Been AWOL!

Hi everybody, sorry I missed blogging yesterday, but I was rather tired out after B's party on Monday. The party was good - nice food and guests, bubbly to drink, and a good time was had by all! Afterwards I went back to Inge's to stay there for the night, as I don't like driving at night. We sat for ages solving the problems of the world - perhaps with the exception of our own - before going to bed. Then I read for an hour or so before putting out the light, and it was 11 a.m. before we got up yesterday morning. I am usually up by 8a.m. at the very latest, so this made a nice change. Then we sat for nearly 2 hours over breakfast before I drove home. On the was home I went to pick up a letter from the customs and excise office again, I think they are still hoping to find letters stuffed with contraband. After waiting nearly an hour, it was my turn, and I got a pretty altered notebook from Tee. It is really lovely, but see for yourselves. The pictures show the front, back, and the inside pockets with beautiful tags.

Thanks a lot Tee, this is another little gem for me to treasure!

And I made a tag for Rebecca'a challenge at Blog Challenge Garden. This time she wants to see a heart as the focal point on the tag. I have made a double tag, printed the backgrounds with my love script stamp (LaBlanche), and added a rose scrap heart and then a silvery padded heart. The ribbon at the top is also hearty!

And I wanted to share the second all white canvas I made. I think I like this one best, but now I have done enough white on white for the time being:

So, that was enough for today. I'll be back tomorrow with my September journal pages, which I am enjoying painting.

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

Monday again, and almost the end of August

Time, as usual, is flying fast. I am sure the days used to be longer. The older I get, the quicker the days fly by. It is also my friend B's birthday, so I hope she will have a happy day. I will be visiting her later and taking her a little present and her card.
For the card I used a photo of her dog, which I mounted onto a tiny canvas, which was also mounted onto an easel card.

The second piece is a postcard made for the Craft-room Challenge, where masking has to be used. I used a mask from *Tattered angels* *ironworks* to make the gate, and used a cutout of the little boy and his teddy as a mask before distressing the background. I drew round the gate with a black pen to add more definition. I stamped the teddy again and decoupaged it to give it more volume, and added a TH *iron* fence at the front, bending it slightly to give it more depth. Thestamps in both tags are from Scrollsworks.

The second postcard has also been masked with the same gate, and I used a cut-out of the stamped image again to mask the background before distressing it. I turned the seat the little girls are sitting on into a swing, and hung it from a branch. I added the little guardian angel to look after the adventurous girls.

I hope that all those in the path of *Irene* stayed safe, and that your weather will have no more nasty surprises for you in the next time.
Okay, that was it for today. I won't be around for most of today and part of tomorrow, so I'll catch up with your blogs tomorrow afternoon. Have a nice day, thanks for visiting and take care!

Good morning, it's Sunday....

And that means it's time for Sunday Sketches over at Blue Chair Diary. I had nothing ready for today, so made a quick 5 minute sketch of me, not yet washed and combed, *fresh* out of bed and before the first cup of coffee. Was a bit difficult to take a photo, as the sun is making hard shadows this morning, but it's all I can manage!

Now, if you all feel like crawling back to bed after seeing this, don't - it could cause bad dreams!

Yesterday I got a wonderful package in the post from Narda, she's the on whose funnies we often have in my posts- She knows I love cows and everything to do with them, and has sent me a beautiful charm bracelet full of cows, to keep me company when I am lonely. She wrote *Hope it will moooooooooooove you to a herd of giggles so you can look pasture troubles each time you wear it*. Have had great probs taking a decent photo, I think the cows keep moooooving!

Oh dear, nearly forgot my tag for Simon say stamp and show, with a travel theme this week. Stamps are from scrollsworks.

Okay, that was it, Short and sweet today, I am going to go back to bed. Hope all who are affected by the storms are keeping safe! Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Weekend again!

Good morning you all! Saturday again, so I hope you all have some nice plans for the weekend.

