Vintage Spring postcard

I am taking part in a postcard swap over at UK Stampers and this months challenge is Spring. I have used a lovely little girl and word stamp both from Scrollswork along with various collage bits and pieces. I have covered it all in a fine layer of wax so that nothing falls off when it goes through the post "naked"!! The little words on the roses read "spring has arrived". The challenge over at Theme Thursday is vintage so be sure to check out the other entries...

Visited my parents today and my dad's garden is looking stunning.

To see the world in a grain of sand...

The theme over at this this weeks Wednesday Stampers is "more than words"..I think this picture of old London is so evocative...spotted it in today's newspaper. I had quite a few Scrollswork stamps delivered this morning so have used lots of them on this page along with some of my fav memento dye inks which is a great ink with lots of lovely colours such as grape jelly, rhubarb stalk and paris dusk. The little stamped quote is by William Blake and reads "to see the world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour".

Sanity is madness put to good use..

Over at Wednesday Stampers the theme for this week is London. I wanted to do a page about another side of London apart from the royals! Spotted this great little photo taken in London in 1922 of The Pearlies ..Cockney Londoners who dress up in outfits covered in pearls. Black crows always remind me of when I visited London many years ago too so have included this stamped image (thanks Palma for the stamp)..and of course the queen who is on all of our UK stamps.

Believe in Easter little shrine

I altered another tuna can today to make a little shrine for Easter. When I was out at the park recently my son found these lovely flower seed heads so we collected quite a few of those, the shell is from a trip to the beach last week and the little egg is from a flower arrangement from last year. I have added a lovely Scrollswork image and some beads I had previously covered with utee.

My youngest son has been making these great Easter baskets all day

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats

Saw this lithograph by Picasso in the paper so decided to use it on a journal page today. The challenge over at Theme Thursday is girls..so I have had fun incorporating lots of girl stamped images on this page along with some paints and pastels...love the quote out of my daily paper by Voltaire. I have added some of my cinema stubs as I think an ideal night out would be to watch a movie. I went to my fav local cinema today and watched Limitless..recommend it as its a fantastic film with a good moral to it (life is not about easy solutions such as taking wonder drugs! but about gaining experience through hard work..watch out for De Niro's dialogue)


I bought a new bag yesterday in a different turquoise colour to my usual black so its nice and summery..wanted to art it up a bit so made this crochet flower adornment. We are having a heatwave so have got the paddling pool out for the kids who have finished school today for Easter..off to make the most of the rest of the balmy summer evening..life is a lot easier when the sun shines dont you think!

tea on my mind

inside of tin and card holds a fruit tea bag

I am really into drinking different teas at the moment..earl grey, moroccan mint tea, camomile etc. Decided to have a go at making a tea card and alter a little cigar tin. I wanted to stamp with brown ink on brown card for a subtle effect..click on the photo to see more detail. All the stamps I have used are from Scrollswork. I have added some of my little crochet flowers that I love making at the moment. So go and put the kettle on and join me drinking a nice cup of tea!

Dont be trapped in a box get out in the sun and enjoy a BBQ

Milliande set a prompt for this week about interpreting the theme of a box for our journal pages. I was thinking about how we like to label people and put them in boxes or we put ourselves in a limiting box that means we never move forward put prefer to stay in our comfort zone. I did this quick page today while sitting in the glorious sunshine. I have been working on a tapestry too as my son said "Mum are you going to do some more of that" ..it has been propped up for a while! We had another BBQ today too ..the pork chops were delicious and I love bananas cooked with chocolate in foil..

more love and less paperwork

another journal page with me messing round with paints..the journalling reads "what the world needs is more love and less paperwork" by pearl bailey...I am getting these quotes from my daily I newspaper. Friday is washing and shopping day so glad the sun is trying to shine..have a good weekend everyone.

enchantment

Had a play around with paints and some new stencils free with the simply homemade magazine this month. I have added some stamps to the background too along with some of my collage images stash. The quote reads "do what you can with what you have where you are" by roosevelt..like this as I tend to do what I can with just cheap paints and what I have lying around as dont believe in spending a fortune on supplies which you are then reluctant to use because of their cost! The theme over at wednesday stamper is rabbits and eggs..can you spot the white rabbit and the blue eggs?

erosion bundle opened

I am taking part in the erosion bundle project. Click here to see what I originally put in it. Today I opened it up to see what was inside..it has rusted really nicely and I love the patterns on the material. My son was fascinated with the colours and textures of the rusted guitar wires. I like the green copper on the coins. We have to make a project out of it by August so have put it in the green house next to an old rusty pie dish while I have a think of what to do..

Smiles, tea and the beach

I really liked this painting by Lucian Freud called woman smiling..I used the newspaper cutting and coloured over it with pastels and added various elements to make this journal page with the words free, reflection and the little saying on the tag says "when I whine I wine" a saying I thought was so funny!

we went to new brighton beach yesterday and even though it was very windy we had a marvellous time playing on the sand and watching all the boats on the mersey..we then called into my friend Lindas and made these little cartons for putting sweets in but they have got lego and toy solider in them now!





