Bird on a branch

Hi Everybody!

The weather gods have been kinder to us this week, it's
good to see the sun again!

For Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, I have a
mixed media piece(16x11") to share. It's been on the go for a loooong time,
and I managed to finish it this week. The raven is symbolic for all the birds I love to feed and watch here. The burlap pieces look like houses, and as they are woven from threads, they are there to remind us that our lives are being woven
everyday. At the bottom are some pieces made to symbolise the ships
passing up and down the Rhine, and the
corrugated cardboard is for the town walls, which surround us.
I had fun with this one!

I am also linking to Simon Monday Challenge, my fave tool (heat-gun, scratchy brushes) and to Stamps and stencils (home made bird stencil, 

diamonds & numerals) texture, crackle and paint.

The moon looked like a squashed pumpkin:

Some photos from my walk:

The swamp is thawing out:

Some photos taken yesterday waiting for the tram in town:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

This n That and a makeover

Hi Everybody!

This little wooden lady was sent to me a couple of years back by Chrissie.

She had blond plaits, a green dress and a yellow shirt. She's

been hanging about over my stove for a couple of

years, and the other day I heard her complaining

that she felt neglected and dirty. She was indeed

a bit greasy and dusty, so stringent measures were 

necessary - I ripped off her 'wig', gave a

her a good scrub, and then painted her anew, with

a blue dress, pink blouse, and shiny shoes. I made her

a new wig -her hair looks better than mine just now -

and gave her a fresh bow. She said she was fed up with hanging

out in the kitchen, so I gave her some arms and some knitting

to keep her busy. 

 Then she said she wants to stay in the living room, and the iron

frame of the mirror really magnetised her:

Now she can talk to me when I'm in here:

And a quick look at another little tag I made for a neighbour:

 These booklets were made from the last batch of marble paper I

made. The paper is all home made - just not by me - and the booklets were sewn with a simple brochure technique:

Today I enjoyed a walk through the grounds of the old Diakonie here,

the hospital where Florence Nightingale did her training. I love all the

rather shabby Victorian buildings, and the rusty adornments everywhere.

Elizabeth, look, lots of rust:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Tuesday post

Hi Everyone!

Tuesday is always a busy day, so I'd better get started

straightaway.

At TIOT we are starting a new challenge

-let's get messy-

As always, projects of all formats are allowed, and you

have 2 weeks to link your creations to us.

I made a triptych of tags from recycled cardboard, 

adding lots of layers of paint, crackle, fibres,

art-stones, moulding paste and whatever else I found

on my table.  The figures were made from black paint and 

home-made stencils:

Some close-ups of the textures:

 I am also linking to Stamps and stencils, texture, crackle and paint and to

Simon Monday Challenge, use your fave tool -

my heat gun.

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

I have a hybrid page using a wonderful

background from Gill,  'Heathers', and a photo of my dear Leah with

her big love back in the 1940s:

And today is of course Elizabeth's 'T stands for Tuesday'.  so I want to 

offer my visitors a hearty welcome with a slice of sour cherry 

cake with cream and almonds, and a 

nice mug of cappuccino:

And some photos of our sunny Monday. It started off

frosty:

The gulls enjoyed the sun along the river:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by