Counting down the days.

I am on my countdown , hoping for a bit more freedom in two days time.

[ writing this post Monday evening].

With a bit of a struggle I managed to get a photo of  my new found craft item..........a large red poly bag, wrapped around my left arm.  

 An aid for me  to get a little bit messy  on a couple of occasions recently, its also a good paper weight as well, although it tends to slide around the desk a bit.

This page is simply stuck down book papers. Paint swiped over the top using a wipe, then a spray of ink [an own blend colour]

I had found some skeleton leaves to use and some stickers. The words are a stencil..

I am just in time to join the folk over at 

Art Journal Journey for Chris's theme  

Art for Arts Sake,
  a new theme will be announced for August.

I am also adding a reminder for the current Try it on Tuesdays

theme..... Use Bookpaper

Now, I am  off to visit friends at

 Bleubeard and Elizabeths

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

There has been a lot of plain iced water  to drink  during the very hot days we had in the UK.
I never thought I would say this but we had storms at the weekend and they were very welcome.

 After a visit to the Opticians last week we decided to have an Italian meal on the way home. Pasta for me and Lasagna for the OH.

Usually we have had to ask for a jug of water,  on this particular day it was offered. 

I will close by sharing 

 more photos of our walk in the grounds  of Wallington Hall,

 T day friends will have seen my first batch last week.

They were having a red squirrel watch, but we didn't see any.

But the ducks  were enjoying the sun by the edge of the pond.

We loved these little doors at the base of the trees,

 a great way to get children interested  and involved.

We left the glass houses  via one of the walled garden doors.

 The one on the right had us passing by.......

this environmentally friendly, waterless toilet,

 close to information on the new Biomass heating system  installed  also to benefit our environment.

This metal sculptured arch glinted in the sunshine, 

there was another identical one at the end of this long straight path.

Wallington has a lovely  display of snowdrops in the springtime.
This was a wonderful organic sculpture  to come across in  an open area of woodland.
I do hope ,as the polite notice asks, that it will be looked after for many years.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a good day.

Diary Day ...Rose.... week 30

Week 30 and I allowed myself a bit of a play with paint.

My left arm wrapped in the poly bag, I squirted some acrylic paints onto the diary page , then dabbed and blended them with a 

nearly dried out baby wipe. 

I used the stencil, but realised it was a waste of time over the painted side of the spread. I also tried a bit of random stamping and it was luck where the stamp fell on the page.

The pretty rose card  came from Chris, a piece of beauty amongst my  painty mess... Its not neat or tidy but I did enjoy myself.

I will join the folk at 

Art Journal Journey

 and Chris's theme for the month

Art for Art's  Sake .


Thank you for calling in, I hope you have a good weekend.

Create Art

I am having inky withdrawl symptoms so  decided to look through my journals

 to see if I had any background pages that I could use.

I got quite excited when I found  a  page which,was inked, probably mop ups to start with and a bit of random stamping.

My next problem was to find  stamps I could handle  hey presto....feathers,  a bit forgiving when smudged and easy to touch up with black pen.

The jar.... phew... I got the stamp block turned over and onto the page without dropping it.

The words are a stencil

At this stage I decided to add the stitches and black flowers in the digital program I use, just in case my luck ran out. 

I am counting down the days now....7 to go until I hopefully can use both hands.

I will join the folk over at Art Journal Journey

and Chris's theme

Art for Arts Sake

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

Book Paper...... for TioT's

The new challenge theme over at

 Try it on Tuesday

wants us to use Book Paper .

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

This is the last of the projects I had started making  in advance before we went away .

I made a mixed media piece with some digital additions.

Beginning with card and some torn book paper.

Antique linen distress ink for shading.

It takes no guessing for those that know me well, the stencils were  used next.

On the left are a couple of  photos showing the stages I completed in the conventional crafting way.

I had to finish  my card  using digital additions.

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

Digital information can be

found in my sidebar.

T. day and a trip out

Its  Tuesday and its T day

so I am off to visit with friends at

Bleubeard and Elizabeths

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

 First of all thank you Chris

This fantastic  ATC dropped through my letterbox on Saturday,  from Chris my swap partner. I love it. although I think I am a bit clumsy at the moment to think about using such delicate china.

I am hoping Chris received mine, posted on Friday morning, but our post  can take days and I think it could be quicker if a snail delivered it.

So what have I been up to this past few days......

Last week on a slightly cooler day we visited the Walled Garden at Wallington Hall

The plants on the table were in a  humble tin and looked to me just as good as the large ornate ones.

