Art Journal Journey - Wrinkled

 "Wrinkled was not what I wanted to be when I grew up" is the Snarky comment from Tim Holtz this week for Wendy and I to work with alongside Elle's challenge at Art Journal Journey which is "Books, Cats, Tea".   But, if you want to submit a journal page you only have until Saturday to do it because we are almost into October when the challenge changes.

For my page I used Mustard Seed Distress Ink for the wallpaper with Rusty Hinge patted through a stencil (Texture Flourish)  to give a hint of pattern to the wallpaper.  Then I used  Pumice Stone Distress Ink for the carpet with an unknown stencil on top.

"Melandra had had a busy day shopping, not much had gone according to her careful planning and she had skipped lunch because she could not find a suitable gift for her best friend.  

"People say men are difficult to buy for" she muttered to herself, "but buying for friends is just as bad'"  Half the trouble was that her best friend had rather a good job so she earned a lot more than Melandra and if she wanted something she just had to go and buy it.  She had a lovely apartment in the best part of town, drove a lovely little car and was lavish with her gifts to her friends.  She really was a lovely person but Melandra wanted to buy her a present she would like, and unfortunately they always came with a large price tag.

You would think, at her age, things like that would not bother her but she was the type of person who always wanted to please everyone.  She had met up with another friend whilst out shopping and the two of them had a bit of a chin wag about buying gifts for other people.  Lottie, the friend she met up with, had been a friend since schooldays and now that the two of them were in their early 40's it was always good to bump into one another when they went into the city.  Lottie did not let things bother her to that extent and she told Melandra that she should stop worrying.  

"Worrying only gives you frown lines, so try not to worry about an expensive gift, just give her something pretty that's within your price range and she will love it I am sure" and with that Lottie went on her way.

Poor Melandra still wanted something that looked expensive but didn't cost the earth and so she made her way to the station and caught the train back home.  With nothing for her best friend.

Feeling quite miserable she let herself in the front door of her modest town house, almost fell over the cat who was standing on the pile of books she had left on the floor when she went out that morning, and as she looked up she caught sight of a portrait of herself painted some years ago.

"Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up" she said, to no-one but the cat.  "I used to have a skin so fair it was almost like porcelain they used to say."

Marmaduke the cat turned his head and looked at her rather strangely.  It was not like Melandra to be so down in the mouth, perhaps her day out had not gone to plan.  Not to worry, as soon as she sat down with a cup of tea he would jump on her lap and give her some kitty love."

WOYWW 747

Still another week before I can show you one of the pages I did for my journal so I am once again sat with an fairly tidy desk.  Not that I have been idle.   Been ever so busy around the house cleaning up after the windows had been fitted and doing as much as my back would permit, the rest of the time was spent with a hot bottle on it. 

Here's my desk:

Getting ready for my journal tomorrow

Headless bodies, bodyless heads, legs, monsters and boys, birds, cats & dogs and an old journal page where I was trying my layout for tomorrow.

Thanks for the prayers last Friday when we went to the funeral.  The firm he worked for in Preston had closed for the day so that they could go to Geoff's funeral.  He must have been well thought of.  Not many get that.  Of course seeing and knowing that brought another tear or two so it turned into a very wet day in more ways than one.  

So on that note I will leave you to go and visit Julia and WOYWW so that you can visit more interesting desks than mine.  See you next week which will be October - and I WILL have something to show you, promise.

Jeudi Journal - Directions

"Mrs Cat and Mr Dog and their twins, Puddy and Poochy, had set off on a day's outing with Mrs Cat at the wheel.  Much to the frustration of Mr Dog I must add.  She had insisted she drove that day and as she always held the threat of not providing dinner he gave in and let her take the wheel.  

Being of the male species he knew that he was the better driver of the two but she, being of the female species, felt she was far far better than he was.  In fact she felt she was better at most things than he was but she let him have the glory of some things most of the time - but not ''driving' today.

"Can we go down Cat Alley" asked the twins.  It was a favourite place of theirs with lots of games to play all under the one roof.  They knew that they might meet up with some of their friends as school was on holiday and all pups and kitties loved to congregate there.

