Jeudi Journal - Happiness

 Today Wendy gave me the quote "Happiness is a habit - cultivate it" to work with.   This challenge is also for Art Journal Journey where the challenge is "It Must Have Wings" and so I have to include wings on my page somewhere along with Dylusion figures which is part of the challenge that Wendy and I have set ourselves. eg it must have a quote one of us finds, it must have a figure of some kind from the Dylusion range of rubber stamps and it must fit in with the challenge at Art Journal Journey.  Thank goodness chooks have wings.

"Clara Cluck and Henrietta Hen were best friends in the farm yard.  'A couple of busybodies' were how they were known by all the other animals in the farmyard. Always good for a bit of gossip Clara kept her beak to the ground most of the time and knew all that was going on, not only in her farmyard but also in all farms in the County.

"Clarissa Cow over at Johnston's Farm has had a big falling out with Billy the Bull.  She accused him of having an affair with her friend Buttercup" she said to a wide audience at the farmyard.  Dilly Duck' s beak fell open at this news and she said she simply did not believe it.  Whereas Charlotte Chicken's eyes widened so much that she looked as if she was going to burst.

Just as Clara was going to continue with her story Camilla Cow came around the corner and said in her usual loud voice "That's a lie, where is your proof.  In fact where is the proof in all the stories you and Henrietta spread around the farmyard?"

"It's not a lie" squeaked Clara nervously, for nobody challenged Camilla, "I got it on good authority from my cousin Deirdre."

"You know what", bellowed Camilla, Happiness is a habit - cultivate it.  That would be much better for you and your friend over there than all this gossip you seem to thrive on.  I suppose your cousin Deirdre, like you did not come from a box of Happy Eggs at Asda."

(For those who are not familiar with egg sales in the UK, Happy Eggs is a brand that is sold in Asda supermarkets over here.)

Art Journal Journey - A Leggy Bird

 No it isn't a top model with wings, it's a bird with wings - and long legs.  This is an image by  Stampotique from way way back.  I never bought the stamp myself as I had a friend who was happy to stamp some images for me to use.  I think Stampotique is now a brand sold under the name of Katzelkraft.

To begin with I used an existing background which I had made by using metallic sprays.  I just wish you could see the sheen and sparkle on this page.  Can you just about see the tiny border at the base of the page - it is a piece of card I found on my desk, no idea where it came from but I liked it.  Maybe orange and pink are jarring but somehow it works.

I decided to add a large flower to work with the long legs of the bird which I coloured with Inktense Pencils.  A long stem would not have worked so a large head on the flower to my mind works far better and the words 'Beautiful Summer Days are Fun' are certainly so true.  To finish off the page I added a diecut feather which was one of many, I was given years ago.  I wonder if it was one of her tail feathers?

Well, it is almost the end of the month and there are still some pages to show you at Art Journal Journey with my theme whilst being guest host, "It Must Have Wings".  I wonder if you have something you could show us.  I'd love to see it.

WOYWW 834

Well, I haven't done much crafting but I have done a change of direction thanks to Angela (Felix) and today, on my desk is a little mushroom.  I've wanted to do some needle-felting and make a figure for such a long time but gave up as I never followed the instructions properly and ended up with a MESS!

Then I saw a Fly Agaric mushroom that Angela had made and I loved it.  Bless her, she offered to show me how to make one at the Crop this year.  Unfortunately the Crop didn't happen and so my mushroom session didn't  either.  Then I saw an online workshop and guess what they were making - Fly Agaric's.  Turned out it was the same workshop Angela had done and I joined and on Monday we made this little mushroom, or shroom as I like to call them.

Today we are going to make a picture of the same shroom so I will show you that next week and maybe, just maybe, a more perfect little Fly Agaric - I want to make a tiny one.  Can you see the kind of line just below the cap?  This is called the volva (I think) and is the veil that the mushroom has over it as it is growing and as it grows the veil leaves behind the white spots.  Did I get that right Angela?  (I never knew that before and I have never ever seen one in real life.)

Last week I showed you what I had made at a workshop in Cumbria, here are the first couple of pages finished off and now in the book followed by another two pages.

That's me for this week, now to my workshop - well, get ready for it and have a nice hot shower first.  Then later today I'll be over to see Sarah's Craft Shed and see what everyone has been up to.

