Oops a bit too strong for Spring but with a rub here and there it did lighten up.  I then stamped some large flowers (Tres fleurs - Aall & Create) across the base of the page but when I tried to colour them with my Promarkers the green background was a bit too dark.  So I resorted to more stamping, fussy cutting and a few flowers here and there.  Is it Spring like Valerie?  I hope so even though it is much darker than yours.