Bastelmania

Calendar Challenge February

2012-02-02T06:59:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I suddenly remembered that it is February already, so had to get cracking on my Feb pages which I am linking up to the challenge at the *Kathryn Wheel*.

February is mostly a rainy and grey month, hence the colours I chose for my pages, although today was clear and sunny, just extremely cold, and with an east wind which was trying to blow our skin off! The background has been painted with acrylics, and then trees etc have been collaged over the painted stems to give more depth. I used a mixture of ovals and oblongs for the days - to be honest, I didn't have enough of one sort! As I have no possibilty to do die-cuts here, I had to improvise, but I don't think it looks bad. For the 14th I used a red heart; guess why! I added day 29 after I had taken the pics, but it is on there now! I am also entering this into Paint Party Friday. Yes, it is only Thursday today, but I will not be able to paint anything else by tomorrow!

I took this photo at 7.15 yesterday morning as the first light was coming over the hills.

I have got another strenuous day to get through, I am really looking forward to the weekend, as I am extremely tired. My internet USB stick is having phases where it is more of a stuck than a stick, which means it takes ages to get online, and I am not really patient at the best of times!

Have a good day you all, take care, have fun and thanks for visiting!

More Tags

2012-02-01T06:49:00.003+01:00

Good morning everyone! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr, it's really cold here, with icy winds blowing us lots of *fresh* air from Siberia, so we all need caps and scarves and gloves to go out. Hope this cold spell doesn't last too long! I was extremely tired yesterday after treatment, so spent most of the afternoon sleeping. But I did manage two little tags in the evening. I haven't got such a heavy day today, so hope to get more done!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for coming by!

Tags for Tag Tuesday

2012-01-31T06:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday wasn't too busy, so in the afternoon there was time for a nap and some crafting. The theme over at *Tag Tuesday*this week is *lace*, so I have made three romantic tags - Valentine's Day is coming - using lace.

Today we have programme again from 7.15 till about 3 o'clock this afternoon, so there should be enough time for some painting this afternoon. I've just seen that Auntie Cissie will be going to France this week, bet she will have a good time there!

Have a good day you all, have fun, take care and thanks for dropping in!

Journal Pages and a Tag

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, hope you have all had a good weekend and are all fit and ready for the start in the new week. We had a quiet and fun time here, so I am ready for all the treatments that will be waiting for me this week.

I used different colours for my journal pages this time, but I must say that there are other colours I like better. Let's see what colours jump at me next time!

The tag is my DT piece for the new challenge over at *The Cheerful Stamp Pad*, where the theme this week is *Love is in the air*. I have made a vintage style tag with lots of Victorian roses, cupid etc.

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

A Happy Saturday Afternoon

2012-01-29T08:21:00.000+01:00

I am happy to say that I had no bad surprises with vanishing blogs yesterday, for which I am very thankful! Had a nice lazy day reading, playing in my art journal, baking cake, and painting with some fellow patients in the afternoon. We had moussaka for lunch, with salad and fresh fruit, and then after a short nap we started baking our lemon cake, which turned out very well and was most delicious. We squeezed fresh lemon juice over it while it was still warm, and then made lemon icing to top it. I managed to get a photo of the last 2 slices, that cake went away like hot cakes! The nurse on duty joined us for coffee and cake, and a good time was had by all. I didn't invite Auntie Cissie though; I thought if she came there would be no cake for the others. Next time I will bake more, and then she can join us!

And this is a photo of one of the ladies who hid in the corner of the kitchen and licked the bowl out!

These are the goodies Kristin sent me, we used some of the stickles yesterday while we were painting. Thanks again Kristin!

Here's wishing you all a good and restful Sunday. Take care of yourselves, have fun, and thanks for dropping in!

An Afternoon Shock!

2012-01-28T08:55:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all! It felt really luxuriant today not having to get up early; the extra hour or so in bed was really welcome. I just made myself some coffee, as I skipped breakfast today, and can enjoy it at the computer, just like back home!

Yesterday afternoon I sat down happily after my last treatment, and started commenting on some blogs. At the first one, I was asked to sign in, which I did. Then I saw a notice telling me that there had been some strange activity on my blog, and it had been suspended....I looked, and yes, my Blog was gone. Disappeared. I couldn't believe my eyes! Then I tried to sign in again, and this time got told to type in my mobile number, and Google would send me a code. I tried, and kept getting a message that my mobile number was wrong - which it wasn't. After about an hour of patiently, then rather frantically typing in my number, it worked, and I got the code. I typed it in, and still, nothing happened....Then I decided to go for a walk before I exploded, and when I tried again after coming back, my dear blog was there again! What a fright!! I wrote yesterday that I was having trouble leaving comments, and some people advised me to use Chrome. But I have been using it for over a year now, so the browser doesn't seem to be the solution. Anyway, I am just happy right now to have my blog back.

And to cheer me up after all that, I received a little parcel from Kristin of *Twinkle Twinkle* Blogspot. She sent me loads of Stickles in different colours, so I can glitter here as much as I want without making chaos here in my room. And some lovely ATC water-colour papers and vintage Valentine images with hearts and roses, so the production of sparkly Valentine cards is now possible. Thanks a lot Kristin, I am always bowled over by the kindness of the Blogger family worldwide. I will take a picture later and post it tomorrow.

This afternoon we are planning on baking a cake; we have a little kitchen on our corridor, and so we are going to bake, make coffee, and then have another painting class, so that sounds like fun.

Here's wishing you all a great weekend, take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Postcard Challenge and Paint Party Friday

2012-01-27T06:50:00.001+01:00

Today is PPF week 46, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and the Third week of Darcy's Postcard Challenge, with China as destination.

I am still having problems visiting some sites, I don't know what it is, but I can't leave any comments. Hope this will soon be fixed! If I haven't visited you, sorry, but I tried....

For Paint Party Friday I have painted a picture with acrylics and black ink, which I have called *The shadows of the past*. The Hebrew letters on the tomb-stones mean *here lies*.

This week Jason is in China.

Auntie Cissie is really upset just now, she can hardly eat because she is so worried. After lots of long discussions in her fave fish-and-chip shop, she has not been able to dissuade Jason from taking a trip to China. She is convinced that it is extremely dangerous, because her late husband had told her that dragons react very fiercely when they see red. And Jason has very red hair.

*You must dye your hair*, she tells him. *All Chinese have black hair, so then you wouldn’t be in danger!* Jason refuses point blank, and tells her that there are no dragons, not in China and not anywhere. On hearing this ludicrous news, Cissie nearly chokes on a piece of fried cod, and can’t understand why Jason is so stubborn! And of course, she is worried that he might not get enough to eat, as she is sure that the Chinese do not have cream cakes or hamburgers or other things that people need daily. She calms down after he tells her that the Chinese invented noodles, although she is still convinced that he is in great danger from a dragon….

Jason flies to Peking and spends his time looking, as always, for girls and antiques. He is rather disappointed that the beach he was planning to visit in Phuket is in Thailand, and not in China, but he still finds lots of pretty girls to ogle wherever he goes. And one of the girls he chats up has an uncle, who is selling a pair of large, antique Ming Vases for a spot price. Her whole family gives him a tremendous welcome, and Jason spends all his money buying the precious vases. They even pack them in large crates for him, and take him and all his things to the airport, where they smilingly wish him a fond farewell.

As Jason pushes his case and the 2 crates through the customs, he notices a very pretty lady wearing a dragon blouse looking at him. She smiles and asks really friendly what he has in those crates. Jason smiles back and tells her about the Ming Vases, genuine antiques, which he has bought so cheaply... Suddenly he is ringed about by armed police, who ask him to accompany them. As he has no choice, he goes with them, and has to watch as they all shout very loudly, and tell him that he will be put in prison for trying to smuggle antiquities out of the land....

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

More Tags

2012-01-26T06:58:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post today, I have a lot of treatments today. Yesterday I had a long afternoon nap, which was very enjoyable, but it didn't leave much crafty time.

The first tag has been made from a lovely linen label which was on a jacket that one of the ladies here bought for herself. The gold flourishes were all already on it, too; I just added the image, the ribbon and the flowers. The second and third stag were a result of a little clearing up action on my work-space .

Have a nice day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!

Journal Pages and a tag

2012-01-25T06:49:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all! It's got quite cold here now, the last few days were mild, but it looks like winter is on its way.

Yesterday I had plenty of time for painting and crafting in the afternoon, so finished off some more journal pages and managed a tag, too. The journal pages all seem to turn out more or less the same just now, I'm not quite sure why....But I am just stuck on the blue-green shades, and that always reminds me of being underwater.

The tag has been made using a label from a tee-shirt, a piece of jute and a twinchy made from crafty secrets paper, embellished witha scrap of lace, a flower and a bow. I think I like the label better than the shirt it was on....

Okay, that was all for today. I need to get going, as we have got a busy morning again with lots of treatment and some more tests. Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Two mini canvases & Two Tags

2012-01-24T06:58:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had a nice, peaceful afternoon crafting. The weather was an exciting mix of rain, hailstones and wind; not really suitable for going walkies, but great to play around with paint and paper etc.

The 2 mini canvases - in twinchy size - have been painted with remnants of blue, green, white and gold acrylics. I added a large white daisy to each one, and then fixed them one above the other onto a white ribbon. I thought they would make a nice present for one of the nurses or therapists here.

The theme over at *Tag Tuesday* this week is vintage. I have made 2 tags, both with images Donna sent to me at Christmas. The first image has been fussy cut, partly coloured with water-colour pencils, and then placed onto a piece of vintage paper and a scrap of lace, all of which has been mounted on a tag cut from a piece of Anna Griffin card-stock. The second image has also been cut out. The tag is made of cardboard, covered with some vintage book paper painted with gesso, and embellished with a ribbon and another scrap of vintage lace.

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

New energy for a new week

2012-01-23T07:09:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody. I have had a good rest for 2 days, had my back treated, and feel more human now. Thanks a lot for your kind comments and encouragement to rest; something which I do find rather difficult....

Yesterday I finished the journal pages I started on Friday, and I must say, I like them, which is not always the case. I painted the background with 2 shades of blue, yellow and green, and a touch of gold acrylic paint. A added some torn paper , did some background stamping with diamonds, script and music, and wiped it over with gesso to tone it down a bit. Then I put on the top layer, with faces, doodling and some text, and drew the leaves with ink, and coloured them with watercolour pencils and a gold edding.

So, here's wishing you all a good day, and a good start in the week. Take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Taking a day off

2012-01-21T09:14:00.001+01:00

Hi my lovelies, hope you are all well!
I am extremely knocked out just now, and have problems sitting at the computer because of my back pains, so I am taking a break. I hope to be back tomorrow or Monday at the latest, with fresh energy. Today I just need to do NOTHING!!
Take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday and Postcard Challenge week 3

2012-01-20T07:08:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody. Another week has fled by, and I have just managed to get my postcard finished on time! Two *parties* at the same time, that's great - Paint Party Friday no. 45, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and Darcy's Postcard Challenge, Week no. 3, where our destination this week is Brazil....

Auntie Cissie’s best friend Thelma – well, one of her best friends – had planned a trip to Brazil. Unfortunately, she slipped over on a banana skin while leaving her favourite bakery in Whitechapel, so Cissie bought the ticket off her for a good price, packed her case, and got ready to fly. She was not completely convinced that a land so far away would be suitable to guarantee her enough food, and was rather worried about all the foreigners living there. Jason told her gently on the phone, *Don’t worry, dear; they are all very hospitable, and when you go there, you will be the foreigner*. Auntie Cissie told him, *Don’t be silly, Jason. I’M BRITISH! British are NOT foreigners!* Jason decided not to argue further, and gave Cissie a large box of chocolates to eat on the plane in case she got hungry. As she rather tearfully waved goodbye, she called out, *I will probably look like a skeleton when I come back*. Jason just waved, while thinking to himself, *Not bloody likely!* And then he drove back home thinking about which of his girl friends to ask over for the evening.

Aunt Cissie is very relieved to find that the food is wonderful, that there are huge portions, and that she will not starve there….. She is also pleasantly surprised that her bikini causes such a stir on the beach, and enjoys the winks and sly smiles of the men and the astonished stares of the ladies, which she takes for envious looks. She FEELS good, and that’s all that matters to her! Here is her postcard sent to Jason. Auntie Cissie has had her photograph taken in front of a sparkly Brazilian flag, and sporting her new bikini. As fate would have it, the Brazilian post issued a special stamp with cup-cakes on it, probably in honour of Auntie Cissie.

The postcard has been painted with acrylics onto water-colour paper, and glittered with stickles. I haven't decorated the album page yet, but hope to get it done for tomorrrow!

I have also managed to finish my WIP from earlier in the week.

I am really looking forward to the weekend, as we have no treatments then, can sleep longer and paint more!! I am really knocked out just now!
Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks a lot for dropping in!

