BLUE BIRDS FROM CALIFORNIA

Yesterday I received in the post a packet from Liz in California, I knew it would be the bluebirds for my swap. As  I was having a very strange day waiting for phone calls and running in and out during rain storms to create my field art,I did not open it.
I wanted the moment to be right and so it was this morning as Wilson woke me at 6 by tapping on the lounge room door.( Some of you may wonder why I was sleeping in the lounge room,on a sofa with my short legs hanging over the edge. ) The answer is simple no marital row just a Big Black Lab in deep sleep when I had gone to bed . So I grabbed a pillow and headed for the sofa.
Now back to Liz and her envelope ,this was what I found inside.

These delightful ATCs  which are needle felted,stitched and stamped.,on a fabric background.The colours and texture are wonderful.
I  do not usually blog about any extras I receive , because I do not expect it and I do not want anyone to feel under pressure to send me anything.
But this extra in with Liz’s cards came at a perfect time and I was very moved by it.

Yes a little bluebird flew in and she is very sweet (or should I say TWEET )
Thank you Liz.
I am so glad I waited the extra day to open the envelope, because at 6.30 the sun was shining , and my painting which had been out all night in a storm was drying well.

That is not a reflection off a crazed bird in the top left corner,or perhaps it was, as it is the reflection of my hand with the iPhone taking the picture.
Still early and the sun getting warmer I wondered down the drive to look at the neglected wildlife pond.

And there was the resident Grass snake sunning himself.

And then he was gone.
A little later in todays post the ATCs from my Good Friend Monika in Australia arrived  but I will talk about those tomorrow.( I need to take some more photos )
This evening we popped up to Bath to see my Mum in hospital,and were delighted to see she looked and was a lot better.
The hospital has a lot of art installations and paintings on display and I took this just as we were leaving.

While waiting in for my husband to get a takeaway in Walcot street Bath.I took this photo

from the car window .This is a busy road taking a lot of traffic out of the city but there is so much to see especially if you like people watching.It is a very artistic area with quirky shops. I think these doors would have been the stables of the original Georgian houses above.
Not clear in this photo is a small stone head in the cavity above the door on the left and as I sat there two pigeons took turns in sitting on the carved creation.

Bath looked beautiful as we drove through it  and I realised how much I miss the city I grew up in. Mind you I am only  a short drive away so I could visit more often.

SINGING BABIES AND FIELD ART

 

Yesterday  morning I went with my Daughter in law and Granddaughter to Jolly Babies a singing /activity session for babies and very young children.I will be taking her on my own next time and this visit was to show me what to do.

I t was a lovely half hour with four young mums and their babies,of course no photo’s allowed.

As I was leaving to walk round to the school I had a phone call to say my mum was very poorly ,as you know Dad has just finished chemo therapy for cancer and he is waiting to see if the disease has been halted. Mum with her memory problems has found it very difficult and I am not sure if this is a stress related illness,as I am writing this she is being kept in hospital for a second night.They are unable to find a cause of her dizziness ,nausea and inability to walk.

I had  a  mad moment yesterday and decided to have a massive clear out again in the room I call my studio.After all why I am I keeping old bicycle inner tubes and various other odd items ,I tell my self that I will use them in my next assemblage ,but I never do.

The only way to  deal with the two very large boxes of THINGS was to empty them out and only put back what I am sure I will use.But you feel so good when your space is tidy.

The very large item on the right is a new edition and actually was the reason I needed more space.A Big Shot Pro .

Any way while I was having this clear out I managed to knock over the pack of pigment colours  These had been been given to me a few years ago by a friend who had visited India.

I knew I was never going to use them for a actual painting and I was just about to put them in the bin when I had an idea.

After a quick chat with my milliande facebook friends I decided to do a rainy day painting.

First step I placed a large 40” x 47” canvas out in the field and spread some PVA glue over it.

I placed the packets of pigment on the canvas and as I cut each packet they burst and spread the pigment over the glue. It had been raining all morning and I was hoping this would be soaked straight away,but of course it stopped raining and  I had to wait about an hour for the heavens to open up again.

