T stands for This and ThaT

Hi Everybody!

On Tuesday we are starting a new challenge at TIOT - Stencils and or die-cuts.

As always, projects of all formats are welcome, and you have 2 weeks to link to our blog. Hope to see you there.

I used both stencils and die cuts on my A3 mixed media piece.  The background was painted using a mixture of gesso and cream and pink coloured paint used through a floral stencil. The birds were added with a Dina Wakley stencil, and the cat was made with a hand-made stencil. The embellishments are all die cuts cut from recycled calendar pages. The cat was painted with acrylics using a white marker pen for the details:

We are also half way through our  steampunk / mechanical challenge at 

Tag Tuesday. I made a hybrid tag, with a painted and collaged background and some digital additions from Mischief Circus. 'All time is precious' is a great quote, and we need to remember that time is a very precious commodity which cannot be recycled:

Tuesday is also time for Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so here a warm welcome to all of the nice ladies of the T Group.

Last week I went for a meal at the Chinese restaurant with G & N, and afterwards we drove over to the other Rhine side. We discovered a nice cafe in the Yacht Club where we drank our afternoon coffee. N had a latte macchiato, G had an apple juice and I had cappuccino:

The view out of the window:

A lady was selling lilacs freshly cut in her allotment, and G bought N and me each a bunch of them to take home - they have such a heavenly perfume. Thanks G!

The coffee bike at the Wednesday market - I take my coffee down to the Rhine and drink it there:

 I made this lemon cheese cake a couple of weeks back when we had a get together:

And I couldn't resist this dandelion, shining like a little sun:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Back to the Middle Ages, part 3

Hi Everybody!

Today I am continuing with the photos from Burg Linn:

A coot on its nest in the middle of the water:

The grounds surrounding the castle now have various uses - some of it is farmed, there is a riding stable and lots of beautiful allotments:

The signs are still written in the old German script:

Another heron:

Bucolic scenes by the pastures:

Social housing for bats:

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Back to the middle ages, part 2

Hi Everybody!

Today I am sharing some things made this week for 

Paint Party Friday,

hosted by Eva and Kristin.

I have been busy cutting stamps at my group again, so here is what I have been up to. They are just stamped on scrap paper, but I am looking forward to using them in journal pages etc.

I made 2 stamps with African women at my group, they are both about 8" high.

It's always exciting inking up self carved stamps for the first time:

This one is a a cat called Herbert. He looks a bit old and tired, perhaps just how I feel....The stamp is approx 3 x 3"

And now I have more photos from our trip to Burg Linn, a moated castle from the middle ages in a neighbouring town on the other side of the Rhine near here. You can see the first part of the photos here.

After walking through part of the beautiful grounds we came to the bridge over the moat to take us into the castle courtyard:

The clematis is blooming very early:

This evil tempered dragon  lady was guarding the entrance:

But she was magicked away and the way was then free:

The Romans had a settlement here in times predating the castle but there are lots of remains shown in the castle museum. On Sunday there were  tents on the green where people were demonstrating various aspects of Roman life - defence tactics, games, food, cosmetics and armoury etc:

A  miniature catapult:

I will show part three of the photos in my next post.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!