Friday 31 March 2017

Going home after being Out and About for AJJ


My last journal page   as Guest Hostess for March.
over at...... Art Journal Journey

Out and About  has been  a good theme for me and I think that many of you enjoyed this as well.

I have been absolutely thrilled at all the inspirational pages
 that have been shared over at AJJ this past month.
Visiting your blogs has been a real pleasure and I thank you  all for taking time to join in.

I must also thank Susi for  the invitation to be AJJ's guest this past month..

It was blogfriends  Valerie and Susi who introduced me to AJJ
 sparked my interest to experiment and create more pages.
Girls you know you  got me hooked.






This page is one from my Stampington Colouring book.
I thought it would be just right to return home
for this last time after all the days being
 Out and About.







It had a few layers added as a base, before the digital extras and altering  were added.
[notes in my sidebar].
Thank you for all your visits this month following my days out,
  its good to be home again,

 I gave myself a personal challenge this month to make a page for each day.
  Those of you who visit regularly know we said goodbye to our lovely old  Collie  Meg at the beginning of February and this challenge has helped me to  face  the world , something to  concentrate on  when   I needed time to myself, to  have a purpose. .
Time heals and crafting  for sure helps me.



I hope, like me,  you will all call back tomorrow  to
 Art Journal Journey 

to see what the new theme for next month
 will be.


Thursday 30 March 2017

York with Agnes and Arthur.


One more day and  my month as guest hostess  for
 will come to an end.
Today  Agnes and Arthur will be  will be Out and About for the last time this month  visiting York.
This has always been a place we like to visit
 and all being well we will be taking the caravan to stay near  there sometime in May.



 I used this inky background and the  fussy cut images as a starting point for the page.
The overlay images of York buildings came in an Os Scraps kit.

So one more day  of out and about , I will leave my goodbyes until tomorrow, while these two say goodbye today.

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

Wednesday 29 March 2017

Listen , what can you hear, when you are outside ?


A real rural scene and destination for me today
Out and About at

The peace and tranquility of the countryside is something I may take for granted when we live so close to green fields, farms and woodland. It feels timeless, no need to rush about and plan what will happen in the next hour or so.
Walking  anywhere,  if you take time to stop and listen what do you hear? 
 In the countryside it may be  the natural sounds of birds and animals, the wind rustling the leaves in the trees, a tractor ploughing the fields etc.
In a town, completely the opposite, noise is all around, mainly traffic, car horns beeping,  a shout or two,  the sound of voices etc.
I know where I  choose to listen to life going on around me,


This is how my journal page began.
A paint sprayed background, some texture added through stencils. scraps of paper from my cluttered desk.
 The chickens were torn from a napkin and well stuck down.
Then the digital elements  were added [information in my sidebar].

Thank you for calling in today, you are all very welcome.

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Floral Cards for TioT's

There is a new challenge theme starting today over at
  Try it on Tuesdays........... Botanicals


Flowers, leaves or foliage are to be the main focus.
There are some fantastic examples, please pop over to see them and I hope you will join us this time.

The cards I am sharing are both made using the same stencilled and paint splashed  backgrounds.
The flowers were from an Os scraps kit and  added in my digital program.
These won't be sent in the conventional postal way, they will be posted with an email via the internet.
 If you'd asked me a few years ago to do this, I would have probably laughed. 
But now I think it is a good way to keep in touch, cheer folk up if they are feeling low.
send them wishes on a special day. 

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

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

For digital information 
please see notes in my side bar.

Woodlands


I am Out and About today for AJJ
 as well as visiting friends  for T day at 

Where we are all made very welcome and share a tea related post.
So I will start by sharing a cuppa.
Always to hand when I am in the craft room.
this is how the journal page began, with some colouring in.







I also wanted to use the photo of the fungi we found quite unexpectedly growing on a  wall/stepped area in the garden
  after a frosty start to the day. 



Another clump of them,
perhaps they grew and were protected because we hadn't cleared all the leaves in this area.
Also the amount of rain before the frost, we had could have helped as well . I don't have an answer, but we've never had them in the garden before.





On the left is some photos of the stages in creating the digital version.
It  can be just as much fun creating pages 
 as hands on creating.
Its not a quick process and can take  just as long as the creative way.  It does have a few  bonus points ....
 Clean hands, and less mess for a start.
Would I take this step completely, 
NO
nothing can beat inky . messy fingers and  the clutter and  the creative fun of making something in the real. not virtual world.
The page is for
where there are only a few days left to join in.
Thank you to my T day friends who have also joined  the Out and About fun at AJJ this month and enjoyed the theme.

Happy T Day everyone.


Monday 27 March 2017

Sing for AJJ


I am Out and About  today for..... 

not far today, just outside my door to listen to the birds singing.
Spring is in the air.




This is the start of the page in my 8 x 8 inch journal.  A distress ink and water colour background. A stencil using paste for texture . some random stamped wild flowers , then Dina Wakley birds stamped onto tissue.
 A photo taken. some added digital extras and the page is completed.

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

Sunday 26 March 2017

Collecting Moments for AJJ


Its a calm spring day, no rushing around like yesterday.
For sure I will be taking time to appreciate the  countryside around my home.

I would also like to wish you a
 Happy Mothers Day,
if you are celebrating it like we do today, in the U.K.





Another hybrid page  today, my own background somewhere under the digital layers. These two appear on the March page in my kitchen calendar.

