A Sneak-Peek and Mail-Art for the Three Muses Challenge

Good morning to you all! Hope you have all slept well, as I did. It's a bit cooler here just now, but it's still early, and the air outside is heavy with the scent of lilac and jasmine, just beautiful!
Yesterday I worked nearly all day on a mini-book, but I can only give you a sneak-peek today as I want it to be a surprise for the buddy I am swapping with. I know she likes pink, so used a lot of victorian velvet and antique linen here, to give soft and natural colours.

It was great fun to make, anyhow, and the rest will be revealed when it has been sent and received!

And I made a mail-art envelope / label for the *Three Muses* Challenge. The task here was to create an envelope or mail art piece, and as I have some books to send off next week, I have made this to send them.

It is a large (A4) mixed media piece, using collage, stamping and rub ons in layers one over the other. I am wondering what the dear lady at the post office will have to say this time!

So, that was it for today! Have a good day, take care and thanks for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday, Simplicity and some tags....

Good morning you all! Here is Rhineland is really hot and sunny, like summer weather. So I will be taking a walk through the fields or along the Rhine later.
I have been searching the net for *ceramic paper* that I described yesterday, and found that the manufacturer I buy it from, LaBlanche, sells it in England under the name of *Speciality paper* by Sir Stampalot. It may be available from other firms and places, too, but hope that helps to answer some of the inquiries and mails I got yesterday. It is a wonderful paper for stamping and blending.
Today is Paint Party Friday, so welcome, come along and join in the fun!
I have some lino cut prints to show today. I made the lino cut some years back, and printed a few heads off yesterday to show you.

I have printed these using some scrap paper and acrylic colours, you get better results using special colours for lino-printing, but they are somewhere at the back of my bottomless pit AKA the hall closet, and if I had started to dig them out I wouldn't yet be sitting here writing about it....
I like the way that the picture - which was supposed to be a self portrait! (well, I did have long, permed hair back then!) - looks different with the different colours and backgrounds. A paint lighter than the background almost looks like a negative. And by using a light layer of paint you get a rather ghostly effect.
Anyway, I enjoyed doing the prints yesterday, and I will do some more in the -hopefully - near future.

And I still have a card to show you, a bit of a contrast programme.
It's a very simple card I made for *Simplicity*, where the challenge this week is to use an old stamp to make a thank-you card:

And here are three tags made, all using the same image, and the same background stamping, but using a different colour scheme each time. I printed the images out in blue, green and sepia, and fitted them behind a computer generated film strip that I printed onto acetate. I tried to find embellies for each tag in a fitting colour scheme, and like the effect of having just one main colour on each atg.

That was it for today, have a great day, thanks for looking, and take care!

Spiders, Tags and Dolls

Good morning everybody! Well, everything seems to be bright and sunny this morning except for me. Can't seem to wake up properly, think I was reading too long last night!
Had a nice day out yesterday, came home and wanted to relax....And then I had an unexpected and unwanted visitor. A big spider walked from my balcony into my living room. I HATE spiders. I can tackle a lot of things, but when these hairy legged monsters walk through my door all I can do is screech! Not that screeching helped - it didn't impress the spider, and nobody came to save me. So I tipped the paper out of my paper basket and up-ended it over the spider. Pushed a sheet of card underneath it, and then tipped it out into the big outdoors again. And as punishment for not having splatted the spider, had to pick up all the bits of paper that had been in the bin before I tipped them out! In case you haven't noticed, I do not like spiders!!
After that I needed to do something to come down again, so sat in my arty kitchen and made 2 tags, using all the bits and bobs that were still flying around there after making my mini books.

Both tags have been made using ceramic paper, which has been distressed with gradient colours of TH inks. They have both been stamped with a background of script and flourishes, before adding some rub ons.
The first one has TH heart, wings and crown die cuts added, cut from my *special* paper. And then I added a cameo, some lace, a little branch of roses and an image from Crafty Individuals. And my fave leo is there, too.

This one has also been stamped with parts of my lovely leopard stamp. I added a little scrap angel, gave her some extra wings made from paper which has been painted, stamped and die cut, and sat her on the leo's head. The text at the top says, *Music charms the wildest beast*. Added some lace and beads at the bottom and that was it.


The little dolls I offered on my blog yesterday will be going out to five ladies next week. I had 2 more that I made, so didn't have to draw. So Joanna, 2am scrapper, Barb, Suze & Donna will be getting them. I will get them ready to post over Easter and then go to our wonderful post office on Tuesday to send them off....
Thanks for looking in today. Have a great day today, whatever you are up to, and take care!

Gingersnap Challenge *Fans* GC99 & another card for *Less is More*

Good morning everybody! Another fine and sunny day here, and I am getting ready to visit a friend for a day of companionship, going for walks, eating nice food and chatting about this and that.
There is a new challenge starting on Gingersnaps today, GC99 with *fans* as theme. I made an easel card, using stamped geometrical forms on a background of patterned paper, a little stamped scene, and a fan made from some sugared, printed vellum.

