Loooong post for various challenges

Hi Everybody!

Today I'm trying three different challenges in one post. The first piece is an A3 mixed media collage with hot colours meant for Erika's new theme, 'When it's hot' at AJJ. I used an image from an old magazine, which I put on a background which was painted with acrylics and pastels, and then collaged it with more magazine cut-outs. I am also linking it to Rain's theme this week, which is to try a different medium

My long legged birds were shown in May, but I am re-showing them for  Elizabeth's 2nd on the 2nd, just because I like them. They were made from home made templates which were collaged using recycled materials and then mounted onto a stenciled and doodled background. My birds are also fitting for Rain's theme, as I went new ways making them:

And I wrote a story for each of my special bird breeds:

'Today I have some more of the strange birds which can only be seen in Balconia-by-the-Rhine. I am showing a pair of wire-legged post birds. These birds have thin feathers and cover themselves with stamps and  scraps of paper or cloth to keep themselves warm. They watch the postmen when they are delivering letters and often steal stamps from them. They are not shy,  and have a loud call which sounds like co-ffeeeee, co-ffeeeee. The male and females look alike, and like the long-legged spotted stargazers, the  female usually stands on the back of the male'

This is the other set of exotic birds found only here in my corner of the world - the long legged spotted stargazers:

 'I used the paper template to trace the birds onto some white linen recycled from an ancient pair of summer trousers. First of all I ironed the material onto some butcher's paper to make it easier to handle. I coloured the linen with some distress ink in wild honey which I ironed to fix the colour. Then the 2 birds got different coloured spots - black spots for the 'female' and turquoise ones for the 'male'. I sewed around the birds with black thread and then cut the beaks and legs from gold cardboard. The wings and tails were made with scraps of gold netting, some sequined tape and gold netting. These birds represent the  long legged spotted stargazers, only to be seen in the land of Balconia-by-the-Rhine. These birds are always seen in pairs, and the female stands on the back of the male so that she has a better view of what is going on in the neighbourhood....In return, the female bird massages the back of the male while she is standing on it....

My birds have been placed onto a hand-painted and textured  A3 (12" x 17") background. The quote is by J.M. Barrie'

And as it's 2nd on the 2nd, I am re-showing some photos from  July 2nd 2016:

If you've got this far and are still awake, congratulations!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!