Tick Tock at TIOT!

Hi everyone, I am still on my travels and this another scheduled post.
Our new theme at Try It On Tuesday is Clocks and the team have some great samples to show you.
I made a card for one of my sons and I'm pleased to say he liked it!
He loves to get out on his bicycle when he can!

I started with a card that had some gold paint on and added some random clocks from Paper Artsy Clocks4 set (one of the first PA stamps I ever bought)

I added some posh map paper 

I pressed my Walnut Stain Distress Oxide pad in the centre of a piece of watercolour paper and spritzed and dabbed until I was happy with 'bleed'
I stamped the large clock and the word from the same PA set using Perfect Medium and brushed two colours of Mica over them

I wasn't quite happy with it though so added some bronze paint around the edge which I heated until it bubbled slightly(a trick picked up in Tracy Scott's Workshop!),this time I used Bronze Embossing powder.

I dug into a box of old peel offs for the sentiment!

We shall be home soon and I'm sure there will be tales to tell and photos to show! For now I will still be relying on a decent wi-fi connection!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands for .......time out!

Hi everyone! As you may have noticed I have been taking some time out! We are staying with my Sister in Law and having a great time catching up!
I am joining Elizabeth for T Stands for Tuesday and there will be a scheduled TIOT post too but I'm not sure when I will be here again!
First I have a T photo for you and then a few random photos from our journey so far!
Once again Elizabeth could you please link me?

These were taken at the Cite du Vin museum in Bordeaux! A coffee stop only!

This beautiful Praying Mantid is in my SILs garden 

We visited this Calvaire this morning

We came across this beautiful garden in Loudun today too!

This beautiful church sadly wasn't open!

 The beautiful Mirroir l'eau in Bordeaux

There will be a lot more of the St Andre cathedral next week!

That's all I can manage! 

Happy T Day and Thanks for looking,Chris

T Stands for Taking our Time!

Hello everyone, once again this is a scheduled post and I can't promise to return all visits today so feel free to pop in and out quickly!

I am joining Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Stands For Tuesday and I am asking if you would mind linking me again dear Elizabeth?

I will have written most of these words before leaving home but by now know that I can add some photos and some words!!I started to fill in my journal which I prepared before we came away.

We have moved on since last week and hopefully I have some photo posts here already!
I will caption the photos here where needed!
We are in Albi now (Monday evening) but will be on the move again tomorrow to Bordeaux!
Albi cathedral was beautiful - although the exterior is mainly red brick the inside more than makes up for it! We spent so long in there that it was past lunch time so we had a crepe and coffee to keep us going until the evening! We left ourselves enough time to visit the Toulouse Lautrec museum - interesting for me and fortunately in such a beautiful building that hubby was happy too!    Now for some photos!

Happy T Day and….
Thanks for looking, Chris

Moving on - trying to keep up!

I'm attempting to write a blog from scratch as editing is taking ages!
We have left beautiful, if a little commercialised Carcassonne and arrived in Albi.

The scenic route back to the hotel

There will be more of this when we get home!

Yesterday we had a lovely boat trip along part of the Canal du Midi

A silly moment trying to get the hang of selfies before going into the Mediaeval city last night for a last look and a meal!

This is as much as I can manage now! I have been filling in my travel journal and I hope to be back for TSFT on Tuesday!

I have no idea what this post will look like so will probably make the first comment! 

I'll leave you with the view of Albi cathedral from our hotel window this evening!

Thanks for looking,Chris 

Enjoying the scenery

Hi everyone, I am cheating a bit as most of these words were written before we came away!
I hate typing posts on my phone so here are some more photos of our trip…with just a few captions.
If I haven't been around much you can assume that weather is great and we have been enjoying wandering around in the sunshine!

As you can see I found some flowers! Carcassonne is almost as I imagined it! So beautiful with lovely cointryside all around! If I manage to post again I will have to allow myself longer - this has taken an age - glad I wrote some before I came away!
Thanks for looking, Chris

You've got a friend!

Whether your friend is your pet, an old friend, a new friend or even if you know a child with an imaginary friend I am sure that the new challenge at Try It On Tuesday is going to be fun! Our title is 'My Friend' 
Your entry can be any way you care to portray it - a card, a journal page, a tag, in fact it's always great to see how our themes are interpreted. 
The rules and details are over on the blog.
The DT have made some amazing samples so I hope you will take a look! 
I have made a journal page.

I used paints, including bit of stamping with some left over paint on a stencil,inks and some clear 3D gloss gel

I stamped the Zinski characters onto the page and then onto stamping card so that I could colour them - you will see that I tested the paint on the corner of the paper - before sticking them in place! 

The 'friend' words are from Dylusions ones and the song words are Woodware.

By the time you read this I will be on my travels(see the post before this) so please forgive me if I don't get back to you for a while - a lot will depend on Wi-fi wherever I can get it!!

The challenge runs for two weeks so will close on 25th September.

Thanks for looking, Chris

T stands For Taking the Train

Good Evening or Good Morning wherever you are!
Of course this is a scheduled post and I can't even promise to return all visits today so feel free to pop in and out quickly!
I am joining Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Stands For Tuesday and I have to ask if you would mind linking me dear Elizabeth?
Could I ask visitors here to please look for the TSFT post on Elizabeths blog as I can't link except to Elizabeth's main blog for the next few weeks

I will have written most of these words before leaving home but I am pretty sure I can add some photos (I am also copying this same set of words for next week too!)

