Paint Party Friday.

Hi you all! Another week is done and dusted and it's time for Paint Party Friday again, hosted, as always by Eva and Kristin. This week I am sharing some journal pages I have made, and a WIP, which still needs a lot of work on it. The background has been made from a smear, test and wipe sheet, to which I added some more colours with baby wipes, before doing some stamping. I managed to resist the temptation to use sprays and dripology - sometimes we need something different! I used my fave script and diamond stamps, using Colorbox fluid chalk ink in peony. I did the script in blocks going in different directions to add more interest. I have used a photo of my great-grandmother Rachel, taken at the beginning of the 1900s. No, I did not intend it to be wonky - it just happened, so I left it. I used my stencil to do the figures on the left with burgundy paint. The Hebrew text, which means 'A woman of valour, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels', and is taken from the concluding chapter of the book of Proverbs.  Transliterated, the text reads, 'Eshet Chayil mi yimtza v'rachok mip'ninim mikhrah'. Traditionally, in Jewish homes, the entire song is recited by the husband before the Sabbath meal on Friday evenings, who praises his wife before blessing the children, a beautiful custom.
My great grandmother was a very strong and upright woman, and I have made these pages to honour her memory.

Some of the embellishments have been fussy cut or die cut.

I am also linking to Art Journal Journey, (use a new or different technique or method - no spraying!)

Fashionable Stamping Challenges (sentimental) and

Our Creative Corner  (anything goes)

The WIP was inspired by the wonderful orange moon last week, which was evidently caused by the partial lunar eclipse. It was hard to get a good photo, and it still needs a lot of work on it. I have been playing about  with structure paste, stencils, micro-beads etc and having a fun and messy time. 

Tomorrow (Friday) morning I will draw the names of my giveaway winners, and publish them Friday evening. Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by.

Holiday postcard

Hi you all, hope you have had a good day. It was chilly again here, but it stayed dry, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, so a pleasant day all in all.  And nobody woke me early! Tomorrow I will have to be out early, though, as my car has to go to the TÜV  - a safety and function test for all cars every 2 years.

I spent my day painting and crafting, and made a nice 'Eintopf' - a meal cooked in one pot, with cabbage, beef, veggies, potatoes and tomatoes -  yummy! And I have enough to keep me going for a few days, so won't need to cook again.

The challenge at Simon Says is to make something travel-themed, and at the Craft Room Hazel has chosen the challenge and wants to see a holiday postcard.

I have collaged my postcard with squares and oblongs of travel themed paper from various makers. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make some 'lace' from an old map. My all-time fave, Mr Umbrella Man, had to make another appearance. I cut him twice, once from the same map and once from black card, and layered them one over the other to give more definition. I shaded the card and edges with Antique linen and vintage photo  DIs, and added some stamping in Adirondack espresso. The sentiment has been made with a Dymo label-maker, and means 'where are you going?'.

Oh, I almost forgot - I made the top 5 at Try it on Tuesday again, so that was nice!

And I just learnt that I won Petra's giveaway, yay!

Have a good day you all, hope the sun shines for you! Take care, and thanks for visiting!

Tags for Tag Tuesday

Hi you all! Today I am sharing the tags I made last week and this week for Tag Tuesday, for the letters 'P' and 'Q'. There's a saying about 'minding your Ps and Qs' which I just looked up, and here are 2 of the explanations from Wikipedia:

*One explanation suggests that *Ps and Qs is short for pleases and thank yous, and would have been used by parents to educate their children to not forget to speak politely etc.

Another origin comes from English pubs and taverns of the 17th century. Bartenders would keep a watch on the alcohol consumption of the patrons; keeping an eye on the PINTS and QUARTS that were consumed. As a reminder to the patrons, the bartender would recommend they 'mind their Ps and Qs'. This may also have been a reminder to bartenders not to confuse the 2 units, written as 'p' and 'q' on the tally slate.*

Well, this has nothing to do with my tags, so here they are:

This was made using a page out of Websters Greater English Dictionary, as I love their illustrations. The limerick is from Dixon Lanier Meritt.

For this week I chose the word 'Queue' for Q - I thought it was so plump that nobody else would use it. The illustration is from arthursclipart.org, where there is a splendid collection of free clipart. The two verse limerick was written specially for the occasion by me, and has been fixed to the back of the tag.

Here's hoping you have a good day - it's a holiday here, so I hope I will be able to sleep a bit longer!

Take care, and thanks for coming by!

More or less Less is more at Artful Times

Hi you all! I am happy to say that I did NOT get woken up by the postman this morning. No, it was a neighbour, having new cabinets put into his kitchen, and drilling holes in the walls! Well, never mind, I did get a lot done again.

