WOYWW 692

Don't know what your weather has been like but it has been a little mixed up north with some lovely warm sunny days followed by wet ones and then sunshine again.  It's a bit hit and miss at deciding what to wear so I am getting as much wear as I can from my summer wardrobe at the moment before it gets packed away again  There's a definite autumnal feel about the early mornings though.  Thankfully the leaves are not dropping around us but it won't be long now before they are.

My desk, again, is a packed up one and went from this

To this in no time at all when I wanted to serve dinner.

I've been playing with my Lavinia stamps.  Being new to them I need lot of playtime in order to get some kind of pictures like those who use them regularly can do.  I think it is going to take a while.  I did, however make this little Thinchie book with Jo  Rice recently.

The two images not stuck down are for the front and back.  The one on the left was using Brusho's and the one on the right was watercolouring.  Both were still drying out when I took the photo.

On Monday we had a little trip out.  Unfortunately my Rollator got damaged because someone who shall be nameless took it down some steps for me, came back to help me down (the handrail was very rickety) but did not put the brake on my Rollator.  Suddenly it started moving towards the edge of the prom and fell down about 8' onto a stony beach (stones not pebbles).  It still works but no longer will it fold down nicely to fit in the car.  When we got back he checked to see how much it would cost to replace - £497 - OUCH!  I think I will try to get it fixed.

Anyway, we visited the little church on the headland, so beautiful and with a lovely man looking after it and then walked back through the village to the car.  On the way back I saw these little pigs (they are sitting on the wall)

and this huge plaque in the heart of the village

This is a beachside cafe - unfortunately it was not open but Alice fans might like to see it exists

and one of the many carefully tended gardens by the roadside which had this birdbox and plaques

I now wish I had taken some photos of the beautiful cottage gardens.  As it was such a lovely day most of them had their doors open and to do so would have felt like I was intruding so I didn't but they were so picturesque I guess they are used to being photographed.  Maybe next time ... with a new Rollator (only kidding).

So has anyone any idea of where I was?  The large plaque is entitled "The Spirit of XXX" so someone might know.

Will leave it there for this week and I just hope I can link to Julia and WOYWW as the internet is not good where I am.  I have been having to comment on Art Journal Journey where I am guest host for the month each day and so I have been up at 6 in a morning in order to get a signal.  Maybe I will be lucky this morning and able to link in to you all.  Should I not get to visit you for a day or so don't worry, I will be there as I should be home shortly.

Toodle Pip!

For those who knew Jo (Pritchard) her youngest daughter Claire, has been in touch and we have renewed our friendship and I think we'll be keeping in touch in the future again.  Jo was cremated on Monday. RIP 

Art Journal Journey - Foxy

 

Definitely fur today.  A fox who has the accompanying words "Walk on the Wild Side".  This is an image from Aall & Create drawn by the lovely Bipasha.  If you look carefully you will see that the fox has a pair of spectacles on but for some reason I cannot get a very good image.

To begin with I put some torn pieces of paper on the page and then gave it a wash of blue and white paint, resulting in a mottled effect with the blue going lighter in the main and some areas of white showing.  Again I used my small background stamps randomly over the page, some stamped as second generation to give a lighter effect giving the appearance of  depth to the page.  

The flowers were coloured with Inktense pencils used as watercolour.

Again I hope this page provides some inspiration for you to work with and look forward to seeing you at Art Journal Journey soon.

Art Journal Journey - The Twenties?

Before I begin I would like to extend a welcome to my latest follower Bonnie.  I hope you will enjoy myk blog today and in the future.  As soon as I reach civilisation I will try to find your blog and pay you a visit.   Thank you for being my newest follower.

I decided to stick with the one figure on a page again today and show you "Fur" and "Feathers" both worn at the same time with this Roaring Twenties lady which is what I am featuring today on Art Journal Journey.  She has a lovely feather in her hair and a fur stole around her shoulders.

I love the fashion of this era and have quite a collection of stamps depicting ladies wearing outfits such as this, in fact I have a large collection of Erté images because I admired him a great deal.  But as this is not an Erté design I will leave that for another date.

For the background of the main image I used Squeezed Lemonade and Peeled Paint Distress Ink and some of my small background stamps and a bottle cap.  I placed a potted fern (Non Sequitur) behind my lady who is an "Urban" image.

I then mounted her on a lilac page on which I stencilled some Fern-like shapes using a Lavinia stencil and Tumbled Glass Oxide ink.

I hope this inspires you to look in your stash and maybe bring the Roaring Twenties back to life if you like that era as I do.

Art Journal Journey - Angel

Today I thought I would concentrate on "Feathers" for my post on Art Journal Journey, and rather than doing a bird I have given you an Angel.  Once again this is a full page in my journal made especially for this theme of "Fur and/or Feathers".  I remember seeing and falling in love with this stamp and I have used it in several ways since I bought it.

