London 28 April 2011

It was good to have a walk around in London today to see how things looked before tomorrow's big event. Regent Street was decked out with Union Jacks for its full length.

In front of Buckingham Palace there were structures on each side of The Mall to accommodate the world's press. This is just one small section of one side.

And the other side.

Crush barriers were in place.

Hundreds of Portaloos had been delivered from Wales !

There were towers erected along The Mall for the press cameras.

People were already camping out, and some had come quite a distance.

Some not so far.

Others were settled in chairs.

Parliament Square is festooned with Union Jacks.

More camping out, this time by the Abbey.

Westminster Abbey was closed to the public. Was this the red carpet waiting to go down, or is this just some spare ?!!

On the sign outside mention of the wedding is fairly low key !

A Pearly Queen happy to pose for photos.

And from this shot who would guess that there was so much activity all around, and that it will be the centre of attention in just a few more hours.

Grungy Monday 5

Linda's Grungy Monday challenge no 5 at Studio L3 is a Tim Holtz dimension technique which dates back to May 2008, and can be found here on Tim's blog. It involved using fun foam to create dimension by making a niche. I decided to use the tag die to cut card, fun foam and Kraft resist card. I coloured the card with distress inks, and stamped with Coffee archival and Viva swirl stamps. I made the woman's head with clay in a Karantha mould and coloured it with alcohol ink and various colours of Inka Gold. I edged the card and the niche with gold leafing pen.

In this part of the world we've been having glorious sunshine and high summer temperatures not usually seen in April. I've noticed that this has lifted people's spirits and everyone is so cheerful and talkative, and of course, not only have we had the four day Easter weekend, but we now have another four day weekend to look forward to with the extra bank holiday on Friday for the royal wedding followed by the usual early May bank holiday on Monday. Temperatures have now cooled a bit, and all fingers are crossed for dry weather on Friday for the processions and street parties.

I've been out and about with friends, visiting exhibitions and enjoying music in London, sitting in the sun on the Thames embankment drinking tea, and eating evening meals in the open air. Instead of the usual roast dinner on Easter Sunday, it had to be a barbecue, and we needed a walk to burn off some of the calories from the Easter eggs, so it was off into the fields.

Everywhere is so fresh and green, with touches of the bright colours of wild flowers.

The colour is not just in the flowers. Fungi can come in vivid colours and amazing textures.

The holly is covered with flowers. Looks like there will be a good supply of berries.

This log had been positioned here as a horse jump, but it's ideal as a walker's resting place to enjoy the view and the peace and quiet for a while.

And now what I came down this path to see - a fabulous carpet of wild English bluebells with some beautiful silver birch trees.

Like an impressionist painting.

Gingersnap Creations - Spicy Supply Challenge

At Gingersnap Creations there is a 'Spicy Supply Challenge' to use mists. My fingers were still stained from using colour washes for Linda's Grungy Monday challenge earlier this week, but I was most definitely up for more spraying.

This time I used layers of Dylusions ink sprays in Fuchsia, Sky Blue, Hot Pink and Burnt Orange on white card, together with the Dylusions Fuchsia mica spray and Glimmer Mist in Sweet Pea and Candlelight. Towards the end of the spraying I placed sequin waste and a Tattered Angels mask on the card to create a patterned background.

I wanted to make some Easter cards, but didn't trust myself to draw decent oval shapes for eggs. Luckily I found a free template at a website called First Palette and printed the eggs on to some card, cut them out and gave them the same spray treatment as the background. Then I embossed them with my favourite Ranger gold powder (love the smell of the melting powder too), and Viva Decor swirl stamps. I rubbed the back of each of the 'eggs' with a large headed embossing tool to get the card to curl a bit and look more egg-like. I cut a piece of the background card, and ran it through the Big Shot with a border embossing folder, and then mounted the 'eggs' and the 'Happy Easter' on the card with large sticky pads. Couldn't resist photographing the finished article with today's haul from the henhouses.

Still got background card and eggs left to do some more cards.

Simon Says Stamp & Show Some Distressing ... and the New Arrivals

The Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week is distressing. I'm really enjoying experimenting with my new Fresco Chalk Finish paints so decided that, teamed up with some crackle glaze which was lurking at the back of a cupboard, they might produce the ideal effect for this challenge.

