Some Freebies and Blue Chair Diary Sketch Sunday

Good morning èverybody. It's nearly 10 a.m. here, and I just rolled out of bed - what is the world coming to! I slep well two night running, that is a wonder. That must be thanks to those who wished me another good night's sleep, thank you!
Today it is Blue Chair Diary Sketch day so later I will be showing you my sketch. But first I have 4 vintage pics for you to Download. They are all taken from *Der Häuslicher Rathgeber* von 1899, magazines with stories, fashions, adverts and tips just like now, but a bit different.
So here are your pics, hope you can use them:

You are very welcome to download and use them in your projects!.



Now to my pictures for *Sophia's Blue Chair Diary, where it is sketch sunday today. I drew a self portrait and then coloured it with water colour pictures while I was feeling very down, and have called it *depression*. It's not a nice picture, but I think we sometimes have to record things as they are. These pictures are not for downloading, not that anybody would want to, just saying after the freebies! The first one is after drawing, the second one with some colour added

And just so that you don't all feel too sad now, here's another little joke from my friend Narda:

Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5lbs.

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.

Every 7 minutes of everyday, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.

Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like..."You know, sometimes I forget to eat!" ......Now, I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys. But I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills...she has 14 kids but doesn't really care.

My body is not all that communicative but I heard from it the other day after I said "Body, how would you like to go to the six o'clock class of vigorous toning?" Clear as a bell my body said "Listen bitch.....do it and die."

The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are - eating too much; impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

So, here's wishing you a perfect day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

A painting, an altered canvas and something to laugh over....

Yesterday I had another restless day, which means I just keep busy, working on my projects, painting, which calms me down, tidying drawes and boxes, which gives me some structure to hold on to. And I slept for the first time this week, right though the night, 8 hours in one stretch, and that is something I am very thankful for. I think I must have dreamt about my sister Cynthia, who died 11 years ago, because I was thinking of her, and a dress she once gave me, as I woke up. But it must have been a pleasant dream, as there was just this nice memory .
So Good morning you all! It's another hot and sunny day here, I think it will be a balcony day....
Yesterday I was busy painting, and made a picture similar to the one from yesterday, and a canvas. First the picture, which has been painted in tempera colours again, a mixed media piece, and I even like it myself.

I think I like the colours better than yesterday, they have more warmth. It really does me good just to sit and paint, I think there is nothing more calming that I know.

And I made another canvas, as i discovered a whole pile in different shapes and sizes in the Bottomless Pit, AKA Hall Closet.
I have one again used a page from one of the old magazines, lots of mod-podge and gesso, and then some images and rub ons. The picture of HÄnsel and Grethel was in another book that is slowly decaying. I have a lot of books from the late 19th, early 2oth century, and as the paper was very acidy, the pages turn brown, and brittle, and then crumble, so I am using what I can in art projects to try o conserve at least parts of them.

And to close, some more funnies sent by my dear friend Narda, who lives in Percy, Illinois, and always send me things to get me laughing;

Gentle Thoughts for Today -

Birds of a feather flock together . . . .and then "POOP" on your car.

A penny saved is a government oversight.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are XL.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble..

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells 'Theirs...'

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of Algebra.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young. Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth .

AMEN!

So here's wishing you a happy day, take care, and thanks for visiting. And come back tomorrow, I will have some nice vintage pics for your to download! (No, I didn't mean my photo - who asked that silly question?!)

Paint Party Friday and some more challenges....

Good morning everybody. As you know, yesterday I woke up really grumpy, and today is not much better. So I distracted myself by keeping myself busy, sort of crafting like crazy, crop till you flop, paint till you faint, scrap till you..............................now, now! Scrap till you yap!
Anyway, it helped to get through the day.
For Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin, I am sharing another *dream* picture, then this was a face that was watching me in a dream. Just floating about and looking, and only the head and the blue and silver hair, no body....

It has been painted with tempera colours.

I have made a small canvas - 4x4", which I am entering into 2 challenges;
*The written Word* at the Three Muses Blog and *Alter a canvas* at Alter it Monthly

The canvas has been covered with criss-cross strips of an old book, and painted with gesso. I added some TH tissue tape and a rub-on flower to give the background more depth. The text has been die cut. The book pages that I used are from the 18th century, and have lasted over the centuries, the book in the background is a parchment bound book from the 17th century; the written word has the power to last.

