Making shapes...and more!

I have one last entry for Craftytrog's Arty Aventures Alison's 'Geometric shapes' theme at Art Journal Journey. I have really enjoyed this theme and wish I had been able to take part more at the beginning of the month!

Once again I have been reducing my scrap piles - the green scalloped circle has been shoved aside for around four years! The other scraps include wrapping paper, magazines, stamped images, leaflets, tissue and right at the bottom a snippet about Kendal, one of my favourite places to visit in the Lake District!

I am also adding this to Tiffany Goff Smith's 'Use it up, fill it up 'challenge! Although the challenge finishes today I got a bit behind so I will still make a few more of these college pages. Besides, I still have a mountain of scraps so I will be making more anyway - I do like making collages(almost as much as stamping!!!!)

Here are a few more you may not have seen...

 This uses one of the photographs I printed out for a project a while ago, there are quite a few on the sheet so there will be more one day!

Yesterday, like many others in the UK, we woke up to a covering of snow -the trees outside our windows looked so beautiful so I took some photos with my mobile (cell) phone camera through the windows

 Balcony window

Bedroom side window

 Bedroom main window

Bedroom main window

Craft room

 Kitchen window - I am sure this crow was playing as he kept flicking snow from the edge of the roof right along the ridge!

Four hours later I enjoyed watching the snow fall from the trees.

Today the snow is still laying around in the shaded areas but where the sun has been shining the paths are dry.

I hope that those of you still experiencing bad weather are managing to stay warm!

Thanks for looking, Chrisx

T Stands For.........time for a rest....

We seem to have spent quite a lot of the time away from our flat lately but at last, apart from a trip to the Docs for hubby, we have a few days to stay put! 
I have been making a few 15 minute-isa pages for Tiffany Goff Smith's Use It Up, Fill It Up challenge

 Another Arttealife doll onto an under paper background to which I had added stamps and stencils.

Although it did take a little longer for these two pages influenced by Instagrammer @uk_jen!
I would like to enter again at Art Journal Journey and Alison's 'Geometric Shapes' theme.  
I am hoping for a few days crafting, blogging and watching some films with hubby!
As Frank Sinatra says.......

I admit that most of our trips away from home have been by choice!

We started last week at our caravan. On Wednesday we headed west, I had lunch with dear friends while hubby went to check out some things for sizes in IKEA, on the way back we called at a garden centre with a craft shop attached!

Thursday saw us headed to Sheffield Meadow Hall centre to meet up with my brother and sister in law - we find this a handy halfway point to meet and there are plenty of places to stop, have refreshements and chat!!

I must say that on the top of the pennines it's a bit bleak in the Winter!

 A little bit brighter on the way down....

...and no snow at all on the East side!!

It was a lovely day although the traffic on the way home wasn't so good!!

Friday hubby took his car-less sisters shopping and I visited a friend!

Saturday was a slightly longer shopping trip than we expected as I am looking for a new purse!!!

We had a vouchers for coffee and a bacon roll - very nice!!

We had a Face Time session in the afternoon with my (ex)SIL and hubby in Poitiers.

Sunday was church and then lunch with our friends S and A, something we started doing regularly a while ago! A was 90 on Saturday but sadly isn't remembering much these days!

Yesterday(Monday), I had two appointments at our Health Centre and as the bus stop is right outside the centre we had decided to go and watch 'The Destroyer', Nicole Kidman's latest, if she doesn't get an award for her portrayal of an undercover cop in this I will be surprised!!

It does have some violent scenes but also some tender moments! There is also a slight twist at the end!!

As we arrived in the city centre it was time for a coffee, so we walked across to the Art Gallery cafe.

I did take photos, but as hubby wanted to visit a record shop I took advantage of being there to visit an exhibition I wanted to check out! I have persuaded hubby to come with me next time so I will only tell you that the exhibition is a photographic view of Manchester since the 70's. I am going to wait until the Da Vinci drawings are also exhibited in the Art Gallery in a couple of weeks time!

We had lunch at Marks and Spencers as I had another voucher for an Afternoon tea for two, which we converted to lunch before the cinema!

Of course, I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for Tea stands For Tuesday!

Hubby does love his scone with clotted cream, I don't normally have anything but butter on mine but I must say it was delicious and it was my last chance for a treat before putting myself back on track to get my sugar levels one an even keel!!!

This morning we went to the gym, came home just as it started snowing and we are staying put now...at least until Saturday....maybe...!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Making shapes and dolls

Hi everyone! 
A quick post with another entry for Art Journal Journey where Alison's 'Geometric shapes' has a few more days to run!
The other day I ordered some collage sheets from Sandy of Arttealife's etsy shop!
I had seen them popping up on IG for awhile and eventually the inevitable happened!!!!

 My page has selection of circles, rectangles and one big square (of sticker negative) and used up a designer stylish piece of paper along with washi tape(including some of mop paint mop up tape)and a doll made using the fussy cut scraps from one of these sheets.

I would also like to enter at Moo Mania and More for the 'Squares' theme.

Thanks for looking, Chrisx

Circle time.....

Hi everyone! 
My title refers to a new journal page for Art Journal Journey where Alison is encouraging us to use Geometric Shapes!

I have to admit that I had to doodle some circles to have this page qualify for the challenge.
We've been out and about a bit - I'll tell all soon!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Going round in circles!!

