Jeudi Journal - Coffee?

Today the quote is "Coffee has given me unrealistic expectations of productivity" and Art Journal Journey's theme is by the lovely Jo and is all about Nature so in order to marry the two together for my Jeudi Journal post I looked up where coffee comes from and found this interesting fact - I quote:

"The question of "where did coffee originate" is one of legends and folklore.  The most common story is that of the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau, where a goat herder named Kaldi first ate  berries from a peculiar looking tree.    The berries gave him a jittery, wide-awake feeling, that he had never experienced before.  From there, the power of coffee spread like wildfire.  Today coffee beans are one of the worlds most important agricultural commodities with millions of coffee plants cultivated in over seventy plus countries around the globe."

I had no idea that "coffee comes from a woody plant that can grow up to 10 metres tall, the beans developing inside a 'cherry' that grows from these plants and the coffee bean we know is actually a seed inside this cherry",  and so my page today is all about coffee which is at the centre of my story.

"Penny had always been a hard worker.  As what task she had to perform it was always done with 110%.  Take for example when she was at school, all her friends did their study as and when they wanted, they still had lots of time to go out and enjoy hanging about with one another and going dancing and to the cinema.  But not Penny.  Penny was not to be seen when study was needed in order to pass those vital exams.  She was only seen through her bedroom window studying hard, cramming as much as she could and coming away with lots of A's, some A*'s and a smattering of B's.  Her parents were so proud of her.

It came as no surprise to anyone when she was the one who secured an apprenticeship at the local Accountants, she flew through the interview with flying colours, and, of course, those amazing exam results.  She was a Trainee Accounting Technician at an early age and wanted to carry on with her studies to become an Assistant Accountant.

The thing was, Penny lived on coffee.  She rarely had a cup of coffee out of her hands.  It was coffee that had allowed her to stay up into the small hours of the night carrying on with her studying.  And so the day of her final examinations came ... and went ... and she didn't make the grade.  She failed her exams.

Penny was devastated and could see no reason at all why she had not passed as she had done in the early years.  And so she had to find someone to blame.  It wasn't her fault.  It must have been the coffee!  

"Coffee has given me unrealistic expectations of productivity" she said out loud to herself.  "I really believed if I could only stay awake in the wee small hours and study I would make it."  She took a long hard look at herself in the mirror.  There was only one thing she could do.  So armed with her shopping bag she set off for the local supermarket to buy herself several packets of tea.  "If coffee was my downfall I will try tea" she said to herself, and off she went to try a different drink and see if that worked any better at helping her and her expectations."

I really did find it difficult to marry the two challenges together and to begin with I did a little research on coffee and so I printed out some pictures of the bush that coffee comes from.  These were used to decorate my page to fit in with Jo's 'Nature' theme at AJJ.  Rather than cut the sprigs out I used them in a border down the side of the page like the tea cards we used to do in challenges when I first began stamping.  I hope Jo feels my page qualifies for her challenge ande I look forward to thinking about next week's page which I might find has an easier quote.

I have been meaning to show Valerie my latest t-shirt as I am sure she will love it but I kept forgetting all during October.  Now it fits in here perfectly with my page.  So just for Valerie I give you my winter t-shirt:

It really is pale blue, looks grey?

WOYWW 752

Hip Hip Hooray, I have started my Christmas cards.  Any more of you WOYWW'ers been Christmas card making?  Bet some of you have finished them not just started them.

Went down to Ruthin on Saturday to the Hallaganza at Lavinia and saw lots of lovely ideas and spent lots of lovely lolly.  Yes, had to buy those new stamps and this Christmas my cards will maybe have a fairy on them.  In fact on Monday I did three cards featuring the two fairies that have just come out.  I fell in love with them.  The fairies, not my cards.

To be honest I didn't need to go down to get inspired, the design team had been working hard and putting lots of their ideas on the net.  It was one of Tracey's videos that inspired me to use the fairies and so I stamped them up and added a bit of other stuff, a bit of colour, some holographic stuff and I had them done.  They are the ones that will go abroad.

So here is my craftroom counter in all its mess:

and my little table

Hopefully by next week I will have lots more Christmas cards done.  The one I really wanted to try I didn't realise I needed some small snowflakes to make it and I don't have any suitable in my stash.  Ah well, next year ...

