Art Journal Journey - Mona's Scene

 This is my penultimate piece for Art Journal Journey where my theme is "it must have wings" and was a copy of a piece made by one of the Designers for Lavinia Stamps I made short time ago.  Mona is from Norway and creates very intricate and beautiful pieces.  I fell in love with this and decided that I just had to try it out, so, carefully watching her video I worked at it, step by step and although it is nowhere near as good as Mona's I am well pleased with it.  Mona uses lots of masking fluid in her work so I was reintroduced to it when making this page lol.

This one features the beautiful hummingbird along with Lumus the fairy and some tiny bumblebees and with various floral stamps.  As usual I used Elements inks for the background and Versafine Clair Nocturne for stamping.  Colouring of the flowers and wings was done with Inktense pencils. So here we have a hummingbird, a fairy and some bees all with wings which fulfils the challenge "It Must Have Wings" for Art Journal Journey this month.  

Today would have been my mum's birthday, she never got to see my stamping but I am sure she would have liked this one.  Happy Heavenly Birthday Mum. 

Art Journal Journey - Sorry

Don't lnow what went wrong with Saturday's blog post but I was sick - had eaten something which diod not agree with me and so I suffered all weekend with an upset tummy.  Only found out early Monday morning that my post didn't show properly.  Sorry - trying again:

This is a picture I made with what, at the time, were my favourite little characters, the Herbalums.  I just adore them and thought I would do a page using them busy gardening.  

I began by stamping the Tree of Courage and the Tree of Hope to frame the picture in Versafine Claire Nocturne.  Next came the bench and then the three Herbalums, masking out the watering can that Ben was originally holding and making it appear he was holding the top of the bench, whilst he debated where to put the plant he was now holding in his other hand,  The other two Herbalums, Baz and Bob came next followed by flowers etc at the base of the picture.  

Then it was time to make a sky and ground using Elements inks Della Blue and Avocado.  Finally a pastel pencil to create a more solid look to the trees and rocks and it was complete,  Because it was created for Art Journal Journey we needed some wings so I put three butterflies in the sky which I fussy cut out after colouring.

I hope you like my page and join us at Art Journal Journey with your interpretation of something that has wings.

Art Journal Journey - Wings (Herbalums)

Art Journal Journey - Secret Garden

This page features Gus sitting on the signpost for the Secret Garden but I hope you find it quite different to the previous owl one with a totally different background colour.  For this page I wanted to use some bold flowers and so I chose to use dandelions.  I love them when they are fluffy balls before the seeds float so effortlessly on the breeze (spreading themselves about to reseed).

Because the page was smaller in width than my journal page, remember I often make a journal page on plain cardstock and then stick it in my journal because the pages in my Lavinia Journal do not take kindly to some stamps, I did some stencilling on the sides and extended just a little of the flower stamping very slowly and carefully.  I was pleased with my matching up of the dandelions, just a slight hitch upwards with the one on the left.  Again I used my Elements for the background, Versafine Clair Nocturne for the stamping and Inktense pencils for the colouring.

I hope you like my Owl page for my challenge, "It Must Have Wings", at Art Journal Journey, so will you be popping over with a Journal page using Wings?  I'd love to see you there.

Art Journal Journey - Musical Interlude

 "The fairies and the pixies decided to hold a musical interlude on the edge of the forest early one evening just as the sun was lowering in the sky.  Trinity was blowing her horn, whilst Night Watch sat on a giant toadstool with her beloved bugle.  Sky, one of the pixies came along with his flute much to the amusement of a tiny sparrow who sat on the edge of it whenever Sky stopped blowing.

Pippin, the tiny hare,  stood in awe, looking up at Night Watch and a dragonfly flew down, his wings dancing to the music as he swooped and swirled around, thoroughly enjoying himself, whilst the two chubby robins sang to one another sitting on little grassy knolls on the ground.  Even the flowers joined in listening to the music and swaying as the sounds floated past them."

I made this journal page whilst I was away from home.  I had taken lots of things with me to craft with but guess what?  I had forgotten to take a black ink pad.  Now for most Lavinia scenes I need a black ink pad - Versafine Clair Nocturne - so what to do?  I decided to try using the darkest brown ink pad I had with me (Pinecone) and to be honest I don't think you can hardly tell on the actual piece.  

