Moos and Birds

Hi you all! It's still freeeeeeeeezing here, it snowed for a couple of hours this morning, but seems to be more or less gone now. The temperatures are rising again - from -3° this morning to +1° now, so that's something! I have been busy making Moos, little cards 2,8 x 1,1", for the Moo Mania Challenge, where the theme this week is pointed hats, something that links to carnival here in Germany! I got carried away again, or should I say moo-ved to make several, it's just hard to stop once you get started.

These chaps looked like they needed some fun, so I gave them all pointy hats. The chap on the left has been decorated with some 'Luft Schlangen'. Literally translated this gives you 'air-snakes' - they are not dangerous though, just little rolls of coloured paper which you drape over and round everything and anything at party time.

This chappie was positively begging to join in the celebrations....

And this young man seems to be wearing the Eiffel Tower as his hat:

(All stamps are from Chocolate Baroque)

Here is a photo cut from the newspaper, showing a genuine celebration in Düsseldorf, you can see some more pointy hats in the background. Nobody looks twice if they see people walking through the streets at carnival time in fancy costumes - you just get stared at if you look 'normal'!

And little Miss Araminta was on my table, just clamouring to join in the fun, so I let her!

Miss Araminta is also starring in my card for the birds challenge at Fashionable Stamping. I used a square of speciality stamping paper, which I distressed with gradient colours, before stamping some plants and grasses with Memento London Fog to make the background. The plants and birds in the foreground have been stamped with black archival.  Miss Araminta and her cousin Miss Bella are dressed in their Sunday best and out for a walk. I stamped them twice, popping them up with foam squares, and the dresses have been paper pieced to give more depth. I gave them both a coat of clear varnish to give them some shine. Miss Araminta has a lace trim on her dress, Miss Bella has been picking flowers to line her nest.

The lovely ladies birds are from Catherine Moore, the background stamps are from Artemio, Stampin Up and LaBlanche.

These were both fun challenges, and Miss Araminta was soooooooo happy to be the centre of attraction again, she is really crazy for publicity!

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

And still more tags....

Hi you all. It's still very cold here, although the snow has almost disappeared. Hope you are all managing to keep warm - or cool - wherever you are!

The first tag today is for the challenge at Out of a Hat Creations, where the ladies would like to see three textures. I have used corrugated card, partly peeled, gessoed and painted- the card is my fave texture just now! I added a piece of old book paper, and a strip if card into which I have embossed three different textures using Utee.  Added the flowers and jute as embellishments, tied it up with a piece of string, and that was it.

That blue thumb belongs to me!

The second tag is one for Valentine. Once again I have used corrugated card, my script stamp, lace and scraps, half of a TH branch tree,  an image from a postage sheet from Gecko Galz, and a few embellies from my bit box.

Tag Number 3 is my Tag Tuesday 'F' tag. I know a lot of words beginning with 'F', but some are not suitable for making into tags....so I chose fingers as my word:

No, they are neither my fingers nor my nails!

That's all for today, take care, and thanks for coming by!

Tags again....

Hi you all, hope you are enjoying your weekend, whatever you are up to! My first tag today is my DT piece for the second week of 'Give me your heart' over at  The Cheerful Stamp Pad, so you still have a week to enter the challenge. I have used cardboard again, partly peeled, painted with gesso and a little left over paint. I used my script stamp for the background, and added a rub on bird at the top. The image was a freebie from Gecko Galz.

The second tag is for the 'Ever after' challenge at Simon Says.  I have made a tag using paper from 'The Fairy Tale' stack for the background, with a collage of different fairy-tale elements - the fairy castle,, a schoolgirl waiting for her prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, the big bad wolf, a talking bird and a magic tree. The scroll at the top is the German equivalent of 'Once upon a time'

Have a good evening, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Alpha Challenge - 'E'

The current Alpha Challenge at the Craft Barn is for 'E'. First I tried E for elephant, but didn't really like the page, as it reminded me of the work-sheets I used to make for the kids at school! 