"Not today" said Mrs Cat, "today we are going to go to the seaside.  Your father and I agreed on that before we set off and you will find there are some games in the box on the floor for you to play with whilst on the journey."

And so the pleasant journey began.  Mr Dog knew the way so he was able to direct Mrs Cat as they drove along and answer the questions the twins put to him whilst they tried to solve a crossword.

All of a sudden Mrs Cat found herself coming to a full stop.  The area they were in did not look a bit like anywhere she knew.  Of course it was Mr Dog's fault.  So they all got out of the car and had a quick look around.  Puddy hid behind her mother's skirt as she knew what was coming.  Mrs Cat was not in a good mood!

"It's your fault" she said, looking Mr Dog in the eye, "When I ask for directions please do not use words like 'East'.  I understand 'left' and 'right' much better.  Why you cannot say 'left' or 'right' I do not know."

And with that she flounced back in the car, shouting to the twins "get back in the car and be quiet, this is all your father's fault and we will have less time at the seaside now through him."  So they all got back into the car and continued the journey in complete silence.

I am pleased to say, however, that Mrs Cat forgot all about her stroppy moment when Mr Dog got her a big candy floss (cotton candy)."

To help set the scene of absolute chaos I made a smoochy background in chaotic purples and pinks with a little lime green thrown in around the edges and some random stamping here and there using Versafine Clair - Nocturne, Shady Lane and Warm Breeze (my favourite).  This is my entry for Elle's challenge at Art Journal Journey which is "Books, Cats and Tea".  Why not pop along and join in yourself - remember though, it has to be a journal page - check out the rules here.

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 Another week has flown by and I am sorry but despite being busy I cannot show you what I have been up to.  

Thursday we are having new windows (ten of them) put in the bungalow so today is going to be a busy day taking all the curtains/blinds down and moving what is left of the bits and pieces that sit in the window sill.  So I had better get on - I am shutting myself in my craft room on Thursday  so hopefully there will be something to show next week.  In the meantime:

So, I will see you WOYWW'ers next week and hope you all have a good one.  Until then, cheerio! xx

Friday it is Geoff's funeral so can I please ask for your prayers for Norman, his dad; John, his brother and a few for me as I am struggling too.  Thanks.

Jeudi Journal - old enough

 "Tilly was your typical teenager.  Sixteen going on twenty six.  She had just left school and gone to the local 6th form college to do a course in Media Studies.  Her parents had not a clue what she was going to do for a job at the end of the three years, why she couldn't have chosen something more appropriate like accountancy they wondered, or nursing.

"Mum, can I have my nose pierced?" asked Tilly one day, just as mum was about to go out to her Bridge club.

"Certainly not" said mum, "your father would not stand for it, and, neither would I.  Imagine what gran and grandpa would have to say.  Anyway, you are far too pretty a girl to want to do something like that - disfiguring your face in such a way."

"Oh mum. you are so old fashioned" retorted Tilly, "all the girls at college have piercings all over the place.  Can I have my belly button done then?"

"No" replied mum, "you have your ears pierced and that is about it, when you are old enough to make your own decisions then it is up to you but whilst you are under this roof we will have no more talk of piercings."

"What about a tattoo?"

"Oh my goodness, is this what going to college and mixing with all kinds has done?  No! and that is that, when you are old enough to know better, I said you can do what you want."

"So when is this 'old enough to know better' supposed to kick in?

"Really Tilly, you have my answer and that is it - final!  You are not having any piercings or tattoos at your age.  We will have no more talk about it.

"Right" shouted Tilly, "I will see what dad has to say about this."

Mum shrugged, slung her bag over her shoulder, almost fell over the cat and went on her way.  She was now running late and she wanted a particular partner at the club.  "Teenagers" she muttered."

This is my entry for Art Journal Journey where Elle has chosen "books, cats, tea" as her topic for this month.  Coupled with a snarky comment from Tim Holtz we have this journal page.  A background of Distress Inks smooched on the page and some stamps randomly in the background were the starting point for these two Dylusional figures and the Tim Holtz cat.  Enjoy.