This is the large glass house in the walled garden,

It was too hot to stay inside it for long , but these are a few of the indoor plants.

This is quite a photo heavy post from me today,  time for a break

I haven't forgotten its T day , so before we  had a walk in the grounds we stopped off for a welcome cuppa. I can drink tea even on the hottest of days, we had cheeses scones . OH was enjoying soup with his.

I will share more photos later in the week.

thank you for calling in to see me, you are all very welcome here.

Diary day ... week 29

I used another pre coloured page as my starter for this weeks diary,

1st....cover splinted arm with a poly bag,

 I gave myself an ink warning today as I was going to try to paint

 a couple of bases for journal pages as well.[ I'll let you know how I got on in another post.]

Add a few stencils to  bring both sides of the diary together.

Then I searched the  bits boxes  to see what I could find.........

animals from an old calendar

scraps of muslin

a few small shapes and TH phrases.

Ask OH to get the lid off the glue for me

  as I got into all sorts of difficulties with double sided tape.

Job done.

I will add this to Chris's theme of
Art for Art's Sake over at
  Art Journal Journey
Now this  may not be a new technique or new stash,
 but for me it is learning to  create art while learning how to cope with using only one hand.

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

Celebrate

Happy 5th T.  Day  Anniversary  wishes to
Bleubeard and Elizabeth
where each Tuesday we are all,  always made very welcome with a drinks related post.

Elizabeth is also inviting us to join an ATC swap this week.

It is a while since I made any ATC's, these ones have a simple stamped background
 and are coloured with distress inks.

 I got this far before I went away, having all sorts of ideas to finish them of when I got home.
 Fate had a say in this, but, I was able to add  die cuts. so I am happy that I will be able to use one to join in the ATC swap this time.

I  have set out a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses to join in today's T day celebrations,
but I will be saving my glass until I am having my evening meal.


Thank you for calling in to see me today.
Happy T day everyone.

Art for arts sake .....

Another digital page for Chris's theme of

 Art for Arts Sake...... over at 

Art Journal Journey

I did have a photo of  a  mixed media/digital page , made a while ago to use as my starting point.   

After  a weekend of watching tennis finals at Wimbledon and the Tour de France cycling, It was good to sit and create art.....well,  my kind of art  at the present time.

The added sewing idea came from some super journal spreads I have seen recently on Susi's and other friends blogs.

Mine is not the real thing, its a digital addition. 

17 more days  until I hope to say goodbye to the splints on my left arm. You can tell I am counting the days.

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

Digital information can

be found in my sidebar.

Diary Day..... week 28

This week I am so pleased that there are pre coloured pages in my diary.

I am not one to give up  on plans made and my weekly diary is one of those , even though I may have been tempted to decorate the pages later.

I have been able to use some stencils , held in place with tape,   it was a bit of a performance to get the lids off the inkpads with
 only my right hand.   

  Okay,  its not a crisp outline to Mr U, and he is a bit smudged around the edges, I used pens for outlines  and the words.  but hey, this a goal achieved for me this week.

I have to thank Chris, using Mr U came from a fantastic journal spread
 I saw on her blog the other day.
I'll join in at Art Journal Journey  and the theme of Art for Art's sake

Thank you for calling in today,

Your visits are always very much appreciated.

Add a quote....at TioT's

The new Try it on Tuesday's

challenge the theme is.....

Add a Quote.
Please pop over to see what we have all been making and get the details,

we hope you will join us there.

 This is another piece that I am pleased  to have made before I had my fall.

.

I have gone all pink  and girly for this hybrid/mixed media project, mainly because I wanted to use one of

 Audrey Hepburn's quotes.

I believe in pink.

I believe that  laughing is the best calorie burner.

I believe in being strong when

everything seems to be going wrong.

I believe that happy girls are

the prettiest girls.

I believe that tomorrow is another day.

I believe in miracles.

I began with a water coloured page in my journal. Some stencil  and  random  stamps. The two stylish women are Tim Holtz stamps. The quote is also a stamp, but I have no note of who made it.

You can see I used this page after I had taken the photo,

 to frame up in the computer program I use.. It could be used in this way as a gift for someone who likes ''pink''.

But for me I think it will be staying in the journal, to have a smile at  and remember the time

 I went just a bit girly.

Thank you for stopping by you are always welcome here.

Who said this is not art

Hello  friends who call in from

Bleubeard and Elizabeths

where........ T stands for Tuesday

 and we are welcome with a drinks related post.

Thank you all for your kind wishes last week, as you see I am managing to craft.....digital pages.