So my page today was done with Elements Inks in Della Blue and Lime Punch along with a hill mask to make a hillside effect, and a moon mask for the sky.  Various foliage stamps were used along with VF Shady Lane and Charming Pink ink colours.  I used my Inktense pencils for the wings and foliage at the top.

I do hope you like this page done especially for Elizabeth as she mentioned something about my fairy wings and I realised there weren't that many fairy pages in my journal.  Also I hope that it will inspire you to join in with my theme at Art Journal Journey, "It Must Have Wings".  You don't have to have fairies like I have used here but there are lot of ideas on the home page of AJJ.  Please pop along and join in if you can.

Art Journal Journey - Chas Owl

 My other half loves owls and so I decided to make a page and dedicate it to him.  I chose to use Gus as my main owl and Ginger to sit alongside him.  Gus needed something fairly strong to hold him and so I chose to use the garden sign but rather than use the words I blocked them off and wrote my dh's name.  Some time later my friend laminated my picture onto a tumbler for my other half as a surprise.

Background was made using Elements ink with hill masks used on the ground and a circle mask for the moon.  Various flowers were stamped with Versafine Clair inks and all colouring was done with Inktense pencils.  I decided to add a bee in the sky and a few branches framing the top.

I do hope that you join in with my challenge at Art Journal Journey this month, "It Must Have Wings", and find something with wings to illustrate your page in your journal.  There are lots of ideas on AJJ's page that I did at the beginning of the month which I hope will inspire you along with all the wonderful entries that people have done already.

Art Journal Journey - Baby Owl

  I bought myself a journal from Lavinia because I loved the rag paper in it but then I found it difficult for me to stamp silhouette stamps perfectly on the rough surface so quite often I stamp on a piece of cardstock and then add it to my journal.

As the pages in my Lavinia Journal do not take to my stamping very well I made this on a piece of cardstock and then stuck it into my journal.  I never thought of there being a problem for me when I chose a rag page journal rather than a smooth one.  However if the card I use is not big enough to cover the whole page I often do some stencilling around the smaller ones.   

Owls have wings and so for this page in my Lavinia Journal for Art Journal Journey and my theme "It must have wings" I chose to use Bijou, the baby owl in the Lavinia collection.  He needed to sit upon something and so I looked at my flower collection and chose the Forest Flower so that I could incorporate some colour into the head of the flower and I chose blue for the base with orange, its complimentary colour, next to it and finishing off with lemon.  Now I know that flowers grow vertically but if Bijou was to sit upon it he needed it to be horizontal and so I used a bit of artistic licence with this one.

It is usual in my Lavinia journal pages to use both Elements and Versafine Claire inkpads and colour images ie in this case Bijou and the flower head, with Inktense pencils.  As this was only made on a smallish piece of card I tried to add some interest on the actual page surrounding it with some stencilling You can barely see it on here bute it is there I assure you).  For this I used the blue ink that was left on my number 9 stencil brush and the stencil called "Glory".  I like to work on different sized pieces and put them in my journal and then try to work out what to do to fill the page.  A favourite quick and easy way is to use a stencil randomly on the white space.

Art Journal Journey - It Must Have Wings (Introduction)

Once again I have been asked to be a Guest Host for Art Journal Journey.  I have been working on one or two ideas for my theme, which is "It must have wings" which covers my love of Lavinia stamps and the fairies that Tracy draws herself and has made into polymer stamps.  But it does not have to stop at fairies, if you think about it lots of things have wings - butterflies, dragonflies, ladybirds and other insects; birds (don't forget chickens, hens, owls etc),  angels,  what about aeroplanes, lots of things steampunk, mythical creatures and so on.  You could even think of some buildings, the White House has its West Wing, hospitals have wings and so there are lots of wings when you think of it.  I wonder what you will come up with?

I am so looking forward to seeing what you make in your journal (please read the dreaded rules which you will find at the top of the AJJ Home Page.   Remember to link your actual post and not just your blog (instructions again at the top of the AJJ home page) and I will do my best to come and see what you have done and leave a comment for you.

