'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday 30 November 2019

Yay!
We did it! We created something every day for the whole of November.
So, today I'm thankful for you - the AEDM participants and my other blogging friends
Thank you for visiting faithfully. 
Your lovely comments are SO much appreciated.
To celebrate today, I did what I enjoy most - I made cards 😁 and they are - for me, anyway - unusually CAS!

The first one is for Art Every Day participants...to Congratulate you/us for sticking with it!
(I just noticed the hair isn't coloured and I haven't added finer details, such as flowers - oops! I'll finish that in a mo - I have someone in mind for this card)😉
The second is simply to say a huge
Thank you 
to all my blogging friends.
Thank you, very, VERY much!
I'm also linking to Simon Says Stamp Monday's Tape it up Challenge (Washi tape borders)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesdays Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious, Anything Goes
Words 2 Craft By, Thankful
and 
Addicted to Stamps, Anything Goes Challenge.

Thank you for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Friday 29 November 2019

Today I'm thankful for my morning coffee!
I allow myself three mugs of caffeinated coffee a day and oh how I love it!
My page is a mishmash of Oxide inks over an acrylic paint wash, using stencil, stamps, die cut alphabet, Posca pens, splatters, Inktense pencils and washi tape 
I'll add the personal journalling later...

Linking to Art Every Day... Day 29!
Also to Simon Says Stamp Mondays, Tape it up
Thanks for calling in 
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Thursday 28 November 2019

Today, I'm thankful that there is always light, always hope, even - and perhaps especially -  in dark and/or difficult circumstances.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating!
Linking to Art Every Day
Love the way the gold crackle shows up on the dark greys and black cracks.
Thank you for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Wednesday 27 November 2019

Beware what you say...words have power!
I'm thankful today for the power of words.
One kind word can change someone's entire day - and vice-versa. 
It's taken me a long time to learn that a harsh or critical word can badly affect the rest of the day for both the speaker and the hearer 😉
This was a quick page - or would've been had the white Posca Pen cooperated 😖 Please tell me why of all Posca pens it's only the white ones that inevitably seem to be temperamental, lol? Fortunately, I'm laughing and I don't mind the odd smudge.
The stamps just dropped through my letterbox, Thanks to Visible Image 😊 but I finished it in the dark! That's my excuse, anyway...
Background Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics.
(Off to touch up those words..the white gel pen needs toning down on the words!)
Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 26 November 2019

Good Morning!
It's 
and time for a new challenge
INSPIRED BY A SONG 
OR a
CHRISTMAS CAROL
What a great challenge for this time of year. 

Christmas is less than 4 weeks away - scary - and I'm sure you're all working hard to get everything done in time. 
I hope you'll find the time to join us all over the next two weeks, even if you are super organised and have been doing things gradually. Why not take time to kick back and play for an hour or two in your journal? Or make an extra card just for fun - maybe for someone special, or even ready for next year! 

My card is inspired by a Christmas carol - We three Kings! 
I'm not quite sure how penguins are associated with Christmas - it can only be the cold weather - but there is something so cute about them, especially the babies. (Would you believe I had to look up photos of different species of penguins to get the colours right, lol - as if it matters!) I love this stylised image, which came complete with words and snow border.
I used Oxides for this background, stamped, embossed and coloured the Penguins with Promarkers and gel pens, then added pearlescent embossing paste through my random snow stencil and highlights of white gel pen. The ground is washi tape. Super cute 😊


Don't forget to visit Try it on Tuesday to see the inspiration provided by the Design Team...they are SO talented! 

Also linking to Art Every Day Month
Day 26 of Thankful November is a thank you for Christmas Carols - and for singing 😊
Dragonfly Dreams, Christmas/Winter,
We Love 2 Create, ATG Mixed Media
and to
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
(the bottom border is washi tape)

Thanks for calling in today
Hope to see you soon
Cath
xxx

Monday 25 November 2019

Wow! 
November is almost over and Christmas will soon be here...! 
Thankful November 25 is my thank you to God for his mercy and grace.
'By grace I have been saved, through faith. 
And this is not because of anything I've done to earn it; it is the gift of God.'