I had removed the packets as they were still half full and so there is second chance if this goes wrong.

But after about an hour in the rain this was what it looked like.

And this is what it looks like now out in the rain as I am writing this.

I will see what happens to it overnight and I f i am not happy I will try again with another canvas.

My Brother has just phoned to say he is back from visiting Mum in hospital and she is very ill ,she has had a scan and hopefully we will know tomorrow what is wrong.

 

I am sorry for any events happening this weekend  but we desperately need rain and this is some of the heaviest for months parts of the UK have declared a drought  and food production is beginning to be affected ,so I am enjoying looking out on a VERY wet garden and I hope it continues for some time.

Just time to post this , before settling down to watch the season finale of one of my favourite programmes ,The Mentalist   I am going to miss my weekly spot with the gorgeous Simon Baker.

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

 

It is a wet day so perfect for finishing a few swaps.These are the ATCs I have made for  The Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil swap hosted by Monika in Australia over at milliande.

This title I believe is from a Horror film and as I am NEVER EVER going to see it I just did my own thing.

As I have mentioned before I collect vintage photos and some time ago I bought a collection of photos of funerals and graveyards,this may seem a little odd but as I have also mentioned before I love graveyards. These photos were mainly European (German ) I think and spanning many years,and today they came in very useful. I chose some of the smaller ones and sprayed them with bleach to disguise the names on the headstones. These were attached to the ATCs which I had cut from black mount board. I then used pictures from some very old books I have called OUR  OWN COUNTRY Which are about 120 years old and are a very early tour guide to Great Britain they have some wonderful pictures in them all etchings.

After I had glued down the pictures I coloured the cards with Distress inks (Walnut Stain ) to age even more.I then attached transparencies of a tree in my field which I had printed in Black.I also added some text taken from the books.

It is always very hard to photograph transparencies as you get a reflection but I hope you can see what I was trying to achieve.

I had already taken  my own photos for this swap of the small graveyard next to my parents cottage, and I altered one of them using Picassa/Picnik.. As the cards above are quite dark and sinister I have made two extra using my photo and Monika can decide which to use.

This is my photo and pages again from the vintage books and Paper Artsy rubber stamp.

BLUEBIRDS

 

I had three sets of Bluebirds fly in today from three different countries

Anne from Peterborough Canada

Anne has used Aquarelle ,ink ,foil and paper.In a very quirky style.

 

Betty from the USA

Betty has used watercolour and resist I think ? and the cards are delightful.

 

Sonja from Serbia

This was Sonja’s first ATC swap and she has created some wonderful cards with stamps,stitching,ink and collage.

I would like to encourage anyone thinking of hosting a swap to have a go it is such a pleasure having envelopes arrive from all over the world.

As some of you may know I will be looking after my Granddaughter for two and a halve days a week from September. And Today was a taster day as her Mum had to go into school for the day. She was dropped off about 7am and picked up about 4.30 and I SURVIVED. Actually it went quite well of course  I did not get any work done but on the plus side I did not find time to eat or drink so it may help with my weight loss.

Wilson learnt very quickly that if he sat near her highchair there was a chance he might get some scraps.

I had forgotten the amount of STUFF a baby needs.

Both of these items fold up and store in a wardrobe and I cleared another cupboard for her feeding equipment and toys.

36 HOURS IN BRIXHAM

 

A selection of photos taken during 36 hours in Brixham. DEVON.

The first thing I saw when I looked out of the window was  a man who obviously COULD NOT READ

(should have gone to specsavers )

that may only mean something to any UK readers.

 

A lovely family scene

 

I wish I was sailing

I wish I was swimming

This old boat helped American soldiers leave Brixham for  D DAY she now does cruises around  the Bay to Agatha Christies house.

I never thought I would see this in Brixham It almost put me off my fish and chips

Little fish

Brixham Trawler

A view of our house from the other side of the harbour

 

You see a lot of dead gulls

 

This was washed up probably from a burial at sea

 

Hawaii ?

I could not resist 2 small leather bound journals a maxi dress and Tibetan prayer mat bunting.

I took 146 photos of last nights Firework Finale and only these two were worth keeping.