My first post for this theme is from my Lavinia Journal and features two fairies, Twila and Lumus, with one of the new fledglings. Although you cannot see the wings on the fledgling you can see that both fairies have beautiful wings which I coloured with my Inktense pencils and then used Wink of Stella instead of water to merge the colours together, I just wish you could see the sparkle.  

Inks used: Versafine Clair Nocturne,  Fallen Leaves, Pinecone, Shady Lane, Paradise, Warm Breeze, Morning Mist.  Elements Lime Punch, Blue Atoll.

Lavinia Stamps used: Twila, Lumus (lge), Tree of Courage, Tree of Hope, Fairy Path, Gate & Fence, Bluebell, Woodland Fern, Silhouette Foliage, Orchard Grass and Slender Mushroom Mini.

As it is Thursday I have my page to do for the challenge between Wendy and myself.  Today the quote Wendy sent to me is "We are not Old People, we are Recycled Teenagers" and here is my page using Dylusion figures.

Diane and Sue had been friends since primary school, neither had married and so they had been very close to one another for a number of years.  Both had been teachers in a High School working with teenagers and both were involved in the Girl Guides.  Diane was a Guide Leader whilst Sue had the older girls in her Ranger Unit.

It was a cold day and the two were returning home after a Parent Evening which had gone on until quite late in the evening.

"Don't know about you" said Diane, "but I am really tired, beginning to feel my age these days after a full day of teaching and then facing a whole load of questions from parents."

"I know exactly what you mean" replied Sue, "fancy a chippy supper, we haven't eaten since lunchtime?  I don't think I could face a sandwich and I certainly cannot cook anything now.  Are we getting too old for this game?"

"Come on Sue, it's just been a tiring day for us both.  We are not old people, we are recycled teenagers and after a good night's sleep we will both feel different.  Especially at weekend when we go to the jamboree at Hay Hall.  It will be fun to let our hair down and be camping again with the others.  I can't wait to go on the zip line again, it was such fun last year."

And the two went in the chip shop and ate a big bag of chips on the way home.  

chips in the UK are known as fries over the water. but I think you are all familiar with that.

WOYWW 802

Another week has flown by and it will be Christmas before we know what happens.  Another four cards done in an on-line workshop with Jo Rice added to my growing pile.  At this rate I will be ready to get them out early enough.  Here are the latest four 

They were all done in various shades of brown - Versafine Clair Pinecone, Portobello and Sand Dune with Elements Sahara for shading.  At the moment, in my TV watching time I am trying to make lovely little bows.  Sometimes these old fingers freeze and make it impossible,

These need mounting on some card bases and then they can go in the box with the others.  In the meantime I have one or two things that need starting.  One is my art journal for tomorrow where the theme is 'autumnal colours' and the other is a Halloween card which I want to make for someone who I know celebrates it in a big way.  Then there is my swap card for an internet group I am on - not a clue what to do with this one. I also have my window sill Halloween Display to do.  I'd love to make something new for it but there isn't that much time.  Oh, and I have two birthday cards to get out this month.  Now have I any in the box suitable for those recipients?  Here's my table with the craft things on that I got out in readiness.

Left we have my box of Greek/Roman /Egyptian rubber stamps then some of my halloween stamps from the box behind and next to them is a set of stamps suitable for autumn.  In front right we have some inkpads ready for making a Halloween background.  Why do I always want to do the one thing that can actually wait?  It's the birthday cards and the journal page that need doing.  Maybe I should get those things out on the counter behind me. 

As I can't make my mind up here is a short video of the tumbler I did for Chas

Next week you will find which way I went with the various things in my head.  In the meantime why not join me over at Sarah's Craft Shed to see what others are doing - see you there in a short while.

WOYWW 801

Sore arms- covid and flu jabs last Friday so sleepy from a couple of nights disturbed sleep when I turned over.  Luckily I did not post anything last week that I had made so I can get away with showing you what I have been up to without much effort.  It was nice to find out how many people had been with WOYWW for a good number of years and are still here or just popping in now and then to say hello.  I was surprised to find I had only missed 59 weeks of WOYWW, I thought it would be closer to the 100 mark.

I had been on another workshop with Jo and we made a Christmas Cracker, a card, decorated a brown paper bag and made a tag for a canvas wine bottle.  

