A Visit to the *Stamp Mecca* in Hagen

Yesterday I went with my friend B to a craft fair in Hagen, a town about one hour's drive from here. We set off early - which is why I didn't get round to blogging yesterday - and were there as they opened the doors to let us in. What a wonderful sight met our eyes - stamps, paper, inks, paints, sprays, and much, much more - it was difficult to know where to start. So first we went round and looked and admired everything, and all of a sudden we were each holding several bags filled with this and that, and I didn't even intend to buy anything. I think there's a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions - but the roads we trod yesterday led us straight into a crafter's heaven. Those crafty things just seem to jump off the shelves and into our baskets! In between we went to the cafeteria there for coffee and waffles to strengthen us. The people were all friendly, happy and chatty. People from the USA, Germany, and various other European countries were selling their goods, and the visitors had also come from lots of different places. There were make-and-takes to join in, demonstrations to watch, and people always willing to give tips and advise. We did two make-and-takes with a lovely crafter called Michael from Strong Stamps, a native of California with a sunny temperament and full of good ideas. It was really good to see such a lot of new things and tank up with fresh ideas. By the time I got home yesterday evening I was completely knocked out, my legs were killing me, but I was happy.

On Saturday I made a good start on my chest of drawers. I had to give it 3 coats of white paint till it was really white, and now I just need to do the drawers, but first I have to buy some masking tape today. Then when it's all freshly painted, I will grunge it up a bit, and then I can show it!

And I made my challenge tag for the Dragon's TIO. The dragon has been dreaming of red wine, and wanted to see mostly red tags. I started with a white tag, which I stamped with a background stamp from LaBlanche, using DI in barn door and poppy red EP from Zing. I added an image from my stash, a red heart, some red backing paper, a red paper clip and a red rose. And to finish it off a red ribbon. Hope that was enough red!

And as I had the red ink out, I did a spread for my scribble journal using a lot of red and yellow ink, and had a good time flicking the ink around. As the colours fitted well to autumn, I used the *prototype* from my Autumn fairy, added a tree, a mushroom, and some thoughts about the magic of childhood. Was fun to make, and good to do something different again.

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

Happy weekend!

Just a short post today, as I need to get some shopping in before the stores get too crowded, and then I hope to get on with the make over of the little chest of drawers in the hall.
Yesterday I visited my friend Inge, who had a nasty fall while on a bus this week, so we had a nice day together, playing cards, eating and drinking coffee as always. I even found a parking space directly in front of our house when I came back, a very small one, but as my car is small, it just fitted in.

I didn't do much in the way of crafting or scrapping yesterday, but I did manage a double page in my new journal. As I outed myself this week as being someone who doesn't like tea - perhaps the reason why I left England and went into banishment! - I decided to journal about coffee. I doodled the pictures while watching TV, and distressed the pages with some inks in antique linen and brushed corduroy afterwards. The poem on the right side was written earlier this year.

And as it is Saturday, something to laugh from my friend Narda:

You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish . . .

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger . . . then it hit me . . .


To write with a broken pencil is . . . pointless.

When fish are in schools they sometimes . . . take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar . . . got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles . . . U.C.L.A.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes . . . was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out . . . free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. . . . They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a . . . dead giveaway.

If you don't pay your exorcist . . . you can get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name . . . and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you . . . A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if . . . you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia . . . The LAN down under.

A boiled egg is . . . hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center . . . you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was . . . resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? . . . He's all right now.

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could . . . jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone . . . it is two tired.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism . . . it's your Count that votes.

When a clock is hungry . . . it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine . . . was fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory . . . which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be . . . exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair . . . she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture . . . a jab well done.


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

A Silly post

Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp! This week is flying by quicker than I can think! I got next to nothing done yesterday. I had to go to the dentist's - no comment! and managed to start lots of different things, but didn't get much finished. One of the things I started is a new journal, where I want to try to do a page a day; perhaps some sketching, writing, doodling or whatever, just something to use each evening when I'm sitting around or watching TV. I started yesterday evening with a title page, and I hope I will be able to keep it up!