Yesterday started off bright and sunny, and then every half hour or so it went dark, and it stormed and rained. A good day to stay home and craft! At midday we had a really strong storm, but it it only lasted five minutes and then blew over. Ir was enough to flood lots of roads and cellars again, some places were knee deep in water or hail-stones. I know it's not as bad as in the USA, so hope everybody there is keeping safe.

I made another canvas with scrunched up tissue yesterday, and kept it white on white, just tried to put lots of texture onto it. Usually I prefer doing things with more colour, but sometimes it's good just to try other things. I used different bits and bobs covered with gesso to build up the texture - tissue paper, flowers, a leaf, some string, lace, some snowflakes, cardboard, lace doilies, a felt heart and one of my heads. I don't mean one of MY heads, I only have one, I meant of course, one of the ones I made in a mould. Everything has been covered with several layers of gesso, so it's all hard as a rock and can't fall apart. I have made a second one, too,similar but different; however, as it's a present for a friend, don't want to show it yet.

And another joke from Narda, just a short one this time:

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very Sexy nightie.
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.


So, that's all for today. Have a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday

Hi everybody, good morning from Kaiserswerth! The sun is shining, and it's Friday again, which means it's time for PPF hosted by Eva and Kristin.

I had a lovely day with my friend B yesterday, scrapping, painting, chatting, eating - you name it, we did it! We started off with a lovely breakfast with fresh rolls and croissants and coffee, and then did some *work*. For lunch we had ice cream and a glass of bubbly, did some more *work* in the afternoon, and B made a great Paella for supper. We talked a lot, too, B is someone you can talk to about everything, and so it was a very enjoyable day.

I have 2 pieces to share with you today; an altered canvas that I have been working on all week on and off, and a piece I made yesterday for paint party Friday. I am entering the canvas into the TIOT *Wild card* challenge, which has to be something you can hang up. For the canvas I have used pictures of Erika, a lady I cared for for several years, and who was also a distant relation. I have used photos from her childhood and youth. She was born and brought up in Germany, had to flee with her family in 1938, lived for many years in Uruguay and Israel, and came back here as an elderly lady. She died 4 years ago. She must have been very spoilt as a kid, but had a lot of hard times later, and was sometimes one very difficult old lady, determined to have her own way, and always with long, painted finger-nails, nicely dressed, and in general had the ambition to be the prettiest gal in the room, even when over 90! I have also used some pieces of documents belonging to her. The middle picture is a gel transfer, applied to a gessoed paper background. The other photos are prints applied with mod-podge.

The piece I made yesterday for PPF is a bit different to what I usually make, just felt like doing something different. I scrunched up some tissue paper, and stuck it with gesso onto a sheet of water-colour paper, then gave it another coat of gesso after forming the paper a bit with my fingers. After it had dried, I painted the eye onto another piece of tissue, and fixed it with mod-podge. In the centre of the eye is a tiny heart, and I have used a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's *Little Prince* - *It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye*. Finally I distressed some of the raised parts with some Inca gold in gunmetal grey. I'm not sure if I am going to leave it like this or do something else with it; time will tell!

So, once again I have rambled on and made the post longer than I intended! Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for visiting; your comments and visits are very much appreciated!

More tags for challenges

Hi everyone, another week is flying by, where does the time go? I had a quiet night, no thunder, no lightning and no drunken callers. I think I would have killed him if he'd called again! Yesterday I started a lot of different things, but didn't get them all finished. Today I am having a scrappy day with a friend, so we shall see how much I get done there!
But I did manage 3 tags, so that was something. This week the dragon over at *Dragon's Dream* is dreaming of travel. I made 2 travel themed tags, both with Paris motives, so I hope the Dragon can dream over both of them. The third tag is for the Challenge at the *Three Muses*, where the theme this week is *windows*.

And now another joke from Narda:

Curious when I found two black-and-white negatives in a drawer,
I had them made into prints. I was pleasantly surprised to see
That they were of a younger, slimmer me, taken on one of my
First dates with my husband.

When I showed him the photos, his face lit up. "Wow, look at
That!" he said. "It's my old Chevy!"



Okay, it's time for me to get ready for scrapping. Here's wishing you a nice day. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Two tags and a joke....

