Shades of Grey

Hi Everybody!

Time is flying again, another week is nearing completion,
and I don't have much to show for it. I did spend a nice afternoon
with a friend, we went for an ice and then walked along the Rhine
and enjoyed the sunshine. Yesterday was definitely more like Autumn,
as it was cold, wet and windy - summer is slipping away. And
before I forget, the winners of my Tuesday postcards are
Hazel and Deb.I already have Deb's addy, but need Hazel's
snail-mail addy, please!

This week I made a canvas (12 x 10"). I wanted to use some
darker colours this time, so made a black background and used
light grey for the rest:

I started by painting the canvas with Golden black gesso, which I 

sanded down well when it was dry so that some of the white showed 

through again:

Then I used a stencil (1€ from the Euro shop) and stenciled 2 of

the flowers using light moulding paste mixed with a touch

a grey paint:

Then I used more stencils and stamps with the same colour mix

to add more BG details and used a script stamp over

one of the flowers:

The doll's face was drawn onto thin paper, coloured and

glued on instead of the third flower. For the hair I used more moulding 

paste and pressed the fibres into it:

Then I melted some beeswax and poured it over the surface of the

canvas and ironed it, which melded everything together:

When it was dry, I polished it with a soft cloth which gave a nice sheen:

I am linking to Paint Party Friday and to Art Journal Journey, Yvonne's 'colour in my world' theme

And some more photos from my walk past the castle ruins

and along the Rhine:

This is the 'Quirinus', one of the boats which controls and

records what is happening along the river to keep it safe

for shipping:

Next week I want to go on the boat for a little trip:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Wednesday post

Hi Everybody!

Today I have another altered postcard from Ernst Barlach.

The original was a b/w postcard from the 1930s.

After colouring the card with portfolio oil pastels I mounted it

onto 2 backgrounds. The first was smooth craft card, the second

corrugated card. All materials were recycled. I used sewing to hold

 it all together. I am linking to Yvonne's 'colour in my world' theme

at Art Journey Journal.

 And I have another tag for Wendy's Paris theme at

Tag Tuesday

A beautiful sunrise:

The houses built on the old bastion (town defense wall):

Buddleia with butterfly:

My friends the horses:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

T stands for New Challenges

Hi Everybody!

On Tuesday we are beginning new challenges at
Tag Tuesday and at More Mixed Media.

At Tag Tuesday our lovely Wendy is our host, and has chosen
Paris as her theme, and I know that is a theme that we
all like. For my tag I stamped a tag using a French script stamp
and some flourishes -both from LaBlanche. The Arc de Triomphe
(Artemio)was stamped with Stazon  onto acetate.
The rose is a decal. I sewed it
all together. I am also linking to Simon Monday Challenge,
Stamptember. :

At More Mixed Media Challenge our theme is anything goes

with optional brown. I like brown when it's used in vintage work,

so used a family piece I recently put together, printed it

onto a T-shirt film and ironed it onto canvas. The canvas was then sewn 

onto recycled cardboard from an Amazon envelope

and sewn together with some wild stitching. I coloured the edges

 of the cardboard with some distress oxides and added some crackle

varnish from Deco Art. I sewed some hemp ribbon to it and

added some embellies which I fixed with a TH safety pin. 

I am also linking to Art Journal Journey, Yvonne's lovely

theme of 'colour in m world'

This will be going into my family scrapbook:

And today is also Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so here a hearty 

welcome to all of the nice ladies of the T Gang. Last week I baked

a chocolate cake with lots of chocolate chunks in it and chocolate

fondant icing. Sorry, forgot to slice it, so just cut off what you 

want and enjoy:

My drink is cappuccino as always, here taken at my

fave ice parlour:

                                       My postcards last week went to 

Linda Kunsman and Chris Bedford.

I have  printed some new cards from some of my artwork,

and this card is up for grabs this week, so please leave a comment

if you would like to have it. There are 2 waiting to fly out,

complete with stamps, so don't be shy.

And last but not least, here are some photos of my Sunday walk
along the Rhine and through our little town:

One of my fave corners:

The 'Schiffchen' (little ship) restaurant:

Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!