Thursday 29 June 2017

The Beach


The new challenge theme at
is............ The Beach.


I've had fun and made  a couple of tags.
This first one was made using Graphics 45 papers and a few bits and bobs from my junk box.
Plain cutting and sticking for this tag and no messy fingers,
well apart from spreading the glue with my fingers over the material scraps and twine.


This second one was made in my digital program [notes in my sidebar].

Thank you for taking time to call in to see me today. You are always welcome here.


Tuesday 27 June 2017

Cuppas with friends, visits and reminders.

Hello everyone who calls in to see me today,
 you are all very welcome  here.


This post has quite a few photos , so I am starting off by saying hello to friends at
 who host  T stands for Tuesday, where we are all made welcome with a drinks related post.

In my digital page, I have used a png image of a fantastic sunset on a mug,
which Valerie has kindly shared and allowed us to use.

I have many photos that need to be sorted through on my computer, I say for a while today and compiled a few to show you today
Earlier this month we had visited Aydon Castle in Northumberland an English Heritage site
a short distance from our home.







Most of the walls are still standing, which is quite unusual with this castles history. I added a link  for you , if you wanted to read a little about it.







Inside the courtyard,
looking closely at the stonework you can see where it had been on to over the years.





Very bare inside ,but this roof looked awesome.

We were able to walk around part of the walls and I enjoyed taking an archers view through the slits in the walls. There was also an enclosed orchard [top right] .
These were a few photos outside the walls.
I needed a cuppa after this session editing, but as often happens it was cold before it got round to it,

Now a quick reminder for the current Try it on Tuesdays theme...
Letters and Numbers, which has another week to run.




Now a quick reminder for the current theme
 Letters and Numbers over at Try it on Tuesdays.
I made another digital journal page
 and had a lot of fun.







Thank you all for stopping by and I hope you all have a lovely day








Information about my digital pages can be
found in my side bar.

Sunday 25 June 2017

Recycling colouring pages.


As I said in an earlier  post I am on a mission to use  some of my ' colouring in', pages
and get them into a journal. .I think you may remember this,
it had a digital make over  last last September.





As you can see I fussy cut the main image and added her to an inked and stencilled background.
She still looks quite a gal, but I prefer her against the slightly  calmer background.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''


More fussy cutting for this page as well.




The original page on the left and the background I created for it in the journal on the right.

This also had a digital make over last year  here.

I think I got good value  with these pages, now they are finally settled and this is for sure their last outing.



Thank you for calling in today, your visit is very much appreciated.

Saturday 24 June 2017

Different is beautiful.


I have a mixed media page to share today.
While we are away in the caravan I spend some time colouring in and  have a number of pages that could be used up instead of sitting in a book
. So I have made a start and promised myself to create more.


On the left is the original page.
I fussy cut out the bird and branch.
The base was  water coloured and stenciled
I did add a bit more shading to the bird,  with blue oxide ink, once I had it stuck down onto the background I used. The soft greens just seemed to disappear into the page.

The words were computer generated, the little bird is a digital image.


Thank you for calling in to see me today, you are always welcome here.

Thursday 22 June 2017

Circles and an Ocean of Dreams


Going round in circles  again........ 
 for Rosie's theme.... 'Circles'  at 



On the left there are a couple of photos  of how the page evolved. The base in this book is watercolour paper, so after a coat of Gesso,  I scribbled on some Distress  Crayons and then blended them with a damp baby wipe. I had found a pot of micro beads when searching for something else, so on they went as well.
Not just to the glued parts, but my desk,  the floor and even into my shoes.




I had a few flower shapes to use up and added  the alphabet stickers as well. 
The words were computer generated.






.........................................................................

I  saw on a  friends blog  that the current challenge theme at
is Under Water

I had a little digital play with my original page and came up with a Hybrid Page




It is her happy place and I think she looks relaxed and comfortable in her world.

Thank you for calling in to see me today, you are most welcome
 and your comments are always appreciated.

Digital information and credits
 can be found in my side bar.







Tuesday 20 June 2017

Letter and numbers for TioT's


Letters and numbers
 is the challenge theme for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesdays.
We can use letters or numbers or both somewhere our  work.
The girls as always have added some fabulous samples,
 I hope you will pop over to see them and join the fun.