Sorry the photo is a bit dark

I think the cracker will make a great gift bag so I need to buy something for my dh, probably a small bottle of whisky and wrap it in a pair of boring socks or undies - just need to check which he he is most in need of.  Or can any of you think of something better please?

My Christmas cards are mounting up nicely and I found another two cards I had recently made on another workshop with Jo that will be great with a little bow and a "Merry Christmas"greeting.  With the way that I am going I won't have a rush on this year although I am on the lookout for a 'special' card for himself.  I like to make one with a bit of movement, a kinetic card for dh.

Called to see my friend Jayne on our way to the caravan and she made me two more tumblers.  One for me to leave up there and one for Chas.  They really are super and keep your drinks hot for hours (or cold, even keeping the ice cubes intact if you include them).  I've found this mermaid one perfect for my overnight drinwhich I sit on the floor where it is easy to reach in the dark, take a sip through the metal straw (yes, it is a cold drink) and pop back on the floor until the next time.

I now wish I had made a Halloween one just because I love those witches but I really love the mermaid scenes so I went with that - whose to say I won't splash out on another but this time Halloween.

Here is my Mermaid one - it's only a quick twirl so takes seconds

Next week I will show you the one I made and Jayne put onto a tumbler for me to give to dh for a present.  Poor Chas, it had to be a Lavinia design but he chose what he wanted from my stamps and he is quite happy with a nice hot drink when out walking.

Have a good week and hopefully see you week 802 at Sarah's for another WOYWW.

Jeudi Journal - Autumn Woodland

 Looks as if Wendy is still having problems with her internet connection so here is another page from my Lavinia Journal for Alison's theme at Art Journal Journey - Autumn Colours and Inspiration.

The background uses Elements Sahara ink with Violet Chalk around the edges darkened in the corners and used very lightly with Mini Hill Masks towards the base.  I used a moon mask and darkened around the edges with emphasis on the bottom edge.

Tree Den and Tree Stem were then stamped using Versamark Claire Nocturne with a second generation Tree Stem stamped to give depth to the page.  Tree of Hope is the stamp with the branches that cross the moon.  Silhouette Foliage and Orchard Grass were stamped in the foreground again using Nocturne, some in second generation.

Berry Wreath was stamped across the top edge and the berries were coloured with a yellow Gel Pen as were the vines on the two Tree Dens.  It is a shame you cannot see the glitter from a scan.

Finally using a yellow Pastel Pencil I then put the effect of light from the moon down the sides of the Tree Den stamps.

Sorry there is not a story attached to this week's page but I will be back next week with one.

Jeudi Journal - Still Solo

Wendy is still having problems with the computer connection at her new home so once again I am grateful to Aimslee for her 'Anything Goes' theme at Art Journal Journey and once again I am using a page from my Lavinia Journal.

I do hope she gets sorted by next week or we could be "up creek without paddle" in that I don't have that many journal pages in my Lavinia Journal and what I have may not fit in with the theme.  As it is October next week when we meet up again I am using one of my pages that is very autumnal.

It is already feeling like autumn and time to get the woolies out and put the summer clothes away.  Yesterday I watched leaves falling on our back lawn and thought of days of 'leaf picking' were drawing ever closer.  The house down the road from ours has lots of beech trees and unfortunately we get all of their leaves blowing into our garden.  So it's not just our own but theirs as well that we end up raking.

Well, it looks as if someone is having a visitor as Tilly is knocking on the blue door.

"It was around 4 pm, the sky was just starting to darken and the enchanted wood was quite busy for a Thursday.  Tilly had decided to call on her good friend Tango who lived in the second Pumpkin House by the old tree where the Wallace family lived.  Mrs Wallace was just scurrying along to the shops as fast as her little hog feet would take her and Kernal the fox was keeping his eye on something high up in the trees.

Suddenly a little voice could be heard "Hello"said someone a little nervously.  "I don't mean to be nosey or anything like that but I think Tango went out earlier.  She usually leaves the lamp lit for when she gets back if she goes out in the early evening light."

Tilly turned and she saw a little hare standing there, ears pointing down.

"I think she said she was going out to buy a birthday present for someone."

"Oh, thank you very much" said Tilly, "I don't think I've had the pleasure."

