Blow, blow thou winter wind....

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, Erika's wonderful theme of

'Tell me a story'

I have a hybrid piece, once again featuring

Leonardo - da Vinci and not Di Caprio!

Here I have also used some elements from Mischief Circus:

 This week I made a 3 dimensional wall hanging (12x6"), using recycled 

and partly peeled corrugated card as a substrate.

 I sewed it onto a strip of old jacquard material which had 

a wonderfully shabby and fringed out edge, which I made use of. 

I have some progress shots further down.

I am linking to Simon Monday Challenge,

spread your wings:

After the gesso had dried I started applying the scraps of

paper napkins, brushing them into the ridges:

I also added some other images:

Then I pasted some cardboard with the same butterflies as used in the

hanging, cut them out, and glued springs (from old

ball point pens) to the reverse. The antennas were made with gold wire:

I gave them a thick coat of triple thick varnish and left them overnight to dry,

before fixing them over their counterparts on the hanging.  I used hot glue for fixing the springs:

Here it is hanging in my arty kitchen. When the window is open

they start to flutter in the breeze - fun!

Outside is still cold and wintry:

And I'm thankful for fresh fruit in winter, and was

delighted that this clementine was still sporting a leaf:

By the way, the title is a Shakespeare song from

'As you like it', you can find the text here if you are interested.

 Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Feathers and wings

Hi Everybody!

Hope your week is going well. We had a dusting of snow

in the night, and it's cold and hazy,

so for the rest of the day I

will

stay home, keep warm, and 

enjoy the aromas of my marinated

 veggies baking in the oven while I am enjoying some 'play time'.

At Simon Monday challenge the theme is

'Spread your wings'

and at

Go tag Thursday it's

feathers, so I hope this giant tag will suffice

for both. I am also linking to Doing life, ATG create with tlc - anything goes, as Desire kindly invited me to join in. I once again used a 12" tag cut from an Amazon

shipping envelope, started with a hand-full of bits and bobs

from my table, which I sewed to the tag. You can see painted and 

heat-blasted tyvek, ancient linen from the erosion bundle, feathers, 

lace, and scraps of ribbons.The collaging and stamping was

the next step, and then back to

the sewing machine to sew it to a distressed background.

The swan quill is one I found by the Rhine, I gather all

of my feathers from my walks:

It started off with the painted tag substrate and a heap of 

disparate items:

It was hard sewing over the quill, and then it didn't

look right:

So I unpicked it and sewed it down the other way round -

much better!

I cut off part of the yellow ribbon after sewing:

On Sunday the sun showed itself again:

But since yesterday we have wrapped in cold and freezing fog:

As I walked past my poinsettia it started whispering to me, and

said it felt very neglected as I had been only showing

photos of the Amaryllis....Anyway, here it is, beautiful as ever:

 

The third bloom has started to open, and the second shoot

has grown like Jack's beanstalk and will soon be

flowering, too.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Leonardo, tea and coffee

Hi Everybody!

Hope the new week will be a good one for you.

Not much change here - cold, sunny and frosty weather,

which I have only been able to see from my balcony,

and my ribs are still very painful. Patience is not my strong point!

For Art Journal Journey, Erika's lovely theme of

'Tel me a story', I have a hybrid page

honouring Leonardo da Vinci.

I wish I could have heard some of the stories that

he had to tell:

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

so here a big welcome to all the nice ladies

of the T gang. This piece is also meant as a reminder for

TIOT's 'Anything but square' challenge, and you still have a week 

to link up there.

I made an 8" tag, which was first painted and then collaged with

tea and coffee and other paper napkins. The finished tag was 

sewn onto some blue/beige linen, which I fringed out, and then 

onto corrugated cardboard.

Need I tell you which of these drinks is my fave?

I had a rare visit from my friend Sarah last week, and we baked a cake 

together - I gave the instructions and she did the work! We made a 

cappuccino marble cake.

Here it is fresh from the oven:

And here with cappuccino glaze:

Yummy - help yourselves:

The sunrise was wonderful again:

And now the 2nd amaryllis bloom has opened:

Have a great day, take care,

ad thanks a lot for coming by!