Monday again....

Hi everybody! A lot of people here have the day off today, as tomorrow is a bank holiday, and this way it makes a nice, long weekend. I have been busy doing (more or less) nothing; spending time on my recliner and reading. But I did do a bit of fussy cutting, cutting out images for future projects. Then I threw some of them away when I crumpled up the cut outs instead of the waste - grrrr! But a few survived, so I was able to do my tags for Tag Tuesday and The Cheerful Stamp Pad. So here's my DT piece for *Tea Time with the Queen*

The Royal crest has been cut out of an old book-cover that was torn, and the queen cut out of a prospect. The teacup is from the Graphics Fairy. I rolled it round a glue tube and then stuck down just the edges,letting the middle bulge (like mine!) to make it dimensional. The tea-bag has been cut from a paper scrap, and the thread was taken from a real tea-bag! I wonder what the Queen would say to this? Probably, *We are not amused*.... You still have a week to enter the challenge if you would like to do so!

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

Postcard Challenge and Paint Party Friday

Hi you all, It's Friday again and that means time for partying - it's Darcy's Postcard Challenge Numer 17, where our participants are off to Norway, and Paint Party Friday Year 2, week 7. I was worried that I would not get my stuff finished this week, as I was not feeling so good, but I managed it, and now I will have a good rest over the weekend.

Cissie has not been feeling well, as she is worrying about Jason and what really happened when he disappeared for those few days. She is more than alarmed when Thelma brings her a newspaper cutting from the local Gazette:

Here is the text again in case the print is too small:
Our local reporter, Jake Grabbit, brings us some startling news of a break-in in the Funeral Parlour
‘Long Shadows’ last Friday evening. Neighbours were disturbed by the sounds of revelling and loud music, but nobody suspected at the time that it was coming from Mr. Deepdown’s Parlour. He told Jake that his ‘Gothic Crypt’ room of rest, tastefully decorated with black wallpaper and antique statues, had been misappropriated for an illegal party. ‘It looks awful!’ he said. ’Empty red wine and vodka bottles everywhere on the coffins, tomato sauce on the black carpet, fish and chip papers everywhere and one coffin stolen – just like that! I am shocked and disturbed at what has happened! It has really taken the fun out of my work!’
One neighbour, Ms Ima Noseyass, said she saw some black-caped figures carrying a coffin away in the early hours of the morning. ‘But that’s nothing strange with a business like that!’ she said.
The police spokesperson, Less Nollidge, said that they have no clue at all, but that they would undertake to find the persons responsible.
Our reporter will keep digging to bring you up to date with any new developments in this field.

Cissie considers cancelling her 5 day Norwegian Fjord Cruise, which she won for being first through the door when a bargain shop opened in her neighbourhood, where she had really pulled – or was it pushed? - her weight to get in first, heedless of the fallen and trampled in her wake. (The lady who was second is reported to have called Cissie ‘The battering ram from Brickwall Lane’.) But Thelma promises, with some trepidation, to keep an eye on Jason, and so they bring Cissie and her 4 cases to the airport. After the usual quibbling at the check-in, Jason foots the excess-baggage bill, and off Cissie goes, hoping that there are really no more Vikings in Norway....

They fly to Oslo, where they enjoy some sightseeing, and then board the coach taking them to Bergen, where they board their ship. They visit Voss, Stalheim, Gudvangen, Aurland, Flam and Myrdal before returning again to Oslo for the flight home.

(Photos from Wikipedia Commons)

The fresh sea air gives her an incredibly good appetite, and she enjoys huge meals of salmon, herrings, cod, cheeses and cream cakes, all washed down with copious amounts of tea. Here is the postcard she sends Jason and Thelma. I used a map of Norway and its environs, on which I coloured the Norwegian Flag, adding Cissie in a fetching norwegian knit pullover:

By the way, Cissie has asked me to tell you that although she gives her hair a colour rinse now and again, she does not perm her hair, as she has natural waves and curls.

