Jeudi Journal - Subscription

 The quote chosen this week from Tim Holtz and his Snarky Quotes - "Please cancel my subscription to your issues".  So, working with that and Elle's lovely theme at Art Journal Journey "Fairytales, Folklore and Fables" I wondered what to do.  Elle gave some fantastic prompts as well as explaining her title excellently so if you pop along to Art Journal Journey I am sure you will want to join in.

This is my page today and my story will follow:

"Christine is a singer in a local amateur operatic society, always the understudy for the main role and never the principal character, that is until one day ...  when she is kidnapped by a masked man called Erik.  He has heard her singing and is enthralled by her beautiful voice and cannot understand why she is never given the main role in the various productions.

Erik keeps Christine locked up for himself and in an attempt to escape she tears off his mask and discovers he has the head of a skeleton.  Horrified but trying not to show it Christine agrees that if he let her go she will wear his ring as a sign she is faithful to him and him alone.

Going back home she meets her childhood friend, Raoul, and tells him all about Erik.  They decide to run away together to somewhere that Erik will never find her.  Unknown to them Erik has overheard their conversation and once again, he abducts Christine.  

This time he forces her to marry him but just before she does she lifts her veil and kisses him.  This is the first time Erik has ever been kissed and he begins to cry, Christine is reduced to tears herself and he decides to let her go from his life.  As she leaves she turns and says "Please cancel my subscription to your issues" and escapes through the door of the cellar where he had her locked away."

Alright, this is not sticking to the true story of the Phantom of the Opera but it is my version for Elle at Art Journal Journey - maybe it will become a West End hit in its time if they change the names of the characters.  I hope the final sentence of the story made you smile.

Jeudi Journal - Silence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeudi Journal - Beautiful Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeudi Journal - Fabulous

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

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

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

"How are you?" asked Janet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeudi Journal - Drink!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What happened next?" enquired Bettina.

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

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

Jeudi Journal - My Mum

The thing I remember most about being young, which is what Chris is asking for us to journal about in Art Journal Journey this month, is my mum and how hard she worked.  I was brought up in a working class family where both mum and dad went out to work to make ends meet and I was looked after by a spinster aunt.  How mum juggled all the things she did I will never know, I wanted for nothing, within reason, and was always a happy little girl.

The story below is actually based around an incident that really did happen to me.  OK I've embroidered it a little but you should get the gist of it, and names have been changed to protect the innocent.

"It was a typical Sunday afternoon.  Christabel had been to Sunday School and was now allowed to play out with her friends.  She had on a new skirt that mum had saved up for and she loved how it twirled as she danced around.  Damon, lived next door and he was her very best friend, people often took them for brother and sister, twins even, because they both had the same blonde hair and chubby cheeks.

They had got tired of the games they had been playing and then Damon said "Let's go over to father's allotment and play over there.  There is an old van that he has just left there and we can pretend we are going on a trip somewhere.  Where do you want to go?"

"Blackpool please." said Christabel, "We always go to Morecambe, or Scotland for our big holiday, and I have always wanted to go to Blackpool."

The pair set off and were joined by Madge, an older girl who lived close by them.  "Where are you two going?" she asked.

"Off to my dad's allotment want to come?" asked Damon, and the three of them went down the avenue, crossed the road and into the allotment which was across the road from the local school.

Damon and Christabel soon settled into the front seats of the van.  It was a run down old thing, made of wood but it was exciting to the youngsters.  Margaret soon got bored and decided that they should have a concert, the other two were not so sure as they were enjoying pretending to drive along the road to Blackpool.

Madge decided that there was not really enough room for her in the back to do any of her dancing, she had aspirations to become a dancer, and so she climbed up onto the roof and began twirling about and before long she was trying to do the can can like she had seen on TV.

All of a sudden there was an almighty crash and Madge came flying through the roof of the car.  Splinters of wood flew everywhere and Madge ended up in a heap behind the other two.  

"Your leg is bleeding" said Damon, "Quick, mop it up with that old coat that is hanging there."  What a mess!  A hole in the roof and blood on the coat, what were they going to do?

Suddenly Damon shouted "Run, run as quick as you can."  Two men were approaching and it was then that Damon told them it was not his father's car at all but it belonged to the two men coming down the road.  

The trio shot off, sprinting across the road, climbing over the railings of the local school in an attempt to escape.  It was then that disaster struck.  Christabel got her new skirt stuck on the top of the railings, she was hanging - unable to move.  So Damon took hold of her hand and yanked her down.  Oh No!  The pointed end of the railings went through the lovely new skirt.  It wasn't lovely any more.  How was she going to explain this to her mother?  

