snow, rain, cake and clouds

Hi Everybody!

Today we are starting a new challenge at TIOT -

snowflakes, snow or winter whites.

As always, you have 2 weeks to join in the fun, and projects of all formats are allowed, as long as they fit the theme, so hope to see you there.

I made a hybrid collage of snow in New York. I spent one Christmas there, many years back, and we had wonderful snow. The background is part of a textured and crackled piece I made, and I have some people enjoying themselves in the park. I am also linking to Art Journal Journey, collage.

Tuesday is also time  for T stands for Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog,

so a big welcome to all of the T gang.

I made a collage showing things I like, as I also want to link it to Moo Mania and More, my favourite pictures. I have tried to gather a lot of them here - the Rhine, the trees, birds, ducks, geese, Mr Umbrella man and a cup of cappuccino. And Tower Bridge. Now I know that Tower Bridge is back home in London and not here at the Rhine, I just used some digital magic to place it here to make myself feel good. The eyes have been layered on to the background for 99 faces.

And I would like to share some chocolate chip muffins with you. I baked them for my neighbour's birthday, but I saved plenty for you, so please help yourselves - careful, the chocolate is still runny!

 

We have had cloudy and wet weather with quite a lot of rain, so the Rhine is full again and the ships can travel at their normal speed:

The gulls are out whatever the weather:

The Canadian wild geese were out today, too:

And of course the heron was there, looking grumpy as always:

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

Remember....

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, collage, and 99 Faces I drew a face and turned it into a collage. The drawing is based on a photo of my sister Cynthia, who died 15 years ago. The photo was taken back in the 1960s after the birth of her youngest son Michael. She lived most of her life in the USA, but was visiting England with her children at that time. Today would have been her 78th birthday. I made a quick drawing with pastel chalks, cut it out, and collaged it onto a background stamped directly with ink-pads in shades of brown and blue. I added some washi tapes and a sentiment. The drawing does not do justice to how pretty she was, you can see the original photo in the second hybrid collage.

The words here are from Christina Rosetti's poem 'remember'.

You can read it all here.

The photos show the sky early this morning, as dawn was breaking. I love the colour changes in the sky between dawn and sunrise:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Beneath me flows the Rhine

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, collage, and for 99 faces, I have a hybrid collage, created using various photos and a face drawing, layered together to make a collage. The background is a photo taken from my window, the buildings at the front show the Altstadt of Düsseldorf. I added a photo of a bird on a branch, also taken from my window, and some wild geese taken at the Rhine. The quote is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American writer and poet of the 19th Century, famous for his epic poem of Hiawatha among other things. I often think of his words when looking down from the top the castle ruins here.

And fitting to the theme of the collage, some photos taken along the Rhine:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Rusty Rose

Hi Everybody!

Happy Weekend!

For 99 Faces  and Kim's Show your face I made a face which I have called 'rusty rose', drawn onto patterned and stamped cardstock, and painted with water-colours in reduced colours.

For Art Journal Journey, collage, I turned her face into a collage. I made a 

background with texture, flowers and some printed matter onto which I placed her head which I digitally removed from the first background. Then I added the skyline of  Düsseldorf and  the rusty rose which I photographed near here.

Some more photos from my walks; Everything looks better when the sun shines:

The heron flying over the river.

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by.