For PPF I have another re-purposed canvas to show you, which has a re-cycled clock in it, so double recycling today. I used acrylic paints, which I heated to give texture, adding some small glass beads in before heating. Then I smeared on some Stickles and some perfect pearls for some more colour and shine, before fitting in the clock. The clock has been painted in the same fashion, just using a lighter background shade. I added the last remnants of my Prima flowers, and that was it. The last photo shows the 4 of the canvases made in the past few weeks together.

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

Tag Tuesday on Thursday

Hi everybody. At last I have managed to get the tags photographed and uploaded. I am still having a lot of dizzy spells, and the blood pressure is still high, although lower than at the beginning of the week, so that's good.

I have made 2 tags, with all the lilac/lavender/purple bits and bobs that I still had flying about on my working space. I am not too happy with them, but i don't have the energy to do anything else just now. Linking to Tag Tuesday

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for looking in. I'll be back tomorrow with the latest episode of Cissie and Jason!

Manic Monday Again

Hi everybody, hope you have all had a good weekend and feel strong and fit to tackle the week to come. I had a lazy weekend, did some crafting, read a lot, listened to some old recordings of Kathleen Ferrier, and even managed to roast a chicken for lunch yesterday, which for me is really Haute Cuisine!

Today is the begin of a new challenge over at the Cheerful Stamp Pad - *Time for the Queen's Tea*. For my DT piece I have altered a little clock. I bought a supply of these clocks some time back at the 1€ shop, which is a good price for a working clock. I took off the hands and pulled off the face (sounds rather brutal!), cut a new circle of paper for the face, and stamped it with some Artemio London stamps. The crown has been
* bejeweled* with some liquid pearls. I added a red ribbon with red and white roses, put the hands back on, and now it is ticking merrily away on my kitchen wall.

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

Another re-purposed canvas

Hi everybody, hope you are all enjoying your weekend more than I am! It's been cold again here, and yesterday was more than changeable - thunder, lightning, rain, and wind chased each other all day.
I also spent a lot of time picking things up from the floor, as I evidently had a drop-me day yesterday, so hope my fingers are more cooperative today.

This is another of the re-purposed canvases I made last week. I used structure paste painted with two metallic colours, and pressed some punchinella into it to give more structure, leaving a piece in the paint. I also scattered in some odd beads and bits of broken earrings while it was all wet. I added a few prima flowers and a dragonfly charm to finish it off. The colours look different in the first pic because the electric light was on!

I have another 2 canvases on the go, which I will show you soon.

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

Jason on a trip to Romania?

Hi everybody, it's Friday again and that means time for Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and Darcy's Postcard Challenge, where the participants this week are supposed to be in Romania.

Cissie has been trying to get in touch with Jason for several days, but he doesn’t seem to be home. He doesn’t answer the phone, and doesn’t pop by to join her for lunch at the fish and chip shop. She is a bit worried, because he is usually quite attentive, but then she thinks he has perhaps met a nice girl, or gone out with his friends and got drunk, or both….She decides to wait one more day, and then to go and visit him.
But on the following day, he turns up, hungry as a wolf, and looking a bit pale and tired. She decides he needs feeding up, and they go off for a double portion of fish and chips, before buying a large pack of cream-cakes at Tesco’s to take home for tea. Then she decides to ask what’s up.

Where have you been the past few days? I tried to phone you?
Me? asks Jason. I was at home. Last Friday I went to see *Twilight* with some friends I met at the pub. And then we went back to their place for some drinks and a bit of fun.
Cissie refrains from asking what he means by *a bit of fun*, as she is not sure if she wants to know….
Well, and then?
Yeah, well, I was feeling a bit strange. They gave me some drinks, and then I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up I was lying in bed in a room with black wallpaper and black curtains, and I just felt awful. They weren’t there, so I got dressed and went home, had a shower and here I am….
Yes, but Jason, it’s Tuesday today. You can’t have slept all that time!
Well, I don’t know. I was having such strange dreams. Flying over old castles in Romania, skulking around in Transylvania, and partying at an old castle with loads of Draculas. Those dreams were like real! Scary!

