From Russia with love

Hi everybody!

Another day has gone by in a flash, and I didn't get half of the stuff done that I had planned to do. A friend came this afternoon and we crafted together, and quite a few hours disappeared there - why does time go by so much quicker while crafting and painting than while doing the  h*******k?

We had a very cold day with a nasty, biting wind, and it seemed to whet the appetite of the hungry birds who came time and time again.

For Art Journal Journey (collage)  and Paint Party Friday I made another mixed media collage, using an image from Gecko Galz  'From Russia with love' collage sheet.

I painted a page in my giant Journal with gesso, and placed the image in the middle. I added structure paste as snow, spreading it partly over the image and taking it over the rest of the page. When it was dry I painted the page with water colours. and added some extra colour with pastel chalks. I used liberal amounts of glitter to make the snow shine, and added a fence, the tree and the figures in the foreground.

The landscape was grey in grey and misty in the morning, in the afternoon it was just dark grey.

I watched the ships passing along the Rhine:

I never thought I would see Grace Kelly chugging along!

On my way home I watched this bird, some sort of kestrel, which kept hovering in the air and scanning the field on the look out for food.

I got a better photo when it sat on a tree:

This little bird was sitting in the tree outside my window, but would not turn around for a decent photo!

And the Jay was hungry as always:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Collage and birds

Hi Everybody!

We had a very chilly day here with an icy wind, not really my cup of tea, but I suppose we have to take the weather as it comes!

I wrapped up very well for my walks, and enjoyed them in spite of the cold. 

I also had lots of feathered visitors today, which was fun for me. I bought a huge bucket of mixed bird seeds and treats at the Discounter's today, so it should be enough to keep them happy for the next few weeks!

I have another collage for Art Journal Journey,

I really enjoy making them. I made it on a large sheet of craft paper which I glued into my Giant Journal, this way I can do some machine stitching on it. It's a very grungy collage. I painted the background with gesso, and glued various ads from some old Sears and Roebuck catalogues onto it. I have a huge pile of these old papers, which are slowly disintegrating. I gave it another coat of diluted gesso. The huge '2' had already been stenciled onto it at some time, and I added the moon faces from Dina Wakley, and some numerals, stenciled with Viva rust. Then I added some strips of tissue tape, old linen and cardboard and machine stitched them. And I deliberately left the threads hanging, and didn't just forget to cut them off! I know not everybody is a fan of such grungy stuff, but I do love it.

I watched this bird sitting in the tree behind the garden for about half an hour. It is very large, and I have no idea what it is - does anybody know?

The jay was trying to hide behind the plants:

But I got him here:

The magpie was glaring at the jay, which was doing its best to eat everything - I wonder what it was thinking?

And this pretty fellow is very cheeky and chases all other birds, big or small, away from his balcony....

I met the Thrush down at the Rhine:

And the Woodpecker also got a large amount of the goodies!

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Tuesday this and that and the neighbour's cat

Hi Everybody!

Hope you have all had a good start in the new week. We had a cold and grey

day here, with icy winds, but it could have been worse!

I got out for 2 walks, gave my student 2 hours of coaching and managed to do the shopping. Then I decided that the rest of the day belonged to me - and that means being in my crafty kitchen, where I started several collage projects. As things need to dry in between layer, it's quite good to work parallel on several pieces. And I managed a quick tag for Tag Tuesday, which I started rather late in the day.

For this collage for Art Journal Journey I used a sheet of craft paper, a little larger than A4, and then glued the finished collage into my giant journal. I used pieces of old backgrounds, paintings and stamped projects which I cut up for various reasons (perhaps because I didn't like them!) and scraps of tissue tape and old linen. The face is from Dina Wakley, framed in a piece of paper left over when I die cut an oval. I added stitching to finish it off. The lady is wearing chipboard specs. I had fun making this and all the other 'scrap' collages, and it is a good way to start reducing the boxes of scraps. I am also linking to 'Trees' at Moo Mania

At Tag Tuesday our theme this week is dancing, so I made this tag using an image from Gecko Galz, which I matted with gold and green mirri card. I added some flowers and beads as embellies.

I managed to get some photos of the Jay who visits my balcony every day. He is very shy, and very hungry, and I can only take the photos through the window, but at least I got him this time

These two were waiting impatiently for me to put the food out:

The gulls gobbled up my bread quicker than I could throw it:

The water in the Rhine and in the lake was grey and cold:

And the neighbour's cat was skulking in the fields at the back of the house this afternoon, probably looking for mice.

Have a great day, whatever you are up to, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Last Day of Inspired by....

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

I had a craft day together with some friends, we made cards, mixed media canvases, tried this and that, had wonderful strawberry cream cake and a fantastic dinner - all in a all, a really fun and yummy day. We are carrying on tomorrow morning; it wasn't planned, but we feel like it, so we're doing it!

Today is the last day of 'Inspired by....' at Art Journal Journey, I really had fun this month. Today I have another Kandinsky inspired piece, painted with acrylics on textured wallpaper. The geometric forms were drawn with felt pens.

I made a collage of all my journal pages this month, there are some I never got round to showing - perhaps next time!

The Christmas decorations have gone up in our little town, and the Christmas market is already in full swing:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!