A Tag and a Quick Post

2012-01-19T07:09:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody! Hope you are all well and fit. Had a very busy day yesterday, and today sill not be much different. I managed to make a tag in the evening, and finish the picture I started the day before. The Tag has been made with some glittered paper. The bird and cage are from TH; I added the lace and some feathers. The owl is a stamp from LaBlanche, stamped and then embossed with clear EP and perfect pearls.

I will take a photo of my finished picture in the course of the day. Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

A busy day & a WIP

2012-01-18T07:01:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was in bed at 8p.m. I was so tired after my long day with different treatments, physiotherapy and GYMNASTICS, not to mention my little art class in the afternoon, that I couldn't stay up any longer.
Okay, first the GYMNASTICS! Err - well - yes. Now I know how a beetle feels when it's stranded on its back....I think we will leave this topic for the time being, I evidently need some training! So glad nobody I know was watching!!

We had a fun afternoon painting, using 2 shades of blue, white and green, and the ladies enjoyed themselves. We painted with loo rolls, sequin waste, and tooth-picks; later we drew faces or hands and adorned them. Next week we want to do some more. My piece is not finished, as I needed to help the others. The pics are really bad, sorry, but the light in my room is not good for taking photos in the evening.

The white tag is for my tag over at Tag Tuesday. I am not at all happy with it, but I was just tooooooooooooo tired in the evening to start again!

I am still having problems accessing some blogs, and on top of that, my USB internet stick is sometimes so slow it drives me mad, and I just don't get as much done as usual!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

More Journal Pages & a Photo

2012-01-17T08:41:00.000+01:00

Hi you all. We had lovely weather yesterday, very cold, but bright and sunny; it was good to see the sun again. Today should be the same, so hope to get a free hour this afternoon to go for a little walk. I now have my *time-table*, so Mondays to Fridays are filled with different therapies, even gymnastics - gulp!! Hope I survive it! And this evening I plan on doing some painting with some of the ladies here - I planned it with one lady, and then others heard, so we will be having a painting class in the common room; should be fun!

Yesterday when I came back from breakfast, the moon was still in the sky, it looked so pretty, I just had to take a photo.

And here are the journal pages I made at the weekend. I have used different shades of blue, together with some white and red for the basis layer, and scraped the paint on with a loo roll! Then I used some vintage book paper and sequin waste to give some texture, and added a bit of stamping, before doing some doodling and collaging. Whatever, it was fun to make!

Hope you have a good day, take care of yourselves and thanks a lot for visiting!

Monday....

2012-01-16T07:04:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody; it's Monday already and another week has begun. Time is flying, as always. I had a quiet day here. It stayed misty all day. I did go for a walk, but it was cold and the streets were all deserted, so decided it would be better to come back here and paint. I have started some more journal pages, which will be finished tomorrow.

I made a tag, too, for the challenge over at *The cheerful Stamp Pad*, where the theme for the next 2 weeks is *Birds of a Feather*. Do hop over and join in if you can!

Just a short post today, I have a lot of appointments today! Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for dropping in!

Sunday again & new Journal Pages

2012-01-15T09:24:00.002+01:00

Hi everybody, hope you are enjoying your weekend. We had a quiet day here yesterday, the weather was cold but sunny, and I hope today will be just as nice. At the moment it is still rather misty, but we often have morning mist along the Rhine. Yesterday I had a look round the thrift shop, and found a giant (30x40), new water-colour pad with 40 pages in it, and I got it for 1€, an enormous bargain. And I found a bundle of old lace, which he gave me as a bonus! What a lucky find!

Apart from that, I had a really lazy day, slept a lot, but managed to finish the journal pages I started on Friday. The paint has been applied to the pages with a piece of cardboard, as I forgot my wide brushes, and then I went to work with different bits and pieces, and here are the results:

I have had problems accessing some blogs the past few days, or Blogger won't let me leave comments, so if I haven't visited you, please be patient!

Have a good Sunday you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Have you ever been cupped?

2012-01-14T08:55:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody! This week I have started my treatment here at the clinic, and I got cupped! It's an alternative healing method, which they use to support the other therapies.

Cupping is the method of using glass or plastic cups to create localized pressure by a vacuum. The Chinese have been doing this since ancient times by using heat inside glass or bamboo cups. Nowadays, cupping sets use suction to create the vacuum. The vacuum inside the cups causes the blood to form in the area and help the healing in that area.

Ancient Chinese medicine believes that the body contains "Meridians". These meridians are pathways in the body which the energy of life called Qi ("chi") flows through. It flows through every body part, tissue, and organ. Cupping therapy is mainly performed on one's back because there are five meridians on your back. When these meridians are opened, the internal energy is able to flow through the whole body.

Another healing aspect of cupping therapy is through the release of toxins in your body. The suction from the cups can penetrate deep into your tissues causing the tissues to release harmful toxins. It triggers the lymphatic system, clears the blood vessels, and stretches and activates the skin.

Cupping therapy has been found in ancient records dating back 3500 years and it is still used today by many alternative medicine practictioners. New advancements in technology and materials have been integrated with cupping therapies and its uses now range for many different treatments and applications.

The cups suck themselves onto the back, and stay there for about half an hour, and when they are taken off you have a nice circle pattern, which doesn't go away for hours.

This is not a pic of me, it was one I found on the net:

I will be having lots of different therapies in the coming weeks, and hope they will bring some relief.

This morning I took this photo of a beautiful tree in the garden here, which I can see from my window.

And of course, I still have plenty of free time for crafting and painting, so that is good. Today I am going for a walk around the little town, and I have discovered a thrift store that needs to be looked at!

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday # 44 & The Postcard Challenge

2012-01-13T07:08:00.000+01:00

Hi you all, welcome to PPF no 44, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and the second week of Darcy's postcard challenge. I have combined both challenges this time, as I can't mess as much as I would like to just now! Our destination this week at Darcy's is SPAIN. Jason is off to Spain, as he has got a hot tip to buy a genuine Picasso for only 150,-€ - well, he thinks it's genuine, but he doesn't really have a clue, as will be revealed in the coming weeks. He is also visiting some of the sights, but seems to regard the Spanish Muchachas as the main things worth seeing, and spends a lot of time taking pictures of these beautiful girls. *Beautiful* is one of his favourite words, as *delicious* one of Auntie Cissie's fave words is.

Since Cissie came back from Austria, they have regularly spent time with each other, catching up on family business, and of course, eating....
He tells her the sad story how his Mum nearly got eaten by a crocodile, never quite got over the shock, and had to have regular sessions with a psychiatrist to try to get over her fear that a crocodile was lurking around every corner. This made Auntie Cissie very sad, so she quickly hid her crocodile handbag…. Jason was overwhelmed by Cissie’s favourite fish-and-chip shop, and the giant portions which were served there, but still found room for the mounds of cream cakes Cissie served in the afternoon.

He has spent the last week in Spain, where he bought a painting, supposedly painted by the Grand Master Picasso himself, and after hiding his bargain in his case, he spends the rest of the week visiting the famous sights of Spain....

The postcard has been painted onto water-colour paper. I used the tourist symbol of Spain, and added a cut-out of Jason's fave Spanish sight.

The stamp has been made from a scrap I found in my box; I couldn't find the real stamps....

And here is the album page, and the postcard in its pocket:

And yesterday evening I made three more vintage tags:

Have a nice day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Journal pages, tags and photos

2012-01-12T08:26:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody. I had a bit more peace and quiet for crafting etc yesterday, as I didn't have quite so many appointments, so was able to spend more time with my crafty bits and bobs. The only problem here, is that I have to pack everything away again at the end of the session, I don't think they would take kindly to a stash, paint and glitter trail!

The journal pages are once again more or less the same but different.... I used some background stamping, partly painted over with gesso, *my* faces, lots of doodling and some cut outs from some old magazines I found flying around here.

The tags have been made using some paper and cut-outs from Crafty secrets. I stamped the butterfly with vintage photo and Victorian velvet, cut it out, and glittered it with some stickles. I made a mini tag to place onto each tag, added some pale pink ribbon and some silk roses.

And here are a few pictures of this little town, showing the old half-timbered houses and a strange *pet* that someone is keeping on the balcony....

Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!

A Snow Tag

2012-01-11T08:23:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, good morning again from Bad Honnef! Had a busy day yesterday with the lots of exams in the morning, and then a little walk through the town in the afternoon, followed by some crafting - yoohoo! I had 3 days where I didn't get sticky and painty, now I feel more normal! I made a tag for the second snow challenge over at Tag Tuesday, this time the theme is snow games. I painted the tag with pearl blue acrylic paint, which has a lovely shimmer, and then made *snowballs* on it using the nozzle of the paint bottle. I heated it to make it *snap, crackle and pop* and the snowballs stand out. I added some lace for curtains, and a window frame, and a snowman from a very ancient Christmas card I dug out. Then I added a row of pearl ribbon for some *ice* on the window ledge, and that was it.

In the evening I worked on my journal pages, and I hope to get them finished today.

Thanks for all the good wished you left me yesterday, they cheered me up no end!

Take care you all, have a good day, and thanks for visiting!

Hello from Bad Honnef

2012-01-10T06:55:00.000+01:00

Hi you all, good morning from my temporary place of residence here in Bad Honnef. I am here at a hospital for some long time treatment and therapy, so will be here for several weeks. Yesterday I loaded up my little panda with a few clothes and a huge pile of crafty stuff- as much as fitted into the car! So I will be able to *keep calm and carry on crafting*.

I set off from home early yesterday morning. The motor way was one giant traffic jam from start to finish, it was foggy, and we had torrential rainfalls all the way, which made the journey take twice as long as usual, so I was pleased to arrive safely. Then I had to check in, fill in lots of forms etc, and had the first medicinal checks. Tomorrow will be another day with lots of exams, and after that it will be getting down to treatment. I hope the weather will brighten up, as there are lots of pretty towns and castles along the Rhine which are worth visiting.
I should have time for some crafting later, too, so that will be nice.

Take care of yourselves, have a good day, and thanks for visiting! And if the sun is shining where you are, send a few rays over!

Journal Pages again

2012-01-08T09:51:00.002+01:00

Hi everybody! Just a quick post today, as I still have masses to do here.
I made some more journaling pages yesterday. They pages have been covered with old book and ledger paper, painted over with some gesso, two tones of blue and some yellow, and then I worked on them in between clearing up, tidying, sorting out etc. Half an hour H*******K, half an hour journal as a reward. This time I seem to have a mixed up under water world....

So, that was it for today. I have to be out very early tomorrow, so will be blogging again on Tuesday. Have a good day, take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Saturday, Weekend and an Album

2012-01-07T09:17:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. I still look forward to weekends, although as I don't work any more, all the week is work free for me. Must be a throw back to all those working years, where the weekend was always something to look forward to!

Yesterday I made a quick album in which to put my postcards for the *Auntie Cissie and Jason Saga*. It had to be quick, as I am busy doing lots of other things in *real-life*, although I hate all those nasty but sometimes necessary errands and other things which keep me from crafting and painting! I cut the pages from a pad of craft paper, made a fold along the long side, and then folded the page together, to give a double page for 2 postcards. I snipped off the inside corners, to make it easier to fold, and stuck the outside edge with DST. Made 26 pages, so I have a pocket for each week of the year. The covers have been made from a corrugated cardboard box. The covers have been distressed a bit, and then partly painted with a quick coat of gesso. I lined the inside covers with some cardstock to give them a bit more stability, and then fixed the whole thing together with my Zutter BIA. I decorated the front cover with *photos* of my protagonists and the first pages with some old ads for hotels in Vienna and a few other travel related embellishments. The postcard can then be tucked into the pocket each week.

I am really looking forward to getting the new travel destination on Monday and starting the new postcard!

So that's all for today. Hope you all have a wonderful day, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

Paint Party Friday #43 & A New Challenge

2012-01-06T09:24:00.000+01:00

Today is the first PPF in this year, thanks again to Eva and Kristin for continuing to host it. Today I would like to share my journal pages and a colour splodge-and-smear painting.
The journal pages should have been something completely different, but once again, they just seemed to develop of their own accord! I used pen and ink, water-colour pencils, flower rub-ons and some other bits and bobs.

The painting was done some time back, but I can't remember if I showed it or not. It's been painted with tempera colours, splodged on in several layers, sprayed with water, allowed to drip, and then some of the drips were outlined with black ink. I find things like this enormously therapeutic, just pure fun!

I am also taking part in the Postcard Challenge over at *Art and Sole* blog. The challenge is inspired by the Griffin and Sabine Series of books by Nick Bantock. For the challenge we get a different prompt each week. We have to make a story round 2 characters. In one week, A writes to B, and in the second week B to A. The prompt this week is Austria, so the postcard this week has to come from there. But first let me introduce you to my characters:

Auntie Cissie is an overweight, elderly lady, who loves going on coach tours with her friends. She adores sightseeing, especially visiting all the good restaurants and sampling the local specialities. She lives in London, in a house built between a Jewish Delicatessen take-away and a fish and chip shop run by a family of friendly Pakistanis, who are famous for giving huge portions.... Her favourite colours are pink, blue and lilac.

