This and that on Saturday

Hi Everybody!

Well, we are certainly having some interesting weather just now. It was extremely windy, wet and dark - just the weather which makes you so much enjoy coming home! I spent a lot of time 'playing' in my arty kitchen - it was unfortunately too dark to do h*******k! I got more little note-books altered, so I will show them tomorrow when I have taken the photos.

For Art Journal Journey I made another collage for my giant journal using strips of ribbon and paper on an old calendar page. The ribbon was a present tucked in with my order of gesso - 3x3 yards of ribbon, so that was nice. I used strips to make the starry night sky. At the bottom I used pieces of blue and green and the Yarn from Patty to make the river and meadows.  The houses are scraps of various  papers. I glued it together first, and then added the stitching. My machine is working, but still making a dreadful noise. At the bottom I added 2 strips of washi tape.

Yesterday I used some of my small collage scraps to collage these cardboard tubes, the left one will be a present for a friend with some pens in it, the right one is my 'travelling' pencil selection.

I did the small wooden hearts, too, and will use them for another project sooner or later.

I managed 2 walks, although sometimes it was hard to stand because of the gusts of wind.  At home I had fun watching the blackbirds. I love their blue-black feathers.

This one always tries to hide behind the big cactus, perhaps he thinks I can't see him there:

It was nice to see this tub of flowers near the Basilica:

Not many people were out, although it was market day:

And the roses at the Marien Hospital are still blooming.

We even had waves on the Rhine today, which is quite rare, but it really was windy.

Have a great day you all, take care, and stay safe if it's stormy!

Thanks a lot for coming by!

A collage with Frida Kahlo

Hi everybody!

We had very changeable weather today -   storm, thunder, lightning, gales, rain, hail, and in between even some patches of blue sky....I was lucky that I got back from my morning walk before it got really bad, and the rest of the day I had to stay here and play with pieces of paper.

My collage for Art Journal Journey was made with the other half of the brush-wipe page I used for the undersea collage last week. The main image of Frida has been fussy cut from a postcard, and the other images were stamped onto tissue and collaged. I added a parrot stamp, as Frida loved those birds, a few scraps of old letters, some lace flowers and a couple of rub-ons. 

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

My first visitor this morning was the jay, sitting in the tree and looking right and left to make sure that it was safe to flatter to my balcony....

When I came back from my walk the birds had  eaten everything, not a crumb was left, so I had to put out some more.

The seagulls seemed to be the only creatures enjoying the weather today -

The rest of the town was deserted:

The shutters were banging in the wind

The rain was really heavy:

This afternoon the magpie ventured a visit again, hungry as always.

In the evening the moon came out, just beautiful:

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

Collage, notebooks and birds

Hi Everybody!

We had a very chilly and windy day, with lots of rain, but in between the sun peeked out, and right now the moon is smiling down at me.

Bad weather gave me lots of crafty time today, so I was busy making some little altered note books as presents for people.

My collage for Art Journal Journey was once again made in my Giant Journal. I made it last week when we had sunshine, so we have blue skies, green fields and lots of birds hopping about on the houses in our little town. The river has been made with a piece of yarn that Patty sent me, and it looks like there is a ship chugging through. I am also linking to Paint Party Friday. I used various scraps of blue and green papers, mirri-card and  washi tape, and did some stitching as embellishment.

The first 2 notebooks were painted front and back with black gesso and sprinkled with fairy dust. On the first one I added 2 TH bird die-cuts, and the on the second one a golden ginkgo leaf. I used crackle glaze on the fronts, and rubbed Inka  gold into the cracks.

The third one was collaged with tiny scraps of paper and stamps, crackled, distressed, and got a bike as focal motive. 

Mr and Mrs Blackbird spent more time on my balcony than anywhere else today, and were particularly keen on the nuts:

A pair of wood pigeons arrived today, hiding in the tree at first, but got bolder and bolder and rewarded themselves with a good tuck-in on my balcony.

The little robin still bosses them all about, when he turns up, he expects all the others to take flight!

Have a good day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

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!