Not all heart!

Our new theme this time at Try It On Tuesday is 'Hearts and Flowers' and once again the Design Team have some fabulous examples to get you started. Of course by the time two weeks is up it will be Valentines Day but there are lots of reasons to combine hearts and flowers in your projects - I am thinking of my lovely Granddaughter here.

I started with an old ribbon reel, about to be thrown out in my big clearout!!
I painted it with Paper Artsy Fresco paint (a combination of Nougat and Mocha Mousse

I wasn't too concerned with the bubbling as I intended to cover it all with Crackle Paste. Unfortunately when I opened the pot I had forgotten how little I had left and it had dried out - not to worry - I had some crackle paint!
I mixed some up with the remainder of the paint and added a touch of Bougainvillea.

Not quite the effect I wanted as the paint was a little runnier than texture paste!
While that dried and crackled I made the paper ribbon to hold my message

I added text, flowers and the word 'Wonderful' randomly over some paper I had distressed slightly with Distress inks and spritzing.I curled the end with a paintbrush.

As I wasn't too happy with the way the top had turned out I cut out some hearts and inked around the edges and stuck them on around a TH pin. As you can see I decided to stamp some text onto the top too.
Next I wanted some flowers, I decided on blue rather than have too much pink!

They were layered and added to the top and over the side.

After a bit of tweaking and the tag added at the top I had finished!

As you can see the 'ribbon' peels pack a little way and holds a secret message underneath!

I hope you can join us this time at TIOT!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands for………time out!

My big craft room tidy was halted last week to take a walk. I had reached the "what am I going to do with all THIS!!" stage!

Our first walk was around the woods at Styall Mill - we walked down past the weir and the icehouse.

I was just looking at the calm pond and the reflections and a heron flew in.

It was a lovely sunny day…..

…..although late in the day and getting colder….

We loved seeing some sun at last!

I don't know whether you can see but the treetops reflected in the pond are lit up with the sun!

The sun was getting lower as we headed back to the carpark.

We stopped at the top of the road for a look at the sun setting.

The next day was cold and we stayed in all day.

We did have a brisk walk around the village on Saturday as we had a run of very cold days!

Fortunately by Sunday it wasn't quite so cold so after church we went into Manchester to catch the Dragon Parade. Our son and Grandchildren had seen it in the square in front of the Town Hall and as we got off the tram (we left our car near a tram station)the parade had just reached the stop!

Here are some photos to give you an idea of the crowds and the colour!

The Dragon goes into the restaurants in Chinatown after the parade this was at the end of his visits and fire crackers were set off from a lamp post

This is one of the colourful stalls.

As I am here for T Stands for Tuesday with Bluebeard and Elizabeth I had better show you a drink….or two!

Our Grandchildren like Frankie and Benny's, it was so busy and I felt sorry for our waitress who was very apologetic that she had spilt my coffee in the saucer as she had to push her way through!

I chose a veggie burger which was delicious and hubby had an avocado and goats cheese wrap - the other three had burgers

 I'm sorry if I didn't get round to everyone last week - I lost the order I was in!

Thanks for looking, Chrisx

Lady of the Manor!

Definitely not talking about myself here! 
I have just had to buy one of Paper Artsy's new Lynne Perella sets! They are all so beautiful but this set reminds of one of our favourite things to do in the Summer - visit country homes(usually National Trust as we are members)
Often while we are walking around I can imagine what it must have looked like with the ladies walking around in their long dresses! This set has this wonderful stamp in it with a scene much like we have seen on our travels!  

There is a new challenge at Paper Artsy too so this was my inspiration to choose pink and orange.

 I used various Distress inks blended to make the background and a TH stencil with Crackle paint mixed with Fresco paints

The lady was stamped and fussy cut and I added a touch of what was left on my inky sponge!
The background was stamped with Lin Browns oats and some leaves and numbers from Hot Picks 1010, 1060 and Eclectica ESN18
The quote is one that has separated from the set it came in and I can't find where from at the moment!

I would like to enter the challenge Topic 1 - Pink and Orange at Paper Artsy

I would also like to join Erika's theme at Art Journal Journey - Tell Me a Story

Thanks for looking, Chris

Night time crafting!

You may remember me mentioning that I was up in the middle of the night last Saturday (no idea who or what woke me!)and was inspired to use my new stamps in my Garden Journal which is all about remembering my Dad!
I had gone to my craft room to potter so that I could go through a 'going to bed routine' again. While I was there I decided to look through some old journals but stopped when I came to  the Garden Journal. As I had been sorting scraps there were some sorted into colours so this page was made just by looking through these. 
I stuck some down at the time but then doodled on the infusions scrap and added some chit chat words during Sunday.

