Look out there a witch about

Happy Halloween.

My last  page for Linda's theme this month over at

 Art Journal Journey

The theme is......... Creature Comforts and once again I have chosen to go with  a spooky take on this.

I think we should be  careful today , 

 as you never know who may be flying in the skies as it gets darker tonight.
I used a variety of stamped  images on a  background created with still damp  mop up wipes.

Thank you for calling in, your comments are always appreciated and I hope you have a super day.

Thankful......at TioT's

Thankful....
 is the new challenge theme at
  Try it on Tuesdays

Please pop over for all the details as see how the team interpreted this theme.
It could be a thank you card/ a note to say thank you/ harvest thanks,  our friends in America celebrate Thanksgiving/ or anything you are thankful for.

My base layers were made  using a variety of oxide inks and some leaf stamps. I use these  stamps often as they create  nice backgrounds.
These were simply layered and a sentiment added, I think adding the string caused my more problems  than the card did in its making.




I will also join the challenge theme  at
A Vintage Journey...........Autumn Splendour
Thank you for stopping by today, your visit is very much appreciated.

E.A.Poe and....... a glass of water!

 Hello everyone who calls in to visit me today.

 First of all Halloween is nearly here and  I am sharing this digital Trio of Tags,

that I have made for the current challenge theme of .......Edgar Allan Poe .... over at

  Tag Tuesday

They were all made in the digital program I use,[ notes in my sidebar].

I really enjoyed creating these tags.

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

Now after seeing these scary tags I am off  to a more tranquil setting and a visit with the folk over at Bleubeard and Elizabeths

where each Tuesday we are made very welcome with a drinks related post

Earlier this year we visited this beautiful  Catherdral  in Ripon.

It was as I was looking through my store of photos last week , when I visited Durham  with you all that I realised that I hadn't posted these ones.

Also a plus was that we were allowed to take some photos inside.

As you can imagine there were a number of folk around, but I think you will get an idea of the beautiful interior from these photos.

Now are you sitting down?.....

No.... you are not seeing things..... its a glass of iced water to drink today.

A warming bowl of carrot and coriander soup  with a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich  was what we ordered for lunch that day.  The drinks arrived  with it,  not something that happens often here in the UK we usually have to ask.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great day.

Play days.

I had a bit of a play day on Saturday,  when we woke up we had some 'snow',  so it was a stay in and keep warm sort of day.

. Fortunately the snow didn't last but the cold did.

My first share is a page in my new kraft card journal.

A gesso base a bit of stamping I stamped the face onto rice paper that had been used to mop up some oxide ink.[Stamps used ALL*Create and Lynne's Affirnations]

This got me into my comfort zone as I was waiting for this page to dry out

Which will  be added to Linda's theme over at

 Art Journal Journey,

Creature Comforts.

The same stamp as on my first page, lots of stencils, some raised with paste.  and a lot of warm shades.  I love adding colour and this brightened  the cold, day in my part of the world.

Of all these three photos this last one is the closest the the actual colours, I guess its coming up winter and this won't be the last  time I say this about my photos.

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

Witches Brew for.... Diary Day

Oh it is Friday again  and slowly getting closer to Halloween night.

I used gesso and home mixed colours  for the base of the page, added some stencils and some random stamping.  The witch and her cat are   a fantastic die cut  that  Avril  kindly  sent  me.

I will be joining the folk over at 

Art Journal Journey

and Linda's theme of Creature Comforts.

Look under the mushrooms and  you will see a creature lurking there.
and joining in over at.....
Thats Crafty Challenge Blog   for the ' Spookilicious' theme
and
Stamps and Stencils  for their Spooky Fun with an Autumnal Twist

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

challenge theme.... Trick or Treat ..... there is still a few more days  for you to join us .

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

Now for something really different from me

I have a small Kraft card journal, bought in a well known bargain shop here in the UK.  the page size is  nearly 6 inches square.    After my efforts with the black last week I decided to give it an outing.

I used the gesso as a wash stamped a flower on some teabag paper  added some scrap material and word stamps[ Lynne's Affirmation. Stamps and ALL&Create] . 

  Lynne's blog is inspiring.