And Christine gave me a letter - the letter T! She wrote on her blog yesterday that she had been given an F! Okay,to explain I'll show you my *T*:
Something I like: Tangerines
Something I dislike: Tea
Something I need: Training - I mean some sportive training!
Somewhere I've been: Turkey
And I think I will add one more -
Something I enjoyed but I'm glad to be quit of : Teaching.
So, that was my *T*.

And I've got another joke from Narda:

How to Tell the Sex of a Fly
A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter . "What are you doing?" she asked. "Hunting Flies" he responded. "Oh. ! Killing any?" she asked. "Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied. Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell them apart?" He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone....

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

The Last of the Photos & Another Challenge

Good morning everybody! It's a chilly and windy day today, the wind was howling all night, and the temps have dropped considerably since the weekend; it seems that summer is really over and Autumn is blowing in. We had 30° on Saturday and just 13° today, less than half! The challenge this week over at Rebecca's *Blog Challenge Garden* is to make a tag with the moon on it. Moon and autumn always remind me of Halloween, so this is my first Halloween piece for this year. I used some of the paper I painted on Saturday to make the night background. The moon has been die-cut from metal foil, and I cut a scrap of gold foil to fit behind the houses to make the *lights*. The houses and the tree have been cut using TH alterations dies. Then I added a few tiny stars, and a witch and a bat to give the right atmosphere.

These are the last of the photos of Kaiserswerth for the time being. The pictures show the path along by the Rhine, the fire-brigade boat, the restaurant at the old Rhine Ferry, the Ferry in action and one of the lovely houses in the Church Close. The last picture is one of the little streets leading up from the Rhine. The streets in the old town are all very narrow, cobbled ones, they were not built for cars, and last summer my car broke down while I was driving through causing a traffic jam, which was very embarrassing....

Okay, enough for today. Think of me later, I have another appointment at the dentist's! Take care, have a good day and thanks for dropping in!

More Pictures from Kaisesrwerth & a Challenge

Hi Everybody, good morning! Today I have some more photos of Kaiserswerth to share with you, and the challenge I made for the *Dragon's Dream*. This week the dragon has been dreaming of Jon Bon Jovi and a bed a roses....so we are supposed to use metal and roses on our tags. For my tag I used some recycled card from some packaging, and stuck 2 strips of metal tape from the DIY shop on to it before embossing it with a TH music folder. Then I coloured it with Archival crimson, and highlighted the raised parts with archival black. The rose has been stamped onto another piece of recycled card and coloured with distress inks in barn door and forest green. The bee has been stamped with archival black onto a scrap of metal foil. I cut out the rose and bee (both stamps from LaBlanche) and fixed them with foam pads. I rolled the rose over my glue-stick to make it stand out from the tag. I put some stickles on the bee's wings and a few dew drops of glossy accents onto the rose.

And now for another walk through Kaiserswerth, showing pictures of the Rhine, the Church of St, Swidbert, and the castle ruins.

So, hope you have enjoyed your little tour! Have a good day, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Some photos of Kaiserswerth

Did I say we had good weather yesterday? Well! It started out sunny, and then we had a rather changeable day - torrential rain, thunder & lightning & sunny spells, something different every half an hour. At least it wasn't boring. Now we are back to *normal* - cool, grey and showers.
I visited a friend yesterday, and we watched *The King's Speech*, great film. It was nice to sit there on the couch, eating chicken legs and watching the DVD!

I wanted to show you the photos I took on Saturday here in Kaiserswerth. You can see my route through the park, where the moat used to be. The little bridge is where the main street crosses over, very small and narrow. Then 2 pics taken at the Rhine, followed by some photos of the main street with the pretty, old houses. Then the last 2 photos from the path parallel to the Rhine, which runs alongside the *Barbarossa Wall*, named after Kaiser Barbarossa who lived here in the 12th century. The last photo shows the steps leading back down to the moat. It's a pretty place to live, and there are some nice places to walk.

And here are the journal pages I made in the night from Saturday to Sunday as I couldn't sleep. I think I am on a blue trip at the moment; whatever, it was, as usual fun to make!

So, enough for today! Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

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!