In the meantime here is a catch up on some of my journal pages - I'll just show you the Lavinia inspired ones.  I don't know who inspired me with this lady (Zia) in her top hat but Jo was responsible for the inspiration behind the mousey clockwork one.

this one below is purely mine

This was intended for a challenge called 'animals gather' but I was too late (didn't read the rules) so I added some gears later and used it in my 'in gear' theme.

I've been Lavinia all the way recently as I did some 3" x 3" squares for a challenge Jo put up but I will show those to you next week in case I don't get any Christmas cards done for you to see.

In the meantime stay safe and well and hopefully we will meet up here again next Wednesday with all the other WOYWW gang.

End of the Month - Art Journal Journey

 Well, October is over and my planned post did not come to fruition.  I copied some "gear" quotes for you and they all came with a heavy white line across them.  Even when I deleted them one by one and retyped them myself I still had the heavy line.  So I give you the link instead: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/gears-quotes.

Talk about everything going wrong.   I decided to do a picture using pumpkins for Halloween but then I got carried away and so I ended up with my pumpkin houses but no gears.  So I decided the only thing to do was to attach some like falling leaves (substitute gears for leaves) for Pippin to be looking up at.

Here is my amended picture for my final contribution

May I thank all who entered a page in their journal for my theme at Art Journal Journey and a big thank you to Elizabeth for inviting me to be a guest host.  It has been a pleasure seeing what you all came up with and I thank you for it.  Tomorrow brings a new month and a new theme so it is exciting.  See you there!

WOYWW 714

Back again with another WOYWW where I am showing my desk.  Saturday is Club day so I am getting things together as I have a busy week on and might not have time to get my bag all packed up if I leave it to the last minute.

Tuesday saw my chiropractic appointment cancelled owing to a bereavement with the owners but I managed to bag one with a different chiropractor and she certainly worked on the knots in my neck. She also told me to start using Tiger Balm on my neck so I got some (the red one), love the smell of it (cloves) but not sure everyone in the vicinity will.  Another thing was a side sleeper pillow from Bensons Beds so that is something else I must try.  Anything for this pain to lessen. 

Afterwards we tried the new Indian Street Food Chain Chaiwalla, ok - but not as good as Mowgli which is definitely my favourite.  (Must try the Dishoom, if I have got the name correct, recommended by my lovely niece.)  So much so that I did nothing but sleep when I got home.   Originally my old line manager was going to the same chiropractor today, Wednesday, so he and his wife were calling to see us on there way home.  Now we are meeting up and going for a meal so that is Wednesday afternoon taken care of - guess who will be asleep again in the early evening?  I'll catch up on my comments when we get back.

Thursday we are meeting up with a group of friends for another meal out, early evening and then Saturday is the class.  Going from completely stay at home, nothing happening for ages to a week like this is making me feel tired just thinking about it.  Gosh what a boring life I normally have.  Must be old age doing it to me

I did manage to do another picture, with the aid of Jo Rice, since I blogged last week.  It was all about perspective and depth.  Again not happy with the first one so I did a second one but as that is in my journal now - I will have to let you see the first one.  Also had to do a quick sympathy card for the chiropractor which is underneath too.  Apart from that we are up to date so I'll leave it there and go back to sleep.  Just 40 winks you understand.

The card above, did have a "Thinking of You" message on the front and a few nice words on the inside.   I felt it was plain and simple which is how I mainly do a sympathy card. The picture I did is below.  Guess it will get used for a card for someone sometime.  

That's it for this week folks, see you next week God willing,

Jeudi Journal - Subscription

 The quote chosen this week from Tim Holtz and his Snarky Quotes - "Please cancel my subscription to your issues".  So, working with that and Elle's lovely theme at Art Journal Journey "Fairytales, Folklore and Fables" I wondered what to do.  Elle gave some fantastic prompts as well as explaining her title excellently so if you pop along to Art Journal Journey I am sure you will want to join in.

This is my page today and my story will follow:

"Christine is a singer in a local amateur operatic society, always the understudy for the main role and never the principal character, that is until one day ...  when she is kidnapped by a masked man called Erik.  He has heard her singing and is enthralled by her beautiful voice and cannot understand why she is never given the main role in the various productions.

Erik keeps Christine locked up for himself and in an attempt to escape she tears off his mask and discovers he has the head of a skeleton.  Horrified but trying not to show it Christine agrees that if he let her go she will wear his ring as a sign she is faithful to him and him alone.

