The Altered Book .... For The Time Being ....

Well, almost a week has gone by from when I first decided to take part in the Bluebird 1-2-3 Altered Book Challenge, set up by Jean.

My Altered Book has now gone down from the original 495 pages to 27 pages and is now down to a staggering 8 - with 3 pages and the cover to be completed at another time. The Book is no longer about Grand Opera. In fact, it is about nothing at all really - the titles of the arias/songs have given the lead for each 'page'.......

This is the first page 'Let's Have a Party', which needs more. I want to convey an open house impromptu party that just sort of happens when friends and family get together. The road needs more definition and an image is needed for the right hand page. Funnily enough, as I'm typing, it has just clicked in my head what is needed .... shame I can't do anything about it at the moment ....

The next page is based on the song title 'The Day I Met You' with the intention being to create an album layout showing pictures of a couple who have been happily together for a long time .....
This next page is created around 'The Flower Song' .....
And this one around 'Bird Song' (not a particularly good photo) ....

This next page is 'Jokes Like That One' ....
This one is 'There Is No Other' and shows the people who mean the most to me ....

So there you are. The Project will not be abandoned but will be looked at again, perhaps in the cool of the autumn. I enjoyed doing this but with the other things in my life I found it quite difficult, time-wise, to get this far, despite Jean's missive that the project did not have to be completed to a deadline - it was an on-going journey. I also found it difficult (as I knew I would) to get the ideas out and into My Book - but I am pleased with what I have achieved with this ....

Dans ma maison il y a ... un ange

The Dans Ma Maison Challenge this week is .... an angel ...
The image of the girl, Wavy Locks (and what a little angel she is), is by Rubber Stamp Tapestry. She's framed in a hand cut frame, which is stamped with the RST Heart Deco set.

I hope you like it ....

Don't Tell Mum ....

And that's exactly what he did ...

My son has just come back from a week climbing in the Swiss Alps. His sister and his father knew but no-one told me. I knew that he was going but not when and the rule is to ring home before he goes off on one of these expeditions and ring when he gets back. Still - he's home, safe and sound, and I've had two visits from him this weekend .... which was lovely.

I thought you might like to see a couple of photos ....
Matt is the one in the middle ...

Here they are at the summit of a mountain - name unkown ....
And a couple of stunning views ....

Just Your Average Saturday Afternoon ....

My son and I went to visit my daughter, her partner and baby Fin this afternoon and found this when we got there .... Ooops !!! Her partner had been trying to pull out a hedge, in true man style with one of his diggers ....After a couple of rounds of bacon sandwiches each and after undertaking a Site Assessment in true man style, i.e. standing around and chin stroking ....

A selection of friends and neighbours, with the help of a Range Rover, put it upright again .... OK men - On my count - one - two - three - lift ... Put your backs into it chaps ...

Boys will be boys ....

And Another One ....

I've received another Award, this time from Gisela in Dussesldorf in Germany .... Thank you, thank you, Gisela ....This is the Wylde Woman Award. Not so sure about the Wylde bit - too hot and too old - lol.
Anyway- the rules are -

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you.
Make sure you link to their site in your post

2. Link back to Tammy's Blog (the originator of the award)

The purpose of the Award is to send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy....
So here goes (and in no particular order) .....
Linda, Nic, Hels, Juanita, Andrea, Sandy, Alison, Judy, Jean, Gail (visit her other other Blog too), Kath, Lorraine and Wendy.
I don't see why this can't be given to the chaps as well so here you are - Dan and Paul.
I would also give the Award to Sue - but she hasn't got a Blog - yet - lol
And its for everyone else who has visited me ....

I've Got An Award .....

Look what Nic, one of my SBS 19 sisters has given me ....

I'm dead chuffed with this and you all really must visit Nic's Blog - she does some amazing stuff and is very funny. So oodles and oodles of thanks Nic - you're a star ....
To pass the Award on, there are some rules .....

1. Pick five people share your award with
2. Four of them have to be dedicated followers of your blog

3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You have to link back to whoever gave you the award.

As Nic says - all quite simple really and a great way of saying thank you to those who take time out for the wonderful comments that boost your day.

So ... I am passing this Award on to ....

Wendy, Alison, Lorraine and Kath
who all visit often and say leave such lovely and encouraging comments
Jean
a new visitor from America who has a great Blog and has got me into Altered Books

If I could just add a teeny weeny thing - I would give this Award to Sue (she knows who she is) if she would get herself a Blog and show you all her fantastic stuff ....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge .... Slide Frame

Over at TGIF this week, the challenge is Slide Frames ....
The body clock is still mis-behaving but to be truthful these two cards were in my box, made ages ago - ideal I thought !!!

