A little bit of spring

Hi Everybody!

We are having a stormy week here, with lots of rain and much cooler temperatures, but it's not having much impact on the growing vegetation, and it's greening up everywhere nicely. We just have to take the weather as it comes!

I have managed to finish 2 little books this week. I have been working on them off and on at art group for a few weeks, but sometimes we spend more time talking, eating cookies and drinking coffee than working, so it's been slow progress. This is the first one, which didn't turn out quite as I would have liked it, but it's okay. I used some chip-board pieces from LaBlanche, which were painted white, party collaged with napkin scraps, stenciled and then varnished. The reverse side of each  chipboard piece was painted white, and then decorated with an ornament stenciled with embossing paste coloured with antiquing wax, and finally given a little sewn and decorated pocket:

I am linking to Paint Party Friday

and to Simon Wednesday Challenge, whatever the weather and to

Mini Album Makers challenge (thanks Tracey!)

And I have a hybrid tag meant for Tag Tuesday, Wilma's challenge of 'Hares and rabbits', using elements from Serif and me:

A few photos from my walks:

The weeping willow is getting green:

This tree made me think of an owl watching me:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

T sTands for This and ThaT

Hi Everybody!

This has been a very stormy Sunday here in Rhineland, as storm 'Eberhard' has been causing a lot of disruption. We had heavy rainfall, hail-stones and gale-force winds which blew down trees, roof-tiles and more, and all trains had to be halted from midday on. I stayed home and enjoyed a lazy day here, doing a bit of crafting and a lot of reading.

On Tuesday we are beginning a new challenge at Tag Tuesday, and this time our lovely Wilma is hosting. Her theme is 'Hares and rabbits'. Sadly, this will be Wilma's last challenge as she is leaving Tag Tuesday to have more time to cope with her tasks in real life. I wish her all the best, and am sorry she is going.

My first idea was Alice in wonderland, and my tag has been made using a collage sheet from Gecko Galz with the images placed on a water-coloured background. There's also a tea-cup on it, which links nicely to Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday party:

And here I would like to welcome all of the lovely ladies of the T gang.

I drank my coffee again in Dulce

Dianne asked last week about the carnival dress I was sewing for my neighbour. We had to cope with the jealousy of Lily, the cat, who did not understand why we were wasting time playing around instead of stroking her, and she jumped from the table onto Gabi's shoulder while we were sewing the hoop into the dress:

 

And I think she positioned herself here to imitate Gabi's hat:

And this is the finished cocktail-glass dress:

The weather was changeable all week:

First blossoms are always precious:

We had a wonderful rainbow:

The stormy weather has not stopped spring from springing:

The shops and the town-hall all have their spring decorations, too:

The tiny snack-bar by the Rhine is open again:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Birds, but not from Hitchcock

Hi Everybody!

It's nearly weekend, so for all of you who have been working hard all week, have a good one! It's rather wild and windy weather here again. Blue skies and grey ones, dark clouds and fluffy white ones are chasing each other away, and I have been spending time this week watching the gulls, ducks, geese and swans at the Rhine. I have an A3 mixed media journal page to share, where sky, water, birds and fish are all happy together. I used acrylic paint, stamping, doodling, washi tape,  and collaged some robins, die cuts and vintage German scrap, as well as some scraps of paper. The writing was done with a white highlighter pen. I am linking to Paint Party Friday, which is celebrating its 8th birthday this week:

The windy weather and plenty of water in the Rhine is a magnet for the water birds:

I love how they sit in straight rows:

 Sometimes they just seem to float along the river, going with the flow. Perhaps they are fishing?

The swans are mostly on the lakes and not at the Rhine, but sometimes they like to visit:

The wild geese always make a lot of noise, sometimes even more than the gulls and crows together:

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!