Going back home she meets her childhood friend, Raoul, and tells him all about Erik.  They decide to run away together to somewhere that Erik will never find her.  Unknown to them Erik has overheard their conversation and once again, he abducts Christine.  

This time he forces her to marry him but just before she does she lifts her veil and kisses him.  This is the first time Erik has ever been kissed and he begins to cry, Christine is reduced to tears herself and he decides to let her go from his life.  As she leaves she turns and says "Please cancel my subscription to your issues" and escapes through the door of the cellar where he had her locked away."

Alright, this is not sticking to the true story of the Phantom of the Opera but it is my version for Elle at Art Journal Journey - maybe it will become a West End hit in its time if they change the names of the characters.  I hope the final sentence of the story made you smile.

Art Journal Journey - It's a Twofer

It's the last day of my theme over at Art Journal Journey and I would like to thank Elizabeth and the other moderators for inviting me to be a guest host.  Also, big thanks to everyone who has entered - without you it would not have been so enjoyable.

I got a little carried away with making my 9" x 6" pages and binding them together with my Rollabind.  Great to be able to add and remove pages as I went along.  So today I have two for you.  I got lost with my scheduling and ended up with one page over so here they are - twofer ...

This was created on a peice of grey card and put through my die cutting machine with 'Rivets' to emboss the background.  I then went lightly over it with Black Soot Distress Oxides to show the embossing.  The bird on the left is by Stampendous and is a clockwork one but does have feathers on its head (and rulers on its tail).

The bird on the right is one of Tracy Evans' creations from Aall & Create, and he is left black and white but his top hat has a touch of green to stand out against the bright sun that I made on a separate piece of card and stuck on.  This was from a class I took with Tracy a long time ago and I loved the effect.  At the top are the words "Fly Free" again by Tracy.

My second one is one I first called "Serengeti" but then I could not find the stamp and so it had to be renamed "Africa".

This was made using Distress Oxides to create a suitable background and then spattered with water for a bit more interest and to break up the solid colour.  I simply stamped the giraffe on the right and put some trees and birds alongside.  Finally the word "Africa".

Giraffes have short dense fur with a unique pattern of dark patches that range from beige to chestnut brown.  Did you know, no two giraffe skin patterns are exactly the same but some regional patterns are so common and distinct that zoologists have identified a number of species based on the patterns.

So this really is my final posting for this theme - Fur and/or Feathers.  There's still time for you to do another one.  I hope you have enjoyed the inspiration I've tried to show you during September - and once again a BIG THANK YOU to all who have entered and made it a super month for me.

I wonder what the next theme will be?  Pop over to Art Journal Journey tomorrow to see.  See you there!

Jeudi Journal - Silence

To begin with I used three colours of Distress Ink on an acrylic block and then spritzed it with water and swiped it over the page.  I repeated this util the page was mostly covered.  I don't mind any uninked bits.  Next, and using Cracked Pistachio again I stamped some of the stars in a semi circle where the main image was going to be.  (These are to depict pain).  

Then I chose my figures.  A head who could be seen to be holding her ears and four little characters from the mini range of Dylusion figures and some tiny birds from Aall & Create Janet Klein's range.  All were coloured in using my Promarkers.  finally I drew a line around the whole page, and thickened it in parts to represent some kind of border - unfortunately the scanner did not pick it all up and one side is hardly showing.

'Alice was feeling very much like her namesake - Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland - as her head was spinning and she was supposed to be studying for her final nurse's examination.  She had been along to the local library and done some studying there.  It was good as they had computers available so she was able to do research as well as use the notes she had taken in class.  However, it was a lovely summer's day and she longed for the outside so had taken her leave of the library and made her way to the far end of the park.  It was lovely to get some fresh air but oh, what a mistake!

On an ordinary summer day it would have been lovely to have the birdsong around her but trying to study she found it most distracting.  The little birds were happily flying here and there and although she loved them dearly, today was not the day for birdsong.  She wondered if it was tension that was making her feel like she was, but now she had the birdsong in her head and she could not shut it out as how she tried.

However, it was much better than the constant chatter of people who were walking past her.  Children ran, laughing and shrieking as they played tag and threw a ball to one another.   And one young woman had had the audacity to sit by her on the bench opposite.  Luckily she was reading too.  Alice breathed a sigh of relief.  All too soon a pretty young woman walked by and sat on the bench opposite with the other young woman.  They appeared to know one another.  Oh no, they obviously did as they began chattering.