On returning home mum was her busy self trying to make a lovely Sunday tea for the family after spending most of the day cleaning.  Imagine her horror when she saw the state of the new skirt her darling daughter was wearing.  

"Well, that will have to be patched" she said.  There's nothing much else I can do with it, it's just another job for me and I am so busy today.  Your father's at the station picking aunty up and the cousins will be arriving soon too.  So much to do, so little people to do it for me."  And, with that, mum sat down and decided it was time to have a cup of tea before she tackled anything else.  That skirt needed repairing before anyone came.  She was exhausted!"

This was the only way I could think of linking my journal page to AJJ this week.  As I said, it is a true story, the skirt was a tartan one in real life, only the ending has been changed.  I think we kids hid out for a while before we dare surface and thankfully there was no-one but the family for tea that day.  But I did wear my lovely tartan skirt patched after that.

The page was one I had inked through a stencil previously.  It was so garish that I tried to take it down a little with some watered down Gesso and I just drew with a pen to give it a border.  I just wish I had more figures to use with my Dylusion pages, it's so difficult with some of the outlandish heads that have been introduced lately.  Apologies, the scan has missed the left hand border off.

Now what is the quote from Wendy for next week?  She loves to challenge me!

Jeudi Journal - Smarter?

Here we are again with another Journal page featuring Dylusion figures and a quote from Wendy.   Todays story features Lottie, a little girl and her mum, Heidi.  Lottie can be naughty at times and, despite her mum dressing her in pretty clothes, she is a bit of a tom-boy.  If there is a tree to be climbed you can bet Lottie is the first one to attempt to shin up it.

Dad was working away.  A Project Manager he was often having to work out of town and that meant mum had a lot on her hands with running her own business, keeping the house straight, and watching what Lottie was doing.  Sometimes poor Heidi felt she needed eyes in the top of her head as well as the back of it. 

It had been a lovely sunny day and Heidi had managed to take the whole afternoon off from work allocating several duties to her assistant.  She had decided to tackle the bedrooms whilst hubby was away and Lottie was out with her friends.  There had been lots to do, sorting wardrobes, doing the washing and getting it out in the garden whilst the weather was so nice.  She'd actually got lots of it dry and ironed  before 3 o'clock and after putting it away she decided to sit down in her favourite armchair and have a well earned cuppa.  

Heidi was tired and with the lovely warm day and the hot cup of coffee she had dozed off.  All of a sudden there was a loud 'crash' which woke her and made her jump up.  Oh dear, the window in the door was smashed.  What on earth had caused that she wondered.

Two minutes later, in walked Lottie.  "It wasn't me" she said.  "Someone came up and kicked my ball and it went straight through the window, honest mum it wasn't me."

"And who would do such a thing?" asked Heidi.

"It was a complete stranger," replied Lottie.  "He was ever so tall and had long ginger hair and a beard that went down to his knees.  I've never seen him before mum, honestly."

"Now don't tell fibs" said Heidi, as she stood, hands on hips looking down at her daughter.  "There was no such man was there?"  And she fixed Lottie with a very stern look.

"Err, no mum: said Lottie, "it was Billy from down the road who. did it - and he told me to tell you it was a strange man.  I didn't want to get him into trouble so I just made that man up.  Sorry mum"

"Now Lottie, you cannot keep telling lies like this.  Have you forgotten Billy is away at his cousins for the next few days so it could not have been him who did it.  Whatever you have to say can wait until you're smarter."  And with that mum took hold of Lottie and marched her off to her nice tidy bedroom.  "You can just sit here young lady until your father comes home later tonight and then we will have the truth about the broken glass.  In the meantime I had better get someone to fix it.  There will be no spends for you this weekend when your father finds out."

I am linking this to Art Journal Journey where Wendy has 'doors' as her challenge.

Well, the heatwave did not last long in the north of England where I am and I for one was grateful for it.  The poor gardens were longing for some rain and luckily we have had some.  Whether it was the combination of the terrific heat and the rain or what I don't know but we have had some beautiful roses to show.  I never ceases to surprise me when I see the roses bloom as they are coming out of concrete at the side of the garden in front of the house.  They were there when we moved in and this year has been the best show ever.  Here are just three of them - one had six flowers on it all beautiful.

All taken on the same day - can't choose a favourite

Jeudi Journal - People

"People are really great as long as you don't get to know them" is the quote for today.   For this one I decided it could be a conversation between two dogs for a change.  Again I used other dogs than Dylusion ones, this time Tim Holtz ones so to make amends I used a flower and a toadstool stamp from Dyan to go with the tall figure of hers (which has had a head change).  I also used one of her narrow border stamps to go around the edges.  Butterfly stamp is unknown.