I made 2 cards for the 'less is more' challenge at Artful Times - not really my cup of tea, but I have tried!

The first one has been made with some skeleton leaves mounted onto a scrap of silver fabric. The sentiment has been die cut.

The second one features my Leonardo lady again - I think her name was Leda. I stamped the background with script and flourishes in vintage photo, and she has been stamped with Adirondack Espresso. The sentiment has been die cut again.

I think both cards look rather better in real life.

You still have time to enter my little giveaway from yesterday!

That's all for today. Have a good day, take care, and thanks for coming by.

Moos Maze Album, a mini canvas and a giveaway.

Hi everybody, time for a little giveaway. Today I made a Moos Maze Album. I had a lot of moos flattering about, and thought it would be a good idea to give them a home. I made the album using some retro dp, and the covers from coasters, covered with sunshine-yellow paper. There are 2 moos on the front, one on the back,  and 8 hiding inside the pockets. 

Wonder who's hiding in here?

As I said at the beginning, I am having a little giveaway. If you would like this album, or the circus mini books  here, please leave a comment and say which one you would like. If more than 2 are interested, I will pick the names out of my old hat!  All followers of my blog are welcome. You have till Friday, May 3rd, 8am local time to leave your comment. I am linking to Moo-Mania.

The challenge at Out of a Hat is hearts and swirls. I have painted a mini canvas with red and gold acrylics, and heat-bubbled the gold to give texture. I stamped the canvas with my script stamp, but it is hard to see it here. I cut 2 hearts with TH's heart and wings die. The top one has been made from textured red paper, the one underneath from white card stamped with my 'love' stamp and gold embossed. The wings have been cut from a scrap of gold paper and embossed with swirls. There are more swirls in the heart. The black button is a Victorian one with a cameo, made of jet and edged with stones.

Enough for today! Have a good start to the week, take care, and thanks for coming by!

New Journal 'Dream'

Hi you all! It's been a chilly day here, but hope the sun will come for a visit tomorrow! I got woken up early by the postman again, bringing a parcel for the next-door neighbour. I wish I could sleep so soundly as all my neighbours evidently do!

I kept myself warm with crafting, painting and cooking, a good combination! I decided to make another album. The cover has been made from cardboard which has been painted with pink and then gesso to tone it down a bit, and stamped with script and diamonds while it was still wet, which gives a nice texture. I then built up layers with hessian, ribbons, lace and  paper strips. The focal image is a lovely Leonardo lady from Lost Coast Designs, stamped with Adirondack Espresso onto some packaging, and distressed with vintage photo  Victorian velvet and antique linen DIs. I used some pretty netting under the image.  As the lady looks very dreamy, I added the sentiment 'Dream'. I used a Prima flower and leaves and some scraps of ribbon and a few charms as embellishments.

The backside has been made from cardboard from an old drawing pad, covered with white, embossed paper and distressed with Victorian Velvet.

There are 50 pages inside waiting to be drawn on, doodled or scribbled on! I am linking to the 'Sentimental' Challenge at Fashionable Stamping and to 'so sentimental' at the Craft Room and 'Dreams' at PanPastel Blog

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

Alpha Challenge, Moos and an orange moon.

Hello everybody. It's weekend already, and I hope you will all have a fun and relaxing weekend. I was up early this morning, thanks to the postman who loves to get me out of my bed to take parcels for neighbours who are able to sleep through his persistent ringing! Anyway, it meant I was able to get the shopping early, and spend some time doing the dreaded, but rather necessary H*******K! I think the dust bunnies seem to breed at my place, I have no other explanation for them always coming back!

For the alpha challenge at the Craft barn we have to use the letter 'w', and as an extra, use circles on our page. I chose the word 'word blind' (alexia) after a long perusal of my Greater Webster's Dictionary. The dictionary page has been pounced over with white gesso to blot out some of the words, and then stamped with an alphabet stamp (Kaisercraft). I used a white pastel chalk to partly cover some of the stamping. The lady has been cut out of a magazine. I cut circles out of black card for her glasses. I used stenciled and self adhesive alphas to embellish the page. The magnifying glass has been fussy cut and stuck to the page.

The Moos are, of course, for the Moo-Mania challenge, where the ladies want to see spring moos this time round. I used scraps of paper which have been collaged, painted, doodled and embellished.

Then I decided to make the four moos into 2 little hangings, and mounted them onto ribbon, adding some beads onto them to help them hang straight!

They were fun to make. I am also linking to Manon's 'Paper Saturdays'

Yesterday (Thursday) evening we had an orange coloured moon. I have never seen the moon this colour before, it was so fascinating, I could not stop watching it.

That's all for today. Have a good weekend, take care, and thanks for coming by!