Art Journal Journey - She Has Wings

 This is one of my favourite stamps from Aal & Create.  In fact the figure was a favourite of lots of crafters when it was first brought out and I can remember people using it in many different ways.  Today I am using two of Aal & Create's images to make a journal page in my square journal for Art Journal Journey's challenge, 'It Must Have Wings'.

She did not have wings but I thought the wings from Pink Ink Designs "Bee-utiful" worked quite well with her and the words below.

I stamped the magnifying glass image first of all with Versafine Nocturne and then stamped her so she just fit inside.  Her wings were stamped separately and covered in Stickles Ice to give them some sparkle.  The remaining images on the page were coloured with Prismacolor coloured pencils.

It is nearing the end of the month of May but there is still time for you to enter my challenge at AJJ, I would love to see your entry there.  Remember to read the dreaded rules as to what is accepted eg no cards, tags, index cards, ATC's or coins unless they are part of a journal page. 

Art Journal Journey - Sorry

Don't lnow what went wrong with Saturday's blog post but I was sick - had eaten something which diod not agree with me and so I suffered all weekend with an upset tummy.  Only found out early Monday morning that my post didn't show properly.  Sorry - trying again:

This is a picture I made with what, at the time, were my favourite little characters, the Herbalums.  I just adore them and thought I would do a page using them busy gardening.  

I began by stamping the Tree of Courage and the Tree of Hope to frame the picture in Versafine Claire Nocturne.  Next came the bench and then the three Herbalums, masking out the watering can that Ben was originally holding and making it appear he was holding the top of the bench, whilst he debated where to put the plant he was now holding in his other hand,  The other two Herbalums, Baz and Bob came next followed by flowers etc at the base of the picture.  

Then it was time to make a sky and ground using Elements inks Della Blue and Avocado.  Finally a pastel pencil to create a more solid look to the trees and rocks and it was complete,  Because it was created for Art Journal Journey we needed some wings so I put three butterflies in the sky which I fussy cut out after colouring.

I hope you like my page and join us at Art Journal Journey with your interpretation of something that has wings.

Art Journal Journey - Wings (Herbalums)

Jeudi Journal - Wrinkles

 "Wrinkles are hereditary.  People get them from their children." is today's quote from Wendy and so my journal page for Art Journal Journey is below and the story to explain it follows on.  As you can see there are birds in the sky and she is wearing a fascinator of a butterfly so that it works with the challenge "It Must Have Wings" that I set for the month of May.

"It was a beautiful spring day, the swallows swooped high in the sky and the sun shone brightly.  Bella had been to the beauty salon in the village where they had been trying different styles of make up for her impending wedding to Peter.  She wanted a fairly simple look, no startling eye shadow and certainly not a red lipstick.  She wanted it to be reminiscent of spring time as she and Peter enjoyed the countryside and the wedding was to be simple rather than lavish.

Peter was waiting outside for her and as she walked out the door of the salon he swelled with pride, she looked so beautiful.

"Hello darling" he greeted her, "have you decided on what you want now?  It's only around the corner, two weeks to be precise."

"I have" she replied as she reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek, "but it is going to be a secret as you are not to know anything about my dress, my hair or even my make up."

"I see they have put a butterfly in your hair today.  Is that something you are considering?"

"No" replied Bella, "it is for mum to consider, it's known as a fascinator and they wondered if she would like one for her hair on the day."

Just then a little girl walked past them and turned to look at the butterfly in Bella's hair.  She gave a little smile and told her mummy she wanted a butterfly for her hair too.

Peter thought this was rather sweet and he turned to Bella and said "Just think in a year or two we could be parents, have a little girl like that, or even a boy."

"Err, excuse me, I am not sure I want children just yet.  Let's wait until we are older and have done things with our lives.  Besides which I overheard someone in the salon saying wrinkles are hereditary, people get them from their children and I certainly don't want any until I am about forty.  Wrinkles that is."

"Oh right," said Peter, "we are having a family though, we did talk about it and if you look at your sister she has no wrinkles but she has two boys."

"Mmm" said Bella, "I'm only kidding, but not about the wrinkles so you had better play your part in bringing up any children we might have."