Hi everybody, hope you are all well and happy! Had another disturbed night here; first there were storms, with thunder and non-stop lightning, one flash after the other. Very impressive, but sometimes I need to sleep. Then at 2.30, just after I had finally drifted off, the telephone rang. I had a drunk at the other end, pleading with me to come down and let him in! *Shweeeetie, lemme in, I won't got drinking again!* I can well imagine why his sweetie didn't want to open the door to him, and told him to ring the right number. About a quarter of an hour later, he rang again, and begged to be let in....Being hard hearted, I told him where to get off to, and switched the phone off completely. I don't know whether he got let in somewhere, but I don't really care!
Yesterday I was out at my friend Inge's; we had our usual ladies day with eating, coffee drinking, gossiping and card playing, so it was an enjoyable time.
In the evening I managed 2 tags, one for Rebecca's *Blog Challenge Garden*, with *A* for adore, and the other one just because.... For the adore tag I made a double tag again, as I find the image looks lost on the larger tags I like, and a vintage scrap rose to match the silk rose. For the second tag I have used images from CI, and of course, my leopard....

And here is the joke, from Narda:

My job search

1. My first job was working in an Orange Juice factory,
but I got canned. Couldn't concentrate.


2. Then I worked in the woods as a Lumberjack,
but just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.


3. After that, I tried being a Tailor,
but wasn't suited for it -- mainly because it was a sew-sew job.


4. Next, I tried working in a Muffler Factory,
but that was too exhausting.


5. Then, tried being a Chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life,
but just didn't have the thyme.


6. Next, I attempted being a Deli Worker,
but any way I sliced it.... couldn't cut the mustard.


7. My best job was a Musician,

but eventually found I wasn't noteworthy.


8. I studied a long time to become a Doctor,
but didn't have any patience.


9. Next, was a job in a Shoe Factory.
Tried hard but just didn't fit in.


10. I became a Professional Fisherman,
but discovered I couldn't live on my net income.


11. Managed to get a good job working for a Pool Maintenance Company,
but the work was just too draining.


12. So then I got a job in a Workout Center,
but they said I wasn't fit for the job..


13. After many years of trying to find steady work,
I finally got a job as a Historian - until I realized there was no future in it.

14. My last job was working in Starbucks,
but had to quit because it was the same old grind.

15. SO, I TRIED RETIREMENT


AND I FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB!

Okay, that was it for today. Have a great day and take care! Thanks for visiting!

Thank you Scotland....

Yesterday I found a letter waiting for when I came home from the dentist's. (Don't ask what it was like, I don't want to spoil your day....) It was a letter from Aberdeen in Scotland, from Suze Bain. Recently I wrote about the *dead mouse* - which turned out to be a dried up leaf! that I found one morning in my kitchen. Sue found this story funny, and made me a little Scottish souvenir to remind me of this memorable day, a card, a tag, and some beautiful ribbon. all wrapped in some sparkly paper that will definitely be put to good use; but see for yourselves:

I am just not quite sure if she meant me or the mouse with the *wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie*. Okay, you can't really describe me as *wee*! The beautiful tag with the Burns quote and portrait reminded me of holidays spent in Rosslyn as a child, together with a school friend, whose Granny and Aunt never tired of reading Burns to us to make up for the *English rubbish* they might be stuffing our heads with at school. Not true, though, as our primary school teacher was a Scot and a great lover of Burns. Thanks to Sue for the lovely surprise, and this time it would not be fitting to say, *“The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy*.

Once again, I am amazed at the kindness of the blogger family; this was a little surprise that really made my day!

And I would like to share a tag I made at the weekend, using one of my favourite stamps, although I don't know who made it; I just know that I bought it at the stamp-mecca in Hagen two years back. I have made lots of tags with this stamp, and never seem to tire of it - sorry!

