Brooches, puddles and shoes

Hi everybody!

Today was a really wet day - it poured all night and most of the morning, and so I found myself jumping puddles this afternoon. But I know we have had much too little rain in the past weeks, and the earth needs it badly.

At Moo Mania and More the challenge this time is 'shoes', which explains my tag. Actually, I do not have many pairs of shoes, as I mostly wear trainers, boots or sandals, so the other shoes in my cupboard lead a sad life and just get dusted off once in a blue moon.

I used stamps from Hampton Art to stamp the motives with embossing ink and white EP. Then I fussy cut them, coloured them with gel-pens, and mounted them with foam squares onto some black card, which I matted with some pink animal-print card. The sentiment has been written with a white highlighter. Finished!

At Artful Times the challenge is to make a brooch. Anything is allowed, but it must have a pin at the back. I remembered the little knitted brooches I used to do with the kids when I was teaching, they used to love making them, as they are quick and easy to finish and make nice presents for Mums, sisters, aunties etc. . We used to make them for our stall at the school bazaar, too. The 'needles' are toothpicks, with beads as ends. I spread some gluestick onto them to hold the stitches. The second one is the simpler variation - a ball of wool, glued together with the needles stuck through it.

And here are the pins I sewed painstakingly onto the backs!

And while I was at it, I knitted a little bracelet to match....

This afternoon was more or less dry, with just a few spots of rain, so I managed a walk round the block. The ground was very swampy again, so I had to be careful not to get wet feet.

But it was interesting to see the world reflected in the puddles:

Puddle jumping is a good exercise!

The sky beneath my feet:

Another of the paths that I love, it is always so peaceful walking through the woods.

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

Double Tuesday once again

Hi everybody!

It's time for another edition of 'Double Tuesday' - the challenges at Tag Tuesday and Try it on Tuesday.

At Tag Tuesday our theme is cooking. The pretty image I have used is from heartfelt creations, the cherry pie die cuts and the kitchen tools were in my my stash. I thought it was appropriate to use bakers' twine to tie the tools to the tag. The wooden spoon and cherry pie have been fixed with foam squares to give more dimension.

At Try it on Tuesday our theme is springtime. I have made a journal using some embossed chipboard covers. I painted the covers with cream acrylics, and then  used my diamond stencil with mineral structure paste. The little birds are tissue transfers, which I varnished with crackle glaze, before distressing with DI in forest moss. The journal has been filled with watercolour paper. I kept the embellishments simple - a ribbon binding a few charms and a flourish with a daisy. 

The back:

The inside covers:

On my walk through the park today I enjoyed seeing how high the grass and flowers are growing on the meadows. These meadows do not get mowed during the growing season, the grass and flowers are allowed to grow wild, which I just love.

The ramp leading up to the old walls where I so love to walk:

 And as usual, the horses in the moat were busy eating and having a good time:

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

Happy Mail, stir-fry and a book cover

Hi everybody!

It was cool and wet here today, but I still got my 2 walks done, the first one under my umbrella (which perhaps inspired me to use my fave Mr UM again). The good thing about wet days is that there is hardly anyone outside, so I feel like I have my  corner of the world all to myself.

I discovered a small journal with torn covers stuffed into one of my drawers, so I decided to make a new cover for it. I used some recycled card to cut it from, and painted it with my usual mix of blues and greens, and added some background stamping. Then I stamped the diamond pattern using embossing ink and white EP and my lovely stencil from Diane. I added some of the many UFOs (untidy flying around objects) from my work table, and that was it. It looks good now, and I can use it again.

The front:

The back:

And both sides shown together:

I took part in a 'play it forward' art swap with Marji and yesterday this beautiful concertina book arrived in my mail box. I love the colours, and the grungy style, and how she has used fabric on it, and carried on its pattern - fantastic. Thanks a lot, this is going onto my mini-book shelf with my other treasures!

And I also found a large envelope from dear Sandy in my box!

In it was a copy of craft stamper, with a free stamp attached, and I spent a very nice evening reading and getting inspired!

And this wonderful stamp came with it - wow!

I am looking forward to getting it inked up and used on my journal pages and cards.

Thanks again, Sandy, you are a sweetie, that's for sure!

 And last but not least, this photo is extra for Sandy, as she always asks what I have been cooking and baking. I made a delicious stir-fry, and enjoyed every morsel of it!

That's all for today!  Have a good one, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Inspired by spring

Hi everybody!
It's weekend again, so hope that all those who have been working hard all week will have time to rest, have fun, and be creative.
Yesterday evening we had heavy rains accompanied by thunder and lightning, and I enjoyed watching the flashes from the safety of my window. Today was warm and sunny enough to walk out without a jacket - that was good.

This afternoon I managed to finish a journal page, inspired by spring and the plants which are springing up everywhere. The background has been painted with blues and green metallic paints, and stamped with my script and scroll stamps to give some texture. I stamped into the wet paint without using any ink, just transferring colour from one place to another. I wanted it to look like a backdrop for the white images. I used little fragments of old letters again, this time from the 1930s. I placed them mostly along the bottom of the page, so they are growing like the plants around them. Words grow into stories! I used stamps from Lawrence and Morgan, LaBlanche and Artemio, stamping with embossing ink and embossing with white EP. The wings of the dragonfly and the bee, and some of the flowers have been 'stickled' with diamond Stickles. I think the quote is an encouragement for me to try to be more contented with things as they are.

I am linking to PPF, AJJ - moments of happiness,  FSC - flying things, and Manon's Paper Saturdays

Here are some impressions from my walk today -

I have been watching this snail for a week, it has not made much progress climbing up the wall

And this one was crossing the tow-path at the Rhine

I didn't find a four leafed clover

Another of my fave paths:

And trees holding hands....

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