Words are magic

Hi everybody!

Hope the snow is slowly disappearing for those of you who have been in the 'ice-age'; here we are having wonderful spring weather, which I am enjoying.

This journal page has been made for the Vintage Journey challenge number 2, where the theme is words.

I straightaway thought of this quote, spoken in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows' by Professor Dumbledore, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, 

and remedying it.” 

Words are really something very special. I wrote a lot of words about things that are worrying me just now, and then painted over them with acrylics, added some fairy dust to help the magic, and then collaged the rest. There is also a lot of background stamping, which is hard to see here, but that's part of the magic - making things invisible!

I collaged some torn paper, pieces of old letters from the 1930s, and some images. The alphas are from Tim Holtz, as is the Tissue Tape. The rest of the quote was computer generated. Of course, Mr Umbrella Man sneaked onto the page when nobody was looking. I painted his shadow using the die-cut negative, and gave him plenty of words. I had fun making this one, and it turned out as I wanted it to, which often doesn't happen, so the magic seems to have worked!

I am also linking to AJJ 'Fantasy Scene' and to Paint Party Friday and to
Paper Saturdays

There is lots of text in the background, too.

The owl seems to be another connection to Hogwarts.

A close up of the background to show the fairy dust.

Today this wonderful tree surprised me on my walk, the blossoms were not open yesterday. Spring has its own magic!

I showed a photo of these stairs near the old mill by the Rhine some time back, and wondered that they seemed to lead to nowhere. Now they have been freed from the grass and plants growing over them, and I learned from the local paper that there used to be some bathing huts in the Rhine back in the 19th century. The nurses from the Florence Nightingale Hospital here   (F.N. did her training here) used to escort the sick people to their baths, and at the top of the stairs was a waiting room, where they could get ready for their dip. They were brought from there to the huts to bathe in Victorian propriety. The stairs are very ancient, and were made with door-steps and window ledges from the castle ruins! I hope the powers-that-be manage to conserve them.

And last but not least, a tree that I noticed by the Rhine today, with fungi growing out of the stem.

If you are still awake after all that, I thank you for your patience and wish you a great day!

Take care, and thanks for coming by.

Fantastic dreams, a hedgehog and blue skies

Hi everybody!

In between doing a lot of walking this week as the weather was good, and visiting the eye-clinic and the doctor, I did manage to get quite a lot of crafting done. As there is never time to do everything, I just left the H*******K away, that really is a time saver. I am sure we will have some bad weather sooner or later which will be fine for staying home and doing things I don't like!

I made a journal spread for the AJJ challenge, fantasy scene. I am trying to show the fantastic world we enter when we sleep, 'perchance to dream' (Shakespeare), where everything is possible. We can fly, hover above and watch ourselves, don't think it strange to see strange animals and plants, or to have a clock-face and a butterfly on your nose. Flowers bloom in winter, the stars shine golden, and fragments of speech come to us and slip through our grasp before we can store them. 

The pages were painted with blues and purples and some metallic colours and gold ink, and then I used background stamps in the still wet paint to give some texture. When it was dry I set to work stamping the flowers and grasses (Artemio) with embossing ink and white EP. The figures have been stenciled, as has the owl, and I gave the floating figures a thin coat of white paint, to let the colour underneath shine through, and added some glitter liner after drying. The script fragments represent the words and dreams we forget, and I used a fractured script for my sentiment to underline it. The bird, the butterflies, and the flower in the middle were collaged. The script fragments are on very thin paper, and also transparent, not covering up, just seeming to  float. 

  

I am also linking to Hels Sheridan's 'Ink on your fingers' - dream and to

Simon's Monday Challenge - transparent

 At Artful times  the challenge is to use game  pieces. I used a whole puzzle, which I painted with sparkling H2Os, and stamped with the lovely hedgehog image from LaBlanche. The quote is from Lewis Carroll, and one that I like very much.

And of course, I am linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted, as always, by Eva and Kristin.

 The past days have started out with frost and mist, but got better and better as the days proceded, and today was no exception. I walked to the sculpture park to enjoy the spring flowers and blue skies:

I watched the planes coming in to land - we are near the Airport here .

The water in the lakes was blue:

And the clouds looked good against the blue skies at the Rhine:

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

Transparent

Hi everybody!

It was a busy day here, I had to go to the eye-clinic for the next examinations and treatment, so I am pleased that it is over - till the next time, anyway. Not all the results are good, but I am trying not to think of it just now. It was cold and frosty when I set out this morning, with mist hovering over the fields, but soon the sun came along and waved his golden wand and the frost and mist just evaporated.