The images are from the Oxford Impressions Plate - The Dressmaker.
I am so made up to have entered a Challenge on the actual day - does this bode well for the rest of the day?
Have a good one ....

Scrap Your Day ....

Another new Project - you must all think I'm crazy - but this is an absolute must do ....

This is an on-going Project over on Shimelle's Blog, which I found through visiting Linda's Blog, which you must visit by the way - it's great ....
I think Scrap Your Day is a fantastic idea ... On the 25th of every month, you take loads and loads of photos of anything and everything in your day - whether it be just another day at work, an ordinary day if you're lucky enough not to have to go to work (I wish), or a special day... and then put it together in a two page spread. Visit Shimelle's Blog for prompts, ideas and to see what others have done. I didn't find this until very recently, so missed April through to June - but no matter - I'm starting in July !!!!
I'm going to do this for baby Fin (note - how I've dropped the Damien tag!!) on his birth day - the 20th of every month ....
Have a great day ....

The Altered Book .... Progress - 1

The last couple of days at work have been quite adrenalin filled and busy - hence yesterday's posting over lunch. (Just to tease you the last three days have involved two very early morning starts, one very late night finish, a telephone ringing non-stop, a wide and diverse range of people, numerous short hop journeys in the car, two extremely gorgeous men, a man with the most amazing voice at the other end of a telephone (wonder what he looks like), a lot of hanging about - the sort where you know that something is going to happen but you're not quite sure what - and the feeling of deflation when it didn't happen after all ....).

Back to normal now but when I came home from work yesterday, I thought I would have just a little snooze and you can guess what happened .... I fell asleep and woke up at 4.45am this morning. The body clock is really suffering at the moment !!!!
So - apologies to Sue who has been texting - will catch up with you later !!!!
Anyway I digress ....

One of my favourite times of day in the working week in the summer (apart from the time I leave the establishment where I work - lol) is having coffee and maybe breakfast, in the garden. It wasn't warm enough to go outside and finish preparing The Book at 4.45am so I did it in the kitchen instead and then took everything outside and took a couple of 'staged' photos ....

My Book is now down from 495 pages to 27 - which for me is no mean feat !!!! The 'original' content of The Book, as I told you, is Grand Opera. There are ten or so Operas (two of which I have never even heard of) in The Book and each had a blue and white pictorial description (kept), up to six pages of descriptive text (gone) and pages and pages of the music and words of the various tunes (how common is that !!) some of which have been kept and some have gone (but I have kept those pages for more ripping, tearing, gluing and other forms of cannabilisation - lol) .
So .... here is The Book .....

I've decided that I will work on The Book in the kitchen, so I have washed up and cleared all surfaces and got out what I think (at the moment) I might need .... paints, brushes, sponges, forks, aertex sponges (thanks to Eamon for this suggestion), a comb, lolly sticks and a sugar stirrer twizzly thing .... and put it all in a neat pile.
This is where I usually bottle out .... the ideas are all buzzing around in the head but getting them out is where I come unstuck. We'll see ......

Being Entirely Different - An Altered Book ....

Coming to Blogland just a few weeks ago, I had absolutely no idea whatsoever how many very clever and talented people there are out there .... Making things for my own Blog and visiting other peoples' has become nothing short of an addiction - but I am having great fun.
While Blog hopping on Sunday night I came across Jean's Blog at Bluebird 1-2-3, where Jean hosts a monthly Challenge. This month the Challenge is "to alter a book and make it an art journal - no other rules. You can use any ideas you want to as long as you end up with a book that reflects you and your journey".
I do not consider myself an artist in any way, not just because I can't even draw a squiggly line but because I don't consider myself to be 'originally creative' but nothing ventured - so here goes ......

I bought a Book about the Grand Opera (with 495 pages - I don't do anything by halves - lol) in a charity shop ages ago, thinking I would make an Altered Book about music. I got as far as applying gesso to the cover and then it got put to one side (probably because, if the truth were known, I wasn't sure what to do next) ....
Since finding Jean's site the Book has been retrieved. I spent a happy hour and a half on Monday when I got home from work, sitting in the garden, with a pot of paper clips and a mug of coffee bundling up the pages into 'clumps'. Then I had great fun, ripping, tearing, cutting, glueing and otherwise generally cannabalising the inside pages of the Book.

I have almost finished this stage of the Book and I can already see a number of things that aren't quite right, but that's all part of the learning process and I am sure that these 'not so good elements' can be used to the Book's advantage.
I will post some more as the project progresses. Wish me luck with this won't you - the Challenge ends on July 31st - and you can guess what I will be doing at the weekend - lol ....

