Jolly Ol' England!

Eight days of bliss...even the rainy cold weather made me happy, and is especially simpatico with my hair! There were colorfully painted shops and ancient lichen spotted castles on the same street, followed by modern sleek, glassy buildings and skyscrapers...London was a feast for my tired of looking at ordinary things eyes, and a welcoming wake up to my atrophied muscles who haven't walked or climbed stairs in months, not to mention a feast for my ears with the hearing of proper English and words I've never heard (I love the proper gentlemen cab drivers!)...me thinks myself dumb for sure!  Then, came the beautiful countryside! Can one of you lucky Brits give me the name of a great realtor? I'm thinking an early to mid 1800's castle will do just fine, and since I'm dreaming, money is no object!

Here are a few...cough cough...okay, a lot of photos of the places, people, and things I loved in England, and this is not even close to all the pics I took.

The view from my hotel room.

I had to zoom in.

I had to memorize this so I would know this is my stop to get off of "The Tube" or Underground Railway, which was very easy to use. All those stamps that I have that say "Mind the Gap", "Way Out",and "Underground" now all really make sense to me. I also find it refreshingly fascinating how there is no political correctness in the public broadcasting at the railway stations (Or published news in general.). They just tell you things exactly as they are,  "Please be mindful and keep your property close to you at all times as opportune thieves are about." I sure appreciated that and we all giggled, but certainly not at this, "The train is experiencing delays as there is a person under the train." We heard that one probably everyday we were there and it would send chills up our spine.

After a few minutes, you would emerge into a new part of town. Here we are at Covent Garden...

...Where I met up with Hels, and spent the most gut splitting and sweet day!

We shopped, we ate, we drank, we shopped some more, and ate and drank even more, all the while talking, talking, talking, and belting out into what people thought were witches cackles I am sure! I couldn't resist this phone booth in Covent Garden. I think I was telling my husband to send more money!

As Hels and I walked I saw this for the first time on a building (Seen everywhere after that.) and took the photo. Hels said she never even notices it, probably because she sees it all the time, but I was so intrigued with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. It's so symbolic. I took many photos of it along my journey.  And, at the end of our day, it was sure hard to say good-bye, but we did so between Tubes...hers going East, and mine going West, all while listening to the guitarist set up near by playing for tips, strumming "Stairway to Heaven". It was all we could to restrain ourselves not to help him out, as we both know every word of the song!

Trafalgar Square...before the riots broke out about Margaret Thatcher's funeral...yikes!

Loved this rocker...an homage to children everywhere.

Admiralty Arch...leading into The Mall...not the shopping kind either.

This is The Mall...a stretch of road almost 6/10 of a mile leading to Buckingham Palace that acts as a ceremonial route. Instead of black top, it is painted reddish to act as a red carpet of sorts...very cool!

St. James Park runs on the south side of  The Mall. It was covered with gorgeous bulbs of tulips.

Alas, Buckingham Palace!

Queen Victoria Memorial

 

Gorgeous golden gates...but wait...

...here they come...it's the Changing of the Guard.

 

 

 

 

Fantastic ornamentation...WOW!!!

Westminster Abbey

  

I could stare at the detail of this gorgeous cathedral for hours!

Palace of Westminster and what I've been waiting for...Big Ben!

 

Officially called The Elizabeth Tower, she is the largest four faced chiming clock in the world, and the third tallest clock tower! I LOVE her...always have, and I have a thing for clock towers and large clocks in buildings in general. I take photos of every one I see in every city I visit, but THIS IS THE ONE I've been waiting for! This made my trip. I shot so many photos, trying to get every detail, and just couldn't. There is so much ornamentation on her that you don't realize until you see it. I tried to zoom in on the crests that are so colorfully displayed, but my shaking hands, the weather, and poor zoom just couldn't do it very well. This was my best shot. You can barely see them, but there are eight on this side, mostly green and a red one in the middle. Oh how I love all this gold! My middle name should be Midas!!!

 

The London Eye

Love these lamp posts!

Tie up your boat to that lion why don't you! WOW! These are all along the Thames River.

Every once in a while, you'd see a building with a sign on it...

YUP..."Purple Haze" Jimi lived there, and George Frideric Handel next to him...different eras of course! Could you imagine if they were there during the same time? ;0)

Heading to Windsor!

What? No flying frogs???

  

It's no big deal to have a magnificent castle sprawled out in the middle of your town in England!

 

 

The Queen's quarter's...and YES, she was there!

 

 

Another Changing of the Guard.

 

The moat turned garden.

Here they come!

There they go!

 

A church off in the distance.

How's that for a yard?

Queen Elizabeth's quarter's again.

Back in London, at Tower Bridge.

  

 

What a sight!

Across on the south.

Across on the North.

The Tower of London

 

These are made out of chicken wire to depict the animals that used to be housed on the grounds at The Tower...talk about Art!