It was all yakkity yak around Alice and she decided that enough was enough.  Closing her book she allowed her eyelids to droop and was soon dreaming about the holiday she and some other nursing students were planning to a little island off the mainland of Greece.  The sun was lovely and warm and she felt she had been transported on holiday where she and her friends could practise their sparse knowledge of the language of Greece.  

In her dream she was wearing the new sundress she had bought especially for going out in the evenings and a handsome young man came and touched her on the arm and spoke to her in broken English. Just as she was about to reply she woke up and realised she was at home, in the local park, and there was a lot of noise around her,  "I wish more people were fluent in silence" she said to herself as she got up and set off home.

Because I have included some birds I can enter this into the Art Journal Journey Challenge - Fur and/or Feathers.  See you there - there's just one more day to enter?

Art Journal Journey - Puffin

 The background for this page was made using Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet Distress Oxides smooched on an acrylic block and then with an image from Aall & Create (Numerator) stamped over the top and embossed in white ep.  The fact that the image is not fully stamped is intentional, a partial image often looks much better, especially when used as a background, than a complete one in my opinion.  I assure you it was no mistake.

Next I drew three circles with my White Posca Pen and then went over them with a Blue Gel Pen.  I stamped Reckoner Digits and a script stamp in various places over the background but not too much on the plain uninked part.  This was reserved for the man himself - the Puffin.

The idea for this came from something Tracy Evans of Aall & Create had done but as I do not have her puffins (I have no idea why) but I did have a puffin from another company and so I used that one, stamped, coloured in with Polychromos, fussy cut and then adhered to the page.

You will notice there are some small black and white circles at the base of the page - these are from a piece of Aall & Create washi tape which I used to ground the puffin and kind of finish the page off.  I am entering this into Fur and/or Feathers at Art Journal Journey.

Art Journal Journey - Fractured Face

The stamp I used is from Aall & Create and is number 7 but does not appear to have a name.  I chose to call it 'fractured face'.  It was designed by Bipasha, one of my favourite artists from A&C and I just love the simplicity of this beautiful girl's face behind the quartered mask and the swirls.  I also chose it because of the numerous feathers on the small plate which I used alongside the face.

There are so many things I liked about this face, the shape of the actual face, the lips, the spectacles she wears and the mosaic effect down the top left hand side.  I like the fact that she is a free spirit too and, of course, she has feathers framing her.  

  

To fit in with her fractured face I chose to simply stamp my favourite crackle stamp in three of the corners and to add the tiny birds close by.  The words of positivity seemed to be perfect in the top left hand corner as do the bulbs below also by Bipasha but from stamp number 23.

Minimal colouring is how I chose to leave this page, which has a lovely cream colour to it naturally, and I hope it has a message for you as it did for me when I chose these stamps.  I would love you to join me at Art Journal Journey with the theme Fur and/or Feathers.

Art Journal Journey - Feathers

The title says it all - this should have been an earlier post for Art Journal Journey and my suggestion of Fur and/or Feathers as the theme.  I think the feather rubber stamp is from Chocolate Baroque and I stamped them both more or less central on my page in my journal.  That was after I had coloured the page with three different acrylic paints - New Grass (Eco Green Crafts) and Pistachio and Sea Breeze from Kaisercolour.

I blocked the feathers off and left a space at the bottom to do some writing and then used a stencil, with my black Posca pen, which did not turn out as expected but instead left me with lots of little irregular triangles dotted all over the page.  I had expected more of a shattered glass look from it.

I got my cake icing book out and tried to copy some of the lettering it showed - I just about managed to fit it on to avoid the punching at the top of the page.  

Finally I used my Polychromos to add one or two additional bits of shading to the feathers, mainly the shapes shown within some of them.

I hope this has shown that you can just take the theme literally and add some feathers.  I would have liked to have drawn a quill pen and ink pot but don't think I have the time now.  Maybe I will carry on within this journal and add it at a later date.

Art Journal Journey - Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

I thought it would be different if I was to introduce a black piece of cardstock into my journal for Fur and Feathers.  

