Saturday Walk and Sunday Playtime

Hi everybody,

it's cold and VERY windy outside, so I decided to stay home today, not go for a walk, and just have fun in my kitchen....

I did go walkies yesterday, and found some more autumn impressions:

This is a very ugly brick storage building by the kid's playground, covered in graffiti, and I love how nature has taken over and made it beautiful:

 

In the park

Waiting for the boat:

 A potted garden along the top of the old town walls by the Rhine:

And this lovely tree, really enormous, and covered thickly with ivy and hops. There are stairs right next to it, leading down to the moat, so this was the best view I could get:

 

And now for the 'aroma therapy' part of the day:

I baked my carrot cake and  gave it a coat of chocolate glaze while it was still warm:

 Help yourself to a piece of cake!

Suze Bain asked me to keep a piece for her, so here it is Suze, enjoy!

 

And while the cake was baking, I made a travelling case for The ATCs, shown here from the inside:

and the outside:

I trimmed the edges with 'owl lace'. I hope Miss Araminta will enjoy travelling in it. The giveaway is still open till Wednesday early, so if you are interested, see my previous post.

 

And this photo of domestic bliss to end today's episode - Miss Fitt getting ready to cook pumpkin and toadstool  soup.....

I am linking to What I made today

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

ATCs, photos and a little giveaway.

Hi everybody!

Hope you all have something good planned for the weekend. It's cold, wet and windy here, so apart from taking my walks each day I will stay home, cook, do some knitting and play in my arty kitchen. And perhaps I will back a carrot cake, as I dreamed of eating carrot cake this week, and woke up very disappointed when it was not there. Ah well, the dream was at least free of calories.

I have made a set of 3 ATCs for the Craftroom Challenge.

I am also linking to Manon's Paper Saturdays.

I used some of the pretty Halloween paper that Donna sent me, and mounted it onto some scrap pieces of black card. The middle one is showing Miss Araminta, a wonderful stamp from Catherine Moore. I wanted to stamp another bird, but Miss A. started complaining that she had been in the cupboard for months, so I let her out to play. She has been fussy cut, and dressed up for Halloween with a smart hat I made for her, and a magic wand. The right ATC has been made using images from Gecko Galz, which have been coloured, fussy cut and given a coat of paper glaze to make them shine. I rolled the pumpkin over a pen to give it some form. The embellies on the left ATC, and the broom, were gifts from Donna.

And here a group photo with our resident witch, Miss Fitt.

(I was taking the photo!)

 

If you would like this set of ATCs and the bony hand necklace, please leave a comment and tell me so. I will pick a winner on October 15 at 8 AM German time.

This was the view out of the window yesterday morning, I just love the depth of the sky and the varying colours.

 

A view through the trees in the park:

 

 

And one of my favourite spots along the Rhine here:

The gate leads to the back yard of the hospital:

 

The little alley connects the Church close with the 'main' street, I love the play of light and shadows on the bricks of the old wall.

 

And here the shadow of the lantern on the wall caught my eye:

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

Patchwork, Frames and Photos

Hi everybody!

For these pieces I have used Jessica Sporn's 'frames' stencil.

I used Viva paper colour for the background, and purple metallic for the frames. The photos are from a photo-booth strip from way back in the seventies, dig those shades! The quote means something like 'Better to be painted by Picasso than scarred by fate'

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

Framed:

I am also linking to Art Journal Journey, 'she art'

The second piece has been made using another frame from the same stencil, and with the So Artful challenge 'Patchwork' in mind. I stamped the squares using the stamp-pads - dried marigold, rusty screw, wild honey, forest moss and barn door -  directly on the paper . I added frames to some of the squares, and stamped some with a leaf stamp, which was a free gift many years back. I added some faux stitching to some of the squares and decided to stop there before it got too full.

 

I am linking to So Artful challenge blog - patchwork.

And here a few photos taken at the Rhine today, on a grey and misty day:

 The ancient stairs used to lead up to the mill:

 

The top got blown off the mill a couple of hundred years ago:

That's all for today, take care, have a good day, and thanks a lot for coming by!

An Autumn Journal

Hi Everybody!

I made this journal as part of my guest DT work for Gecko Galz, but didn't get round to showing it till now.

The papers used for the covers, inside and out,  the tag pockets and the little illustrations in between are all from Gecko Galz collage sheets. I used cardboard from an old painting pad for the covers, and distressed the edges, after gluing on the papers, with DI in wild honey, rusty screw and Inka gold. I tied the book together with ribbons, as I noticed after I had punched the holes, that I didn't have wires in the right size. This is a great alternative, as it gives a much softer finish and the book always opens flat. I have just shown a few of the pages here, so as not to make the post too long.

 

I am linking to Artful times - Autumnal Colours

On my walk through the park I discovered lots of mushrooms /toadstools.

This is the biggest puffball I have seen there till now,  much larger than a football!

I think they are edible, but I left it there!

And there were lots of ink-caps in various stages of growth and decay:

I love the view from above, it looks like an UFO!

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

Double Tuesday again - Halloween is coming nearer.

Hi everybody!

Today it's time for a new theme at Tag Tuesday, and a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday.

At Tag Tuesday our theme this week is 'Tattered and torn'. Somehow, it turned out as another Halloween tag, what a surprise! The background  image is from Gecko Galz, and has been mounted onto some of the pretty card that Donna sent me last week. The die-cut was a gift from Diane, who cut it with her Zing.

The crow has been fussy cut and given an eye made with green stickles. The grey hairs were in my stash - perhaps one of my visiting witches left them here - and the scrap of material has been blacked with DI.

 

The altered bottle is a decoration I made last year.

I am also linking to Tagalong Challenge - 'Something wicked this way comes'

At Try it on Tuesday  the theme is textures.  You have 2 weeks to join in the challenge. The challenges this month  are being sponsored by Smeared Ink.  They are offering a prize of 10$ to spend in their online store. 

The box used here is a recycled corrugated cardboard box which once had candles in it. I painted it black, and added some Inka Gold to liven it up. The background paper is from Gecko Galz. The die-cuts were once again made by Diane - thanks! The rest is from my stash

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

Patchwork

Hi everybody!

Over at So Artful challenge the theme this month is 'patchwork quilt'. This made me think of the lovely scraps that Donna sent me from Mexico some time back. As it is October, I sorted out scraps suitable for the 'Day of the Dead', and made them into a journal cover, which should keep my journal nice and warm this winter.... I used some iron-on vlies to fix them to a sheet of cardboard, and then sewed them, more or less, with the machine. I needed more time to thread the needle than to sew it, I cannot see where to put the thread, but I got it done in the end! The stitches do not look even, but I have learnt to accept my limitations when sewing, and am calling it 'Witch stitch'! When it was done, I went round the edge with another line of stitching, and fixed it to a plain journal cover with DS tape. The witchy accessories have been cut from fun-foam using a Sizzix die.

I love the bright colours of the Mexican cloth, and how those skellies seem to be having a fun time.

 

Somebody dropped in to have a look:

 

I think she's glad to have company!

I am also linking to: Crafty Calendar Challenge, Halloween
and  Crazy 4Challenges, Halloween

That's all for today, have a good one, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!