Do you serve bowls of fresh water here..........

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a lovely day.

This is my last page for this months  over at 

Art Journal Journey

where Rike's theme for the month has been Animals A to Z
I have really enjoyed this theme, thank you Rike for your  super topic.

Blue brusho's for the background colour  and  a  little stencilling.
A cup and saucer die cut  with some fussy cut dogs and a bird.

Its also T. day

 over at Bleubeard and Elizabeths

where we are always made to feel very welcome with a drinks related post

To end a rather mixed and busy week we  had a family Birthday celebration at the weekend
  I feel I have eaten far to much,
but there was just a little space to have a piece of apple slice with cream on Sunday afternoon
after all the clearing away had be done.

However you spend this Tuesday, I hope it's a good one .

Dogs just want to have fun.

I've had one of those weeks when  plans made went out of the window,

 or were put on hold for later in the week, 

 unexpected things happened and needed attention.

Thank goodness that I have crafting as a means to escape and  get back to normality

and I had some posts organised  for TioT's and my Diary Day.

 Its now Sunday afternoon and there is calmness in our household again.....for now.....

I found this page I started possibly last  weekend   and had  forgotten  until I reached for this journal book to begin another page.

The background was  a mop up and I had stamped the cat images and background stamping.

I cannot remember where I intended to go next with the page.

I'm sure it was  meant for Rike's theme of Animal A to Z

 over at

Art Journal Journey

A search though magazine cut outs, old calendars  etc  and I found this fun piece  to add to the page.

Now that would be a sight  to see, a dog balancing on a rope holding up his friend in a barrow.

The sentiment stamp  I used  just seemed to fit this page's start in life.

The cat sitting wondering  if she can believe  what she is seeing on the page,

 was computer generated.

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

Create a bit of sunshine

Gloomy winter days, just make you wish for a bit of sunshine

and maybe a smile to help the day pass by.
Today we actually have some sun, but it is very cold and the weather forecast people are telling us that we will get snow again this coming week.

So how  did this page begin in my mixed media journal
The base  is material, the stag propping up on his elbow is a torn napkin.
I then added some embossing through a stencil some raised some flat  and extra colouring with oxide inks.



As the base is a burlap  material I didn't risk any stamping, so the rest is computer generated. [notes in my sidebar].
I have tried in the past to stamp onto this open weave material but it  looked a right messy image. So if you have any ideas  I would really appreciate them.

I will be joining the folk  at
 Art Journal Journey
 and  Rike's theme of Animals A to Z.
Have a good weekend and
thank you for stopping by,  your visit is always very much appreciated.

Feelings ....Diary day

Diary day week 8

On the left is the original page in the diary.

This  coming weeks addition is a  Jane Davenport napkin/tissue
Again stencils and colour and some washi tape word strip.
This was an easy page to   make  as its been a busy week for me.
I called this page Feelings. Each day this past week seems to have brought its own  words as to how I have felt during the day.
Looking at them later will be  interesting  I try to recall why I had written some of them.
Here are a few.......happy,   sadness, windblown,  calm,
 unsettled, loved.

Thank you for calling in to see me, I hope you have a good weekend

Just friends

I have a hybrid journal page to share today with 

Art Journal Journey

for Rike's theme of Animal A to Z

This  sweet hedgehog from a colouring in book was my starting place.

 I found this book  in a discount book shop  and it really appealed to me as it does have

  plenty clear space around the  figures.

This makes it much easier for me to play about with in the computer program I use.[see my sidebar].

I often cut out the things I want to use on a page, but this book has pictures to colour on both sides  so Mr Hedgehog will stay where he is in his Enchanted Forest.

 I have mentioned before that I go to an art group in the library

We were pleased to find out that the Library will be open  until the next review takes place in 2020, keeping the same part time hours as we have  now,

It is with this group of friends  that  my interest
 in the non-messy side  of colouring  began. 

. The ladies bring in books  and we photo copy and share pages that interest us.  There is much laughter, lots of tea and coffee to drink,  good conversation, the time just flies by.  

We can even aspire to being famous and colour in our version of  a masterpiece.

Thank you for stopping by today, you are always welcome here.

Remember When.....Vintage at TioT's

A journal page from me for the new challenge theme  of.....
Vintage 
that begins today at....

Try it on Tuesdays

Please pop over to see how all the D.T. interpreted the theme
 and we hope you will join us there.

