Still more Frida Kahlo, happy mail and a castle

Hi everybody!

The week is flying by again, and the days never seem to have enough hours in them. I sometimes wonder how I managed back in the days when I had to work!

I have another Frida collage to share today. I have enjoyed seeing all the Frida art from  those who have taken part in the challenge at Art Journal Journey, and hope that more of you will join in!

I made a painted background, which was textured using a crackle stamp into the wet paint, and then collaged with various images. I added the quote with a white gel-pen. I filled in the gaps round the edges with oil pastels. I had fun surrounding Frida with fruits, flowers, bird and animals.

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

And here are Frida journal pages I made 2 years back, I will be transferring them to my 'Frida' album.

Yesterday I got this lovely card from Diane, very sparkly, with a wonderful embossed and glittered background. Thanks Sweetie! This was a lovely surprise!

 Recently I cycled through the fields to the castle at Angermund, a neighbouring village. I took the photos with my phone, as I thought I had forgotten my camera - I hadn't, it was just in the wrong pocket!

The moated castle  dates back to the 12th century.

Have a great day you all, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Frida collage with paper doll

Hi Everybody!

We had cooler weather today, with lots of fluffy clouds and a nice wind. But I'm afraid it will be heating up again from tomorrow, and then once again we have to expect storms, rain etc.

I used a photo of Frida with a monkey for the background, and increased the transparency to make it recede. The Frida doll cut-out sheet was sent to me a couple of years back, and I saved it for a special occasion....I gave the image a coat of clear varnish before fussy cutting it and putting the parts together with foam pads. I used liquid pearls in champagne to add embellishments to her hair, necklace, and to the patterns in the skirt. I used some fibres to make a belt. I made a frame using oil pastels, and tried to repeat the pattern from her skirt in the corners.

This is the album I made last year using Mexican cotton scraps sent to me by my dear friend Donna, a very talented artist, who lives in Mexico. I will be filling it with the Frida pages I am making for this challenge at Art Journal Journey.

I enjoyed my cycle ride along the Rhine again, and it was good to feel the mixture of cool air, sunshine and a fresh breeze. The clouds were fascinating today, I love watching them form and change.

This is my trusty bike, and today I saw it has a name, 'Donna' - so, Donna is accompanying me on my journeys.

 The farmer was cross because one of the bales burst open while he was lifting it....

The crows were having a party:

And the clouds just sailed overhead:

Here's wishing you all a great day. Take care, have fun, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Double Tuesday and more

Hi everybody!

After days alternating between hot and humid and torrential downpours and hailstones, Tuesday is supposed to be more or less normal - I hope so!

At Tag Tuesday our theme this week is 'It's a man thing', and I have to admit that I nearly forgot it this time. I made a very quick tag this evening using ready made bits, scraps  and scrabble pieces. 

At Try it on Tuesday our theme for the next fortnight is 'Wish you were here'.

This reminded me of holiday postcards, so I made two using pictures from our little town:

And this piece is the first of my DT pieces for Gecko Galz for August. We have some lovely Japanese Collage sheets this month, and I used an image from Japanese Traditions 1. I used corrugated cardboard for the background, peeled and gessoed. The image was mounted onto a scrap of coredinations paper. The bird and flowers were fussy cut from a sheet of DP.  I kept this simple, as simplicity is the thing which always appeals to me in Japanese art.

(Material list: cardboard, peeled and gessoed, image, matting, ribbon, cut out or die cut images.) I am linking to Moo Mania and More, texture.

I did another nice tour along the Rhine this morning, it was cooler and there was a nice breeze blowing - delightful

And this afternoon I took another photo of the deadly nightshade, which is related to tomatoes and potatoes. 

Frida new and old

Hi you all!

The weekend is over, hope it was a good one for you!

I have another Frida Page to share today. The background has been painted with acrylics, into which I sprinkled some glitter. Later, when dry, I added more colour with oil pastels. The bird motive on the right is part of a napkin sent to me by Susi, I edged it with white highlighter to make it stand out better. I used the stencil from Stencilry again, this time using light colours on the dark background. The Frida on the left is made with a template from Stampington, using papers which tie into the nature / birds theme. 

Linking to Art Journal Journey, Frida and to Mix it Monthly, crazy dresses

This is a Frida journal-spread I made a couple of years back, just wanted to show it here as it fits the theme.

The first part of the day yesterday was great, in spite of the bad forecast, so I enjoyed a nice, long walk. The castle ghost was there again:

Lots of ships on the river:

My four footed friends were occupied with the serious business of grazing:

And I found a relative of the tomato, the deadly nightshade, growing in the fence near the stream:

And I am glad I was back home when the wind started, the skies went dark, and the rain started:

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