Linking to Art Every Day Month

And here's a little Bible journalling on the same theme...
Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Sunday 24 November 2019

Happy Sunday!
I love these cute Crafty Individuals penguins, but ever since I first saw them, I can't get the idea of them looking back at a disappearing world out of my head. Whimsical though they may be, there seems to be an air of sadness about them - or maybe that's just me anthropomorphising 😉 
I'm sure it is, but I almost used 'We have children, too' as my words.
So, today I'm focusing on being thankful for our world and for the fact that the earth has all the conditions necessary for life to exist. 
I know we can't change the world overnight, but we can all do 'our little bit' to go towards preventing further destruction of what we have.

I've sized this to fit my smaller journal and I'm linking to 
Thanks for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Saturday 23 November 2019

Today's playtime is just that - a playtime - my thank you is for imagination and for art 'just because' - art for fun! The measure of play isn't in the end result, but in the fun along the way...my thought for the day 😎
This little birdie popped into my mind so I decided to play with him and with whatever was hanging around on my desk, with no aim in mind. 

I didn't get around to blogging yesterday, but I made a card - for fun - using the 'Oddball fairy' on a Carabelle Studio alphabet background...I wanted some sparkle but didn't want to use glitter, so I used an Opalite gold shimmer reinker to colour her wings, splattering some for the fun of it. It's irridescent, so it surprises you when the light falls on it.
As you can see above, the little black mark isn't actually on the card, so it must be on my scanner - again! 
(Note to self: I really ought to wait until things dry before scanning them.)
I'm linking to Art Every Day Month 
and to
Just Add Ink, Stars, Spots and Sparkle (add 2)
Thank you for calling in...
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Thursday 21 November 2019

Today, I'm thankful for PEACE
That peacefulness that stays with you in spite of the problems in your life.

Nothing on this page went as I wanted it to but I like the feel of it, so I'm including it in my month of thankfulness.
The background is a mishmash of all kinds... Distress inks, acrylics, Inktense, lots of water and charcoal. My stamp of the words is tiny, so I used my labeller.
I'm linking this to Art Every Day Month
Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Wednesday 20 November 2019

My November thankfulness yesterday was for night skies... the good side of colder, clearer weather is clear skies and it's so good to see stars! We don't see that many in NW UK- too much light pollution. My best memories of stars are from times spent with a very dear friend in late summer in the Loiret. They're far enough out of Paris to be in the agricultural area and the skies there are amazing! I was often there late August/early September, so we'd spend evenings lying in the garden, counting all the shooting stars. 
It's amazing how insignificant the vast expanse of sky can make you feel... it has a way of putting things into context. Those of you who live close to wide open areas where you see thousands of them are so blessed. Maybe one day I'll get to see them! 
My family in NZ tell me the skies there are amazing 😊

I didn't get to finish it, 'cos having added the texture paste stars the night before, I hadn't realised they'd soak up the inks - blue stars, eek! I should have, but I didn't... yesterday I was MIA, so had to go back to it late. I finished it, it was late. 
The Visible Image Man looks the way I feel. The moon image (from my stash - thanks, Sarah) fits the song in my head. 

I'm linking to Art Every Day Month
and to
Simon Says Stamp Wed, Starry Skies.

Today, I'm thankful for a new day and the chance to start again 😉

It's a stencilled Oxide background again. I stamped, embossed and coloured the image, then cut it out and added it over the one I'd stamped in my journal. I changed my mind about the way I was doing it as I was about to glue it...and used the width of the paper as the table. So I then cut out the images on the stamped work table. I love both sets of words, so had to use them. The second one is a tiny font, sorry. It says, "The pages of yesterday cannot be revised, but the pages of tomorrow are blank, and you hold the pen. Make it an inspiring story." 
I like that. It's a blessing to to let some days go, but tomorrow is always a new day and doesn't have to be the same - thankfully. I added a (rough) nose and mouth to the face...I just can't handle blank faces 😨
Thank you for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 19 November 2019

I created this background by using a babywipe to wipe colour off an Oxide background through this (favourite) stencil... it's also in one of my favourite colour themes - not those below, but those of the card.
I really wanted to join the current challenge at Day of the Month Card Club, which is 'Looking for Circles Day'. I noticed this stamp set when rooting through my collection for something else and thought they'd be perfect. Since November is my month of thankfulness, I thought these words would fit perfectly. I clear embossed them and simply added bits of white gel pen for contrast.
I'm also linking this to Art Every Day Month 
(because my journal page isn't finished)
and I'm joining
Stamplorations, Stamps and Circles
Words 2 Craft By, Thankful
"When asked if my cup is half-empty or half-full, my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup"
Simon Says Stamp Wednesdays, Thank you, Thanksgiving
Shopping Our Stash, So Thankful
Dare 2B Artzy, Thankful

Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Monday 18 November 2019

Today, I'm celebrating books... oh, the joy of reading a good book 😊
I have to admit that I still prefer paper books, something I can curl up with, put a bookmark in and even pass on to a friend to share the pleasure...
Kindle books are far more convenient at times, but it definitely isn't quite the same - nor is the internet. I think I prefer to root through a good old reference book to find information, unless it's something I need to know quickly.
I tend only to keep those I really love though now and occasionally go back and reread some of them, loving the pleasure of 'slipping back into that world'. I've even cried when I've come to the end of some books, especially when it's a series of books, simply because I'll miss the characters...that's a good sign of a well written book 😉
Linking to Art Every Day Month.
These two colours rarely scan correctly and I don't think my trying to put that right has helped... it's Toasted Marmalade and Peacock Feathers with Mermaid Lagoon stencilling. 

Thanks for popping in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Sunday 17 November 2019

Today, I'm thankful for one of my favourite things...trees!
I'm sure I've done this before because I love them so much. 
I just think there's something very special about them, especially the huge, old trees that have seen so much history and been around hundreds of years...maybe even longer. Just imagine all the things they've seen...

There's a real sense of a beating heart in them and you can almost feel it pulsating through the trunk. This time of year is very special because they've shed their seeds as well as their leaves...ensuring that they will live on. 
There is so much about them that fascinates me, including recent(ish) results in the field of quantum biology... go here if you're interested. Despite the fact that I can't always absorb the details, let alone get my head around them, Quantum physics amazes me. It literally makes my head hurt 😊😉 
But it doesn't stop me being fascinated and trying to understand! 
There is always so much more to learn and yet there remains so much mystery...

I used Distress Oxides over gesso with lots of water droplets and spatters of ink.

Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Saturday 16 November 2019

...almost didn't happen, but I put on some music, let it do its work and played in my 8x8 journal, with (very) old music score, music dictionary scraps (by chance), gesso, Neocolours and White acrylic paint, adding bits of (crooked) washi tape and a bit of gold foiling... 
Today, I'm thankful for music - I love music of any kind - but today it was worship music that helped me focus on things that are far more important than everyday life 😊

Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Friday 15 November 2019

This is the challenge at Allsorts Challenge this week...so NOT me...so I decided that since it was a real challenge, I really had to try it... this one is a white embossed butterfly on vellum, a dry embossed background, stacked die cut words and a die cut stitched frame.

On this one, I took a different route and used a bit of white glitter... sparingly.
I saw these dies last year and really liked the idea of them, so you may see a few different types. I added glitter to the tree edges, the ground and the rooftops of the houses...die cut words again. Sadly, you can't really see the glitter, but it is quite pretty.
I took a photo to try to show it up a little more, but it's not brilliant...white is so difficult to photograph and especially when there isn't much natural light around.. you can see the glitter if you click to enlarge. But I also just noticed that the 'tréma' (Noël) is over the wrong vowel...duh!
Now why did I do that???
 😟

I really don't find dies easy to work with - I'd much rather stamp - nor do I find it easy to keep white white, because my fingers are usually full of glue, paint or ink! This was definitely a challenge for me 😉
I'd love to try something white with texture paste, but I just didn't get chance this week.
I may not get to play more today, so I'll also link this to Leah's Art Every Day Month... but I may be back later.

Thank you for popping in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Thursday 14 November 2019

Today I'm thankful for diversity, difference and variety in people - and I'm thankful for being me. 
I'm hoping you will celebrate being you 😉

I used Paperartsy images today, over a Dylusions acrylic background I added over some scraps of book pages I'd gessoed. I just scribbled my feelings about everyone mattering and having value down, then added more writing, words and bits of washi tape until I'd finished...nothing planned, or organised...as you can tell! 
I'm linking to Leah's Art Every Day Month again...   
Thanks for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Wednesday 13 November 2019

Today, I'm focusing on being thankful for rubber stamps and for stamping!
I was never 'into' art or anything remotely considered artistic - other than knitting, sewing, rug making and a bit of doodling, but I had played around with Calligraphy and other forms of Word art, especially desk top publishing, through which I created cards, posters, etc.