 I am lucky to have had some  DT and diary projects  already  made.

This weeks drinks  photo was taken in the caravan,

hubby had assembled a cherry scone for me to have with my cuppa.......

filled with orange jam with a spoon of thick cream on top.

have my word for it , it tasted yummy.

My digital page was fun to make and kept me occupied for quite a while,
as did typing up this post

and the quote is one I really can relate to.

I would be stir crazy if I didn't have this crafting path to follow. until I can get hands on ink  again.

I've never been one to sit around, indoors  knitting, sewing, embroidery  were  my hobbies

 before I got the crafting bug.  

 I do however enjoy reading,there is nothing better than  getting engrossed with  a good book in the evening.. I am currently reading ...... The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton..... half way through it and I find it hard to put down, its a super book..

I will add my digital page to 

Art Journal Journey

and Chris's theme...

Art for Arts Sake

Happy T day wishes and thank you for calling in today.

Old ways won't open new doors.

Well,  as you know I am having to learn many ways to do things  with only one hand at the moment.

Crafting withdrawl symptoms  are coming high on my list of things to overcome .

 I have  to find a way around this matter.

Only another 24 days  until I may be able to say, goodbye to the splints.

I have sprayed a couple of pages with ink, looked at some stamps, but that is as far as hands on pages have  progressed.

 I will be sharing  digital pages here on my main blog for a while,[ notes in my sidebar]

 so you can see how I am spending my time.

I have a few new  digital kits to explore and use,  no inky fingers to wash off with this page.
 Lots of layers and effects, that I think,  look a bit  like a mixed media page

If the folk from
Art Journal Journey

won't mind my all digital pages, I will happily come over and join Chris's theme.
Arts for Arts Sake.
Thank you Elizabeth and Susi, I have been over to AJJ and joined in.

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

Sometimes I just sit .....Diary day Week 27

Diary day week 27

I am so pleased I have  a few diary  pages made in advance,
one arm to use is not helpful when I am used to both.
and I have done a lot of sitting this past week
The things I  have taken for granted would fill a book and the broken arm seems to get in the way all the time, it wants to help, but it cannot.

A  pre printed page covered  with white gesso was the starting place for the  page.

Book print scraps, stencils, a bit of stamping and a sweet dog torn from a napkin.

I will add this page to Art Journal Journey.
Chris is hosting the new theme
Art for Arts Sake.
This page is the kind of art I enjoy creating, with lots of paint and stencils involved.
It was made before I went away on holiday, but luckily for me it will enable me to join friends at AJJ


Thank you for calling in to see me and for all the kind thoughts you wrote on my last post.
I am reading your blogs, but my comments may be short for a while
 until I get used to typing with one hand.
Have a good weekend.

Heat, caravans, arm and art,

Hello everyone who calls in to see me today

and what an eventful week its been for me.

We went on a caravan trip to Kendal in the Lake District

 to take advantage of our lovely weather, I was not the only one on this beautiful site to say it is tooooooooooo   hot. You will gather that we are not used to such heat in the north of the UK.

The down side is that I tripped in the caravan and spent a couple of hours in the local hospital. I have fractured my radius.

So here I am showing the latest day wear of a plaster cast.

I really miss my arm and the fact they had to cut off my wedding ring because of the swelling was a bit distressing. .

  Some days do not go well.

I will be home  Tuesday and to my own hospital on

 Wedesday to find out what happens next.

We have also had not email use on this particular site and to add to the tale of woe

I haven't been able to access  one of my favourite sites in blogland Art Jounal Journey.

A problem with the caravan clubs internet provider.

However we have had restful days.

I am linking to

 Bleubeard and Elizabeths 

blog to share these 

 photos  of   a couple of our outdoor meals

a prawn salad and ice water. I mean't to take the photo before we started eating, the bottom pic is  gathering it all together. The top one is with the salad half eaten.

A BBQ  on another occasion,

chicken to go with the salad and iced water this time.

  

The page at the start of my post is all digital,  

created in the relative coolness of the evening.
Using the digital programs I use and a couple of trusty fingers on my good hand.

I am pleased I can create in this way as everything seems impossible with one arm at present.
Even reading a book is difficult, especially turning the pages when you are trying to balance the book on a plaster cast.

It makes me applaud the folk  with disabilities, 

you are awesome.

I am  a little in advance with projects and diaries at home with photos taken, so that is also a plus.

So from one armed  me..

Happy T day wishes.

A reminder  for the current theme

at Try it on Tuesdays as my page has got wings.