Birds and clouds

Hi Everybody!

Today I have a mixed media piece, 8" x 5 1/2". I used a postcard with

a blended paper background, using scraps of vintage papers

and stamps. The bird is from a sheet of Victorian scrap images. I 

added some stamping and various pieces of textiles for the

'nest'. The card was sewn onto a piece of canvas using various 

machine stitches and then sewed onto a distressed cardboard

background from recycled paper. The text was typed

and glued on.

I am linking to Paint Party Friday and to Jo's 'Poetry in

Motion' theme at Art Journal Journey.

For Tag Tuesday I have another scrappy tag. The BG was made with

pieces of washi tape, the window is a die cut, and the sheep

are from a sheet of Victorian scrap again. The tag itself was on my

jeans, and has been saved and given a new life here.  I am also 

linking to Go Tag Thursday, anything goes.

And some more photos of the blue herons and storks that have

been gathering their food on the meadows by the Rhine:

I can hear something....

I know it's there....

Poor mole!

The scent of lavender:

We had wonderful skies again this week:

Have a great day, take care

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Rose thou art sick

Hi Everybody!

Time has flown by again today, I can't remember

really having done anything, but whatever it was,

I evidently had fun!

For Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Journey,

Jo's theme of 'Poetry in Motion' I made a mixed media piece

using lots of different techniques, and of course, 

lots of sewing.

 First I made a 'skin' from grey metallic paint and gel medium,

and let it dry for 2 days. Then I stamped it with my scrolls

and embossed it with bright red e.p. I sewed it to some

corrugated cardboard, catching some red gauze between the layers.

Then I stamped the Gibson Girl (LaBlanche) onto a scrap of canvas

pasted with some book paper, and fussy cut it. I mounted it onto

some cheese cloth and sewed it to the background. The roses

were cut from a scrap of cloth Donna sent me from Mexico many

moons ago. I sewed them on, and filled them with fibre-fill to make 

them more dimensional. The little paper scroll contains the text,

a verse from William Blake:

'O Rose thou art sick. 

The invisible worm, 

That flies in the night 

In the howling storm: 

Has found out thy bed 

Of crimson joy: 

And his dark secret love 

Does thy life destroy.'

For Tag Tuesday, 'use your scraps', I made a small tag

using lots of bits and bobs from one of my many

bit boxes. I am also linking to Go Tag Thursday, anything goes:

And some photos from my corner of the world.

Early morning:

Mr Heron, sitting on the drainage pipe across the little stream:

The Stork out for a walk:

Loved the names here:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

To be or not to be?

Hi Everybody!

For Jo's 'Poetry in Motion' theme at Art Journal Journey

I have a digital piece put together from various images and

documents found on the web (Wikipedia) and some super freebies 

from Serif. William Shakespeare was a poet and writer who was

well loved in his day at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and who

is still popular with old and young today. The quote is. of course, from

Hamlet:

HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--

No more--and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--

To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprise of great pitch and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry

And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now,

The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remembered.

For our 'Use your scraps' theme at Tag Tuesday I have another tag.

I discovered a box full of long and narrow off-cuts from

various papers and cardstock, and have layered and sewn  three of

them here to make my tag. The image was sent to me many moons

ago, and I have forgotten by whom, so if it was from you,

thanks a lot! The words and bicycle are die cuts, ordered from

 a Chinese company which sells wonderful crafty goods

for small change!

And congratulations to ERIKA, who won the postcard I offered on my blog

yesterday. Please mail me your snail mail addy!

I will get your 

 card out ASAP when I have the details!

And some photos from here. The first shows the sun drying up

the rain this morning:

This cloud looks like a poodle to me: 

Some pics taken by the market:

Fungi:

Dark clouds:

Rain!

Today it's stayed dry till now!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!