I have been making a real effort to catch up on making blog comments but I am also trying to make more pages for Art Journal Journey where Alison's 'Geometric shapes' has me thinking about the shapes I use!

Most of the shapes you see here are circles but there are also rectangles,part of a square and some ovals.
The page started with a card from one of my favourite haberdasheries in Paris, I added the AALL and create scissors which had been stamped on to Deli paper! There were lots of other scraps lying around that I used too and I added some denim coloured paint around the top edge.

If you can access Instagram you will see that this also part of Tiffany Goff Smiths (Southerngals)Use It Up, Fill It Up challenge!
I am enjoying making these collages in either an A5 sketch book or my junk journal - although I did divert into my smallest journal to make this one

Thanks for looking, Chris

T stands for........taking photographs

Hi everyone! I will start with an apology - I did make comments on everyone's posts last week but after few kept coming back at me reporting an error I checked and some are completely lost! 
I did start copying and pasting the comments to add later but not to all! Not sure whether it was my laptop or a connection issue but here at home now everything seems fine!!

We didn't get out much (intentionally) while at our caravan! We sorted out a pile of stuff for the charity shop, started a jigsaw puzzle, (left on the table for next time!)and had a few short outings...one was a cold, brisk walk along the seafront at Morecambe and my hands remained firmly in my pockets so no photos!

I did enjoy the changing views in the mornings from our dining room window though...
Friday

Sunday - early morning

Sunday - one hour later

 ...and one hour later still!

It was still very cold though!!

Monday morning it was misty

 This was just as we left at around 1.30

I was pleased that it had been a clear night though - the night of the Wolf Blood Moon.

Hubby took these photos on Sunday evening

 It was quite cloudy as you can see...

...but, I did get a shot of my own of the lunar eclipse at around 3.30...

..and a little later...

...I should have borrowed hubby's camera but at 5.00am I wasn't thinking straight!

Now I am going to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T stands for Tuesday

We decided to go to Booths for our lunch before heading down the M6!

Here's hubby with his cup of tea and a baked potato while I had soup and a breadroll.

He still thinks it's funny when I take my T photos!

Hoping to get comments to everyone this week!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Time Flies at Try it On Tuesday

'Time Flies' is our new topic at Try It On Tuesday! 
The Design team have all have different takes on this theme and have lots of inspiration for you here.

I have made a page in my Junk Journal which I am also using for an Instagram challenge to use what we have and to fill our journals!

I have lots of fancy papers left over from scrapbooking (something I would still like to get back to one day) 
I added some stamped images made onto inked or stained papers, added some text stamping and used a vintage image (it may be from a Tim Holtz paper)I inked the torn edges. Finally I added a chit chat quote which seemed to sum up  the feeling that no matter how much time flies we must remember the 'nows'

I hope that you will find time to join us for this challenge!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Taking Shape!

We have been having some time at our caravan and as the weather not been so brilliant have kept our outings short! In fact, so short that the only photos I have taken have been of our view here!

We have enjoyed seeing the wildlife though, a pair of kestrels at quite close quarters, swans flying over and a flock of very noisy geese flying around and then landing in one of the fields!

I have also started a jigsaw puzzle, I haven't done one for YEARS but I am really enjoying it, even though it is quite a difficult one! Hubby started to help but I think he will wait until it's nearly done before he joins in again!!! 

Here is a journal page I made especially for Alison's Geometric Shapes theme at Art Journal Journey!

I started with a background using my favourite background stamp by Crafty Individuals. The triangles were cut from a strip of some paint play I had a while ago, and I added a Paper Artsy JOFY flower, a torn off piece of infusion spatters under paper. The bird was from a piece of Alex Clark wrapping paper and the rectangle of bluebells are a CI image. There are also a few random scraps there too!I used distress crayon to give some shadow.

I'll be back soon....and I am still trying to make comments although blogger is coming up with error messages all over the place!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands for The Favourite!

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is surviving the bad weather we have seen happening in other parts of the World!

To begin with I have a journal page for Art Journal Journey where Alison's Geometric Shapes theme is making me think about how many shapes go go into the making of my pages - judging by my last post it's more than I thought!!!

A lot of circles here on this page, that was made at the beginning of Tiff's Use it up, fill it up challenge! I used some spattering, Paper Artsy stamps and Grunge paste.

As for 'The Favourite', which was the film we went to see yesterday, Olivia Coleman was brilliant in her portrayal of Queen Ann although I am not sure how accurate the script was - there seems to an over use of a certain word that I will not even be giving a hint to here!
The music ranged from some lovely period music and some very grating  noises! 
If you have seen this film already I would be interested in your opinions!

Before we went in we had coffee and shared a muffin at Gino's and I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth here for T Stands For Tuesday!

You can see the old Printworks that houses restaurants and the cinema in the background here! Hubby enjoyed his cappuccino and my Americano was one of the best I have had in Manchester.

The other week while we were at our caravan we visited Sizergh Castle.
There were lots of signs of new life...

 ...although the lake looks a bit bleak!

I am looking forward to seeing this bed over the next few months....

..and I am hoping I can remember where I stood to get these shots

 These plants that have dead heads on them look fascinating..

We didn't see many folk that day although it was not really cold, maybe they were getting ready for attending parties!!

Thanks for looking, Chris