Well, that was enough for today, hope to see you all again tomorrow! Have a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting

Portraits

Good morning everybody. You will be happy to know that my dentist is back from his vacation, and that means my treatment will be carried on today - I can hardly wait!
The promised storms were not much yesterday evening, just a bit of thunder and lightning, at least here. Hope nowhere else suffered damage again either!
Over at *The Cheerful Stamp Pad* the theme this week is *portraits*. The challenge is open for 2 weeks. For my DT piece I have made an altered canvas, perhaps rather unorthodox for this theme. The canvas was one which had already been used and *stripped* to give it a new lease of life. I made a background of torn paper which I painted with gesso. There was some gold leafing round the canvas before, so I left some it as it was, and painted the rest with gesso, which turned it a nice greeny grey colour. For the main picture I have used a postcard of a self protrait of Stefan Lochner, which is one of the wonderful pictures in Cologne Cathedral, painted in the middle of the 15th century. The pictures of the woman and the hands underneath it are part of some wonderful carvings in Bamberg Cathedral, carved my the great master Veit Stoss at the beginning of the 16th century. I used different embellishments - lace, sack-linen, some torn pieces of a map, some prima leaves, a flower made from antique book sides and coated with Utee, and two Rafel Angels. And of course, one of my little leopards is running through the picture. At the top I have used a silver brooch, which has a small piece of Roman glass in it, bought from the Roman-German Museum shop in Cologne.

That was all for today, now I need to prepare myself for the dentist! Have a nice day, take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Storm clouds and postcards

Hi everybody, it's weekend again, just in case you hadn't noticed....I had a bad night, got very little sleep again, so will be taking an afternoon nap today....Hope you all did better!
The storms I was telling about yesterday must have caused a lot of damage. Here it wasn't too bad, just the usual flooded roads and cellars and damage to some trees and cars, but just over the border in Belgium it must have been very severe. A lot of people were at a huge open air rock festival, and many were severely injured and five died. The next storms have been forecasted for Sunday, so I hope nothing like that will happen again. These are the pictures I took when it was just starting, afterwards it was too dark to take any photos, at least with my camera.

Yesterday I did some more work on my sketchbook, but I am not at all happy with what I have managed up till now, so I am hoping it will get better.
And I made a card for the *Just for fun* challenge, where they want to see the colours black, white and silver this week. I have used stamps from Scrollsworks, combining three images, which I stamped with archival black, and embossed in silver. I used a silver Edding pen and some silver stickles for more sparkle. I mounted the card onto a piece of silver printed card which was part of the packaging of some Anna Griffin embellishments.

And my last 2 postcards from the *Liberate your Art* postcard swap came today. The photo of the Vespa was taken by Kat who organized the swap, and the old cart photo came from the 2 Buds in Raleigh, North Carolina. Many thanks to both of you!

Okay, that was enough for today. Have a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday, Spare Parts & Thunder Storms

Yesterday started out with sunshine. Well, on the one hand, a nice thing; on the other hand, it showed up how much dust was flying around here. I know there are black holes somewhere in outer space, but it looked like one of them was here! So, don't be shocked, I will have to use a very dirty word - H*******k was necessary. I hoovered and mopped and scrubbed till it was more or less clean, and then had to take a break and a shower before I was fit enough to go and do the shopping. And while I was in a work mood - doesn't happen too often! - I did the washing, which is a lot of running up and down the stairs, as the washing machine is in the cellar and I live on the second floor without a lift.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my sketch book for the Art House Coop, and I'm not showing it yet, as I would like to keep it till it is completed.
And that's the reason why I have decided to show you part of my collection of spare body parts for Paint Party Friday, which is, as always, hosted by Eva and Kristin. They are white plastic heads, torsos and butts for displaying clothes in shop windows etc, and they have been sprayed and painted to make them a bit different. I did show some of them before, but here they are.

I sometimes just have the urge to paint on something other than paper or canvases....

And then, at about 7 in the evening, the sky went a nasty greeny colour, the wind lashed the trees, and it rained in torrents, with loads of thunder and lightning flashes. It was pretty to watch, but I was happy not to be out in it. The thunder kept grumbling and rumbling all evening, and the lightning illuminated the night sky, but it seems to have blown over now.

Well, that was more than enough today. Here's wishing you all a great day, take care, and thanks for visiting.