T Stands for……Taking a walk...

…..to be precise two walks! 

The first is my journal page about one of our walks that we often take while staying at our caravan and it is the last chance I have to join in at Art Journal Journeys with Erika's fabulous theme - 'Journeys'

We love to watch the wading birds that are often on the beach away from the town.
Of course in the town there is the statue of Eric Morecambe which a few months ago was knocked off it's plinth - it has been replace now but I'd like to think that while Eric was freed he got a chance to go along and see the birds.

The second walk is one we took yesterday - it was a lovely warm afternoon and we went by the River Mersey, just a short walk away from our flat.

Hubby often goes out walking on his own if I am…as he says…'stuck in my craft room'! He has been exploring and yesterday we went under the motorway bridge in the opposite direction to the village we go and visit. He told me that this path eventually leads to the water park that we drive to so maybe one day we will take a picnic and walk the whole way.

The houses are almost built now

This is the island that gets covered in Winter-there is a family of geese at the far end on the left - we will see them again soon!

The river meanders quite bit here but looks beautiful and the hedgerows have such beautiful flowers in them

We retraced our steps and saw another family of geese - 3 adults and 3 goslings
Edit- when I saw them I counted 3 - Tony took my phone off me as he is taller but I didn't notice that he captured more then I could see!

When we reached the island again - having crossed a bridge to the other side we saw that the family we saw earlier had come to be fed by a little girl.

There are around twelve adult geese and nine goslings

Just as we were about to leave the side of the Mersey for home we saw a duck and her young.

 Now, if you are wondering where I am going to get my drink so that I can join Elizabeth at The Altered Booklover - I am going to Marks and Spencers(for those of not in the UK - M and S as it is also known, is a department store that also sells good food)

This was our treat after we had been to the cinema the other week - Coffee and a fruit scone for me, hubby had tea and a very sticky looking slice of cake. We had also shared a pack of sandwiches.

Thanks for looking, Chris

Lazy afternoons….in Paris!

Not here you understand - I have been trying once again to get some order in my craft room. Since I got my new cabinet I have been struggling to make the space work - I lost two small sets of plastic drawers that were replaced by a sturdy metal cabinet! I thought this would be the ideal place to keep my little paper pads but alas it just isn't working - so this week I have been moving stuff around and….shock!, horror!…….gettting rid of stuff! We have also been out and about while the weather is fine too!
I have however, found time at last to play along with some challenges - this time I am joining Art Journal Journey where Erika - BioArtGirl - has the fabulous theme of Journeys. As you can imagine I really wanted to play along more with this theme but alas this is only my second time! 
So….Paris…or any other French city in the afternoon…hubby and I like to sit down, preferably in a Salon de The and have a, well, in my case cup of coffee, but hubby always has tea. Often there is a little biscuit on the side too…

You may have seen the start of this page on Wednesday where I had to gesso over everything and start again. I had already decided that I would stamp onto tissue so it was good to see that my lovely friend Patty had the same idea! I did some random stamping with text and diamonds and used one of my new Crayola Twistables around the edges and also over the texture paste - they are really smooth. The stamp is one of the new Carabelle Studios stamps I bought in Paris and the words are from Emma Godfrey's Paper Artsy set EEG07.
I found the cup in one of my favourite magazines - Daphnes Diary and sat it on half a little doily.
Yesterday hubby and I were out for the day and I called into a Pound Shop to get some more cheap makeup sponges and I found some little narrow rolls of Washi Tape, so they have been added too.

Hope to be back soon with more journaling.

I have nearly caught up with most of my favourite blogs - still a few more I would like to visit.

Thank you all for your kind comments - it does make me happy to know that at least you haven't fallen behind and I do appreciate your calling by, it means a lot to me!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Keeping Calm!