"I'm Pippin" the little hare replied, "I live underground, just behind that tree.  Tango is a good friend of mine and I heard her going out when I was clearing out my garden ready for Autumn.  We exchanged pleasantries so that is how I know where she was going."

"Well, I was just coming around to tell her, well, to remind her, that it was Moo's birthday tomorrow and to remind her to go and get a present for the party we have been invited to."

"Ooh, how exciting" said Pippin.  "I love a good party."

"Right, then why don't you come along.  I am sure Moo wouldn't mind me bringing someone."

"That would be lovely but I am sorry I can't come along with you.  You see my twin sister lives with me and we always, but always, do everything together."

Just then Tilly noticed another little hare standing just beyond the pathway.

"I am sure Moo could fit another two in at her party" said Tilly, "She loves to be surrounded by lots of woodland friends and always says 'the more the merrier' so please, the two of you come along."

"What about me?" came a loud voice from the left.  It was Kernal the friendly fox.  He acted as a kind of policeman in the woods, making sure all the tiny animals were safe and sound.

"Oh dear" thought Tilly, "this is getting to be a big party, I do hope Moo can cope with us all."

And I hope that next month here at AJJ the theme is one that my post that is sitting here waiting to be published can be adapted to.  I had my post ready at the beginning of the month and it was so easy with 'Anything Goes' but I don't remember anything about it so guess I had better go and check, or maybe leave it until the 1st October.

WOYWW 799

 Yippee Doodle Doo!  One week and we are at 800in the biggest blog hop I know about that is now being cared for by Sarah, so let's visit her and see if she has something planned for us all.

Well, I've been doing another big page for my friend Jayne to turn into another of those tumblers for me, well, not for me but for my better half.  It had to be Lavinia stamps so he chose ... owls.  This one I did on my first run but I wanted to do another for me and so I decided to go with the Ocean - so far two goes and still not happy.  I might end up with a Halloween one if this next trial does not go well.

So what have I got to show you? Oh, I made a Halloween bookmark - two sides - the main side is purple and the red side is just because it didn't look right left white.

and the other side - both use the new witches from Lavinia which Leesa calls "good witches" - I call them "sexy witches" as they are so pretty compared to the one which came out last year.

My friend Jayne, you know, the one who turned my artwork into a tumbler, she did a swap and made an extra one of each so she could give one to me - her theme was "Fairy Tales".  See if you can guess them.

I can only think this has scanned a bit 'hazy'  because the shoe was decoupaged as were the buttons and the bobbin of thread.  Both these pieces are beautifully made, Jayne is good as what she turns her hand to.

So that's it from me this week.  Next week maybe another tumbler or maybe some Christmas stuff as I have a workshop coming up and it's based around Christmas.  See you then.

Oops - forgot my desk photo.  Helen will suss out what is happening.

Jeudi Journal - Still Flying Solo

 Had a message from Wendy, she is still without internet and so unable to join in with us at Art Journal Journey at the moment so I am still flying solo and using my Lavinia Journal to upload to Aimslee's blog challenge.  I hope she is soon back with us as I don't have much to show you and am ever so lucky that Aimslee chose 'Anything Goes' for her theme.

Just hope the next theme is fairly easy to do on my own if that is the case but for now I am uploading a Steampunk page from my journal.  These are mostly done on a piece of cardstock and stuck into my journal so that I am sure the inks and paints will work as I want them to on the medium.  Sometimes I have tried to do something on the actual page to link it in but this is usually a bit of stencilling or stamping.

This one shows up how pure white the cardstock was and how different my journal pages are.  If I had not cropped the photo you would have seen the torn edge on the right of the actual page.  These little mice are perhaps the most used of my Lavinia stamps.  They come in handy for all kinds of things - and cover up little smudges you might make on a card or page in your journal.

Just so you don't miss out on a story - it's only going to be a quick one I just cannot write them the same as I can with the Dylusion figures - here goes:

"It was getting late that evening when everyone in the house had gone to bed.  Everyone except the little 'meeces' who lived behind the skirting board in Mr Brown's study.  Suddenly there was a noise, a kind of whirring as if some machinery had started to work.  Was it the huge clock that Mr Brown treasured so much that resided behind his desk?  Or was it the lift that he used to move up the five floors to the bedroom, which he used when he had been working late, at the top of the house?  No, the clock was still working and the lift was at the top of the house as he had used it that evening.

