A bit of this and a bit of that....

Good morning everybody, it's still fine and sunny here, although the weather frogs have said we can expect a change - let's just wait and see! Had a nice, lazy day yesterday, just lazed around, did some light crafting, got all my letters ready to post, and had a pleasant day.

I don't even need to frighten the lady at the post office with them, as I printed out the stanps at home and can pop them into the box in front of our house.
Then I made a card for the *Less is more* challenge, which has to be off centred but have perfect balance. Everything I tried looked wrong, or it was too much, so in the end I settled on this one, which is definately less, but that's about it. It has been stamped with Stazon black using stamps from Artemio and LaBlanche, and coloured with water colours.

And I finished another 2 bookmark dolls, which are already packed in their envelopes and ready to set out on their journey into the world.

This time I used some hand-made Indian paper that I discovered in my bottomless pit AKA Hall closet while searching recently for lino colours.
I enjoyed making them again, it is strange that they are all made from one pattern, but all look different when they are finished.
Today I need to be take my car to get washed, it is covered with a layer of yellow pollen, and looks awful, and tomorrow I have an appointment at the TÜV - the people who do the compulsory car check every 2 years to check if they are still safe and road worthy, so I want to make a good impression. It has been washed a couple of times in the past 2 years, but not toooooooooooo often - don't want it to shrink!
And I made another smile box with some pictures from Kaiserswerth taken at different times of the year, enjoy!

Digital scrapbook generated with Smilebox

So, that was it for today. Have a good day, take care and thanks for visiting!

A Mini Book and sunny days

I am almost ashamed to say *good morning* as it is getting on for midday here! Went to bed late, read even later, and then slept and slept and slept....I am sure it does me good, mostly I get too little sleep, but somehow I always have a bad conscience when I sleep so late!
Had a nice day yesterday. Had breakfast with Inge, then we played skipbo for an hour or two, and then we went to B's, where we were invited to an Easter Sunday Coffee Party. The weather was great, so we were able to help ourselves from a table groaning under the weight of piles of home-baked cakes, Rabbit biscuits and Strawberries and cream, and then sit outside in the garden, eating, chatting and drinkin loads of coffee - always my fave!
When I came home I had to get some work done on some secret projects, which cannot yet be shown, and then I made another little album from one sheet of 12x12 paper. I have used *Rye* from Seven Gypsies.

I love the warm greeny-browny colour of the paper, and have just stamped some flourishes onto each page in Stazon black to deepen the pattern a bit. Then I threw all the bits and pieces I could find in the muddle on my table at it, layering pictures over each other and putting together things which do not really belong together, but I love this eclectic mix and the rather surreal effect it gives. The album has been sewn together with black ribbon, as one side of the paper is black. I have arranged the pages so that I always have 2 of the same together, and have just put a small flower on each of the black ones, so that the recipient will have some space for own notes or pictures. I made the charm for the front cover from beads hung onto a swivel pin with jump rings, and that was it.

Had a fun time making the little book, as always, but now I need do something rather sad - I have to go into my arty kitchen, and put all my mini-book *ingredients* back into their boxes, and then put them away into the *Bottomless pit*, which will then be sealed with a magic charm like the Chamber of Secrets in Harry Potter. The charm is necessary to prevent it all jumping out at me every time I open the door....

Have a nice Easter Monday, happy crafting, painting and happy whatever, take care, and thanks for dropping in today!

Happy Easter and Sketch Sunday

Happy Easter you all! Another bright and sunny day here in Rhineland and I am off to visit a friend, and this afternoon we are both invited to an Easter Coffee-and Cake party, so the day sounds good!
I have made a little *Smile Box* with some vintage Easter pics and some photos of some of my recent creations. Enjoy!

Free slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

And then it is Sketch Sunday again!
I am sharing a watercolour sketch I made whilst on holiday at Lake Constance, looking across to the alps. While I was painting, clouds appeared, it started to rain, and my poor painting was in danger of being washed away, but I sat there with an umbrella held over my painting things till it had stopped.

So, that was it, short and - hopefully - sweet today!
Have a lovely day, take care and thanks for stopping by!

A Sneak-Peek and Mail-Art for the Three Muses Challenge

Good morning to you all! Hope you have all slept well, as I did. It's a bit cooler here just now, but it's still early, and the air outside is heavy with the scent of lilac and jasmine, just beautiful!
Yesterday I worked nearly all day on a mini-book, but I can only give you a sneak-peek today as I want it to be a surprise for the buddy I am swapping with. I know she likes pink, so used a lot of victorian velvet and antique linen here, to give soft and natural colours.

It was great fun to make, anyhow, and the rest will be revealed when it has been sent and received!

And I made a mail-art envelope / label for the *Three Muses* Challenge. The task here was to create an envelope or mail art piece, and as I have some books to send off next week, I have made this to send them.

