Second Hand Rose

Hi Everybody!

Another week has flown by and it's almost the weekend again.

I'm pleased to say that we enjoyed another cool day, very pleasant

after so many scorching hot days.

Today I have another journal page to share, made for Art Journal Journey, post and postage. 

I am also linking to Paint Party Friday,  and Friday Face Art by Kim Dellow

There is a wonderful series of US stamps by Al Hirschfeld, issued back in  the 1990s.

 I have some of these stamps in my collection, and decided to try to reproduce his wonderful drawings.  I used A3 paper, painted with Gesso, and with some stenciling in the background. The first one I am showing is Fanny Brice, the original 'Funny Girl', later played by Barbra Streisand in the film and Broadway piece of the same name. I added a quote from her.

Some photos from my walks:

The castle ravens

A dung beetle

A fire bug

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Post and blue skies

Hi Everybody!

Hope your day is going well. We had some cool air today, which was really lovely - it's good to get a chance to breathe deeply again!

For Art Journal journey - post and postage, and Moo Mania and More, swirls, I made another journal page, using a digitally made image on a painted background. I think the blue skies outside must have influenced the background colour. I used Vivacolor metallic ice blue. I added some stamping as well as some stamps, and some little 'letters'. I painted over the edges of the image to meld it into the background.

Just a few photos from today:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Wednesday this and that

Hi Everybody!

I'll make the introduction short today - hot and humid, I need sleep!

For SOC the colours this week are green, green and pink. I made a mixed media piece to fit the challenge post-postage at Art Journal Journey, too. I used a postage stamp with Andy Warhol, which I digitally altered to get my colours. I printed the stamps out and collaged them onto an A3 sheet painted with gesso. I added some stamping and the quote, which is from AW himself. The black and white stamp at the bottom is one made using a stencil (Stencilry.org) and digitally altered to make the SOC 2015stamp.

This is the original stamp:

At Tag Tuesday our theme this week is friendship.

I used Michelangelo's wonderful painting as my image as I wanted to use the quote, 'Where hands reach out in friendship, hearts are touched by joy'. I mounted the image onto scrap card and gave it a coat of Deco Art crackle varnish. I surrounded it with a frame made with Golden crackle paste, which I painted with gesso and then distressed with various shades of gold, green and black, adding some perfect pearls for more effect. I wanted to create the effect of an old plaster wall with the painting in the middle. I mounted it all onto peeled Cardboard, painted with gold chalk paint. The quote was written onto a separate mini tag.

Today we had blue skies, sunshine, and it was hot, hot, hot!

Have a great day you all, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

A new challenge, 'Frame it' at TIOT and Post at Art Journal Journey.

Hi Everybody!

I hardly dare to say it out loud, but today was a bit cooler outside, and the temperature is now 'only' 28° in my place tonight. Tomorrow it will be hot again, then Wednesday and Thursday will be cold, but it will be scorching again at the weekend. And at the end of the month they will tot it up and tell us that the average weather was normal....

For Art Journal Journey I made a vintage mixed media page. I used a copy of an old letter for the background, which I collaged onto an A3 sheet which was painted with a mix of gesso and titan buff acrylic paint from Deco Art Studio, to try to give the look of old paper or parchment. I added some coordinating stenciling round the edges, and stamped some images - fountain pens, nibs, vintage lady and post marks with Archival black. I used some washi tape and collaged 2 pictures of Queen Victoria and a lady cut from a 19th century ladies' magazine. The post in England was reformed and organised during Victoria's reign - the post-box is also from that time. As embellishments I added some Victorian stamps and a 'V' stamped into gold Utee cut to the form of a stamp.

At Try it on Tuesdays we are starting a new challenge today - 'Frame it'. Projects of all formats are welcome, and should have a frame on them. You have two weeks to get inspired and link up your creations.

I used a cheap white wood frame from IKEA, which I coated with plaster. I pressed mother of pearl circles and small shells into it while it was wet. I got a huge bag of them from the thrift shop for 1€.  I saw a frame like it in a gift shop here, and copied the idea. The background has been stamped with swirls and flowers using white gesso. I used a heat gun to fix the large shell and the starfish, and now it is hanging in my bathroom.

I am also linking to Moo Mania and More, swirls.

This beautiful dragonfly stopped for a rest on my balcony early this morning, and allowed me to take a photo. Isn't nature wonderful?

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!