12 Tags of 2015 April

I very nearly gave up with this one - and certainly couldn't cope with a tag so…with the need for more Birthday cards coming up, decided that I could at least use the water colour and spritzing.
Tims fabulous tag and the details are here.
This is my card

I used Khadi paper to do my flower - it has really interesting feel to it - made from recycled cotton.

Linking to Tim's 12 Tags of 2015 April
and That's Crafty - Keep it Simple challenge Thanks for looking, Chris

GD for DD

Yes, those lovely folk at Dragons Dream TIO have invited me to be Guest Designer for their new topic 'Black and Stencils' - Thank you, especially Helen who has chosen this recipe!

As you may know I love stencils and if you saw my post yesterday you may also like to know that in my teens I spent a lot of time wearing black - much against my Mum's wishes - she would have preferred me to be more girly!!
Like a lot of girls in those days I would dream of being a model like Twiggy, which then got me thinking about photographs which then led to a "What If?"….photographs had been around in the Middle Ages, which led to this..any excuse to use my favourite stamps!

  Peacock Feathers DI all over the tag then stencils using blue, black and gold.

The images are all Lynne Perella by Paper Artsy. The film reel is using a punch I've had since I started crafting.

Of course, these aren't the real characters from that time  - just actors - extras in a film and these are the stills!!!

Hope you have lots of fun with your stencils - the Dragons Dream Design Team have!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 308

So…what is on your desk today, mine has evidence of something still secret and also of my attempts at Tim's April tag but it is drying on the window sill!
Julia - at The Stamping Ground is waiting, oh yes! she sits there all day waiting for you to show your desk (well, at least she wishes she could!!lol!) so why not join in - the details are all on her blog.

Quick Cinema review
Yesterday we managed to find a VUE cinema - they offer a third off on Tuesdays if you sign up. Hubby wanted to see Avengers - Age of Ultron - in 3D (did you hear me sigh!?)I think my grandson summed it up quite well(he went on Sunday) "It's just like all the other comic book films"!! I'm hoping that the film I want to see is still on next week  - Woman in Gold!

I hope to get to make a few visits, but we are packing to go away again so I won't promise!! 

BTW if you want to find out what I was hiding last week it's here and if you want to see if you spotted the evidence it will follow this post!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T is for…….photos!

I am joining Elizabeth and Bleubeard (and…whisper….Squiggles….don't want to scare him off..)of tea today! I also have some photos to show you from our trip away last week!
On our first night we had a glorious sunset…I got so carried away that these are only a few that I took.

4 minutes later

20minutes later

23 minutes later

55 minutes later - from the bedroom window

The next day was hubby's birthday and his choice of place to visit was Barnard Castle (a town with it's own castle) On the way we stopped off at Bowes castle about 4 miles away - beautiful views all around but they are still in hubby's camera so I'll show you those another time.
I took some shots of the castle...

…or rather, the sky through the ruined windows.
On the way back to the car this little fella was singing his heart out

a chaffinch
this next picture will explain why I asked Elizabeth what a bird in her garden was...

An English robin - I didn't know that American robins are different from ours

We then went into Barnard castle and had a wander, lunch and then a walk around a park.
Then….time for coffee and cake

Mines a Polenta and lemon cake and hubbies is Pistachio and Carrot- delicious

We had a lovely drive back and a quiet evening in, bliss!!

Linking to The Altered Book Lover - Elizabeth

Thanks for looking, Chris

Back to the Sixties!!

Our new theme at Try It On Tuesday is a favourite for me - 1960's/Retro! I hope you will pop over to have a look at the fun we've been having!

I must first apologise to anyone younger than 60 and to anyone not living in the UK in the 60's as this may be new to you!

I became a teenager in 1960 and they were THE most exciting times to be a teenager!
The Beatles had their first hit - Love Me Do in 1962 and I first heard it on a very tinny sounding transistor radio!

Friday nights in a small village were dull but the highlight of the week was a programme called READY STEADY GO - we looked at the London fashions, saw our favourite pop stars and believed we could be as trendy!!!

There is a link to see some of the programme here

My page is a tribute to that programme - done in my large Dylusions journal

I started by drawing some small flowers and a Ban the Bomb symbol in the corner, then using Paper Artsy Fresco paints stamped lots of Artemio flowers. Some smaller flowers were stamped with Adirondack inks and I used my black Pitt pen to fill in between the flowers(I had a dress in similar fabric)
I had drawn out a rough plan of what I wanted to add.
I coloured some card - cut to size - with Mustard Seed DI then used a stencil to add Stormy Sky DI -I think!! I used a set of alphabet stamps to spell to The Weekend Starts Here - the motto of the show!
I then cut some retro circles from some paper I've had hanging around for ages.