And I made another three Japanese bookmark dolls, each carrying a fan. I used paper from the *Sasha* paper collection from Anna Griffin. The three dolls are up for grabs, if you would like one, please leave a comment, and say which one you would like. If more than three should be interested, I will do a draw.

And lastly, I made a third – and last – card for* Less is More*, although I think this one is a bit more than less! I have made an aperture card with an acetate window, stamped with 2 flourishes in Stazon black. The flowers have been stamped with Stazon olive and violet, cut out, and decoupaged. I haven’t decided on a sentiment yet.

So, that was all for today. Thanks for dropping in, look after yourselves and have a great day!

A Walk in the Woods and another card for Less is More

Good morning you all. Here the sun is shining and the birds are singing, but I am not sitting outside on my balcony. I have the door shut tight. Yesterday the farmer who owns the fields behind the houses *fertilized* the ground, and there's a smell like a giant manure heap out there. So I'm staying in....
Yesterday I went walkies with Emily, my friend's little dog, and we had a nice stroll through the woods. The trees look so wonderful, I love the mix of light and shadow, and the wild flowers growing there. Emily enjoyed snuffling about, following little trails with her nose on the ground and her tail in the air, so we both had a good time.

I loved this huge, craggy tree stump, reminded me of a fairy castle....

Forget-me-nots growing wild under the trees

I don't know what these pretty flowers are called, perhaps one of you does?

Magnificent tree trunks....

Trees curved and twisted.....

And this one reminded me of one of my lovely *Lavinia stamps*. so when I got home I made it into my second entry for *Less is More*
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Here I have stamped the fairy tree onto acetate using black Stazon, placed it over a print out of the tree, and mounted it onto an easel card with a hand-written sentiment.

Thanks for looking, have a great day and take care!

A Bird Book and a Card for Less is More

Monday again, and another week has begun. I have been busy crafting again over the weekend – what else? And the time just flew by. I have been busy on another little book, a paper bag album this time. They were in the kit I bought from Alyson. I covered the bags with paper from Daisy Ds, and then stamped them with script and flourishes in Victorian velvet distress ink. The edges were distressed with antique linen and Victorian velvet. After that I started with the decorating, using rub-ons, lace, die cuts, flowers etc. The birds have been die cut from paper which has been painted, stamped sprayed and embossed – I always use my paint & colour remains for this, saves wasting, and it’s a good way to try out patterns and techniques, too. After it had all been embellished, I cut part of the bag base off, punched holes along it, and sewed the pages together, strengthening the spine with some sewn on canvas. The covers have been made from distressed and embossed chipboard, and fixed with sticky backed canvas. It was the first time I have tried to put a book together like this, and I need to refine my technique, but practice makes perfect, so I will be trying it again. I took the photos before sewing the pages together, as I didn’t want to force the pages wide apart. I still have to make some tags or other little things to put into the bags, but apart from that, it is finished.

And I managed a card for *Less is More*. The challenge this week is to use acetate, so I stamped my little row of houses onto acetate using Stazon black, mounted it onto yellow and then blue card, and then onto a yellow card in landscape format. The sentiment has been written by hand.

I very much enjoyed reading all the comments on the pictures I posted yesterday, and I do love to hop around all the blogs and visit people all over the world to see what they are making. And believe me, there is so much talent being shown, just great!
Okay, that was it for today. Thanks for dropping in, have a great day, and take care!

Some pictures and a Sunday sketch

Hi you all, good morning. It's sunny and springlike here, so that's good. Yesterday I got some plants for my balcony, which had been marked down to less than the half, so for 3,20 I got 12 sturdy fuchsia plants, and now I have my two flower boxes, a tub and 2 pots filled. They have survived their first night, and looking really cheerful, so I'm happy about that.
Recently I promised to show some pictures of my arty kitchen, and I have thrown in a few of the rest of my arty place to go with them. Here we go. It started with this - I put a frame round 2 of my creations....

And then some more things arrived....

And then a few more....

The opposite wall was already in use....

And it just went on growing....

And growing....

The green cuckoo clock is not a cuckoo clock but a cowmoo clock: every hour a cow comes out and moos...

You don't believe it? Shame on you!

And in case you think it can't get worse - IT CAN!!

Spare parts....

Bottoms up....

Heads without bodies....

And bodies without heads.

And my Sunday Sketch for *Blue Chair Diary*, done while sitting on my balcony this morning and drinking my coffee: the view of the trees, sketched with Caran d'ache crayons. I added 2 birds which I die-cut, from paper which I painted with metallic colours and stamped and sprayed before cutting. These are to represent all the birds that visit my balcony every day.

Well, hope you have enjoyed your little tour round a few of my crazy pieces.
Thanks for looking by, and have a great day!