Mailart

Together with a few friends over on g inspired, I am involved in a mailart swap with friends from all over the world. The idea being that we dont tell the person we are sending the mail art too but just do it and send it as and when we please, so no real pressure. I have done two of these so far, one went to Pam in Australia and the other to Pam in Scotland, both very different. Suffice to say I forgot to get pics of them before they went in the post so Pam in Scotland has kindly photographed it and sent me a copy...I love this stencil, found it in a DIY store in a sale for 25p! Bargain!

Mottisfont June...and May too!

I think I have said it before but the roses at Mottisfont are glorious in June. A lot of the stock of old english roses is held here and so this means most of the roses are beautifully scented. In June they keep the gardens open til 8pm just so you can appreciate the scent more. Its Amazing!



I stamped onto tissue paper for this one, love the effect!


And isn't she gorgeous?


Here's May...

Mottisfont May contd

More messing around with different techniques...

For this one, I sanded aroound the bud with a little water and then coloured in with caran d'ache crayons.




More sanding and colouring...


Doesn't this stamp look great with the aquilegia?

Whilst surfing the net a few days ago I found Sarah Whitmire's blog - Caspiana.

http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/

If you look at one of her sidelinks it takes you to her soul journalling class which she did for free last year. How nice is it to find someone who shares something for nothing? Recently I paid to join an online class which I was really disappointed in cos no sooner did I join than she closed everthing down and I found I was the only one on the forum. No fun in that! Anyway I digress. Sarah's free soul journalling prompts are fabulous and not only does she give the prompt but talks you through lots of techniques too...wonderful!

I have been following along even though they are a year old and I joined the yahoo group too where it seems there are a few people doing the soul journalling class even now. What I like about her journalling class is that we often write lots of personal stuff and then cover it up. I have never done that before but really enjoyed the process. My journalling is so much better when I don't worry about who is reading what. Anyway, here are some of my early pages.

Take one Stamp CJ - Lion stamp!

I really wanted to do something different with this one and finally came up with the idea of stamping on shrink plastic and shrinking the lions head. Course then it took me a few days to work out something to do with.

Then whilst rummaging through my 'found and kept' items (aka junk!)I came across an old calendar with shamanistic/shapeshifter pics on it so I tore one of them up and altered it with glitter, little stars, metallic paint and wool and then stuck my face on and voila...Shapeshifter! Hope you like it Sal!

More uploads for 52Q

I am on a roll now!

Troll Bead

I have been quite addicted to troll beads for several years but it all got a new lease of life when my daughter was home last week and she encouraged me to buy this little beauty...ladies and gentlemen...I give you...black silk!

Playing catch up - 52 Q

I usually manage to keep up with the challenges that I take on as I absolutely hate things unfinished. I know...its the perfectionist in me! Anyway, I usually get things done but it takes me an age to upload them. So - I have had a major session this evening and at least now, everything is on the computer so I have a few days postings already sorted...huh!!!!

Here are 5 weeks of Emily Falconbridges 52Q's...just the fronts.

Mottisfont - April

More pages from the Mottisfont Journal...I like the different size pages and the way that some of them peak behind others.

Mottisfont - March

Finally got round to uploading my pages for March in my Mottisfont Journal. I am using this opportunity to experiment with different paint and photo altering techniques.







tfl

I've been away...

so its taken me a while to get back into everything.

Hubby and I went on a mediterranean cruise aboard the P&O ship Oceana. Had a fabulous time and one of the highlights was watching the departure of the Tour de France in Monte Carlo. I am quite into cycling on account of my brother being a cyclist and taking me to see a stage of the Tour of Britain a couple of years ago so I was really looking forward to it and it never disappointed! Whilst I was sorting my pics today I came across some brilliant shots of some of the leaders. So here you can see Bradley Wiggins who began the tour with the Green Jersey and finally finished fourth overall today.




And here is Albert Contador who took the red/white jersey on the first time trial and finally won the Tour and took the Yellow Jersey.


And I was cheering so much for Cav when he won the final sprint in Paris today. Alas, no pics of him this time but WELL DONE CAV!!

Mottisfont thru the year!

A few months ago whilst browsing the net I was inspired by something I saw to make an album out of oddments of paper, scrapbooking paper, wallpaper, book pages...anything I could get my hands on. The result was this little album with pages of varying sizes and quality. So what to do with it?

I am lucky to live just a short distance from one of the National Trust sites...Mottisfont...so I decided to document some of the garden changes and wildlife seen at Mottisfont throughout the year. Each month I pop up there and practise my photography skills and then put the best half dozen or so photos into the album but the beauty of this is that I am able to practise some artistic techniques at the same time. I don't want it to be just like a scrapbooking album.

I have now completed pages for March April and May and will add some of those over the next few days but here is the album.





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Take one Stamp CJ

This CJ came along with a face stamp and I have to say I was quite excited by it. I have never played with faces before so it was a first. I had a box of french lace which I had acquired from an antique shop and before I knew it I had come up with this. I do like her...Hope Netty does too!




tfl

52Q - upload catch up!

I have been doing these weekly but for some reason haven't been uploading them hence the catch up.

So week 18 'Whats on my to do list?' I wasn't happy with this tag, I really threw it together but hey, nothing wrong with that is there? Just realised I havn't turned it to the correct orientation...never mind.

It reads
-make up g's album
-plant herb garden and baskets
-combat and balance - go to class
-lamp for outside front door
-fairy chores!
-stick to diet.

You can see that I lead a very exciting life can't you?




Week 19 'What gives me hope?'

Journalling reads 'everything I do gives me hope. Because hope is what drives me on. It stimulates me. Without it...what would there be?'




Week 20 'My latest obsession'

-Greys Anatomy present
-Greys Anatomy past (working my way through all series since I came to it late)
-Snow Patrol
-Smooshing paint as backgrounds
-Loch Garten Ospreys cam
-Packing tape transfers - still - thanks g!
-Cookery programmes




Week 21 'What would you do if you had a free day with no restrictions?'

Journalling reads - 'I would go in search of paradise on Earth. I would travel at the speed of light all around the globe looking at all the beautiful places that the Earth possesses - for Nature is the real treasure!'

Another CJ page!

The 'Take one Stamp' CJ is in full flow now. This came along with a medallion stamp and I have to say its not my favourite type of stamp. In the end I stamped onto vellum with stazon and then coloured it in from behind with pencils. I then made it into a little window. The background was done with paint, a technique I learnt on one of the Vivian Bonder journalling workshops. A bit of bling...as requested by the owner and voila! I know...its a crooked photo!