I used a lighter colour for my numbers to sit on. All I needed then were some images from the internet and my numbers - using the Print Shop application on my Mac!

5-4-3-2-1 was the theme tune to the show sung by Manfred Mann and …...just because I could…...I added in the bottom right, the first two albums I bought when we bought a Record Player ( good old Dansette for those who remember it!)Joe Brown is still one of my favourite entertainers and of course everyone knows who the Beatles were…don't you???….. 
I outlined the figures (Twiggy, Cathy McGowan and a fashion model)with black pitt pen too.

I know there's a lot going on here, BUT that was THE SIXTIES!!!!

Thanks for indulging me in the ramble..…err…..if you are still here!
I hope that some of you had a "trip" back in time lol!!

I do hope you feel inspired by the fabulous examples by the Try It On Tuesday team to have a go at this fun topic!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Blue AND words!

I mis-read the recipe set by Elizabeth at first - Thank goodness it wasn't what I thought(TUT! TUT! Christine, do I hear you say?!)The recipe at Dragons Dream is Blue and Words
So, had an idea, but while busy doing other things it went out of my head and we went away without the stamp I intended to use! Back last night and I'm still trying to catch up with comments to all the kind folk who left me comments while away! Thank you so much everyone - I will get to you all soon I hope!
We then had to have an outing to stock up on food - a little trip to M and S with it's other distractions!!! 
Hubby has at last got a hobby - he goes out for a couple of hours to play Mah Jong- far too complicated for me, lol!….so I have that time to myself. 
I started with some Stormy Sky DI, Then some texture paste (I think it's going off) through my Roman text stencil, added some Viva Decor Inca Gold(aquamarine)around the edge and it looked like this….

it doesn't look like it, but it does shine all around the edge.I then added Adirondack Denim over the Inca gold.
I stamped out the Colosseum and overstamped some text on the ROME letters. The words and gelato were from Print Shop, an application on my Mac.

I added a TH wordband and a 'Roman' button both using a little bit of thread from a clothing label.

I hope this makes you smile, I am of course linking to Dragons Dream TIO Blue and Words.

Thanks for looking, Chris

In the sun!!

I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine! I suspect that by the time you see this the sun will be playing hide and seek again as I am away (again)and as I have now worked out how to schedule a post  I can show you this…in my A5 journal

A bit of smudged on colour, a lot of random stamping and some beautiful butterflies(mainly Artistic Stamper) - highlighted with white - and a quote from Artistic Outpost.

Off to enjoy some sun now!

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 307

Whoosh! …and it's Wednesday again! If you've got a desk then Julia's Stamping Ground is the place to link and show it in all it's glory!
Oh! and if you're nosy interested like me, there will be lots to see.
Mine, for instance has had to be censored…in the nicest way…I had evidence when I looked at the photo, of something I had prepared for  a guest spot next week!

I have also had to close my journal as I am doing a page for Try It On Tuesday so if you want to see that you will have to pop onto the blog next Tuesday! 
You may search for clues if you wish but I can only spot two!!

So, that's it for now, we are off to enjoy a bit of sun before the weekend weather changes.

I will be looking at desks on my phone so you will be in miniature and I can't guarantee a connection so apologies if I don't leave you comment. Last week I was trying to comment in the car and lost several…..

Thanks for looking, Chris 

Not real (well, the sunsets are…)!

Hi everyone and welcome to my new followers too! We are home for a few days before going off to celebrate hubby's birthday! I went for a blood test this morning and fingers crossed my blood sugar is not so high this time! I have made a few dietary changes and I am exercising more….so…
We had a fantastic few days at our caravan and while we did get get some gardening done there is still quite a lot of tidying to be done! 
I didn't have much crafting time but did take my journal so I have a page to show you. 

This started off as some mopped up paints from my mat - dabbed 
dry-ish then pressed again onto the drips!
I started to doodle around the shape top right and saw a flower appearing but nothing like any flower I know, so then drew in some fantasy seed heads too! A bit of doodling around and about and coloured in with my Inktense blocks and water brush.

This morning I added the Artistic Stamper quote and some butterflies from their Insects and Butterflies set, coloured in with sparkly gel pens. 

