Still More Challenges

Good morning you all! This morning as I got up, a strange red object was to be seen in the Eastern skies. If I hadn't almost forgotten what it looked like, I'd say it's the sun rising - yoohoo, looks like a sunny day!
I have combined 2 challenges here with these LOs, the Craft Room Challenge, Shabby Vintage, and the Gingersnaps Challenge GC141, Grandma's Photo Album.
I have made 2 family LOs. For the first one I used templates from TH and My Tattered angels, and spray mist in Garden fairy green and Victorian velvet. Then it was a bit too bright, so I rubbed ancient paper distress ink over it to tone it down a bit. I used various leaves, flowers, lace etc as embellishments. The photo of my Mum and my 4 brothers and sisters was taken about 1941/2.

The second one has been made using the same technique, stamping with resist ink, inking, spraying, wiping it off to leave just a touch of colour, and then putting on 2 more layers. I stuck to Victorian Velvet, Forest Moss, Ancient Paper and Garden Fairy Spray, as I want the LOs to match. I used a transparency of my Mum with me when I was about 1 year old, and decorated again with lace, sugared vellum, flowers, and leaves etc.
Both LOs have been made using LaBlanche speciality stamping paper in white.

These pictures are really out of Grandma's photo album - mine!! Slowly I am getting back into the swing of things with challenges, and hope to soon get back to my regular routine. I'll be back tomorrow with Auntie Cissie in Holland, let's see what she gets up to there!
Have a good day you all, thanks for coming by, and take care!

Some Challenges

I am pleased to say that I managed to get some challenges done yesterday; having done all the cleaning - except for the windows - I had time to do some crafting.

First I made 2 tags for *Tag Tuesday*, where the theme this week is Mad March hares or rabbits. The first tag uses a TH branch-tree, die-cut from some paper painted with acrylics. It has been mounted onto a tag cut from Anna Griffin paper. The edges have been inked with vintage photo. I have placed a Beatrix Potter rabbit in front of the tree, and added the sentiment *Run, rabbit run*, the first part of an old song from George Formby, The second tag has been water-coloured with pink, green and yellow, and I have used a vintage rabbit pair scrap.

The last piece is a postcard I have made as my last DT piece for *The Cheerful Stamp Pad*. The background has been painted with acrylics, and the umbrella men has also been cut from some hand-painted paper. The theme this week is *Wet and windy days*

Today we had a power cut for some unknown reason, the whole northern part of the town had no electricity. No phone, no computer, no coffee-maker, no light, no TV. It was just beginning to get dark, so at least I could see enough to find a candle. And by the light of the candle, I was able to read my Kindle. And the original meaning of *kindle* is to light up or set fire to something....But it was a strange mixture of old and new! I was very happy when everything was switched back on again!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Red boots....

Good morning you all! Another day has dawned, and hopefully it will not be as cold and misty as yesterday, although it feels very chilly just now. The meteorologists have promised that spring is on the way, and that it will be warm by the end of the week. I sure hope they are right!

Yesterday I managed a trip to a shoe shop to get some new shoes, always a big undertaking, as I find it difficult to get shoes that fit, don't hurt, that I like and that are not disgracefully expensive. I think I struck lucky! I found some red bootees, made of a soft suede, and decorated with nice, punky chains and studs. I will probably look like something left over from Christmas, but do I care? I just fell in love with them, and they are sooooooooo comfortable and light! I am sure I should be buying sensible, old lady shoes, but I won't! But I did buy a pair of brown leather shoes to wear when I go anywhere where I have to dress as a normal being. And both pairs were reduced by 50%, so got 2 for the price of one!

And in case you are wondering, I do NOT usually put my boots onto my white couch - only if they are shiny bright and new!

The quilt is something I started last year, using some remnants of satin I got in a sale. I cut the material into strips and then rectangles, and sewed them together. The irregular pattern is because I had more of some colours than others. The whole thing has been sewn to a thin layer of fibre-fill, and the reverse has been made from orange satin. The quilt is light as a feather, and measures 1.60 x 1.20 meters, and is just right to keep me warm on my couch, when I am reading or taking a little nap. It hasn't been ironed yet, as my iron committed suicide last year when it leaped from the top shelf of my bottomless pit, aka hall (hell?) closet, trying to make a hole in my head as well. Fortunately it only made a hole in the floor boards, and since then I haven't been able to iron anything....

That's all for today, I will be back tomorrow with my tags for Tag Tuesday. Have a good day, take care, and thanks for dropping by!

Monday Mix

Hi everybody, hope you have all had a good weekend, whatever you were up to! Here it was quiet, went for some nice walks and to a second hand book sale at the Third World shop, where I picked up some totally tattered books to use in crafting. I did a little bit more tidying and dreaded H*******K, but I am taking it slowly, with lots of rests in between. After not being home for so many weeks, the whole place was unbelievably dusty and grimy; believe me, I don't do scrubbing for nothing!

I made some tags yesterday, the first one is for *Tag Tuesday* last week, with the theme *birds*, I am playing at catch up! I covered a manila tag with a book page, distressed it with ancient linen and vintage photo, added a die cut of T.H.'s branch-tree and some birds which Donna recently sent me. I made a bow out of some hessian, lace and ribbon and stuck some white painted twigs in it. It's something a bit different to usual, but I was somehow in a brown-beige mood!

Then I made a vintage style postcard, for which I covered a postcard with an old book page, distressed with the same colours as before, and stamped the background with the *sandwich man* from scrollswork before adding the umbrella men, cut from an old book cover, and a sentiment.

