Heeeeeeelp! A dead Mouse in the Kitchen

After getting up this morning, I staggered as usual to the kitchen to make my first coffee of the day. I have always been rather short sighted, and after having many eye operations in the past 15 years, I can't see very well. This morning was still rather dull, and as I stood in front of the coffee maker I looked down at the floor under the table. I have a bench along one wall, and could see something on the floor between the bench and the table - something with a long tail - a MOUSE under my table! It wasn't moving, so I realized it must be dead. Yikes!Now, I am more afraid of spiders than mice, but I still hate the thought of one on my kitchen - never had that before! But, feeling in a heroic mood, I pulled on some rubber gloves, took a piece of kitchen paper, and bending creakily managed to pick up the mouse. And when my hands had stopped shaking enough to look at it clearly, I just laughed out loud:

And all of that within 2 minutes of getting out of bed and before my coffee! Anyway, I disposed of the corpse of the offending leaf, which must have fluttered in through the window, and proceeded to make my coffee!

Apart from that, I managed a few tags yesterday, and spent a lot of time reading and sleeping on my couch.

The first tag is for the *Craft Room Challenge*, where the DT wants to see White on White this week. I used a cardboard tag, painted with gesso, and decorated with the TH Sewing room die, some lace, sack-linen, beads and a few other bits and bobs. I used some scrunched up tissue paper, painted over with gesso, to give the tag more texture and make the flowers stand out more.

The second tag I made just because I love the stamp I have used, and perhaps because it was still flying around on the table from last week....OK, I have put it away now!

And the last tag has been made for Rebecca's *Blog Challenge Garden*, and this time it's not too late! Rebecca wants to see a postage stamp on the tag. I stamped the background with various stamps in archival black, and then made a little collage of stamps and other things.

So that was it for today. Here's wishing you all a good day, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Tuesday Tags

Hi everybody, time is flying, as always, and I was out nearly all day yesterday, so didn't get much done.
All I managed was 2 little tags, and one of them is too late, but I wanted to do it anyway, so better late that never!
The *late* tag is for Rebecca's *Blog Garden Challenge* Faces Challenge. Both tags have been made as double tags - a tag stamped onto a piece of ceramic card, which is extremely smooth and allows easy blending and stamping, and the bottom piece, made from corrugated cardboard and distressed to match. The top tag has been stamped with archival black, clear embossed, and then painted with water colours, before adding some matching flowers and ribbon.

The second tag - this time not late! - is for the *Dragon's Dream it On*, and this week the dragon has been dreaming of nature's bounty, a lovely theme, so I dreamed with her! I made another double tag, as before, but this time decorated with some yellow sacking, autumn leaves, dried flowers and vintage fruit pictures. I also squeezed in the text of *Come ye thankful people, come*, because we do have a lot to be thankful for. I finished it off with a straw bow, which I discovered tied round one of my flower pots.

Okay, that was it for today! I hope to get a bit more done for tomorrow. Have a nice day you all, and take care!

Summer of color 2011 Slide show

Good morning you all! Today is the last week of *Summer of Colour* hosted by Kristin.
This time we have to show all our paintings of the past weeks together, and I have put mine together into s slide show, Enjoy!




I never imagined that I would get so much work done in the last few weeks, but I enjoyed it all - except perhaps for purple! And it was a wonderful summer occupation.

As I spent most of yesterday sleeping, I didn't get much crafting done, just a card and a mail-art envelope. The mail art envelope is off to Florida to Lenna, with the swap postcards I made yesterday and the cardand the tag are my DT pieces for the *Cheerful stamp pad*, where the theme for the next 2 weeks is *petals*.

Okay, that was it for today. Have a nice day, and take care!

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!