Sunday this and that

Hi Everybody!

Today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year, but from tomorrow the days will start getting longer, and that is really something to look forward to!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

For Art Journal Journey I have another scrap collage. I used scraps of red, orange and gold papers - some hand-painted ones, some with gold, some cut from an old ledger, mixed with some pieces of ribbon. The background is Kraft paper, painted with gesso.

And I have another Christmas card, which I am liking to Moo Mania and More:

The image is from Gecko Galz,, the shaker was made from die cuts, and the sentiment and BG paper from my stash

Today started off quite well, but got cloudier, windier and wetter as the day progressed.

Some of today's visitors. The robin is still the boss, and the female blackbird bosses the male around!

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Art Journal Journey, Moo Mania and More

Hi Everybody!

We had a cold, wet and windy day here. I came back from my walk soaked to the skin again, and felt sorry for the poor birdies sitting in those dripping trees all day. Although it was market day, there were neither many stalls nor shoppers around.

For Art Journal Journey I have another scrap collage. The background is a recycled calendar page, painted with gesso, and with some colours added in with oil pastels. I used various pieces of hand-painted papers, a strip of linen, some hand-written pieces, ribbon, and a stamped and fussy cut fountain pen, together with a few of the flying bits and bobs from my table. At the bottom of the left hand side I used a bird die cut, and the strip of lace is perhaps the curtain in my window....

At Moo Mania the theme is 'Merry Christmas' so I am showing 2 of my Christmas cards. The background paper is from Gecko Galz, and has been gessoed round the edges, and mounted onto some blue/green card. I added a die-cut, sparkly angel and some TH houses edged with some golden Stickles.

The second card has been made with some DCWV background paper, matted with black. The music paper is from Gecko Galz, and has also been matted with a fancy cut black card. I added 2 sparkly snowflakes and a deer.

I am also linking to Simon' s Monday Challenge, anything goes.

I took these 'portraits' of Lucky and Lilly yesterday:

Grey skies, grey water, grey everything....

Hungry birds:

Raindrops galore:

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Lots of this and that.

Hi Everybody!

Today has raced by! My neighbour Gabi invited me to breakfast this morning before she took her Mum home. Then she asked if I wanted to go along for the ride. So I did! Then we decided to go to Holland to do some shopping, a lot of things are much cheaper there, so we ended up in Venlo, did the shopping, ate a huge portion of chips (French Fries), looked round the town and then came back home in time for me to get ready for the Philosophy Circle in the evening, to get some new thoughts into my head. All in all a fun and busy day!

At Art Journal Journey our theme for this month is still collage. I made another page in my giant journal, using paper napkins and gesso as background. The music instruments were cut from the old Sears and Roebuck catalogue from the 1890s. I used some washi tape and stenciled the word 'music' to finish it off. I think the prices for the instruments are not valid these days!

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

  

And of course I took some photos of Gabi and Maria, her Mum:

And of Gabi with Lilly:

And with Lucky:

These are Maria's geese, which have to be kept in a shed just now, as there have been cases of bird flu, and they are not allowed out, which makes them very unhappy, poor things - they miss their meadow and pond!

In the supermarket in Venlo we met Santa Claus, who was really charming:

This is the old Town Hall in Venlo:

And one of the lovely cafés:

The Christmas skating rink:

And a last look along the street before we drove home.

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

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Collage with a built in message

Hi Everybody!

We had a grey and cheerless day here, I got soaking wet walking, and after that I stayed home and 'played', baked and relaxed the rest of the day.

For Art Journal Journey I have made another collage in my giant journal - what else. This time it was inspired by Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter. I drew the squares, and painted some with acrylic  paints in red, blue, green and yellow. I filled the white squares with scraps of printed and handwritten papers from letters written in the 1930s and 1940s,  as well as 2 halves of an airmail envelope from 1945. The letter was sent from Germany to Israel, and opened - and read - by a 'controller'. I painted over the texts with diluted gesso. This collage tells a story composed of colours and lines, words and sentences, but we each need to interpret it  for ourselves.

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

At Moo Mania and More the theme is Merry Christmas, and I am showing one of my Christmas cards, made with figures cut from a paper napkin, fixed to card and fussy cut, and attached to  blue mirri-card with foam squares. The 'snow' has been made with Stickles and paper lace, and the scarf is a scrap of red wool.

And last but not least, some of today's visitors:

Have a great day you all, take care of yourselves,

and thanks a lot for coming by!