On the left is a couple of photos I remembered to take as  I was enjoying making this journal page

For the background I  mopped up some  oxide inks that I had sprayed with water on my glass mat.
My favourite stencils were used next, some with modeling paste to give a bit of texture.
All the other additions came from my stash.

 My take on the Vintage theme  was a memory lane trip,  back to school days.
I was lucky mine were happy ones, but going back further I think girls must have had a hard time getting an education..  Most were sent off to work as soon as they reached school leaving age or expected to work in the home helping their mothers.

Thank you for stopping by today, you are always very welcome here.

If you have called in for T Day, please,

please scroll down to my earlier post.

Cats and Antiques

Another journal page featuring cats for

Art Journal Journey

and Rike's theme of Animals from A to Z.

The cats I used for this page were torn from a paper napkin. I did have to touch up a few areas with coloured pencils as this napkin tore very easily when it was  being stuck down onto the page.

A few stencils in the background,

 then stamped with some wild flower stamps.

 I used distress inks and oxides  as  I wanted not so bright colours today.

The quote was computer generated,

 my writing is terrible.

I will say hello to Bleubeard and Squiggles here as I am also visiting with friends over at

Bleubeard and Elizabeths 

where we are always made to feel very welcome with a drinks related post.

Today's drink comes together with a Hot Cross buttered bun.

This was our  treat  at the weekend .
We had been to  an Antiques/Retro Fair held in a school not to far away from where we live. A new venue for the organiser and they said they would be coming back later in the year, if it proved popular.

It was quite busy and not all stall holders like photos taken, but I did manage to get a few with the stall holders permission.

This was was selling all kinds of copperware. 

The weight of the copper pans  would be  far to heavy to have in my kitchen..

I did think the old leather shoes and the cuddly toys looked out of place among all the gleaming pots and pans.

Old tools and keys, hundreds of them and still the stall holder was advertising for more.

Husband was in his element, I left him chatting with the owner and had to go back and  get him moving  to see what else there was  to see at the fair.

I had to get a photo of the clock hanging over the corner of the box.
I think ,any kids would like one of these especially if they had the Hogwarts box as well.

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

Dreams and Nightmares

My first share today is this tag for the current theme... 'Add a Quote'.......... over at

Tag Tuesday.

The background is coloured  oxide inks . Next , an old stamp embossed with gold powder , some added stencils and finished off with stamps from That's Crafty.

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

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

This following  page I  nearly  ripped out of my journal as it caused me all sorts of  nightmares..

A simple start, using  some older inkpads to create a background. Stamps of cats I have had for years , I think they came with a magazine.

So far so good,  but what to add next......

Add a couple of Tim Holtz cats?? by this time I was in complete add as much as you can mode.

I am not good at STOP here, its enough.

Even I can say to myself that this is a rather busy looking page,

 more inks etc. etc. being added.

So I will leave you to make your own minds up about this page, but I will say I did have fun.

The words were computer generated.

I even found a few more cat images  to add from the computer.[digital notes in my sidebar]

I will add this page to........

 Art Journal Journey

where Rike's theme is Animals,  A- to Z

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

Birds of a feather.....Diary Day

Friday is diary day............

This is  the next page to use in my Dylusions diary. A page to colour in,  adding a few extras of my own .  I think you know by now  that I like to add colour to plain pages.
 I used distress oxides and water colours

Yesterday I shared this  digital page on my other blog and decided to share it here as well. It also fits the current A.J.J .theme



So I will join the folk at
 Art Journal Journey
again today for Rike's theme of Animals A  to  Z.













Thank you for stopping by to see me today, you are all very welcome here.

Tiger for AJJ

A  poem by William Blake  prompted me for this page in my 8 x 8 inch journal
I am really enjoying Rike's theme.... Animasl A to Z......  this month over at
 Art Journal Journey

This is a link to the Wikipedia page if you wanted to read the poem
 and see Blake's original illustrated  printing
from 1794

The tiger is a stamp, but it is another that I have had a while and cannot remember the maker.
 I used water colurs for the tiger and background.
Next I used a stencil and distress inks to add a little scenery.
 A tiger definition  I found on the net and a paper scrap were added next.
In the digital program I use I was able to get an image of my tigers head to add as an extra detail.
The poem is computer generated.


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

Share some love.

Its time to share some love as it will soon be Valentines day.

In case you wonder... no....  we don't celebrate this day in our home.

There is love in our home every day of the week and not just on special occasions.