 The challenge at Simon's Monday Blog this week is 'transparent', a theme I like, and which I have tried to show here by using various layers of stamping one over the other, but so that everything remains visible.  The background has been stamped with Archival sepia, the next layer - flourishes and numerals - with Archival olive, and the top layer in Archival black, which was also embossed with clear EP on the butterflies. They were then given some colour with gel pens and glittered with Eucalyptus Stickles, Some of the flowers in the background were treated to some dired marigolds distress Stickles. I mounted the tag onto two other tags in rust and brown and fixed them together with an eyelet. The bottom layer has a strip of butterfly tissue tape, and I added some transparent flowers. The transparent butterfly has been printed onto a transparency, fussy cut, and distressed with Stickles from the reverse.

I just managed a short walk this afternoon after my hospital appointment, but saw this beautiful piece of decaying wood, It was fascinating to see all the little channels and tunnels where the worms have done their work - wormwood. I thought this would make a good background paper, too. If you like it, you can download it and use it.

These two beauties were holding their afternoon nap:

And this tree is just beautiful against the blue sky background.

That's all for today!

Have a good one, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Locks and Keys for Tag Tuesday

Hi everybody!

Our theme at Tag Tuesday this week is locks and keys, which offers many creative possibilities.

I made 2 tags, as I couldn't stop once I started....

 The first one has a background stamped in various layers and then distressed, and mounted onto a second tag made from corrgated cardboard, partly peeled, painted, and 'rusted' with Viva rust. The sentiment is a stamp from TH, the flourish is from LaBlanche, and the background stamp is from EBAY - I don't know more! I fastened the tags together with a large eyelet, and added a heart-shaped lock from LaBlanche on a ballchain from TH. The key is a brad from my stash. I clear embossed the sentiment after stamping to give it more definition.

I am linking to Simons Monday Challenge, Transparent.

 The second tag has been made from a piece of card where I tried out some new stamps from TH that I got as a present some weeks back. I distressed the card with dried marigold and wild honey, and stamped with Archival sepia in a random fashion till the tag was full, The heart was made in a mould using candle wax remains, and coloured with Inka Gold in gun-metal grey and copper. The tags have been fixed together with a TH paper clip, and I added some tissue tape and lace in one corner.

Today started off cold and misty again, but got better in the course of the day. I walked along the beach, and enjoyed watching everything.

I love the different colours of green, each tree seems to have its own special shade.

In the afternoon I visited the horses, I sometimes wonder what they are thinking about when they are standing around all day.

Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Birds, a bike and a horse

Hi everybody!

Today started off cool and cloudy, but this afternoon was sunny, and I enjoyed my second walk with the sun warming my back. After my morning walk I got to work chopping veggies for a potato and carrot stew, which turned out very well. And I am pleased to say that no fingers got hurt!

While my food was cooking I made a bird tag for Tim's 12 tags of 2014. I did not copy the tag, as I do not have the same stash,  but made my version after TH's inspiration. The background of my tag has been stamped with background stamps from LaBlanche. I stamped the nest (TH) first on the tag and again on some glossy card with Archival black and clear embossed it. Then it was fussy cut and fixed with foam squares. The little bird on the branch is from Catherine Moore, and the larger bird at the bottom from TH. The small black birds have been made with a MS punch. I used Archival black and clear EP for them all. The TH bird has also been fussy cut, and fixed over a cut out egg with foam squares. I cut a second tag from green coredinations, and fixed them together with an eyelet (WRMK). I added some lace under the edge of the top tag, and  a bundle of 'twigs' made from dried lavender stalks so that the birds can help themselves when building their nests. The little eggs in the nest have been coloured with glitter liner.
I am also linking to Take a Word challenge - eggs

 I felt very inspired to do the bird tag today after watching crows flying up to the castle ruins with twigs in their beaks, evidently building their nest up there - a room with a view indeed!
Then I walked on to Schloss Kalkum, and saw the first 'babies' of the season - this pair of geese had 7 little goslings flitting around and pecking in the grass. It must be a full time job keeping an eye on so many little ones!

I went nearer very slowly, so as not to get them too excited:

But this one really had his beady eye on me, and started making some very warning noises, so I went, as I did not want to be chased by a wild goose!

The ducks were also having fun on the mill stream:

And in the afternoon I watched this swan doing a turbo swim over the lake:

Here are a lot of riding stables nearby, and a lot of people ride in their free time. And I often see people taking their horses for a walk, which always looks a bit strange. But today was even stranger - a lady on a bike leading a horse - or was the horse leading the lady?

That's all for now.

Have a good day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by.