We had some lovely sunsets while we were away too

and the inside of my glass door looked like this

I would like to enter the following challenges-

Artistic Stamper Creative Challenge - Flora and Fauna
Our Creative Corner - Colour Your World
Stamping Sensations  - Pretty In Pink

and also to link to 

Art Journal Journey
and 
Visual Journey 16 at Bumblebees and Butterflies

Thanks for looking, Chris

Teen card!

Well, that's it - I have a teenage Grandson!It really doesn't seem like 13 years since he became my first grandchild! Where did that time go? 
We have been lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time with him, both as a toddler when we would have him all day on Saturdays, and as he has grown up, spending weekends with us at our caravan as well as a few school holiday times!
He has turned into a lovely young man!
Here is the card I made for him 

I hope he thought it was "grown up' enough!

 I am scheduling this post(fingers crossed!)as we are off to our caravan - I think the garden may need some attention!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Tall lady page!

I had a page in my journal where I had made a background but used a black ink that soaked into the Fresco paint so I wasn't happy with it.
I just happened to have my new Finnabair stamps to hand so grabbed the fabulous lady and was about to stamp her bottom right but last minute - on a whim stamped her top left - now what? Looked and then picked up a stray background stamp by Kaisercraft (I had put way all the other stamps I had been using this clear one had escaped!) and stamped a little bit of it under the image - still wasn't sure, just wanted to take off the harsh edge and suddenly there was a tall lady wearing a long dress!!

I seriously did not have clue what was happening as I just kept on dabbing onto my ink pad and then on to the page - it was only after a while when I saw the dress appearing that I tidied up the edges bit so I found it rather spooky when I realised that I had read the "magic" word but not "Trust the" words!

I am sharing this with 
Art Journal Journey with a theme of Favourite poems and quotes
Brenda's Visual Journey at Bumblebees and Butterflies
That's Crafty - Grunge, Grunge, Grunge challenge
Stamps and Stencils- Anything goes

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 306

I'm going to have to be quick here!! 
No film review, and as there are no more Cinema BOGOFs these days our trips may have come to an end!! Although I do want to see a couple so we'll see!!
We decided to pop into Manchester, totally forgetting…I know, it's an age thing - that it was the day we show our desks to the other crafty folk with desks, courtesy of Julia at the Stamping Ground of course!
So we are back, with the photo I took yesterday evening.

Here you see the remains of a card for my eldest Grandson - a teenager tomorrow so won't show his card until he has received it.
The number is the one I didn't use! There's a couple of stamps to be put away there(done!)and I am on to the next 'secret' project!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Try It On Tuesday and the new theme is…..

'New Beginnings'! It is also T day at Elizabeth and Bleubeard's place!

Welcome everyone. 

Yes, our new topic is 'New Beginnings' and you can see all the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team and find out how to enter here at Try It On Tuesday.

I chose New Home, as here where I live there are often new neighbours and when we first moved in we felt really welcomed by the cards we received.

I have had this set of Crafty Individuals stamps for a while and must confess to never introducing them to my ink pad - I do remember though that it was the quote that made me buy them (although I do love the houses!)It also meant I could use my favourite sun stamp - a wood mounted Rubber Stampede one! I decided to go with pink and green - just because - and I quite like the combination!
The whole row was stamped onto some watercolour paper that had been smooshed through a mixture of green spritzed inks.

The pink house was stamped onto a scrap of pink paper and stuck on.
The sun was stamped onto the pink paper too and I cut out the main part of the image and stamped it also onto the card before sticking  image on top.

Now, I don't know about you but I am not very steady at getting things in a straight line….so…the "NEW HOME" was made by using punched letters stuck onto roughly cut squares(stamping would work too!)and then arranged ever so slightly at angles.

I inked the edges with a Distress marker just to make them stand out more.
I added some gold highlights to the sun and to the roof of the pink house to finish it! 

I hope you will hop over to Try it On Tuesday and be tempted to join in - as you will see 'New Beginnings' can be interpreted in so many ways!!

I am also sure you will receive a warm welcome at Elizabeth's blog The Altered Book Lover, especially if you bring your drink with you!!
Mine's a coffee….with cake, bought from the farm shop we visit occasionally …I know…I shouldn't…but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do, we had been out for a walk at Sizergh Castle so I had earned it!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Growing up!

Good Morning everyone!I hope you all had a great weekend!
My grandchildren are growing up - the eldest will be a teenager on Thursday and my youngest grandson is 10 tomorrow - my granddaughter thinks she is a teenager even though she is only 8 - time has flown!!!
The card I made for the youngest uses an image that reminds of him…

…it is from Lindsay Mason's Sartorial Elegance set - although since I saw him last he has had his hair cut a little shorter!
Yesterday we had a family lunch at my eldest son's house - my new Daughter-in-Law had cooked a delicious Sunday roast for 12! (although we nearly missed it - she had left a message on my old phone number, fortunately my son rang to check why we hadn't replied!)
Luckily I had made my GS's card on Saturday! He was allowed to open his cards and presents(I copped out and put money in that was well received!)and he liked his card even though the hair was too long now!!