Her Address is Mrs Cissie Brautman, 222 Brickwall Lane, Whitechapel, London E1

She writes to her nephew, Jason, who runs an antique shop in Lewisham, South London. He lives in a flat above the shop, does not really have a clue about antiques, but is sure that he will one day make his fortune by finding a very valuable painting or piece of furniture….He travels round hoping to find a lost Picasso.

His address is Mr Jason Shmitt, 576 Wetwell Lane, Lewisham, London
S E 27

At the beginning of my story, they have not yet seen each other. Cissie’s sister emigrated many years back, settled in Australia, and went so far into the outback that she lost touch with the rest of the family in London. Cissie learns from a friend, who has bought some furniture from Jason, of the existence of her nephew, and that he lives in London. She is overjoyed to finally find a part of her family, and sends him the first postcard.

And here they are:

This week, Cissie is touring in Austria with her friends, where she goes, as always, from café to café, from meal to meal.... Here is the first postcard, the album will follow next week!

I had great fun creating the characters, making the postcard and writing the first part of the story. I am looking forward to getting the next prompt for the coming week, and to see where the journey will take us....

Have a great day you all, thanks for visiting, and take good care of yourselves!

Another book and gale force winds

2012-01-05T11:05:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, good morning from stormy, wild and windy Rhineland. I'm glad I don't need to go far today, I think home is the best place when the weather is so bad.

Yesterday I went for a few hours to visit a friend, and on the way home I bought a lovely, large needle, suitable for darning socks and sewing books together. I used some water-colour paper to make the 10 signatures, and sewed them onto covers made from recycled cardboard. This time I added the croco-look paper after finishing the book, so that the spine is covered too, and then used some pearlised paper to make the end-papers of the book. The pages lie completely flat when the book is open. It's still not quite as I would have liked it, but it was much quicker and easier to sew this time with a decent needle, and I think the next one will turn out as I want it.

Okay, that was it for today, the H*******K is waiting - it can't be put off any longer!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Christmas post from Mexico

2012-01-04T08:16:00.000+01:00

Yoohoo, my Christmas post from Mexico arrived. Poor Donna had almost given up hope that it would arrive here, but today it did - when I went down to my mailbox, I found a big and very decorative envelope waiting for me. Inside I found a beautiful Christmas tag and loads of sheets of ephemera, which are especially welcome, as I haven't been able to print anything for ages thanks to my not-so-wonderful Lexmark printer, which has steadfastly refused to work for many weeks.

I especially like what Donna has written on the envelope!

So now, at a time when other people are taking down their Christmas decorations, I have just put a new one on the wall in my arty kitchen....

I thought very seriously about doing the H*******K yesterday, and went from room to room, inspecting the mess. Then I decided to close the doors and not think about it anymore till Thursday, in the hope that I will be able to find somewhere to start.

I had a try at making a book with a sewn coptic binding, and managed to sew 6 signatures together. I covered some cardboard from the back of a drawing pad with some hand-made Indian paper to make the covers. I just added a brass name-plate to the front. I will definitely try this again, BUT I need a larger needle and some embroidery thread or fine twine to sew it together. As I can't see very well, it was very difficult for me working with a small sewing needle, and I almost sewed my fingers to the binding! But it is an interesting Technic, and I like the way the pages all lay flat

Have a nice day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

More Journal Pages and Tags

2012-01-03T09:44:00.001+01:00

Good morning you all! Yesterday I really had to give myself a kick in the butt to get going and do something. I started off by trying to clear masses of bits and pieces from my table, as my AWS (available working space) had shrunk to less than inchy size. There were loads of paper scraps there, leftovers from Christmas crafting, so I cut them all into neat pieces and decided to use as much as I could in my journal to avoid moving them from one corner to another over the next weeks. I painted the pages with brown, yellow and white acrylics. Then I used part of a paper napkin for the image on the left side, before *framing* it with the scraps, making a mosaic. On the left hand side I added a postcard, as it had the right colours! and the text *When hands reach out in friendship hearts are touched by joy*.

The tags have been made for a new blog, *Tag Tuesday*. Our theme this week is snow. I have made 2 tags, using black cardstock from last year's calendar. The tags have been stamped with a LaBlanche script stamp; one has been embossed in white and one with silver. I have used TH's fence and branch tree for both tags, and added some stars, birds and snowflakes for embellishments. On the silver embossed tag I used a flourish stamp in the background, too, which has also been embossed with silver.

Do pop over and have a look at the blog, there will be lots of snowy tags to see!

Have a nice day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Calendar Challenge January

2012-01-02T00:38:00.000+01:00

The calendar challenge over at *The Kathryn Wheel* is continuing this year, and this is my effort for January, which I forgot to post yesterday....I have used *my* faces again, one looking back to 2011 and one looking towards 2012. The clouds have all been outlined with a silver Edding pen to make the silver lining!

And while I was clearing off my table, I decided to use a piece of Graphics 45 paper which was lying around. It was just big enough for 2 tags, I just turned the paper to give a different front each time. I have used my umbrella man again, this time he has been cut out of the cover of an ancient paper back book.

Hope you all had a good start into the new year. Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T11:06:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year Everybody!

Thanks for being there, for visiting, for all your encouraging comments and for being good friends.
I wish you all health and happiness, and a creative new year filled with happy moments and lots of crafty goodies.

(Image from the Graphics Fairy)

The Last Day of 2011

2011-12-30T22:23:00.002+01:00

It's always a strange feeling when one year ends and another begins, but this year it somehow doesn't really seem real. However, it really is the last day of the year, and the last chance to blog in 2011. I have not made any resolutions, as it's just depressing when they all get broken. Hope you will all have more success with yours!

I just have some journal pages to show today, once again, more or less the same as always but different....Sorry that the photos are not good; the light was just bad all day.

And here is a little story which Narda sent me; I think it is something we can all take with us into the new year.

Garbage Truck of Life.
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump itand sometimes they'll dump it on you.
Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so:
"Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't."
Life is ten percent what you make it
and ninety percent how you take it!
"What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are tiny matters
compared to what lies within us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year 2012. Take care of yourselves, have a good day, and thanks for dropping in!

Paint Party Friday Week # 42

2011-12-30T09:09:00.000+01:00

It hardly seems possible that this is the last PPF in this year; where has the time gone? Thanks to Eva and Kristin for hosting this challenge.

I have made a mixed media canvas for this week, using photos of me taken at various times, and pictures of London. I grew up in London's Docklands, more or less in Jack-the-Ripper-Land, and the predominant colours were grey and black, which I have used in my painting. Many of the buildings were not only soot blackened but also scarred and damaged by the *Blitz*. I cut away part of the photos I have used along the bottom of the picture, in order to make them merge better with the background. The pictures show places with which I was familiar during my childhood and school time. We lived very near to the Tower of London, where we often played as kids.

Hope you all have a great day. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

The Same but Different....

2011-12-29T08:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I made some tags to enter into a few challenges. The theme over at *Take a word* is print this week, and this was my inspiration for the tags I made. They have all been made with the same combination of a *sandwich-man* stamp from Scrollswork, and TH's umbrella man. I used tags cut from waste cardboard, which I covered with paper from an old book. After distressing the background, I stamped the motive, and added the umbrella-man, twice as a die-cut, using old book covers, and once sponged with ink using the *waste*. Although each tag is basically the same, the look has been changed each time by using different colours and positioning of the images, and different *accessories*. I am also entering the tags into the challenges at the *Craft Room*, and at * Everybody Art* and at *Sunday Stampers* where *anything goes* is on.

I started some new journal pages, too, but they are only half finished just now.
Thanks to all who left me nice messages yesterday, it did me good to see that other people care. I still feel very down, but am trying to give myself a kick in the butt to get back into my routine again, and hope that it will help.

And before I close, another joke from Narda:

An Englishman, a Scotsman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Latvian, a Turk, a German, an Indian, several Americans (including a Southerner, a New Englander, and a Californian) an Argentine, a Dane, an Australian, a Slovakian, an Egyptian, a Japanese, a Moroccan, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Guatemalan, a Colombian, a Pakistani, a Malaysian, a Croatian, a Uzbek, a Cypriot, a Pole, a Lithuanian, a Chinese, a Sri Lankan, a Lebanese, a Cayman Islander, a Ugandan, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Uruguayan, a Czech, an Icelander, a Mexican, a Finn, a Honduran, a Panamanian, an Andorran, an Israeli, a Venezuelan, a Fijian, a Peruvian, an Estonian, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, a Liechtensteiner, a Mongolian, a Hungarian, a Canadian, a Moldovan, a Haitian, a Norfolk Islander, a Macedonian, a Bolivian, a Cook Islander, a Tajikistani, a Samoan, an Armenian, an Aruban, an Albanian, a Greenlander, a Micronesian, a Virgin Islander, a Georgian, a Bahaman, a Belarusian, a Cuban, a Tongan, a Cambodian, a Qatari, an Azerbaijani, a Romanian, a Chilean, a Kyrgyzstani, a Jamaican, a Filipino, a Ukrainian, a Dutchman, an Ecuadorian, a Costa Rican, a Swede, a Bulgarian, a Serb, a Swiss, a Greek, a Belgian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a Norwegian and 47 Africans all from different African countries all walk into a fine restaurant...
The maître scrutinizes the group one by one, and bars their entrance saying, "Sorry, you can't come in here without a Thai."

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Not feeling so good....

2011-12-28T09:56:00.002+01:00

Hi everybody, these are pictures I made back in 1991, but they look like I feel today.

Catch you all again tomorrow. Have a good day and take care!

Lots of Thank You's

2011-12-27T10:08:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, I must say I am glad that the holidays are over and that life can get back to *normal* now, whatever that may be! I want to say thanks to all who sent me beautiful cards for Christmas and my birthday, hand made presents, embellishments and other *play-things*: Jo, Annette, Zoe, Katie, Yvonne,Cindy, Carole, Carole (Cobbly), Maria, Elvie, Carolyn, Suze, Natasa, Sara Bee, Lynne, Karen, Sue and China.

Here's wishing you all a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

More Journal Pages

2011-12-25T22:58:00.000+01:00

Holiday time is a difficult time to be alone, so the past couple of days were rather sad. Well, at least I didn't have to cook for anyone, and could spend my days crafting as always....
I hate to do this to you again, but once again a song has crept into my work - *Pictures of Matchstick men* - from Status Quo, which has been going round in my head for days; now it will surely do the same for you! And for those of you who have perhaps forgotten how it goes, here it is:

I have used predominantly grey in the pages, more or less matching my mood. The pictures and images have been printed in black and white; some have been applied as dry transfers, as I like the rather ragged look this gives. Others have been collaged,and mixed with some London images. As a kid I used to call the guards *matchstick men* - perhaps because they always stood so still and straight. I have used two TH die cuts, the dress form, which has been *Stamped* using the *waste* from the die-cut, and the umbrella man.

Here's wishing you all a good day. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Happy Holidays You All!

2011-12-25T09:33:00.000+01:00

Happy Holidays to you all, whatever you may be celebrating, and enjoy the time you can spend in the company of family, friends and loved ones.

Take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

'Twas the Day before Christmas...

2011-12-24T09:11:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all! Hope you have all finished running round in circles and that everything is ready for the big day.
I wrapped up the last of my presents yesterday, and that was about it.
I finished the journal pages I started for PPF, so now the spread is complete; the second page is just as depressing as the first one!

I hope that the next pages will improve!

Here's wishing you all a good day, happy holidays whatever you are celebrating, and don't forget to take care of yourselves! Thanks for looking in!

Paint Party Friday Week # 41

2011-12-23T10:10:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all. Today is Paint Party Friday, hosted by Kristin and Eva, and the last one before Christmas.
I had my last visit to the dentist yesterday. He was very satisfied, so I was happy to hear that, and will be happy not to see him for a while, although he really is a good dentist, and a nice chap, too!

For Paint Party Friday I doodled some faces, eyes and mouths, using pen and ink and water colour pencils. I don't really know whay I painted it, it just happened, like so many things!

Here's wishing you all a good day. Hope you have now all finished your preparations, and have some time for a breather. Take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Thanks a Lot....

2011-12-22T09:12:00.000+01:00

Hi You all! First of all many, many thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes you posted on my blog yesterday, and also to all who sent cards and presents. Makes a nice contrast to my dear family, who once again oversaw the date.... But I suppose they are not worth worrying about, although somehow it still hurts!
I spent the day with my friend Inge. I bought some nice cake from the bakers in the afternoon, which we enjoyed with coffee, and in the evening I made us fried potato cakes with smoked salmon and a sour cream dip, very nice, even if not exactly haute cuisine!
Now I just have to get through the coming holidays, and then I will have survived it all for another year. Yoohoo!

The journal pages I have made on and off over the past few days. I had the music of the song *Windmills in my mind* going round in my head and these pages were the result. I have written the text of the song along the dividing lines *in my head*.

Here's wishing you all a great day. Hope you have all finished with your Xmas preparations now. One of the positive things of being alone at this time, is that it saves a lot of work.... Take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday to me

2011-12-21T12:22:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me....

Have a good day you all, I'll be back tomorrow!

