This and that again

Hi Everybody!

Yesterday was really the hottest day of the year till now, but I'm pleased to say it's starting to cool off,  and we even had a bit of rain this morning. There will probably be storms passing over, but I hope that after that we will be back to our normal, summer weather.

During the past weeks I had to spend a lot of time at home, as it was too hot to go out in the afternoons, and I played in my journal. Here are 2 of the mixed media journal spreads.  I worked with water colours, coloured pencils, gelatos, stamps and mermaid markers from Jane Davenport (brush pens filled with dye-ink).

I am linking to Paint Party Friday

I used more or less the same things here, except for the stamps. I just added the stenciled birds and some JD washi tape. I am linking the purple face to Simon Monday challenge, tape it up.

Last Sunday G had another of his wonderful ideas, and early in the morning we drove to a lake - the Venekoten See - which is near the border to Holland. We were able to stroll around the lake, enjoying the cooler, morning air, and found a nice place to sit and eat the food we had taken with us. This really is a perfect place for a hot day, with lots of trees giving shelter and a nice breeze from the lake. The walk from the car-park to the lake led through the woods and along by a crystal clear stream:

There was also a horse ranch and stables on our way:

All in all, a wonderful place to spend a refreshing few hours. Thanks G!

We also visited the nearby village and sampled good food and coffee there, but I will show you those photos on Monday.

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

T sTands for a Trip to the woods

Hi Everybody!

The extremely hot weather is still with us. From Thursday on we should have a change with cooler weather, rain and storms coming in. We had the hottest May here since they recorded the weather, and June and July were almost at the top of their leagues, so hope the rest of this month might be a bit more normal. But first we need to get through the next three days of BIG Sahara heat!

At Tag Tuesday our theme is still Bingo, and you have a week to join us. 

(Images from Serif/ Wikipedia)

This is also my drinks picture for Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so here a hearty welcome to all of the lovely ladies of the T Gang.

I made some pages in my journal. I used black sharpies, India ink pens and gelatos. The washi tape is from Jane Davenport:

I am linking to Simon Monday Challenge, tape it up.

Last week G. drove me to a lake surrounded by woods so that we could escape from the heat for a bit. Parts of the lake were covered in green algae, caused by the excessive sunshine we have been having:

The trees gave us shadow and water always makes you feel cooler:

There is also an open-air theatre at the end of the lake, with the 'stage' on one side of the water, and the audience on the other one. They were playing Astrid Lindgren's 'Pippi Longstocking':

Even the horse was dressed up for the part:

The ducks were concerned neither by the players nor the audience:

Although hundreds of little kids were there, there was no noise except from those on the stage, and it was great to see how the kids were fully immersed in the story:

We watched for a few minutes before driving on to another part of the woods for a walk:

We had another great outing yesterday, but I will show the photos next week.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Bright

Hi Everybody!

On the 5th of each month we start a new challenge at

More Mixed Media.

As always, our challenges are anything goes, this time with 'bright' as the option.  You have 4 weeks to join in. All formats are allowed as long as they are mixed media.

My page is so bright you might want to wear shades! I brayered the BG with acrylics, added some acrylic sprays and the frame, cut from a magazine. The heads were stamped with Jane Davenport head stamps. I gave the girls big hair in bright colours and added some glitter.

Some photos of doors and gates around here:

Here it is still extremely hot, we are all hoping and praying that it will soon cool down. The crops are badly damaged, trees are losing their leaves like in Autumn, and there have been forest fires and fields burning - not good!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!