Then, one day a (still precious) friend showed me her stamps... but I was most interested in being able to write with a broad nibbed embossing pen and gold emboss it...wow! Amazingly, another close friend sent me a stamped birthday card that year. We both joined a Yahoo stamping group (the internet was new, then!) and things snowballed from there. To cut a long story short, I ended up with an online business and a shop, doing the local show (Port Sunlight) and some others (helped by that same friend) ... for ten years! I have met so many wonderful people, made long lasting (some closer than others) friendships with people from all over the world and have done all kinds of things I never in a million years expected to do... and I still love stamping, 20+ years on! 

Here's today's page... I had no intention of using flowers but spotted them in a box of bits and they looked good... I'd already coloured and fussy cut them, so I edged them, drew stems and stuck them onto the stamped and stencilled background. 
My trusty label maker generated the words.

I'm linking to 
Sweet Stampin, Make Your Own Background
More Mixed Media, ATG (optional black)
Mix it Up, ATG, with optional watercolouring 
and 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge
Thanks/Thanksgiving
Thank you for calling in...
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 12 November 2019

Good morning peeps.
Today we have a new challenge
at
COLD, COLD, COLD
I hope you'll join us. Don't forget that you can use any medium you like and interpret the theme any way you like.
For inspiration, please check the gorgeous artwork from the TIOT Design Team.
I look forward to visiting your blog 😊

I bought this Crafty Individuals stamp at Port Sonlight last year, but haven't used it until now. It's a brilliantly drawn image and it's easy to imagine expression on the faces of these wonderful penguins, just from body language. They also need VERY little colouring.

The background is a variety of Distress inks (Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Blueprint Sketch and Hickory Smoke) and a touch of 2 Glimmer Mists, sponged over a torn bit of paper to creat mounds of snow and ice. I finished it off by adding texture paste through a snow stencil. I had planned on adding to the background (before I added the texture paste), but when I looked at it again, it seemed snowy and cold enough.

I'm joining Leah's Art Every Day in November challenge and for Thankful November 12, I'm thankful for animals and pets.
I'm also joining Sweet Stampin's Make Your Own Background challenge 
and
Addicted to Stamps, Anything Goes


Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Monday 11 November 2019

I almost didn't make today - people matter more than things...😉
But I decided to do something quick, so I daubed some blue and blue/grey Oxides across a page, more greys at the bottom, spritzed with water, heat set and stamped one of my favourite rain images (Katzelcraft). I stuck another cut out coloured image (edged with a black Pitt pen) over the top and added the words, spattering with black and blue, then with clear water.

So, because I'd just walked in from a really dark, grey, wet and windy day, today I'm thankful for being warm and cosy in my home - and thankful I have somewhere to call home.

I'm joining Leah's Art Every Day Month challenge.
Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Sunday 10 November 2019

Today I'm thankful for 
COLOUR.
Playing with colour is a great way to bring light into our lives, and especially when we're feeling 'grey'...or 'blue'.
In exactly the same way a touch of bright sunshine - think Spring - changes the way nature appears, bright colours can also change how life looks and therefore how we feel. Not always - but some of the time. Light can make such a huge difference.

I added blobs of Liquitex (vibrant) heavy body acrylics to the top of my page, spritzed with water, stood it upright to let them drip downwards, then spritzed again a few times, to encourage the flow. 
(I had to dab off some of the 'muddy' bits as they flowed a little too much 😉)  
The paintbrushes and words are stamped and clear embossed, then coloured with Posca pens and Stylo White Gel Pen. 
Linking to Leah's Art Every Day Month.
Thanks for calling in...
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Saturday 9 November 2019

Today's page is another stencil clean off from a few days ago, when I was using Oxide reinkers. I scraped some embossing paste through a stencil on the day I made it and left it. So today, I decided to work with what was there and since one of the larger circles looked like a moon to me, that's what it became... and the white lines became a snowy effect. That's possibly because I'm REALLY cold today, so it's on my mind.

I knew I wanted an image slightly over the 'moon' so I had a rummage through my stamped images, found what I thought was the perfect one and (seriously - laboriously) fussy cut it, coloured it, then decided it wasn't what I wanted 😒
So...when looking through my stamps some birdies caught my eye, but they weren't quite right - then I remembered these whimsical owls! So I stamped them on the page and again on some card, knowing that the texture would stop me getting a clear image. After colouring them (with Promarkers) I cut out the larger bits and stuck them over the stamped image on the page, edging it with Hickory Smoke Oxide. 

I like the idea of these two huddling together in the cold moonlight, so I chose friends as my focus for today. I'm thankful for friends and for all the richness they bring to my life. Some friends are only close for a season, but bring enormous joy and blessing to that season - while other friendships last for most of our lives and are all the more precious because of that, made so much deeper by of all you go through together - a shared history. 