To begin with I used what was left on my Orange Dabber that I often use with my Distress Inks so I have not a clue which shade of orange it is.  Because it is using what was already on the background is not really orange but just a nice golden glow.  I really thought I was going to have to give up and ink my dabber but I managed to push it around to get colour all over - you will notice that the top is slightly darker than the remainder of the page, although the scan has given it a shadow at the top as well.

My blog post today features a conversation between two dogs.  I could not find my Dylusion dog stamps anywhere and wonder if I have loaned them to someone.  So I used these dogs instead.  Do you understand doggy talk?  Do dogs understand humans?  I think that body language and intonation has a big part to play in our understanding with our canine friends and vice versa.  Anyway, today we have ...

"Prince and Rex have met up, as usual on a morning, at the local park.  Their owners had gone on, stood having a chat, and the two dogs had been playing together, racing one another around the grassy area that is marked off for dogs.  Rex was feeling a bit 'off' this morning, and so, puffing and panting with his tongue hanging out, he decided it was time for a chat about a serious matter - owners - or 'people' as we are known in the doggy world!

As per usual the doggy chat got around to discussing their own owners, both dogs came from good homes where they were looked after well and fed and groomed, not to mention the walks they got taken on.  Rex got quite close to Prince because he didn't want any of the other dogs to hear what he had to say, and so he whispered into Prince's ear "People are great as long as you don't get to know them".  Well, Prince was a bit taken aback by that sentence as he thought Judy, his owner, was really rather nice and that he knew her quite well.  He knew full well that as soon as they got back home he would have his paws washed and was due a cuddle whilst she gave him one or two treats.  They might even sit for an hour or so watching a bit of tv together.

Quite often he would fall asleep in her arms, dreaming of chasing rabbits and butterflies all over the fields where they sometimes went for a walk on their own.  He knew he twitched a bit when dreaming because once or twice he had woken himself up with it, but Judy did not seem to mind at all and she just gave him soft gentle kisses on the top of his head to calm him down.

He really did not know what Rex was on about.  His owner, Jethro, was a big guy with a lovely smile and he seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for Judy which is why they met up in the park most mornings.  Why only yesterday Judy had asked Prince if he thought they should ask Jethro and Rex to join them on their walks in the afternoons as well.  Well, if that was the way Rex felt about people he wasn't sure if it would work or not."

I am entering this into the challenge on Art Journal Journey where Mia has chosen 'Butterflies" as the theme this month.  You can see a butterfly has landed on one of the mushrooms.  Hope the dogs don't notice.

Jeudi Journal - Crayons

Well, this week the quote is "I have neither the time or the crayons to explain it to you".  Now I do know that to be grammatically correct this should be "nor the crayons ..." but as it was presented to me by Wendy as "or the" and she had taken it from some polymer stamps I decided I should leave it as "or the".  No time to ring her and ask her what she was going to do I just went ahead with it as was.

Just in case you, dear reader, have never heard of the quote and think it a bit 'strange' it means "you are stupid and I don't have crayons to illustrate/draw what I am saying to you, and even if I did have some crayons I don't have the time to illustrate/draw it".

In my example today I have Great Aunt Mabel with her nephew George.  "Great Aunt Mabel is of the old school, she has never been married, not had many dealings with young people and can be a little intolerant at times.  As her sister Mary always says "our Mabel is a bit cantankerous at the best of times'.  Unfortunately poor George had been sent over to Great Aunt Mabel's to take her some flowers and one or two other bits.  (A little bit like the fairy tale of Red Riding Hood going to see her grandmother but in this case the grandmother, or Great Aunt Mabel, is the wolf.)

Unknown to both George and his mother Great Aunt Mabel is allergic to some flowers.  As soon as Great Aunt Mabel sees the flowers she shouts for poor little George to take them away as she has 'allergic rhinitis'.  Poor George has not a clue what she is on about and thinks she is talking about some animal rather like the rhinoceros he saw in a book of his the other day.  Trembling he asks her what she means and tells her he does not understand.  She goes on to say that 'an allergy is an immune system response to a foreign substance that's not typically harmful and is called an allergen' but when George stammers to her 'I dddon't knnow. wwwhat yyou are ooon abbout' she gets really angry.  That is when she decides he is stupid and she bellows at him 'I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain it to you'

Poor George just stands there and trembles before dashing off, back in the direction of home and his mother's arms, leaving the goodies on the floor.  Great Aunt Mabel has not a clue what has just happened so she picks up the goodies and takes them into her house, closes the door  and pops the kettle on ready to enjoy one of the delicious biscuits she has just had sent.  'Children, why do they not understand these things?' she asks herself."  

