Halloween at last....

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

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....

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.

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!

Hard Times....

I spent quite a lot of time yesterday collaging little bits of paper again. After managing to clear part of my working space the day before, I wanted to carry on the good work. BUT....every drawer I opened, in the hope of being able to find a small corner to stuff something into, was already full. Now I have no idea who always stuffs small scraps of paper, wonky die-cuts, badly stamped images and images which nobody needs into my drawers. The paper was even sorted into colours, some of it fixed together with paper clips or rubber bands, so it can't have been me, as (1) I don't clear anything away, (2) I am not a sorter-outer and (3) I swear I have never seen this stuff before! Anyway, I filled several pages in my journal with collages again, and the drawers are just as full as ever. It must be the pixies....I also found 3 hot glue guns, masses of glue sticks, and 2 pairs of socks. WHO put them into my kitchen drawers? But I must admit, I was rather proud of myself for even THINKING about tidying up. (Note to self : give yourself a mental pat on the back. Or do I mean a pat on my mental back? Can one have a mental back to pat? Or do I mean a mental bat on my pack?) (Second note to self : Shut up! Show them the pictures!)

Okay, here the pictures from 2 tags and a double page spread in my scribble-a-day journal, which is fast becoming a stick it each day journal. The tags were fun to make, trying to use up all the last drops of spray in my mini-misters before washing and refilling them. The first one is again Autumn themed, in case you didn't notice. The second one should have been something quite different, but the pansies fitted best to the background colours. I dyed the little lace scrap to match. Actually, the lace fell into the ink on my craft sheet, but the result is the same!

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

Poison Bottles and More....

Hi everybody, I had a nice time staying with my friend, but it's still nice to be back home again, and have all my crafty things waiting for me. And there's no bed like one's own bed....
Yesterday I had fun making more decorations for Halloween. I altered 2 bottles which I can use for condiments. For the large one, I cut a label from TH's Halloween Resist Block, which I distressed with some barn-door red. I threaded some ball chain into a little skull to hang round the bottle neck. I went to my neighbour to ask if she had a wine-cork for the stopper, but she didn't have any, so I had to sacrifice myself, and open a bottle of red wine - just to get the cork, of course. But I have to admit that the wine boosted my crafting spirits.... No, I didn't drink it all! The hand on the top was from a back-scratcher that recently broke. I gave it 2 coats of white acrylic paint, which I heat-bubbled, and then distressed with distress inks in red and blue to give a little atmosphere. The smaller bottle has a label from the Graphics Fairy (thanks!), a skull, and a little booklet with evil recipes. As I had no stopper for the bottle, I fixed 2 skeleton arms together to make a *plug* for the bottle neck. They were great fun to make, and I am wondering if my guests will dare to use the condiments in them....

The journal pages were made on Sunday, with all the scraps that were once again littering my table, made into a rather haphazard collage.

So, I think that was enough for today. Have a good day you all, take good care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Tuesday

Good morning everyone! I am still at my friend's place, and wanted to do my blog, as usual, from here. I remembered to bring my Netbook and modem, but forgot that the pictures that I wanted to share with you are on my computer at home!
But I do have a joke that Narda sent. It's a bit naughty, you have been warned....


Last week, Ethel checked into a hotel on her 70th birthday. She was a bit lonely. She thought, "I'll call one of those men you see advertised in phone books for escorts and sensual massages."

She looked through the phone book, found a full page ad for a guy calling himself Tender Tony-a very handsome man with assorted physical skills flexing in the photo. He had all the right muscles in all the right places, thick wavy hair, long powerful legs, dazzling smile, six-pack abs, and she felt quite certain she could bounce a quarter off his well oiled buttom....

She figured, what the heck, nobody will ever know. I'll give him a call.

"Good evening, ma'am, how may I help you? Oh my, he sounded sooo sexy! Afraid she would lose her nerve if she hesitated, she rushed right in, "Hi, I hear you give a great massage. I'd like you to come to my hotel room and give me one. No, wait, I should be straight with you. I'm in town all alone and what I really want is sex. I want it hot, and I want it now. Bring implements, toys, rubber, leather, whips, everything you've got in your bag of tricks. We'll go hot and heavy all night - tie me up, cover me in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, anything and everything, I'm ready! Now how does that sound?"

He said, "That sounds absolutely fantastic, but you need to press 9 for an outside line."