(Photos from Wikipedia Commons)

Perhaps you had too much to drink? Or do you think they slipped you something in your drink?
Whatever, I’m happy to be feeling half-ways normal today. Except for the mosquito bites! A couple must have bitten me in the neck, the little buggers!
Jason enjoys his afternoon, and decides to sleep at Auntie Cissie’s for the night. He goes to bed early, and sleeps like a log. He wakes up the next morning feeling better, and decides to go to work and get his shop up and running.
Later on the Postie brings Cissie a card from Jason, posted in Romania....It has been written in red, and rather confused....

Was that Jason in Romania??
More next week!

For PPF I would like to share a canvas I painted last weekend. It is one which I have re-used, so I am showing some different stages of the re-make. I once again used a template to give some structure, before painting with layers of different colours, and adding some Stickles and a TH Die-cut. I have called it *Purple Rain Man*

And last, but definitely not least, I want to show you a lovely book and card I got from Tracey in a little swap we made. I sent her Mozart Balls and tea, and she sent me a hard-backed note book, which I will use to write quotes and anecdotes about beverages in, and one of her beautiful cards. I can only say, that the photos do not do justice to her wonderful work; they are so much nicer in real life!! Thanks a lot Tracey, and enjoy your balls....(an Austrian chocolate speciality for those who don't know them!)

Sorry, this has been a really long post, hope you have enjoyed it. Have a good weekend, take care, and thanks for visiting!

A small canvas

After a very windy and chilly day yesterday, and a frosty night, I am hoping that I will not have to freeze so much today. It is just raining today, everything is grey in grey, and I woke to the cheerful sound of raindrops dripping off the branches.... And to crown it all, I seem to have caught a cold, so am not too happy about that. But rainy weather is a good time to stay home and be creative!

Yesterday I did not get very far with my H*******K. I did mop the floors, but then when I wanted to tidy the kitchen, I saw the paints and embellies I had got ready to re-use some canvases, and somehow I had to play with them.... This little canvas is one of the results. 2 others are half finished, so there will be more to come. The canvas has been painted with structure paste, and then with layers of greens, purple, blue and some black. I added Stickles again for some glitter and shine, and decorated it with some Prima and other flowers and berries. The canvas is 10x10 cms.

So, I will be having an easy day today, I want this cold to go away, so that means some rest! How good that one can rest so well while painting.... Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for coming by!

Another catty hanging

Good morning you all. It's the middle of the week today; as always, the time is flying. I spent a few hours with my friend Inge yesterday, it's always a nice change to all the other days on my own.
It's still very cold and windy here, something like a cross between April and a deep freeze. But at least it's not raining (yet)!

Today I want to share the second wooden hanging I made at the weekend. It has worked like the one from yesterday, just some other flowers and a different cat. I am linking again to Artful times and Simon Says Stamp and Show - anything goes.

Today I need to do a bit of the dreaded H*******k, not nice, but necessary!

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

Tag Tuesday Tag & a Challenge

Hi you all! It's Tuesday already, and time for another Tag Tuesday Tag.
The background of the tag is a piece of waste cardboard which I used to try out colours while painting last week. I added some floral rub-ons and a butterfly-creation. I found the decorative butterfly while clearing out recently. The body was unfortunately missing, so I replaced it with one of my little heads. Well, not one of my little heads; I just have one and it is rather large. But one I made in a mold and rubbed with Inka Gold in bronze. I fixed it all together using a hot glue gun, and this is the rather strange result....

And for the Artful times Challenge I have made a wall hanging. The theme this time is *a sea of greens* for the background. I used the chipboard backing from an old photo frame, painted it with different green tones, rubbed it with some perfect pearls medium and sprinkled on perfect pearls in green and bronze. After it had been heat dried, I added some stickles in green and bronze again; the bronze gives the green more depth. The cat is one of 3 chipboard die-cuts which I have had for ages. I grounded them with gesso, and then coloured them with DI bundled sage before adding perfect pearls in green and bronze again. Then I arranged the different embellies from my stash, and that was it. I have started a second one which I hope to finish later. I am also linking to Simon says stamp and show, where anything goes this week.

