Vintage and grungy

Hi Everybody!

A couple of weeks back I made this mixed media piece

as a cover for an A5 journal that is almost finished

and looking rather tatty and worn. I started with a tag

made with a stamp from CI, stamped with vintage

photo DI, mounted onto 2 pieces of scrap card and sewn together. The background was stamped with 2 stamps from LaBlanche using the 

same colour. It got mounted onto some gessoed corrugated cardboard, 

 which was smothered with Utee into which I stamped using

diamond and script stamps, also from LaBlanche. I glued 

the layers together and sewed them onto some canvas with

fringed edges. I got given a whole roll of ready gessoed

canvas because it was a bit stained and grungy -

perfect!

I am linking to Gill's 'elegance and grunge' challenge at

Art Journal Journey; Tag Tuesday - anything goes, and

Allsorts challenge blog, vintage style.

And I made another digital tag for Go Tag Thursday, countries -

I chose Paris, and made a similar tag to the one from

yesterday.

 Yesterday I saw a woodpecker in the tree in the field behind

our garden. I zoomed him in - it's about 50 yards away -

clicked, and he was gone:

Then I saw him come round again from the back of the branch:

And then I got him:

I have some lupins on my rather messy balcony, and the bees

only like the white one:

I tried to find shady ways for my walk today, as it was very hot.

One of the neighbours has this lovely rose hedge:

The horses were also in a shady place:

The farmers have been busy mowing the fields and

making hay while the sun shines....

Here you can buy strawberries, fresh from the fields:

There are loads of wild roses along the Rhine path:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Friday This and That

Hi Everybody!

Hello from sunny and warm Kaiserswerth, where we have

been enjoying blue skies and sunshine for almost a 

whole week - a wonder!

For Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin, I have a

journal I altered. The cover was plain craft paper, useful

but boring. I painted it with gesso, and then added the

robin image using a paper napkin from my lovely friend

Yvonne. I added some extra colour with gelatos, and stenciled

the diamond pattern using Archival forest green. The stamp used

is from TH. I rubbed some white chalk into some of the little

cracks and folds to give more texture. 

I am also linking to Art Journal Journey, Gill's theme

of elegance and grunge, to Simon Monday Challenge,
little critters, and to altered eclectics.

Before the alteration:

For Go Tag Thursday, where the theme is a country,

I chose France and landed in Paris. I made a digital tag

using elements from Serif, Mischief Circus, Astrid and me. 

Astrid often offers wonderful freebies on her blog, thanks!

I am also linking to Tag Tuesday, anything goes:

Some photos from my walks:

In the hospital gardens:

I love to see plants growing in the cracks and crevices

of walls:

The horses always look happy and relaxed:

The rusty arches sculpture in the castle ruins:

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Summer is on its way

Hi Everybody!

Today is a public holiday here for Ascension Day,

so I'm planning a restful day at home.

For Tag Tuesday and Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin,

I have a 10" mixed media tag. The background was painted

with gesso and then with Vivacolor metallic paint

in blue. I collaged it with scraps of old letters. The alphas

 and numerals were applied through a stencil using some

textured embossing paste. The next layer was some

gilding flakes. The lady was cut from a copy of a Victorian 

magazine and mounted onto double foam squares to give 

her depth. The wings were cut from a TH die. For the top 

layer I used one of my old calendars with some added 

gilding flakes, the underneath layer was cut from an

old exercise book. I mounted it all onto more recycled

calendar pages.

Here is another 8x8" page for my family scrap book, 

the second one I re-created after giving the original away.

Once again I have used corrugated card and various scraps

as a background for the photo of my elder brother

and sister with me in the middle. I sewed the layers together.

The beads were home made 

from rolled, painted paper wrapped with wire. I am linking to

Art Journal Journey, Gill's theme of Elegance and grunge

Roses and other flowers are blooming everywhere, here

some photos from my walk through our little

town:

This heron is always on the meadow where the

horses are:

I wonder what he's seen?

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!