Saying thanks

Hi you all, hope you have now all well and truly arrived in the year 2013. Now it's time to get back to normal, which is something I prefer, as Feast days and Celebrations are not so much fun when you are on your own. Here I must say a big 'Thank-you' to my dear friend Diane, who kept me company on my birthday and at Christmas, although she had enough to do with her own preps and looking after her family. But she found the time to send me several mails each day, so that I would not have to feel lonely! I really appreciate this, and the fact that she sent me two fat packets, one each for birthday and Christmas, filled with goodies - books, stamps, embellishments, tools, embossing folders, ribbons and bows, flowers - you name it, I got it! There are so many kind people in Blogland, and Diane is truly one of the best. Thanks for being such a good friend!  Donna also mails me often, and has kept me supplied with die-cuts and images, which she sends all the way from Mexico to brighten my day.  And Sue sent me 2 gorgeous embossing folders along with her Christmas card, I am looking forward to playing with them. Last but not least, Suze sent me a lovely owl calendar, and.....and.....wait for it - Galaxy chocolate and Horlicks, so that I had a little taste of home. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, things like that just do good. Thanks girls!

And now some pictures of the cards I received, and what a wonderful amount of talent they show!

From Tracey, Jo, Suze and Karen

From Katie, April and Suze

From Yvonne, Donna, Carolyn and Annette

From Lynne and Terrie

From Diane

From Chrissie, Sue and Alma

From Annette

From Yvonne and Diane

And extra points go to Lynne and Suze, who sent me London cards!

And that's not all. Diane entered my birthday card into the Blog Contest at Gecko Galz - and she won first prize - a whole year, 5 new image sheets each month! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

   
                    

No wonder with such a wonderful card!

So, I hope I have remembered everything and everyone now.

Take care, have a great day, have fun in the year ahead, and thanks for visiting!

Happy New Year!

(Picture courtesy of Altered Artifacts)

Hi everybody! This will be the last post in this year, so hope you all have a happy and healthy new year, and manage to make some of your dreams come true.

We have had a lot of rain to end the year here, with the Rhine looking very swollen and lots of fields under water. I took these pics when I was out for a walk on Boxing Day.

The trees have got wet feet....

The Rhine has already started to flood the shore on the other side....

The bushes next to the tow-path are already under water....

The gangway usually goes down steeply to the ships....

These are the slots to hold the steel flood-doors if the water is threatening the town....

Today it  stayed mostly dry, and the sun came out occasionally. I love the pictures of the evening sky in winter!

Enjoy your New Year celebrations, have fun, but take care!

Thanks for visiting and for your support all year!

A WIP for PPF

Hi you all! The holidays are over, the year is almost over, and I was fighting this week to try to get something done for PPF. I have once again re-used an old canvas - 28x20", which I have painted with metallic paints in green, blue and turquoise. Before painting I put different papers on the canvas, and some gauze, partly to cover up some holes in the canvas, and partly just to see what would happen. The first coat of paint was very watered down, and then I added more layers using a thick brush and my  fingers. I used different Adirondack sprays in green, blue and plum, and some gold ink, sprayed water onto the colours and let them run, and then spread them with my fingers.  When it had dried I added more spray, and then used the heat gun to 'bubble' it a bit, which gave a nice texture. Then I played with stickles and  perfect pearls, adding more layers of colour. I then added various, mostly metallic bits and bobs from my 'bit box', including two old tags. I just like experimenting. I think I would like to do something to the left side, but I don't yet know what. Time will tell. Perhaps....

The 'bubbled' texture

I am linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin.

Hope you all have a good weekend. Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Tag Swap and a Rainbow

Hi you all, hope you have been enjoying a wonderful Christmas up till now! Here it is wet and (almost) warm, we have had temperatures of over 50, and in the south of Germany it was even more. The snow has gone, and today we even had a rainbow - the first time I have seen one at Christmas!

The tags are from a swap organized over at Tag Tuesday. I would like to thank all who took part, Carolyn who organized it, and all the ladies who sent such gorgeous tags!

I unfortunately do not know who made the wonderful  bird. Thanks a lot, anyway!

The lovely red Santa came from Anni in Denmark, thanks a lot!

The beautiful snowflakes came from Barb. Thank you!

The red doors open up here to show a gorgeous snowman, which I forgot to photograph!

Thanks a lot, Martha,  sorry I don't have a blog addy.

The beautiful white lace tag, which has been hand stitched is from Elizabeth. Thanks a lot!

Enjoy your holidays, take care, and thanks a lot for dropping in!

Happy Holidays

Wishing you all happy and peaceful holidays and all the blessings of the Season!

Here is a collage of some wintry  photos taken in my little corner of the world.

Take care, have fun, and thanks for visiting!

Paint Party Friday

Hi you all! it's time for another Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin. I have re-used an old canvas, which gave me the background texture. I was intending it to be something else, but after I had knocked a cup of coffee over it, I decided to utilize the drips. I have used different metallic paints, gold ink, and some Adirondack spray in  plum. I added more texture with micro-beads sprinkled onto the wet paint.

The text is written in Hebrew,  and is the beginning of Psalm 130, 'Out of the depths I cry unto Thee, O Lord; Lord hear my voice'. The Hebrew text is pronounced  'Mim-aa-makim  keratikha Adonai; Adonai shima vekoli' just in case anyone wants to know. After the terrible shootings of innocent children and their teachers at Sandy Hook, I think we all want to cry out in pain and ask, 'Why?'

I had problems doing the letters, because of shaky hands and a gold Edding pen that was nearly empty and very scratchy, but will go over them when I have a new one, but on the whole I am satisfied with this painting.

And it's my birthday today,  Friday, December 21st. As I don't think that the Mayans were predicting the end of the world for today, I have baked a chocolate cake with lots of frosting. I'm not expecting any visitors, but one of the advantages of being alone is that you get to eat the cake all by yourself - of course, not all at once!

Have a good weekend, take care, and thanks for dropping in!

Tag Tuesday & Out of a Hat....

Hi you all! I have been busy doing next to nothing these past couple of days, but I did manage to alter a notebook for the *winter* challenge at Out of a Hat Creations, Not really exciting, but definitely wintry!  The back and front are different, and I made a matching tag/ book-mark.

At Tag Tuesday the theme this week is to alter a bauble or make an ornament, so I made some little, ornamental tags which could be hung on a tree if I had one! Very original, too - sorry, but I think I have run out of Christmas ideas!

A Santa:

A Bauble:

And a Gingerbread man, who caught a cold after coming out of the oven!

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