 The additional colours were distress oxides.  I think I will be trying

 this kind of page again soon.

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

Flying Creatures and a bit of History.

Its getting close to Halloween, those creatures will be about and flying around soon..

This page isn't quite how I wanted it to look  the uneven surface of this journal pad doesn't give a crisp image, but  I decided to share it with you
 as we all have these kind of days when nothing goes to plan.
It is an inky background and I used a variety of stamped images as well as some stencils.
Well the bats are flying around and the owl is looking rather sinister so I will join the folk again at
Art  Journal Journey
 and Linda's theme of
Creature Comforts

Now I will call in to
 Bleubeard and Elizabeths
where we are always very welcome each Tuesday if we share a drinks related post.

One of our trips our recently was to visit Durham Cathedral.
This is a link if you are interested in its history, it is a  UNESCO World Heritage site

There is renovation work going on and one of the towers was all wrapped up
Taking photos inside were not allowed.

The green outside the Cathedral looked beautiful on this autumn day,
These photos will give you an idea of how it looked.

The main door, shows a replica of the Sanctuary knocker.
The photo I took of its history isn't so clear so I have added another link.

The last two living floral displays,
  represented the badge of the Durham Light Infantry.

At long last I am including photos of my drink of the day

In Durham's indoor market there is a very nice cafe,

 set up a flight of stairs at the back of the hall, in the roof space   and looks down onto the  stalls.

Its always busy and the food, wholesome and delicious.

I had vegetarian quiche and my usual pot of tea..

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

Happy days are........

Happy Days..... are play days.

I made this tag for  the theme over at

 Tag Tuesday 

the theme is.....Bunting or Flags

It is a random stamped and mop up base. 

The faces are   Jane Davenport's, the bunting is  from an  All&Create set. 

The leaf trimmings are computer generated.

So what else have I been up to?

Into my comfort zone and getting messy is the answer to that question.

A mop up background page, lots of stencils I did use some modelling paste for texture,  

stamps old and new[ All&Create].

I did stamp this image onto rice paper as there was to much uneven surface

 underneath to stamp direct.

 I was in my comfort zone  lots of colour  and of course coloured fingers added to the fun.

I will join in again at....

 Art Journal Journey

 and Linda's  theme  of

Creature Comforts.

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

Something wicked for... Diary Day and a bit of a mess.

Its Friday  and Diary day, these weeks seem to be flying by.

I'm in Halloween mode again with these wonderful creatures in bottles [Paper Artsy]

The background is as usual stencils, coloured with oxide inks.

I coloured my creatures with water colours.

I will be sharing this at ...

Art Journal Journey

 and Linda's theme of Creature Comforts.

I have also  managed to have time to  'play'  in my craft room today  using  a journal

 with black pages.

I thought it was a good idea to have  black pages, but soon realised  that for me to use them it would involve a lot of white gesso. I might try stamping with white paint sometime as well.

I didn't want to cover all the page and I still wanted to use stencils and some random stamping.

Oxide inks seemed to work, by this time I was in a happy mess and about to tear out the pages as  I had managed to get a hole in the page on the right, when  I tried to blend some colours with my fingers.

I stamped an image to  cover  it over  using washi tape to keep it in place, 

 even she is not guaranteed to remain  on this page.

This is still very much work in progress, but for now I did have an option

 and that was to go to the computer

and complete a  spread that I am happy with,  in the digital program I use..

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

Trick or Treat at TioT's

Trick or Treat

Its Halloween time at...

 Try it on Tuesdays.

We hope you will join in our Halloween fun.

Please pop over to see all the details and what we have been making for this theme.

I have made a Halloween card using stamps  that I cannot name,  as the packaging has long been discarded. The background  is simply shaded with distress oxide inks and sprayed with a home   made colour spray.

I wouldn't want to meet this gal on a dark evening would you?

I will be joining the Challenges over at

Thats Crafty--Spookalicious
Stamps and Stencils- Spooky/Autumn colours

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

A tea day post, pages and pies.

Autumn  is a lovely season, but  some days it is not

the right light to take photographs.

I  have been using my newest mixed media  journal book and no two pages  are the same material

I decided to use my favourite leaf stamps on both sides, adding some script stamps as well.

