Frida, witchcraft, horses and more

Hi everybody!

I was intending to get such a lot done today, but somehow the time ran away and I could not catch up with it. In addition, the weather was nice although we had been promised rain, so I spent a lot of time outside enjoying it. I will have to catch up on other things when the weather is really bad!

Today is almost the last Frida piece - the very last one will be shown tomorrow. I have enjoyed this challenge very much, and was really happy that so many other people joined in and made such wonderful and varied journal pages about Frida. Thanks to all who joined in!

This is one I made a couple of weeks back.  I used a charcoal sketch which I painted/splashed and smeared with yellow and red paint. I called it Danza al sol, sun dance, which is the title of one of Frida's paintings.

Linking to Art Journal Journey

and to Paint Party Friday

At Simons Monday challenge the theme this week is witchcraft, so I made a spooky card. I love everything witchy and  spooky and enjoyed making this. The picture of the rather bewitched looking doll has been printed onto canvas. I used various papers for backing, and added some of my home made autumn leaves and a TH die-cut bird as embellishments. The feathers and beads 'appeared' on my table after clearing the layers above them away....

The horses were in a social mood today - or was it just the carrots which lured them to the fence? 

The second batch of sunflowers is blooming:

And the water and the sky fascinate me as always with their ever changing appearance:

Here's wishing you all a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Frida, a WIP and another sunrise

Hi everybody!

Hope you day has been good! We had sunshine and blue skies all day, and tomorrow should be the same, but then the rain will come back again!  Had to jump over a lot of puddles on my walks today, the paths are all very muddy after the rain.

Today I have another Frida journal page / collage. The background is a print of my fave Mexican postcard. I painted it with watered down gesso, and then coloured it a bit with oil pastels. The collage pieces were the last remnants left from clearing up my table last week, and I think they fit well together. I used some vintage ledger paper from 1925 in the background, and some washi tape and paper lace as embellishments. And the faux stitching is from a sheet of rub-ons, which also emerged from the chaos on my table. And why did I put the stitching on? No idea, but somehow I liked it.

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

The canvas is a WIP, which I painted  a long time ago. I started repainting it a few months back, and then lost sight of it.  And yes - I found it under all the mess on my table, too. It is a 9x12" box canvas, inspired by arches and shop signs that I photographed many years ago in Acco. Since taking the photos I have toned down the yellow, making it more creamy in colour, and still think I need to do some work on it, but I don't yet know what. We shall see!

This morning when I got up there was a blanket of mist over the fields, and as the sun rose, it slowly started to thin out the mist, and it looked beautiful.

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Happy Mail, Frida and raindrops

Hi everybody!

It has been a wet and chilly day here, this evening I am sitting wrapped in a blanket to keep warm, and it's August. This is a crazy summer, we have gone from stiflingly hot and humid to storms to wind, rain and very autumn-like temperatures. I still went out for a long walk along the shore and through 'town' this morning, and enjoyed it, well wrapped up against the rain and wearing my trusty wellies - what would I do without them?  Hope your weather was better.

I got some great surprises in the post yesterday and today - two happy mail envelopes from Silvia and Dagmar, and I just love nice surprises!

I recently wrote in a comment on Silvia's blog that I would like to try bistre sometime, after seeing one of her beautiful pieces. So she filled some up in little bags, and sent it to me together with a tag - thanks for the lovely surprise! I had no idea, as she asked another blogger for my addy so I wouldn't suspect anything! THANKS A LOT!!!

This is the gorgeous, textured tag Silvia sent:

This beautiful tag and mini purse came from Dagmar. There is a chip for a shopping cart in the little purse.  She received a 'Nettigkeit' - a nice little surprise from a blogger, and in return sent surprises out to three of those who visited her blog in a certain period. I was one of the lucky three. This means I will be offering a little surprise to three of the visitors who visit my blog and leave a comment in the next week. On September third I will pick three names out of all those who have commented, and they will each get a surprise.

I love this idea of getting and sending little surprises to brighten someone else's day. Thanks Dagmar for my beautiful surprise!

The quote on the tag means 'Creativity knows no boundaries'.

The tag is beautiful, here with more details:

Danke, Mädels!

And I have another Frida journal page to share. I made this collage, too, with things collected from my working space when I was clearing up last week, there were so many lovely bits I couldn't throw away, and my fingers just itched to put them together in a collage.

I am linking to AJJ, Frida.

And last but not least, some photos taken on my wet walk today. Our little town looks rather deserted:

The Rhein was grey and cold:

A few die-hards were out walking:

But the flowers looked beautiful crowned with rain drops.

Have a lovely day, whatever the weather, take care,

ad thanks a lot for coming by!

Tag Tuesday, the Blue House and more

Hi everybody!

We had a chilly day here, but it stayed dry most of the time, so it was fine for walking, and I love to watch the clouds and sky, always in motion, and always beautiful. I followed another little rabbit path through the meadows today, and it led me down to the shore, so I walked quite a way over the sand and shingle and rocks, and enjoyed it.

At Tag Tuesday our theme is India, which had me stumped. Then I decided to make a card showing Gandhi, a truly great person. I matted the image with orange, white and green - the colours of the Indian flag.

At Try it on Tuesday, the challenge 'Use your stash' is running for another week, so plenty of time to join in. I used a chipboard album which has been languishing on my shelf for years. I painted it blue, and added some random stamping with a stone pattern stamp. The two little dolls have been in my possession for over 60 years. I  made some additions to their clothes and style to make them fit into 'La Casa Azul', the  'blue house' where Frida and Diego lived.

 The chairs were made with a Sizzix framelits die and stamp set. I stamped and cut out the furniture, and then stamped the chairs directly onto the painted chipboard. I fixed the die-cuts over the stamp, moving them a fraction to the right, so that they seem to have a shadow.

The photos used on various pages were taken by my friend Donna when she visited the house in Mexico city back in June. Here I cut around the statues.

This is the bedroom:

I think this must be the hall....In between this side and the back are pages for journaling, some stamped images, postcards and more photos.

I am linking to Art Journal Journey, Frida

 This is the little path I followed today

 The sky and clouds changed continually:

I wondered how somebody managed to get home without his shoe:

I love these little 'still life' pictures:

And I would have liked to have taken this beautiful rusty stone home, but it was too heavy....

Have a great day you all, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!