First of all I made a small piece using Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive Distress Inks for my background, and then I used one of my favourite stencils (from the year dot) 'Diamonds in the Rough' on the small piece with some texture paste.  I wanted something a bit Art Deco'ish and so I used one of my long thin strip stamps that rarely see the light of day anymore in Nocturne

I have no idea where the picture came from originally but it was in my Collage Box and would appear that they did not always use young girls to advertise Pears Soap but used beauties of the age too.  As she was wearing the most delightful fur stole (I hope it was fake) she fit the bill perfectly for my theme at Art Journal Journey.

I then placed the piece on my black cardstock and pondered how to elongate the texture paste onto it.  In the end I just replaced the stencil and drew with a white pen to carry the central focal image to the whole page.  A quick punch along the top and it was inserted into my journal.

I hope you decide to join me and the others with your interpretation of "Fur and/or Feathers"

Jeudi Journal - Beautiful Day

Another snarky comment from the book of Tim Holtz and this time it is "It's a beautiful day to leave me alone" and we have a page with Sophie sitting in the woods surrounded by beautiful flowers, two bluebirds fly overhead and a little chicken has come up to her as she sits there in the grass.  Thank goodness for the two little bluebirds and the chicken now I can enter my page into Art Journal Journey where the theme is "Fur and/or Feathers" and thankfully all these birds have feathers.

I started off with a blue painted page and then I did some reverse stenciling which I learned from Abs at Aall & Create with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink.  Next I stamped some words and letters from Aall & Create and I was ready for the images.  Because it was supposed to be a "beautiful day" I chose to put some flowers around the outside edge as a border.

'Sophie was a lovely girl, very popular with her peers and with her proud parents.  A good all rounder was how the school described her.  She was in the school netball team,  played tennis for the County and had been voted Form Captain two years on the run.  Her teachers knew she was going to make a school prefect and some even thought she would have their vote as Head Girl when the time came.

It was a beautiful summers day and Sophie had a lot to think about, it was decision time about her future and where she was going to go once school ended - university or work?  Her friends had called her on the phone and suggested they all went down town but Sophie had said "It's a beautiful day to leave me alone" and had set off in the direction of her uncle's farm.

Uncle Seb had always been her favourite uncle, her father's big brother, and the one she always turned to if she had a problem.  Dad was a bit too soft with her but uncle Seb was fair and just the right man to go to with a problem.  

After a short chat with him and some of Aunty Dorothy's home made lemonade, she went off into the field and sat amongst the flowers, her jacket slung over her shoulders.  This was the perfect place to sit on a lovely day towards the end of summer.  The birds circled overhead and a little chick came right up to her.  "I wish you could talk to me" she said, "sort me out and give me the right answers to my questions."

She sat and sat and the little chick stayed with her chirping away.  It really was the perfect day to think and it was made all the better because she was alone with her thoughts.  

All too soon it was four o'clock and she realised that it was time to set off back home before her uncle came looking for her.  She had made the decision.  She knew exactly what she wanted to do.  The day had been perfect and the little chick had helped her tremendously, she was going to stay on at school, work hard and eventually go on to university.  She loved animals and although the training was tough and long she was certain she wanted to work with animals and so becoming a vet was definitely her way forward.  It was something she had dreamed of as a child and today she was determined that was her goal in life.

And so Sophie got to the gate, shouted and waved to her uncle and skipped merrily on her way home.  Her parents would be so pleased with her decision.  She was - she was certain she had made the right decision.'

Art Journal Journey - Fur and/or Feathers

Another journal page for my theme at Art Journal Journey and this time it is one featuring a torn piece of paper which I had in my stash of collage materials.  Now to be honest I do not know where this came from, did I do it or someone else?  If really have no idea but it is something I like and so I decided to use it in my journal with my feathers theme as it featured a bird cage and a little bird holding a sign in the bottom right hand corner.

I went over the already cream background with a little Vintage Photo Oxide ink  and then a touch of Peeled paint around the edges.  I then took a piece of card and stamped one or two images with the green and brown and put the first image on the top.  The whole image was then placed on my page which had been inked with \antique linen Oxide and had had Abs circle stencil placed on top.

One thing I always liked when I did a workshop during the lockdown with Tracy Evans from Aall & Create was how she used bits of card in strips to create texture and interest on a card or journal page and so I used some of the many strips I have saved and added them down the side of the image I now had.  Time for a bird.  Or two?