   

By restricting what I did to just using what I could reach I felt settled very quickly and went back to bed….and slept!

The flower stamp is from Woodware and was leftover from a card I made a while ago! 

I would like to join in with Erika's 'Tell Me a Story' theme at Art Journal Journey as this page tells the story of my interrupted night.

Thanks for looking, Chrisx 

T stands for……..the real sort out!

Having sorted through my scraps - which I must admit was enjoyable it's now time to get down to it and REALLY sort out my room! At the minute my desk is piled high, the floor is littered with boxes and bags and I am trying to be ruthless!

We haven't been out much, although we did take our eldest son out for coffee before a visit to Creative Recycling. He has plans on setting up his workshop to use recycled materials to create some art, as hoped he was inspired by the visit. 
As for the drinks we had…I forgot to take a photo so I have taken a photo of our Winter mugs,(the Christmas ones have been put away)for a visit to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's for T Stands For Tuesday. 

This was taken at 4p.m. this afternoon and it was already quite dark as we have had another of those grey days!I used my phone camera as it has a torch on it too so I could get a reasonable photo!

As we are here for

I thought you might like to see this that I found in a magazine a while ago.

I think it was advertising a kettle maybe as there are similar advertisements for other appliances, but I had only cut off the bottom of the page! I think this goes for my own preferred mug of coffee too! 

I am hoping that now I have made a good start it won't be long before my desk is clear enough to play again!

So far our internet connection seems to be holding on so I should be able to visit more easily! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

I had a dream….I think!

I have no idea why but I had a disturbed night last night! I woke up at around 1.30a.m. The only thing that was different to my usual routine was going to bed half an hour earlier than usual! I was wide awake and after an hour I still hadn't got back to sleep! Nothing for it but to get up and go to my craft room - this worked once before - I allowed myself 25 minutes - and then went through my bedtime routine again! It worked, although I didn't wake up very early and we seem to have been behind all day. Forgot to mention that hubby started with a cold yesterday so we could both benefit from a lie in anyway.

After breakfast I went to my craft room. During the night I had found an old journal that I started years ago in memory of my Dad. His work and his hobby was gardening. He was a foreman at a large nursery and his own garden was his pride and joy! 

I used my new Paper Artsy stamps to create this page. I already had the flowers cut out as I used part of them on yesterdays page,

The page had some mop up gold on it. I stamped some random text over the page and one of the small stamps around the edges, which was coloured in with a combination of watered down Bougainvillea Fresco paint with Are You Cerise Infusions and gold pen. The tape at the bottom is an image transfer from flowery page in a magazine. The words are all from a Paper Artsy Sarah Naumann set (ESNO4)The 'an' was the start of 'anything' picked out with a distress marker.

As I was making this page I did wonder if a dream had woken me up, although if it was that I have no recollection of it!

I would like to enter this in Erika's 'Tell Me A Story' theme at Art Journal Journey.

Also
The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Challenge  - Anything Goes
and  
'Anything Goes' at The Craft Stamper Take it, Make it Challenge

Country View Challenges also has an 'Anything Goes' theme.

Thanks for looking, Chris


  

Come walk with me!

I have another page for Art Journal Journey. Erika(Bioartgal) wants us to 'Tell a story'. I am inviting you to take a walk with me, my page shows you the way will walk.

These flowers are from my new set of Paper Artsy Elenazinskiart stamps! I love her little monsters as you know, but this time I have a set of flowers and a little bird!

On this page I have combined them with some of Darcy's flowers(also Paper Artsy)I stamped the main flowers onto card and book paper and cut them out.They are coloured with Fibralos. The others were stamped directly on to the page I made using a Dina Wakley heart stencil and some other random stencilling and stamping

When my stamps first arrived I had to attend the first of many directors meetings we have had here at our retirement complex, one of which was walking around the carpark on a cold morning trying to find a solution to the parking problems we have. I think what we eventually came up with is going to be quite expensive!! 

I was dying to play with my goodies but only had time to grab a previously inked tag and stamp away before we had to go and look after our GD! I added some fabric that I dabbed with distress inks. I stamped the bird and then stamped him onto some card and cut out the main body which I added some foam tape to lift him off the background slightly!

I am sorry to be absent from the computer for a little while but we have also been having a few problems (hopefully sorted now) with the internet connection which was quite scary when it cut out just after I had pressed 'pay now' on an order! Fortunately it went through as I had a confirmation e-mail when it came back on again! The connection does seem to be better after having a telephone conversation with a nice young man! 

