Sunday Sketches and some postcards

Happy Sunday everybody, and hope you have more sun than we do! I overslept today, slept 2 hours more that usual, but as I didn't fall asleep till after four, I am quite happy about it. The rain clouds and sun seem to be having a fight as to who is allowed out first, too!
Today it's tiem again for Sunday Sketches over at Sophia's Blue Chair Diary. I haven't done any new sketches, because I spent my time yesterday making postcards, reading Peter Ackroyd and watching TV, so I would like to share a painting with you that I made nearly 20 years ago while staying near Lake Constance. While I was there I went on a coach trip through Liechtenstein and Switzerland, and painted this picture to remind me - in an abstract way - of the hills, pastures, trees and lakes we passed. It has been painted with tempera colours onto torchon water-colour paper.

And I made 4 postcards for a postcard art swap which Lenna at Creative Swaps is organizing. I have altered some postcards which Mrs (not more so) Grumpy at the Post Office gave me. Our theme is *A summer Day*.

I had fun altering the postcards with stamping and some little collages, and tomorrow I will make a mail-art envelope to send them off to Florida.

Hope you all have a lovely, relaxing Sunday. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

More post received and some tags

Good morning everybody! It's Saturday again - just in case you hadn't noticed!
Yesterday I got another notification from the customs office that I had something to collect there. I think they are doing it on purpose to get to see what nice things I have been sent. It was a little present from Lynn, who did a wonderful giveaway on her blog some weeks back, and sent me a pair of earrings. This time I was served by a very pretty young man, and when I opened the little box inside the envelope he started screaming *Wahnsinn! Wahnsinn!* (Madness) The colleagues all came running - including the lady who admired my books earlier this week, and took it in turns to stand in front of the mirror with my earrings to see how they looked! It was really funny. He gave me them back in the end, and said if ever I don't want them, he would love them! But he has no chance, as I ADORE them, and am already proudly wearing them! Thanks Lynn for this very generous gift! Sorry that the first picture is a bit blurred!

And I got another postcard from the *Liberate your Art* postcard swap, this time from Kathleen Hendrick, showing one of her paintings from 2007 called *illusion*

And I made 2 tags yesterday. The first one is a *white on white* tag for *Just for Fun*. Not very original, but white on white is not really my thing! I painted the tag with 2 coats of gesso - without eating it!, cut the birdcage and bird from the cover of my drawing block, and put in a heart which has been made in a mold, and left unpainted this time. Added a few white bits and bobs. I think I will have to give it a big name like *Set my heart free!* The second tag was just because I was enjoying fiddling around....

And the last piece I am sharing with you today is the August page for my friend's calendar, which is a tiny bit late this time....

That was all for today. Here's wishing you all a great Saturday, take care and thanks for visiting!

PPF & more post received.

Hi everybody, it's Friday again, and that means it's time for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin.
I didn't get around to painting that much this week, as I really needed to rest, but I did manage one mixed-media piece. The background has been stamped using archival black and various script, music and flourish stamps, and then painted with 2 coats of gesso - no, I didn't put it on my toast this time! Then I drew and painted the face before adding my *dream elements* - a picture of my Mum with my eldest sister, taken about 1940, and some vintage birds and flowers. Then I stamped the two birds at the bottom with archival black again, and clear embossed them, before giving them a bit of colour with water-colour pencils. My leopard is also walking through the picture again. The sentiment has been cut with a sizzix die, and the butterfly and dragonfly were from my stash. I am not sure that I like the picture as it is, I will think about for a few days and then see if I alter it or not.

And this is an altered canvas on which I have been working for some time on and off. It is for a friend's birthday, and she likes vintage and lace and flowers, so I threw them all onto it. And as their are angels on it, I am entering this into the *Angelic* challenge over at the *Three Muses*

And as this seems to be my super-duper post week, I got an envelope from Marie AKA *Dolly's Daydreams* filled with gorgeous tags. Marie used some of my fave themes - Halloween, autumn and Paris. I asked her yesterday if she was trying to tell me I am batty....No need, I know it! Thanks Marie for all these wonderful tags!

And that's still not everything! I got my second postcard from the *Liberate your Art* Postcard swap, a wonderful photo taken by Jess. You can see more of her work here. This blog has such wonderful photos it would be a shame not to visit it!

Thanks again for all the good wishes yesterday, I am trying to get more rest, and I went out today for a little walk through our little *town*, so did not spend the whole day sitting at the kitchen table crafting!

Have a nice day you all, and take care of yourselves. And thanks for stopping by!

Mini Book Day

First of all I would like to say a big thanks you to all who left me good wishes and sent me healing sparkles by mail yesterday, it evidently helped, because I do feel better today. But I am going to take things easier for a few days, and try to get a bit more sleep and fresh air!

