"Green, cream, grungey not bright'

I had fun making this one - it took me four hours - I seem to be taking ages doing each banner, but it's more my inexperience on a sewing machine and just trying things out.

I used a lovely piece of vintage velvet for this one.

The little girl's dreadlocks I machined on top of a few of the inked ones.

It may have taken a long time but I did actually enjoy the process, the inking, staining, sewing, collaging, and writing one of the quotes from a Tim Holtz stamp on a pure cream piece of new cotton.

And grunging it all up.

The bottom 'circle' is a grunged piece of paper on which I have written a grungey Love

This looks so much better in real life too.  The velvet is all the same green in colour and feels just lovely to touch.

I have got quite attached to this and really hope the recipient is happy with it when she has received it.

'Purple, red, burgundy and gold" - Another banner for the swap

The wonderful Cath recently ran a blog candy giveaway -  I was amazed to receive a parcel as a 'Consolation Prize' for not winning - as one of a number of people.

I have been spending the past couple of days making more banners  for the swap I am in.

I had some of these lovely little blank discs amongst the stash so I stamped one and used it for this banner

The purple fabric with gold patterns, came from an India skirt - one of those large crinkle ones of years gone by.  I bought it from a charity shop to use. 

All the material is sewn onto a material base banner.

I used a vintage image which I overlaid with burgundy netting.

I had trouble photograping things lately - it's me not the camera

I used some more of the Indian scarf - its lovely rich colours with lots of gold don't show up here.

It looks even stranger in the bright sunshine - you'll just have to take my word for it, that it looks fine and subtle and rich in 'the hand'

I felt really 'free' with this template and just played.

I used one backing paper (a ledger sheet). 

 Instead of more strips or layers of backing papers,  I used oil based pastels and smudged them. 

It really was great fun.

It doesn't look quite so bare in real life as it does in the photo - mainly because you can see the light shading of the smudged pastels and lines and columns of the ledger page.

These templates are really good fun and so very challenging - well they are to me!

And maybe at a later stage I will have something more to write about!

Journal page - Make the most of your time every day.

Another page in my book of intentions.

Another random template - I think that I might get the hang of it after all!

The prompt was 'What is happening right now?'

The focal image was again torn out of the Sunday supplement, and 'messed about with a bit'

Book of Intentions - struggling into the world of journalling with templates and prompts

You can click photos to enlarge

I finally adding some wording - which I am finding rather hard.

This is another page - not the one next to the  above.

You can tell how I feel about it by the messy photo!

I am struggling with images at the moment  - no magazines etc the Sunday 'You' which didn't really have anything inspiring.   I am not happy with this page, but will keep it in to remind me how 'bad' I was when I started out.  This first book is designed as experimental.

I picked out a 'prompt' and a template at random then set about tearing, sticking, drawing, masking, and writing to fit the prompt.

You'll probably recognise the 'Never look back' heading from the weekend mag.  Again I picked a template at random, and ahered to the desing rigidly!

I where the black paint is - I did open up my soul - which was very hard - but as the tutor writes in her notes -  you can paint over it or cover it with more backing paper - which I did - and was surprised how good it felt to do so.  A bit like writing something on a blackboard and rubbing it out!

I am only going to post a few more of my pages, then leave it until the book is finished - hopefully they will get better

I am taking a bit of 'time out' so you won't see much of me on the forums or leaving comments.  I will be visiting your blogs though and keeping up to date with what you are doing - just don't have enough time to leave comments at the moment.

We will, we will, shock you!

 I signed up for another online journal course a couple of nights ago - one that is based in the US and is just the sort of journalling that I wanted to try but the course in the UK sold out the day the lists came out.  I will still continue with my other story journal and make more of those - but I just fancied something completely different - and I have made a start!  This one is more of a collaging way of making a journal and with your own thoughts inside it.

There are two journal styles on this course so you really get your money's worth!

First you make the book cover, then you make the pages.

I haven't fully finished the front cover yet

I am not adding the embellishments until I have finished the inside pages.

Once you get your head around the idea of just being 'free' then it gets easier!

Be prepared to be shocked - I am!

The inside cover and some stamped fabric. 

I am going for red hot colours - something completely different for me!

This first journal is the 'Book of Intentions'.

I think it is designed to get you in the right mindset.

It is a in zig-zag style.  I think I 'broke the rules' by sloshing the pages with ink - but I just couldn't help myself.  It is supposed to be a collage working to a template - but I kinda missed the plot!  I don't have any magazines - threw them all out - and yes you' ve guessed - now I need them!

So - I have gone from being all neat and tidy and muted in my first journal to being loud and outlandish in this one.  These above are the first two pages.

I still have to fill the gaps in this page with my intentions.

The next page I attempt I will stick to one one of the designs - rather than just messing about as I went along.  The idea is to collage the pages then write in them.  We have been given lots of prompts to get our brains working!

The Zola mystery is solved

Zola Buddy Bantam has been missing for a while - in all the heatwave and the occasional storm in the night.   She appeared now and again - then disappeared  - but didn't go into Peckingham Palace at all - but drank from the pond or one of the many watering holes around the garden.

I have searched high and low, and in all her favourite hiding places - to no avail - until this evening!  I was absolutely determined to find her.

We have lots of foliage in our garden - very dense too - but Eureka - look!

She was in the centre of a huge clump of day lilies which were in the centre of a big highly packed flower bed.

She had covered herself with dried leaf stems which were in turn covered by a tall and bushy plant with lots of stems of day lilies in flower.  Can you see all the eggs?  She has flattened herself to cover them.

I was convinced they were laying their eggs somewhere apart from their usual hiding places.

Patrick said that the heatwave had put them off.

We had a heavy downpour in the night and these have muddy footprints on them.

But

I did the 'float test' and none of them floated - so I gave them a scrub and dry, tomorrow they will be turned into cakes!