I had a large letter "A" in my stash and decided that it had lain there long enough and it was about time it was used, similarly the wings that are diecuts obtained from a workshop somewhere.  I remember there being two different shapes of wings both of which embossed beautifully.  Because the letter was in green I went along with my favourite colour scheme of blues and greens - ie turquoise/teal shades.  The background is Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers and the stencil used on the background is from Aall & Create - Enchanted Garden.

The Angel's dress and wings are coloured in with blue and turquoise Promarkers and the frame around is simply hand drawn with a Posca pen. Sorry, I cannot remember who the verse is by.

I hope this has given you another idea of how feathers can be used other than with a bird.

Fur and/or Feathers

Another month, where is time going?  It seems to be passing so quickly and this month I am hosting at Art Journal Journey and have chosen "Fur and/or Feathers" as my theme.  I was so pleased when they asked me to host again and looking at my stamps I found I had lots of animals and birds that I rarely used so I decided to bring them out and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

Saying that my first page is actually the cover of my journal and features both "Fur" and "Feathers" both of which were small copies of posters I had in my stash.  I had to check whether dogs had fur or hair and read that most of them have a fine layer of fur at the base of their coats which protects them from the cold.  There are lots of interesting facts out there about 'fur' if you want to pursue it.

I couldn't find anything out about my second picture which features a bird, looks like a robin to me, but maybe it was an American advertisement and someone will know a bit more about it.

My background was done with Oxides blended together and then an assortment of my tiny background stamps randomly placed over using Memento London Fog which is a nice grey ink, not quite as harsh as black.  I also used a transparent Gesso through a stencil in parts which actually catch the light in real life and also provide a bit of texture to the page.

This will be the cover of my journal, as mentioned above, as I created a series of pages and then used my Rollabind to hold them together.  I chose this method rather than a ring binder so that pages could be added to as and when I felt like it.  

You can see the punchings here

I do hope I see you over at Art Journal Journey during September with your pictures of "Fur and/or Feathers" - see you later - but in the meantime it is Jeudi Journal time too and Wendy has a quote which I need to use.

As you can see, the quote is "I thought I couldn't love you less - you proved me wrong".  The background was done with Pistachio and Birch acrylic paint, some tiny pieces of book page were stuck on and then 'Diamonds in the Rough' was the Dylusions stencil used with white Gesso.

Mr and Mrs Cadog (cat and dog together) had been having a bit of an acrimonious time of it lately.  One thing lead to another and the situation between them was tense most days.  Tabby was one of those people who liked a quiet life.  She always tried to give of her best to the whole family even though it sometimes led her into hot water.  The kids all had little household jobs to do and she was a stickler for trying to make sure they stuck to their chores.  And that included Jem, her husband.  He had his chores too.

The two of them were just about speaking when Tabby saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for something she thought Jem would love. He was a bit of a collector and had an impressive display of binoculars/monoculars in the spare room.  There staring her straight in the face was the most beautiful pair of antique binoculars Tabby had ever seen.  Straight away she thought Jem would love them, they were quite pricey but he didn't mind paying over the odds for something that he loved and there was no way she could afford to buy them for him so she took a photograph with her cell phone and sent it to him at work,

She didn't quite expect the reply she got, "I'm busy at the moment, got my hands full as Rex is off ill this week.  Stop messaging me."

"A simple 'thanks' would have been sufficient" she said out loud to herself and then sent him a text telling him just that.  She wasn't expecting a reply but Jem certainly did feel like replying,

"I was only being polite and letting you know I was busy at the time.  A simple "how is Rex, nothing serious I hope", would have been fine.  I find you rude and selfish.  Now don't message me again when I am at work."

That was a red rag to a bull for Tabby and she made her mind up that tonight's dinner would be done in batches, one for Jem and one for the rest of the family.  It was to be curry tonight and Jem would need lots of water with his.  His would be hot, mega hot, and if he said anything she would tell him straight - 'I thought I couldn't love you less - you proved me wrong'.  And I hope you will think about this next time you reply to one of my messages."  

And with that she gave his curry just one more shake of chilli powder, she'd show hm he was wrong to upset her."

Don't know about you, but I would not cross a cat, black or tabby, or any other kind,

WOYWW 691

Morning WOYWW friends.  I must first of all apologise if any of you did not get a comment from me last week.  I did try to comment on lots of blogs, especially those who had commented on mine, but as I got to Anne (Copperbeech) I found it would not publish my comment as how many times I tried.  This made me wonder if some of the ones I thought I had published had not in fact gone through.  Sorry if yours was one, I did comment on all who visited me.  Also thanks to Helen and Jan who both linked me because I was unable to do it myself (no internet most of the time).