It's most likely that as some of you read this we are fast asleep in Paris, for others we may be on a
 train on our way to Carcassonne(it takes about 5 hours)
The photos were taken on our journey yesterday and of course had to include coffee!

This is on the Eurostar train to Paris and came with free twix biscuits!
Tomorrow may be another matter as the is a national strike so we are getting up early tomorrow in the hopes of changing our tickets - we have been told it is possible!
Just a few pics - too much to think about!

Our first view of Sacre Couer

Our hotel is close to the Montparnasse tower and we walked past it to find somewhere to eat this evening after calling in at the information centre at the station!

Apart from scheduled posts for Try It On Tuesday my posts during the week will consist of photos and maybe a sneaky look at my Travel Journal.
I'm sure there will be a lot more photos when we get back too!  

Happy T Day and….
Thanks for looking, Chris

Paris?…Yes please!

"Evenin' all" (always wanted to start a post with that) If you are British and of a certain age you will know why - if not, then I can tell you that there was a programme way back in the Fifties that had a policeman who always started a programme called Dixon Of Dock Green with this words!

As I may have mentioned….we are off to France next week,
travelling around by train again! We are quite excited about a journey on the new TGV on the Bordeaux route!
We are starting and ending in Paris, although the first night is only an overnight stopover!
All the same we are certain to see the Eiffel Tower!
When I saw Wendy's new theme at Tag Tuesday I just had to take part..

…'Paris'  - of course!
A kraft tag stamped with a text stamp, a die cut oval stamped with a Paper Artsy mini, a trellis die cut, a bit of paint spatter, lace, paper roses and a bit of lace from an old scarf …..and then…
...I made a journal page…

..using the tag! I wiped Bronze metallic paint over the page with a damp cloth. When it was dry I added stencilling and stamping using anything French I could find!!! 
The roses and the lace were removed and I punched some Hydrangea flowers(I'm going to miss my Hydrangeas!

The fancy outside of the die cut was added along with some tissue tape. I doodled some squiggles and circles with a glue pen and added bronze foil and finally a gifted butterfly was stamped with text and added!
I would like to join in at 
Art Journal Journey for Yvonne's theme of Colour In My World
and 
More Mixed Media Monthly challenge - Anything Goes with optional Brown

I may just manage another post before we go, but if I don't I have some scheduled posts coming up, and I will be posting photos as and when I can!

Thanks for looking, Chris

Into the unknown!

Hi everyone, I had to get a new mobile (cell)phone yesterday - my old one had been having hiccups for a while but I kept ignoring it, finally hubby more or less pushed me into the phone shop to look find a replacement! As it happened we got a very good offer and we now get both of our phones for the same price as my old one and I get a bigger data allowance too! Only thing is it is taking time to get used to an up to date model!
As most of you know we are busy getting ready for a trip so I could have done without it!

To reward myself I had some time in my craft room this afternoon!
You may remember Maudie, who had been through an anomaly (she is here)
Well, when she returned to school this week she told her friend Agnes….who couldn't wait to have a go herself, even though Maudie warned her that her arm took weeks to recover!
Agnes, being an adventurous sort, donned her girl scout uniform and headed off with her trusty dog Towser to the spot where Maudie had been! 

I used the Kim Dellow stencil a while ago in my 7"x7" journal. It was laid on the page and sprinkled with a few Infusions powders, spritzed and left overnight to dry! I love how the darker pigments were drawn under the stencil.
Today I stamped along the edge with part of a Kim Dellow stamp and along the bottom with a stitches stamp(not sure where from)
The words are from a Dyan Reavely set.

Agnes(who had her outfit coloured with Distress Markers)and Towser are in front of the anomaly which now looks far more sinister than it did a few weeks ago! Do you know what though, from the confident look on her face, I think Agnes is going in!!!
I do hope she will be OK!

This is for Yvonne's Colour In My World at Art Journal Journey as I am fascinated by the way these colours reacted when left to dry naturally!

Thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands for This and That!

Hi everyone! A quick post before bedtime - tomorrow we are having a break from cleaning(me) and sorting tickets(hubby) and starting our day with our weekly gym session - it only takes an hour.

We also plan a cinema trip in the afternoon - the Silver Screen showings have restarted after the school holidays and we want to see a comedy called 'Going In Style'

We went out with two of our Grandchildren and their Dad on Bank Holiday Monday to Lyme Park.
It was a lovely warm day and we had a gentle walk around the gardens. There was also a very strange coincidence here(see later in this post)

A few years ago my GD had posed on the same spot and her Dad wanted to recreate the scene!

Unfortunately the bell rang for everyone to leave the gardens so we had no time to visit the Orangery!
The cafe was shut too so I am taking you back to Hereford for T Stands for Tuesday over at Bluebeard and Elizabeths The Altered Book Lover blog

I could show you hubby, but he just kept pulling faces, so today our water, lunch of cheese and ham toasties and the cathedral walls are the stars!
The cathedral, as I showed you last week, was so impressive!
They are replacing some of the stonework and the stone mason was working outside.

  

I was quite interested to see this tomb as we visited the site of the Battle Of Poitiers last time we went to visit my SIL.

This was interesting too as I almost share a Birthday with John Piper.
Now for the strange coincidence…my birthday appeared on the entrance ticket to Lyme Park - the house was celebrating the travels of one of the owners of Lyme Park

Maybe I will come across more on my travels as my time of being able to say that I am in my sixties comes to an end!

Happy T Day!

Thanks for looking, Chris