I'm sure I have mentioned before that I find working in my journals have a calming effect on me!
This page, as many of my pages do, started with a mop up - the stencil had been used on another page so I spritzed it and just pressed onto a page in an open journal.
It had stayed there for sometime but when I wanted a starter to calm me after last week I added inks, and some paint tinted texture paste through a rays type stencil. I stamped the Paper Artsy Lynne Perrella stamp and used the same colour inks (the face is green but doesn't show up in the photos. 

I stamped the Paper Artsy Lynne Perrella stamp and used the same colour inks (the face is green but doesn't show up in the photos). 

I added some script and stuck down the image onto some old gold wrapping paper.

I added some of my new favourite product - Art Basics 3D Transparent Gloss Gel through a little squares stencil and then added some black ink using the same stencil - just randomly over the page. (Can you tell I was enjoying myself?)

I also used the 3D gloss through a lattice stencil randomly too - because I could!! I added little touches of gold transfer foil
Finally the words - Tim's Small talk came up with just the words I needed!

Not that I live up to these words every day….but I would like to!! 

I would like to enter the following challenges

Country View Challenges - Blog Hop - Use a Stencil
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
Simon Says Monday challenge - Make a Wish
Anything But Cute - Celebrate your style ( playing in one of my journals is definitely my style!)

I am still a little behind with my blog visiting but I am catching up slowly!

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW - 364 -The 7th Anniversary

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday has been the destination for many crafters for 7 years now, as every Wednesday they come along to Julia's Stamping Ground to show their desks - messy or pristine clean or anything in between! The idea was all Julia's and has been for many, a place to meet up and share….well...all sorts of things. I have only been part of this for 4 of those 7 years but have made friends, some of whom I have met on a couple of crops, and then at other events!
So, what I want to say is "Thank you Julia, for starting and hosting this weekly gathering". 
Julia is preparing herself for major surgery soon and hopefully is getting plenty of rest while Lunch Lady Jan hosts in her absence.

So, what's on my desk today?

I have several journal pages at various stages - this one is a rescued page - I stamped rather badly and decided I couldn't live with it so I have gessoed over everything - not sure where this is going now, as the background I made has now gone!! It is most likely that I will use the Carabelle Paris stamp that I made the mess up with, I will be more careful next time!!!
You can see at the back right the texture paste (which I am loving!) and the 3D Gloss Gel(my very favourite product to use at the moment!)At centre back some Distress paints that have been having another airing since I attended a Kas Hayselden workshop. There's also my large glue bottle that I am going to use to refill the smaller bottle as I find that easier to control on smaller projects.
My other favourite 'thing' of the moment - the Paper Artsy Infusions are at hand all the time! 

Film Review
I didn't get back very early last week after seeing 'X Men Apocalypse' so didn't get to review it! 
It was hubby's choice as I mentioned, and there was a promise of Hugh Jackman - he was on for around 10 minutes!
The film wasn't too bad, but I'm afraid I found it difficult to keep track of who was on who's side (a sharper brain would manage fine!!)
I think it's my turn to choose a film next time!!

I have good intentions of making lots of visits….but please forgive me if I don't!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

I Can Hear Music at TIOT and T stands for taking it easy

Our new theme at Try It On Tuesday is I Can Hear Music where we hope you will join in with your music based art - even if you can't sing or play a note. 
The challenge lasts for two weeks so we hope you will join the choir(or band)!
I have made a card for someone who loves listening to music!

I used Art Basics transparent 3D gloss Gel through a music stencil..

..and stamped some music notes over the Kraft card,

I stamped an Indigoblu music stamp before giving it a light coating of Gesso and then used the stencil to add texture paste (I used Ranger's Texture paste - Opaque Matte - which so far, is one of the easiest I have ever used)  I added a little gold paint added with my finger once it had dried..

The phonograph, record and notes were free with a magazine.

Today is also the day when I join Bluebeard and Elizabeth at The Altered Booklover with my drink.