A Pocket Book

2011-12-20T08:46:00.001+01:00

Good morning everybody. It's been snowing in the night, so we have a coating of snow today - brrrrrrr! I hope you are now all finished with your preparations for the big days ahead. I have just given up! Instead of doing H*******K yesterday, I spent my time crafting again, which was much nicer. I made a book with pockets to take the altered postcards I have made recently, and nice postcards or tags from other people, too. It is made from A4 paper, which has been folded in half to make the pages, with a pocket along the bottom for the postcards. Each page has been tied into the cover with string. I had been saving a ball of white raffia to bind the pages, but couldn't find it....that is, until I was finished, so I will save it for the next one!. I used 150g paper in different shades of white and grey for the pages, and a piece of black cardstock, slightly larger, for the cover. After I had tied the pages into the book, I tied the string together at 2 places along the spine to make it look a bit neater. To embellish the cover I embossed a postcard sized piece of black card with a TH embossing folder, and swiped it with a gold ink-pad to highlight it.

Well, today I really MUST do a little of the dreaded H*******K, so I'd better get started!
Have a good day you all, take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

More little notebooks....

2011-12-19T10:21:00.001+01:00

Good morning you all. Hope you are all more or less finished with your holiday preparations, and not in too much stress just now! I overslept today, didn't wake up till 10.15!
I went into my notebook workshop again today, and managed five little blue and white ones, and spent the rest of the day sorting photos and watching TV.
The notebooks have been made with some double sided cardstock, one side in dark blue, with a lovely pearly shimmer, and the other side looks like watered silk. It doesn't how so well in the photos. Each book has a pocket inside the front cover with 2 tags. I left off all embellishments to make them easier to pop into a pocket or purse.

So, just a short post today, need to do a little bit of H*******k!
Have a good day, take care of yourselves, and thanks for dropping in!

Sunday again

2011-12-18T09:40:00.001+01:00

Good morning you all! Yesterday was another day that disappeared very quickly. Perhaps it's because it gets dark so quickly, I don't know, but I have the feeling that the clocks are spinning faster and faster. There was no nice sunrise today, though - it's grey in grey and dripping wet, not worth taking a photo of!

I thought it was time I did another journal spread, as I didn't get round to opening my journal all week due to time at the dentist and other crafty projects that took a lot of time. I gave the pages a coat of gesso first, and then the rest just happened. The umbrella man has been made using the waste from a die-cut as a template, as I have the die but not the stamp. I like the soft look better than the die-cuts themselves here. I am not yet sure if I should give the pages some more colour - we shall see!

And as it's Sunday, another joke from Narda:

Working as a computer instructor for an adult-education program at a community college, I am keenly aware of the gap in computer knowledge between my younger and older students.

My observations were confirmed the day a new student walked into our library area and glanced at the encyclopedia volumes stacked on a bookshelf.

"What are all these books?" he asked.

Somewhat surprised, I replied that they were encyclopedias.

"Really?" he said. "Someone printed out the whole DVD?"

Have a good day you all, take care of yourselves, and thanks for looking in!

The Good and the Bad....

2011-12-17T09:18:00.000+01:00

This is the umpteenth continuation of the still not ended story of *My Dentist and I*. First the good news - I now belong to the crowned heads of Europe. Well, the crowns are now on my teeth after many long struggles. The dentist has so much patience, he kept filing till it all fitted, and all of a sudden it was done! But now for the bad news - I have to go back again next Thursday, for a final check up and control....And then, I hope, it will be over!! Yoooohoooooo! After weeks of living off food like semolina and mashed potatoes, I will be able to bite again! I was really knocked out by the time I got back home, it is very strenuous lying there open mouthed for over 2 hours. I bet the dentist and his 2 assistants were tired out, too. Anyway, I treated myself to an afternoon on my recliner with Harry Potter for company. In the evening I managed 2 little note books; one with a Claude Lorrain cover again, and the other in gold-leather look with a wire binding. Then I spent the rest of the evening lazing, too; sometimes it is just necessary.

As I was up early this morning, I managed to catch another beautiful sunrise from my balcony, although t was freezing cold outside!

As I am writing, a band of cloud has already covered it up!
And this is a You-tube Video sent to me by Narda again, it is from the Carlson School of Management in Minnesota. Enjoy!

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday Week # 40

2011-12-16T08:17:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all, another week has sped by; Christmas is nearly upon us, we have only two weeks left till the year is over, and it's PPF again, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin.
I didn't have much time for painting this week, as I needed to do mounds of washing (wonder who makes everything dirty?), make several visits to the dentist, and complete a lot of other projects that I need now. My *Smash Book* is finished, looks good, even if I say it myself, and seems to be related to me - it's got very fat around the middle - now that everything is in it. I have made it a *belly-binder* out of green striped ribbon to hold it all together.

But back to PPF. I started painting a picture of the lunar eclipse which we had here on December 10th, I have used acrylics, water colours and pastels. I am not happy with it yet, so will continue work on it next week. The photo is definitely better!

And this is a picture which I have been working on here and there for the past couple of weeks. It has been painted on Anna Griffin paper, then stamped, and has some dry gel transfers added. I think I will leave it as it is now.

That's all for today! I am off to the dentist now, hopefully for the final,and absolutely final visit this year - more about it tomorrow! Have a good day, take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for dropping in!

The Never Ending Story....

2011-12-15T21:29:00.001+01:00

I seem to remember having my *last* appointment with the dentist on Monday....and the appointment today was going to be the very last. Then why the heck do I have to go back again on Friday???? But the dentist said this will really and definitely be the last time - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! I just hope so, this has been going on now since July 22nd, more than long enough.

We had a very stormy and blustery day yesterday, and after I came back from the dentist I got the rest of the washing done, so that was something. And it gives me some good exercise, as I have to run up and down three flights of stairs to load the washing machine and the tumble-dryer, so I had a good conscience when I started crafting again. I made another album today, and carried on working on my smash book, which got several extra pockets and some more embellishments, and is now nearly looking like it should. Here are a few more sneak peaks:

Here is the concertina album. The chipboard covers have been covered with more pictures from Claude Lorrain, taken from the ripped book I found here in the old paper bin. The pages can be used from both sides, and are large enough to take A6 photos. Some small pages have been sewn in to give lots of space for journaling, too. The album has a black elastic band to hold it shut. I registered an Etsy shop some weeks back, and after Christmas I will be putting some of my notebooks for sale there.

And before I close, some Christmas Cookie tips from Narda:
Christmas Cookie Rules..

1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, (rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!

So, go out and enjoy those Christmas Cookies - we only get them this time of year!

That was all for now! Have a good day, whatever you are up to, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Smash Book - WIP

2011-12-14T08:06:00.000+01:00

I started work on a smash book yesterday, and have got the basic pages done, but still need to embellish it and add some little things as presents. I used different sorts of scrapbook paper, cut to just under A4 size, and alternated the pages with craft paper, craft envelopes and brown paper bags to use for storage, water-colour paper, some old ledger pages, little bags of goodies and some pockets to take tags and file-cards etc. I varied the size of some of the pages to make it a bit more interesting. The papers used are from Graphics 45, DCWV, Bohemia and others. There's plenty of room for the recipient to add photos, journaling or whatever!

Here are a few shots to give you an idea:

The covers have been made from the cardboard backing of a painting block, painted with white acrylic, and then toned down with antique linen DI. They have been further distressed with forest moss, vintage photo and a tiny bit of Inka gold. As I still haven't found the D-rings, I have ordered some more, which should be here by the weekend, I am sure that I will then find the *lost* packet, too....

I'm off to the dentist now, so here's wishing you all a good day. Take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Dentist and More Notebooks

2011-12-13T20:26:00.000+01:00

Did I say yesterday that I was going for my last visit to the dentist? Well, it didn't quite turn out as planned, so after another hour of being worked on, I now have my last appointment on Wednesday....I seriously hope that this time it really will be the last session!

And apart from that, I didn't get too much done. Just three notebooks this time, as I needed half an hour's shut-eye in the afternoon. The first notebook has been made using book covers from Seven Gypsies, which I won some time back in a blog candy. The pages have been cut from torchon water-colour paper, so they will be nice for sketching and painting, too. I chose a ring binding so that I can add more pages as necessary, but then I couldn't find the rings. I recently bought some of Tim's antique-looking D-Rings, but they seem to have been swallowed by my bottomless pit AKA hall closet. But I did find the Xmas brads and card decorations I had been looking for....I'm finished with my cards for this year, so I will have to keep them till the next one! So I had to use some ribbon to tie the book together for the time being. The small red notebook was made using the left over leather-look paper from the pocket-book I made the day before, and the off-cuts of water-colour paper left over from the first book. I bound it with my BIA. The third note book has chipboard covers, which I covered with pieces cut from a reproduction of a painting from Claude Lorrain. The picture was torn, so I cut the pieces out round about the rip. I think I will leave the ribbon ties on this one, as rings will be too big.

And to close, I have another funny that Narda sent:

Christmas at Rock-Away Rest

Twas the night before Christmas at Rock-Away Rest,
and all of us seniors were looking our best.
Our glasses, how sparkly, our wrinkles, how merry;
Our punchbowl held prune juice plus three drops of sherry.

A bedsock was taped to each walker, in hope
That Santa would bring us soft candy and soap.
We surely were lucky to be there with friends,
Secure in this residence and in our Depends.
=
Our grandkids had sent us some Christmasy crafts,
Like angels in snowsuits and penguins on rafts.
The dental assistant had borrowed our teeth,
And from them she'd crafted a holiday wreath.

The bed pans, so shiny, all stood in a row,
Reflecting our candle's magnificent glow.
Our supper so festive -- the joy wouldn't stop --
Was creamy warm oatmeal with sprinkles on top.

Our salad was Jell-O, so jiggly and great,
Then puree of fruitcake was spooned on each plate.
The social director then had us play games,
Like "Where Are You Living?" and "What Are Your Names?"

Old Grandfather Looper was feeling his oats,
Proclaiming that reindeer were nothing but goats.
Our resident wand'rer was tied to her chair,
In hopes that at bedtime she still would be there.

Security lights on the new fallen snow
Made outdoors seem noon to the old folks below.
Then out on the porch there arose quite a clatter
(But we are so deaf that it just didn't matter).

A strange little fellow flew in through the door,
Then tripped on the sill and fell flat on the floor.
Twas just our director, all togged out in red.
He jiggled and chuckled and patted each head.

We knew from the way that he strutted and jived
Our social- security checks had arrived.
We sang -- how we sang -- in our monotone croak,
Till the clock tinkled out its soft eight-p.m. stroke.

And soon we were snuggling deep in our beds.
While nurses distributed nocturnal meds.
And so ends our Christmas at Rock-Away Rest.
Before long you'll be with us, We wish you the best!

Hope you all have a good day, take care and thanks for dropping in!

Notebooks Galore

2011-12-11T21:44:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody, hope you are all well and fit. I stayed at home over the weekend - well, actually I had nowhere else to go! I could have spent the weekend doing H*******K, which is rather necessary, but instead I started making notebooks. I found a big pile of lovely papers, mostly from Anna Griffin, and actually managed to cut them up. I suppose this is the destiny of papers, even nice ones.

The first one is an altered spiral bound notebook; I removed the covers, covered them, and then fiddled them back onto the spiral.

The second one is like the ones I made last week, with a tag-pocket inside.

The next three each have a *built in* matching bookmark, and a bookplate on the cover. I didn't use any lace this time, as there are some ~~strange~~ people who prefer it plain and simple!

And the last ones are small pocket books with lots of pouches for receipts etc. They would also be nice to give with a present of money, that is, if I had any to give away this year! The covers have been made from some leather-look paper, and for the pages I used 2 coordinating papers. I used small bookplates as decorations, and added thin ribbons with beaded ends to close them.

I tried making another one, but then I started to stick the wrong sides together, and thought it might be time for a break!
I have to go to the dentist today, for the final treatment - I hope! Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Sunday, Moon and Journal Pages

2011-12-11T10:21:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone. It's been a cold weekend here so far, yesterday when I went shopping the roads were still icy. But at least the ice on my windscreen had thawed, I so hate having to scrape the ice off!

I didn't really feel like doing anything yesterday, but in the end I made some more altered notebooks, and took photos of the journal pages I made on Friday. And once again I was fascinated by the moon. It was a bit darker than the day before when I took the other photo, but the sky was such a beautiful dark blue, I could hardly stop looking. This is the first time I have managed to get pictures during an eclipse. I am still hoping that one day I might have a proper camera instead of having to use my cell-phone, but it's still better than nothing!

My family was once again the theme in my journal pages.

I haven't taken pictures of the altered notebooks yet, so will have to save them for tomorrow. It gets dark earlier every day! Hope you all have a good day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

It's weekend once again!

2011-12-10T08:58:00.000+01:00

After the storms had died down, we had nice weather yesterday; rather cold and windy, but sunny. At about half past three, I watched the moon rising in a sky that was still streaked with the last glow of sunset. I just love the colours of the wintry sky; I think I am a bit moon-struck just now!