Suddenly, in the far left corner of the study a cog rolled across the floor, then another and another.

"What on earth are you playing at Moo?" came a little squeaky voice.  "You really are naughty at times."

"Having a good old play with these 'ere cogs" was the answer "about time you let your hair down Minni" said Moo as he rolled yet another cog out from behind the skirting board.  

Minni and Moo were the two youngest of the mice living in the big old house and were often quite mischievous, especially Moo.  

Moo climbed up on the desk and onto a pile of books that Mr Brown had been reading earlier that evening.  

"Look at me Minni" he called, as he balanced on a cog on top of the books with Mr Brown's racing goggles held high in his tiny paws.  "I'm dancing and my partner has the largest eyes you ever did see."

Minni was not amused and she shouted to him to get down.  "Remember we must not let anyone know we have been here.  You know what Mamma Mouse told you, if we get seen or it is suspected that we exist the family will probably get a big big cat!!!  And that will be curtains for us all."

At that Moo climbed down, being careful to put the goggles exactly where he had found them and to dust off the books where his four little paws had been.  Just then he saw a fancy hat.  It wasn't the one Mr Brown wore every day but one which he tended to only wear on special occasions.  Quickly Moo scrambled up the laces that decorated the front and stood there balancing a sign on two wheels.  Ooh, this was fun.

"Where are you?" shouted Minni, "come here, Mamma will be ever so angry if we stay out too long."  She began looking for her naughty twin brother but he was nowhere to be found,  What had he done now ... and where on earth was he?  Then she saw the hat.  "No, he wouldn't" she thought to herself.  She picked the hat up carefully by the brim and looked underneath but all she saw was a spider who immediately spun a line to escape from her.  "Are you in there" she shouted, frightening herself by the echo that came from within.

All of a sudden there was a huge 'bump' and Moo sat on the floor by the side of the hat rubbing his head.  She had tipped the hat so much that Moo had slid off the top and fallen right on his head on the hard desk.

"Serves you right" said Minni, "now come home or we will both be in trouble."  And with that the two little 'meeces' scurried through the tiny hole that they could just about squeeze through.

"Wonder what Mamma is cooking" said Minni.  Moo couldn't care less, his head hurt so much."

798 WOYWW

 Another beautiful week in the north of England, so making the most of it by being out and about.  Guess who forgot about her blog in the excitement of the "old currant bun"?  Here we are closer and closer to that big number with a double zero.  What an auspicious number for a blog hop.  Wonder what Sarah has planned?

Well, I have been busy again doing a bit of crafting - this was for a swap and probably not yet received but as the person does not come on here it is ok to show you.  The topic was "Countryside" 

and the other was a bookmark

But you came here hoping to see my tumbler.  Well, Jayne could not get it to work whilst I was there so I have not yet got it but she did fix it when I left and here is a little video of it that she sent to me

I hope this works

You came here really to see my desk so here it is

I think it is fairly explanatory so I will leave it there and see you next week with a bit of luck.  Take care.

Jeuidi Journal - Secret

 I was going to call this "Owl be Seeing You" but decided it was to corny even for me.  Still waiting for Wendy to get herself sorted, poor Wendy is up to her eyeballs in things at the moment, especially in her craft room I imagine (I have been in her craftroom in the past so know how much work there will be).  Saying that I think I should make a start on tidying mine out and maybe getting rid of the stuff I no longer use.  Heaven help us if we decide to move!  So here we are with a page for Aimslee's challenge at Art Journal Journey.

Anyway, today is another page in my Lavinia Journal.  As you can no doubt tell I have done the main picture on card and stuck it in my journal page - this was after realising the rag paper did not work quite the same as card, and also a bit of nerves in case I did something wrong and made a mess of a page.  The kind of mess that could not be salvaged!  I did actually chop down the piece of card as it was too tall for the book so it got a chopping everywhere.