Then I decided to alter a little chipboard frame I was given recently, 3x3". I have used a picture of the London Eye, an eye - stamped and watercoloured, and some London Images (Stamp by Artemio) for the *Just for Fun* *I spy with my little eye* challenge.

The London Eye image is from Crafty Individuals. I have placed the frame on a picture of a London Street to put it into context.

And while I was watching a totally stupid film on TV - there was nothing else worth watching! I altered a little tin. It was a peppermint tin, which I painted with white paint, and then sanded a bit before stamping the music notes and the Mozart head on it. I painted over it with TH clear rock-candy crackle glaze, and rubbed a little colour into the cracks to make them show better, but it was hard to photograph. I am making a mini song book for a friend, which will be placed in the tin when it is finished.

Well, I think that was enough for today. I need to do my weekend shopping and a tiny bit of h*******k to ward off the chaos that will result if I do nothing!
Havea great day, take care, and thanks for looking!

Challenges Galore

Good morning you all. I have woken up feeling like the lady at the post office - grumpy! And that in spite of lovely weather. Today is a holiday here in Germany, it's Ascension Day, and also Father's Day. This means that nearly every able bodied man goes out with his friends, mostly pulling a *Bollerwagen*, a little cart with a handle. I think they were really made for kids; kids who don't like sitting in a pram any more love being pulled along in a little cart! But on *Father's Day* the carts get loaded with *refreshments* - barrels and/or crates of beer and a picnic, and the men all go off somewhere to enjoy the countryside. I don't know if they are all capable of enjoying it after partaking of the *refreshments*, but that's the tradition here.....
Yesterday I had a crafty day. First I tidied my working space. Sorry, but I had to, when my AWS (Available Working Space) is less than the size of an ATC, I do it. And yesterday I managed some tags and a canvas.
The first tag is for 2 challenges, Dragon's Dream TIO and the Blog Challenge Garden. The Dragon wants to see timepieces and the Challenge Garden soft pinks and greens, so here is my tag:

The Tag has been made from a piece of corrugated card from a box. I distressed the background with bundled sage and Victorian velvet, and then sprayed it in walnut green using a TH clock template. I stamped a part of a clock (LaBlanche) and some flourishes before embellishing with some floral rub ons, two halves of a clock (pieces of time) and a few cogs. The clock faces were also sprayed and brushed with perfect pearls. I coloured a white rose to match, and added *time* cut from a package and glazed with glossy accents. Then I gave it my last remnant of pink lace, a bow, and a time quote, and it was finished.
Then I made another tag with a matching pocket for the Dragon, as time and time pieces are favourite themes of mine.

I made the tag from a 6" square of coredinations paper which has been sprayed using TH templates and moonlight spray from My tattered angels, as has the tag. I also used some home made spray using spiced marmalade ink to make a contrast to the blue, which I used on the reverse of the tag and pocket. They have been stamped with various motives (maker not known) using Stazon timber brown. The back of the tag has been stamped to match the back of the pocket. For embellishments I added a TH disc, a piece of ball chain and some beads from an old necklace.

Then I made a canvas which I am also entering into 2 challenges; *Passion for Fashion* at Daring Cardmakers,who are being sponsored by
*Imagine that*
and *Anything goes* at the Craft Room Challenge and *At the Mall* GC105 at Gingersnaps. Oooooooooops, that makes three!

The canvas has been covered with a page from one of my old fashion magazines from 1899 and painted with diluted gesso. I used the TH dress form, cut from an old box, as a template and sprayed it with *Juneberry wine*. Then I added some tissue tape, the dress form, some images and a piece of lace, and that was it.

Okay, I think I have rambled on for long enough for the time being, now I just need to enter the correct link at the correct blog! Here's wishing you all a great day, take care and thanks a lot for visiting!