The stamped [Aall&create] and layered image on the right side was stamped onto a piece of mop up rice paper then onto card so I could fussy cut the dragonfly.

. I also added a few extra scraps  that were lying around the desk,

 the pile never seems to get smaller.

 I will add these pages  to

  Art Journal Journey

and Linda's theme of Creature Comforts.

Maybe there are no dragonflies around at this time of year, but the colours of autumn are

  and this is a season of the year that makes me happy.

The photo on the left is   closer in colour to the base layers than the finished photo .
As you can see I was enjoying a cup of my favourite brew,
 I will be  joining friends over at Bleubeard and Elizabeths
where we are always made to feel very welcome with a drinks related post.

A short while ago we stayed for a few days in the Lake District, so I will share a few more photos of another National Trust House we visited, Townend  at Troutbeck
It is a lovely 17th Century Farmhouse  with wonderful views, although the day we visited was rather grey and overcast, but  it was worth the trip .

On the right are photos of the  Barn, which we couldn't visit as it is still used  as a farm barn
A link to the house is here
and the barn is  here.

Inside the house was, as advertised , very dark and we couldn't use a flash on the camera,
but I hope the next few photo will give you an idea of the wonderful wood furniture and carving.

The Library and the Dining room.
Again food made fresh but not to be eaten.

This was the kitchen, there was an open fire and range for cooking.

This game pie had just been cooked and added to the display on the dining room table.

The pastry work looked amazing. All that work so visitors could see the kind  of detail that was  added to what our guide said was a typical family pie of the times.

Thank you for calling in , you are very welcome here and I hope you have a lovely day

Things that go Bump in the night for ..... Diary day

 Friday..... is diary day 

It's getting near Halloween and I can see it getting more popular here in the UK

 as the years roll on by.

So I thought my diary pages for the rest of the month   would reflect this time of the year.

It was a pre- coloured page in shades of grey and did have some printed flowers.  Just the right moody colours. I added stencils as usual using distress inks, coloured the flowers and  tried to give a few a scared, startled  look. .

The skeleton's head and crown are All&create stamps.  I did give them a bit of a  hair do [grin], so they looked a bit smarter  for their night out.

I will join the folk at Art Journal Journey

and Linda's theme Creature Comforts

 as this page does have  creatures that I wouldn't want to meet on a dark night.

Thank you for calling in to see me today.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Have I gone mad?

My first share today is a journal spread for

 Art Journal Journey

and Linda's theme

Creature Comforts

I can  relate some of  this page to the 'creature'  part of the theme.

My little creature seems to be in love with something, surely it couldn't have been the insects.

Lots of paint, stencils, crackle paste and stamps were used in its creation.

Was I having fun....yes

Was I in my comfort zone.....yes

The words were computer generated.

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I am also  sharing a digital journal page today[ digital notes in my sidebar]

 and a quick reminder of the 

challenge theme at 

Try it on Tuesdays 

Black White and one Colour

There is still time to join in this theme the information can be found here.

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

Gardens , cafe's and vegetables.

Hello to everyone calling in to see me today and to friends from 

Bleubeard and Elizabeths 

where every Tuesday we are made very welcome with a drinks related post

More photos to share this week  from  our visit to 

Wordsworth's Birthplace in Cockermouth.

[my first post is here]

It must have been thriving with home grown produce in the summer, but even  autumn  still had its beauty. It was hard to get people free photos but I managed a few.  The main rooms in the house, Drawing room, bedrooms  etc I gave up trying to get photos.

There were many quotes on slate  to look out for when walking around.

The last two really made me smile

After our visit and seeing all the food on display in the house ,

that we couldn't sample , we decided to find somewhere to have a meal.  A short walk into the town and just off the main street we found a really lovely old cafe, serving wholesome food.

Our choice was scampi and chips with salad and very delicious it was as we were quite hungry.

My last photo today is this hybrid journal page, my own base layers and some digital additions.

 When I was  sorting out the photos  to share today,  the slate with the wheelbarrow for the Gardener's work area  gave me the idea for this page.

I hope it makes you smile. 

Those vegetables  look so cute.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have a great day