Ice skating & winter fashions 1900

Hi you all! It's still very frosty, snowy and icy here, and I am hoping for the warmer weather we have been promised in the next days.

While browsing in one of my old 'German Housewives' magazines from 1900 I saw these lovely images of skaters, and the lady dressed in her winter finery. Please feel free to download and copy the images if you would like to!

Have a good day, keep warm, and thanks for looking in!

Tag Tuesday and Memory Shrine

Hi you all! Here is my tag for 'Deck the Halls' for Tag Tuesday. I found some Graphics 45 paper in my stash with carols on it, so used it for the background. The lovely window cut-out was sent me by a friend, as was the lantern, holly wreath and bow - just in time for this piece! I put a Christmas tree 'inside' the window, so it looks like you are looking in.

The challenge at 'out of  a hat' creations this week is to make a shrine. I have used a little tin which was once filled with delicious, mini Lindt chocolates. I did not paint the tin, as I thought it was too pretty to alter. I lined the inside with lace and some beaded flower trim, and added photos of my Mum and me as babies, some flowers and a butterfly. My Mum used to love yellow and lilac flowers, so I have used them here. I decorated the lid with some butterflies and a metal flower which used to be on a brooch of my Mum's. I used some old, lace hankies of my Mum's as a background. 

I am still very slow at crafting on account of my shaky fingers, but I am hopeful that sooner or later I will be able to craft without dropping everything I pick up at least 5 times!

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

Wired angel

Hi everybody! I have been working on my wired angel on and off for the past few days. As I can't do fine things just now because of my shaky fingers, I decided I needed to do something with hammer and tongs and glue-gun, and I did.

I started off with a papp-maché torso, which I covered with scraps of tissue paper. This step was really a waste of time, because you can't see any of it now, but I just enjoyed tearing the bits of tissue and slapping them on with golden gel, and getting nice and sticky once again. After it had dried, I used my fingers to smear coarse structure paste all over it, which was a bit hard on the fingers as it is rather scratchy. Then I put it by the radiator overnight to dry. In the meantime, I put on my thick workman's gloves, and started scrunching a piece of chicken wire into a pair of wings, and bound the middle with some wire.  By this time I was determined to give her a hat, which had been made from aluminium-foil, moulded over a tennis ball, and then covered with soft wire mesh, and given a rolled up brim.  The hat was made for another angel -who has disappeared! -some time back, but I was sure it would suit this angel just as well.
BUT - she needed a neck to support the hat! This time I took a loo-roll, cut it a bit shorter, and snipped into one end about every half an inch so it would fit over the neck. I covered it with some embossed paper and painted it white, and then fixed it over the neck of the torso, using some smooth plaster, and holding it down till it had dried. Then I covered the join with coarse structure paste. When it was all nicely dry, I glittered her with Ice Stickles in blue and silver, and she glitters beautifully. After she had had  another night by the radiator to dry off, I got to work with the heat gun. I only got one blister this time! First I fixed her wings in place, then her belt - a scrap of wire mesh - and finally her hat, which put up a lot of resistance and did not want to be stuck onto a loo-roll neck. But I won in the end, and here she is in all her glory.

But she was not satisfied till she had been photographed from all angles...

And she demanded having flowers put round her feet....

And then the birds started making a fuss because they wanted to be on a picture, too!

I am linking to ABAC Challenge 8 ( celebrating the light or seasonal holiday)

I'm still looking for a name for her. Any suggestions?

Thanks for looking, have fun, and take good care of yourselves!

Snow Business

Hi you all! We are still 'enjoying' plenty of snow here, and very frosty temperatures. Yesterday I had an early appointment with my doctor, and had to battle my way through a snow storm to get there. It was extremely windy, too, and I had to hang onto my umbrella with both hands so as not to turn into an overweight, snow-covered Mary Poppins! Anyway, I made it there and back in one piece, although on the way home I nearly got flattened by a car which tried to take the corner too quickly and slithered onto the sidewalk before being stopped by a hedge, and if I had been 2 yards further he would have got me - yikes!

The first 2 photos were taken from my balcony yesterday as the snow storm was just starting. They are not b/w ones, there was just no colour!

Today I went out for a little walk along the stream next to our house. The sun was shining, so although it was very cold, it was enjoyable.

Sunrise from my balcony

Looking along the stream

Pity you can't see how the snow was sparkling!

The path through the fields

Tomorrow we have been promised rain, and then it is supposed to freeze again - sounds like it will be very slippery at the beginning of the week, I think I will be staying home....

Here's wishing you all a good weekend! Take care, have fun, and stay creative!

Thanks for visiting!

Some photo cards

Hi you all. At the beginning of the week I printed out a whole sheet of snowy photos taken here. One I used for my Tag Tuesday tag, and the others I turned into cards. I like this mix of reality and fantasy. I have now cleared away the rest of the Christmas papers, I have not really made enough, but it as much as I can do just now. Had a big fight trying to get cards into envelopes and address labels stuck on today, my fingers were once again playing their own game!

This is the same photo I used for the tag, just a different Santa walking along.

This is the tree in the ruins of the Kaiserpfalz (Imperial Castle) which is down by the Rhine.

This tree is on the street where I live.

And these two little birds look like they are trying to keep warm. Good idea, as we have loads of snow and deep-freeze temperatures promised! I used a metallic card, which did not photograph well.

That was all for today. Take care, have fun, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Tag Tuesday and Happy Mail

Wow! Today I have managed to get my tag for Tag Tuesday posted promptly on Tuesday, so I'm pleased about that. Our theme is 'winter landscape'. I wanted to keep it simple, as my fingers are still leading their own lives, so  I used a photo I took in 2010. It shows the pathway leading along the remains of the old wall, parallel to the Rhine, which used to be part of the town's defenses in the old days. I just added the vintage Santa image, and matted it onto some blue miri card and silver card. The beads are some of those I made last year, and the silver embellishment was sent by a crafty friend, as were the pretty fibres.

I received this pretty card from Chrissie, who was so kind to send me get well wishes. Thanks a lot Chrissie, and all the others who have sent post and mails.

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

Xmas cards again

Hi you all, hope you are enjoying your weekend, whatever you are up to!
It's cold and grey and dismal here, so I was happy that I didn't have to stick my nose outside yesterday.
My doc is going to reduce my tablets over the next 5 weeks or so, so I am hoping that when I have them out of my system, my shaky fingers will start getting better.

I have made a few more cards, nothing special, but I have to start getting them posted soon. I will just not be able to send as many as I did last year. 

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