I'm joining Leah's Art Every Day Month with this,
Moo Mania & More's Circles challenge
and also 
Thank you for popping in 
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Friday 8 November 2019

Today I'm thankful for the freedom to choose...even though whichever choice you make will upset someone important to you... and for my family.

I started with a stencil clean off page in my small journal, then just added a few stamps and a bit more of the same inks - Oxides. Sorry, but I can't remember where the little girl stamp is from...it's from a time when I ordered a bunch of photographic images from various non-UK companies. 

I'm joining Moo Mania & More with Circles
and
Art Every Day Month with Leah and friends.

Thank you so much for popping in...
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Thursday 7 November 2019

Today is Izzi's 7th birthday...where do the years go?
As with most little girls, I'm sure, she is 7 going on 27 and thinks Nannie (and especially her shoes) just 'has no style'! I love her to bits and am incredibly thankful for her - she's my only grandchild.
I'm going to pick her up from school with my son and his wife, then we're all going out, so I won't be around much at all today.

My contribution to Leah's Art Every Day Month. today is her birthday card... which was fun (but a bit fiddly) to make. I used Oxides for the background, with lots of spatters of water, silver and white acrylic and Promarkers/Copics and Glitter Gel Pens for the aliens. The words didn't stamp properly because the stamp is uneven, which is such a shame, but I think I'll get away with that...there are lots of glittery bits - even glittery starry night embossing powder around the edges AND a few gems...which I very rarely use. Little girls like glittery things 😉
Inside it says, 'You are my favourite earthling'.

I'm playing along with 
Addicted to Stamps and more's ATG challenge
Stamp & Fun = Creativity, Stars
Send a Smile 4 Kids, ATG (or Christmas/holidays)

Thanks for popping in today
I'll be back soon
Cath
xxx

Wednesday 6 November 2019

Today's offering is an experiment with colours and mediums...it's a bit of a mishmash of vivid colour, using acrylics, Neocolor crayons, gel pen, a stencil or two and Posca pens... I just kept adding bits with no aim in mind. As you can tell, the badly drawn (smaller) leaves are mine...he, he - the larger ones are stencilled. No stamping on this for a change...just lots of doodling.

As I was playing, I was thinking about leaves and the cycle of life. Beautiful, new, green leaves gradually change and become individual works of art, each with their own individual colours...but always beautiful. Seasons are necessary, even if we don't always welcome them with open arms. We can learn a lot from nature. So today I'm thankful for seasons and especially for the different seasons in my life. Each one has its own treasures - its own fruit - and with each one comes new grace for the moment.

The berries are there for Rike's AJJ challenge, which is fruit and/or veggies and I'm linking to Leah's Art Every Day Month
Why not join us? There's no need to create every single day...
Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 5 November 2019

It's Bonfire Night - yay!
But no, I'm not celebrating Guy Fawkes night - oh how we used to love this time of year, walking around with our 'swede' (turnip) lanterns in the dark and sharing goodies like treacle toffee, jacket potatoes cooked in the bonfire and black eyed peas...not to mention the fireworks in everyone's gardens...it was so exciting. It's all organised events now, with very few actual bonfires...no competitively created 'guys'... nothing at all like it was. But it IS much safer and that's a good thing. I'm celebrating the beauty and wonder of the everyday.
Today's page is a continuation of yesterday's in some ways ...I'm thankful for the beauty in the things we take for granted and don't even notice most of the time. 
I chose to use a flower again, using a Studio Light image over another Oxide reinker background. This time I used Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick and Toasted Marmalade and did a bit of simple stencilling, colouring the flowers with acrylic paint, Copics (leaves and stems) and white gel pen, and  part stamping some random words. I found the words in my treasured stamped words box (I try to remember to stamp words more than once, so that I can pick out individual words to use in journalling) and they fitted what was in my head...
May we never lose the wonder of the ordinary things in life, things like the comfort of being able to kick back, relax and unwind in our own home. 

I'm linking to Art Every Day Month again...lovely to see you again if you're popping in. It's wonderful to see the diversity in the other participants' creativity and to learn new things...