The background has Honey Dew as the base colour and Vintage Lace as the top coat which crackled quite satisfactorily. Umbrella Man has Honey Dew underwear and a Toad Hall top coat ! The stamping is Tim and Paper Artsy (not sure whose the 'Hopes & Dreams' stamp is); and the seam binding is coloured with Antique Linen and Spun Sugar.

Thought I'd just check on the nest today and lo and behold .............

Soon these little beaks will be upstretched when mum and dad come back with some juicy worms.

Grungy Monday 3 - Colour Washes

Linda's Grungy Monday challenges are all about the techniques and products of Tim Holtz, and this week our task was to use Adirondack Colour Washes. No dilemma for me about what colours to use as I only have two: Lettuce and Denim. I've had these for ages and it's a while since I last used them. I started yesterday and wasn't happy with two attempts that I made. I went to bed leaving on the table the bits that I thought I might still be able to use, and as often happens, I woke up with not just one but two new ideas. The night before I'd been playing with some cream coloured cotton fabric which has a butterfly design in white. I had found that the white acted as a resist to the colour wash. So I decided to try out one of my ideas: inking up another piece of the fabric with Denim, drying it and then passing it through the Big Shot with the Brolly Man die. Then it was out with the clear embossing powder and stamps to create a resist background, and the Distress Stains - Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and Faded Jeans. Then some more stamping and an edging with Walnut Stain on the blending tool. Stamps I used were Artemio, Paper Artsy and Tim Holtz. Then lacy flowers coloured with denim and some ribbons and fibres.

Somewhere I have some ribbon with butterflies on it and had hoped to colour it and use it but needless to say couldn't find it anywhere. However, while rummaging in my ribbon box, I found the lovely yellow lacy butterfly in the photo below. It's a bit crumpled so I plan to wash and starch it and put it on display. It has a brooch pin on the back, and mum used to keep it pinned to a curtain. I coloured the square of fabric on the left with Denim and Lettuce to use in an earlier attempt at the challenge, so I will keep it in my box of bits for future use. The metal flower is a first attempt inspired by Lin at Yours Artfully. I used the small Tattered Florals die, metalwork tools, Fresco paint and Denim Dimensional Pearls. It was based on the type of flower Lin makes using alcohol inks. I need a bit more practice and I see that Lin is planning another metal flower tutorial this time using the Fresco paints.

Do pop over to Linda's Studio L3 blog (link at the top of this post) to see lots of great examples of the use of the washes.

WOYWW

Have missed a few weeks of WOYWW, but have made it back again to join Julia's International Desk Snoop.

First, desk no. 1 which is in fact the kitchen table where I move when I am being ultra messy endangering carpets with copious amounts of sprays and paints. There's a clear plastic stamp box and a pink plastic basket containing tools and materials used in my recent tag making and circle journal page making. The stuff on the craft sheet represents my ponderings on the Grungy Monday challenge, but I fear that it will be back to the drawing board on that for the second time. The little book by the way is a children's one from a charity shop all gesso-ed and acrylic-ed and waiting for something to happen. To the right of the craft sheet are my new paints acquired at Ally Pally at the weekend.

Upstairs where I would normally be working are more Ally Pally trophies. You will realise that I have already played with the die, the mould and the flowers. I've also used some of the ribbon. Oh and yes, I've dipped into the manila cardstock. So just a few more items still to play with.

Those of you who always score high at Kim's Game will remember that there was a blue box of Stains in pic no. 1. I have just restored it to its usual home. I got this little unit in the January sales a couple of years ago as storage for I knew-not-what inky painty stuff. As you will see it's blue and somewhat distressed. My plan was to change the colour, keep the distressed look and generally do it up a bit. I will one day, but for the moment the bottom drawer is perfect storage for my Stains collection. Perfect that is until Sir Tim decides to bring out more colours. Of course you say, you could just stick with those colours, but then you know that wouldn't happen.

Sunday Stamper - Blue

Decided to go for another colour scheme for some further play with my chalk finish acrylic resist, and it so happened that I picked blue which is the theme of Hels' Sunday Stamper challenge this week. The blue is Broken China, Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood DIs, and Faded Jeans on white satin ribbon. There's Vintage Photo around the edges. Stamping is Tim Holtz, Paper Artsy, Hampton Art and Artistic Stamper in Coffee Archival.

Resist

Another Ally Pally weekend been and gone. As usual our local craft shop organised a coach trip and we enjoyed a Sunday checking out all the latest crafting goodies and lots of demos. I had decided that I would allow myself a new stamp set and of course it didn't take me long to find one, and then I couldn't resist a second smaller set. I found some good buys in white ribbon and ribbon flowers which can be inked to match projects, and some irresistible charms and stuff for altering, so came home very happy, inspired and not totally broke !

