WOYWW 528

It's Wednesday again (well it's actually Tuesday evening when I am typing this) and I am in a pickle.  I have somehow got my records in a muddle and today (Tuesday the 9th July) I have written down as the 10th.  This is important as I am writing a weight list out for my GP and have one day too many.  Checked and checked but cannot find where the extra day has come from.  Ah well, WOYWW is more important - want to see why?  Check it out here.

So here is my desk, much better than typed lists

As you can see I have been re-stamping my Dylusion figures bit by bit.  I first stamp them out on some cardstock, ready to cut out, and then do a copy on paper which will go into my file.  I just got the whole lot in a muddle (seems to be my middle name these days) and am determined to start all over again.  So above you can see some of my plates and to the right some cut out figures and one coloured in one.

This one shows the plates that have been stamped in my Paris chest (reserved for Dylusion stamps) with some others, that are not figures, on the left, but ones waiting to be stamped are on the right (red rubber showing).

So that is my job for the next few days.  I have to slowly but surely go through them all and get them stamped up.  Originally I would cram as many as I could on one sheet but this time I am keeping each sheet to one, or maybe two sets of stamps, with the name written on top so I know where they come from.

What's your week looking like?

Jeudi Journal - Expert Advice

Another Wendy selection this morning, the last in her block as my choices start next week.  In honour of it being her last for a while I decided to do a lime green background as it is one of her favourite colours - the other being teal.  Couldn't choose teal because that is a big favourite of mine too so in honour of Wendy we went lime green today.  I did have some Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans already on a page so went over it with Twisted Citron in Distress Inks.

I used the stencil with the Twisted Citron Distress Oxides on the left hand side and then gave it a blast of water droplets.  Next I went to the opposite side turning the stencil 45 degrees  and used Titan Buff paint followed by Forest Green to give a "Bounce" effect.  Not sure it worked with this particular stencil.

"Of Course I Talk to Myself I Need Expert Advice" are the words chosen and all I could think of using were two identical figures with a bit of chit chat between them.  So "Blah, Blah, Blah" came to mind - oh how I wish I could do decent lettering.  I would have used Dyan's letters again but this time the letters were too big to have floating between the two figures so I had to resort to a black pen and my own hand.  I chose the telephone figure and decided not to change it this time but to use Magenta for the telephone as a stark contrast to the Lime background.  The figure was dressed sombrely in brown.

Ah well, my choice next week - now what is it going to be? Only time will tell - you have just a week to wait.

Art Journal Journey - Going to the Beach - again!

Well, here is page two of my pain journal for the month of July.  For this one I am still using the freebie stamps I got with the magazine and this time I went for a favourite of mine - Beach Huts!  There is something about them that just takes me back in time and I almost imagine some Victorian lady with her bathing suit and cap stepping out of the door.  I think they were a little different then but that is the picture that comes to mind.

I thought I was going bright with my colours but now looking at it on here it looks rather dull.  It is much brighter in real life I promise.  Love the little windows.

At the top you can see I chose a young lady resting on her elbows whilst sitting on the beach with her wrap draped around her bag and some seagulls in the distance which prompted the use of "Spread Your Wings" part way down the page.

So, as you can see we are "Going to" the Beach again and therefore this is another entry into Chris' challenge on Art Journal Journey.  "We're all/going" is the challenge and it opens up a lot of ideas in my head, it is just the challenge of getting them down on paper.  I think I had better get 'going' into my craft room.  Hope to see you soon.  Just realised I did not link up yesterday - hope that is ok that I am a day late with the linking.

ps is it my eyes are is this a bit wonky?

WOYWW 527

Gosh, these Wednesdays come around quicker than (can't think of the word I want, but they come around far too quickly).

So today we all pay a visit to Ms Julia who resides in Blogland here.  Why don't you pay her a visit, find out all about WOYWW and join us!  I am showing you my desk today which hasn't much on it because I have been making some birthday cards but at my trolley, just colouring in, and most of the stuff got tidied away.  The cards are here - bright? - because they are waiting for me to stamp the words on them.  Now I have six birthday cards, or they could be something else, ready, so I shouldn't get caught out like I did the other week.