Thanks for popping in today.
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Monday 4 November 2019

Today's page was meant as a homage to Tracy Evans, but became almost a  copy...with different stamps and a different stencil, but still the same idea and technique. It looks very different, though.
I used a Donna Downey stencil and a Visible Image flower, stamped on book paper, background created with Oxide reinkers. the contrast is made by spraying part of the stencil, then laying it over the background to oxidise the inks and remove a bit of colour. I love the way it turned out, even though you can see the corner of the stencil...I was trying to avoid the larger circles, so had to use the edge.
So, today I'm thankful for the little things - the things that surprise me and bring a smile to my face. This one was seeing a new flower on my clematis - I'd already been surprised by the appearance of one, last week, but the second one just made a difference, somehow, in the midst of cold, wet and windy weather. Or it could be an unexpected visit (text, call or card) from a friend or family - or a beautiful sunset or starry sky...those little things that make you glad to be alive. But also the times when God speaks to me (and my spirit pings!) or shows me something I hadn't realised until then - those times when he feels especially close. That's why I chose those words...each little surprise strengthens all of these in me. Every little unexpected smile is a precious gift from him.
I am, of course, joining Art Every Day Month with this.
I'm also joining Mix it Up, where the challenge is ATG optional watercolour and Simon Says Stamp Mondays Journalling challenge.
I'll have to remember to journal some fruit and veggies soon, for AJJ. 

Thanks for popping in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Sunday 3 November 2019

My brother rang out of the blue to say he would be calling in on his way home, and wanted to spend the night here, so - because my playtime was cut short - I had to get my quick and easy head on! 
I rooted through my stamped, coloured image container and found these two friends...and the words were from a Visible Image plate that just happened to be out...so I daubed some Distress Oxide Cracked Pistachio across the bottom of a page, sponged on some baby blue acrylic, blended a little, then used a couple of stencils for the white rain (or snow?). 
Once I'd stuck down my two birds and sketched in the ground, I decided to add the washi tape for interest... I cut the words up, attached them, then decided to draw a speech bubble. For some reason, there's a cloud stamp in the middle of the words and because that was in my head, I had the idea of adding a personal rain cloud over the poor, miserable goosey... I painted it, outlined it and added dots for fun. 
This page was fun to make and made me smile 😊 
But I couldn't get 'Why does it always rain on me?' out of my head, afterwards... 

Voilà... my 'Thankful in November #3' is done. 
Today, I'm thankful that it's okay to not be okay - as long as it's only sometimes! 


Linking, of course, to AEDM 2019
Thanks, Leah. See you all some time later, I hope!
I'm also joining Simon Says Stamp Mondays Journalling Challenge.

Thanks for popping in today
See you soon
Cath
xxx

Saturday 2 November 2019

Day 2 of Art Every Day Month on Leah's Creative Every Day blog.
I'd already coloured and fussy cut lots of shrooms for TIOT's Colours of Autumn challenge, so my page today is a celebration of Autumn and all its blessings.
I used Distress Inks for the background, including the stamping, adding touches of Warm Umber and Antique Gold paint.
I'm also happy to be able to join the challenge on Art Journal Journey Blog, which is 'Fruit or Veggies' and Mix it Up's Anything Goes challenge, with the option of Watercolour (I watercoloured the leaves with Distress Inks).
I'm also playing along with Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, which is Journalling, Country View Challenges' Hand Stamped, The Artistic Stamper Challenge's Mix it Up and with More Mixed Media's Orange Challenge (Toasted Marmalade and Rusty Hinge DIs).
Thanks for popping in
I'll be back soon
Cath
xxx

Friday 1 November 2019

Happy November!
Wow! Where has the year gone? I can't believe it's November again and so little time to go before Christmas!

I've decided to take a risk and try to take part in Art Every Day Month again this year... sadly, I'm unable to promise to create every day but I'll do my best to create on some days and will try to get to a few of the participating blogs each day...  I'll also try again to make it a month of Thanksgiving! Focusing on our blessings is always and only good for all of us.

So, I'm starting November with a Circles page, just for Moo Mania &More's current challenge. I love circles, so had a quick play on an acrylic (Liquitex) smooshed background I made yesterday, just using circle stamps. I spotted the words as I was hunting for the circles and so they became flowers...again! It's not a brilliant page - the larger criss crossed circle looks so out of place - but I like the idea and will do something similar again...this one may or may not make it to my journal, though I did resize it to fit, just in case. Love the way the circle background stamp looks around the edges...and I love squiggled stems!


Why not join us just for the month? It's lots of fun and really good for your art!
Thanks for popping in
I'll be back soon
Cath
xxx