Smile and make someone happy.

A journal  page for Art Journal Journey

where Erika has chosen the theme...

Every journal page tells a story.

This page  has  a background made a while ago and until now

 I wasn't sure how it would be finished off.

The flowers stamps are Paper Arty, some fussy cut as they didn't stamp so well on this heavy paper..

The smiling faces were computer generated.

As for the story,  when every thing is cold and grey in the winter months, nothing can  cheer me up as much as a smile. from  a family member,  friend or even a passing stranger.

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Earlier this week a friend had a significant birthday and I took her a large bunch of roses and other blooms, needless to say there were many smiles .

We cannot know how folk feel inside, so give a smile and make someones day.

Thank you for stopping by to see me today.

Your visit and comments are always very much appreciated.

Its T day .---teapots and tags

Hello friends a warm welcome to all who  call in to see me  today.

At   Bleubeard and Elizabeths   its 

T stands for Tuesday

So this is my tea related post.

I had some new Paper Artsy stamps last week and this is the first chance I have had to ink any up.  I decided on a tag, this may stop me from adding too much.

The tag is also a reminder for the current TioT's theme...Anything but square.

 A sprayed ink base, 

I did try to stop here, but went on to add a little texture through a stencil,. Not a good idea when I found I had gone over some of the image. This had be re -stamped and fussy cut.

As you can see Mr Robin is still hanging around ,  he is my mug of choice for today.

Tea Pots for T day.

I do have a few teapots on  the dresser and I did try to get photos,  but  its  in the hall,  I had to move them to a lighter shelf so I could get a better picture.

The elephant one  is about 40 years old  bought in France, if I remember it was a promotion pot for  a brand of tea. It has been well used over the years, but is now in retirement.

This little stove has never seen hot water, It would only hold half a cup.

These two pots were presents from my sons. Those of you who follow my ramblings will know that one of the  family's main outdoor interests is  competing in Off   Road Land Rover competitions.

So the blue one has special memories for us all. 

This last teapot was a gift from my hubby . I have to  smile, as it is always known as the" choose your own".

 My brew of choice would be a Hot cuppa,

while the rest of the family would like a nice glass of wine with their cheese. So one pot  suits all.

Thank you for calling in to see me.

Happy T day .

Imagination

Imagination is a wonderful thing.

Children have it when they play, theirs can be a magical world of make believe,

 as well as the reality of learning and growing up.

  But stop and think.... how as adults do we use our imagination.

Easy to answer for folk who love crafting and creating, 

we use it without thinking when we sit down  and pick up the first pencil or piece of paper.

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 Read a good book and you can be transported into another place, or time.

Do you ever get so engrossed in a book, that you cannot put it down

 and it becomes real in your head, as the story unfolds.

Faced with a problem do we wonder/ imagine how we can sort it out

My   hybrid journal page started off with this, inky and stamped   ATC 

We had no TV's when I was a child , toys were mainly home made and the garden was a magical place for me.  At bed times we always  had stories.

 I think this is where my imagination all began.

Back then,  I thought there was a fairy living among the flowers, something  I have never forgotten.

It made the huge garden feel safe  with her

 watching out for me.

My own boys always loved adventure stories at bed time and probably would have wished for something entirely different to live in the garden and laughed at their mom for wanting a fairy to live there. 

So I am linking with friends over at Art Journal Journey

and Erika's theme for this month

Every Journal Page tells a story......... this was one of mine.

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

Pieces of paper

The other  day I shared some pages from a diary/planner  I have been making.

I had lots of scraps  and left over cut outs. that were much to good to throw away and after visiting  one of my  blog friends  Chris

 and seeing how she had been using up her scraps, I decided to use some on this collage page..

Now,  as to the story behind this page, it is known that  I am a hoarder.,

Pigs will certainly fly,   if I ever have a 'proper' clean up in my craftroom.

I never know when to stop adding things to my journal pages

 and have to give myself a talking to,  about when enough is enough,

so no changes here.

A few paint smears and a digital word stamp added ,which kind of says it all for me today.

''I don't want to get down from my cloud.''

If I do I will be back in the world of,   'the now'  

 and I would much rather spend more time crafting.

I will be linking up with the folk at

Art Journal Journey

where Erika's theme is ..., Every Journal Page tells a Story

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

Its ..........Anything but Square--at TioT's today

The new challenge theme over at Try it on Tuesdays is....

Anything but Square.

This time I decided to alter my pencil pot, 

The team have had some fantastic ideas for this theme, I hope you will pop over and take a look.

On the left are a few photos

 I took  during the process.

Top left....

the original box, very pink and covered with scraps of torn paper.

Top right......

a few layers of white acrylic paint, I quite liked the uneven surface at this stage , so just added some extra texture using stencils.

Middle photos.....

  show one  side and the back, more stencils,  a few stamped images,

colouring with pens, some blue distress ink and gilding wax.

Bottom photos....

 show the other side and the front.

Here I added a cut out heart shape  made from corrugated paper and a wooden bird shape.

My pencils now sit on my desk  in a shabby chic style box, 

which I enjoyed  altering.

Thank you for calling in to see me today,

I always appreciate the comments you leave for me.

If you called in for Tea this Tuesday, please scroll down to my earlier post

T stands for Tuesday and a Diary

First of all hello and welcome to all of you stopping by today

 and to the folk who  share a cuppa and natter , over at 

Bleubeard and Elizabeth

where

 T stands for Tuesday.

I have seen many friends in Blogland keeping a daily planner/ diary,

 I've never been able to keep one going, good intentions blow out of the window.

But, I think if I  leave it open  on my desk at night,

 it will prompt me to write even just one word a day.

 Cardboard at the ready to  make the binder, piles of papers collected over the years, a hole punch, glue and  another of my bargain buys a 2017 calendar for £1

This was taken apart. I will be using the fun pictures in other projects

It is so dull today that the photos aren't that good, but I think you will get the idea

I was quite careful when sticking stuff down to leave openings to tuck things in

I have more photos  to take  of the other pages.

Also the front cover is work in progress.

The mess with paper trimmings was by now piled  high, time to get a large bag to get the scraps.

loaded into the recycling bin.

As predicted not all the scraps went into the bag.

My choice of drink was plain water with lemon , although it sank to the bottom of the cup,

 I am trying to cut back on the tea for a few days, and water is good for us.!!!!!!

Just off to find a tea bag..... no will power tonight.

Happy T day everyone

Hope

Hope is one of those words we all use and I do wonder how many of us,

  me included stop and think what it really means in our lives.

  This word, I am sure will be included in  many  of our stories and memories.

So  I have made a hybrid page to share over at

  Art Journal Journey

where the theme for the month chosen by Erika is....

Tell me a story....

This is the start  base layers of my page, paint , stencils and another tissue napkin of a robin.

One of my recent bargains  found in the supermarket selling off excess Christmas stocks.

It was finished in my computer program with words and digital additions [notes in my sidebar].

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

I hope you all have a safe and happy Sunday.