Playtime (in glorious technicolour!)

The other day I had a great time with my friend Sarah - she has been following Samie Kira Harding's workshops and she shared this colour technique with me! I don't know whether I quite 'got it' but we sure had fun.
It involved using blocks of colour on our journal pages! Quite messy, using credit cards, fingers and making marks with paint - I wasn't too happy with mine but after doodling around the edges on one of the pages I am beginning to like it more!

The other page is still to be doodled on

I quite liked the patterns created on the paper I used as my palette

When I got home I 'attacked' a page in my small journal that I hadn't liked.

Still not sure!

Today I have taken a page that had spray ink on it and added some paint

Normal service will be resumed …sometime!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Summer journal page

Good Evening! I'd like to start by welcoming my new followers, I really do appreciate the support and encouragement I get from all of my followers so Thank You all!

I started this page ages ago but then sort of lost which way to go with it! When we got back from our short break the stamps I ordered had arrived. They are Darcy Wilkinson's Eclectica stamps(EDY10) from Paper Artsy (here at Country View Crafts) When I was picked out the "hat" I decided that I couldn't manage with just the set I'd won so sent for these too.
Having these stamps made it very easy for me to decide what to do next with the page, especially having just seen a lovely sunset at Ravenglass just down the road from the castle we stayed at!

My page had started with a selection of sunset colours (using a stencil as a stamp) inspired by the sunset from the caravan decking earlier in the month

 I continued to add colour through more stencils and then stamped the beautiful flowers from the set, then, and I don't know why, got it into my head to draw another flower alongside!The flowers were coloured in with a mixture of Orchid and Autumn Fire frescos.

I used Darcy's leaves, stamped then painted in Toad Hall Fresco paint then over stamped again.The patterns on the petals are from the stone wall stamp using a black soot distress marker.

I love this quote - also in the set

The numbers are from an old 'Home' set of Paper Artsy Cats Meow stamps.

I finished it off by some doodle writing and scribbling around the edge.

I do hope it reminds you of the warm weather we had at the beginning of the month!

I am linking to Our Creative Corner where the theme is Summertime

and Country View Challenges where the theme is Wordplay 

and also to

The Artistic Stamper - Anything goes

Stamping Sensations - Anything goes

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 273

Good Morning! It was lovely to be away with our  grandchildren and then away on our own for our anniversary, in a castle no less (ok - so we stayed in the coachman's quarters - but we did meet the owner at breakfast!)and I will post some pics as soon as I can get some more from my phone, however I did miss not having a phone or internet connection for most of the time! I wonder what you've all been up to on your desks(ooer missus! didn't mean it to come out like that!)Seriously I have missed being part of the WOYWW community for a couple of weeks - for details go to Julia's Stamping Ground - as long as you've got a crafty desk it's open to all!
There's evidence of a cover up job on my desk….

…I've had a page in one of my journals that I really do not like so I've started to cover it up, nothing stuck down yet as I'm not sure whether to keep some of it.
There are a few things to go back where they belong but I just got the idea to cover up and there they still sit!
Off to the cinema for the last trip of the school holidays with our eldest grandson now.
Here's a quick preview of some of our castle trip and if you want to see where we went with our grandchildren the pics are here.

Thanks for looking, hope to be round later, Chris

Weekend walks

Last weekend we had my son and grandchildren staying at our caravan. It was a great opportunity to get out and visit places we've never been to before! 
First Brantwood, the last home of John Ruskin. This is a beautiful house perched up above Coniston Water with views across to Coniston.

I'm going to see if I can find some of these dramatic black grasses

The stables are now a cafe

Ruskin had a harbour built - the lake was quite rough but as you can see very calm
 in the harbour 

Our granddaughter was followed by a robin that we had met in the garden

Even the loos were spectacular

The next day we went to Conishead Priory which was originally built by Augustine Monks but is now a Buddhist retreat with a huge temple in the grounds. The Priory has seen lots of changes over the years but the grounds are beautiful.

One of the paths led to the beach where the children
had a good time looking for crabs

 I hope you enjoyed this rather rushed tour,.

Thanks for looking, Chris

Special card

My son's fiancé has a birthday coming up. She loves purple and turquoise  shades - as you may know I love these shades too so this was a pleasure to make.
The background was stamped using Artemio flowers using Shaded Lilac distress ink. The panel was smooshed with turquoise shades and stamped with a Lavinia Nigella seed pod.I mounted it on to an embossed cut down tag

I added a die cut flower and a sentiment from my 'emergency' box at the caravan.I hope she likes it.