Apart from that I had a crafty day. I made 3 altered notebooks, and a new journal spread, which I can't show you today as I haven't taken the photos yet. The notebooks have been covered with Anna Griffin paper, and I put a pocket for tags into each one, and used some scraps of vintage lace to decorate them.

And I played with one of the snow photos I took last Christmas; pink is in this year!

Have a good day, take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday Week # 39

2011-12-09T08:45:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all. We had a wild and stormy night here, so it looks like it's crafting weather again! Today is Paint Party Friday again, hosted by Eva and Kristin. Do try to look at what the other participants have made, too.

I am sharing a picture that I made back in 1991, that's 2o years ago! How time flies. It's was painted with tempera and felt tip pens, at a time when I was trying to come to grips with a lot of sad happenings. Painting helped me a lot then, as it still does now. The title, *Spiel des Lebens*, means *The Game of Life*. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose!

I didn't have time to finish my current painting yesterday, as I had an appointment in Bad Honnef, a little town about 100 kilometers further along the Rhine. It's situated at the foot of the *Sieben Gebirge* - the Seven Mountains, where there are lots of castle ruins perched on the top of the mountains. On the way there I spent a lot of time in a big traffic jam on the motorway, but on the way back I drove for a while along the Rhine, which is really very pretty. I never had time to take any photos today, but here are a few I took when I was there last year.

So, that was all for today. Have a great day, whatever you are up to, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

More journal pages

2011-12-08T07:19:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, hope you are all fit! It's under three weeks to Christmas now, so hope you are all well on the way with your preparations. I took all my letters to the post office yesterday. There is a new lady there, friendly, helpful and always admiring what I have made....wonders never cease! She is evidently from a different planet than the last one was!

I started making some more postcards, which I haven't finished yet, but I did finish my journal pages; once again with moon and stars, which seem to be fascinating me just now. I did the background with water soluble oil pastels, painted the moon and the silhouettes with acryl paints, and used pastel chalks to do the shading on the moon and round the moon dancers.

Have a great day you all, whatever you are up to; take care and thanks for dropping by!

Postcards

2011-12-07T08:59:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all. It's another cold and wild day here, good weather to stay at home! Tomorrow I have to be out nearly all day, so I will make the most of my *at home* time today. I stayed from Monday till yesterday afternoon with my friend Inge, she's not feeling so good just now, but we still had a good time chatting, eating, playing and drinking coffee as always. Oh, and not to forget the biscuits we always nibble!

Yesterday I spent some time curled up on my recliner, just reading and relaxing, and then I heard the call from the kitchen to get in there and do something, so I did. I made 3 vintage postcards, using scraps of photos, letters, pieces of old books and some die-cuts that were still flying around. I applied the pieces in layers. The first one has squares of an antique book as a base. I then applied a gel transfer which didn't really work, it just left a faint, ghostly layer, so I just put the next gel-transfer - my first-day-of-school photo - on top. Then I inked it all a little bit with vintage photo, antique linen and Victorian velvet. It now really looks like a very ancient photo, and I have called it *60 years ago*.

The second one has a base layer of images stamped with vintage photo ink, and then I have added various dry gel-transfers one on top of each other. If you look carefully, you will see lots of hidden things. I have called this one *Macabre dance*, I am sure you will be able to guess why.

The third one again has many layers placed over each other. I have used scraps from an old ledger, from letters, from an antique book, a piece cut out of a picture, and various print outs and photos applied as dry gel-transfers. Here there is also a lot to look at in the different layers, see what you can find. I have called this one *Faces*.

That was all for today. I had an early night yesterday, so did not get as much done as on some days.
Have a nice day you all, hope the sun is shining for you! Take care, and thanks for visiting!

What was left of the day - err, week or 2 or 3....

2011-12-06T10:24:00.000+01:00

Good morning everybody. First of all, I want to thank all of you who left kind comments yesterday. There are so many important events that we must not forget. This was one of those made very real for me by the contact I had to survivors. Your support means a great deal to me!

My journal pages were ones I made on Friday and Saturday after clearing my table - once again- of the huge heaps of stuff that was on it. My new journal is twice as large as the old one, so I need more space to work, and will - sob, sob - have to clear up more often. Or buy my next journal in inchie format!

And here the Christmas card I made for the DT at *The Cheerful Stamp pad*, where the challenge this week is to put the sentiment as the focal point. You still have 2 weeks to enter!

I had another rather unpleasant session with my Dentist yesterday, but only one more visit and it will be over and done with! I am lucky that I have such a kind and gentle doctor, or it would be really awful!

Today I have at last got all my Xmas post ready for posting, so it can be sent off tomorrow; a little bit later than I was hoping, but a lot earlier than last year, so that's something!

Hope you all have a great day. Take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Journal pages

2011-12-05T09:28:00.000+01:00

On Saturday evening I started off painting some journal pages red, black,and white, with a few flecks of gold ink. I was intending to use some templates to put some dancing figures on to it, but then the colours reminded me of fire and blood,and somehow it changed to a spread about concentration camps. I haven't named them, I think everybody knows those awful names, but I have used pictures of the gates which bore the same message at every camp - *Arbeit macht frei*. *Work sets you free*. This was a terrible, cynical motto, meaning that the people should work themselves to death, when they would be free. The average *stay* in a camp was about 6 months, for those who were young and strong, although some survived much longer in spite of inhuman conditions and hardships. I don't want to go into more details. During my time working at the old people's home here, I got to know many survivors. Some had survived over several years, often being moved from one camp to another. One of the ladies said; *My name is Chaya, and that means life in Hebrew, so I told myself every day that I would survive*. She died at over 90, and one can only admire such an indomitable spirit.

In my journal spread I have used many photos of children and others who died.Many children, women and older men were killed straightaway, so as not to waste precious time and rations on them. The images are mostly ripped and unclear, which I have done to show that their lives, too, were ripped and destroyed. The picture of the girl on the left hand page shows Ann Frank, who died in Bergen Belsen shortly before the war ended. On the right side I have written a poem from Nelly Sachs, which I am printing completely here, as I know my writing is mostly hard to read.

*O the night of the weeping children!
O the night of the children branded for death!
Sleep may not enter here.
Terrible nursemaids/ Have usurped the place of mothers,
Have tautened their tendons with the false death,
Sow it on to the walls and into the beams—
Everywhere it is hatched in the nests of horror.
Instead of mother's milk, panic suckles those little ones.
Yesterday Mother still drew
Sleep toward them like a white moon,
There was the doll with cheeks derouged by kisses
In one arm,
The stuffed pet, already
Brought to life by love,
In the other—
Now blows the wind of dying,
Blows the shifts over the hair/ That no one will comb again.*

The little spots of gold ink in the pages represent for me light and hope, especially the hope that things like this will never happen again.

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

A Crafty Day

2011-12-04T10:32:00.000+01:00

Yesterday the weather was bad, and that was the signal for me to put on my warm slippers, and settle down in my arty-crafty kitchen to play. I started off by making some little note books for presents. I used some hand painted ATCs I made some time back to decorate the covers. The black ones have pictures just on the front, and the others have pictures on the front and back. Then I made a pocket-book using some pretty coordinating papers for the pockets, and some printed acetate for the covers. I used water-colour paper to make the pages.

These are the black ones:

The inside of each one is the same:

And these are the double ones from the front and then the back:

And this is the pocket-book:

Then I made some Christmas cards:

And a little wooden bird, which has been painted gold, stamped and decorated:

It was rather difficult taking the photos today, as it was really dark and dismal, and the pages in the pocket book look like they are green striped, although they are blue....Sorry!

Today I am planning on finishing the journal pages I started, with a collection of all the things I found on my table while clearing up and sorting out, and apart from that, I think I would like a nice, lazy day.

Here's wishing you all a good Sunday, whatever you are up to. Take good care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

What the Postie Brought....

2011-12-03T09:54:00.000+01:00

Good morning from wild, wet and windy Rhineland!

Today I want to share with you the lovely things I received yesterday and today from Blogger friends. I am always astonished at the friendliness and generosity of the Blogger Community, and it is a great feeling to know that there are real people out there, and really nice people at that.

In addition to the parcels yesterday from Jeanie, Stephanie and Susie, I got another one today from April. So here are the pictures I managed to take today.

The first photo shows the cardboard tag which I won on April's blog, and the embellishments and *bits and bobs* she sent with them:

Jeanie sent me a beautiful card, lots of embellishments and stamped images, and a wonderful array of tags she made, one more beautiful than the other!

Susie sent me one of June's gorgeous treasure bags, filled with heaps of ephemera and embellisments, lace, ribbon, and different materials, as well as a lovely, hand-made tag. There is so much lace in all colours and widths, my imagination started running riot thinking about all the nice things I could make with it! And the envelope is also beautifully stamped, thanks Susie!

And last but not least, the lovely things I received from Stephanie - an altered board-book, some beautiful cards with her art work, and an altered tin, which is now holding my silk rose-buds. And another, beautifully decorated envelope!

And while I was busy clearing up and putting all my goodies into the appropriate boxes, B dropped in and brought me an Advent calendar that she made for me. This was a lovely surprise, which I was not expecting, and it is lovely to have it hanging in my arty kitchen. Thanks B!

Well, as you can all see, this has been a great mail and present week for me, and I feel quite overwhelmed by so much kindness. Thanks a lot you guys!

Have a great day you all, take good care of yourself, and thanks for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday Week # 38

2011-12-02T09:31:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all, it's Paint party Friday again, hosted by Kristin and Eva. Please hop over and look at the work of other participants, too, if you can; there's a lot of talent out there!

I initiated my new art journal yesterday. I made a title page, and then painted my first double spread in it. It's a nice, big journal this time, each page is A3, so it's a good size for painting. I did the background as I like it just now, using 3 different shades of blue, white and gold acrylics. After it had dried, I added some stamping, some dry transfers using ink-jet paper and Golden gel, some photos, animal rub-ons, and some cut-outs. I arranged the photos and images to form a parade along both sides of the journal spread, as my theme is *Life is a big parade*. I drew my faces right and left to watch over the proceedings. I have used three quotes on my pages:
*We are angels with just one wing; we can only fly if we embrace one another* (L. de Crescenzo)
*Life is one big parade; death is the same, but you can't choose your company*
*My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; words without thoughts can never to heaven go* (Hamlet)

I had great fun, as always, making this mixed media piece, and also making a title page for my journal.

My visit to the dentist yesterday was short and painless - just a check up to see if I had survived the day before!
I went to the post office to collect my parcels, and found not one, not two, but THREE parcels waiting for me. So huge thanks to Susie J, Jeanie and Stephanie who sent me loads of pretty things and goodies. I will show you the pictures over the weekend; yesterday was such a dark day that I was not able to take any decent photos. I hope there will be a few bright moments during today when it will be possible!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

Calendar Challenge and more post....

2011-12-01T09:03:00.000+01:00

Today is the first of December, the last month of the year. The year has flown by so quickly, I can hardly believe it. It's time for the December Calendar Challenge over at Kate's *Kathryn Wheel*, to which I am linking. I painted the background of the pages with blue, white and gold, and then added the penguins, which I cut from paper napkins and glued with golden gel. The snowballs have been cut from white drawing paper - by hand, as I couldn't find my circle punch! I inked the edges with stormy skies to give them more depth, and spread some blue ice stickles over them, which I also used on the snow and penguins to give some glitter. The snowflakes were in the mail I got from Sandi yesterday. I will definitely be carrying on my calendar journal in the new year, as it has been fun planning a new theme each month, and seeing what other people have made.

Yesterday I had to get up very early to go to the dentist. It was still pitch-black night when I got up, but just before I left the sky was beginning to show the first streaks of colour. I made 2 snapshots, which are not very good quality, as I have to take my photos with my cell-phone camera. But I rather like the grainy look of the sky to the east, and the second one shows the lights of the Düsseldorf airport twinkling in the distance.

I won't bore you with the gory details of my session with the dentist, suffice to say that after 4 injections and 2 1/2 hours being *treated* I was feeling rather groggy and very happy to get home again....and I have to pay for it to boot!

Today is the first day of Advent, so B & I *broke in* to her Mum's house yesterday afternoon to hang up the advent calendar we made for her. (We did have a key, though!) Now she has lots of little presents to open each day till Christmas. The finished calendar is just over 1 meter long.

And last but not least, here are the pretty things Cindy sent to me - a crystal bracelet in a pretty blue bag, and a beautiful tag and card, both with my initial on them. Thanks a lot Cindy, I very much appreciate your kindness.

And while I was at the dentist's, the postman came, and as I wasn't home, he left me a notification that 2 enveopes are waiting for me at the post office, so I will go and collect them this morning.

Hope you all have a good day, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

It's DENTIST Time Again...

2011-11-30T06:13:00.000+01:00

Today I have to be sitting in the dentist's chair at 8am. Not usually a time for me to be out and about, but it can't be helped. Oh well, the sooner it starts the sooner it will be finished....

