This and That....

Hi you all. Here in Germany it is wet, wet, wet. The skies are grey, the trees are dripping, and the birds were all sitting dismally on their branches, looking very fed up. I decided to stay home and do some crafting. As this week was wet everyday, I got a lot of crafting and reading done.

In my Christmas parcel from my dear friend  Diane, I found a batch of lovely little tins waiting to be altered. 

One had already been beautifully altered by Diane, using a Gecko Galz image:

I love altering tins, so inspired by Diane's good example, I got to work. I covered the lid with a scrap of paper, and added an epoxy image.

Then I made a little concertina book from a strip of the same paper. I distressed and stamped the paper from both sides, but it is not showing up well on the darker side. I added various images of vintage ladies dancing and moving themselves into artful poses:

I added my text to the lighter side:

And fixed a ribbon into the base of the tin to hold the book:

Then I decided to add some crackle around the image using a crackle stamp, and varnished it over a couple of times to make it more durable.

I made a lot more, too, but I will keep it for another day! Take care, have a good weekend, and thanks for coming by!

Mixed Media Postcards

Hi you all, hope you have all recovered from all the excesses of Christmas and New Year, and are slowly getting back into a creative routine.  I have been busy making postcards the past few days, using various techniques and everything I find in my 'bit box'. I am always trying to use up everything that's in it, but somehow it seems to refill itself every time - it must be those little elves at night, as I often find things there that I don't remember having seen before....

These have been made using old book pages, acrylic paint, various images and scraps, tissue tape,  and some hand doodling.

The right card has been made using the waste from a TH die-cut, and placing some water-patterned paper behind it. I love the groovy, sparkly  retro paper!  The image on the left card is an advert from one of my old magazines from 1899.

The backs of the cards have all been covered in designer paper, and stamped with a postcard image, and with a quote.

As these cards are all rather crazy, I am linking up to Simon Says Stamp and Show Mad Hatter's Party, where 'anything goes'.

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

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!