On Monday I took my mail-art envelope to the post. The lady behind the counter smiled at me, said *Oh, how lovely! The lucky recipient! I'd better put lots of pretty stamps on to it!* Somebody must have cloned her!!

And I had to collect 2 parcels with mini-books from the customs - after they had been *keeping them warm* for weeks. Evidently they don't have enough employees. So why do they have to control mini-books?? Anyway, the lady there told me to open the parcels, and she couldn't believe her eyes! She spent 20 minutes going into rhapsodies over these beautiful little books. I kept telling her that there was a big queue waiting. She said *Let them wait*. Now I'm afraid they will be holding more of my parcels ransom so that they can look at my lovely things!
One of the little books was from Lisa Fulmer
I did a one to one swap with her 2 months ago, and she made me a beautiful bird book.
Here is the front cover, the other pictures are in the slide show at the bottom of the post.

The second parcel was from Lenna, who organises lots of lovely swaps. I joined in her *Little Book Swap*, fir which I made 4 books, and received 4 in return - from Laura Hummel, Juliet Sutton,
Corinne Marie and from my dear blogger friend Donna Parker. I have shown the first photo of each book here, the others are in the slide show. Donna's Album had an *extra* - it was wrapped in printed cheese-cloth, which she had pinned together with a pearl hat-needle.

And here is the slide show:




And while we are on the subject of mini-books, here is a little key-chain album I made at the weekend, and was intending to show yesterday. It is 2 1/4 x 3 1/2". I used a little metal frame for the front cover, and made the pages using scraps- left over from another project - from the *Fairy Tale Stack*.

Oh dear, this post has turned out to be a bit longer than I was intending! Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Taking a rest!

Hi you all, I am taking a little rest today, as I do not feel so good. *See* you all again tomorrow. Take care and have a good day!

A big rarity -Sunny Monday

Good morning you all! Yesterday was warm and sunny - all day. Today should be the same. It's summer! But tomorrow everything should be back to normal - cold, rainy and windy. But now we can't say we haven't had any summer in this year!
At the moment I am just tired all the time, although I spent most of Sunday sleeping. When I am tired, I seem to make a lot of little mistakes - like drinking my orange-brown painting water instead of my glass of *Mezzo-Mix* (Cola-orange mixture). It didn't really taste much different, I only noticed it because it was neither cold nor fizzy....But the worst mistake I made Saturday evening. I wanted to make myself a slice of toast with cream cheese. Unfortunately, I had filled some of my large container of gesso into an empty cream-cheese tub as the big one is to heavy to handle easily....And so I put gesso on my toast. I never did much like the smell of gesso, and the taste is not to be recommended!
Anyway, I did manage to finish my journal for August and a mail-art envelope yesterday, without any big mistakes. I am not happy with my journal this month, it has not turned out as I wanted it too, but I don't have the energy just now to start again. So it will stay as it is, and I hope that the next month will be better. There is just enough space each day for a short few words, and enough room to write any quotes or sayings I come across in the course of the month.
I am linking my journal to *The Kathryn Wheel* Journal Challenge

And this is the mail art envelope which will be winging it's way to Greece this week, in the hope that the post out of Germany will be delivered a bit quicker than the post which is being sent here. I don't know what our post or customs is doing or not doing just now, but 2 months and more for an air-mail letter from the USA to Germany is really impossible.

Okay, moan over! Here's wishing you all a great day, take care and thanks for visiting!

Monday and Time for Summer of Color

Once again the time has flown, and it's Monday already! I spent quite a lot of time sleeping at the weekend, and must say, I feel better for it. It means less crafting time, but sometimes it is just important to rest, and this was one of those times.
Today it's *Summer of Color* hosted by Kristin. Our colour prompt this time was orange, so I needed to get used to the notion of painting with orange. I started on Thursday, when I painted 2 orange backgrounds, one of which I used on Friday for our PPF event. I was planning on doing something similar with the second one, and then when I sat down yesterday to work on it, it just turned out differently. I sprayed some more layers on it using a flourish template and some letters and numbers, and after drying it, I drew 2 faces on it, and then started with little scraps to make a collage. I used book-scraps, stamps from an old passport, scraps of printed paper and labels, as well as some random stamping using TH rusty hinge distress ink.

And while I was in an orange mood at the weekend, I altered a canvas which fits both *Summer of color* and GC110, *Gears, cogs and watch bits* over at Gingersnap Creations.I have painted the canvas with some orange structure paint, which has been bubbled and burnt, and then distressed with Stazon brown. I mounted the clock (1€ from the Euro shop) onto the centre, and added watches and watch and clock parts round about it. I had to give this one a name. I am sure you can guess it! Clockwork Orange!

And the clock in the middle really works! My journal for August is nearly finished too, but that will be shown tomorrow! Have a nice day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!