My journal page started out, with mopped up oxide colours as a base.
Next  I used a TH stencil and modeling paste to  add  some texture.
Then I stamped a few  wild flowers. This didn't work our so good as it was water colour paper in my journal and the stamps didn't contact with the page so well.
I added more shading using the oxide inks and finished  the page using my digital program.


Thank you for calling in to see me today, you are most welcome and I appreciate the comments you leave for me

Monday 19 June 2017

Caravan living





Hello  everyone.
It's  Tuesday and T stands for Tuesday's over at
Where we are all made very welcome with a drinks related post

Today I am sharing a few photos taken at the National Land Rover Rally we were at a short while ago. The three in the photo above, had everyone's interest when they were on display. These grand old ladies are just about 70 years old. 


This was the view from our caravan, with views like this  everywhere you looked.

Our caravan is known to friends and family as the, ' travelling hotel,'    at these events.
Hot water for  showers,  a comfortable bed and plenty of wholesome food  to end the day.
Which takes me to the next couple of photos..



One of our evening meals, steak, salads and butternut squash spaghetti. Its a mish mash of crockery and bowls. Space is at a premium in the  van and even a pan  as in this photo gets taken to the table.






.
It was wine to drink with the meal.




For blog friends who have known me a while,
 the wellies were out and  did get worn on the last day, as we had a rather a lot of rain.




These events are usually held in the middle of nowhere and as I read a lot in the caravan, I was thrilled to find this book exchange  at the York site where we stayed at the beginning of the trip.
An old telephone box, the warden had added shelves for the books.
We could exchange books and leave a small contribution for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
It was a popular spot ,  most of my books are bought in Charity Shops,  I had a couple to change and was pleased to make my choices to take with me on my travels.

Thank you for calling in and I hope you have a Happy T day.

Sunday 18 June 2017

A day at the sea side.


A hybrid journal page today for Art Journal Journey
and Rosie's theme of..... Circles.
We have been having some super warm sunny weather here in the U.K. these past few days,
so I thought I would take a trip to the sea side.
I have some very happy memories of days at the beach when I was young and also with my own boys. My Gran always wore some sort of hat and never left home without her coat.
How times change.






The page started off with a piece of a napkin.
I do like using them as a starting point and they seem to create there own texture.





Some colouring came next using oxide inks.
I drew in some circles  so I could place my found relatives image  leaving space in  the circles free to add some words later.
The wording,  and a few extras were added using my digital program [notes in my side bar].




Thank you for stopping by, your comments are always appreciated.

Friday 16 June 2017

A Textured tag


A Textured Tag  for the new theme over at





I used a piece of a napkin as a base layer, which gave  the effects of a piece of woven material when looking closely at it.
There was a piece of a die cut, a small length of lace
and a butterfly printed on a piece of cotton.
Next some raised texture using a stencil and some modelling paste. The thread, rose and ribbon were the last additions before I added the words and dragon fly in my digital program.


Thank you for calling in to see me today, you are most welcome here.

Monday 12 June 2017

Make it work and a visit with T day friends


I am sharing a hybrid page with you all today and a reminder for the current challenge theme  over at
 Try it on Tuesdays, which can be interpreted in many  ways.

I am also going off to join friends at
for T day, we are always made welcome with a drinks related post.




The page began is one of my smaller journal books , the usual sort of inky background that I seem to favour these days and the left over die cuts from my project last week.

T gang please notice the tea cup,
was as usual close by,  at this point in time on the coaster.
Minutes earlier it was on the  left side of my desk and an accident waiting to happen.






I  had stamped the image on to tissue paper,
then glued it to the page.
If the background wasn't messy enough to begin with it was now as I knocked the cup and spilled  some  of the tea..
Now I will mention here, that tissue and tea will not be parted, so my poor girl looks quite ill at this stage, even after mopping her up with  kitchen roll.

I did enjoy messing with the colours in my computer program and managed to lighten her up a bit and add some wording.

I think today was one of those days when throw it out wasn't an option, I was on a mission, to make my mess work for me.


On the left I am sharing another collage of photos from when we were in York.
 The  photo of the Shambles was taken early on Sunday morning showing the   restaurant we had our lunch in later that day.
Mine was a pasta with smoked chicken and mushroom  sauce, my OH's was a folded pizza filled with ham and cheese.