So I will start off and say hello to friends over at

  Bleubeard and Elizabeths

where we are always made welcome with a drinks related post .

There is my first cuppa today beside the computer as I am writing this post.

You can also see how my journal page began.

A paper hearts napkin, another  animal picture from the old calendar. A bit  of paint mop up on the page was easily  hidden as the layers went on top.

I also used the heart stencil as you  see in the first photo.

On the subject of photos my camera has needed a bit of care this week, which resulted in us having to make a trip to  The Metro Centre a large out of town shopping centre.  It turned out it needed a new battery as the one I use was  refusing to charge up. So much cheaper  than a new  camera.

Refreshments were needed, we decided to have a meal out in Frankie and Benny's .

Garlic mushrooms to begin, Lasagne  came next. I was flagging a bit by now as the portions were huge and I  did leave  some of this second course,  

This is always a popular eating place,  I was able to get a photo of the booth opposite us between diners.

My dink to end the meal was Tea  and we did have a laugh, it came as a brew your own, a mug of hot water with a teabag on the side.

I did find room for my added bonus of a small slice of chocolate fudge cake

A last photo to show  you today,
 of one of the patches of snowdrops in our garden.


We've even noticed the daffodils are  well on their way as well. Far to soon for some of  these flowers as winter hasn't left us yet.

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

I will  be sharing my journal page  with friends at ....

Art Journal Journey

and Rike's theme of Animals A to Z

Another reminder  is  for the current challenge theme of
 Love is in the Air.... at
Try it on Tuesdays

I think my  8 x 8 inch journal  page  fits both of  these themes.

Update
Thanks for the reminder Susi for the theme over at
Moo Mania and More
Love...Valentines..... I will add the page over there as well

.

Deer in the woods

Last year we were lucky to see  some deer and their young ones,

when we were walking in woodland.

 This memory prompted me to create this journal page for...

Art Journal Journey

and Rike's theme of Animals A to Z

The page did start with base layers in my own journal, embossed stencils, torn book print and a few layers of paint, even a touch of gilding wax on the textured border.

It was completed in the digital program I use, adding  more layers and the images. [notes in my sidebar].

Thank you for calling in today, you are always welcome her and the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

Notes to self

 Friday is Diary Day..... week 7

 I will be needing to make a  few   ' notes to myself'  this week.
 Two of the group meetings that I go to in  the Library, which is in the next village
 are always good for a  chat at coffee time,  we are hoping that we can keep it open,
 it such an airy spacious place to meet.
 But,  cost always  plays a large part in our Councils keeping these buildings open.
 So we are hoping for some good news and fingers crossed
 we will be safe from closure for another year.

I quite liked the colourful pre-printed page for this coming week, but as I am  not really a fan of plain pages  I had to add a few stencils to the plain diary side of the page.

I used a stamped word quote adding some found relatives and a few die cuts.

Thank you for calling in to see me
 and I hope you all have a good weekend.

Mr Hare

I have at long last used the other animal stamp I had at Christmas.

I am introducing you to Mr Hare.

I used an 8 x 8 inch journal 

the background shading started off with oxide inks and I did leave a space where I knew I was going to stamp the image.  

The trusted water colour paints and pencils were used to colour  him in.

Next   came the stencils, again oxide inks were used  for colouring.

On the left are three photos of these stages, including the word stamp that came in the set.As I was colouring this I  was reminded of the story of Alice and the  rabbit that was always late So I did add a few extras in the digital program I use [notes in my sidebar].

 However I am happy with my original version with the empty space [bottom left] and that is how Mr Hare will remain in my journal.

I will be joining the folk over at

 Art Journal Journey

and Rike's theme of ....Animals from A to Z

Thank you for stopping by to see me. your visit is always appreciated.

Have a heart

A tag today for the challenge theme 'Have a Heart'
 over at

 Tag Tuesday

Those found relatives are getting into many of my projects and the packet never seems to get any smaller. But I have to admit to them being a very useful craft item.

This tag was made mainly with left overs, a piece if embossed card, a snippet of lace, , a button coloured because it began life a rather vivid shade of pea green.  The heart cut from a piece of mop up paper which I  covered with clear embossing powder  then cracked it using my fingers.

I used some gilding wax on the surfaces, but they didn't show on the  photo so well.

I have just seen that  the new challenge theme at
  Moo Mania and More

is.....Love -Valentines
I will join in over there as well.

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