Tag Tuesday - Africa

Hi Everybody!

The weekend has flown by again. Today was cloudy and cool, but still nice for walking, and I visited my friends the ducks and geese. They all seemed to be a bit tired today, perhaps bringing up their little quackers is a strenuous task!

April 22nd is a day with a lot of memories for me, as it was our wedding anniversary and also the anniversary of the day my husband died, so it's a time with mixed feelings.

The theme at Tag Tuesday is Africa, and at Moo Mania and More 'Triptych', so I combined the two challenges. I used some animal-print paper for the background, and black paper cut from some old calendars for the toppers. I dug my small Africa stencils out, and kept to white and a bit of neon-orange for my colour scheme. The lady is a home made stencil, which I drew from an image on a card that I got sent many moons ago. It's very simple but I like the effect, and got it done while waiting for my veggie stir-fry to cook, so had some nice aromas to sporn me on.

The little figure is a palm-oil collector from Ghana, a souvenir from long ago. It was made from melted down  English 3-penny coins (theepenny bits), and is something that I treasure.

My walk today took me past the lakes and then to the ducks and geese:

Here the stream is disappearing under a little bridge:

This is a 'lover's walk', where the trees form a green tunnel:

That's all for today. Have a good one, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Castle ruins and sunshine

Hi everybody!
I hope your Sunday was as sunny as it was here. I spent a lot of time outside, it really seems a shame to stay home when the weather is soooo good!

This card is the last of my DT pieces for Gecko Galz for this month. It was made using the same technique as the 2 others I showed some days back, using a digi image (Silhouette stamp set S04) printed onto paper, hand-painted and stamped with acrylics, and embossed with glitter hologram EP. I mounted it onto black card, and then onto a turquoise metallic card blank. I added a shabby bow and some roses as embellishments.

(Material list: metallic card blank, hand-painted paper, hologram EP, embellisments, scrap card for matting)

Today I was happy to see that our castle ruins were open again. They were closed for a couple of months to do some security work so that nobody gets hurt by falling stones. I love being there, and watching the Rhine and the ships from the top of the ruins. They picked a very strategic spot to build the imperial castle.

I hope these two are still in love:

I love the way the plants grow out of the stones.

It seems to be a good place for nesting.

I don't really like this statue, but it seems to be there to stay.

Looking down to the tow-path.

And these seem to have been the guest rooms:

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

A triptych, Paris and blue skies over the Rhine

Hi everybody!

Today we were able to enjoy blue skies and sunshine, just made a trifle chilly by a cold and biting wind - oh well, you can't have everything!Thanks to all who sent well wishes for my poor computer - I am doing my best to keep it alive and running!

My  piece today is a triptych, made for 2 challenges - Fashionable stamping challenges, where they want to see our favourite techniques, and for Moo Mania and more, where Susi wants to see a triptych. My fave techniques are using recycled materials, especially cardboard, painting, distressing, stamping etc.

I started off with corrugated cardboard, recycled from the container, partly peeled it, painted it with gesso, and then added some colours with DI and background stamping. The top tags have been cut from my müsli box, distressed with Victorian velvet and vintage photo, and stamped with a French script stamp and a flourish, both from LaBlanche. The Paris sights, post-mark etc have been stamped with black Stazon onto foil from another piece of packaging, and cut out. This nearly drove me mad, as the Stazon didn't stay on, or came out patchy, and it needed several attempts before it looked right. I fixed them onto the top tags with clear sticky pads. I used some floral rub-ons as embellishments, and tied the three part together with string. The Paris stamps are from a set by Artemio.

Blue skies and blue water:

Ships large and small:

 

Sheltered paths to walk along:

 

Here's hoping that the sun shines for you over the Easter weekend. 

Take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Maps, London, and Happy Mail

Hi everybody!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
We had a cool and blustery day here, but I am not complaining - it was still possible to get out for walks, and I am really thankful for all the mild and sunny days we have had.

I have been spending a lot of time with my computer, and I am pleased to say that it is not having so many serious glitches just now, and I hope that I have given it enough tender, loving care to keep it it running for a few months more. It's still having delayed reactions, but the delay is now seconds and not minutes or hours, and the big hissy fits have stopped!

I also managed to get some stuff finished that I have had on my work desk all week.

This piece has been made with corrugated card. I partly peeled a piece 14x13" and painted the background with white  acrylic paint. The image is  an old map of Whitechapel in East London, near where I was born and grew up. I added the borders digitally, and then coloured the carboard edges to match, using 'cake' colours, as Conny wants to see maps and these colours over at Mix it Monthly.

I printed out some photos of me as a child, and of some of the places where I lived, went to school, worked at a library as a student etc. I connected the photos with lines and used beads to show the places on the map, making it a map of my early years. I was born near the Tower of London, and went to infant school near there, too. The street at the bottom next to the Tower is where I was born. In the top photo on the left I am with a group of girls at Grammar school. The top photo on the right is the sweet shop on the corner where we used to go  when we had a penny to spare. Mr Umbrella Man is accompanying me on my journey back to past times.

I am also linking to PPF, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and to
Manon's Paper Saturdays

Today we had  a mix of sun, wind, clouds and here and there a spot of rain, but not while I was out!

Looking along the Rhine from the Church:

Towering clouds:

Another Easter tree:

 Horses by the river:

Last, but not least,  a lovely Easter card sent to me by dear Jeanette - thanks a lot!

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

Oldies but Goldies

Hi everybody!

i have been spending a lot of time on my computer these past few days, just trying to stop the glitches and keep it going, and it is sometimes rather frustrating. For now, it is still working, but I will be sharing some 'old stuff' with you for PPF this week, as there was not time to finish anything more. I think I did show some of these paintings, made back in the nineties, but I am not sure if I showed  them all or not. Anyway, they are from a series of nudes I made using mainly blue, green and orange, and are painted in gouache.

 This is a caricature of me, drawn for me by a friend back in 1990. He drew caricatures and cartoons for newspapers, and I love this 'portrait' he made of me, with my red hair (where did all the colour go?), green eyes and of course, my dear dog Scruffy.

Yesterday I 'met' the sheep on my walk along the Rhine. The herds are 'employed' by the town to keep the grass short and the Meadows and embankments well trodden, which makes them stronger if the Rhine floods. They get a new grazing place staked out each day, and always have plenty of green and juicy grass - they seem to be happy at their work. They were 'working' on a patch directly at the embankment yesterday, so was able to get some photos without wading through the meadows. Some had bells round their necks, although I don't know why.

Time for a drink after eating:

 

I saw this beautiful decorated Easter tree outside a house in a neighbouring street, so wish you all a happy Easter:

 

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