I stamped and coloured the bird from Tracy's  using Oxide inks and placed him on top of the strips of card.  There was something else needed ... and so I stamped another bird, this time from Tracy's and placed him at the bottom of the page as if he was standing just going into the main image.

I hope you like this page which I think is quite different from my usual style and join me over at Art Journal Journey with something with fur or feathers.

Art Journal Journey - 1927

 Today's page features yet another of the Roaring Twenties women.  I have so many rubber stamps of this era as it was my favourite period when I first began stamping.  Probably captured by the romance of it all at that time.  Saying that I have always enjoyed the art and dress of the Art Nouveau and Deco periods and today's focal image comes from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate which I bought at the time.

I think the young girl is holding a rather large fur stole but you could be forgiven for thinking she has a huge feathered fan.   Whatever it is it fits in with the Fur and/or Feathers theme at Art Journal Journey.  If we look at the postmarks she is either in Casablanca or hoping to go there, perhaps she has a date with Humphrey Bogart?  Or maybe her young man is over there as she does look rather wistful.

To begin with I took my piece of cardstock and Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold Distress Inks and smooched them about the card with the blending tools to try to get a good blend.  Next I stamped the images on the background, again I think they are from a Non Sequitur A4 Plate apart from the one which looks a bit like sequin waste which is one of my background tinies along with the script.

Finally I mounted the image on a piece of blue crd cut to page size in my journal and used the Feather Leaf stencil from Lavinia Stamps in the opposite corners.

This is another of my pages for Art Journal Journey and the Fur and/or Feathers challenge.

Art Journal Journey - Another Bird

Before I begin can I extend a warm welcome to my newest followers Barb and Sylvia.  Lovely to have you on board.

Another bird for Art Journal Journey and the theme "Fur and/or Feathers" but this time a completely different style of stamp to the last one.  This one is from a north UK company called 'Pretty Gets Gritty" and is more of a stylised bird.

This time I decided to use my Distress Inks for the background as I found some die cuts in my stash which were left over bits from some previous work with my Aall & Create dies.  I love these die cuts designed by Abs and use them a lot on my cards.

I took some of the colours from one of the die cuts to determine my background and used an assortment of colours and then stencilled a large feather across the page diagonally.  You can only see a little of it at the bottom left corner and above the wings of the bird.  Similarly you can only see a little of the transparent stencilled dots underneath the letters and numbers.  I got carried away adding things to my page.

I decided to leave the bird white, adding just a touch of blue along some of the outer edges and then I gave it a green stone for its eye.  I added some left over flowers, again Aall & Create, from yet another project to emphasise the colour in the top left die cut and some circles from something I did simply years ago.  

I think I will spend more time looking through my Collage drawers to see what else I can find to use in my journal pages as I so enjoyed using all of this from my stash.  I really would like my journaling to go down a different path to what I have been used to at times.

Jeudi Journal - Fabulous

The words "I am Fabulous" are the ones that came up today for this journal page and they are from a Tim Holtz Snarky Book.

'Susie had gone into town to meet up with her friend Janet.  It was the usual Thursday meeting that they had each month and today Susie was bursting with news to tell her friend.  They always met in the "Friendly Teapot' a local spot for ladies to meet and sharek a cup of tea, or coffee, indeed it really was the place to be seen.

Susie arrived early, eager to tell her friend what she had just witnessed, it really had been quite bizarre and Janet would either laugh her sides off or be mortified when she heard Susie's story.  Oh it really was naughty of Janet to be late, any other time it would not have mattered but Susie began impatiently tapping her teaspoon on her saucer much to the annoyance of the old man sat at the next table.  Then Janet arrived and the tapping stopped.

"How are you?" asked Janet.

"Never mind me" replied Susie, "Guess who I saw on my way to meet you?"

"No idea" replied Janet, "but by the look on your face you are going to tell me."

"Well", said Susie, lowering her voice as much as she could, "I saw Mildred Arquhart in the park today.  I was on my way to meet you but had an errand or two to do first so went by the way of the parkland and took a shortcut through Mushroom Way.  I could not believe my eyes."

"Why, what happened, was she with someone?"

"No, she was with her dog.  Well, at least I think it was her dog she was with, it had wings on- and a rose on its head, and boots on all of its four feet, and she has had it coloured Pink!"  Susie stopped to see the look on her friend's face before continuing.  "Well, you should have seen her.  She had a fairly short dress on and a rather large hat - not the brimmed variety but sort of leaves or feathers or something piled on top of her head.  It was quite pretty in a way but then she had the most enormous pair of spectacles on too."