As I mentioned in my post title I have been taking it easy since a really horrendous Board meeting here at our retirement apartments. I think I have mentioned before that as owners of our flats we have a board of directors of which I am one….at the moment…after Thursday's meeting I am not sure how long I want to be!

Hubby and I are also on the gardening Committee and the meeting for that was in the afternoon…a much more relaxed affair but I and another board member were still reeling from the morning's stresses!

I was pleased to get away on Friday morning and hubby suggested we take the long route via Skipton - a lovely Market town in the Yorkshire Dales.

We plan to take this route again and have a canal trip - we only realised that we could when we had to head back to the car park!

This little shopping mall was so peaceful 

We had a little look around the market

This man is always disappearing into shops!!Look above!!This garden shop was right by the car park and I could have spent a small fortune - they have some lovely garden ornaments but I couldn't make my mind up!  I think I was still feeling the pressure from the day before!
We had eaten a very nice lunch when we first arrived but I totally forgot to take photographs.
On the way to the caravan though we stopped at this farm shop - we had visited here once before when we went to the Art In The Pen event just up the road.

There's that stripy top again!I had drunk half of my coffee before I remembered to take a photo - quite a large mug…and it was only because took a photo of the huge farm shop on the ground floor that I remembered- we were in the cafe but there is also a restaurant downstairs.

Of course we picked up a few goodies to have for our tea!

By this time I was getting closer to the caravan feeling more relaxed. We have had a lovely time - not doing much at all!!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing Skipton and my half drunk coffee and that you will join in over at Elizabeth's blog.

Hoping to see you at TIOT too - do waltz on over and have a look at the fabulous examples from the Design Team!

Thanks for looking, Chris

  

Edit - We are home now...for a while!!

Just quietly journaling….

I am slowing down a bit! We are at our caravan. We may do some gardening, we may go out for some walks…or even a meal out but I am quietly playing in one of my journals!

A little square journal that I bought at the Rheged Centre.  Lots of paint, texture paste, stencils and ink and some words from a leaflet with part of my old Food and Nutrition text book. 

See, even being quieter here too!!!

Thanks for looking, Chris

My Tip In Pages for Elizabeth

It has taken me a while to get this post done - I kept starting it and coming back to it!

You may know already but I am part of a group of artists making a series of Tip In journal page swaps.

This time my pages were for Elizabeth (who had the original idea that she should extend a two handed swap into a larger group)so I felt just a tiny bit of pressure..only joking!!!

Please feel free to skip the making of but I do hope you enjoy seeing the pages.

The 'rust' on the heart is cinnamon - onto a rust coloured background, the 'rust' on the label is a combination of different inks.
I dabbed on some paint with paper towel just over one corner and side then used some stamps randomly and some spattering. The heart was mounted onto a photograph of some rusty coloured marble.

Random scraps of old paper (including my old Food and Nutrition text book) which were then stained and stencilled over. The Eiffel tower is a TH die and has been covered with gilding flakes before mounting onto an inked and stamped label(and a little bit of fruit netting)There is also some distress inked and salted paper and some waxed paper

I loved making this page most of all! I rusted some cotton fabric by soaking it with some vinegar, water and some rusty keys. It was left on the balcony for a while. Instead of ironing I smoothed it out after rinsing really well(wearing plastic gloves - see Elizabeth's information about the harm rust can do in her post here)and when it was dry stamped one of my favourite Lynne Perrella images on to some of it. The corrugated card had so many layers of paint and ink I have forgotten what I used. Finally to complete this I used some ink stained muslin and some parchment paper to make a scroll containing the computer generated words.

I made three rough panels with texture paste and stamped into it using a key stamp which I then washed and used to stamp over the whole page of orange card. The lock is from a cropped photo. The keys are a combination of fussy cut keys and Tando Creative keys.

