Tuesday 6 January 2015

This, that and a bit more....

Hi Everybody!

Hope you all had a good day. I was very busy here, but still went for my two walks - I don't like leaving them out whatever happens. I spent a lot of time clearing my cellar and balcony, and removing old furniture, some rusty balcony chairs, a broken printer etc as they get collected by the refuse department tomorrow. It was a lot of work, but I'm glad I did it. And half of the stuff disappeared almost as soon as I put it out....Recycling!

At Tag Tuesday our theme today is ' winter wonderland'. I made a black tag from a recycled calendar page, stamped it with clear ink and white embossed it, and added some white and wintry embellishments. The red/gold background  is the wrapping paper from the bar of Galaxy chocolate that Suze sent me.






At Try it on Tuesday our challenge is 'Favourite things'. The challenge runs for 2 weeks, so you have loads of time to join in and I hope to see you there! Some of my favourite things are art Journaling, London, painting and stamping, and they came together here. At Art Journal Journey we are still 'Inspired by the masters....' and my inspiration was William Turner. I  did not even try to make anything like he did, I will never be able to, I just tried to capture the light and sun that he always uses so effectively in the background of my London scene. The background was painted with acrylics in blue, white, pink, yellow and gold. When it was dry, I stamped it using 2 different stamps - one that Sue sent me for Christmas, and part of an Artemio stamp that I had, and embossed it with fine EP in black. I placed the finished picture into a larger page which I stamped with London motives, and coloured with Pan Pastels to match the colours in the painting. The quote is from Samuel Johnson. At Simon Monday Challenge they want to see old paired with new, and here I have combined my old and new stamps to make one skyline of London.






The sun made long shadows again today, and I enjoyed walking along the Rhine to the sculpture park:






The sun lit up the castle ruins:



This bird showed itself on my balcony and in the tree behind the house today. It is about the size of a thrush, but has a red breast. The photo is not very good, but I hope that someone might know what it is?


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

39 comments:

  1. Beautiful work! My, you have been BUSY!
    I love the black and white contrast on the tag. So elegant! And that London skyline is fabulous! The colors are so rich and vivid! You did a wonderful job creating it.
    Thank you for joining us this week for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I've really enjoyed visiting your blog!
    Happy New Year!
    Michelle

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  2. Lovely work and photos today, no idea about the bird Valerie!

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  3. Both makes are wonderful Valerie, love the tag, the white on the black looks great. The Turner/London page looks great too and a fab quote!
    Sorry I have not been around much but wishing you all the very best for the coming year!!
    xxx

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  4. Fabulous page Valerie. Must make a start on mine. Love the pictures, my favourite is the one of the ruin with the sun shining through. Enjoy your Day. Hugs Rita xxx

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  5. wow,wie wunderschön deine seite ist,vor allem die farben sind klasse,das tag ist zauberhaft.
    die bilder sind traumhaft schön.
    hab einen schönen tag,liebes.


    knuddel

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  6. the bird could be a male bullfinch, although it may be too big for that, not sure what else it could be. Oh, didn't know the refuse dept would take things like printers - our's come next week, so will sort my old printer out. As always love your work and your walks - the snow here looks lovely and twinkly in the minus 8 temps this morning, but I shall enjoy it from my window I think, it's rather icy on the hills!

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  7. Fantastic post today - the tag, the London page, the photos - it's all really beautiful! Have a great day, hugs, Sarah

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  8. Dein Tag ist bildschön und Deine London Skyline ist traumhaft schön - die Faben und Strukturen sind einmalig ... toll dieser Spruch auch! Tolle Fotos Du fleissiges Lieschen!
    Hab einen wunderschönen Tag und ♥♥♥
    danke im Namen von AJJ!

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  9. A lot to see today. Sounds like you had a busy day yesterday so well done on still fitting in walks as well.

    Love the tag with the wonderful background showing of the die cuts.

    The artwork is fabulous with such strong colours and the London stamps show up so well. Like the blend of colours that were inspired by Turner as well.

