A Crafty Day

Yesterday the weather was bad, and that was the signal for me to put on my warm slippers, and settle down in my arty-crafty kitchen to play. I started off by making some little note books for presents. I used some hand painted ATCs I made some time back to decorate the covers. The black ones have pictures just on the front, and the others have pictures on the front and back. Then I made a pocket-book using some pretty coordinating papers for the pockets, and some printed acetate for the covers. I used water-colour paper to make the pages.

These are the black ones:

The inside of each one is the same:

And these are the double ones from the front and then the back:

And this is the pocket-book:

Then I made some Christmas cards:

And a little wooden bird, which has been painted gold, stamped and decorated:

It was rather difficult taking the photos today, as it was really dark and dismal, and the pages in the pocket book look like they are green striped, although they are blue....Sorry!

Today I am planning on finishing the journal pages I started, with a collection of all the things I found on my table while clearing up and sorting out, and apart from that, I think I would like a nice, lazy day.

Here's wishing you all a good Sunday, whatever you are up to. Take good care of yourselves, and thanks for visiting!

What the Postie Brought....

Good morning from wild, wet and windy Rhineland!

Today I want to share with you the lovely things I received yesterday and today from Blogger friends. I am always astonished at the friendliness and generosity of the Blogger Community, and it is a great feeling to know that there are real people out there, and really nice people at that.

In addition to the parcels yesterday from Jeanie, Stephanie and Susie, I got another one today from April. So here are the pictures I managed to take today.

The first photo shows the cardboard tag which I won on April's blog, and the embellishments and *bits and bobs* she sent with them:

Jeanie sent me a beautiful card, lots of embellishments and stamped images, and a wonderful array of tags she made, one more beautiful than the other!

Susie sent me one of June's gorgeous treasure bags, filled with heaps of ephemera and embellisments, lace, ribbon, and different materials, as well as a lovely, hand-made tag. There is so much lace in all colours and widths, my imagination started running riot thinking about all the nice things I could make with it! And the envelope is also beautifully stamped, thanks Susie!

And last but not least, the lovely things I received from Stephanie - an altered board-book, some beautiful cards with her art work, and an altered tin, which is now holding my silk rose-buds. And another, beautifully decorated envelope!

And while I was busy clearing up and putting all my goodies into the appropriate boxes, B dropped in and brought me an Advent calendar that she made for me. This was a lovely surprise, which I was not expecting, and it is lovely to have it hanging in my arty kitchen. Thanks B!

Well, as you can all see, this has been a great mail and present week for me, and I feel quite overwhelmed by so much kindness. Thanks a lot you guys!

Have a great day you all, take good care of yourself, and thanks for stopping by!

Calendar Challenge and more post....

Today is the first of December, the last month of the year. The year has flown by so quickly, I can hardly believe it. It's time for the December Calendar Challenge over at Kate's *Kathryn Wheel*, to which I am linking. I painted the background of the pages with blue, white and gold, and then added the penguins, which I cut from paper napkins and glued with golden gel. The snowballs have been cut from white drawing paper - by hand, as I couldn't find my circle punch! I inked the edges with stormy skies to give them more depth, and spread some blue ice stickles over them, which I also used on the snow and penguins to give some glitter. The snowflakes were in the mail I got from Sandi yesterday. I will definitely be carrying on my calendar journal in the new year, as it has been fun planning a new theme each month, and seeing what other people have made.

Yesterday I had to get up very early to go to the dentist. It was still pitch-black night when I got up, but just before I left the sky was beginning to show the first streaks of colour. I made 2 snapshots, which are not very good quality, as I have to take my photos with my cell-phone camera. But I rather like the grainy look of the sky to the east, and the second one shows the lights of the Düsseldorf airport twinkling in the distance.

I won't bore you with the gory details of my session with the dentist, suffice to say that after 4 injections and 2 1/2 hours being *treated* I was feeling rather groggy and very happy to get home again....and I have to pay for it to boot!