Yesterday the postie brought me two little parcels, One from Sandi in Canada and the other one from Cindy in the USA. Today I am sharing the contents of my Canadian one, the other one will be revealed tomorrow! Sandi sent some lovely papers, embellishments, vintage Christmas pictures and crepe paper printed with Xmas images, ephemera, including a wonderful hand-written page, and a domino-book with Halloween pictures. Sandi remembered that this is my all-time fave holiday! Thanks a lot Sandi, the first pieces have already been used today!

I bought a new art-journal from EBAY this week, and was looking for the right paper to cover it. And I found it in Sandi's parcel!

I hope to start working in it this afternoon, after the dentist; that is, if I am in a fit condition to do anything!
I started on my December Calendar spread yesterday, and hope to get that finished later on so that I will be ready for the first of the month.

I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day. This is the last day of the month, which has been great fun, and a good incentive to get working every day!

Have a good day you all, take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Fairy Stairs, Moon and Stars

2011-11-29T09:48:00.000+01:00

It's another cold and sunny day here; hope the sun is shining for you, too! Yesterday I went for a walk in the woods with Emily, my four-footed friend. It looked like a carpet of leaves had been rolled out in the woods, it was really pretty, and I love the scrunchy sound of the leaves. And if you have ever wondered how a little fairy climbs onto a tree trunk - I have the answer: Fairy Stairs!

And I made the last pages in my journal, and will be starting my new one this week. I started out just making patterns, and then the star developed, and then the moon to accompany it. I used black ink to draw the images, and coloured the pages with pastel chalks, as I love the soft colours they give.

I think the pictures of moon and stars saying goodnight are a nice way to finish my journal, which has given me a lot of fun in the past 2 1/2 months.
I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day

Have a good day you all, take good care of yourselves, and thanks for dropping by!

Monday once again....

2011-11-28T09:40:00.000+01:00

Good morning you all! I just looked at the calendar and saw that 5 weeks today the new year will have already started - yikes! And I am still nowhere ready for Xmas yet, either! Oh well, why should this year be different to all those before it....
I spent a lot of time with my journal, once again just having fun messing around and seeing where the journey takes me. I used some book-pages for the background, covered them in gesso, and then started with some dry transfers, and later adding some cut outs. From there I progressed to stamping, and then after that just used pen and ink and water colours pencils to add some foliage and a bit of colour.

The picture is a mixed media piece I made some time back, and re-discovered under a pile of other things. I used Scrap-book paper from Anna Griffin, which has been drawn on, stamped and painted. I'm not sure if it's finished either, perhaps I will spend some more time with it!

I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day
Hope you all have a great Monday, whatever you are up to! Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Sunday

2011-11-27T12:21:00.000+01:00

Good morning everybody! Hope you are all well and fit, It's a cold, grey day here, so good crafting weather! I just have a few things to show you; my journal pages, this time in blue, and a picture I drew over a *waste Page* - I had wiped the colours on my brush off onto the paper, and later decided to use it as a background for a drawing using pastels. I just started out sketching and shading a face, while watching TV, and it looks just like my Mum as a young woman, which totally surprised me. The third piece is a little wooden bird, painted white, edged with inka gold and turned into a tree hanger. And the very last piece is a tag I made last week for the *Cheerful Stamp Pad Challenge* and forgot to show....I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day And to Blue Chair Diary

Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!

Saturday and weekend

2011-11-26T09:19:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody. Hope all those in the USA are still enjoying their Thanksgiving weekend, and that everybody else is also looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
I will be spending time with my friend Inge, and I am sure we will be following our usual program of chatting, eating, playing games, coffee and biscuits, in no particular order and with lots of repeats.

Yesterday I crafted like crazy all day, had to get it in before the weekend began! I started off with journal pages again, which really give me a lot just now. I open the book, and then just start, and it seems to lead a life of its own. I started off my painting the pages with gesso, so the colours don't go through the paper, drew the faces, added some stamping, some magazine cut outs, die cuts and bits and bobs that were flying around my kitchen making the place untidy. At the end, I decided it looked like it was about dreams, added some of my favourite dream quotes, and did a bit of colouring with some pastel chalks. That was it. But I am sure I am not dreaming of things like that every night!?

And I finished another maze book that I started some time this week. I used paper from 7 Gypsies for the pages, and some scraps from the DCWV Christmas Combo Stack for the covers. I made some tags out of the same scraps, and added a few small pieces of lace to some of the pages. The pictures were hard to take, it was such a dark day that I needed the flash for some of them although it was just mid-day.

I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day. I am really happy that I have kept up every day! Perhaps I will join the December challenge, too!
So, here's wishing you all a lovely day. Take care, and thanks a lot for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday Week 37

2011-11-25T08:55:00.000+01:00

Another week has flown by, and it's time for PPF again, hosted by Kristin and Eva. Do hop over and take a look at the work of the other participants if you can! I have painted a mixed media piece. I started off with my momentary favourite colours, 2 shades of blue, yellow and white, which I applied with a wide brush. Then I took some of the strips of Embossed paper and a small piece of ledger paper which were in my parcel from Donna, and fixed them to the painting with Golden gel before partly colouring over them. I used Inca gold to add the gold highlights. The wings have been die cut from some old book pages, embossed, and also coloured with gold and blue. The picture in the middle has been cut out of a prospect which I got in a previous parcel from Donna. I added a feather for texture, some lace, some non-woven fibre material, a few remnants of *gold* leafing and some buttons. Then I melted some candle remnants and used the wax to pour over the paper strips, spread it with a plastic card, and stamped into it with a script stamp while it was warm. I then rubbed more Inca gold over it to highlight the stamping and the texture. The pictures show the beginnings, and then the finished work.

And I made some rather crazy pages in my journal, using lots of different techniques, just having fun, just picking things up,and colouring and pasting without a plan. Just seeing what happens. I think I will call it *Fragments of my mind*

I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day

So, that was it for today. Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!

Post from Mexico

2011-11-24T08:23:00.000+01:00

(Image from the Graphics Fairy!)

Yesterday the postman rang, and brought me an ENORMOUS envelope from Donna in Mexico. My postman was really excited - he said he had never seen such a big envelope, and there were sooooooooooooooo many stamps on it etc. He seemed to be reluctant to hand it over, and I think he will be back in a day or so to ask for the stamps, as he collects them.
The envelope was so big that I had to put it onto the floor to take a picture. Inside the envelope was another one, beautifully decorated from both sides. And inside that one were lots of smaller envelopes and packages, containing a plethora of good things for crafting and collaging - die-cuts, ephemera, old ledger pages, Mexican postcards, photos of Donna's work, a beautiful card, a lovely flourish stamp from LaBlanche, embellishments galore, little dolls, tickets, fibres, envelopes stamped with Donna's self made stamps and and and! Look at the pictures, & you will see why my crafters heart beat faster and faster!

What a haul! Thank you Donna, I have taken a large box and labelled it *Mexico* to keep my things together!

And I spent some time in my arty kitchen. I have started a picture - using some of the paper out of Donna's parcel, but I am not showing it till Friday, when it's PPF! But I can show you the altered notebooks I made. They are larger than the ones I made yesterday, but were just as fun to make. I have used papers from the DCWV Christmas Combo Stack, and decorated with ribbon, lace, cameos etc.

I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day

Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating today! Have a good day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:02:00.000+01:00

Good morning everybody, hope you are all well. I feel better today than I did yesterday, although I still have a cough. Hope it soon goes away, it disrupts my crafting! Yesterday I didn't feel like doing much, so I just altered some notebooks, and finished off a maze-book I started the day before. And I have some Journal pages to share with you, although I think I still need to do some work on them. The maze book has been made from Kaisercraft paper again. I used beer mats covered in red metallic paper for the covers, added a die-cut bird and some holly-leaves for decoration, and some Christmas tags in the diagonal pockets.

The notebooks have been covered with different papers, and decorated with ribbon, lace, TH branch-trees, and vintage images. They are quick and easy to make, and will, I hope, make nice little presents.

And here are the journal pages, in which I have evidently been thinking about Christmas...

I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day.

And I have another joke from Narda:

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the hospital.
After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator.
On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.
'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'

Have a good day you all, take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Tuesday

2011-11-22T10:21:00.000+01:00

Another day has been and gone, and I don't know where the time went. It starts getting dark really early now, and I think I need a better light for crafting in the evenings so I can see the colours properly.

Yesterday I made some *stocking fillers* - mini notebooks which are easy to put in an envelope and send as little presents. They are each made from one sheet of 12x12" double sided paper, which gets cut into six equal parts and is quicly fixed together to make the book. I haven't decorated the insides, as I think the recipients should have some room for their own notes or pictures or whatever. Each book is 4x3".

The first 2 have been made using papers from *Fancy Pants*; I have arranged the pages so that the different sides alternate.

This one has been made with *Kaisercraft* Paper:

And here I have used paper from *Webster's Pages*:

For this one I used another lovely paper from *Kaisercraft*:

The hardest thing in making these books is to cut up the beautiful paper....But I was very brave! I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day.

And to finish, another joke from Narda:

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool... After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.
The waitress asked kindly, 'Crushed nuts?'
'No,' he replied, 'Arthritis.'

Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for dropping by!

Just Another Manic Monday....

2011-11-21T09:31:00.000+01:00

Monday again, and another week has begun; let's see what it brings!
I didn't get much done yesterday, just finished some journal pages and made the Decmeber calendar sheet for my friend. I think this is the first time that I have been finished so punctually!

I started the journal pages on Friday, using some paper napkins with images of Buddha, which I applied after painting the background with red, yellow and black acrylics, sprayed with spiced marmalade ink. I then added some sayings of Buddha. I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day

And this is my big, fat journal, almost full. When it is full - I have another 10 pages - I will paint the cover so it doesn't look so shabby!

And Narda sent some jokes yesterday, so here is the first one for you:

A Couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember ..
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. 'Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?' he asks.
'Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?'
'Sure..'
'Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks.
'No, I can remember it..'
'Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?'
He says, 'I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.'
'I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?' she asks.
Irritated, he says, 'I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!'
Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, The old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs.. She stares at the plate for a moment.
'Where's my toast ?'

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

Sunday Sunday

2011-11-20T14:26:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody! I'm a bit later blogging today, as I had a sleep-over at my friend's yesterday. We had a fun *old girls'* day, with the usual mixture of chatting, coffee, biscuits, eating, chatting, coffee, biscuits and playing cards and Kniffel - a dice game. I did remember to take my net book, and internet-stick etc, but forgot that the pictures I wanted to show you were on my computer here at home - duh!
This is a little Xmas maze-book from Friday;

I used one sheet of Kaisercraft paper for the pages, the covers have been made with beer-mats covered in some hand-made Indian paper. I used different scraps etc out of my stash for the decorations, and the little bird is a Sizzlets die cut.
I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day.
Okay, that was it for today. Hope you are all having a great day; I am off to do some crafting before it starts getting dark. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Santa's Elves are working Overtime....

2011-11-19T12:38:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I managed to get a lot done - including some housework and washing! I had to write that, it doesn't happen here that often! But the main part of the day was taken up with making tags and some other Xmas things. I had the whole table full of tags and all the bits and pieces I need for them, I had Stickles and glitter everywhere - including in my hair and on my face, and felt a bit like a house Elf. Those of you who are Harry Potter fans will know what I am talking about. At least I was an assistant Elf to Santa for one day! I had to take the photos in batches this time, as it started getting dark early and I had to be quick. The tree tags are similar to those I made recently, just used a different TH embossing folder, and the other ones are more *musical*. I took 2 large sheets of notes out of a book, and glued them to a sheet of dark green card-stock before cutting the tags. A strip was left over, and I will make 2 book marks from it. But not today! The musical ones have been dressed up with lace and ribbon and silver mesh, I had fun making them!

I am linking to AEDM at Creative Every Day
So, I think that was enough for today. I made a mini book, too, but I will save it for tomorrow. Here's wishing you all a great day. Take care of yourselves, and thanks for dropping in!

Paint Party Friday 36 and a Story

2011-11-18T08:53:00.000+01:00

Another week has sped by and it's Friday already, which means it's time for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin. If you have time, please hop over and take a look at what the others have been up to,
It's my turn to carry on the *Never-ending-story* over at Amy's Blog this week, so I wrote a rather short continuation of the story, and painted a picture to go with it. You can read the rest on Amy's blog under *Once upon a time* if you feel like it.
My illustration is a mixed media piece. I painted the background with 2 shades of blue and a spot of yellow using a wide foam brush. The waves have been painted with the same colours, using paint a bit thicker. The flying horse has been stamped onto a page from an old lexicon, cut out, and coloured with water-colour pencils. The wings have been cut with a Sizzix die-cut out of the same paper. I drew the red-haired girl on a scrap of card, coloured her with water-colour pencils again, and used lots of ice-stickles to give some glitter. For the horse's mane I used some reflex pearls embedded in glossy accents to give more texture. After sticking it all together, and nearly getting stuck to the paper myself, I added a few gold stars, a moon, and more stickles for glitter and shine, and then it was done.
This is my part of the story:

What had happened?
The blue horse held his breath, his heart beat faster, and he was afraid, more afraid than he had ever been in all his life. Where had the beautiful red-haired girl disappeared to? The mist swirled round him, blinding him, and suddenly, he was falling – down, down, down. He whinnied in fright, but at that moment he landed softly on something that felt like a huge cloud, and then he felt a hand touching his mane….
It was the red haired girl, who sobbed with relief that they had found each other again.

