WOYWW 570

Another week in isolation, another WOYWW for us all - these Wednesdays come around so quickly now, quicker than before the pandemic and I thought the days would drag.  Not so, but no different for me really.  Now I seem to be busier an doing more so that is a good thing out of a bad one.  Can't say my back is any worse either but my shoulder isn't improving.

Have been joining in with so many watching things on FB where crafters have been doing 'live' workshops and I have been buying more stuff!    Done a couple of Tracy Evans "Lives" too.  Plus keeping up with #Cheers but changed over to cakes recently - will be going back to journalling in a bit.

This was my latest card from Tracy's "Live" on Friday

It actually has a clip at the right hand side but it won't scan with it on and I can't get a photo that looks rectangular (see clip below on the RH side))

As well as the above I did a concertina book in green and one in pink

They've both been on Facebook so I won't bother showing the pink one, it was similar but with a black cover.  Besides which I think I will be doing another so maybe that will be here next week.  I hope Soojay puts hers on, it was fabulous!

My desk is barren at the moment, waiting for the next onslaught of crafting with Tracy I suppose, but here is what is on it and waiting to be put away when catalogued:

Some stamps so I can play along with Tracy a bit more - and there are more on the way.  Trouble is I bought two of the same one! Doh!!!

I received some beautiful happy mail this week - three cards from friends - am I lucky or what?  Here they are

Alison

Julia

Cath

Worth being in lockdown for when you get such beautiful cards as these.  Three lovely friends.  Three lovely cards.  See you next week on WOYWW (and if you are reading this and not already joining in why not follow the link and think about it - it's fun and full of friendship)

Jeudi Journal - I Always Behave

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

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

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

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

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

WOYWW 569

Another week of this isolation gone, these Wednesdays seem to come around much quicker than before and yet we should be finding the time dragging.  Is it because we are busy crafters?  I am full of admiration for so many of my WOYWW friends for posting pictures of the wonderful ways they are working to make things for the NHS, and for all of you out there doing your bit educating your children and keeping them safe.  I must say a big thank you as well from me for those joining in with #Cheers.  I've decided to show some of my cake icing days at the moment but will be back to my journal shortly.  One thing though, I'll never catch up with Shaz with all those lush cards.

Well, this week saw me posting a class to my craft club.  I just wanted to hold them together and the person who runs the programme is so busy with her day job at Social Services dealing with vulnerable people that I had to do something to help in my way.  I did ask her before I did it, don't want to tread on anyone's toes.  Here is one of the cards I made - showing the masking tape technique for a different sort of background.

I had been working on the worksheet for a couple of weeks but due to my back problem it took me a while to get it all finished and ready for posting.  Since then, however I have been busy painting my Tando shapes and indexing my new fairy stamps.  I managed them quite nicely with sitting in my best chair and using the other table.

Here's my alternative desk with my finished tags

The two burnt orange tags both have stencilling on where I used Crackle Paste but the others have stamping on them, some are second generation stamping.  The top left one has his top beak set to one side to give the appearance of it being open and I tried to place the black bits in their eyes in different places to make them look as if they are looking in different places.  So much you can do with eyes.  These are quite dimensional being mader from greyboard so I have not yet decided what to do with them - maybe mount them all on a bigger board to go on my wall.  Great fun making them!

That reminds me, I had better get started on my journal page for tomorrow.  See you next week!  Stay safe and well! xx

ps Happy Birthday Captain Tom for tomorrow xx

Jeudi Journal - I Hate it When You Are Wrong

Oh dear, the lady on the left looks a bit sulky to me and the poor wee one looks quite taken aback!  Well wouldn't you if someone said to you - "I'm sorry we fought" followed by the inevitable 'but' and "I hate it when you're wrong".

First of all I decided to go for the outdoors with a pale blue sky and a green base, that is where we all long to be whilst on this lockdown.  The cream paper of the journal does tend to make the pale blue look a bit greenish but I assure you I put lots of pale blue on and added the green in three different shades at the base.  Next I took a leaf stencil, to further the outdoor feeling, and used the Distress Ink Applicator without any ink pad to do the leaves up the left hand side and across the top.  Then because I wanted to enter this into Art Journal Journey again I added some squares across the bottom in the same shade of green (which is anything or everything if you know what I mean) to be eligible for the geometric pattern of this months challenge set by Valerie.  I thought it also gave 'grounding' for the figures.

I then wanted to put some foliage on so I began rummaging in my stash of leaves and things and came up with the stems and the leaves that you can see above.  Needing some more geometric shapes I drew some diamond shaped flowers with circles in the centre and some circles with flowers in the centre all acting as fantasy flowers.  I didn't really need the circles as the females both have circles on their clothing.

So there we have it, a fairly clean looking page with those light pastel colours as the background - my attempt at the quote from Dyan this week.  It really did not need any help from me, I think the faces said it all.

WOYWW 568

Here we are again, another WOYWW posting.  Gosh these are coming around thick and fast these days, shows we are not getting bored with staying in isolation, in fact, I don't have enough time in a day to do what I want, hence the state of my desk(s).  Nothing to show AGAIN but I have some new stamps on order so maybe next week?  I hope they come before then as they sent a note to say they are a two man band so orders will be slower at coming out and the posties are busy with the mail deliveries so they are taking a bit longer.  Not to worry, everyone is doing the best they can.  Hope our poorly WOYWW friends are feeling better than they were, sending love to you.