As you can see I am still enjoying making my own style of grunge patterns - something that I started to enjoy after buying the mini size Peony by IndigoBlu.

I would like to enter in the following challenges
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - In the Middle - my new favourite technique is in the middle of the card!
That's Crafty - Grunge, Grunge, Grunge Challenge  

Thanks for looking, Chris

Dreaming in colour!!

There's a great challenge at Dragons Dream TIO this time! It's number 188 - A rainbow of colours and there's some great inspiration from the Design Team. I am really enjoying playing with brighter colours at the moment - makes a change from my love of darker colours!

It started with a section of distress inks rubbed randomly over the tag, I threw a few sprinkles of water at it but they don't show …

…maybe just a little bit here!
I then used one of my favourite 'things' of the moment - using parts of my many background stamps to create a random mix!
The flowers are from Darcy's EDY10 set, stamped onto book paper then mounted onto black card and cut around. I stamped again onto more book paper, coloured the centre in, cut it out and then turned up the edges before sticking it on to the centre of the flower.
(Aagh! just looking at the words showing - I used my old college text book - this page was milk , but I didn't choose very carefully where I stamped!!!)

There are some colourful challenges around at the moment Our Creative Corner and Craft Stamper also have some brilliant examples too!

I am entering 
Dragons Dream TIO 188 - A rainbow of colours
Craft Stamper - Take it, Make it challenge - Colour
Our Creative Corner - Colour your World

Thanks for looking, and Thank You also for your comments, I do enjoy reading them! 
Chris

Two Calendars…...

……and both late!!!
I have made pages in a Monthly art journal form for some years now - like my friend Elizabeth, I used to link Kate's Kathrynwheel blog but as she no longer has a link on blogger this is the only place you will see this one!!(I believe Kate still has a link for Facebookers if you want to join in - I'm not saying "never" but I don't think I will ever join Facebook or Twitter!)
March pages were filled in…

…and April pages were ready….on time for once, but we went away, I did remember to take a photo before I started writing on it though!!!

I used the sunflower stamp set again - with pink flowers!!! The stencil was used to stencil through and then as a 'stamp' to mop up the ink!

Now for calendar number 2!

I am really enjoying Darcy's calendar challenge! I think I rather limited myself when I bought a butterfly calendar even though the paper is really good to paint on! It is making me think though and Darcy's prompts are definitely encouraging me to try something new!
Here are the rules for this month.. 

1.. Keep a part of the original picture and incorporate that into your design

2, Technique -  use drips and splatters

3. Add - a repeating shape or word as many times as possible

4. Blog your calendar page and link up from April 1st 2015

This is how this page looked before….

…and here it is now….

My repeating shape is the flower, sketched out roughly first then painted using Paper Artsy Fresco paints. I then drew around the outlines with a black Stabilo 'All' pencil. I splattered two of the colours I had used all over!I drew in the antennae that I had painted out, and outlined the butterflies with a Pitt pen.

This calendar is the one I use to circle dates to remind me to look at my dairy!! 
Now, I must remember to link this to Darcy's blog! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

Journal page

Hi everyone and a big welcome to my new followers!

We went away to our caravan over Easter (France is to come - in 
June! Don't worry you will know by my increasingly frantic chattering!!)We had a great time with one of my sons and his children, and some wonderful weather - though not around the caravan on two days - we went out through fog and ended up in glorious sunshine as we headed North - photos to come!!   

This is another page that I made after the Dina Wakley workshop.
I do love Dina's use of bright bold colours but have difficulty feeling comfortable with them myself so this is definitely not Dina style!!

I did use one of her stamps though - the beautiful woodcut bird!
A couple of Tim's stencils, some texture paste and a Kaisercraft texture stamp. I am trying include more of my own lettering - need more practice!!

I would like to enter in -

 the brand new challenge at the brand new challenge blog "Stamps and Stencils" where it's an "Anything Goes" theme for their first challenge

 Art Journal Journey - Favourite Poems and Quotes - quotes about flying free - doing your own thing always appeal to me!!

 Brenda's Visual Journey - 15 at Bumblebees and Butterflies sharing pages with others. 

Thanks for looking, Chris