Art Journal for June and Crazy Amigo Challenge

During my school and student days in England, I often had the urge to write on walls. Graffiti were not as common then as they are now, perhaps because there were no spray cans of paint, and felt tips and Eddings unbelievably expensive. But I didn’t just want to write on any old wall. I wanted to write on a nice, old wall of white stone, like at the Tower Of London or on one of those beautiful, ruined abbeys. I always had a pencil with me, but I never dared. In the Tower you can still see verses etc that the prisoners carved into the wall hundreds of years ago, now protected by glass. But I never had the courage to scribble my initials or write a text anywhere. Pity! So I decided to make 2 Gothic windows in stone walls for my art journal this month, so that I can write my texts or words of wisdom on the stones. And then I remembered the story of Daniel, in Exile in Bablyon, at the Feast of King Belshazzar, where words - written from a hand without arm or body - appeared on the walls, *Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin*, which is mostly interpreted to mean *You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting* (Daniel Chap.5)
So I wrote this on my wall too, and we will see at the end of the month how the story develops. I am linking this to the *Kathryn Wheel*
And here the pictures:

And I also made a card for the *Crazy Amigos* challenge blog, whose theme this week is chairs, I have used a chair and my wonderful little Miss Bird from Character Constructions, I have fallen in love with this stamp!

I stamped the background and then stamped Miss Birdie on a scrap of white card, cut her out after watercolouring her, did some paper piecing at the front of her dress for more fullness, and stood her on the chair. I wonder what she is getting up to there? I am also entering this into Simon Says Stamp and Show, then Miss Bird is really my fave stamp just now!


Well, that was it for today. Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Two cards for less is more & some challenge Tags

Good morning you all! After the brilliant sunshine yesterday today is cold and overcast. Looks like summer's not here yet! But the main thing is that my coffee tastes good!
Yesterday I sent 4 mail art envelopes off at the post office. They were taken in frozen silence once again. This time it was Mr Grumpy. His comment *If this is your idea of a joke, it's not mine* Anyway, they are on their way, if Mr Grumpy likes them or not....
Then I discovered the tags I made a few days back for Dragon's Dream TIO, so I think I just have time to blog them! The theme is fish.

As I did not have any fish stamps, I just stamped some shells and the crab, and then drew the fishes and sea weed. I added dew drops for air bubbles, and some dried grass for more see weed, and a couple of glitzy stick on fishes.


For *Less is more* we need to make a square card, and put our motive into one of the corners or into the middle. I have used two of my lovely stamps form Character constructions, the little girl bird and the nest. I stamped the images onto the cards, and then again onto white paper and coloured hthem with water colours. I did some paper-piecing onto the front of the dress to make it look fuller, and the birds have beady eyes, and there are some blue glass beads and a pearl on the dress front. I then decoupaged the painted and painstakingly cut out motives over the stamped images, and that was it, then everything else was forbidden anyway!

So here's wishing you all a happy day, whatever you are up to Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday Lynne!!!

Good morning once again from sunny and warm Rhineland. Yesterday it was really cold, today it's back to summer, so Looks like it will be a paint-on-the-balcony afternoon!
But the most important news of the day first; It's Lynn's birthday. She has a wonderful blog, *Adorn*, where she shows her lovely, delicate creations, always with lace, ribbons and flowers. I love her things because they are genuinely pretty and feminine, and she's a nice young lady as well! So, all together please,
*Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ly-ynn, happy birthday to you!* Hope you all sang loudly and clearly so that Lynne heard it up in bonny Scotland!
I didn't do much crafting or painting yesterday as I was busy tidying. I got one shelf in the bottomless pit sorted out - more or less, discovered a lot of old friends again that haven't been around for ages, and just didn't have too much time or energy after that,
But I did just manage another mail-art envelope and a few tags, so the day was not completely wasted!
Here they are:

The first tag has been made from cardboard, partly peeled, and then rubbed with clear embossing ink, and embossed with EP in mixed metallic tones, and then dusted with perfect pearls in pink and gold and heated again. I added a few glass splitters in pink, then some stamping and rub-ons to make the background. ! have used some vintage scrap images and 2 prima leaves and a flower. I have given the little girl a *necklace* made of glass beads fixed with glossy accents.

The second tag has been made from the packaging of the prima leaves, their packaging is always much too nice to throw away! This time if have used images in blue and turqoise, and a different prima leaf and flower. The little girl once again has a beaded necklace, I have decorated the tag witha bow and a beaded pin that I recently made.

And the envelope will be winging it's way to America in the course of the week. Today I have three of my envelopes to take to the post, so it should be fun meeting old Mrs Grumps again! But while I am at the post office,I can cross the road and go to the stationer's, and stock up on those pretty vintage images while I am there. And opposite the stationer's is a delightful café where they sell home baked cake, so I think I will have a little outing today....
I wish you all a day filled with sunshine, contentment and music. Take care, and thanks for visiting!