So I started again....This time with 'even numbers'. In case you have forgotten what you learned in school, this is the definition: 

Even numbers are numbers that can be divided evenly by 2. An even number ends in 0,2,4,6 or 8.

There is even (no pun intended!) a song about them, which you can find here.

I used a dictionary page, which was gessoed, and then placed the fussy cut numerals onto it and sprayed  over them which blue ink. When it was dry, I edged them with faux stitching. I added lots of different numerals in various sizes to make up the background, before adding the large cut out ones. I was also able to use up some peel-offs which have been in my stash for years, and this gave a bit of colour. Then I added lots of crazy faux stitching in all directions.

We had a lot of snow again in the night, so I am off now for a refreshing walk!

Take care, have a good weekend, and thanks for coming by!

Paint Party Friday

Hi you all! I thought I would not get anything more finished today, as it was H*******K day! BUT - as I couldn't sleep, I got up very early, did the laundry, mopped the floor, cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, dusted the furniture and even tidied up - and at 10 o'clock I was finished! This left me with plenty of crafty time. I got out my paints and sprays and went to work. I gave the background a thin coat of metallic paint - which gives a nice shimmer - and then sprayed with various  shades of blue and purple , and let it run in different directions. Sorry the photos are bad, I had to put the lights on as it was a dark day.

Then I drew round some of the parts at the bottom, and scribbled around a bit, before adding the beautiful cherub.

And then I decided to cut it up and make a journal out of it. I divided the paper into 2 pieces, and mounted them on to the back of an old painting block. I gave the front and back 2 coats of clear varnish to make them more durable.

I lined the inside covers with some pretty aqua coloured paper from Prima, and made a pocket inside the front cover to hold the two matching book marks.

I cut white paper to size (30x20cm) and bound it all with my BIA. If you're wondering why I used red wires, I didn't have any others or I couldn't find them!

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

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

'Peace' journal pages

Hi you all! We have been having crazy weather here. On Tuesday we had a snow storm and sunshine at the same time, followed by a rainbow. Today I woke up to a blizzard, good 6" of snow had fallen and was still coming down hard and fast. A couple of hours later, when I went to do my shopping, the snow was melting in the sun, the roads were wet, dirty and mushy, and while getting out of the car at the store I trod into a puddle, and squelched around the shop, wet to my ankle!

I have made a painting for my journal, and am entering it into 'Art Journal Journey', where the theme this month is 'Peace'. The background has been given a very thin coat of metallic paint in blue and green, and some spots of gold ink, and was then sprayed with more blue and green and allowed to drip. The text is computer generated onto a transparency and glued on. I used a template to add a little bit of patterning at the bottom, and have stamped the background with a scrip stamp, but it doesn't show up in the photo. The birds were made with a template using window colour, as they were intended for my windows. I didn't like them there, so they have flown onto my painting. My grumpy neighbour looked, shook his head, and said, 'Peace? Those birds look like they are going to attack each other!' Well, I like them! This will also be my entry for Paint Party Friday, as I don't think I will get anything more painted by then, I need should MUST do some dreaded H*******K tomorrow.

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

Tags again

Hi you all, it's time for more tags, all made for various challenges. The first one is my DT tag for the challenge 'You have my heart' at The Cheerful Stamp pad. The challenge lasts for two weeks, so there's plenty of time to join in.

This tag is for the 'Asia' Challenge at Artful Times. I don't have much stash or stamps for this theme. I used a piece of DP for the background, and glazed it to give it some shine. I mounted it onto a piece of black card. I cut a sun out of pergament paper, and added my Asian themed decorations - some coins, a button,  the lady and a tassel.

The last tag is for Tag Tuesday, where we are going through the letters of the alphabet. This week we have arrived at 'E', so my tag is for Elephant and End.   The elephant is holding a golden 'E' in its trunk, which has been made by stamping into molten Utee.

So, that was enough for today, I want to watch a murder mystery on TV, so I'll say goodnight, take care, and thanks for coming by!