In my attempt at tidying/reorganising my craft room  (which, because of my bad back is going to take about six months I think) I found two tins of Distress Ink Stains.  Now how or what I used them for in the past I haven't a clue.  I just tried a couple out on my journal page but don't think I will use them like this again.  Maybe I should watch a "You Tube" video or two to see how to get the best use out of them.  If all else fails I will decant them into spray bottles.

So why, if I am not that 'taken' with these stains am I adding them to Erika's challenge over on Art Journal Journey?  Well, to be honest I do not view them as a bad thing, I view them as part of this reorganising of my craft room that I have decided will take place this year.  Each part I tidy unearths something I did not know I had (like my Pergamano Paints that preceded my love of rubber stamping) and hopefully leads to a much more relaxed and easy use of all the things I have accumulated over the years.  I so enjoy de-cluttering, don't you?

Jeudi Journal - Happy New Year

 Well, first of all here's wishing a Safe and Well New Year to everyone!  What else can I say with the world in a turmoil with this Covid blighting our lives.  It seems wrong to say 'Happy' because it cannot be "happy"  as we know it of old but it can be as happy as we all make it.  We have just gone into Tier 4 so all non-essential shops are now closed as from midnight last night.  At least it stops the mad parties some folks were no doubt going to have.  (Or does it?)  So I wish you all a Safe and Well New Year and will leave it at that.

My blog page is sticking with the old saying because it fits on the top of the page.  Apologies for it being a bit hazy but it was right at the bend so didn't scan very well.  To begin with I inherited a previously painted blue page so I stencilled some stars randomly in gold and silver, mainly silver all over and then stuck a couple of pieces of washi tape on for no reason than I always forget to use washi tape so am trying to remember in the future.  Because of the quote I wanted to use a figure in a leotard type outfit and as I only have tall figures like that the page had to be portrait style.  Not much room for anything in my journal with these larger figures.  Anyhow, the story is:

"Angelica was a pretty young thing with quite a tidy figure, but then what do you expect at eighteen.  She had spent Christmas with her parents and had the usual Christmas Fayre which included puddings and chocolate; lots of sitting around playing word type games to keep the 'old folks' happy.  Indeed Grandma and Grandpa had had such a lovely time, especially as they had not been going out much due to the pandemic.  It had been 'touch and go' as to whether they would be able to spend Christmas with the family or not but luckily they were allowed to meet as a 'bubble' and have a lovely day.

Luckily because Angelica's home came in a Tier 1 area she was allowed to go and take part in sport as she had only made up 18 in mid September.  Her friend Sally had also only made up 18 in September so it was fine for them to attend a sport area at the moment.  Thrilled to be able to have some exercise Angelica had rung the local sports hall and found out that there was a Yoga class running with four spaces.  She had hurriedly rung Sally to ask if she would like to go along and on Sally agreeing she had booked two of the places.  How good it would feel to get some exercise and get out of the house and away from all the tempting sweet things.  It was almost a week away but at least it was something to look forward to.

Thursday dawned and Angelica got dressed ready for her exercise.  Leaving her yoga mat at the door she went in to find Sally sitting there fully clothed and with a drink in her hand.  An alcoholic drink no less!  Putting her head on one side and looking a trifle puzzled (wide eyed for you, the dear reader) she asked what on earth was going on and why was Sally not dressed and ready for yoga?  Sally had obviously been to the hairdressers and had her hair coloured and recut into a stylish bob so it was obvious she did not intend going doing any exercise that day.

Imagine Angelica's dismay when her friend answered "Yoga Class!  I thought you said 'Pour a Glass'!"

I want to add this to Tracey's challenge at Art Journal Journey, it's the last day to do so, which is "The meaning of ..." and I think there is a lot to think about with this blog post.  If you have read the story and looked at the picture you will no doubt have come up with one or two ideas for 'the meaning of ...'

Take care Everyone!

Jeudi Journal - Stable

This week the quote chosen is "Stable is a place where horses live" and all I had was a Dylusion unicorn to illustrate the concept of a horse with.  So a snip at the horns and a bit of strategic colouring and voila - we have a horse.   