The words are part of a controversial poem by Lord Byron (A link to the Wikipedia page is here)

This is  my least favourite page - although I was pleased with the stained glass effect I got by dabbing a combination of paints through the stencil.
The fleur-de-lys was first covered with gold embossing powder then I added some Frantage bits for texture. The word 'RUST' is from an old parchment quotes booklet and actually said 'TRUST' and is mounted onto a square of ink stained chip board.

This page uses some photos I took recently - one of the rusty sculpture at la Defence in Paris and the other is a huge rusty piece of machinery in the carpark at Styall Mill- not far from home.
A pice of grey industrial looking flooring got the ink treatment as did the paper edging. The cog has stippled layers of paint. It took me some time to find some appropriate letters for the words as I kept getting distracted by articles in the magazines I used!!

This is my tag that contains my name for the purposes of identification. I know Elizabeth is a cat lover like myself so I sat 'him' on a roof!!
Another piece of corrugated card went through the inks and paints and then had a coat of satin glaze.
The Kraft tag was just smudged over with DecoArts Media fluid paint and stars added with the pointy end of a brush. The cat is based on one I drew in one of my journals ages ago and I wrote the words.

Elizabeth tells me she liked the pages so I had a "Phew!" moment!!

Thank you for your patience at the moment, I seem to be on the go most of the time! I will get around to some proper blog visits soon - at the moment I am rather rudely hopping about a bit!


Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 363

Another busy week over - I managed to do some gardening at our caravan, have some walks by the sea, finish my swap pages, attend a workshop, and win a £50 Paper artsy voucher, so all in all, good things are happening!

It still doesn't stop time passing so quickly though - here it is Wednesday again and time to show my desk to you all for the wonder that is What's on your Workdesk Wednesday at Julia's Stamping Ground
..except that it's not this week - Lunch Lady Jan is at the helm today!

My desk has signs of something having been done…but what????
I have not had time to tidy away some of the things I bought on Saturday after the fabulous Kassa Hayseldon workshop(still needs be finished!) and now can't find them all to take a photo(I told you I've been busy!!)

You may spot some re-inkers, collage paste and there are new stencils on the bottom shelf - the rest is just stuff I have been using!

I must apologise to anyone last week who left me a comment that I didn't get back to - we were away at the caravan and the connection was dreadful last week - most comments I could make were while we were out and about! I hope to do better from home this week!

We are off to the cinema after lunch - X-Men Apocalypse - hubby's choice again but hey! Hugh Jackman's in it so I'll be watching out for him!!

I may get back with a review edit later!!

Meanwhile , thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands for….. Thanks

The first thing I would like to say today is Thanks…. to everyone for their kind comments recently! 
I need to follow this up with an apology though, as I am having difficulty getting round to as many blogs as I would like!

I would also like to remind you that there is still a week left at Try It On Tuesday for our 'Spots, Dots and Splashes' theme.
I used a magazine freebie stamp on top of my block print and I only coloured part of the image. 

Of course, the main reason I am here is to join Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Stands for Tuesday over at The Altered Book Lover.

Before we went away we went to the cinema with one of my sons and our grandchildren to see the Jungle Book, which we all enjoyed (even the reluctant 14 year old!)
We had lunch at the appropriately named 'Giraffe' first.

I chose an all day veggie breakfast - which was delicious.

with water...

…followed by a coffee…

They forgot to bring my GD's drink until halfway through her meal so the waitress gave her a set of plastic giraffes (instead of the usual one!)

 We did manage to get some gardening done last week at our caravan but the hedge bottom is overgrown with Ivy which is creeping slowly towards the plants, the grass is growing in the other direction so lots of pulling and tugging required.

We took a lot of rubbish to the local tip and enjoy seeing each year what the guys there rescue…

The garden is not looking too bad though! 

As you can see - there's still a lot to do!

I like the view over the wall into the farmhouse garden next door. 

We saw some lovely sunsets too..

Hoping to get around more this week while we are home, although one or two matters to deal with and hubby is planning another cinema visit to see the new X Men film tomorrow!

Thanks for looking, Chris