Last week Julia reported on the passing of one of our past members, Jo of Jozart.  Jo and I were members of Vicky Stampers together but apart from that we were friends outside of the group, having time as a foursome (Dave & Chas included).  I went back on her blog and found this post from one of her trips up to our house, taken in our Utility Room. (https://jozartdesigns.blogspot.com/2015/10/chicken-feet-for-friday-smile.html).  Those were the days.

I will always remember one time when we went over to hers and she took us on a tour of Liverpool.  What Jo did not know what not worth knowing.  Her knowledge of her city was equal to, and probably beyond, that of any guide they employ for visitors.  We went in the Roman Catholic Cathedral and then in the Anglican one.  Well, nobody visiting got in that day as it was being used for graduation ceremonies but Jo being Jo got 'us' in.  I still remember rubbing something, cannot remember what or why, and whispering in a certain part of that Cathedral to one another although stading many feet apart.

Jo was one on her own, a remarkable papercrafter, a fantastic quilter, a wonderful wife, mother and wonderful friend.  I never knew why we let our friendship drift apart, especially as we had shared so much when her 'little fraulein' was born.  She will be missed by many - and I do mean "many".

I've been mega busy creating journal pages and as I cannot show you my desk (until the first journal page goes out tomorrow) here is what else I have been up to - three of my additions for my calendar pages:

I refer to them as "additions" because they have to go on the calendar pages yet and have some stencil work done to link them to the actual page and some glitter to give them some pizazz.  I wish I could do the wonderful fairy cards you see people do on the internet.  I'll probably do a video of the two calendars when they are both finished (long time away as I have 24 pictures to do).  

Nothing on my desk at the moment, except my journal page which I can't show you, so here is my new Distress Oxide storage.   Awaiting labels on the edges but that is a time consuming job and I am busy at the moment with scheduling blog posts.  They were all in a drawer but now my Brilliance Ink Pads are in there and this unit (well two of them) has taken over where they were once housed.  I need a third as my 'browns' are homeless!

To paint it white or not is the question.  Knowing me it will remain like this for a long time to come but I will always think of it as needing a coat of white paint.  Can I afford to replace all my storage boxes with these?  Nah!  I could buy a couple of stamps with the money!  And what would I do with all my empty boxes?

As promised last week, here is the link to view the tag book with all the tags shown before it was made up.  Excuse the wobbly voice if you do watch it at some time, it took a lot of 'courage' to do the chit chat as it was so close to my heart .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4TvSpOhG_4

Jeudi Journal - Phone Call

"Well, surprise surprise, Christabel and Damon are still together and time has gone on and now Christabel is away at University.  It's a long distance relationship and it seems to be working.  Most of it has to be done on the telephone talking to one another almost every night but meeting up at each half term back on their home ground.

Now the shoe was often on the other foot and it was Damon who was the one being nice to Christabel.  Sometimes she could have a sharp tongue, but was that his fault for the way he had behaved towards her when they were younger?  She was always one step ahead of him and ready to jump at him should he say the slightest thing to upset her.

It was a lovely summer day and Christabel had gone out into the park near to the university.  She liked to get away from her friends when she was talking to Damon, either that or curled up on her bed all snuggly and warm so she could be nice and private talking to her boyfriend.

Christabel's friends were organising a party and she wanted Damon to come along.  Poor Damon had to work and had very little time off, using his holidays to visit her whenever he could.  It meant him having to take a Friday off work and he could not see his boss allowing that as they were so busy.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I can't just take a day off whenever I like it" he told her."

"But I want you to be at the party with me", she replied.

"But I've already told you I cannot make it this weekend, it is too short notice and besides, we have so much work on at the moment I doubt I would be allowed time off."

Well, that did it and Christabel let forth with a load of angry words, threatening to go to the party and see if she could meet someone 'who cared'.  Poor Damon was besides himself and begged her not to, ending with saying he would try to get the time off, he would rather lose his job than lose her.

"I love you more than anything" Damon said, "I just do not want to lose you," his voice faltering.  

It was then Christabel realised what a little brat she was being and she apologised, saying "I will try to be nice to you, but often my mouth gets in the way.  Please do not risk losing your job for the sake of a party, I will go, but I will not stay long and no way will I find another boyfriend, I love you too much."

And with that the twosome talked some more and all was rosy once again in the world of Christabel and Damon."

Just a Distress Ink background with a Dylusion floral stencil over the whole page and then a Posca pen black border around the edge.  Thanks to Chris at Art Journal Journey for such a great theme this month, I wish I could have entered a lot more but I had so much to do this month.  It worked in nicely with the quotes and figures I had to work with (along with Wendy) so again 'thank you Chris'.