Today is the first day of Advent, so B & I *broke in* to her Mum's house yesterday afternoon to hang up the advent calendar we made for her. (We did have a key, though!) Now she has lots of little presents to open each day till Christmas. The finished calendar is just over 1 meter long.

And last but not least, here are the pretty things Cindy sent to me - a crystal bracelet in a pretty blue bag, and a beautiful tag and card, both with my initial on them. Thanks a lot Cindy, I very much appreciate your kindness.

And while I was at the dentist's, the postman came, and as I wasn't home, he left me a notification that 2 enveopes are waiting for me at the post office, so I will go and collect them this morning.

Hope you all have a good day, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

It's Time Again...

Today I have to be sitting in the dentist's chair at 8am. Not usually a time for me to be out and about, but it can't be helped. Oh well, the sooner it starts the sooner it will be finished....

Yesterday the postie brought me two little parcels, One from Sandi in Canada and the other one from Cindy in the USA. Today I am sharing the contents of my Canadian one, the other one will be revealed tomorrow! Sandi sent some lovely papers, embellishments, vintage Christmas pictures and crepe paper printed with Xmas images, ephemera, including a wonderful hand-written page, and a domino-book with Halloween pictures. Sandi remembered that this is my all-time fave holiday! Thanks a lot Sandi, the first pieces have already been used today!

I bought a new art-journal from EBAY this week, and was looking for the right paper to cover it. And I found it in Sandi's parcel!

I hope to start working in it this afternoon, after the dentist; that is, if I am in a fit condition to do anything!
I started on my December Calendar spread yesterday, and hope to get that finished later on so that I will be ready for the first of the month.

I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day. This is the last day of the month, which has been great fun, and a good incentive to get working every day!

Have a good day you all, take care of yourselves, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Fairy Stairs, Moon and Stars

It's another cold and sunny day here; hope the sun is shining for you, too! Yesterday I went for a walk in the woods with Emily, my four-footed friend. It looked like a carpet of leaves had been rolled out in the woods, it was really pretty, and I love the scrunchy sound of the leaves. And if you have ever wondered how a little fairy climbs onto a tree trunk - I have the answer: Fairy Stairs!

And I made the last pages in my journal, and will be starting my new one this week. I started out just making patterns, and then the star developed, and then the moon to accompany it. I used black ink to draw the images, and coloured the pages with pastel chalks, as I love the soft colours they give.

I think the pictures of moon and stars saying goodnight are a nice way to finish my journal, which has given me a lot of fun in the past 2 1/2 months.
I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day

Have a good day you all, take good care of yourselves, and thanks for dropping by!

Monday once again....

Good morning you all! I just looked at the calendar and saw that 5 weeks today the new year will have already started - yikes! And I am still nowhere ready for Xmas yet, either! Oh well, why should this year be different to all those before it....
I spent a lot of time with my journal, once again just having fun messing around and seeing where the journey takes me. I used some book-pages for the background, covered them in gesso, and then started with some dry transfers, and later adding some cut outs. From there I progressed to stamping, and then after that just used pen and ink and water colours pencils to add some foliage and a bit of colour.

The picture is a mixed media piece I made some time back, and re-discovered under a pile of other things. I used Scrap-book paper from Anna Griffin, which has been drawn on, stamped and painted. I'm not sure if it's finished either, perhaps I will spend some more time with it!

I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day
Hope you all have a great Monday, whatever you are up to! Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Sunday

Good morning everybody! Hope you are all well and fit, It's a cold, grey day here, so good crafting weather! I just have a few things to show you; my journal pages, this time in blue, and a picture I drew over a *waste Page* - I had wiped the colours on my brush off onto the paper, and later decided to use it as a background for a drawing using pastels. I just started out sketching and shading a face, while watching TV, and it looks just like my Mum as a young woman, which totally surprised me. The third piece is a little wooden bird, painted white, edged with inka gold and turned into a tree hanger. And the very last piece is a tag I made last week for the *Cheerful Stamp Pad Challenge* and forgot to show....I am linking again to AEDM at Creative Every Day And to Blue Chair Diary

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