Cutting and Sticking and then some!!!!

 Hi everyone! Last week I went with my friend Helen to cheer up our friend Sarah who has had a really bad chest infection since before Christmas. We have made several visits. Sometimes we do some art journaling sometimes not but when we went on Thursday Sarah had been trying something new that she had seen on Instagram. It looked great so we decided to have a go and made a start during the afternoon. I finished my first zine on Thursday night while watching TV. 

Well, I am ever so slightly addicted!!! So much so that I decided to make something for Art Journal Journey and Erika's 'It's On The Calendar' theme.

I started by folding a piece of copy paper into 8 (just for guidelines) then collaged one half lengthways before turning it upside down to complete it. I used images and dates from an old calendar along with some designer pages, music paper, book text, a doily, some paper flowers some gel prints  - in fact just a lot of things that I have kept in a box for a very long time!

Here is this years calendar - very similar style to last years

Next I made a photo copy and folded that into eight, folded it in half widthways and cut the centre line between the 2nd and 3rd fold 

This way it folds into six inner pages and front and back covers. The real collage elements make it difficult to fold. I will cut them up and add more bits to them to make some journal fodder

At this stage you can leave it or do as I did and glue the pages together

So here it is - you will see that I need to look more carefully at the way the zine folds as the dates are not in the sequence!

I find it quite funny to notice that the words say something like - have  -   taken -   your mind  - my way - naturally,  although of course that is not a sentence and I'm not totally sure that is a correct translation!

Here is a quick look at the first zine I made

As you can see I used up quite a few scraps.

Oh and I have started another!

Thanks for looking,Chris

My favourite time of year

Hi everyone, I am looking forward to Spring with my latest journal page. 

Erika's theme at Art Journal Journey is 'It's on the Calendar' and Spring is on my mind at the moment. Every Autumn I ask myself which time of year is my favourite - I do love Autumn, especially as the leaves begin to change colour but I always come back to the same answer - it is definitely spring. The days are getting longer, there are signs of new growth everywhere and with a bit of luck there will be warmer days too!

Here is my page, using a March calendar page and some gold paint stenciling.

I must admit I was almost too late to catch the last daylight of today so this has the aid of a daylight lamp.

I used some 49andMarket diecuts that have been in a bag for far too long and I added some Stamperia rub on transfers too. The quote using a Tim Holtz stamp set of words and quotes. 

I am experimenting with something at the moment - I will see how it goes before I decide whether to post it! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

 

T Stands for.........the mixed bag edition!

 Hi everyone! What a strange week it's been weatherise - as I reported at the end of last weeks TFST post we had snow which didn't last very long but with the temperatures being low last week had it lasting till the weekend in places. Please note that when I say low I mean around -3 to 3 degrees C (so around 26F at the lowest) so I know this isn't really cold! 

We did get some sunshine but we stayed home most of the time. I did go and spend some time with two of my friends (one of whom is off sick and liked the company)We had a pleasant time doing some mini pages and chatting lots! 

Hubby and I started our Wanderlust Classes at the beginning of the month and couldn't wait to get started on this one

We had to feature a main image so hubby opted for drawing an owl and adding leaves instead of flowers.

We attempted a walk at The Carrs on our way to shop Saturday but had to turn back as the route was icy and I worried about falling over.

We went for coffee at Petit Delice in Wilmslow though, and I did a little bit of mini journaling.

As you can see I had nearly polished off the Almond Croissant that I had chosen for a change (our server warmed it up too) and I have enough of my Flat White coffee to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth at T Stands For Tuesday at The Altered Book Lover blog.

Would you like some French sunshine?

Assuming yes - here it is!                                              I took these photos on our last morning in the manoir 

Can you see the sun streaming in through the Shower room window?

The bedroom is still work in process as you can see from the plasterboard, but set up so nicely for our stay.                                                             On our way to Le Mans we saw some fabulous skies

We stopped for lunch in Cussac, a quiet little town

The proprietor was very friendly, the food was quite homely but it was here that I had one of the best starters of the holiday.

We passed through Le Blanc ....and I'll show you photos of Le Mans another time.

Thanks for looking,Chris

Using Text!

Hi everyone, it's already time for our second challenge of the year at Try It On Tuesday. We are being asked to 'Add Some Text' to whatever we choose to make.

The Design Team have added text in such fabulous ways - please take a look here.

I have made a journal page.

For various reasons it has been a long time since I had a 'proper' play with inks, paint and sprays. It was also great to use one of my favourite stamp sets by Lynne Perrella (Paper Artsy).

I used a TH stencil which I used first with Distress Spray then with gold paint.

I stamped some random text over the page then added the lady with the birds - she is so lucky, not just to have the bird on her head but one has flown straight into her arms! 

I stamped the quote which has three different kinds of text too.

Finally I just had to spatter some gold and black paint over the page.

I have made the page on a piece of old calendar and I drew a circle around the date I started to make the page.

I hope you can join us this time at TIOT, the Rules are here if you ned to take a look! 

I am also entering my page at Art Journal Journey - Erika has chosen 'It's On the Calendar' as the theme for January.

Thanks for looking, Chris

T Stands For ........The First Signs Of Spring

 Hi everyone, we set off for a walk at Fletcher Moss the other day only to find our path blocked.

There was no way we could walk around it

I think I have mentioned that Fletcher Moss is part of a scheme to prevent flooding in residential areas and that river has a flood plain here. The river itself has gone down now but this is obviously going to take a lot of dry sunny days to get back to normal.

We decided to retrace our steps and cross the road to The Parsonage.

For those who are under snow at the moment don't give up hope, Spring will come!

The first thing I spotted were the snowdrops by the path...

...and a lone Cyclamen
 

There were more snowdrops by the main building...

...and Helebores

Daffodils are coming up too

This Iris was the biggest surprise

I love Primulas and there are quite a lot around

From here we drove to Wilmslow to shop and have a coffee at our favourite coffee shop - Petit Delice where hubby gets his favourite Pistachio Croissant...

...and I have the one of the best croissants in England (and a tiny piece of hubby's)

I don't normally have jam but they had Raspberry and I couldn't resist!!

It's time to share at T stands for Tuesday at The Altered Book Lover where Bleubeard and Elizabeth will give you a great welcome if you share a drink with them.

You can also see my mini journal kit - page started but not finished...maybe tomorrow!

After all this talk of Spring - here are photos from my main bedroom window and the side window this morning

One of my balcony - I didn't open the double doors!

Thanks for looking, Chris