GPPS Street Challenge No. 44!

Challenge time again and more fun to be had.  This time it was all about scraping paint onto the page with a credit card/hotel key card or some other such card and watching how the layers take shape and then adding some stencilling.  So what to do? I chose my larger journal which is A4ish in size.  First decision, what colours to use?  I don't have that many although my collection is getting larger as I do more journaling.  First up it was teal blue and light beigey pink:

which turned out like this

Then I just had to do another page with different colours this time red, blue, purple and gold!

I had a hard time deciding on the stencil to use and in the end punched out three hearts and used the spaces as a stencil which I did in different colours on the background

I really loved the gold on the red so wanted to do more of that using the hearts again

But neither looked finished somehow so .....

I added some shiny stones I had in my stash and some tissue tape.  And for the red one I ummed and ahhed about what to use. I really wanted to use black but didn't want it to overtake the page!!!!  In the end it was a case of " c'mon girl loosen up here and just go for it" and this was the result!

And I like it.  I like it alot!

At the same time I did some experimenting as Michelle suggested using gesso then black paint, scraping back and adding several colours.  These will be good background pages for journaling sometime.  Any ideas for taking them further?

 Thanks again Michelle for a great challenge!

Thoughtful Friday no. 108

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, 

but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

Maria Robinson

Gift of jewels 2

Here is the 'gift of jewels' I sent to Kirstin in the US,  I blended the card all over using distress ink (Straw, I think) and then used my favourite swirl mask by Tim Holtz and a favourite quote with some other stamping techniques.  In the top left corner there is a mustard coloured brad holding a beautiful french lace heart.   Then inside there were some twill ribbons which I hand stamped with words from a poem on my windowsill and inside I put this postcard of the Welsh mountains - can you see the person standing at the top?  And there was more stamping inside too.  Such a fun project, thank you Se'Lah G!

Gift of Jewels arrival!

I participated in the 'gift of jewels' exchange by Selah of Necessary Room and my 'gift' arrived at the weekend.  Here are my lovely cards from Paula in the US, who doesn't seem to have a blog so I can't link her name to it.  Thank you so much Paula!

It's such a great idea to send a little love around the world and to receive some too!

Thoughtful Friday no. 107

"This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, 

smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, 

laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart,

 hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, 

friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, 

confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, 

patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.”  

Anon

Duvet days

We all need a duvet day once in a while!!

Thoughtful Friday no. 106

"What would you attempt to do if you

knew you would not fail?"

Robert Schuller

30 years ago today!

These two little pumpkins were born!!  Here they are about 4-6 weeks old and you can see by the size of hubby's hands just how wee they were!  5lb 12 oz and 6lb 8oz they weighed when born 4 weeks early and now they are 6ft 1" and 5ft 10" and I've no idea how much they weigh!!.  I was only 24 and had been married two years. It was a special time but very exhausting to say the least as I fed them myself for the first six months. What a joy they were then and are now.  Lovely young women with so many gifts and skills and delightful personalities.  I love you my girls and I'm so glad you came into our lives! 

(my scanner isn't working and the drawer the photos were in is stuck shut so this is a photo of a photo but was the best I could do as I wanted to mark the occasion - roll on a new printer/scanner!!).

In car - will crochet!!

Yes, after a long journey to Cornwall and back and a very very wet holiday week, I had this to show for it:

and a closer look at the colours

so when we decided to travel to Paris in a day I had to take the next one with me!

which I finished on the way home!  These are for lovely friends, one whose birthday is coming up and one, just because...

These were crocheted with the same chunky acrylic yarn by James C Brett which I bought at PurpleLindaCrafts.  I have one more that I want to make for someone special and then we'll see what happens!

To Paris and back in a day!

Daughter no. 4 is now delightfully residing in Paris after we drove her there on Saturday.  We left at 5.00am and arrived at ' l'apartement' at 1.30pm.  Time for a very quick lunch and then back to the apartment to see the landlord and then hubby and I set off to catch the shuttle and arrived home at 10.30pm. Whew!  It was great to be in France again albeit a fleeting glimpse and we hadn't orginally planned to do this but it was a real treat to see her new abode which has this for a view on one side

This is such a great opportunity for her but I shall miss her lots.  Just hubby and Max here now!  Time for new beginnings!

Thoughtful Friday no. 105

"Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. 

It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. 

As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life."

John Lubbock Sr.