I did receive a lovely card though, this week, from someone who is extra thoughtful and can make cards in the way that I want to but never can.  I sit with all those pretty papers and do not know where to start.  Maybe I should study this in detail and learn Remember - Watch and Learn):

My main desk doesn't show much change week to week, still trying to finish off some birthday cards but I have been getting a class ready so apologies for everything being turned over.  You can see the word "hello" which is what I put on one card.  I was really stuck for what to put on the cards as the main thing was I was trying to show a background I did years ago with my lovely American friend, Mary (safely in God's hands now) which I have not seen anyone do.  They probably have, afterall where did she see it?  There's my bits and pieces envelope from Sam, some glue from Honey Doo, my bee beaker, dies in an ArtBin and some rubber gloves and a dirty piece of paper (used for polishing off Pastels).

Desk 2

My bits and pieces ready Gessoed waiting for paint - been waiting for a week or maybe more to be painted.  Don't think they will be done by next week, not even one.  I've seen a You Tube video of a project I really fancy - messy, painty with lots of texture and stuff - just up my street!

Hadn't been walking around the back garden for a few days so was pleasantly surprised to see the lovely bank of forget me nots as I walked up the steps to my secret garden (nowhere near as nice as yours Cindy, it is just secret - in it is hidden).

It's one of about five banks of them - you can just see that there are more of them there in the next photograph which is actually the compost heap.  There are more further along but I can't keep showing the compost heap which stretches two thirds way across the back of the garden and now has pretty flowers growing all over it.  There are a lot of bluebells in the top corner - maybe I will get a photo for next week.

Swinging around you see the section separating the secret bit from the main garden area (below) and you can just about see the patio and the decking area.  Wish I could get down to garden or that Chas would enjoy it.  It is the last thing he wants to do!

The lawn is looking a bit in need of TLC, it's always been a mossy type of lawn but is even worse now.  I need some spiky shoes to get aerating it and a good day so I can go for a dance all over it.  Can you imagine?  Me dancing!!  My dad would have loved this garden, he was very green fingered, shame it did not rub off.  Dad could turn a pencil into a flower!

Well, I will leave it there, have ended up with a large post again.  Stay safe and well everyone.

Jeudi Journal - Happily Drunk

No, not me, the quote for this week was "For the first time in her life she was truly happy.  Then she remembered she was drunk".

I began with a background of Pan Pastels again, simply because at the moment they are the easiest way for me to get colour on the entire page of my Journal.  My back is really suffering with not having its usual treatment from the chiropractor because of this Covid-19 and places like that having to close for the present time.  In fact that is why I am late posting today, it is a particular bad morning for me.  Luckily I had the page almost completed with the background done, the figures ready, it just wanted sticking down and the post writing up.

I used pinks, blues and lilacs, all pastel colours for my main background then I went over with a shocking luminous pink paint on my brayer, and Cheddar which is a favourite of mine from the Dina Wakeley range, in small patches.  I wanted to link in to Artful Journal Journey so I had to find some geometric shapes to link in with their theme for this month so I knew I had something other than triangles, diamonds, circles etc and sure enough I had pentagons on a stencil (I had thought they were octagons util I got it out of the folder).  So they were stencilled through with some Worn Lipstick DI around the top and sides.

Because my trio are on the way home from a party and my poor girl who has had 'one too many' has tripped I thought of my stencil for a brick wall and used a bit of Tea Dye DI along the bottom.  Oops!  She has lost her party hat but she is still holding on to the balloons.

So that is the story behind my Journal page today.

WOYWW 567

Another week of isolation for so many of us - I just hope you are all safe and well and listening to Boris and his band and staying at a safe distance, washing your hands, and doing basically as you are told, to keep you and your loved ones safe and well.

It's at times like this we miss our family and friends but realise we are not alone because out there in the big world there are lots of others going through what we are going through, some going through a lot more, but we are always there for one another in whatever way we can.  That's what happens when you are in  the WOYWW family - there's always somebody to talk to when you need them.  (Thanks Jan for the messages yesterday).  So, if you are reading this and you are not a WOYWW'er then I say "join in" just show us your desk and chat on your blog, you'll find a great welcome and make lots of new friends.

This is my desk today - well one of them.  I have commandeered another table in another room and have a trolley in the dining room plus a large footstool where I put things.  In short I spread all over the house.

As you can see I have been using my Pan Pastels because it is the easiest way I know of colouring the background to my Journal pages for tomorrow. I decided to get all my sponges out and wash them - they looked so dirty.  After about five changes of water and constant squeezing them in and out of the water I could see no difference so I bunged them in the washer and gave them a wash.  What do you think of them now?

Yes, this is after the washer treatment and a good dry out in the sunshine - not much difference is there?  Still they probably won't contaminate with colour by now - good job I have some I have never used.  Think I must have gone overboard buying sponges back in the old days!

I did have a couple of cards to show you but they went in the post without scanning so that's normal for me - one of these days I will make one and you will get to see it on here.

Stay safe and well, keep posting so we know you are ok and join in with my #Cheers on Facebook if you would like to join some of us posting each day something to brighten FB up.  Just put #Cheers so I see it and then I will comment, as will some of the others.  Your lovely work deserves to be seen and shared (and that includes cooking, gardening, sewing, knitting, crochet, or just something to brighten the page up).

God Bless you all and keep you safe.

Health Update;

Back's just as bad, I haven't bothered to mention it of late because there's a lot more going on in the world than me having this pain.  Really bad pain last night but hey ho, it's another day today so a brand new start again.