Thanks for still visiting me, your support is always welcome and I will try to visit soon! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 398

It's Wednesday and Julia at The Stamping Ground has an open invitation to join her and show your desk for Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday! Usually my desk is shown in all it's glory but I must confess to a little staging - that is - I pulled off a layer of my under paper and I moved the smaller storage box into sight! Ignore the little black tag - I have for 2 days now!!

 As you can see I have at last covered the cereal box that held my stencils - I covered a smaller one too as I got fed up of digging in amongst the larger stencils to find my small ones!
Here they are after I had done them.

I also did some journal covers if you care to scroll back on my blog.
All this was done to rid me of my pile of scraps - and I am happy to say I now how 3 empty boxes (ready to fill again?….Noooo!)

While I am here I have a couple of films to tell you about 
'A Monster calls', which I really enjoyed especially for the wonderful artwork.

The other film is 'La La Land' - We went to see this yesterday - I didn't have high expectations as sometimes films that win awards don't always live up to their promise! I must say that from the first scene through to the end I was enthralled! It was like an old fashioned musical only better, hubby quite enjoyed it too and he isn't a great one for musicals!!

Thanked for looking, Chris

Anything but a Square at Try It On Tuesday!

Our new theme Anything But Square at Try It On Tuesday is about anything you care to make but it mustn't be square (any one my age may remember the saying "Be there or be square" so we hope you will be there!)We are hoping to see lots of different shapes!
I love making Journal pages, I find it relaxing to make something just for me. A lot of my journal pages make it onto my blog but some are just because I enjoy playing and there are so many of them.
This time I have made a tip in journal page, I only had a small journal with me so I used a page from a sketch book I had at our caravan.

I blended pink and lilac Distress inks on my page and then sprinkled some water over the page and dryed it immediately with a paper towel.
I added some stencilling with some mini stencils as I did this at our caravan and only had a few things with me. I had taken Paper Artsy's Elenazinskiart's Monster ZA01 set and a little Zini - I mixed them up a bit to give the girl long legs and removed a hat so that the monster looked more like a pet! I also had some JOFY stamps there too! I doodled in some stars and added some small nail art stars.
I love these stamps and I'm waiting for the postman to bring me one of Elena's new sets!
The words came from a few different book pages - inspired this time by Julie Kirk , although as you know I have always loved using words from book pages!

Hope to see you at TIOT


I would like to enter in 

Country View Challenges - Anything Goes
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Chill Out (having a pet definitely used to make me chill out)
Craft Stamper Challenge - Take It, Make It - Anything Goes
Artistic Stamper Creative Team Challenge - Anything Goes 

Thanks for looking, Chris

T stands for …tidy time!

If you saw the post before this one you will have some idea about what I am doing at the moment!
Today was more of the same and I have covered a rather large journal front cover with yet more scraps! I have a very bad habit of tearing illustrations from magazines or flyers of things that catch my eye and then they sit in a box covered up by even more, as well as stamped images and other bits paper leftover from projects!It had got to the point where I could no longer leave them as one box overspilled to three or four of varying sizes!
I decided that one way I would see them would be if I covered boxes(more of those on Wednesday)or journal covers - at least with some of them! 

I have also started a planner (I haven't stopped making my calendar journal for what actually happened - just forgot to post before I start to fill it in!)I am not being very rigid, but I found a planner I was happy with from Muji and it has served it's purpose so far as it stays on the coffee table where I can see it every day and if I feel like doodling or sticking stuff in I can do! 

We have a couple of trips already planned, and for those of you who had a guess at Paris as one of them you are correct! For once not my idea but hubby's - you may remember he was taken ill while I was at Version Scrap, the Paris craft show, although he was fine after having been taken care of by Paramedics he has suggested that I might like to try again - I may keep him with me though! It is also his birthday while we are away so I have a little treat planned for him!! (it's also someone else bEARTHday while we are away!)

Week one was an experiment as was week two and probably will find what is easier for me as I go along…

 The only real outings we have had have been cinema trips the first one was a 2 for 1 day and the other was a Silver Screen day.
I loved 'A Street Cat Named Bob' as I read the book and loved it - the film did not disappoint and although some parts of the book were changed slightly or omitted it is still a delightful true story of how an animal can change someone's life. I don't know whether you will be able to see this film outside of the UK but I do hope you can!
I will 'review' 'A Monster Calls' on Wednesday when I show my (hopefully) clean desk!
As I am here for T Stands for Tuesday with Bleubeard and Elizabeth…

…...and I haven't taken any photos of any drinks I will go back to November when we went to Keswick.