"Go on then" said Janet, "what was so peculiar about that?"

"Well, it wasn't so much what she was wearing but the fact that she was dancing around and around in circles singing  'I am fabulous' and the dog, dressed so stupidly was sniffing the mushrooms.  I began to wonder if she and the dog had been on them.  Then I began to wonder if it was me who had been sniffing them as I walked along.  It was all so very peculiar."

"So did you say anything to her" asked Janet.

"No" said Susie, "I was a bit embarrassed that if I stopped and spoke to her people would think I was, well, you know, a bit like her."

"Maybe she has had some good news, a windfall on the lottery, a part in a West End production or something like that." suggested Janet.

"Mmm," I think I will go and buy a newspaper, if she has had a big win it might be in there.  Hang on a minute whilst I slip out."  

And with that Susie was out through the door, much to the amusement of the old man who had been sitting listening to the prattle of these two young women.  Of coursed the girls had no idea they had been his afternoon's entertainment.'

Gosh another long story, I just go on and on when I start, maybe I should have a story in mind when I do begin.  Anyway, I stencilled some stars at the top of the page and then painted the whole page with Teal acrylic paint.  The stars did not show very well so I rubbed some Pearl Lustre over the top and wiped most of it off with a baby wipe so that it just stayed on the edges of the stars.  Lastly I drew a fancy border around the edge of the page but the scan has chopped it off.  Sorry.

As there is a dog on the page I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the theme includes "fur and feathers" and even if this pink dog is shaved and does not have any fur I think her wings will have feathers.  

A Little Furry Rabbit for Art Journal Journey

It has been a week since we saw photographs of our Queen, Elizabeth II, appointing our new Prime Minister.  Little did we know when we saw Her Majesty's smile that two days later we would be hearing that she had passed and we would be welcoming a new Sovereign, King Charles III.  It has been a very sad time and her passing has touched the lives of so many as has been shown on television each day.

I was surprised at how touched I became and have had many a tearful moment as I watched things unfurl on our TV.  I marvelled at how her children, grown up they may be, held themselves when inside they must be hurting at the loss of their Mother.  And how wonderful was the new King as he got out of his car and walked over to the waiting crowds to shake hands with some of them.  Of course I enjoyed seeing William and Kate on their walk about, what a wonderful Princess she has made, such a beautiful looking couple. 

On Sunday last I went to a Craft Show in Harrogate, West Yorkshire and there I saw one of my favourite guys, Abs from Aall & Create.   I hadn't seen him since before the pandemic so it was lovely to go and meet up.  Luckily for me the show wasn't busy first thing in the morning so I got to spend lots of time talking to him and enjoying his company so much.  (And had a long chat with Debbie too who I have not seen for ages). So today I must feature stamps from Aall & Create including the light bulbs (387 Steampunk Alchemist) which he uses quite often in his own work (and which I so admire).  Abs,  I have done my best with the light bulbs, honestly.

As I am linking to my theme at Art Journal Journey I had to feature 'fur' and what could be furrier than a lovely rabbit?  I love this image by Bipasha. (529 In The Wild).  The flowers are from 'Lotus Cluster' (stamp 441).

I began by sticking some bits of text on the page, you need to look closely, and then I went over with a turquoise acrylic paint and stencilled one or two ferns in a deeper blue before adding my favourite tiny crackle stamp in Versafine Nocturne.

I hope you like this page and look forward to seeing something you do at Art Journal Journey.

Art Journal Journey - Erté

Erté, or Romain de Tirtoff was a Russian born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté from the French pronunciation of his initials.  He was most famous for his fashion designs and was often called the "Father of Art Deco".  He was also a costume and set designer, and some of the most notable silent films he worked on included "Paris", "Ben Hur" and "Dance Madness". (Wikipedia)

When he was 15 he went to Paris for a year and whilst there he designed "Demoiselle à la balancelle" an Art Nouveau piece which he did not include in his biography as he thought it uninteresting.  I beg to differ as I love the piece and am sure many people do.

His decision to move to Paris, in 1910, was made despite objections from his father who wanted him to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer.  He assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family.