What I really wanted to share and don't be shocked, you know my preferred beverage is Tea.
   But  I did have a Coffee at the end of the meal.


Thank you for calling in today, I always enjoy your company.
Happy T day.

Friday 9 June 2017

Together forever


A mainly had crafted page from me today with the addition
 of a digital image of a young couple.


Its an inked and stencil background.
Some found relatives photos which I cut into circles. scraps of book print and washi tape.
I always intended to use the digi image. 
Many of us I'm sure, made lasting friendships in our school days.
Some even may have met our  other half back then and not realised we would spend a lifetime together.
This page is my take on one aspect of the Circle of life, when you can look back  and have fond memories of those bygone  days.


I am sharing this page with the folk at 
Where Rosie is hosting  this months theme.....  Circles

Thank you for stopping by today, you are most welcome and your visit is always appreciated.



Wednesday 7 June 2017

In the round


Its a hybrid journal page from me today for
where Rosie    has given us the theme of.......... Circles for this month.

The base layers are in my journal, some spread around modelling paste and news print,
this is going to be used sometime in the future for a hands on messy page.

I added some digital images,  quotes and some colour splashes and I just had to use these cute faces from  one of my digital kits. {Oscraps}.  Once again,  I used the digital punch on photos of my own backgrounds, to cut the coloured discs behind the heads.

Thank you for calling in to see me today, I really appreciate your visit to my blog.


Tuesday 6 June 2017

Steampunk for TioT's


The new challenge  over at Try it on Tuesdays
is Steampunk/Mechanical/ cogs/ wheels etc.
lots of ways to interpret and choices for  this theme, I went for steampunk.

Please pop over for all the details and see how the  girls  interpreted this theme,
We are also sharing some news this week at TioT's.




I started off with this old wood frame.
It soaked up the paint and inks. I also added some stencilling for added texture as well as some Frantage embossing powders.







I stuck down some die cut wheels and cogs etc.
They were also inked and smeared with gilding wax.  I had the metal bits and pieces sent by a craft friend ages ago, they were just what I was looking for to add a bit more detail.  Mr Frog is a digital image [Mischief circus] and the words were added with the help of the computer 
A few splatters of black ink and I decided to call it a day.









This is one of my work in progress photos with the cuppa close by as usual.


Thank you all for calling in ,  your visit and comments are always appreciated.


If you called in for T day, please scroll down to my earlier post.


Monday 5 June 2017

A Giant Teapot



Hello everyone who calls in to share a cuppa with me.
Bleubeard and Elizabeth     host ... T stands for Tuesday
where we are all made welcome if we share a drinks related post.
I am sharing a few photos, taken when visiting a National Trust House,  near York.
The first photo is a digital layered collage using some of the photos from our visit to.........







The grounds and gardens were lovely to walk in as it was  a lovely sunny warm day.

I love to be taken back in time  to see how folk lived and worked in these large houses.

The laundry was huge, with all the latest gadgets from the time.
I was taken  with the crimping
machine [bottom right].
The edging looked wonderful.



Inside the building they also had wonderful lace displayed. 
The tea setting in the corner of the room was for the Laundry mistress to take her tea and still be able to watch over her workers.
Now how about this wonderful tea pot at the entrance to the cafe/tearoom.
It was hard to get a photo that did it justice ,
 made from metal and china, it glinted and reflected in the sunshine.
The choice for us was a cheese scone, tea for me, coffee for my hubby.

Thank you for calling in to see me , I hope you have a lovely day.

Friday 2 June 2017

Country life


A tag for the new theme, 'Animals',  over at..
I used a few scraps and a piece of a fun paper napkin from Valerie.
This happy bovine sure makes me smile.
The rabbit was a wood die cut,
 the flowers and words were digital additions.[Notes in my side bar].


While I was in messy mode, I decided to use another corner of the napkin to make a journal page, it had a mopped up background from a brusho powder spill.
 I think the only way to give this a make over was to make it into a hybrid page
I painted over parts of the cow's body to cover some of the colour from the background. Added a few stencils  and some tape, which you can see better in the next photo.




My  smiling cow, cannot believe what he is seeing, I think the gnome gave him a real surprise.
They are all digital additions on the right side of the page. 

Thank you for calling in to see me, you are most welcome and I appreciate the comments you leave for me.