Then I found some scraps of one of my old newspapers from 1899, collaged two tags with print and adverts. The first one is showing a free-and-easy SUBSTITUTE for a corset, looks like a real piece of freedom!

This one is an advert for Müller's invalid stout, which is being shown as a wonderful means to help you put on weight, and especially recommended for re-convalescent people and nursing mothers! Times change!

And I want to share another three pics from my walk today. The first one shows the tower in Church Close that I showed on Saturday from the other side. Now you can see just how wonky it is. But as it has been standing there for about 800 years, it doesn't seem to be dangerous. And the other 2 show a beautiful old wooden cart, standing at a stable just down the road. Unfortunately the owners are just letting it rot - such a pity!

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Looking for signs of spring

Yesterday I went for a walk down to the Rhine, and was busy looking for signs of spring, but didn't find many! Next week it is supposed to be getting warmer, so I hope that will make a difference. Here are some of the photos I took along the way:

Here the ducks all looked very agitated, swimming around on the little stream next to our house. Perhaps they were having spring feelings?

Then I walked along the Rhine, past the castle ruins.

When the sun came out the Rhine looked really blue and sparkly, but when it clouded over the water turned grey again.

The next two pictures are of two of my fave corners in the Church Close:

After I had had a cappuccino and a croissant in *Café Schuster* for breakfast, I started back home. I like this picture of the Castle taken against the light.

Thie is the window to what was probably the dungeons in the castle, wouldn't like to live down there!

Then I walked along the shore. This is the spot where the *Kittelbach*, the little stream where the ducks were, flows into the Rhine.

I wonder whose big feet are standing in the water?

Here the ferry across to the other Rhine side is just setting off:

And here you can see the buds on a tree starting to get fat - looks like spring will soon be here!

I very much enjoyed my walk, and after I had had a rest and a coffee at home, I moved my living room round, cleaned, hoovered etc, and it looks a lot better. Tomorrow I will have a go at my bedroom!

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!

Auntie Cissie at the Doctor's

Today it's time for another double party - Darcy's postcard challenge and PPF, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin. It's Week 52 over at PPF, so birthday time! Big thanks and congrats to Eva and Kristin for making it happen!

For week 10 of the Postcard Challenge our journey is leading us to Canada.

Cissie at the Doctor's!

Poor Cissie has not been at all well for a couple of weeks; she gets out of breath when she goes up the stairs, and has even been off her food, which for her is a very disturbing sign. Jason decides to drive her to the doctor's, who discovers that her blood pressure is too high, and he tells her she is overweight! 'Overweight!?' she asks the doctor igdignantly! 'I am not OVERWEIGHT!! I have big bones, and the figure to go with it'. Jason looks at his feet during this conversation. Then the doctor tries again: 'Perhaps you should just try to eat a little less, and healthy foods, like fish!' Auntie Cissie splutters indignantly, 'I eat fish every day, a double portion, with a few chips, and here and there a few crumbs of cake....Jason, tell him I eat like a BIRD!!! Jason and the doc both have the same thought, but don't dare to speak it: 'A bird? A VULTURE more likely!'
Anyway, the doctor advises Cissie not to fly to Canada, as she was planning, but to stay home, eat lightly and go swimming or do some light excercises.
As Cissie has already booked her flight by a rather notorious cheap Air Company, whose motto seems to be *Fly or Die*, she can't get a refund, and decides that Jason will have to fly to Victoria. He doesn't need much persuading! But Auntie Cissie impresses on him how important it is to behave and dress correctly when in FOREIGN PARTS, as she says. Over a giant portion of fish and chips she tells Jason to dress decently and get himself a haircut before he flies!
Jason goes to his fave punk hairdresser in Brixton, and has his hair cut and styled. He buys a matching pullover, and boards the plane at Heathrow. Everybody looks at him, and the stewardesses all smile every time they bring him his drinks. After landing in Victoria BC, he gets stopped by two men who explain they are from Narcotics Control, and want to test him for drugs....But they soon decide that he is just a bit drunk, but otherwise harmless.
'Another stupid Brit', they say as they watch him go.

Jason loves Victoria, and soon makes friends there. They take trips to the Rockies, and see some wonderful places, but as usual, the pubs and bars of Victoria are the best places for him. But for some reason, he vehemently refuses to visit Chinatown, mumbling something about having had bad experiences in China.
Here is the postcard he sends to Auntie Cissie:

Let's hope that Auntie Cissie will soon be well enough for her next journey....

For PPF I am sharing the last of the paintings I did in Bad Honnef, which I also gave to one of the therapists as a present. And he really seemed to like it! The Hebrew writing along the edge says *The tree of the knowledge of good and evil*

Here I am settling in well at home, taking plenty of time, and doing things slowly by slowly.
Okay, that's all for today. Here's wishing you all a great day, take care and thanks for dropping in!

A scarf and a painting

Hi you all, thanks for all the welcome back messages you left yesterday! I didn't get too much done; I unpacked the cases, sorted stash back into the right places, and got the shopping, including my grilled chicken! Today I will do the washing and in between running up and down the stairs to the washing machine I will make my postcard for Darcy's postcard challenge on Friday.

Today I want to show you the last scarf I made in Bad Honnef, and another picture that I made for one of the docs there. I used acrylic paints in several layers one over the other, adding details with some sequin waste and pen and ink. The Hebrew writing down the side says *Keep me as the apple of our eye and hide me under the shadow of your wings*, (Psalm 17 v. 8) hence the wings.

So, that's all for today, I will be back tomorrow with some crafting *made in Düsseldorf*. Have a good day you all, take care and thanks for visiting!