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

Monday again....

The weekend has sped by, and I seem to have very little to show for it, but I enjoyed it, and that was the main thing. Sometimes t's good to be busy doing nothing.

Yesterday I decided to smarten up some skeletons. I am sure we all have skeletons in our cupboards, and the poor things only get taking out at Halloween and spend the rest of their lives (??) in some dark boxes, keeping some dusty pumpkins, Easter Bunnies, and Christmas baubles company. Can't be fun. So I thought I should at least get 2 of mine all dolled up for the festive Halloween season. Here they are, Miss S.Keleton and Mr B.Ones, I think they make a lovely pair.

And I made 2 tags for my DT pieces at The Cheerful Stamp Pad, where the Challenge this week is Thanksgiving. I distressed the tags with TH inks and sprays in spiced marmalade, wild honey, barn-door and forest green. Then I stamped them using the Lavinia 3-part leaf stamp using red. green and black. I have decorated the tags with German scrap images showing a filled basket of fruits and some fabric leaves. The sentiment on the first tag is *Give thanks to the Lord for He is good*. The second tag has more or less the same sentiment, just in Hebrew, and spoken *Hodu L'Adonai ki tov, ki le olam hasdo* - Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for He loves the world. I added a flower fairy tag, and some images printed onto transparency foil.

And that was all I managed, but I enjoyed my lazy day. Have a good day, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Cold and sunny Sunday

It's another clear, windy and cold day here, after a very frosty night, and I have been watching the sunrise, something I never tire of. I wonder what it is that fascinates us all so much with sunrise and sunset?

Yesterday I worked on an altered box for the Just For Fun challenge, which was to alter something from the bedroom or sewing box. I found a rather battered square box with a nasty, water-stained blue covering. I covered the outside with scraps of some ancient books and some music sheets which have been decaying in my cupboards for years. I can't bear to throw them away, so I am using them bit by bit for different projects. I used mod-podge to fix the scraps, and then gave it a coat of diluted gesso after it had dried. The lovely, art-nouveau paper with the lyres which I used for the lining was an end paper from a music book from 1900. I have also mod-podged the inside, so that it will withstand some wear-and-tear. I covered the edges with TH tissue tape, and rubbed round them afterwards with some inka-gold. I painted the rim round the base of the box with gold-bronze paint. I have glued a tiny magnet into the front of the box and under the lining of the lid, and put a gold button on just for decoration. The top has been decorated with a paper-lace doiley cut into four, some paper daisies and a picture of Mona Lisa, with a metal frame. I will be using the box to store my *best* buttons - the mother of pearl ones.

Apart from that, I spent the rest of the day with my feet up, reading, drinking coffee & nibbling biscuits. In the evening I re-watched a DVD, *Nirgendwo in Afrika* (Nowhere in Africa) based on the novel by Stefanie Zweig. I love the book and the film, so it was a pleasant way to pass the time.

Hope you all have a good Sunday, whatever you are up to. Be good; if you can't be good, be careful, and thanks a lot for stopping by!

Saturday, Weekend and Good Weather

Hi everybody! Now, I don't like to say this toooooooooooooo loudly, but yesterday I didn't cut myself, or burn myself, or crash into anything. I didn't drop anything, and apart from a pair of scissors falling apart, the day was really uneventful. What's wrong with me? I'm going to take it as a good omen and hope the next days will carry on like this.

I spent a nice afternoon doing a journal spread. I sprayed the pages with inks in autumnal colours, and when it was dry I drew the leaves on the left hand side. Then I had fun playing around and trying out different techniques. Some I painted with colours, others with different sorts of felt-tips and / or water-soluble pencils and crayons. That's the nice thing about working in the journal, it gives me a chance to try things out. Then I stamped some acorns and birds, and added some fabric leaves, and the spooky Halloween ghost. On the right hand side I have used a poem written by my sister Cynthia in 1989, and added some more Halloween decorations. After taking the photos I distressed the white paper with wild honey to make it match the page better. I only have ten days left to play with my Halloween ideas, so I'd better make the most of it.

Hope you all have a good Saturday. Have a good time, whatever you are up to, take care and thanks for dropping by!!

Alas, poor Yorick!

Well, I am pleased to say that I managed to get through last night without any calamities, like bumping into the bathroom door-frame in the middle of the night. I still have some bumps and bruises, and rather resemble a cross between a panda and a unicorn, but it will pass. And I sincerely hope that my little series of calamities is slowly passing.... Enough is enough!