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

Manic Monday

Hi everybody, just a quickie today as I have a lot to do.
I have made a tag for my DT piece for the second week of the *past times* challenge over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad, sponsored by Altered Pages.
The tag has been cut using TH's cabinet card die, stamped with a BG stamp in resist ink, and then coloured with vintage photo. The second layer is a script stamp (LaBlanche), stamped with the same colour, and then the image stamped on top of that, once again using the same ink. It appears to be a little darker because it has been clear embossed. I gave the lady a necklace of liquid pearls, and decorated the tag with some vintage lace, a narrow ribbon, and a flower made up of die-cut old paper from the 18th century with a prima flower sandwiched between. I fixed it together with a string knot.
I finished it off with a metal word *spirit*

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

Sunday, cold and damp and no sun

Good morning you all. No spring feelings to the weather here just now, just plain cold and damp; not my favourite, and not good for aching bones either. But on the plus side, I slept till after 8 this morning, which was good, as I am mostly awake before 6.
Yesterday I had fun watching the blue-tits devouring the fat balls on my balcony. A couple of sparrows joined in, but they all got their turn. Then a big, black crow arrived and started feeding. The little birds were all in the tree, really getting their knickers in a twist about the big intruder, who looked like he was going to eat everything. Then the blue-tits all flew at him together, and he flattered off, croaking loudly his lament, and the littl'uns were once again the kings of the castle and able to enjoy *their* food.

Today I just have one tag to share. I spent a lot of time painting yesterday, but it's not finished yet. I have made a tag with a sponged ink background for the Unruly Paper Arts RAQ 1. I used my birch tree mask, and sponged gradient colours of DI through the trees. The word *Treasure* has been used as focal image over the trees, and I added some prima flowers and ribbon in complementary colours. I am also linking to Simon Says Stamp and Show, where this week a TH technique must be used.

Okay, that's all for today. Have a good Sunday, whatever the weather, take care, and thanks for visiting!

And the Winner Is....

Hi everybody, it's weekend again!
27 people left comments on my giveaway post, I put the names in my grey cap, shook them up, and then pulled a winner! And it is...................drumroll................Carol of SilverSprings Acres of Love. Then, because it was fun, I pulled another name, Sue from Sue the Iron. Both ladies will be receiving little packages with tags and some crafty surprises, I will get them off on Monday. Sue, I don't have your email, please contact me with your details! I have Carol's mail addy already.

The following tag has been made with the Craft Room Challenge - Music - in mind. I have made a double tag. Both tags have been stamped with a music score (LaBlanche). The background tag was first stamped with my fave background stamp and resist ink, and sponged with DI vintage photo. I stamped the top tag with my Leonardo Da Vinci lady, who has been coloured with water-colour pencils. The quote is from Shakespeare, and the trimmings from my stash.

Here's wishing you all a relaxing day. Have fun, take care and thanks a lot for dropping in!

Iceland or Iceland?

Good morning you all, it's party time again. Eva and Kristin are hosting Paint Party Friday again. It's week 5 of year 2 already! And Darcy is hosting week 15 of her Postcard Challenge, where our participants goal is Iceland....

This week Cissie is off for a trip to Iceland, with her friend Thelma in tow.
A couple of days beforehand, Jason and Cissie are sitting in her living room, enjoying tea, cream cakes and a football match on TV. Jason is only listening with half an ear to Cissie....
Jason, I’m going to Iceland on Friday with Thelma. Could you drive us?
Yeah, why not. But 'ang on, didn’t we go there last week? You bought piles of groceries; you can’t have eaten them all already!
Jason, we are going to ICELAND, not ICELAND!