Arty Girlz Weekly Challenge .... Era's ......

The Arty Girlz Challenge this week is to create a piece around your chosen Era ....

The image is from Rubbadubbadoo and is water coloured. I don't know which Era the lady is from - being round about 21 myself (in my dreams - lol) .....

Think Monday - Think ATC .... Nostalgia

This week's challenge over at TMTA (but posted on a Wednesday - late again) is Nostalgia ....

The image is stamped in sepia Archival Ink on glossy card and is from the Time to Stamp Nostalgic Couples plate. Brad buttons and die cut photo corners finish off this simple ATC ....

In My Pocket ... There are some Ribbons

This week's Pocket Challenge from Hels is - Ribbons ....
Since Hels posted the Challenge all I've heard is THAT song - lol - and could I find a stamp of a suitable tree - of course not!!!). Anyway, here's my Pocket for this week ....

And this is the inside ...

The images on the front are from The Distinguished Gentleman Oxford plate by Oxford Impressions. The couple on the inside is from Photo Booth by Time to Stamp. The tree is a photograph of an 'iconic' tree near to where I work.
Hope you like it ...

Damien, aka Finley William

You have to read the previous post to get the idea .... but I had to share the screaming infant - lol. And, no, there are no triple 6's .....

The photo wasn't taken last night/this morning but you get the idea .... Despite all that though, he is still absolutely gorgeous, although he doesn't look it here - lol. There's a more flattering photo on the left ....
I even got to see the sunrise - not a common occurrence with me ....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge - Quotations

The TGIF Challenge this week is Quotations ...

There are so many funny and inspiring (and otherwise) quotations out there that it's quite difficult to pick a favourite. Last night my new grandson came to stay for the first ever overnight baby sitting and I have to say, I don't remember it ever being that difficult !! At 3am while I was looking for the triple 6's, it came to me - Trust Your Crazy Ideas ....
After Damien, aka Finley William, went home with his doting mother (she had a lovely night's sleep, thank you very much) and I had caught up with last week's East Enders, I sat down and produced this for the Challenge ...... and got completely carried away ....
After all - you have to trust in your ideas, crazy or not, don't you ....
The stamps are Tim Holtz (Crazy Ideas) and Paper Artsy Dolls plates 1 and 2.

I'm not sure if the piece fits in with the Challenge and I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I had great fun making it ....

Dans ma maison il y a .... un poeme ....

The Dans Ma Maison Challenge this week is a Poem ....The background is a mix of Phantom Fuschia, Ethereal Emerald and a touch of Gossamer Gold Moon Shadow Mists - and yes, once again, I got it every where, but this time though I made up loads of sheets for future use !! And yes, once again, I have hand drawn the house !!

I just love the curved 'ruler' from the Squiggly Ink Bricks and Mortar 3 from Paper Artsy and the whole house is framed with a Fern front stamp from Clarity stamps.
The main image is Chloe from Lost Coast Designs, which is a lovely image, and she has been swooshed in Tattered Rose Distress Ink. The Serenity Poem is from Clarity stamps and was stamped on a punched circle and again swooshed in Tattered Rose. The circle was then over-stamped with the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube in gold and clear embossed.
I hope you like it .....

Arty Girlz Challenge .... Men

I thought I would have a go at entering this week's Arty Girlz Challenge with a 'CD Book' that I made absolutely ages ago. This was in the days before Bind It All machines and Cropadiles - the holes were drilled with a power drill !!!

The images are all by Rubbadubbadoo. I hope you like it ....

Think Monday - Think ATC - Games

Another ATC - this time for this week's TMTA challenge ...

The Bingo Card image is from Stamps Happen. The ladies and the dice are from Oxford Impressions and the ticket from Invoke Arts. Each piece is stamped on cream card and coloured with Old Paper and Milled Lavender Distress Inks.
Hope you like it ....

Paper Take Weekly Challenge .... Teenagers

I found this challenge over on Papertake Weekly and had just the card in my box to enter ...

The image is Princess Drama from Stamps Happen and is coloured in with Glaze pens.
I hope you like it ....

Summertime Blues ...

Got the day off today (well 'til 7pm) because I am going to a Garden Party ....
No - not at the BIG HOUSE lol - but at an equally impressive establishment near where I live.

Not being one to waste time, I thought I would catch up with a little private monthly ATC swap I am involved in. Not a good idea really because to get covered with Colour Wash Spray and Alcohol Ink is not a good thing to be doing, a few hours before an outing - lol.
This month's theme is Summertime Blues and apart from THAT song, I could see the beach, which I just love ..... so ....