I really struggled with this one, perhaps because I was tired and not really thinking things out fully, or had I become jaded with all the Christmas card making of the last few days and needed a break from my untidy craftroom.  Whatever it was all my mind went to was a psychiatrist and a patient - with a horses head somewhere in the picture but when it came to weaving a story around it I struggled and struggled.  As what story I made up around my figures it just did not seem to work.  The delete button saw more action than it normally does.  In the end I decided on:

"Angelina was a typical teenager, moody, sulky, untidy, and, quite often, mouthy!  Her parents were not particularly wealthy but she had her own horse in the paddock attached to their home, much to the envy of her friends at school.  She was definitely a "daddy's girl" who had only to pull a certain face and moan that she wanted something to reduce him to reaching into his wallet and giving her whatever she wanted - well, within reason.

Her mother, on the other hand, was the one who had to put up with the sulks and mood changes and pick up after her but she had come to the end of her patience and decided that things needed to change.  Angelina had to start helping a little around the house. 

 

Take, for example, her own room!  It was always so very untidy and all Angelina did was lie on her bed and either chat to friends on the phone or read one of those trashy novels.  Well, mum had had enough on this particular morning and so she stormed into her daughter's bedroom and confronted the lounging Angelina with an ultimatum.  Either Angelina started to look after her own room, including dusting and vacuuming (which meant she had to put her books and clothes away tidily in future) or there would be consequences.  In fact, as she told her daughter,  "it's like a stable in here" to which Angelina sulkily replied "a Stable is a place where horses live".  Her mother was so angry at that retort that she threatened to make her daughter live outside with her horse in a real stable."

Told you I was struggling, let's hope I can do better with next week's quote.  Now what did we agree on?  Will it have a Christmas theme?  In the meantime I am linking this to Art Journal Journey in the hope that it makes me realise that the above describes my craft room at the moment and I had better get in there and do some serious tidying up before giving it a clean for Christmas.

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 - Working

Hi it is another lovely morning following a little bit of rain earlier - quite still and not too cold either although we have had the first frost that set the lawn aglow the other morning.  I was at the chiropractor yesterday so am hoping things might start to ease a little with the back pain which has been horrendous of late.  She recognised the state I was in and has instructed reception to make sure I get regular (mainly because the Covid numbers are dropping) appointments - fingers crossed.

This week the quote from Dyan's sheet of stamps was "I'm working so please go away" and so I did a background to resemble a room in a house.  Pink wallpaper with a scroll pattern visible in places where the light catches it and three retro plaster birds on it.  There is some furniture in the room, notably a table with a large lamp by its side and what looks like a pot of crafting tools sitting on it.

"Debbie has called with her little dog, Mitzi,  to see if Fifi is going for a walk with them.  It's a lovely evening and just about the right time to go for a stroll working up an appetite for dinner.  But sadly Fifi is not in the mood, she flutters her long eyelashes in a disdainful way and turns her head away from her friend before uttering the words "I'm working so please go away".  This is obviously a downright fib as she is just sitting on the floor having just styled her hair and put some make-up on.  I wonder if she really is staying in or has she got a secret date that she does not want Debbie to know about?  Whatever it is I think she is a bit rude."

I chose the figure sitting down because I thought this 'head' was just about the best one I had that had that look of total disinterest about it and in order to fit it on my page I had to have the body in a reclining pose.  The standing figure I could get away with being much smaller because she is in the background and the accessories (the dog, table, tools, lamp, clock and birds) all come from Janet Klein's little figures that I have recently bought and fit in quite well with the size of this figure.  The plaster birds, which are very retro I think, allowed me to make this page an entry into Art Journal Journey where the challenge is birds for this month.

So it is back to a story this week and next week too.  If you want to see what else I have done with the Janet Klein figures I published a video on my blog yesterday so it is in the post before this one.  Apologies for the voice but I have a bit of an allergy I think and I sound very breathy.  See you next week hopefully.

Jeudi Journal - See, Think and Love

Another week has gone by and here we are again - a journal page for my Dylusion Journal which has also become an entry for Art Journal Journey since I found it.  It's great, they have a different topic each month and you can enter as many times as you want.  If you have a journal which you do regularly pop over to them and have a look at what the challenge is and join in.  This month it is "Birds" which is Wendy's choice and so each page I have done has contained a bird in some way or another.

In my own journal I am governed by a quote from Dyan of Dylusion fame, the parameters being set by my friend and myself - and we use Dylusion figures wherever possible.  This week the quote that came up was "She sees in Black and White, Thinks in Greys and Loves in Colour".  I found it quite easy to think of how to illustrate it but it meant only using one figure from Dyan's range - and that was not even a complete figure - just a head and hands.

No story this week - just an explanation below of my page remembering that the challenge over at Art Journal Journey was to include a bird.  Obvious choice for my figures.