They looked at each other, and she held him tight till she could stand without shaking. Then they looked around to see where they were. It seemed to be a big cavern, with an enormous pile of white feathers in the middle, from which a long, narrow passageway led.

Without speaking they went towards it, although it was dark and cold. She held tight to his curly, blue mane. They walked for many, many hours. They were both hungry and exhausted. Suddenly they both stopped in their tracks. They could see a tiny light ahead of them. This gave them new strength, and they started to run as fast as they could, towards the ever-growing light, till they were free.

They were standing on a pebbly beach, looking at a seemingly endless sea. The moon and stars were shining brightly in the sky, and reflecting on the waves like little diamonds.

“Climb onto my back,” said Blue Pegasus. I will fly you home….”

While I was looking through the old lexicon, I found a bank note to the value of 500 million marks!! printed at the time of the great inflation in 1923, and at the time probably not worth the paper it was printed on. But interesting to find, and still in mint condition after nearly 90 years!

I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day.

Well, this post has almost become the never-ending-story, so I'd better stop. Here's wishing you all great day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Another cold and frosty day.

2011-11-17T08:25:00.001+01:00

Yesterday morning when I got up the sun was just rising, and the frost was sparkling on the fields; it was so lovely I had to run out onto my balcony - in my pajamas! - and take some pictures of the start of a wintry day:

I needed to do a bit of shopping yesterday, but I waited till the sun had melted the ice on my windscreen; I HATE having to scrape the ice off before I can get going! And I spent most of the rest of the day in my arty kitchen, painting my journal pages, making cards and drinking coffee. This time I have changed from geese to turkeys in my journal pages, as I am sure a lot of them will not be looking forward to Thanksgiving! I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day

I am hoping the weather will be just as nice today, so that I can go for a walk along the Rhine. Here's hoping you all have a great day. Take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Frosty Wednesday.

2011-11-16T08:42:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone! It's another cold and frosty day here, lovely weather for crafting and painting.
I had a good, crafty day yesterday, making cards for my neighbour who needs a batch of Xmas ones, and playing in my journal, which will soon be full.

For the journal pages I stayed by my theme of the poor geese getting fattened up ready for holiday dinners. This time I sprayed the background with blue, and painted the geese with acrylics, adding the details with felt-tips. I am linking again to AEDM at Creative every day

The cards are all about 7" square, and I used background papers from the DCWV Christmas stack. I think I prefer my little tags for myself, but if I am making things for others it's best to make what they want! I have used vintage German scrap for the images. I still need to do a few more, so will get to work on them later.

Hope you all have a great day. Take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Bright and cold Tuesday

2011-11-14T21:58:00.001+01:00

Good morning everybody, hope you are all feeling well and fit today. It's still very cold and frosty here, the fields outside are all sparkling with the frost, but the sun is shining, and it looks very pretty! I had a nice walk along the Rhine yesterday, and through our shopping street, although I didn't buy anything. But as soon as the sun goes down, the temps drop again, and it's back to deep freezing!

I spent the rest of the day sitting next to the radiator in my kitchen and playing with paper, paint, glue and pictures, as usual. The cold weather inspired me to use some serviettes left over from last winter for my journal pages. The goose was a picture out of my stash. I expect a lot of geese and turkeys in various parts of the world will not be looking forward to the holiday as much as some people are....I am linking again to AEDM at Creative every day

And I got some more tags done, more or less like those from Sunday, just different Santas each time. Out stationery shop has a lovely selection of vintage Xmas images - angels, trees, Santas etc, I think I have bought half of their stock in the past few days....I tried to vary the background colours of the tags, which doesn't show up so well as I had to photograph them using electric light, as it is getting dark very early now.

Oh dear, I wanted this to be just a short post today, but somehow they just seem to grow once I get started. Hope you all have a great day, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Journal pages and Christmas tags

2011-11-14T08:52:00.000+01:00

I have been putting it off....and off....and off, but now I have started on my Xmas tags, and hope to manage a few cards, too. But I am thinking of sending tags instead of cards, just now quite sure how or what. I'd better start thinking quickly!

Yesterday I dived into my journal, I had the feeling it had missed me over the weekend....Or was it the other way round? Anyway, I had the distinct feeling that we both needed lots of colour, so I got to work with all my sprays to make a background. When it was dry, I tore up one of the pretty serviettes that Yvonne recently sent me, and pasted it here and there over both pages, using 2 coats of mod-podge. After drying, I drew round some of the images with black ink to give them a bit more definition, and did a bit of doodling here and there, before adding some ice stickles for a little sparkle. As journalling text I stencilled in *It's a jungle out there*, the words from the *Monk* song. I like how it has turned out. I am linking to AEDM at Creative every day.

And then I cut 4 tags from some cardstock off cuts. I embossed them with with TH texture fade folder *branch tree*. I rubbed stormy skies and forest moss into the folder before embossing, to give a nice, wintry sky. The trees have been inked with TH forest moss and Memento cottage ivy inks, and then rubbed with ice stickles to gibe a frosty sparkle. Each tag has a different vintage Santa, and a ribbon and star-wire trim. They were quick and easy to make, so I think I will be making some more of this type.

So, that was all for today. Hope you all have a great day. Take care and thanks for visiting!

A lazy weekend...

2011-11-13T14:10:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody. I am posting much later than usual; I stayed over night at my friends, and then we needed to have breakfast and drink coffee and have biscuits and chat before I came home! I don't have much to show either, as I didn't get much done.
I made a tag from a recycled coffee packet, which I am entering into Simon Says Stamp and Show, where you have to re- or upcycle something. I have made a Xmas tag as it really is a time to get started! The background has been distressed and stamped, and then embossed with a texture fade folder, where I put the colour directly into the folder. Then it was coated with stickles, and I added the vintage Santa.

The postcard has been made for Dragon's Dream TIO, I hope I won't be punished for making a postcard instead of a tag, or perhaps we can regard it as a large, straight sided tag! Our theme this week is *Juliet's letters*. It shows Romeo looking hopefully up to see if his beloved is waiting for him, and a pile of the letters he has sent. I used vintage photo and ancient linen to distress the background, and stamped with adirondack espresso. A few of the flowers and leaves have been coloured in to give a hint of colour.

The next postcard was more or less an experiment, I wanted to do something completely monochrome, and have just used shades of ancient linen, vintage photo etc. I quite like the results, too. I am entering this into JFF *My favourite colours*, although there are a lot of other colours which are also my faves!

I am linking again to AEDM over at Creative Every Day
Okay, that was all for today. Hope to have some journal pages ready for tomorrow, and perhaps some Xmas cards.
Have a great day, thanks for visiting, and take good care of yourselves!

The weekend is here!

2011-11-11T21:12:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody, it's weekend already. I will be with my friend today, so probably won't get much crafting or painting done. But sometime it's good to have a little break!

I didn't get much done yesterday either, just my journal pages. This time I used more subdued colours, but I think I will be working with pinks and greens again soon as it was fun. This time my theme was self-portraits. I started off with 2 old postcards with portraits from Paula Modersohn-Becker and Else Lasker-Schüler, and then I went a bit mad again, and added some pictures of me taken in a photo-booth many, many years ago.... I am linking again to AEDM at Creative every day

We had lovely weather here again; it was rather windy at the Rhine, but the sun was shining, so I had a nice walk which blew all my cobwebs away. The weather should stay nice for the next few days too, so hope to get more fresh air.

Here's wishing you all a great weekend. Look after yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday Week 35

2011-11-10T21:23:00.001+01:00

The weeks are racing by, the year is almost over and it's time for another Paint Party, hosted by Eva and Kristin. I am also linking this post to AEDM at Creative Every Day.

I am still happily painting my journal pages day for day. I used different colours yesterday, as I had some pink and green pictures which I had cut out of a magazine. I painted the background with gesso, and then with acrylics in black, white, pink and green. I splattered some green drips on top - always fun - but I think I got more on the tiles in the kitchen than on my pages. Never mind, the tiles look quite good with their new look! I collaged the pictures, and added some images printed onto transparency foil and some words cut out of another magazine. This is the first time I have used such acid colours, and I quite like the effect.

And I made a tag for the *Trees* challenge at The Cheerful Stamp Pad. The background has been sprayed with different blues, and then I embossed the tag with a TH texture fade folder which I had inked. I frosted the tree with some ice stickles, and added a vintage scrap with a boar evidently looking for something to eat.

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping by. I will be going for a walk again like yesterday, as we are having lovely, sunny weather. But as soon as the sun has gone it gets very cold; winter is coming!

Thursday already.....

2011-11-10T08:34:00.000+01:00

Well, the postman came again yesterday, and brought me something - a bill! I suppose it would be too much to expect nice surprises every day! But I had a good day anyway. My friend B came with her little dog, and we had a crafty day. Well, the dog just watched, she hasn't started crafting yet! We were busy with an Advent Calendar for her Mom, we made her one last year, which she liked very much, so we decided to make another one. We used a Sizzix die to cut 24 envelopes from different, coordinating papers, and then glued them together, put numbers on them, and made the tags to go inside. The tags have to be decorated, and we each make 12 with quotes and / or vouchers and little treats to go in the envelopes. When it's finished, we mount them all on a wall hanging, and then the surprise will be finished.
Here are 3 of the envelopes to give you an idea.

And after B had gone home, I finished my journal pages that I started yesterday morning. I painted the pages with gesso, and then used a wide brush to slop on two different blues, some white and some yellow. When it was dry I started drawing some stars, and they somehow turned into sea-stars, so after doodling them, I put in the rest of the under-water scenery, using water colour pencils, vintage scrap, and some cut-outs. The text has been printed onto acetate. I used *Ariel's Song* from the Tempest, as it is a poem I like very much. And I wrote a Beatles verse along the side - *I want to be, under the sea, in an octopus's garden in the shade*; The Beatles and Shakespeare go well together. It was great fun to make, and I am always astonished that I start off with a brush and some colours and it just turns into something without being planned. I am linking again to AEDM at Creative every day

And I got another good joke from Narda. Here it is:

This is the story of the poor blonde flying in a two-seater airplane with just the pilot.
He has a heart attack and dies. She frantically calls a May Day:

"May Day! May Day! Help me! Help me! My pilot had a heart attack and is dead. And I don't know how to fly. Help me! Please help me!"

All of a sudden she hears a voice over the radio saying:

"The is ATC. I have received your message and I will talk you through it. I've had a lot of experience with this kind of problem. Now, just relax. Everything will be fine! Now give me your height and position."

She says, "I'm 5'4" and I'm in the front seat."
O.K." says the voice from the tower. "Repeat after me: Our Father. . . Who art in Heaven. . . .."

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

The postman rang again!

2011-11-09T08:39:00.000+01:00

This seems to be my lucky week - the postman rang my bell again, this time with a big, fat envelope from Yvonne. Inside it was a beautiful card, a tag, a wall-hanging and loads of lovely lace in different colours, just what I needed, as my supplies were running low. Thanks a lot, Yvonne - it was a great surprise! The gifts were all wrapped in pretty paper napkins, which I will definitely use in my journal, and sent in a stamped envelope. Here are the pics of my lovely things:

Yesterday started off cold and misty, so after I had got my shopping, I settled into my arty kitchen and got down to work. My fingers were itching to splodge about with more paint, so I grabbed my journal and did just that. I used blue, white, yellow and ochre, which I applied with a brush and a spatula before heating and bubbling a bit. I added some gold streaks and drips with a Krylon pen and some gold ink before collaging dome pictures and music notes. I don't think the results are really important, for me it's just doing it that is important just now. I am linking again to AEDM at *Creative Every Day*

And I decided to make another card using a favourite stamp. I distressed the speciality stamping card from LaBlanche with ancient linen and vintage photo, and stamped the image with vintage photo before clear embossing it. The embellishments have been kept simple again, some scraps of lace, a sentiment and a stick-pin.

I was pleased to see yesterday that I made *Top Three* again at *The Craft Room* for my black and white skeleton tag, and last week I was chosen again as a Ginger Gem for my *Horror Stories* piece. How sad that Halloween is now over!

Have a great day you all, and take care. Thanks for visiting!

When the postman rings....

2011-11-08T09:15:00.001+01:00

Yesterday the postman rang, and that means he has something nice for me. This time it was a lovely painted and collaged postcard from Katie. This came as a complete surprise, and was like a ray of sunshine to brighten the cold and misty day we had. Thanks Katie! There's nothing nicer than a nice surprise! I just love the way Katie's girl is looking.....

