Sunday sketches and 2 challenges in one....

Hi everybody, hope you are all well and fit this morning. We have had 2 nice days in a row here, almost unbelievable. Yesterday the thermometer showed 30°, I went for a walk along the Rhine, and nearly got baked. But it was still very enjoyable!
Today is Sunday, which means time for Sunday sketches over at Sophia's *Blue Chair Diary*. I have been doing a sketch with pen and ink each day for the *75 Day sketch challenge*. I find pen and ink sketches rather difficult, as you can't rub out or alter, but I have started with small and easy things, and hope to be more proficient at the end of the 75 days! Here are 2 of my first attempts.... my pens, and a little bottle of ink - both with a lot of room for improvement!

And then I made a triptych which I am linking to 2 challenges; *Newspapers* at the Three Muses and *words* at Just For Fun. I have used a page from an old German newspaper from 1900, which has been fixed to a piece of recycled card and given a coat of diluted gesso. Then I distressed it using TH inks in gradient colours, before doing a little stamping and dividing it into three pieces. The pens have been cut out of a sheet of *Graphics 45* paper, and I added some words printed onto acetate and some vintage scraps. To make the pens look more real, I rolled them round a thin pencil and fixed them on with foam pads.

I took lots of pictures while I was out yesterday, and plan on posting them tomorrow. Have a nice Sunday you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Blue Saturday

Hi everybody, it's weekend again. Doesn't make too much difference for me since I retired, but I know all those who have been working hard all week will be happy to have some free time.
Now I think I have to say this very quietly - we had nice weather yesterday. It was warm and sunny all day, unbelievable! And it looks like today will be the same.
I did some more painting yesterday, as this really seems to do me good. I made lots of blue backgrounds in different shapes and sizes, which I will use as backgrounds for some more pictures and cards for the Jewish New Year. I finished one, smaller than the one I showed yesterday for PPF. I used paint-board, as it is easier to send than a canvas, and the backgrounds which I will be using on cards have been painted onto torchon water-color paper, as it has a lovely texture.
I used stars and planets again, and this time I have just written *Shalom*, as I think we could do with some peace in the world.

Okay, that was it for today. Here's wishing you all a good Saturday, and for those in the States a happy Labor Day weekend. Take care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

Time for Paint Party Friday again

Good morning everybody. It's another PPF today, hosted by our Superwomen Eva and Kristin, so pop over there if you can and see what everybody is making.
I needed to do something calming before I went to the dentist's yesterday, and decided to finish off a painting which I started 3 years ago. I wanted to give it as a gift for the Jewish New year to some friends, but somehow never got it finished. And then I wanted to finish it the year after, but never made it on time. Last year I at least had an excuse for not getting it done, as I was in hospital for an operation. And now I have done it, although I may still alter a few things as I'm not quite happy with it, and it's still 4 weeks to the New Year celebration. It shows a stylised shofar - the ram's horn which is blown at New Year (Rosh Hashanah = *head of the Year*), painted in gold onto a blue background representing the sky. New Year is the holiday where the creation of the world is remembered, too, so I wrote the beginning of the first verse of the book of Genesis along the shofar, *In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless void*. Then I painted more Hebrew letters randomly scattered with stars, planets, sun and moon. I will keep it where I can see it over the next few days, and then see if I have any other ideas. And the people I was originally painting it for have moved....I used gold and silver Edding pens to draw in the stars etc and do the writing, but the silver looks white here.

So, sorry if I have rambled on rather long, I just wanted to explain it....

Have a nice day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month....

Morning everyone! As kids we always used this saying on the first of the month - anyone else remember it?

This afternoon I have to go to the dentist, which I am not looking forward to at all, so I hope it won't be as bad as I am imagining it to be!

As it's the first of the month it's time for my September journal pages. The kids here are going back to school now, so I have incorporated a blackboard into the first side. I painted some torchon watercolor paper with black acrylic paint and scratched some words into it while it was still wet, and then rubbed some white chalk into it, as all the blackboards at school were always scratched and rather battered. I wrote the *message* using a white wax crayon. I saw this quote recently on Sue's blog, and liked it so much I just had to put it onto my journal. Apart from that, the general theme is autumn, so I used orange, red, brown and green for my colors, lots of fallen leaves, some TH spiders' webs and some quotes about September and autumn. I made the colors paler on the second page, to try to give a misty look. I used straight lines, divided up into 2 blocks for the daily journalling, as I found this easier to use last month than the usual squares. It was fun to make, and I like using different techniques and colors each time. I will be linking my journal to the *Kathryn Wheel* journal challenge as soon as the link is ready!

And while I was in an autumn frame of mind I made the September calendar page for a friend, who gets a page from me each month.

And here's another of Narda's jokes:

A couple lived near the ocean and used to walk the beach a lot. One summer they noticed a girl who was at the beach almost every day. She wasn't unusual, nor was the travel bag she carried, except for one thing; she would approach people who were sitting on the beach, glance around and then speak to them.