In 1915 he secured a contract with 'Harper's Bazaar' magazine and launched his career designing costumes and stage sets.  Between then and 1937 he had designed over 200 covers for 'Harper"s Bazaar' as well as other magazines.  He is, though, perhaps most famous for his fashion designs which captured the 'Art Deco period in which he worked.  On Broadway the celebrated French chanteuse, Iréne Bordoni wore his designs.

This is one of my much loved Erté stamps which depicts "Fur" in two ways, firstly there is the dog,  and then the lady is sporting a rather elegant fur collar on her outfit.

Crushed Olive and Scattered Straw Oxides were used for the main background, again with several of my small background stamps.  the teal background page has a Lavinia stencil in Vintage Photo across the base and up the left side.

I  hope you like the elegant figure of Erté and it gives you an idea for a journal page of your own for Art Journal Journey.  Hope to see you there with Fur and/or Feathers.

It's a Bird at last

I am sure you were beginning to think I was never going to post a page showing a bird and with a theme like 'feathers' it seems an obvious choice.  So here is one of my bird pages using Aall & Create stamps by Tracy Evans and a design similar to one that Tracy has used as a card.

My journal pages are off white, almost cream and the background for this was done using Broken Circle, a stencil by my lovely friend Abs, with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide brushed through.  Love his stencils.

I then stamped some circles from Foliage, in Nocturne down the left hand side of the page, followed by some of my favourite numbers (Splattered Numbers),  as first and second generation in Gathered Twigs DO.  

Finally I stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn the bird from Birdsong and some flowers, from Flower Moments, which I coloured accordingly and fussy cut out.  Words also by, you guessed it,  Tracy.  

So this is my next sample page for Art Journal Journey where I am guest host and have chosen 'Fur and/or Feathers" as the theme.  I look forward to seeing something you do, it is lovely to see your work.  Remember to check the rules.

Jeudi Journal - Drink!

This is the last quote from the list supplied by Wendy and next week we start on a new set taken from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments.   Today we have the quote "I used to drink but that was hours ago".  

"Betty and Bettina were two sisters.  Why on earth their mother had decided on two names so similar the girls never understood.  Bettina often found her friends shortening her name to 'Betti' but then it sounded just like her younger sisters name and if they were together with their friends it could become a bit confusing.  

They both liked to go for walks with their dogs and meet up.  You see, Bettina had moved into a flat with her boyfriend so the girls did not see as much of one another as they used to.  Betty had been going out a lot with her friends, to cinemas and discos - mainly discos, and it was there she had met this young guy, Marcus.  Bettina was eager to hear all about him and hoped that she might get to meet him soon.  In fact she had asked her boyfriend if he would mind if they held a little dinner for her sister and the 'new guy'.

"I was wondering, well, we were wondering, if you and Marcus would like to come around one evening for a curry or something.  You know how much I want to meet this new guy of yours." said Bettina.

"Sorry" replied Betty, "but it just isn't going to happen.  I've given him the big heave ho."

"No," said Bettina, "You've only been seeing him a few weeks, what on earth went wrong, and why didn't you tell me?"

"Well," said Betty.  "It happened a couple of times.  The first time was the week before last and then twice this last week I smelled alcohol, rather strongly, on his breath.  No girl wants to kiss a man who smells of alcohol like that and so I was a bit put off the first time.  When it happened again I hesitated from saying anything but the third time I also noticed he was a bit off balance.  He kept talking a lot and I noticed a slight wobble in his voice."

"No" said Bettina.  "What happened then?  Was he drunk?"

"No, nothing like that, he wasn't falling about or anything but I asked him outright 'have you been drinking, are you what my dad would call a 'boozer'?  And guess what he said?  He turned and said "I used to drink but that was hours ago.  Well that was it.  I didn't want any more to do with him.  I don't mind a drink or two myself but he obviously drinks a lot and to think he had been having a pint or whatever just before he came out with me.  Ooo, I was so cross."

"What happened next?" enquired Bettina.

"Oh, I just left him standing there and went and caught up to my friends and we all went to the disco.  We are planning on going to a music festival next weekend, taking tents and all that kind of thing.  I might meet a nice guy there, who knows."

The theme at Art Journal Journey this month is 'Fur and/or Feathers' and this page and story has a couple of dogs on it so I am entering this into AJJ today.  I made a background with Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold.  Then I attached my figures and drew a wiggly line around the edge to create a border.  Hope to see you over at AJJ later with your journal page.