And I finished off the journal pages in my giant journal. I used the rest of the colours from Sunday. This time I used a postcard from Hopper, an antique photo of someone I don't know, and some rub-ons. I did some random stamping on the background, before adding the rest, and chose images which fitted to the background colours this time. It was, as always, fun to make, especially the little surreal effects. I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day

And lastly I made a tag for *The Dragon's Dream* TIO, which I somehow didn't get round to the past couple of weeks. The dragon has been dreaming of Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, so it had to be something steampunky. I covered a tag with some adverts from a German paper from 1899, *Steampunk time*, glazed it with mod-podge, and then added 2 images and a sentiment from *Scrollswork* stamps. I added a clock as charm.

So, enough for today! Hope you all have a good day, take care and thanks for visiting!

Colour mixed with black and white

2011-11-07T09:30:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, hope you have all had a good weekend. was at my friend's for 2 days, and we spent our time playing cards, eating and drinking coffee.....So, when I got home today I was really keen on getting going with paint and paper again! I made some more pages in my journal. I painted the background with gesso, to see if the colour doesn't sap through so much this time, and then slapped on some blue, white, yellow and ochre, using a wide brush and a plastic spatula. As usual, I had squeezed too much paint out, so I also painted 2 pages in my giant journal to use it all up.

When the pages were dry I did some background stamping, using random stamps that were flying about, and then I added 2 black and white pictures. The left one shows POWs from WWII, the second one three of my older siblings, taken at a wartime rally *Wings for Victory* in Trafalgar Square. I added a bit of journalling, and it was done. I rather like the mix of colours and black and white, and will be doing something similar in my big journal for tomorrow. I am linking once again to AEDM at *Creative Every Day*

Okay, that was it. I have my appt at the doc's today, so I'd better get ready for it.
Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Happy Sunday!

2011-11-06T09:00:00.000+01:00

Good morning everybody! I hope you have all slept well and have some good plans to enjoy your Sunday.
I am staying with a friend just now, but have my little Net-book here, so can still be online; I think it's an addiction!
The journal pages I am sharing with you today were made in the night from Friday to Saturday, as I couldn't sleep. Cutting and pasting and gessoing is such a calming activity. The music pages are once again from my old music book from 1900, and have been lightly dry-brushed with gesso, and then inked a bit. The pictures are all of me this time - except for the ballerina ! They show me in various stages between 1 year and 11. I realized while cutting and pasting them, that my hair was somehow always wispy and looked uncombed, and it is just the same today. No hairstyle keeps for more than a few minutes! Never mind, there are probably worse things! My journal is getting more and more difficult to photograph, as it is now so fat and bulgy - sounds like another description of me - that it won't lie flat! I am linking again to AEDM at Creative every Day

And here are some of the Xmas cards I made this week for my neighbour, although they are not my cup of tea again....

Okay, enough for one day. Hope you all have a great Sunday, whatever you are up to! Take care, and thanks for dropping in!

It's the weekend again....and Lynn is having a Giveaway!

2011-11-05T08:27:00.000+01:00

Lynn Stevens over at *Trash to Treasure Art* is having a great Giveaway to celebrate her third Blogaversary. Hop over there and see the wonderful creations she is offering as prizes, they are all fantastic. If you don't go and see and join in, it's your own fault! You have been warned!

I am sure the time flies by more quickly from year to year, from month to month. Once again I have only managed half of what I wanted to do this week, and all the good intentions to do this and that are leading nowhere. Yesterday I just needed to do a bit of food shopping, and then had the whole day for crafting and painting....or so I thought. Every time I started working, either the telephone rang or the door-bell, sometimes both. Mostly I get rung up perhaps twice a week, and hardly anyone visits. They all waited till yesterday. Anyway, I did manage a card and a tag, but that was it! I am linking this post to the AEDM at *Creative Every Day*

The card is for the Just For Fun Challenge, where we have to use our favourite stamp(s). Difficult, I have so many I love! But I chose this stamp of a little girl in a lacy dress from Scrollswork, who unfortunately closed down. I distressed the card with ancient paper, vintage photo and Victorian lipstick, and stamped the image with vintage photo before clear embossing it. I did not want to add too much, so just used a scrap of lace, some beads, a feather and 2 little silk roses. I stamped *Postcard* onto it, and that was it.

The tag has been made for Gingersnaps GC 125 *Farm Fresh*. This is once again a theme which is not really my cup of tea, but I have tried. I like the background of the tag best, which was sprayed, splodged and splattered with distress inks in spiced marmalade, forest moss and faded jeans. When it was dry I stamped a row of turkeys along the bottom edge, added a turkey picture from *Crafty Secrets* (thanks Jan!) and a vintage scrap of a country girl, which I fixed with foam pads after *rounding* it on my glue stick, to give more dimension. I added some straw left over from my Halloween decorations, and that was it.

And I have another joke from Narda for you.

We had a power outage during a thunderstorm. As we peered from our dark cubicles to the outside world, my Director commented that it looked like power was out
for miles, since the office buildings as far as we could see were also dark. Our temp admin said, and I quote: "Can't be too far, that plane has lights!"

Have a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting.

Paint Party Friday,Week 34

2011-11-04T08:35:00.000+01:00

It's Friday, and that means time for *Paint Party Friday*, hosted by Eva and Kristin. Today I am also linking to Art Every Day Month at *Creative Every Day*. I hope you will have time to visit some of the other participants!
I made another 2-page journal spread, which I have called *The Cloud Fairy*. I used black ink to draw the images, which have been painted with a mixture of water colour pencils, wax crayons and acrylic paints. The clouds and wings and the fairy's hair have been sparkled with some Ice Stickles. In the left cloud I have written a poem by Christina Rosetti, and on the right some quotes about clouds. I did not plan it again; I open up my journal and do the first thing that comes into my mind. And once again there is a row of *toy-town* houses. When I buy a new journal I will get one with better quality paper, this one does not take kindly to wet paints. But I still have quite a lot of pages to finish before then!

And I made 2 birthday cards for my neighbour; she needs them for her Dad's 88th birthday and for her husband. I always find it difficult to make things for men, but she was happy with them. After I had taken the photos, I saw that the gold lettering was not straight, but now it is. Strange that things like that are easier to spot in a photo than in real life. The background papers and images are all from Graphics45.

Here's wishing you all a good day. Take care, and thanks a lot for dropping in!

Creative Every Day Challenge

2011-11-03T08:45:00.001+01:00

Good morning! It's Thursday already, and we are enjoying some very unseasonable and mild weather, almost like spring. This really is something wonderful in November, and it should stay with us for another few days. So I hope to go for a walk along the Rhine later.
I was out most of the day with my friend, so it was nice to settle down to some crafting when I got back home. But I do need a better light in my kitchen; the nights are drawing in now, so I will have to arrange something that's good to paint and craft by. That will be my next priority. I made another spread for my journal, using a blended paper background, gesso and some black and white elements. It was fun to make, but for tomorrow I will make something with colour again; I feel that I need it just now. I am linking again to the Art Every Day challenge

Hope you all have a good day. Take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

November Calendar Challenge

2011-11-02T08:57:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody. I'm pleased to say I feel more normal today, the side-effects of *witches' brew* have worn off! The time is flying by, Halloween is over, November is here, and that means it's time for new calendar pages. This time I made some rather untypical ones for November. I have painted a row of houses with blue sky - perhaps I am hoping the month might be like this, instead of the usual cold, wet and windy month. The verse I have written round the roofs of the houses is from a song by *Guns 'N Roses*. The clouds have been cut out of an old book, painted with diluted gesso and lightly inked with dark blue. The *windows* have been cut from some Daisy D's paper. I think it looks like a row of toy houses, which wasn't intended, but it just turned out this way. I am linking to *The Kathryn Wheel* and to *Art every Day*

And I finished the journal pages that I started at the weekend, once again in patchwork. The photo shows one of the old ladies I cared for at the Old People's Home, many years back when she was just married, I think it is a lovely photo.

So, enough for today. I am going to visit my friend Inge for breakfast today, and then have a look round the Euro shop....
Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

The day after....

2011-11-01T10:32:00.001+01:00

Good morning everybody!
We witches had a good time last night, and enjoyed our party.

But I think someone swapped my head for a pumpkin over night; I just don't dare to look in the mirror and check!
I have made myself some coffee, and am heading back to bed for another hour or so of rest and quiet!

Have a nice day, and see you all tomorrow!

Halloween at last....

2011-10-31T08:34:00.001+01:00

Hi everybody. I feel really proud of myself that I did so much clearing up and cleaning yesterday. My apartment looks quite different; the table in my arty-kitchen is completely cleared, I think this is the first time that I have seen the whole table top for a long time. I know it won't last long; as soon as I get back to work it will magically fill itself up, but now it looks like a table again, and we will be able to eat there like civilized people. The whole of the couch is also free to sit on, and my sandals and summer shoes - which were still littering the hall are now all away; I think boots are now more appropriate.
In the night from Saturday to Sunday we put our clocks back for winter time, and so it was dark really early yesterday evening, which I can't say I like. It makes the evening very long, and as I don't really want to get up early, an hour extra light in the morning is not my thing. Oh well, I suppose it helps some people.

I didn't have much time for crafting yesterday, I just managed a very quick journal spread, which will be the last of my Halloween things for this year. I coloured the pages with water soluble crayons and then sprayed over them with some diluted distress inks, before adding the last of my Halloween bits and bobs and doing a bit of doodling. I will try to do a bit more doodling or scribbling on them in the course of the day, if I have time. The skull tag on the right hand side can be taken out of its pocket,

Hope you all have a great day with lots of haunting memories! Have a hoot, but be careful if strange creatures come to your door, and make sure you feed them well!

Sunday

2011-10-30T08:23:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, I need to get my apartment tidied today, as I have visitors coming tomorrow for Halloween. Yesterday I did a bit of crafting in the morning, and spent most of the rest of the day sleeping, I think I needed it!
I made the November page for my friend's calendar, and finished collaging some journal pages made from my never ending store of scraps....

So, that was it today; if I don't get started now there will be no space for witches in my mess! Have a good Sunday, take care, and thanks for visiting!

It's nearly Halloween....

2011-10-29T09:22:00.001+02:00

Hi everybody, hope you are all fit and well and ready to enjoy your weekend. Our weather is not so nice today, looks rather changeable, but I hope it will stay dry enough for a little walk into *town*.
Yesterday I wanted to have a rest day, with a break from crafting, and lots of time for reading, but then my journal suddenly appeared on the kitchen table and called me....and I answered. I had fun as usual, spraying, splodging and smearing, and when it was dry, doodling and collaging. I used TH inks in spiced marmalade, wild honey, rusty hinge and forest moss, once again the colours of Autumn that I like so much. For the collage I used some pictures out of a crafting magazine, a vintage scrap and a floral rub-on.

And while I had my inks out, I made a card for 2 challenges; for the *one colour challenge* at Simon Says Stamp and Show, and the GS 124 - *Blacks and Grays `* at Gingersnaps

And Narda sent a little Halloween joke yesterday, so here it is:

A bald man with a wooden leg gets invited to a Halloween Party. He doesn't know what costume to wear to hide his head and his leg, So he writes to a costume company to explain his problem.

A few days later he received a parcel with the following note:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a pirate's outfit. The spotted handkerchief will cover your bald head and, with your wooden leg, you will be just right as a pirate.

Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

The man thinks this is terrible because they have emphasized his wooden leg and so he writes a letter of complaint. A week goes by and he receives another parcel and a note, which says:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a monk's costume. The long robe will cover your Wooden leg and, with your bald head, you should really look the part.

Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

Now the man is really upset since they have gone from emphasizing hiswooden leg to emphasizing his bald head, so again he writes the Company another nasty letter of complaint.

The next day he gets a small Parcel and a note, which reads:

Dear Sir,
We have TRIED our very BEST.
Please find enclosed a bottle of molasses and a bag of crushed nuts. Pour the molasses over your bald head, pat on crushed nuts, stick your Wooden Leg up your backside and go as a caramel apple.

Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

Have a good day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday Again.

2011-10-28T08:58:00.001+02:00

Good morning everyone! The week has flown by like a jet-propelled bat, Halloween is just around the corner, and it's time for Paint Party Friday today, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin.
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day; the trees all looked so beautiful with their wonderful colours, and it was hard to keep my eyes on the road and not keep looking at the trees while driving to the shops. In the evening it got very windy, and the wind was howling all night, and making the branches of *my* tree tap at my bedroom window. Or could it have been the ghosts and witches practising for Monday?

In the afternoon I made a spread for my journal, something similar to one I made some weeks back. I may still add some more doodling, but can't make my mind up yet. I used pen and black ink, water-colour pencils and felt tips to draw and colour. It was fun making it, but I liked the last one I made better. Perhaps I should give the background a bit more colour; the blue is so pale that it can hardly be seen.

And I must confess, I have been hiding this painting for 3 weeks. I was supposed to be an autumn witch, but somewhere, something went wrong....I hope it doesn't scare you too much!

Here's wishing you all a great day and a good weekend. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Bastelmania

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Saturday and weekend

Paint Party Friday Week 37

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Tuesday

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Bright and cold Tuesday

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