Generally, the people would respond negatively and she would wander off. But occasionally someone would nod and there would be a quick exchange of money and something that she carried in her bag.

The couple assumed that she was selling drugs and debated calling the cops, but since they didn't know for sure, they decided to just continue watching her.

After a couple of weeks the wife said, 'Honey, have you ever noticed that she only goes up to people with boom boxes and other electronic devices?' He hadn't and said so.

Then she said, 'Tomorrow I want you to get a towel and our big radio and go lie out on the beach. Then we can find out what she's really doing.'

Well, the plan went off without a hitch and the wife was almost hopping up and down with anticipation when she saw the girl talk to her husband and then leave... The man then walked up the beach and met his wife at the road.

'Well, is she selling drugs?' she asked excitedly. 'No, she's not,' he said, enjoying this probably more than he should have.

'Well, what is it then? What does she do?' his wife fairly shrieked.

The man grinned and said, 'She's a battery salesperson.'

'Batteries?' cried the wife.

'Yes!' he replied.

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OOOOH! You're gonna dislike me for this - but ..................
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'She Sells C Cells by the Seashore!'


So, that was it for today. Think of me this afternoon when I am at the dentist's, I need moral support! Have a good day, stay safe, and thanks for visiting!

Been AWOL!

Hi everybody, sorry I missed blogging yesterday, but I was rather tired out after B's party on Monday. The party was good - nice food and guests, bubbly to drink, and a good time was had by all! Afterwards I went back to Inge's to stay there for the night, as I don't like driving at night. We sat for ages solving the problems of the world - perhaps with the exception of our own - before going to bed. Then I read for an hour or so before putting out the light, and it was 11 a.m. before we got up yesterday morning. I am usually up by 8a.m. at the very latest, so this made a nice change. Then we sat for nearly 2 hours over breakfast before I drove home. On the was home I went to pick up a letter from the customs and excise office again, I think they are still hoping to find letters stuffed with contraband. After waiting nearly an hour, it was my turn, and I got a pretty altered notebook from Tee. It is really lovely, but see for yourselves. The pictures show the front, back, and the inside pockets with beautiful tags.

Thanks a lot Tee, this is another little gem for me to treasure!

And I made a tag for Rebecca'a challenge at Blog Challenge Garden. This time she wants to see a heart as the focal point on the tag. I have made a double tag, printed the backgrounds with my love script stamp (LaBlanche), and added a rose scrap heart and then a silvery padded heart. The ribbon at the top is also hearty!

And I wanted to share the second all white canvas I made. I think I like this one best, but now I have done enough white on white for the time being:

So, that was enough for today. I'll be back tomorrow with my September journal pages, which I am enjoying painting.

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

Monday again, and almost the end of August

Time, as usual, is flying fast. I am sure the days used to be longer. The older I get, the quicker the days fly by. It is also my friend B's birthday, so I hope she will have a happy day. I will be visiting her later and taking her a little present and her card.
For the card I used a photo of her dog, which I mounted onto a tiny canvas, which was also mounted onto an easel card.

The second piece is a postcard made for the Craft-room Challenge, where masking has to be used. I used a mask from *Tattered angels* *ironworks* to make the gate, and used a cutout of the little boy and his teddy as a mask before distressing the background. I drew round the gate with a black pen to add more definition. I stamped the teddy again and decoupaged it to give it more volume, and added a TH *iron* fence at the front, bending it slightly to give it more depth. Thestamps in both tags are from Scrollsworks.

The second postcard has also been masked with the same gate, and I used a cut-out of the stamped image again to mask the background before distressing it. I turned the seat the little girls are sitting on into a swing, and hung it from a branch. I added the little guardian angel to look after the adventurous girls.

I hope that all those in the path of *Irene* stayed safe, and that your weather will have no more nasty surprises for you in the next time.
Okay, that was it for today. I won't be around for most of today and part of tomorrow, so I'll catch up with your blogs tomorrow afternoon. Have a nice day, thanks for visiting and take care!

Good morning, it's Sunday....

And that means it's time for Sunday Sketches over at Blue Chair Diary. I had nothing ready for today, so made a quick 5 minute sketch of me, not yet washed and combed, *fresh* out of bed and before the first cup of coffee. Was a bit difficult to take a photo, as the sun is making hard shadows this morning, but it's all I can manage!

Now, if you all feel like crawling back to bed after seeing this, don't - it could cause bad dreams!

Yesterday I got a wonderful package in the post from Narda, she's the on whose funnies we often have in my posts- She knows I love cows and everything to do with them, and has sent me a beautiful charm bracelet full of cows, to keep me company when I am lonely. She wrote *Hope it will moooooooooooove you to a herd of giggles so you can look pasture troubles each time you wear it*. Have had great probs taking a decent photo, I think the cows keep moooooving!

Oh dear, nearly forgot my tag for Simon say stamp and show, with a travel theme this week. Stamps are from scrollsworks.

Okay, that was it, Short and sweet today, I am going to go back to bed. Hope all who are affected by the storms are keeping safe! Take care, and thanks for visiting!