When every leaf is a flower....

Hi Everybody!

I'm still enjoying the wonderful weather here, it's not often we have sunshine and mild temperatures in November, and I am making the best of it, and spending a lot of time outdoors, visiting various parks and just having fun. Work is overrated! Right now I'm sitting in my cosy kitchen. There's a huge pot of cabbage and tomato stew on the stove, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it with sour cream and rye bread when I've finished this post. 

There have been some lovely tags posted for Wendy's beautiful 'poppies' theme, and I'm glad so many people are remembering and showing gratitude for those who fought, suffered and gave their lives. I have another simple tag made with some water-coloured poppies:

And I have a large (A3) autumnal piece, using a Mucha image (GeckoGalz) on a painted and stenciled background. The leaves have been dried and one was embossed with ultra thick enamel from Suzi Weinberg in gold. 

I am linking to Tag Tuesday and Paint Party Friday

Yesterday I took the tram into Düsseldorf and then walked through Hofgarten, a beautiful park with lots of water fowl:

This is the Thyssen House in Düsseldorf, I worked here for 2 years when I first came here, waiting for the school authorities to check my papers so I could get back to teaching - after 2 years they rang up and asked, 'Could you start tomorrow?' They were always sooooo good in planning..... The good thing about working here was that I got to spend my midday breaks in this lovely park every day:

This is the 'Märchen' (fairy tale) fountain, now without water 'cause it could get frosty anytime:

And, as you might have noticed by now, I can't get enough of this wonderful autumn:

This statue is called the 'Mahner' (warner), you can read more here

I fell in love with this bronze deer the first time I saw it back in the early 70s:

And I rewarded myself with a cappuccino and sit down at a nearby bakery before walking along the Rhine to another park:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Colourful stripes

Hi Everybody!

We've been having really good weather these past few days, mild and sunny and quite astonishing for November. I've been making the best of it and was out and about a lot, enjoying the autumnal scenery and fresh air. Sooner or later it will be cold and grey again, so I'm tanking energy as long as it's possible.

I still found time to be creative, as I saved a lot of time by not doing housework. I have been working again using the strips of JD wrapping paper I had, combined with washi tapes, acrylic paints, stencils, die-cuts and a collaged magazine piece, all combined to make an A3 mixed media journal page. I also used the wonderful stamp I won at Paperbabes. The background was painted in vertical stripes using pink, cream, apricot and beige, blended together with a damp brush where the colours met. Then it was stamped with a scroll stamp to give texture. I collaged the paper strips, washi tapes and the magazine face, and then stenciled various patterns using colours which were also in the strips of JD paper. I am linking to Paint Party Friday, Art Impressions Blog, lots of layers and Simon Monday challenge, make your own background:

These are the last photos from my visit to the Botanical Gardens.

Here little bags have been tied onto the plants to catch the seeds - great idea!

Yummy!

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!