WOYWW 745

 I showed you a couple of the wedding photos last week and forgot to show you the wedding card `i made.  Remember I could not get the flowers to look realistic so I gave up and put words on the front?  Well, here is it - including all the decoupage I did

excuse the wonky photo

7 layers of stamping for her dress

and the box

Jayne had included a red rose in every bouquet, every buttonhole, and there were touches of red at the reception.  This was in memory of 'Grandma' a much loved figure who was the groom's mother who had passed not long ago.  Grandma meant so much to her family and Jayne, so Jayne wanted to include her in some way and this was with a touch of red.  That was why I had a red heart on my box.   

Wasn't last week warm?  Thank goodness for the seaside, it was lovely to walk along the prom and get a bit of breeze from the water's edge.  Well, that led me to doing some crafting as you saw last week (well the start of it).  Here are the finished cards - I did two of each design from a class with Jo Rice. (whoo hoo - a "C" card done - one is in my journal.)

When I got home I had a delivery of more Lavinia stamps.  I love Halloween and so could not resist getting one or two of the new collection.  I added a couple of other stamps that I have been wanting and so I ended up cataloguing them yesterday:

I stamp the images on a piece of paper and then laminate it, then they are stuck to the laminated sheet and put in a box, itemised of course.  You can see the Pumpkin ones I have stamped but the others are just placed on a piece of paper ready for stamping.

Well I had better leave it there and link in to WOYWW.  Hope you all have a lovely week and weekend as what the weather is like where you are (dull here).

Jeudi Journal - Procrastination

Another week working in my square journal and today we have Mrs Marmalade Cat and her little one who is always by her side.  She was not usually one for putting things off but today the sun had shone and she had got up, Mr M had gone off to work and she and little Joey had the whole day to themselves.  

"Bother the housework" she said to herself, "Joey, do you want to go out for the day?  We can go to the seaside or to the zoo, or one of those sculpture parks you like so much."

"Sculpture Park, Sculpture Park" shouted Joey, whilst jumping up and down for joy.  He hadn't been there for a long time but he loved the open green spaces where he could run and the fun of finding the various sculptures that were dotted here and there.

And so Mrs Marmalade Cat put on her pretty yellow dress with the cherries all over it and off the two of them went.  It was a lovely day, the sun never stopped shining and parts of the Park had lots of trees providing the essential shade that was needed on such a day.

Joey loved going out with his mother, it was always a good day with lots of ice cream and treats along the way.  Father Cat did tend to put a stop to so much spending but with Mum he managed to have the time of his life.

They set off with a map and spotted all of the sculptures in the park, had a lovely lunch and finished off with strawberries and ice cream.  Joey was allowed to choose a toy mouse from the shop at the entrance to the Park and all in all it was a fabulous day for him.

Mrs Marmalade Cat loved going out with their son too, she loved being able to do all the things she used to do in her childhood and it was so nice to have a change from the usual routine.  Had they stayed at home Joey would have played in the garden with the kitties from next door whilst she would have been doing the washing, cleaning, cooking and million other jobs that befell her daily.  Maybe even Grandma would have called and held her up with the jobs whilst she entertained her and listened to how wonderful her sister in law was.  Yes, it was good to have a day out with Joey - "from a procrastination point of view, today has been wildly successful" she said to herself as they made their way back home.  A  good day out for the two of them, and she felt so much better for it, Mr Marmalade Cat would enjoy the kippers they had bought and it would take no time at all to cook them.  

This is my entry for Elle's challenge at Art Journal Journey which is 'books, cats and tea'.  You don't have to include all of them, just one will do and so I decided to go with cats.  Next week I will try one of the other things, but in the meantime why don't you pop over and see what everyone has done and then you could join in yourself - providing it was a journal or altered book page and not a card.

Wendy and myself have set ourselves a challenge and that is to use Dylusion figures and include a snarky comment - this then has to link in with the theme at Art Journal Journey.  Today we have to remember that "Procrastination is the thief of Time".