The first one from the left is an Alcohol Ink background, using Stream, Silver and blended with Solution (the photograph makes it look a bit 'muddy' - it is better in real life!). The middle one is another Alcohol Ink background, just using Stream this time. The background of the one on the right is using the Shades of Blue Marvy Blending Blox. The stamps are from Rubbadubbadoo - Beside the Sea and At the Beach.

This is where I really made a mess .... The first one to the left is on ordinary card sprayed with Adirondact Colour Wash Sprays - Bottle and Stream. The middle one and the one to the right are both done with the Shades of Blue Marvy Blending Blox on glossy card. The middle one is stamped in black StazOn and the one to the right with Azure StazOn. The image is Bathing Beauties from The Queen's Dresser Drawers.
Hope you like them .....
By the way, I managed to get my hands resasonably clean before I went to the party (and I did some housework) - lol

Dans ma maison il y a ... la tour Eiffel ....

I loved doing this Dans ma maison challenge this week .....

My house is actually drawn free-hand by me (wow - 'cos this is not something that I do!) and is covered with K & Co Life's Journey paper. The main image and the tag are from a plate I bought years ago and I have no idea who they are from ... perhaps someone out there knows? The Post Mark stamp is from the Paris Poste plate from Oxford Impressions.
I hope you like it ....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge .... Keys

This is my entry to this week's TGIF challenge ....

The background is sprayed with Butterscotch, Lettuce and Wild Plum Adirondack Colour Washes (as was everything else around, including me - lol!) and then dabbed with scrunched up tissue.

The Key image is The Key to Love by B Line Designs and is stamped and then embossed on metal using Ten Seconds Studio tools. The metal was then coloured with Lettuce and Wild Plum Adirondack Pens and blended with my free blending applicator! The inspiration for this element of the project came from Linda Brown at LB Crafts, who is stunning to watch demonstrate - I could watch for hours .....
The House image is from Paper Artsy's Squiggly Ink Bricks and Mortar 1. Door Key is from The Artistic Stamper Time and Keys plate.
Hope you like it ....

Found This ...

While contemplating what to have for lunch and whether to go and do some gardening, I was visiting various blogs and found this link to a great Tim Holtz technique on Paul B's Blog (another great place to visit).
Since coming to Blogland I am surrounded with hundreds of little bits of paper with scribbles reminding me of various Blogs and links to visit again. I really don't want to lose this one and thought you might like to have a look too ...
It's raining now - so no gardening for the minute. Maybe I should make myself a notice board for all my scrappy bits of paper this afternoon? ...

In My Pocket ... There is a Little Bird ...

Here's my pocket to go to Hels In My Pocket weekly Challenge ....

The papers are from my scrap box (my personal challenge is to use all those bits for the Challenges I take part in). The Bird images are from Invoke Arts, the Ledger Stamp is one of my favourites from Stampers Anonymous and the Fern is an Imagina Clarity stamp which I have had for ages and is great for filling in.

Here is the inside. Actually it's not a little bird but a big one! There was no way that 4 & 20 would fit in there! ...

I hope you like it ......

Kazan's Sketch 4 .....

Here is my first ever Sketch Challenge Entry - and it is to 2sketches4you .....

This proved harder than it looked, seeing as I usually start with the image and I found it quite difficult to work 'backwards', so to speak. The flowers are from an Elusive Images plate, with Rhonna Farrer Flourishes V.2.
I'm not sure about it - what do you think?....

Stamp Addicts ...Chocolate Challenge

Here is my entry for this week's Stamp Addicts Challenge - Chocolate ....

The stamp is Daisy Bouquet from Judikins. The daisies are coloured a Raspberry colour with a Marvy Wet Looks Embossing Pen; and the flower centres (with a touch of Sparkle Gel Pen) leaves and bow are watercoloured. The panel is edged with A Stamp in the Hand's Field of Sky in Rusty Brown StazOn (that work, rest and play choccie bar), then mounted on white, milk and plain chocolate card. The base card, with the embossed and chalked edge, is one that was made ages ago for something else and abandoned.
Every time I do a Challenge, I have set myself the personal challenge of using all the scraps and off cuts of papers and card and other bits and pieces that I always knew one day would come in handy ....
I hope you like it ....

Think Monday - Think ATC ... Colourful

This Challenge stuff has become very addictive, very quickly!!

To continue with the addiction - this is my entry to this week's TMTA Challenge.

Although I love purples and browns and all the earthy colours, it is nice to do something really bright. The background is Azure, Blazing Red, Cactus Green, Mustard and Pumpkin StazOn sponged onto glossy card (and also on me - so I shall be wearing it for a week!) and then edged with a gold Krylon pen. The images are from Paper Artsy Pierrot 1 and 2.
Hope you like it ....