I can remember when I taught at Paddy's Place one of the ladies was a great fan of Laurel Burch and she had lots of bags made from fabric LB had designed.  I also remember seeing some Stampendous stamps at CHA but unfortunately you couldn't buy from the show (trade orders only - usually a minimum of six of one item and a huge total spend).  I came across this stamp by accident at weekend so it fell into my shopping trolley and arrived the other day.

Thought I would show you some of my storage.  These are boxes from Ikea pinned to a board.  Some of them have ink pads in and some have Stampin Up stamps in cases that my friend in America used to insist I brought home with me.  Bless her, how I miss her wise words and love.  Getting away from that, on the worktop you can see my radio, some scissors, a calligraphy piece (from Shaz in Oz on her first visit to Manchester) and lots of bits and pieces.  Further along you can see my system for keeping track of what I have.  I write, in pencil, where I have stored things, that way I can erase them if they move and it helps me keep track of most things.  But what is that little guy stood at the side of it? The one in the striped top?  Any idea?

Art Journal Journey

Well, it is Chris' turn to choose the challenge this month over at Art Journal Journey and she has given us lots to play around with with her  "We're All/Going" theme - lots of scope there Chris thanks for such a great bundle, my head is full of ideas.  As always I like to start off with my Pain Calendar Pages.  Hard to do with this back problem but so much easier to fill in when it is done and the days seem dark.

This month was particularly enjoyable as I had bought a magazine when up at the hospital and it had a set of lovely beach themed stamps free with it.  Oodles of stamps which I know I will use as I love anything to do with the beach.

Here is my first page:

I chose cream card for my background and decided to leave it plain with the two deck chairs and the parasol at the top, great free reign with the colours for this one.  I loved how the green and yellow worked out on the parasol.  There was even room for the word "Relax" but I chose to put it on its side as I thought it more aesthetically pleasing that way.

The rocks and the lighthouse were next to be added in the bottom opposite corner - not much colour about this one but then after the addition of Rusty Hinge Distress Ink along the edges of the squares and the deep burnt orange of the lettering it still looked a colourful page.  Can see I will feel better about myself as I fill this one in.

Hopes & Dreams

Where would we be without our Hopes and Dreams?  I find this something that just had to be included in my Journal for the challenge over at Art Journal Journey with Halle choosing 'Words to Live By" as the topic for the month of June.  I have just managed to scrape in on the last day of the month with this one in my Junk Journal.

The page was a lovely shade of dark green and then I went and covered most of it with some scrapbook paper which I just fell in love with.  No idea what the pad was called, that it came from, as it is one I have obviously used before - it was an 8 x 8 page that had been torn into but had the words "bicycle built for two" on which you can just see in the bottom left corner.

Then there was another page I liked, for the colours, which I chose to put in the top left hand corner and repeat in the bottom right.  Perhaps my couple have now ventured to see The Colosseum in Rome.

At last I am starting to use some of my stash that up to now has been only used for 'stroking' - who knows what might come out another week?

A Song for Art Journal Journey

Isn't the weather lovely at the moment?  I think it is probably warmer down south but here in the north of England it is lovely and sunny and if you like it fairly hot it is just fine for sitting out for a short while.  That is what I did yesterday - and I did manage to colour another background page in my Dylusion Journal using three colours of Distress Inks with Aged Mahogany providing some brickwork at the base for my figures to stand on as well as the music between the two figures.  Strange I used these colours when I am not a pink person at all.  Guess I just love the name 'Pickled Raspberry' (I know it is 'Picked' really but lots of folks say 'Pickled' and it does make me smile).

I had these two blue ladies already cut and coloured so it was an easy job to put the page together this morning.  I even managed to put some white pen work on the background.

I have lots of lovely friends and so it was an easy choice to use the words "A friend is someone who knows the song of your soul and sings it back to you when you've forgotten the words".  I think they are definitely 'words to live by' so I am entering it into Art Journal Journey and Halle's Challenge.