All stamps are from Lavinia and inks are Elements (for the background) and Versafine Claire for the stamping.  I tried to carry on the stamping on the page and was quite chuffed with the dandelions on the left and right which I matched up pretty close.  I also did some stencilling on the actual page.  Because I had a few comments last week from people missing a story I tried to make one for this, not as easy in coming to me as the Dylusion ones but I did try.

"Gus had met a lady owl on a dating app.  It wasn't always easy for owls to meet up and Gus had decided it was about time he had a girl friend.  He hoped it would lead to them being together for ever and ever and he was secretly hoping for lots of little owlets in time.  

The lady owl he had met was called Blondie and she was the most beautiful owl he had ever seen.  They had seemed to get on great that evening high in the old oak.  They talked about where they had been, about their families and about the other creatures and the fairies that lived in the wood.  Gus thought she had seemed as interested in him as he was in her and so he had asked her out on a second date.

That morning he preened himself to perfection and even gave his best green waistcoat a brush and decided to wear that, after all it complimented his eyes, or so he had been told.  Then he took himself off to the entrance to the Secret Garden where he had asked her to meet him.  

It was a beautiful garden with the prettiest of flowers providing a lush undergrowth and there were lots of pretty bushes and trees where they could sit and continue with their second date.  It was something new for Gus and he was so excited.  To make sure she saw him he decided to sit and wait on the notice board for the garden and so he sat there puffing his feather up and looking quite the part.

And that is where we have to leave the story, but I can tell. you it had a happy ending and lots of little owlets now frequent the Secret Garden where mum and dad finally exchanged their vows."

WOYWW 797

Feast or Famine - it's like waiting for the bus, it either never comes or you get several at once.  What am I talking about?  Me and my WOYWW pages!  I go for a while (sometimes a good long while) with nothing to really show you and then I have lots.  Today I have lots. 

Last Saturday morning I did an online workshop with Jo Rice in which we were once again using up scraps of cardstock but this time with a Christmas theme.  This was to hopefully get us in the mood for making some Christmas cards with the emphasis on 'batch' card making.  Not too sure I will be making that many with the price of postage going up yet again - ok as far as I know it is only first class but I wouldn't be too sure about second.  I feel it too might go up or be abandoned altogether.  Anyway I think the cost of sending a card/letter is getting ridiculous.  Shame as I like making and sending cards.

Here are my Christmas cards made last Saturday morning

This one I turned into an everyday card

It is still just a topper as it was just me messing about trying an idea of mine.  It should have been baubles hanging from the top for Christmas but I ended up with autumn (ie there are no leaves on the trees).

I had seen this other card on the internet by Leesa and so I contacted her to find where her instructions were and this is what I ended with.  It's kind of 3D, in that it is a Z card and the front has a strip at the base that stands away from the main card when you open it.  Hope you can see what I mean.  I am now making it again but using the proper toadstools this time as I could not find them previously.

This is looking down on it so you see what it looks like - how it bends

There was a lot to it so my desk was covered in bits of card but the worktop behind me held lots of stuff which I decided was more interesting to show you.  (The little green thing, left, is the Cricut character which I once got at CHA and he sits on one of my ink pad cubby holes.)

My polka dot pencil case contains Posca pens, gel pens, and some pastel crayons, then my box is holding the stamps I am using, WOW embossing powder behind, then Masking Fluid, various ink pads, behind them are the tins with my bees, my butterflies and my numbers inside, my spray bottle, my heating pad (foil covered old place mat) with an acrylic block on it and a baby wipe, scissors, brushes, water pot, blending tools, my tower of blending sponges.  Phew!  See you over at Sarah's Craft Shed.

Later today I am taking my picture over to my friend to have it transferred to a drink tumbler.  Hope it works and I can finally show you next week.

Jeudi Journal a Day Late - Woodland

 Because of Wendy being up to her eyeballs in stuff I decided that if she did not upload yesterday then I wouldn't either.  We can upload as usual together some time soon.

Luckily Aimslee chose 'Anything Goes' for her theme at Art Journal Journey this month and so it meant I could use a page in a different journal and one which I haven't uploaded before.  I am giving you a page in my Lavinia Journal where I use only Lavinia stamps.