The head of a female with her hands placed underneath her chin: - 

"She sees in Black and White" - an eye containing a bird completely coloured in black and white tangles

"Thinks in Grey" - a thought bubble containing a bird decorated in grey patterns only

"And Loves in Colour" - a heart edged in red containing a bird decorated in various colours (orange red, green, purple and blue)

So that is my journal page for this week.  I am no "tangler" as you can see but I did my best.  I would love to be able to do it and know several people who do it well - I just do not have the patience.  See you over at Art Journal Journey maybe - hopefully?

Jeudi Journal - Skipping

This week the quote is "You can't skip and be unhappy at the same time" and so I decided to illustrate it I would have someone skipping.  Not easy with Dyan's figures to find someone but I did find a figure with her hands in such a position that they could have been holding onto a skipping rope.  Hurrah!

To begin with I swished some Peeled Paint Distress Ink on my craft mat, spritzed it with water and then dabbed my page on top of it - it actually looks more yellow than green.  Then I dried it off and added some more ink to the craft mat, spritzed again and dabbed it off once more to get some patches.  

Next I took my 'Lotza Trianglz' stencil and put some random splodges of triangles in Scattered Straw about the page to make a background.  Then it was time to think about the figures and I decided to put three of the smaller ones on.  As I want to enter it into Art Journal Journey I had to include some birds somewhere for Wendy's challenge so I once more took some of Janet Klein's little ones, coloured them and included one looking at the skipping and one balancing on the rope - impossible I know but in the land of make believe anything is possible.

And now to the story:

"Little Sue had broken up with her boyfriend and was very unhappy,  She had been confiding in her bff, Janice and they had spent some considerable time talking, crying and laughing together as good friends do.  Janice had made her smile and eventually made her laugh with some of the stories about the ex boyfriend's rather large nose and ears which hadn't mattered at all to Sue when she had been in love with him but now she could laugh and call him names, all the silly names that Janice came up with.  It had been fine for a while but after Janice had left and gone home the tears had come again.  Something we all remember from our younger days.

Later that afternoon, Janice, being the good friend she was, had recruited Linda, another close friend to go and see little Sue to see if she wanted to go to the bowling alley with them, anything to take her mind off the ex boyfriend.  As they rounded the corner where Sue lived there she was, stood in the back yard skipping of all things.  Janice did not understand one bit and she turned to Linda and said "You can't skip and be unhappy at the same time" but Sue seemed to be proving her wrong as she counted and sang whilst she got on with skipping."

Maybe there is something, afterall, in the belief that the way to heal anything to do with the mind is exercise!  Just off for a jog around the block, see you later.

Jeudi Journal - Cats

No, not the West End Show, but my blog page this week which features a cat.  That is because the quote from Dyan this week is "Only My Cat Understands Me."

To begin with I tried Valerie's technique which I had admired for a while where she used some Gesso and two colours of paint which she then brayered on her page.  I used a red and a yellow paint but did not have enough on the mat so only managed to do the technique on half the page (the right if you look at it) but I did enjoy doing it and will do it again but next time use more of the mediums.  

To make some texture on the left hand side I brayered some white paint on my Lotza Dotz Stencil (AALL & Create) and placed it paint down on the page and rubbed it over with a dry paper towel to transfer the paint.  It doesn't show up very much but you can feel the texture.  Finally I used a stamp with a pattern on randomly over the page just to create interest.

I chose a figure that had tears on her face but then I used the big spectacles so that her tears were spilling from underneath the lens.  The figure was too long for the page so I had to do a bit of creative snipping here and there to allow her to have feet on the page. The cat is not one of Dyans, it is a Tim Holtz one from his "Crazy" range - am sure Dyan would not mind at all.  To create a bit more texture I stamped the ball of wool but then put a piece of red wool (real wool) going up the page on the right hand side in a wiggly line.  Did you notice the fish bones on the bottom of the page?

The story goes:  "Deirdre has had an argument with her boyfriend.  He wanted to go to the football match but she explained that she was not dressed for such an occasion and if he was supposed to be taking her out then he should take her somewhere she wanted to go - and not somewhere HE wanted to go.  To make matters worse she had bought herself a new hat to go with the skirt she had so skilfully made from ties she had collected from the local charity shops.

Harry had stormed off so Deirdre had gone into the lounge to her mother who was busy knitting another waistcoat for her her other daughter but mum had not understood at all.  She had said that Deirdre should have been grateful that Harry had given his Saturday afternoon up for her when most young men of his age would have been out with their mates.  Poor Deirdre took herself off to her bedroom, still wearing her hat and new skirt.  Puss was sat there having been playing with a ball of mother's wool which was now across the floor and halfway up the wall.  Deirdre then related the story to Puss who looked so sorrowful for her making Deirdre say "only my cat understands me" - which for that precise moment seemed perfectly true."