As you can see hubby had afternoon tea with a cup of tea and a scone with jam AND cream, I had coffee with a toasted cheese scone.
We went to Bryson's a lovely old fashioned tea room

There was some lovely art work on the walls but the photos didn't turn out well. The scones were delicious though!

I will be back in the morning with our new theme at Try It On Tuesday.

Thanks for looking, Chrisx 

The moral of the tale!!

This post is all about a silly old lady who just couldn't throw things away - sometimes not even the tiniest scrap of paper! Her craft room got smaller and smaller and her desk shrunk so much she could hardly find a space to enjoy her favourite hobby! One day the big old giant she lived with tried to reach the window and do you know what? He just couldn't! He tried to get closer but because the old lady had started to use the floor for storage space he was afraid he might tread on something(so was she as he had very big feet!)Something had to be done!
 Aah! But not straight away, the old lady carried on crafting and she tried and tried to ignore the mutterings of the big old giant she lived with, and for a while she did, but then came the awful day when she couldn't find what she was looking for…it WAS in her craft room SOMEWHERE, all she had to do was move a few things, but where to? She had already secreted a few things to where she sat to watch TV and she so enjoyed having a clear dining table(which she hadn't had in her old house)There was only one thing for it - she would have to throw something away! Now there are lots of goodies in the old lady's craft room, journals, stamps, paints, inks, buttons, beads and all sorts of other things in boxes, things she had made, things friends had made for her…..they just had to stay! 
 She began to look around her, and what did she see….can you believe it - all sorts of boxes and bags full of leftover bits of paper and fabric, things she had bought and regretted buying, projects started and never finished - basically load of old tat!!
 She started to look in some of the boxes, it wasn't ALL tat! She looked at her journals, she had always had the idea that one day she would decorate the covers.So…that's what she did, in fact she was so keen to get started that when the big old giant that she lived with came looking for her he was surprised to find that she hadn't even put any music on - she nearly always crafted to music - and being the kind giant that he was he put some on for her!
Okay! You've probably guessed by now that I have written about myself! 
Art Journal Journey's theme Tell me a Story (chosen by Erika)was my inspiration!
Here is what I have been up to this morning!

My collage was so random as I was just taking things from the box on my desk and either sticking it onto my cover, putting them into a small bag on my knee or throwing things into bin at my feet!

I am pleased to say that the bin has been emptied twice and I started on a third box as well as separating some colours to cover more journals.
As you can see I found just the quote to stick onto one of the covers. The newspaper supplement has these little quotes in each week and I had quite a few stashed away!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Thinking ahead!

Have you noticed how at this time of year the newspaper advertisements are full of ideas for planning your Summer Garden or Summer holidays?
We already have two breaks planned for the Spring - where? I think I'll keep you guessing!(One of them is somewhere we went last year!)

I don't buy a great deal for our caravan garden so those adverts are usually overlooked - this time though I have been looking for some seeds that will provide some colour in June and July as that is the time when there is mostly just greenery(very nice, but I do like flowers)

I had some gold acrylic paint leftover from another project so I spritzed it and dragged my page through it making a lovely fern like pattern. I stamped a favourite Paper Artsy Hot Picks 1602 stamp and added one of my own carved leaf stamps. The JOFY quote stamp tells of my reasons for planting anything in our garden.

I hope this will be a suitable story for Art Journal Journey's theme chosen by Erika(bioartgal)- Tell me a story

Thanks for looking, Chrisx

Keep dancing'!

I have a very bad habit, so my boys used to think, of dancing along with a supermarket trolley…even worse if I break into song too! 
I am not musical at all in that I never learnt to play an instrument but I do love music. I am not the sort of person who crafts in silence either! When there is music playing I can't keep my feet still and used to love dancing years ago (not these days as hubby does not enjoy dancing - I still try to get him to dance but we just end up with the giggles!)
My page for today is about that habit!

The background was made in one of my favourite ways, ink added to an acrylic block, spritzed and pressed down onto my page. I then drew a frame.
The monster is one of Elenazinskiart's from Paper Artsy (she has new ones out soon and I confess to being just a little excited!) 
I used some of the doodle stamps from her set and added some of my own along with a Kaisercraft one.
I would like to add this to Erika's choice of Tell A Story at Art Journal Journey 

I would also like to enter the challenges at 

Simon Says Monday Challenge where the theme is 'Be Square'
Craft Stamper's 'Anything Goes' theme
Country View Crafts 'Anything Goes' theme

Thanks for looking, Chris