I haven't joined Hel's Sunday Stamper challenge for ages - she wants to see what we do with our backgrounds(her tag is gorgeous as ever)
so I will link to the challenge which is Week 231 Moon Shadow

I will also link to
The Artistic Stamper - Anything goes
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Anything goes

Thanks for looking, Chris

Dragons Dream - O and rust

I pondered for a while over this challenge - Dragons Dream Tag it On  - O and Rust before settling on my choice.
This weekend is Manchester Pride week - I've been to this event with my son and his partner and it's a lively affair! Although I won't be going this time there's no reason why I shouldn't pay tribute - not just to the two lovely guys in the family, but also to their friends and anyone else in the gay community.
I chose - of course - Rusty Hinge distress ink, along with a little Aged Mahogany (rusty hinges on the mahogany closet?)
I stamped two of the three gentlemen from Tim's Warehouse District set onto some old packaging and covered it with Glue and Seal. I then mounted it in the little ornate frame that was to become an 'O'.
The inks were smooshed onto my mat and the tag was run through it then held up to drip before drying. A mixture of the inks rubbed around the edge of the tag and also through the Dot Fade stencil. I then used part of one of Tim's Artistic collection stamps to add some ledger and a Prima trellis using Coffee archival ink.

  Added a little bit of hexagonal trellis, stamped with the same stamp, the hand from the Tim WD set and some letters for my quote.

I am linking to Dragon's Dream TIO 173 - The letter "O" and rust 

Thanks for looking, Chris

and relax……….

I love playing in my journal when I need some relax time.
You may remember my little tag the other week - I stamped the flowers on a mop up page in my A5 watercolour paper journal to check whether I could use them as Hydrangeas.The stamps are from and old Elusive Images set

This week after I had recovered from THE walk I decided to finish the page! I found this quote, which is quite appropriate - we did quite a lot of talking to our two grandsons about how things get damaged by people and about erosion and the like (plenty of examples last week)

I coloured the flowers using some Cosmic Shimmers paints. I then added some text and butterflies and moths,(still haven't identified one we saw)from TH's Attic Treasures set,

and some doodling around the edge of the page and around the quote.

Whatever these flowers they still remind me of my garden at the caravan.

I would like to enter in the following challenges
Our Creative Corner - Summertime
Country View Challenges - Word Play
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking, Chris

Taking a long walk……..

Last week hubby and I decided to take the two grandsons away - they don't see each other much in term time and they do get on really well! We didn't expect them to settle down to sleep very quickly but thought a long walk might help for the second night! The youngest had expressed a wish to see a waterfall so this seemed a good chance to go to Ingleton where they have a Waterfall trail. We had been to Ingleton ourselves some time ago but it rained and we never got around to seeing the falls.
The weather was beautiful, sunny with a light breeze - perfect! The blurb on the leaflet said to allow at least two and a half hours but it could take up to four!!
Here is the photographic record….

A beautiful start to the walk

just right for the boys

Tree full of pennies

Cavers heaven

The first waterfall

Never mind the view - look how steep that step is!

This is me with delaying tactics - more bloomin' steps! We kept going up and down the whole way and the bottom steps are so steep!!

It was nice to get to some more even ground.

I did manage to get ahead sometimes!

              The boys found crickets along the way

Handsome isn't he? My eldest is not happy about his photograph being shown! (notice that bottom step!)

                        Nearing the top….

….so we thought. This is Thornton Force - painted by Turner

ah! ha! this must be it!

                                            Ha! not likely!

                  Wait for me!!

                  They did!

At last we reached this beautiful view and I really thought we had gone as high as we were going (by now we had been walking for about two and half hours!!)

Not quite though!

On the way down (I say down but there were still more steps to go up!)

 This was the view of the path - way over in the distance of the top part of the walk

Two sheep but before I clicked they moved!

Finally back into the village and our reward - lunch - at 3.15!!!!

Oh! You might wonder - did the boys get to sleep any quicker - you bet! So did we!! 

I ached for the next three days - slowly getting back to normal!

Thanks for looking, Chris
Oh! and…Elizabeth - I hope you enjoyed this!