Bubbles

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are all well and fit and are having some good weather.

Here it was rather hot and sultry today, but we did have some

spectacular clouds, which I always love.

For Art Journal Journey, the sea, I have made another mixed media piece. The background was painted first with gesso, and then with various blues and greens using a wide, hard brush, and I stamped into it while wet to make a crackle pattern. I also added a little bit of fairy dust. I added more colours with Gelatos. I used the rising bubbles stamp from Ryn Tanaka, stamping several times with embossing ink and white EP. I added the quote, and that was that. I love the scratchy effect in the background, made by the rough bristles.

The day started off with wonderful clouds

I discovered these beautiful poppies growing by the wayside

The banks of the Rhine are full of plants and flowers

The horse chestnut is in the grounds of the Marien Hospital, as is the statue

I love the wisteria

Lily was sleeping in her little cat-cave

And Lucky was trying to tell me something....

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

TIOT, TT and a JV for AJJ

Hi Everybody,

Hope our day is going well!

If you are wondering what all those abbreviations in the title mean, I can translate them for you: Try it on Tuesday, Tag Tuesday and a Joint Venture for Art Journal Journey!

Today a new challenge is starting at Try it on Tuesday with the theme 

'Sewing and Buttons'.

You have 2 weeks to join in, and all formats are allowed. You can see lots of lovely examples on our blog. I made a felt elephant, all stitched by hand, with real buttons etc. I know it's not perfect, sewing elephants is something I haven't tried before, but I suppose there is a first time for everything! I am also linking to Moo Mania and More, flowers.

At Tag Tuesday the theme is Music. I wanted to use my Mozart stamp, but he seems to have gone on holiday. I found a nice image by Gecko Galz, which I mounted with pink and blue matting. The butterfly has been crackled and distressed. The quote reads, 'A world without music is like a bird with broken wings, a nest without eggs or a butterfly which has forgotten how to fly'. I only wrote the first part along the side of the tag, and the rest is on the back.

Now to the joint venture for Art Journal Journey, the sea. 2 weeks back I looked after my little friend Sally while her Grandma was at the doc's. She helped me make this page. The brush wipe page with added Gelato colours was from me, and Sally, who has just turned 9, drew the octopus by herself, and painted it. The choice of pink metallic paint was all her idea, too. I drew the outlining when it was dry, and wrote the text. Sally had fun punching out butterflies, and added them to the page so it wasn't so boring. She punched lots of other butterflies, birds etc and took a big bag full  back home with her. I think she has talent!

I tried reversing the colours, and like this version even better:

My resident jay was hungry today, and spent a lot of time attacking the fat balls:

Looks like he's saying 'Yummy!'

And Lilly and Lucky have the last word again:

Have a great day you all, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Under the sea and by the river

Hi Everybody!

I wish you all a good start in the new week!

This will be a quick post today, time has run away again.

For Art Journal Journey, the sea, I have made another underwater page. The background was painted, sprayed and dripped, and I outlined the drips with a gold pen. There is an eclectic mix of creatures, under-sea butterflies, fish, a turtle and shells. I used stencils for the two figures which I painted with Vivacolor rust, and doodled some vines round them. I wrote the quote 'The sea, the mother of all life' with gold.

My walk led me down the Rhine to the next village today. 

The white cattle are back after their winter break

I love this twisty, narrow path leading down to the water

The Rhine is still very high

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Seaweedia

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. The weather was quite kind to us today, apart from a few sudden, heavy showers.

For Art Journal Journey, the sea, I have another of my pages to share where rather a lot is going on  under the sea.  Seeweedia, the gardener-mermaid (recognisable by her green hair) is tending a garden under a glass bell, where even butterflies can live. Her little son, Fin is learning to ride a sea-horse. The skull of some long-gone pirate gets used as a lamp, and the fishes take messages from one family to the other. The background of the page was a brush-wipe page, enhanced with extra colours and then stamped with a crackle stamp to give some texture. The under-sea bubbles are stamp by Ryn, and have been white embossed. The other images were in my stash (I am never astonished about how many various images I have there, just that it borders on a wonder to find the right thing at the right time). The quote is a variation of the Beatles' 'I want to be...' song. Other bits and bobs were doodled.

Back in the world of reality:

This huge ship was made up out of four parts, each carry different machines or cars

Have a great Sunday you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!