It is a large (A4) mixed media piece, using collage, stamping and rub ons in layers one over the other. I am wondering what the dear lady at the post office will have to say this time!

So, that was it for today! Have a good day, take care and thanks for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday, Simplicity and some tags....

Good morning you all! Here is Rhineland is really hot and sunny, like summer weather. So I will be taking a walk through the fields or along the Rhine later.
I have been searching the net for *ceramic paper* that I described yesterday, and found that the manufacturer I buy it from, LaBlanche, sells it in England under the name of *Speciality paper* by Sir Stampalot. It may be available from other firms and places, too, but hope that helps to answer some of the inquiries and mails I got yesterday. It is a wonderful paper for stamping and blending.
Today is Paint Party Friday, so welcome, come along and join in the fun!
I have some lino cut prints to show today. I made the lino cut some years back, and printed a few heads off yesterday to show you.

I have printed these using some scrap paper and acrylic colours, you get better results using special colours for lino-printing, but they are somewhere at the back of my bottomless pit AKA the hall closet, and if I had started to dig them out I wouldn't yet be sitting here writing about it....
I like the way that the picture - which was supposed to be a self portrait! (well, I did have long, permed hair back then!) - looks different with the different colours and backgrounds. A paint lighter than the background almost looks like a negative. And by using a light layer of paint you get a rather ghostly effect.
Anyway, I enjoyed doing the prints yesterday, and I will do some more in the -hopefully - near future.

And I still have a card to show you, a bit of a contrast programme.
It's a very simple card I made for *Simplicity*, where the challenge this week is to use an old stamp to make a thank-you card:

And here are three tags made, all using the same image, and the same background stamping, but using a different colour scheme each time. I printed the images out in blue, green and sepia, and fitted them behind a computer generated film strip that I printed onto acetate. I tried to find embellies for each tag in a fitting colour scheme, and like the effect of having just one main colour on each atg.

That was it for today, have a great day, thanks for looking, and take care!

Spiders, Tags and Dolls

Good morning everybody! Well, everything seems to be bright and sunny this morning except for me. Can't seem to wake up properly, think I was reading too long last night!
Had a nice day out yesterday, came home and wanted to relax....And then I had an unexpected and unwanted visitor. A big spider walked from my balcony into my living room. I HATE spiders. I can tackle a lot of things, but when these hairy legged monsters walk through my door all I can do is screech! Not that screeching helped - it didn't impress the spider, and nobody came to save me. So I tipped the paper out of my paper basket and up-ended it over the spider. Pushed a sheet of card underneath it, and then tipped it out into the big outdoors again. And as punishment for not having splatted the spider, had to pick up all the bits of paper that had been in the bin before I tipped them out! In case you haven't noticed, I do not like spiders!!
After that I needed to do something to come down again, so sat in my arty kitchen and made 2 tags, using all the bits and bobs that were still flying around there after making my mini books.

Both tags have been made using ceramic paper, which has been distressed with gradient colours of TH inks. They have both been stamped with a background of script and flourishes, before adding some rub ons.
The first one has TH heart, wings and crown die cuts added, cut from my *special* paper. And then I added a cameo, some lace, a little branch of roses and an image from Crafty Individuals. And my fave leo is there, too.

This one has also been stamped with parts of my lovely leopard stamp. I added a little scrap angel, gave her some extra wings made from paper which has been painted, stamped and die cut, and sat her on the leo's head. The text at the top says, *Music charms the wildest beast*. Added some lace and beads at the bottom and that was it.


The little dolls I offered on my blog yesterday will be going out to five ladies next week. I had 2 more that I made, so didn't have to draw. So Joanna, 2am scrapper, Barb, Suze & Donna will be getting them. I will get them ready to post over Easter and then go to our wonderful post office on Tuesday to send them off....
Thanks for looking in today. Have a great day today, whatever you are up to, and take care!

Gingersnap Challenge *Fans* GC99 & another card for *Less is More*

Good morning everybody! Another fine and sunny day here, and I am getting ready to visit a friend for a day of companionship, going for walks, eating nice food and chatting about this and that.
There is a new challenge starting on Gingersnaps today, GC99 with *fans* as theme. I made an easel card, using stamped geometrical forms on a background of patterned paper, a little stamped scene, and a fan made from some sugared, printed vellum.

And I made another three Japanese bookmark dolls, each carrying a fan. I used paper from the *Sasha* paper collection from Anna Griffin. The three dolls are up for grabs, if you would like one, please leave a comment, and say which one you would like. If more than three should be interested, I will do a draw.

And lastly, I made a third – and last – card for* Less is More*, although I think this one is a bit more than less! I have made an aperture card with an acetate window, stamped with 2 flourishes in Stazon black. The flowers have been stamped with Stazon olive and violet, cut out, and decoupaged. I haven’t decided on a sentiment yet.

So, that was all for today. Thanks for dropping in, look after yourselves and have a great day!