I had a nice, lazy day yesterday. Apart from a little bit of crafting, I watched the crows and ravens gathering in the tree in the back garden, first there was just one, then more and more came, and it looked for all the world as though they were holding a Hitchcock Memorial Service there. I think they were waiting for me to go away from the window so that they could empty the bird feeder.... But it was fun watching them.

But I did manage to make a tag and a mail-art envelope. I forgot to take a picture of the envelope before it had been filled, so the photo is not very good.

The tag is for the GC 123 Challenge over at Gingersnaps, and the theme is *Ravens*. The tag has been sprayed with distress inks in wild honey, spiced marmalade and forest green. I stamped leaves using Lavinia stamps in barn door and black, and then added some fabric leaves to give depth. The large raven has been stamped using a LaBlanche stamp, and then I added the pumpkin and small leaves at *ground level*. The smaller raven has been printed onto acetate and placed up in the leaves. I used ribbons in orange and green, and a skull as a charm. I think this tag will be called *Alas, poor Yorick!* in memory of Hamlet in the graveyard. The lovely earrings next to the tag are the *Dia de los muertos* ones that Donna made for me some time back; they accompany me a lot!

Then I spent the rest of the day sorting out papers and letters ready to file them away, but didn't get very far with them, the piles seemes to ge growing and not decreasing!

Hope you all have a nice day today, take care, stay creative, and thanks for visiting!

Black and white

Hi everybody. Brrrrrr, its another cold, wet and horrible day here, but good weather for crafting, so I will try to make the most of it!
Yesterday must have been my black and white day. First I made a tag for the *black and white* challenge over at the *Craft Room*. As Halloween is coming nearer and nearer, my theme was predetermined. I stamped a white tag with black diamonds, which I black embossed, and then added 2 strips of Kaisercraft paper with black and white patterns; stripes down one side and flourishes at the bottom. Then I added the white skeleton which I gave some googly eyes and a *dress* made of some beaded stuff cut off a Teeshirt. I gave the skeleton a white handbag made from a little label, bearing the sentiment *Black and white is always an appropriate fashion statement*. I placed the tag on a red cushion and surrounded it with a black and white necklace, which was my mum's, and my skeleton hand necklace. I am also entering this tag into SSSS, which this week is to use stripes.

The pages I made for my journal are also black and white. The main text and cutlery pictures have been transferred from paper napkins, which I discovered under one of the heaps on my table when I cleared up last week. I used mod-podge for the transfers, and just added some quotes about eating and drinking.

The rest of the day I spent reading with my feet up, and drinking plenty of hot drinks to try to get rid of my cold, which seems reluctant to part from me.

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

My Home is my Castle and a Lurid Scene....

Hi everybody. Another day has dawned, cold, wet and windy, I think I will be stopping home again today! Yesterday I finished 2 challenges, so have at least caught up a little bit. The first one is a Chipboard Album, which I have turned into my *home, sweet home* for the challenge over at *The Three Muses*. I got these albums ready cut some time back for very little money; an online shop was selling off all the chipboard albums, so I bought a large supply. The chipboard has been covered with small scraps of paper, splodged with remnants of paint, and then painted over with sparkly mod-podge to make it all more durable. I have used loads of other 'flying bits and bobs' to decorate it, including some old costume jewelry. The doggy with the bag on the front page belonged to me as a little girl, and the hat & watering-can brooch belonged to my mum. The 2 little Black Forest dolls were a present I got many, many years back. I like using old things in this way, it gives them a new lease of life. I have put a quote about home on each page. The bell in the tower used to be on a Xmas ornament. It was fun making it!

The second challenge is for Haunted House Design, who want to see a lurid or looming landscape. I did a spread in my journal, showing a haunted house, a bloody sky, and a graveyard. This was great fun to make; as you know, I love Halloween!

So, before I stop, I've got a good tip for you. If you want to heat up your soup, it works more quickly if the hot-plate is switched on. And a second tip while we're at it. Flat plates are not really good for soup. That's why people invented SOUP PLATES! Anyway, the cupboard door and floor have now been cleaned, and I enjoyed the fried noodles I made instead. Have a good day you all, take care (Believe me, I am the right one to tell you that!) and thanks for stopping by!