There are many rabbits in hedgerows of  the fields near us. I have never been quick or close  enough to catch them in a photo.  They don't like us humans.





I am counting down the days now for my month as guest at
not many to go now and I have appreciated all your company  this month.
For digital information
please see notes in my sidebar.

Saturday 25 March 2017

An adventure ...and a tag


Where would I like to go  today?
If I had a choice and the weather was  warm and I could go anywhere,
The magic carpet parked outside my front door.......
[maybe it would help my fear of flying]
Perhaps I would I  join Mr E., go for an adventure and see where the carpet landed.
.

I didn't know how this page would evolve,
it began with sticking a variety of scrap papers in to my journal.
Mr Evolution man was stamped onto tissue and as you can see he hadn't been stuck down properly, no worries a quote would cover that hole up.
What to add next, where would he go for his outing?  I remembered seeing these small pictures in  one of the scraps boxes, I think they may have been Crafty Individuals..


Six more days to get out and about at AJJ
I have so enjoyed seeing everyone's interpretation of the theme.
you  are all 'inspirational'.
.............................
****************

Now I am sure Mr E.  would have packed a small suitcase,
just in case he decided to stop over somewhere.
So he would need a tag  with his name on written on the back so his luggage wouldn't get lost.....

More bits and pieces were used for this tag ....
Made....... so I can join the folk at

Tag Tuesday

where the theme for the challenge is 'Birds and Nests'.
The scribbly lines were added in my digital program.

Thank you for calling in to see me today,  I really enjoy your company here..

Friday 24 March 2017

An Art Exhibition for AJJ


I am out and about in my imagination today for

 and going   to an Art Exhibition, where I would be able to see many paintings by my favourite artists all under one roof. 
 Now I think this outing would appeal to many folk as it does to me.





I did use my own background, but all the additions were computer additions [notes in my side bar].





So how will I spend today,,,
I will pull up a chair, beside my patio door,. If its warm I will open it, if not I can still see what is out there in my garden.  Get a few of my favourite art books close by  and a cup of something hot. Then think about these artists and how they transport us to seeing  what they could  see, when they were ,   'out and about'.

Thank you for stopping by today, your company is very much appreciated.

Thursday 23 March 2017

Where will we go today? for AJJ


In my Out and About page for Art Journal Journey we have ,
Agnes and Arthur's two friends  come for a visit  and they are wondering
 where to take them  out for the day.
The Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales.?
These are two of our favourite destinations and I would be happy to go to either of the choices.


The journal page has a mop up background, the pictures were torn from an old calendar. I am lucky to have friends who pass me their old cards etc. 
There is a bit of stencilling again for textures and a few splashes of paint.
The figures are Paper Artsy stamps and the words were computer generated.

Thank you for calling in today, you are very welcome.
I wonder which place you would choose to go to.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Springtime Surprises...


Spring Surprises 

When I entered the the first theme at Tag Tuesday.
I never imagined that I would be the name picked out of the hat to win  the gorgeous tag book  that Valerie made. The surprise was even greater when the postman delivered me
  a mail art box containing more goodies.


Its been a busy month for me as I am trying to create a page each day for Art Journal Journey where I am the guest hostess for the month and  after a number of days looking at the contents, I'm sure you all know what I mean when I say this.
 I have used a small piece of one of the napkins  for my ' Out and About' page at ........
 Art Journal Journey today.





I have some nearly dried up ink pads which I used to colour the background. Used a stencil and paste next for a bit of texture.
Then came the napkin, I love these blue flowers. Which brought me to thinking that even this early in Spring there are flowers for us to see when we are out and about.
The birds were Dina Wakley stamps and the sentiment was computer generated.




Thank you for stopping by to see me today
and thank you once again Valerie for the goodies that I know I will enjoy using.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

A..Circus, Zoo , Pit and a T.Day natter.


A fun page for Art Journal Journey today

and I hope it will make friends from Elizabeth and Bleubeard's a smile  when they call in. as well.



This is how it began with a page from my colouring book. 
and two stamped animal  images
 [I think they were from Katzelcraft].





Out and About took me today  to see Nellie and a visit to the zoo.
Well by now you know I can spin a yarn and as I live nowhere near a zoo, all the information came via the internet. But crafting and creating is fun and I enjoyed  adding the extra page and if I lived near a zoo I most certainly would be a visitor.

I am adding a couple of  photo I took in the Garden Center  car park on Monday .




Fancy stepping out of the car and seeing one of these towering over you.

Hello T day Friends, at

I haven't forgotten to share a cuppa with you all 
there it is  on my desk beside the pencils.



I  did see some live  animals ,
 close up, when I was  at Beamish last week
They for sure had the Ahhhhhhh factor and I'm  pleased to say their  life is a lot more comfortable now,  than it would have been when this was a fully working pit.

The pit entrance


This building was first built around 1855 then  re-sited at Beamish in the late 1980's.
Everything has been carefully restored and is still in working order.
Below is a photo taken inside  of the winding machinery .


A few photos of the pieces of machinery outside the engine shed




Here they are................ the Pit Ponies
well looked after and very cosy in their stables





It was really surprising how small the ponies are, but very sturdy as you can see.

The next two photos show the tack room and stable office



How about this for a health and Safety notice from those days.

Thank you for getting this far on my long post today
 and thank you for calling in to see me on T Day.