What is this obsession I seem to have of late with texture?  Well, the delightful Jo has chosen to have us use texture in our journal pages over at Art Journal Journey this month and I love joining in the challenges with them.  I am sure you would too so why not pop over here and see what you need to do and then join in.

Jeudi Journal - Mouth (help please with labels)

A big welcome to Sirkka who is my latest follower.  Hope you enjoy my blog in the future.

This did not turn out as planned!  The quote for today from Dyan is "If you ran like your mouth you'd be in great shape".  I had this idea of a jogger but did any of Dyan's figures fit the category - no!  The only one resembling a jogger was this tall one with a pair of shorts on but she did have big boots on too.  Ah well, the shorts outweighed the boots (although strictly speaking I would think the boots weighed considerably more than the shorts LOL).

The search was on, now I had the shorts I needed a face with a fairly prominent mouth and so I came upon this one and had to give her some hair as she comes without.  Next was to find a figure that would work alongside her - ie the one who was uttering the quote.  I found this fairly tall slim figure and decided she would do, now to find a head that did not look as if the whole body was doing a contortionist act.  I think I managed to find one, turning to the jogger but still in keeping with the body facing the opposite way.  So we have the story:

"Sarky (as in sarcastic) Sue was out for a walk in the fields with her little dog, which had run off chasing rabbits somewhere, when along came her old enemy from school days Penelope Pit-Stop.  Penny, as she is known these days, was out jogging in her new outfit of spotted shorts with a top that had matching sleeves.  Well, a girl has to look her best whether out in town or jogging in the countryside, afterall you never know who you are going to bump into.  Oh ho, oh no, was that Sarky Sue ahead?  Yes, it was, and Sarky Sue was known for never missing an opportunity.  The two of them had clashed many a time whilst at school and things had not got any better as they had grown up.

Penny was all for jogging on past but suddenly she heard Sue shout out "If you ran like your mouth you'd be in great shape".  This annoyed Penny so much that she had to stop and compose herself before carrying on with the run.  A deep breath or two and she was composed enough to continue on her way, much to the annoyance of Sarky Sue.  Better not to get into another of those school day slanging matches!"

As I wanted to enter my page into Art Journal Journey where the lovely Jo has set the challenge for us to use "Texture" on our pages I decided to use some heavy gesso down the left hand side of my page and I chose one of my favourite stencils of a border of leaves.  It came out really well but I should have painted the page first as you may not see the great texture on a scan.  So I outlined the leaves in white pen where they were on the green grassy area.  With hindsight I should have left them as they were as the Gesso really did a good job on its own and the leaves are quite prominent without any markings.  Ah well, we live and learn.

Once again I cannot put any labels on my post.  Yes, the block is there down the right hand side saying "labels", then telling me to "separate labels with com..." and underneath "No matching suggestions".  The problem is it will not let me add anything, nothing shows as it did last week with a list and a tick box alongside each label.  Anyone else had this problem and if so any ideas how to resolve it please?

Jeudi Journal - Men

A new challenge over on Art Journal Journey by the lovely Jo which is "Texture".  Now that is sweet music to me as I love texture and I had the perfect page to start off with.  Remember last week when I had a page that just would not behave?  It refused to take paint or even Gesso - well I stuck some Art Deco Paper Perfect on it in an attempt to provide some coverage.  I was not sure whether it would stay on the page or come off - luckily it stayed on and allowed me to slap some paint on today.

I think it is really a product that you put on a sheet of polythene and it peels off when dry to make you a sheet of paper to use in your artwork, but it does mention using it on hard surfaces as well, not sure what for apart from to give texture maybe.

Anyway, my page - if you look at my blogpost yesterday you will see the ArtDeco stuff on my page and it is a creamy yellow colour.  I did not put it completely over every inch of the page but it got good coverage.  Imagine my delight when I saw that Jo was asking for texture - my page was oozing with texture and I decided not to put any stencil work on as well as there seemed to be enough.  I had decided on an outdoor scene so it was an obvious choice to paint the top of the page blue and the base green.  It wasn't easy to get complete coverage and so there are bits of yellow showing through but i decided that this just added to the texture for the challenge on AJJ.  My Story this week?

"Four friends, rather militant types, definite feminists, had all decided to go to a rally for "Women's Rights".  There was a huge banner there but the girls had taken their own sign which said "The More I See of Men, The More I Like Animals", funnily enough that is the quote from Dyan that we have chosen to use this week.  Simone, the French girl had decided to take a kite along with her and had tied a notice of her own to the string of the kite (another texture) which read "Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars".  She knew she had the saying the wrong way around but wanted to emphasise "Women" in her own little protest.  Rather a novel way of getting people to see one aspect of the protest and she had climbed the hill to be able to fly her kite as high as possible."