Donna over at coming home blog posted about enjoying english tea..I am really into drinking different teas at the moment since I got this cute little tea pot for mums day. The words on the teapot say "mothers are like flowers they brighten your day". I like earl grey, moroccan spice mint tea, camomile, raspberry and green tea..but still love good old yorkshire tea too! Here is my posh teapot along with some shells from the beach in front of the spirea which is in full bloom at the moment.

Laughter in the sun

We have had a heatwave today so I came in from the sun for a bit and made this quick journal page all about laughter. I got this lady image with a plate from a danish newspaper sent to me by Trine..have added a fish card to it as I know how much some of my milliande friends are enjoying eating fish just so they can alter the tin it comes in! I have just finished eating a magnum mini ice cream so decided to stamp the word laugh on the stick and put it in a little pocket on the page. I wanted to do a page dedicated to my art friends over at Milliande..I have made friends from all over the world ..the US, Italy, Denmark etc and we have a laugh over on the Milliande Art Journal community we have on Facebook..to join just click the link. The word laugh and the sequin stamp are from Scrollswork who I happily design for. The journalling reads "Just to sit in the garden enjoying the sun and the happy sounds of my sons playing". Off to enjoy the sun a little bit more and then put pork chops on the BBQ for tea..have a good night everyone.

Fairy Glen

the magical fairy glen..like something out of Lord of the Rings


we all had a paddle in the freezing cold water

first bluebells have started to appear
We have had gorgeous hot weather the last couple of days so we went to the fairy glen in sefton park today..its such a lovely magical place that I discovered by accident the other day!
We had our first BBQ today and the bananas with chocolate wrapped in tin foil were superb. My husband was teaching one of my sons slide guitar...so we all felt like hobos! Hope its lovely weather where you are:)

Enjoy the Journey tag

I am very pleased that I am on the permanent design team for Scrollswork stamps based in Idaho, USA. Playing around with the stamps today and decided to do a journal type tag with painted papers, stamped images and danish newspaper and stamp. I havent done a tag for a while so it was a nice change.

The weather has been glorious today so spent most of the day in the garden..I got some fabulous crochet hooks off ebay..they arrived very quickly from China and were really cheap £4.59 but are good quality. I crocheted these little flowers today whilst drinking earl grey tea and it was very peaceful but unfortunately I heard the kids screaming and the next thing a pit bull type of dog ran into our garden..it was a stray and luckily was not vicious and my husband spent the next hour trying to find its owner but eventually took it to the RSPCA as it was very thin and lost. Hoping this lovely weather continues and we dont get disturbed by dogs again..what is that saying "mad dogs and englishmen go out in the midday sun....".

Art Miracles Reflection..altered tuna tin!!

outside painted with turquoise and copper

lots of beads

an old watch and little praying charm

My friend Mary has made a great video on how to alter sardine tins..check it out here. I decided to have a go so decided to buy some tuna slices, mackerel and sardines in tins all in the name of art of course..mind you they do have omega 3 in the fish and that is supposed to make you brainy..lol! I like the mexican day of the dead type of shrines with their religious imagery so decided to have a go. Great fun and a good way of using up all your interesting odds and ends..the beads and devil card are all the way from kim in arizona.


I got a great package today from my friend Trine in Denmark..isnt the outside great with runic writing and stamped fish...I love the stamps on it too courtesy of a nice Danish post office lady. I love all the Danish newspapers, book pages etc in it and a great little book for my sons all about "A mole who wants to find out who pooed on his head!"..my sons absolutely loved this and now want me to translate it...I am glad for the Google translate button.

Spring Felted Bag

Influenced by the blue muscari flowers in my garden I wanted to use my embellisher to make a felted bag. I have needle felted and also partly wet felted the backgrounds. I recently learnt how to crochet flowers so have added them to the front along with lots of stitching, scrunched sari ribbon and beaded lace. The bag is lined with some of my hand dyed purple material. The challenge over at Fiber Arts Mixed Media is "organic" so as wool is very textural and organic this is my piece for that challenge. Very happy with the way it has turned out. I recently bought some more needles for my embellisher and got some great ones from Arthur Ridley..recommend them as he is also a great fibre artist.

Published again!! Haute Handbags Spring issue

I am absolutely delighted as I have had an article published in the spring issue of Haute Handbags an American mixed media art publication.


I made a poetry tote inspired by a workshop in the Artistic Mother book by Shona Cole. The editor of Haute Handbags Beth Livesay contacted me to say that Stampington would love to publish it! To see my work in print is fantastic and they have called my article "Remembering Wordsworth" as it features a photo of my baby sons sitting in the back garden amongst the daffodils of Wordsworth's house in the Lake District. I made this bag using some of my hand dyed material with various stitching and transfer techniques..be sure to look out for my article on pages 86 onwards if you see the magazine near you! Click here to visit the Stampington site where you can see the magazine.

Waxed collage on a wooden box

Playing round with paints, collage images and wax today.. I have made a little video on vimeo..click here to watch it. Check out my other art journalling videos too ..just to the right hand side.