    Beautiful photographs of your walk and we took shadow pics on the sands--you are so inspiring. Vic was fascinated when I showed him what I meant by the 'long legs' :)

    Have a great day

    Love Chrissie x

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  10. Valerie, your this and that and a bit more is just awesome....as always.xxx{The Journey is the Start – my personal blog}


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  11. Total irre sind deine Schattenfotos, man sieht an der tiefstehenden Sonne, dass du schon ganz früh morgens unterwegs bist! Das schaffe ich nur im Sommer.
    ...oh ja, Ausmisten sollte ich auch mal wieder...
    Liebe Grüße von Ulrike

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    Replies
    1. Ich kann nicht Lang liegen also bin ich meist frueh unterwegs!

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  12. Your works are always so stunning. Great post, Valerie.
    Hope you have a happy day, hugs xx

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  13. Love your winter tag with the red and black, such a striking contrast and your London page is fabulous with all the fiery colours! Wonderful photos today! Have a great day, hugs :)

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  14. It looks like you really enjoyed your walks today with the beautiful sun and shadows. The tag and painting are really stunning.

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  15. Out with the old and in with the new! You certainly gave yourself a workout yesterday. Super tag and London scene, I've only ever been once to London! Love the pic of the sunlit ruins! And sorry, no idea about the bird! Xx

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  16. Sowohl dein Tag als auch deine Journalseite gefallen mir super gut - Klasse schwarz-weiß-Idee, eine Kombination, die mir immer sehr schwer fällt.
    Du hast ja tolles Wetter, herrlich blauer Himmel. Naja, ich will nicht jammern, hier kam die Sonne heute auch durch :)

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  17. Turner is one of my favourite artist too, love your journal page hugs Bee

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  18. Beautiful winter wonderland, I love this tag. And the page look so wonderful with the bright and amazing colours, great inspiration as always.
    Great photos, I specially like the castle ruins.
    Hugs, Mar

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  19. Hi Valerie, I especially like your wintry style tag and the journal page is bright and colorful. Love the saying on it too.
    Your shadow pics are wonderful. Looks like it was just the right mix of sun to get those shadows.
    Great blog background too. It looks so cold, crisp and pretty!
    Hugs

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  20. Stunning tag Valerie and the journal page is amazing as are your wonderful photo;s

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  21. Great work again!!!! Lovely photos the castle is my favorite :)

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  22. Bright sunny and green. Lovely. Gray and spitting a bit of snow today and cold wind off the water all round. Just got a second walk in and now to warm up and do a bit of creating. Love your London graphics and the background contrast. xox

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  23. Wonderful tag and of course I think your journal page is absolutely fabulous. It has your special touches and style shining off the page.
    Lovely photos, especially the castle.
    Yvonne xx

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  24. A fabulous piece of recycling with the tag Valerie. Love the strong colours with the London images, makes a stunning psge.
    Looks like you had a great walk, fabulous picture of the castle. Don't know - but could the bird be a Bullfinch or a Redstart.
    Avril xx

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    1. oh yes, a Redstart it probably is - thrush sized for sure.

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  25. My, what lonnng legs you have ;) lol
    Your tag is very striking, but I think your London page is WONDERful! Love it muchly!
    Your photographs are fabulous as always. Can't help with the bird I'm afraid. You could load it to Google's search page and select search by image . ((hugs)) x

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  26. Wow! The color in that London piece is just stunning!! xo

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  27. Stunning pieces! Love both of them! The london piece is so bright and colorful! Love that! Thank you so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Hugs, Sandra

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  28. Both pieces are beautiful, clever how you recycled the chocolate bar wrap too. Looks like it was a pretty walk too. Big hugs, ~Diane

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  29. Beautiful colourful artwork! You've used the gorgeous sunrise colours :) Hugs, Shirleyxx

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  30. Wonderful how you have caught the castle lit.
    And your "Turner" piece is itself alight. I think someone said Turner painted light and that's just what you've done, both with your painting and camera.

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  31. Beautiful project for TIOT. Great photos as well!! Hugs, Cindy x

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  32. Wonderful project I love it..The stamps must go on my I want and must have list. The photos are breathtaking.
    hugs
    susan s

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  33. Stunning art once again. Just loving the black red and white tag with the gorgeous scene and of course Big Ben has never look better and more artistic.
    Hugs
    Desíre
    {Doing Life – my personal blog}

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  34. Absolutely breathtaking creation. Wow stamping and design!!

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