 

More shopping!

Hugh was not working that day. ;0)

All made from cookies at a shop in Notting Hill. Awesome and tasty!

Off to the countryside again....this time to  Newbury to see Highclere Castle, aka, Downton Abbey!!! WOOHOO! What a thrill, and it was the last day to do so before the new season started filming and all would be closed to the public. The cast was staying down the road at a hotel.

Michelle, Tiesha, Laura, Me, Debby

"Ung je serviray" was the Carnarvon's family motto, and is French for "Only one will I serve". I've linked to any interesting read on the Castle dating back over 20 years.

 

 

 

 

There is always a black sheep in the family!

Then it was on to Bath for the remainder of our day, but sadly we got there late and most things were closed. We did get to walk through the town though and see the most gorgeous sights and eat fantastic food!

 

A lot of restoration has been done in Bath to bring back these gorgeous Medieval buildings.

My last day in London was spent sight seeing at Kensington Palace first, some shopping, (Liberty and Harrods), and then finished off with high tea at the Browns Hotel.

 

The Princess Diana Memorial Garden

 

Cherrio for now!
I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon, or your bags get packed for a fun filled adventure!

London Calling!!!

Whether you have two tickets to paradise or you really just want a reason to create something with your Tim Holtz travel blueprint stamps, this is the week for you! We invite you to join us in creating something "Travel Themed" in some way. Perhaps a card inspired by the colors of the tropics. Going to use that postmark stamp you never seem to find on your projects? Want to wish someone bon voyage, or decorate a notebook for your next road trip? What ever you decide, you’re cleared for take-off on this week’s challenge!

You all already know I was fortunate enough to be able to visit London last week with my dear friend Debby Schuh, and the rest of our tour group. Well, I couldn't go creatively empty handed, so I made each participant an ATC Pamphlet and Pocket Envelope to keep a few stash goodies in as well. It seems London is a popular theme on stamps lately, so I had great images to work with! If you are interested in seeing some of the places I visited and what I thought of jolly ol' England, come back tomorrow!

I dredged pieces of 10 x 3.5 inch Ranger Manila through Tim's Distress Paints and misted water...on both sides. What fun!!!

I added a little Distress Ink to the places that didn't get covered, as well as to the edges of the paper. Then I flicked a bit of water onto this and dried it with a heat tool.

I lightly misted a bit of Dyan's Dylusions in White Linen, to give it a bit of a rain look.

I used every Artistic Outpost London set (So I'm linking to their Monthly Referral Program as well. ) and my new Tim Holtz Stamper's Anoymous London and Paris Set to either stamp or stamp and heat emboss the images onto the pamphlet, using different inks and powders, on both the front and back.  I used a paint marker and a white pen to color in and doodle on a few things as well.

I stamped the guard and Big Ben on Special Stamping Paper, cut those out, and foam taped them on.

Finding these pocket envelopes in my stash, I stamped various images and sayings on them in Jet Black Archival, and then embossed them using the new Tim Texture Fade London Icons from Sizzix.

Using either Festive Berries or Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, I swiped the pad directed over the raised portion of the pocket. I squeezed a little Goosebumps from Tsukineko onto my craft sheet, and applied it to the same raised portions directly onto the ink using my finger. It dries lightening fast. I did this to make a resist for the next part, and now you can really see that lion! Then, I sprayed either Postbox red (If I had Tumbled Glass.) or London Blue (If I had Festive Berries.) Dylusions onto the pocket. The Goosebumps makes it resist the raised image! COOL!!! Just so you know, I did the same thing on the back before I sprayed the Dylusions.

I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Board, a gift from one of Tim's Cruises, to scores the pamphlet back and forth every 2 1/2 inches, making 4 parts.  This board made it so easy!

 

 

 

 

 

Do you love to travel? Or do you wish you could? Where would you go? Create some type of Art showing us where your journey would take you, and enter it into our challenge. You just might be the lucky winner of a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp. You can also be named as one of the "Top Three Picks" for this challenge. Good luck, and visit the other DT member's blogs to journey into their world of creativity!

 

Supplies:


I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Resisting My Love of Color???

It's Monday the 22nd of April! It's Earth Day! It's also my birthday too, and I'm just hours home from across the globe where I had the most amazing trip to Europe. The Earth is truly a magnificent place, full of wonderful people and awesome sights...Happy Birthday to me...I'm truly so blessed! Thank you hubby for making it happen! More on my trip later, but I'd like to thank those of you who commented and tweeted on my snippit shots of the places I visited, as well as birthday wishes. They mean so much to me...and I say to myself, what a wonderful world!!!

Being Monday, it's also time for a new challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show. From colored pencils to Copic Markers, Distress Paints to Alcohol Inks, all color mediums have one thing in common: they allow you to truly customize your creations. This week we celebrate all things "Color", and share tips and tutorials with you on our blogs as well! Your challenge this week is simple...use any color medium (ink, pen, mist, paint, stain, etc) on your project this week and then share it with us.