This was an online class I did with Jo Rice and was all about perspective.  The first one I did was on a sheet of card but as I wanted to practice I did it again in my journal.  Unfortunately the colours (Pan Pastels) came out much brighter (and brasher) on the rag paper of the journal than on the cardstock used for the original one and you can hardly see the moon in the top right hand corner.  I found that the ink (I used Elements Dark Denim on the edges) also did not move quite as well as it did on cardstock.

So not only did I learn about perspective but I also learned that materials react differently to the types of card/paper we use.  

No story this week, it's rather a quiet morning in the woods today.

WOYWW 796

 Gosh these visits to Sarah's Craft Shed come around very quickly, not that I am complaining, quite the opposite, as it gives me chance to see what my WOYWW friends are up to and how they are doing.

Not much to show on my desk, done a bit of colouring of some images I stamped last week but I still haven't made up the cards I did at Jo's workshop (see last week's blog post).  Am expecting my new stamps to arrive any day and cannot wait.  I know Halloween isn't everyone's cup of tea but when you were born and bred near the border of Pendle and served in the Girl Guides for many years in that area you cannot help but enjoy a bit of Halloween fun.

The box of scalpels on the left was up at the caravan so I decided they might get used more if I brought them home.  Lots of cutting blades there to go at.  Some stencils at the back and one of those "snip carriers" that some of you ladies made a few years ago - this was by Jo Pritchard.  Those are my Inktense pencils, a water pot, some old towelling and some images I was colouring.

Well, last Saturday saw me in Morecambe at the Vintage Festival that they hold each year.  My first time but certainly not my last (God willing).  It was a glorious day, the sun shone, it was lovely and warm, not too warm, just that nice heat that makes you feel happy as you walk around.  So many people had made an effort and dressed up, I was surprised I didn't bump into our Lynn as I know she likes the retro look.

Fabulous beading on that dress (not sure about the tats)

A 50's American Gas Station Attendant

This family really made an effort

The Winter Gardens, Morecambe was open 

Loved this ticket box at the entrance

Well, will leave it there as I need to sew the patches on my old faithful cardigan and treat it to a new pocket (large).  Hope you are all well.

WOYWW 795

 Well, the weather has certainly changed somewhat over the past week.  We have had rain, and some of it pretty darned heavy stuff, over the past week or so.  Last Saturday we were lucky in that we arrived at Fell Foot Park (bottom of Lake Windermere) just minutes after they had had a real heavy downpour, and it was lovely and sunny.  Loads of families were out enjoying and taking advantage of the Bank Holiday weekend and the sunshine.  Wish I had taken more pictures to show families picnicking under gazebos they had hired or brought with them.  It was lovely to see all the watersports and surprising how many were in the water in just swimwear (not all had wet suits on).

The weather forecast isn't great but it does look as if it is going to brighten up at weekend.  That means I have had time to do some crafting - and some knitting!  I've spent more time knitting than paper crafting but I am only knitting patches for elbows and new pockets for my old cardigan that I cannot bear to part with.  I only wear it to sit up in bed but it is so useful, especially when my back is bad and it needs massage or a hot water bottle.  I've also done quite a bit of reading and am now into a detective series set in and around the parts of Lancashire that I know well enough to picture the scenes.  (Not the grizzly bits).  Anyway, my desk - set out to show you what I have done but ready to do a bit more as it is raining again.

The ones (4) on the left plus the mermaid one are the ones done out of class.  The others are as we did them with Jo.

These are all toppers for cards made with scraps and were done in a workshop with Jo Rice, head DT, Lavinia.  I thought I had all that we needed but forgot about words so these are, in the main, waiting for words to be added - all are awaiting a base card to be adhered to.  Just one missing as it turned into a card for a special man in my life and I don't want him to see it just yet.

I have lots of scraps of white card so decided to continue with some stamping and will work on colouring them later at my leisure.  So black and white ones were not done in class, just done when I felt like it.  Obviously I have been working on the big project, from before, behind scenes, did a second one but think I prefer the first one actually.  Shame as it is just the sky I don't like on the second one.  Will see what my friend thinks when she chooses which one to laminate onto a tumbler.

That's it folks, hope you all have had a lovely week.  I see the weather has been good down south so hope lots of you got out and about and enjoyed yourselves.  Until next time - I'll see you over at Sarah's for now.  Then in September - eek!  where is the time going?  Hugs.