This, That and the Other

Hi Everybody!

We had another chilly and windy day here, but the weather

prophets have said that some spring weather should be

on it's way soon. But cold or not, the buds are budding, the snowdrops are peeping out of the ground, and the hope of warmer

weather is growing, too.

I have a card suitable for Valentine's day this week, not really

my thing, but I tried it. The Eiffel tower, the sentiment and the

 Paris couture stamp were in a big box of goodies

sent to me by Gill, thanks so much. I will show you

the rest another time, just don't get jealous! The heart was cut 

from a birthday card, the lace was from an old blouse, and the 

hands were a present from dear Chrissie. The 'love' brad

was a present from Sabine - thanks to all. The white card was in the package
of my new knee-socks....

I am linking to Go Tag Thursday, romance/Paris; Simon Says, 

Young at Heart and More mixed media, anything goes with optional red.

For Linda's lovely '50 shades of red' challenge at Art Journey Journal

I have a hybrid piece, made using a Frida Kahlo stamp 

and some free stencils from Stencilry . I added the stamps of 

Queen Elizabeth, as she is 

celebrating the 65th anniversary

of being Queen this year - congratulations!

I am also linking to Paint Party Friday.

The flowers on my amaryllis are still blooming;

Yesterday I walked through our little town again. This ship, which looks 

like it's carrying mountains of snow loomed out of the haze:

It must be some sort of mineral, but I don't know what:

Snowdrops:

In the basilica:

The golden shrine of St Swidbert:

The font with the strange medieval figures round it:

Every one has a different face, and some of them look

really wicked. I always wonder why such ugly figures got put 

round a font where kids get baptized:

Have a good day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

That n this

Hi Everybody!

We had another cold and hazy day here,

but at least it was dry, so I was able to have a nice

walk along my beloved Rhine.

I would like to remind you that TAG TUESDAY is now an open 

challenge blog, and our theme is 'Bookworm', chosen by Chrissie -

hope to see you there:

For Linda's theme, '50 shades of red' at Art Journal Journey

I have a hybrid collage, using my own elements combined with

parts from Mischief Circus:

And I would like to share a little journal I finished today. Some of you 

may have seen this collage I made recently:

Now I have at last got round to making some pages to sew into it

and can use it as a journal. I made an old earing and some ribbon into a pretty clasp:

The pages are all water-colour paper: 

In between I sewed some smaller concertina pages,

perhaps for some private journaling:

I had to sew it with my machine as my fingers are not being

cooperative enough for hand-sewing:

But all in all, I like it!

I am linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin

and to More Mixed Media  

Ans as promised yesterday, I have some more photos from

my visit to Schloss (palace) Benrath. A wedding party was being held

there:

The island in the middle of the lake was well visited by

water fowl:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

This n That

Hi Everybody!

We had a wet and windy day here, so I didn't stay out longer

than necessary, and had lots of crafty time😉

I altered a little wannabe Moleskine notebook,

they have them on special offer from time to time,

and 2 A6 ones cost 2,99. That's good!

I painted the background with Pentart soft paint in cream 

and Vivadecor metallic paint in olive. I stamped into the wet paint,

added some Frantage EP, heat dried it, and then let the 

napkin dragonflies fly onto the book. I gave it 2 coats of binder

to make it durable. Quick and easy, less that 15 minutes.

I am linking to Altered Eclectics, anything goes, and 

Stamps and Stencils, texture, crackle and paint.

Back on a fine October Sunday I visited Benrath,

in the south of Düsseldorf, with a Baroque Castle and

a wonderful park. I put the photos on the wrong file and have

just rediscovered them, so here is the first installment:

The castle is in a very good condition:

 A guard house:

Another guard:

A wedding was taking place while I was there, so I will show some

photos tomorrow.

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!