I choose to do a canvas and not only show you through photos the technique I've been raving about for months now, but also through video, however, my disc that housed the video was destroyed and talking about it disturbs me greatly, so there are only a few photos now. Anyway, that technique is making a resist for Dyan's Dylusions using Wendy's Embossing Paste and Tim's Distress Paints together. I don't know if there is a technical name for it yet, but it's all I've been doing while working with these three mediums together. My other Art mediums are probably feeling pretty neglected lately, but I just can't help it...these are a match made in my creative haven!

I prepped first before started the video to save some time. I did not coat my canvas with Gesso before starting as I usually do on canvas work. Doing so would not allow the Dylusions to sink in the way I would like. So first, I positioned my Crafter's Workshop Mini Branches stencil, and I penciled in where I wanted this tree image by drawing in a few of the pertinent lines of the main branches so I knew where it would go later. I also did this on the mini canvas that would go on top of it.

Although very difficult to see unless turned as certain angles, I stamped wording from Wendy's Evidence of Art Set in Picket Fence Acrylic Paint Dabber from Ranger all over the top of the canvas, and on the three mini canvas pieces as well. I also used her Heirloom Flowers and hand roll stamped them using Broken China Distress Paint on the upper portion and on the minis. I painted the bottom portion in Pebble Acrylic Paint Dabber to act as the mortar between the bricks.

I stamped my sentiment from Wendy's Evidence of Art several times to make sure I got a few good impressions. I cut the words apart and used Glue N Seal to apply it to one of the mini canvas pieces. The tissue paper disappears leaving the wording only. I love that! I also prepared the branches on the other mini canvas with the tree stencil and the gold embossing paste and circle stencil to have it ready.

I stenciled the ART-C Butterfly using Wendy's Black Embossing Paste on another mini canvas, and then painted in the open areas with Distress Paints. I misted the paints with water and used a tag to clean them up. It made for a beautiful background on this jumbo #10 sized tag to use on a later project.  This is where the video starts, but alas there is no video, so I will have to write about it.

I placed Wendy's Stripes & Dots Border Stencil on top of the penciled in tree and sponged on Picked Raspberries Distress Paint through the Dots to mimic blooms in the distance. I then taped the tree stencil on where it was supposed to go. I used Wendy's Gold Embossing Paste and applied it on to the stencil. I removed it and dried it with a heat tool. It puffs a bit, and turns golden and metallic rather than the butterscotch color you see in the jar. It's a gorgeous color. I added about a tablespoon of the White Embossing Paste into a cup and added about 3 drop of Tea Dye Distress ReInker to the Paste. I stirred it up a bit and applied it through a taped down Brick Stencil on the bottom portion of the canvas. You can color Wendy's Paste with any ReInkers, Alcohol Inks, and even Paints! After I dried the bricks, I stamped some of them with the Normandy Lace Stamp from Wendy's Believe In Art Set using Frayed Burlap Distress Paint. I did the same using Black Soot. This makes the bricks look more real, and the images don't have to be crisp. I used Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Paint on the tree and on the bricks in a few spots for detail and contrast. I covered the sky and tree portion with paper to protect it, and then misted the bricks with Black Marble and Melted Chocolate Dylusions. The parts of the brick painted with Distress Paint resisted the Spray...so cool. I dried this, and then covered it up. I sprayed the sky and tree portion with Calypso Teal Dylusions. The tree resisted the Dylusions...oh how I wish you could see this via video!!! Don't worry though, I will do another.

 After I misted and dried, I adhered the branches and butterfly mini canvases. I cut a strip of Grunge Paper and painted it with Pebble, scratched it up a bit, and gave it a little Dylusions. It will be the top of the wall. Next, I painted a Wendy Pot Art Part with Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint, and misted it with Melted Chocolate. Then I stenciled Wendy leaves and an ART-C Flower with White Embossing Paste, dried that, and painted them with Distress Paints. I also stenciled on the Pot as well, and added a button for the center of the flower. I added on the sentiment canvas.

I added some Picked Raspberry Distress Stain to a Mini Mister and gave these mini roses a pink color, and then added a little more with the same color Distress Paint. I adhered these to the tree, and one lone bloom to the wall. A little free hand doodling finished this canvas off.

 

 

I don't even have to ask, because I know you all love COLOR probably like I do, but do you have a favorites technique to show your love of color? Maybe you just want to show your favorite medium or even favorite color. Whatever the case may be, create some type of Art using a color medium some how, and enter it into our challenge. You just might be the lucky winner of a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp. You can also be named as one of the "Top Three Picks" for this challenge. Good luck, and visit the other DT member's blogs to behold the colors of the rainbow!

 

Supplies:


I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!