The journey is the destination

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Today just seemed to run away - I had a lot planned, and was busy all day, but didn't get much done.

For Art Journal Journey, journeys, hosted by our sweet Erika, I have a double mixed-media spread in my new journal, which is now almost full. I 'm also trying to get rid of lots of scraps. In recent years, technical things have been progressing with huge steps, and the newest technique from Victorian times, although most impressive at the time, is just history today. The technical progress of recent times is a journey which moves us along at an amazing pace, and sometimes I wonder where and when  this journey will end.

We had a lot of cloud this morning, but the sunrise was still beautiful:

The horses are happy whatever the weather is:

Lots of leafy, green paths to walk along:

And this is something I haven't seen before - a nettle growing out of one of the walls:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

At the Rhine

Hi Everybody!

It's weekend - enjoy!

For Art Journal Journey, Journeys, (Erika's lovely theme) I have a hybrid/painted piece, I used a photo of the Rhine as my background, and I added 2 of my birds, the flowers and the text digitally. After fixing the page into my journal, I painted round the edges with sky blue metallic, and added some colour with gelatos. The birds were stenciled, and then I wrote my message around the image: 'Migrating birds can fly thousands of miles. They move in flocks, giving each other support and safety. The don't need GPS, and we use the term 'bird-brain' to insult people? Would that we could journey like them'.

Yesterday I showed a photo of the ferry here, and some people asked about it.

The ferry crosses the Rhine, back and forth, all day, everyday, and is the only possibility here to cross over. There are bridges, but they do involve more driving and a lot of traffic, so many people use  the ferry. And some, like I do, cross over here and there for fun, and ride bikes or go for walks on the other side. I always like watching the cars, vans, tractors etc driving onto the ferry.

The other side of the river belongs to another town:

These photos were taken when I was on board:

And this is the view of our little town from the boat. Lots of people were out and about, it was a sunny Sunday afternoon:

And the view up the Rhine on the way back. (Up is towards the Source of the river in Switzerland, and down is towards Holland and the sea) You can see the next bridge in the distance.

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Friday this and that again....

Hi Everybody!

Another week has run away and it's Friday already, time for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin, and of course, it's always time for  Art Journal Journey, hosted this month by our lovely Erika.

I made a hybrid page using a painting of the Egyptian god Thot which I

made last year. Thot was the god who appeared in the form of the ibis. He was the god of the moon, magic, writing, science/learning, wisdom and the calendar

 - he had a lot to do! I find Egypt with its rich history, architectural treasures and fantastic art well worth a journey - a journey back into a distant, but very vivid past.

At Tag Tuesday this week our theme was 'only original' - no bought papers or embellishments. I used an 8" tag and painted it with a mixture of titan buff and yellow ochre. I distressed the edges with dark brown, and embossed some parts with Frantage old copper EP. The bead has been made from a scrap of painted paper, rolled with a quilling needle and tied together with gold wire, and also embossed with the same Frantage EP. The paper was some I painted and embossed some time ago. Here I cut leaves and petals out of it and glued them together to make an exotic plant. The centre of the plant was also made with a tiny scrap of the same paper, quilled and 'glued' together with EP again.

We have had a few days of wonderful weather, a great possibility to be out as much as possible and I enjoyed the beauty of spring:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Seeing the world through new eyes

Hi Everybody!

Recently I was looking for a map in an old atlas, and discovered an old Max Factor advertisement from 1967 in it.  I cut the lady out and used her for a mixed media/ collage journal page for Art Journal Journey, Journeys

I enjoyed my walk again, and there is always plenty to see along the Rhine:

 This ship is called 'Quo Vadis', and last week I made a journal page using this quote:

And here one of the 'work' ships was moored at the jetty. They go down and up the Rhine doing measurements and making sure that the waterways are safe.

This one is called Quirinus, who is the patron Saint of Neuss, a town  on the other side of the Rhine not all too far from here:

Today was Market again. The young man on the right is putting asparagus into a peeling machine, a free service that a lot of customers use to save having to peel it  at home:

The window decoration in the book shop is also decorated with a 'journeys' theme:

This man and his tractor were busy eating the daisies away:

Have a great day, take care

and thanks a lot for coming by!