Matisse, Happy Mail and a beautiful sky

Hi everybody!

We were blessed with another wonderful Saturday with mild temperatures and sunshine, and I much enjoyed my walks along the Rhine and through the fields. In between a friend came, and I helped her craft a surprise for her Dad's birthday,  and later her daughter came for her English lesson, so Mum was in the kitchen and daughter in the living room, and I went back and forth! But it was fun! And of course we managed to drink a lot of coffee, eat cookies and chocolate and chat!

For 'Inspired by the masters' at Susi's  Art journal Journey, into which Susi puts so much energy and soul,  I have created my version of Henri Matisse's 'Blue nude'. I made the templates for these cut-outs some years back for another challenge, so it is always good to have them ready prepared. And even better that I found them straightaway! The background has been painted with blue, black and Viva rust and sprinkled with a mix of hologram EP and fairy dust. The EP was a mistake, I just grabbed the wrong pot, but decided to try it out, and when heated it gave a wonderful background, which I have since tried on other projects, too . I used the templates to draw the figures on some rather faded DP, which I got for nothing because it had been in the shop window - I like the faded effect, and it was just right for here. I had fun playing with Matisse, and hope that some of you will also be inspired from the Masters and join us at AJJ!

Last week I received a wonderful package from Patty of Magpie's nest.

Thanks, Patty, for all of these gorgeous things. She wrote lots of little notes, explaining things, and my fave was the one below, which really made me smile! There are 2 wonderful lavender wands, which she bound herself, which smell heavenly, and are now tied to my bed-head, as lavender helps you sleep. There is a Swan Vestas box filled with little goodies, a wonderful Frida card for my collection, a funky bird wall hanging made with a hand carved stamp, wonderful paper napkins, and loads of fibres, pretty papers and ephemera. All in all like Christmas come early!

Thank you, dear Patty! The little bird is hanging in my arty kitchen, and all the other things will be treasured and used!

This little hand sewn bag was also stuffed with goodies, and wrapped in lovely tissue paper.

The sky today was truly a joy to behold. This morning it was just beautiful, but this afternoon, as I came home from my walk, it was glorious:

Here's wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Take care, have fun, and thanks a lot for coming by!