At the LB Crafts stand, I spotted some tags that Lin had made using the new Paper Artsy Fresco Finish chalk acrylics. Lin very kindly responded to my query about them, by using them to make a tag as her next demo and gave me the fabulous finished tag to keep. Naturally I had to try out some of the paint, and luckily I had a free morning yesterday. I've got a two page spread to do in a circle journal which has the theme of Time, so I decided to do a trial run.

I used the same colour scheme as Lin, but mine turned out much darker. I started by using Toad Hall (wonderful name) green acrylic as the resist, and Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress Stains. The stamping is Paper Artsy, Inkadinkadoo, Tim Holtz, Artistic Stamper and Personal Impressions in black archival. I've also used tissue tape coloured with the stains as Lin did. She also made some beautiful metal decoration for the tag, and I will definitely try that out at some point. Will do the final journal pages this week, with the same materials, but with a few changes to the stamping and with the addition of some embellishments.

PS For anyone who read my previous post about Mrs B., I actually heard some cheeping as I passed yesterday, and she was still sitting tight.

Shhhh ! Mrs B is busy ....

One day last week I was doing a bit of rose and clematis pruning by one of my sheds when I came across a beautifully crafted nest which I thought was last year's until I saw the three little turquoise gems. The nest is a real work of art made of twigs and grasses of varying thicknesses bound together with the pvc glue of the wild bird world - mud. The eggs have little orangey brown spots. Of course as soon as I saw the eggs I made myself scarce and worried that I might have frightened Mrs Blackbird off for good. I pass this shed every day when feeding the chickens, collecting eggs and shutting the chicken houses for the night, and in passing, each time since I first found the nest, I have been delighted to see that Mrs B is indeed still sitting. With the aid of my zoom I was able to snatch this shot.

I've had lots of broody hens over the years and have noticed that they often look as if they are in a trance while they sit. It is a bit of a long sit - three weeks. I believe for blackbirds it's about two weeks. So I do hope all will go well and no predators will interrupt this miracle of new bird life.

The birds are all very busy now. They are looking very plump and healthy having eaten well from the bird table throughout the winter. Haven't seen so much of the blackcaps recently.

Nutty Nuthatch still puts in an occasional appearance always characteristically clinging on upside down as he feeds.

And my lovely charm of goldfinches keep emptying their seed tube.

Grungy Monday 2

This week's Grungy Monday challenge at Linda's Studio L3 blog was to try out techniques shown by Tim Holtz on one of his videos filmed last year at the big US Trade Fair. This involved making a stamp and creating a resist for Distress Inks with matt medium. I used a swirl from a Sizzix die set to make my stamp, and Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Bundled Sage and Tea Dye DIs. I've got a big old music score book that provides me with backgrounds for lots of projects. It's pretty old and the paper is discoloured with age and a bit brittle. I managed to tear this bit - in fact, I think it cracked rather than tore - but it all adds to the grungy effect ! The die set also has a flower shape so I cut a photo of Gloria Swanson and coloured it with Tea Dye DI. The flower stamp in the background is a Craft Stamper magazine freebie, and the other stamps are Elusive Images.

Grungy Monday No 1 - Singing in the Rain

Linda at Studio L3 who organised the fabulous 35 challenges from Tim's Compendium of Curiosities has come to our rescue when we ran out of Compendium techniques, and has started up Grungy Monday. Thank you so much, Linda. Our first GM challenge is to use as our inspiration tag number ten of the 2008 Twelve Tags of Christmas series. Now this is just right up my street. I had such fun completing all of the 2010 Tags, but have only done a selection from previous years. Tim has created links to all of the instructions for his tags on the left hand sidebar of his blog.

In the last week of March we began to enjoy some beautiful sunny Spring weather, but as the month drew to a close and April began, all was dull and rainy. I'm glad to say that the sunshine came back yesterday. Anyway Spring colours are on my mind, so I used Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Broken China and Antique Linen DIs on the background; Heirloom Gold, Perfect Gold, Plum and Blue Patina Perfect Pearls on the character; and toning acrylic paints on the letters. I love these stamps by Dyan Reaveley and usually choose vibrant colours with them, so here it was nice to use gentler colours. I've covered the letters, umbrella handle and welly boots with Glossy Accents just to let you all know that it has been raining !