It's Wednesday already....

Hi Everybody!

It was a cold and wintry day here, and the forecast has promised us gales and storm for the next days. Bad weather days are good crafting days!

For Art Journal Journey I have a different sort of collage today. I started off with a 6" wooden heart, which I painted with gesso. Then I collaged it with tiny scraps of old paper from letters and books, and scraps of some non-woven material. When the mod-podge had dried, I gave it a coat of varnish, and added the rub-on roses. The gilding flakes were the next step, and then another coat of varnish. I used a sheet of distressed paper as background, and sewed a pocket of antique linen, a border and some hand-crocheted lace onto it. I used double sided tape to fix the heart to the pocket, and added a pin and a key. This collage (12x8") will be the 'packaging' for a little present for a friend.

The day started off quite wel, with some sun, but it was very cold.

I wonder who lives here? I think it might be the robin.

I still enjoy watching my feathered visitors. They sit in the tree first, and make sure the coast is clear before descending onto my balcony. A black bird pair has joined the others now, and they eat more than all the others together....But I must confess, I am also more hungry when the weather is so cold!

I love the way they creep up:

Have   a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Another bird collage

Hi Everybody!

The weekend went by very quickly.  I managed a nice walk this morning, and this afternoon went to a friend so she could finish crafting the things she started last week. I got some collaged stuff done, too. We also ate large amounts of wonderful brownies, smothered in thick chocolate and walnuts, yummy - Need I say more?

My collage for Art Journal Journey today is the second of the black background birdy ones. I deepened the colour a bit with pastel chalks. I am really having fun playing with these geometric forms, it seems to be rather addictive. And the mounds of scraps are not getting less....

The pictures are from our outing to Xanten yesterday. The  town was founded by the Romans, who called it 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana'. There is an archaeological park there, which is most interesting, but we did not get round to visiting it yesterday.

The first view when you arrive is of the twin spires of the beautiful Cathedral of St Viktor.

Before we went inside, we visited some of the more profane places. We discovered a wonderful hat shop, where the sweetest creations of hand-felted wool and silk are made on the premises.

The ladies were busy at work:

Gabi was delighted with all the colours, as I was too.

The hats were unfortunately too expensive for me to buy, but it was nice to be able to look at and feel them:

The entrance to the Cathedral:

My fave place inside was the crypt, with very ancient, thick walls of rock and stone, and all rather dark and mysterious:

Then we looked around the Christmas Market, and had fish fried in batter with garlic sauce - totally yummy!

We went to the Gothic house, a very ancient building which is now a café /restaurant. Gabi is showing her heart....

And last but not least, Gabi and the donkey:

When we left Xanten, we drove to Gabi's Mum for coffee and cake, so we did not exactly starve....

I will show the photos of the second part of our day out tomorrow.

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Houses, birds and donkeys

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Today I had an outing to the 'Niederrhein' (Lower Rhein), the land along the Rhein between here and the border to Holland. My neighbour Gabi invited me, and we visited Xanten - an old Roman town, and Kevelaer, a town which has been a centre of pilgrimages for hundreds of years. As a bonus we also visited Gabi's Mum, who lives in a village near there, so it was a wonderful time out. I will show the photos tomorrow when I have sorted them, and have just included one today.

For Art Journal Journey I have made another collage. Some time back I painted several backgrounds with black gesso, and I used them this week for my collages. This looks like a row of houses again, and perhaps those are the birds that visit my balcony every day. I added colour with pastel chalks to give more depth to the background. I really enjoy these collages made with these simple scraps, the remnants of so many other projects.

Today started out cold and misty, but in the afternoon we even saw the sun a few times. The birds are always waiting in the trees for their balcony breakfast:

My cheeky robin was the first one to come today:

This group of men were rowing really fast:

The ducks and seagulls looked happy, as always:

I met this robin down at the Rhine:

Taken today in Xanten  at the Christmas Market 

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Building paper houses

Hi everybody!

We had another grey and chilly day here, not good for my poor old bones!
Still, it's winter, and we have to accept it.

I spent a lot of  time in my arty kitchen, sitting next to the radiator, and making more collages. Although I have used so many scraps, the boxes seem to get fuller and fuller, they are definitely multiplying overnight!

My project for Art Journal Journey today reminded me of houses, so I put some roofs on and gave one of them a metal button as window. I used various scraps of hand-painted papers mixed with metallic and glitter scraps, glued onto craft paper and fixed into my giant journal. The stitching has been added with rub-ons, as my sewing machine has been having hissy fits these past days.

I enjoyed my walks although it was cold and misty, and crunched my way over the sand, stones and shingle, and didn't meet anyone, just a couple of wild-geese. I like these rather wild stretches of shore::

I loved the pattern on the burnt logs in one of the fire-places, it reminded me of a snakeskin:

The dried up flowers by the basilica still look pretty:

Happy Nikolaus to all over here; have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lo for coming by!