I hope there is enough texture for Jo on here, I can assure her that the figures are all coloured and fussy cut, to give texture in a way, the main sign is mounted on a double sticky tab so it really does stand out, and the page is very textural with the paste. 

Now how can I introduce texture next week?

Jeudi Journal - Don't Care

 This week the quote from Dyan is "I don't care that you don't care" which seems a nice simple quote until you start to do a journal page using it - and include either a pocket or a tag so you can join in with Art Journal Journey and the great challenge set by Alison.

I had a problem doing the background, in fact I started another page as a result.  The first one was using two shades of Distress Inks and then a stencil over the top but it looked so "in your face" that I went over it with Gesso, a favourite trick of mine.  Then paint in three coats and I just gave up - I could not get it to resemble anything I liked.  Now all of this took some considerable time because my back has been terrible these past few days and I can't get to the chiropractor for a few weeks yet on account of the operation I just had.   It was 'do a bit' go back to sitting down with the hot gel bottle, 'do a bit', 'sit down' and so on.  In the end I had had enough!

So a different page and a quick smoosh of Peeled Paint and a bit of Tumbled Glass above and the Distress Inks did it again for me.  Then I took one of Dyan's stencils and popped some leaves down one side and across the top, fading them out as they progressed.

I like using several figures so I chose to put three boys and a girl on this week plus one of the dogs and I stole a rabbit from Janet Klein just because it was hanging around.  All of these were ready fussy cut and coloured in with Promarkers.  You will see that one of the boys is really the same figure but one with a different head and one with different legs to make the two of them different.

Story: The youngsters were having a great time playing out but then suddenly there were words and Priscilla decided she was going to go home and take the animals with her.  The boys were a bit disappointed as they had enjoyed playing with both the dog and the rabbit.  Sadly they were Priscilla's animals and she decided to take them home.  Jeremy was most upset and he began to cry which rather angered his big brother, Jim, who then used some rather heated words with Priscilla because he is so protective of his younger brother.  But, who held the ace in the pack?  She did of course, so as she flounced off with her pets in her trolley Jim shouted after her "I don't care that you don't care".

The trolley is a pocket so that it conforms to the challenge at AJJ and the pets are moveable and therefore could be changed into other animals.  Imagine a giraffe!

Jeudi Journal - Old

 A short quote this time "Old is the New Black" had me thinking immediately of a black page for the background with bright figures on it .. but then ... What?  My brain ceased working.  Next I thought of an old woman dressed in a mini skirt, hence a head with grey hair being on my page.  My third idea is the one I ran with so here goes.

I began with Tea Dye DI direct to paper and then smooshed with the blending tool followed by a stencil placed over and I took a bit of the colour out in parts using a baby wipe to give the appearance of old wallpaper, much as you would find in a charity shop.  Then I used Rusty Hinge DI for the floor and used another stencil to give it a bit of pattern, again went for the faded look.  

It is supposed to be the inside of a Charity Shop with clothes hanging on the rails, coats, dresses and trousers.  Then there is a Bargain Box full of shoes and boots and it looks as if something else has got in as well.  The story, well ...

"Bridget and her friend Martha have gone along to the local Charity Shop (I think it is a Goodwill Store in America) because high fashion at the moment is something a bit more vintage and this is the place to buy your clothes from nowadays.  In fact "Old is the New Black".  Especially as the prices are way below those of the shops on the high Street.

Martha has not been here before and is a little dubious so she is standing way down from Bridget and trying to make her mind up whether she wants to be seen in here or not.  After all she is more of a Goth than a high fashion dresser, and certainly not convinced about vintage clothing.  Bridget, on the other hand, has shopped here before, isn't that dress similar to the skirt she is wearing?  Oh dear, she is not very happy about that but rather fancies herself in the cute little number in blue, with her long legs she should look rather good in a short dress like that, probably from the 60's"

So there we have the scene for this week.  In order to join in with Alison and her challenge at Art Journal Journey I stuck the Bargain Bin on the base and sides only so it forms a pocket for the piles of shoes, and that yellow thing, and then I put tiny tags on the various bits of clothing that are hanging on the rails.  I hope you like the little coat hangers I used on the dresses, I think they are a TH thing from way back.  I knew I had them somewhere so a search on Saturday revealed them and they became part of the blogpost.

I am doing this blog post in advance and hopefully will get something started for the week after too.  Will have to see what tomorrow brings.

Stay safe and well folks.