(Iceland is a well known chain of grocery stores in England)
Well, I’m not deaf, am I? I 'eard you the first time!
Jason, I should say, we are FLYING to ICELAND! You need to drive us to Gatwick!
Bloody 'ell, watcha wanna fly for? It ain’t that far!
No Jason! We are flying to ICELAND. We are not going shopping!
Slowly, reality dawns on Jason. He asks, rather horrified,
Ain’t that somewhere at the North Pole? That place with volcanoes and ponies and ice all over the place?
It’s not at the North Pole, Jason. Your geography is very bad. I looked it up in my atlas, and it’s 3 centimetres further south!
Jason nearly chokes on a bite of cream cake, while trying to make sense of Cissie’s description. He still can’t understand WHY they want to go to Iceland, but as he always loses every argument with Cissie, he agrees to drive them to the airport.
They hardly fit through the door of the car, as they are so wrapped in furs and boots, and clutching thick blankets and snow-shoes. Jason pays for the excess baggage at the airport without saying a word, and watches them waddle off, resembling 2 brown bears looking for a place to hibernate....

After a pleasant flight, they arrive safely and are transferred to their hotel. They spend 2 days in Reykjavik before travelling on to Akureyri.

They are delighted to find real shops and plenty of restaurants, all of which offer a large selection of tasty and high calorie food, even though they are not always quite sure what it is....Perhaps that's just as well!!

(Photos from Wikipedia Commons)

They see the northern lights, and swim in hot springs. And it is not quite as cold as they thought it would be, and Cissie is able to wear her new purple silk blouse and skirt, made by her dressmaker from the silk Jason bought for her in Singapore. And one of the Iceland ponies forms a great attachment to Cissie, and follows her about; she can’t understand why....

And Jason is enjoying his peaceful week at home....

For PPF I once again have a WIP, I quite like it so far, but don't know what to do to finish it again....I have re-used a canvas, which has been painted with several layers of acrylics, after using a stencil to add some texture with structure paste.

I'm sorry I didn't get round to visiting everybody last week; I had problems with Blogger and was not always able to comment, but I was at least able to read the blogs. Hope this week will be easier.
Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

More Tags, a little Giveaway and a Cloudy Face

Hi you all! The week is flying by again, and the day never seems to have enough time to do everything! Yesterday I went shopping and bought a new mouse - for my computer. The old one was struggling hard to do its duty, but was on its last legs or tracking ball or whatever it is that keeps a mouse going. I had the old one for fifteen years, so I'm not complaining, as it outlived several laptops, but now it deserves to rest.
Yesterday afternoon I had a fun time watching birds feeding on my balcony. I discovered some fat balls in the cupboard whilst tidying, and thought the birds could do with some extra food as it's still very cold out, and they were queuing up and squabbling like kids waiting for sweeties! And while watching the birds I saw a strange cloud scudding across the sky. It was real April weather, wet, windy, cloudy, sunny and cold all at the same time, with plenty of variations. I really can see a face in profile on the left of it - can you?

And I made some tags, playing about with a nice stock of paper which I found while clearing up, and some stamps which had evidently gone into hiding!
The first one has been made with a trimmed cabinet card die-cut. The background has been stamped using the LaBlanche BG stamp that I recently unearthed, and resist ink, which had also disappeared. Then I stamped over it with a script stamp before stamping and clear embossing the image. I have just used Victorian velvet; the image appears darker because it has been embossed and then given a dust over with some perfect pearls in bronze. I added some lace, flowers and a ribbon from my stash.

For the other tags I have used distress ink again for the background, and worked in one colour - broken china in the first one and a pink from colour box fluid chalk inks for the second one. They are just experiments, I do like to just play around and get inky....

I am entering today's tags into the *Inky Backgrounds* RAQ at Unruly Paper Arts

I got a new follower yesterday, Julia Stratford-Wright, so would like to thank her for joining! And I have just seen that this is post number 666! And the first tag today was image 666 - I wonder if this is a special day?? So I will pick one of the people who leave comments today to win a little giveaway; some tags and a few surprises. Good luck! The winner will be chosen on Sat. 14th at 6:6:6 - six minutes and six seconds past 6a.m.

I will be back tomorrow with the next episode of Cissie and Jason. Have a good day, take care, and thanks for coming by!